Oldest item in wardrobe

[scarfaced]

Today i’m wearing a dress I bought from Topshop in 1999 and it got me wondering - what’s the oldest piece of clothing you wear? I don’t mean something vintage you once bought, or something inherited from an older relative, or even an accessory like a scarf. I mean a dress, skirt, top, pair of trousers etc. I’m intrigued to know, particularly in the fast fashion world we live in.

I sometimes wear the socks my partner wore when he was 13. He's 57 now. They're wool socks, no holes, nice and thick. I have a brown pair and a blue pair.

Loving all of these.

I wonder how much the price-per-year would work out? And don’t you just wish that before you handed over payment, you’d know exactly how many times you were going to wear something. That would have stopped mr making some foolish buys over the years!

I have an orange vest top from TopShop from the late 1980s. It's a bit small for me now, as I was a teenager when I bought it and I'm now 50. I also have a black top from Warehouse from somewhere around 1997-1999.

I have a green and yellow buttoned top from In-Wear that cost £20 in 1986; my friends were scandalised by the cost but borrowed it constantly. It is very bananarama-ish in shape hence why its still fits. It's in fantastic condition.

I had a white linen skirt and also a floaty skirt that matched - also from In-Wear. I still have them but would have to be a size 6 to wear them.

Can't beat some of these, but I have a long crushed velvet dress from 1995 that I still wear very occasionally. My university sweatshirt from the same year gets regular wear. I wear the dress I got married in (not a 'wedding dress') occasionally too - our silver wedding is next year.

Very Princess Diana.

I have a navy wool coat and a cotton Benetton shirt from the late eighties.

I also have - and wear - one of my DMs coats from the 1960s and a couple of my Grannies silk scarves that are even older.

a ghost embroidered skirt from 1994. It cost £300 then and I have hung onto it to get my moneys worth. It is stretchy and bias cut. Also a purple silk episode dress which was part of a suit from 1997.

School scarf. 50+ years old (and still fits me).

Gosh, loads! Quite a few things from 1988 - silk jacket, silk kimono, leather skirt, a couple of jumpers, kantha jacket, embroidered coat. Several more that would have been from 1995 and are more “labels” - trousers, suits, silk blouse. Yet more that I made myself between ‘85 and 2000.

I don’t feel like they are dated either, as they are all either classic or boxy cuts.

I also have a T-shirt from the Seul Olympics that I wear regularly.

I think I can beat all of these! Not me personally, but a friend recently asked if I could repair a cardigan her mum had knitted when she was 18. Her mum still wears it and loves it, however it had developed a couple of holes near the cuffs.
Her mum is 93 😊

I have 2 evening dresses from the mid 90s that were expensive and I maybe got 1 or 2 wears out of them over the years.

A chunky St Michael cardigan that I bought second-hand in 1983. Comes up great after every wash.

Has to be the winner!

I have one of their embroidered skirts from that time too - I used to go to their warehouse sales, where the queues went round the block. I've washed it loads and the only thing that's gone a bit is the elastic.

I've a silk pink dropped waist dress that I wore to a Debs in 1987, I stood out because all the other girls were wearing ballgowns. Wish it still fitted me. I've lots of clothes 20+ years old, everything from office wear to denim jackets. Hoping one of my nieces might want some of it. Still have the trousers and top I was wearing when I met my husband 24 years ago, they look like they'd fit a doll, so absolutely tiny.

I have a silk brocade cocktail dress that I re cut from my 1991 graduation ballgown, itself made from fabric my dad brought back from Penang when stationed there in the 1960s. Absolutely love clothes with provenance.

Band hoodie that I got in Camden market c.2005

What a nice thread! I have a couple of things: sheepskin jacket circa 1998 or so that’s been repaired a few times but still comes out when the weather demands it; a black beaded cardi’ from around 1993 bought for a winter ball at uni’ (im the era of grunge).

Kimono my Dad brought back from Japan for my mum about 1976

I have a grey sweatshirt with JUICE written on the front which I got in 1991. Sadly it's relegated to a painting top but worn regularly.

Wool cycling shorts from around 1980, before Lycra took over. Still fit but don’t really wear them. Favourite Patagonia fleece from trip to the States 1993, it was recycled fabric then so who knows how old it’s DNA is!

I've got a jacket from 1983. It's lovely. Bought it when doing A levels. I'm 60 next year 😂

And a tshirt I wear regularly that's 25 years old (when diesel was still made in Italy). And a linen dress from 1996.

Lots of my clothes are over 10 years old

I dress I bought in Debenhams in 1994 when I was 19yo. I can still fit in it but it was a slightly looser fit back then! Still looks good more fitted and I get compliments when I wear it.

I have a beautiful black velvet swing coat that I bought before I was pregnant with my second child. She was 40 last month.....