What is the difference between vintage, antique, and retro fashion?
Please note that as days pass, some of the definitions will change. The reason being is that the word antique means an item that is at least 100 years old. So a fashion item that is not antique this year, can potentially become antique next year (depending on when the item was produced).
As of 2017, generally speaking, clothing which was produced before the 1920s is referred to as antique clothing and clothing from the 1920s to 20 years before the present day is considered vintage fashion. Again, the years used above will change as time passes. Retrospective which is Retro for short, or "vintage style" usually refers to clothing that imitates the style of a previous era. Reproduction, or repro, clothing is a newly made copy of an older garment. Clothing produced more recently is usually called modern or contemporary fashion.
In chronology, an era is the highest level for the organization of the measurement of time. A calendar era indicates a span of many years which are numbered beginning at a specific reference date (epoch).
In the fields of chronology and periodization, an epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The "epoch" then serves as a reference point from which time is measured. Time measurement units are counted from the epoch so that the date and time of events can be specified unambiguously.
An antique (Latin: antiquus; "old", "ancient") is a collectable item, at least 100 years old. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society.
Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era.
Retro style is style that is consciously derivative or imitative of trends, music, modes, fashions, or attitudes of the recent past. Retro fashion is a clothing style which consists in wearing clothes commonly used in the past. This way of clothing often includes garments and accessories that are characteristic of such times, and many people use them in an exaggerated way and in combination with current clothing. Examples are leather handbags from the 1950s, "bell-bottom jeans", Poodle skirts, big sunglasses, fedoras, funky jackets (commonly Adidas Classics) and shoes, small neckties, chiffon scarves, sport equipment, etc.
A replica is a copying closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Replicas and their original representation can be seen as fake or real depending on the viewer. Good replicas take much education related to understanding all the processes and history that go behind the culture and the original creation. To create a good and authentic replica of an object, there is to be a skilled artisan or forger to create the same authentic experience that the original object provides.