I've seen a lot of antique and vintage clothing over the years I've been buying and selling it, and on occasion I have been fooled by an item which had a vintage look but was not actually vintage. How do you protect yourself from buying these great pretenders? The best way for a new seller or buyer in the field of antique or vintage clothing to get information is to gather a collection of many of the fine books on the subject. There are vintage clothing guides often for sale at your local antique mall, but these don't usually tell you the details of what you are looking at, although they may have many fine examples through photos. Try Costume In Detail by Bradfield for truly antique clothing. It covers 1730-1930 and shows through sketches and commentary exactly what the construction of an antique garment is comprised of. There is also Costume and Fashion by James Laver, which is a good pocket guide. Another thing I've found helpful is collecting the period catalogues in the eras of my interest, for instance, New York Styles fall and winter 1916-1917, which is a catalogue filled with the fashions of the day. These are antiques and you can sometimes find them up for auction on eBay or occasionally for sale in antique stores. Most of all, you gain knowledge by closely examining a piece of clothing. What is the fabric? As an example, did you know that the first patent for rayon was issued way back in 1855? However, commercial production for rayon dates to 1891, and it wasn't until the 1930's that rayon started showing up in women's lingerie. Does your item have a zipper and is it placed on the side or back of the item? How extensive is the hand-stitching on the garment? Is there machine stitch on the longer seams, or is it everywhere through-out the garment? Are the seams surge-stitched to prevent fraying (a relatively new development in clothing manufacture which would not be seen in a Victorian dress!) These questions can help you determine the exact age of your clothing, and whether you are buying or selling it will help you to weed out the pieces which do not fall into the right catagories of what you wish to represent or obtain.