You date vintage clothing by reading the tags against a short list of US labeling laws and union label changes, each of which draws a line in time. No care instructions sewn in means before 1972. A WPL number instead of an RN means before 1959. An RN number under about 30,000 points to a company registered before the mid 1960s. An ILGWU union label with the AFL-CIO wording means after 1955, and the version with a registered trademark symbol means 1974 or later. No country of origin on a US-made garment usually means before 1984. Fiber content listed as percentages means after 1960. Put three or four of those lines together with the stitching, the zipper and the style of the tag itself and most garments can be dated to within five to ten years.
The tags date the garment; they do not price it. Most vintage clothing sells for about $15 to $60. A tight date matters because it moves a piece across the thresholds buyers care about, such as a 1970s single-stitch tee versus a 1990s one, or a pre-1971 Big E Levi's versus a 1980s pair, and that is where the dollars move.
Quick answer
- No care tag: before 1972. Care tag with words only: 1972 to 1997. Care symbols: 1997 onward.
- WPL number: 1941 to 1959. RN under 13,670: before 1959. RN from 13,670 up: 1959 onward, rising about 2,000 to 2,500 numbers a year.
- ILGWU label: "AFL-CIO" means 1955 or later, the copyright symbol means 1963 or later, the registered symbol means 1974 or later, UNITE means 1995 or later.
How to date a garment, step by step
- Find every label. Check the neck or waistband for the brand label, the side seam or inside hip for the care and content label, and inside the neck, the side seam or a pocket for a union label. Note the shape, the material (woven versus printed) and the wording of each.
- Look for a care label. The FTC Care Labeling Rule took effect in July 1972 and required permanent care instructions on most garments. A garment with no care label and no sign one was cut out is almost always earlier than 1972. From 1997 the FTC allowed the symbol system instead of words, so symbols alone point to 1997 or later.
- Read the RN or WPL number. Wool Products Labeling numbers, written WPL, were issued from 1941 to 1959. Registered Identification Numbers, written RN, took over in 1959 starting at 13,670. The RN belongs to the company, not the garment, and a company keeps its number for life, so an RN gives the earliest possible date of manufacture, not the actual one. A rough rule for the registration year is 1959 plus (RN minus 13,670) divided by about 2,200.
- Read the union label. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union label in women's wear and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers label in menswear changed wording and design at known dates, listed in the table below. A union label narrows the date and also tells you the garment was made in the US.
- Read the fiber content. The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act of 1960 required fiber content by percentage. Trade names also date: Dacron and Orlon are 1950s onward, Qiana is 1968 to the early 1980s, Lycra is 1959 onward, and "Sanforized" on cotton runs from the 1930s to the 1970s.
- Read the country. From 1984 US law required country of origin on textile labels, including "Made in USA". Before that, domestic garments often carried no country at all. "Made in Occupied Japan" is 1945 to 1952. "Made in Hong Kong" is common from the 1960s to the 1980s, Taiwan and Korea from the 1970s to the early 1990s, and China takes over through the 1990s.
- Check the stitching and the zipper. Single-stitch hems on tees run up to about 1995, after which double stitching takes over, as the vintage t-shirt guide explains. Metal zippers dominate before the mid 1960s; nylon coil zippers appear after. Talon, Conmar, Crown and Gripper are mid-century US zipper brands. YKK appears on US garments from the 1970s onward and is everywhere by the 1990s.
- Check sizing. Women's half sizes (16½, 18½) run from the 1940s to the 1970s. Junior odd sizes (7, 9, 11) are 1960s onward. A tag with "Misses" is mid-century. Modern vanity sizing makes an old size 12 fit like a modern 6 or 8, which is itself a dating clue.
- Read the brand label style. Script logos, woven labels with a city name and no country, and labels that say "Styled by" or "Fashioned by" are mid-century. Brand-specific guides such as the Nike tag guide, the Levi's guide and the Carhartt guide give the exact label sequences for those makers.
Union label versions and dates
The ILGWU label is the most common union label on vintage women's clothing. Dates are approximate and labels overlapped at each change.
| Label wording and look | Approximate years | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ILGWU with "Union Made" and no AFL reference, often with the NRA eagle | 1936 to 1940 | Earliest common version |
| ILGWU "AFL" in a circle or scroll | 1940 to 1955 | Post-war, pre-merger |
| ILGWU "AFL-CIO", no copyright or trademark symbol | 1955 to 1963 | After the AFL and CIO merged |
| ILGWU "AFL-CIO" with a copyright symbol | 1963 to 1974 | The most common 1960s label |
| ILGWU "AFL-CIO" in red, white and blue with a registered trademark symbol | 1974 to 1995 | Often alongside "Made in U.S.A." |
| UNITE | 1995 to 2004 | ILGWU merged with ACTWU |
| UNITE HERE | 2004 to 2009 | Final union label era |
| ACWA (Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America) | 1914 to 1976 | Menswear, suits and coats |
| ACTWU | 1976 to 1995 | Menswear after the textile merger |
RN numbers and approximate registration years
The RN tells you when the company registered, so treat it as a floor. A Levi Strauss RN of 125 or a Hanes RN of 15763 appears on garments made decades later.
| Number on the tag | Approximate registration date |
|---|---|
| WPL 00001 to 13669 | 1941 to 1959 |
| RN 00101 to 04086 | 1952 to 1959 (early RN series) |
| RN 13670 to 20000 | 1959 to 1962 |
| RN 20000 to 35000 | 1962 to 1969 |
| RN 35000 to 50000 | 1969 to 1976 |
| RN 50000 to 65000 | 1976 to 1982 |
| RN 65000 to 85000 | 1982 to 1991 |
| RN 85000 to 100000 | 1991 to 1998 |
| RN 100000 to 125000 | 1998 to 2009 |
| RN 125000 and up | 2009 onward |
Canadian garments carry a CA number instead, which dates the registrant the same way but on a different scale.
What a tight date does to value
Approximate sale prices as of late 2026, showing why the decade matters more than the garment.
| Garment | Dated to | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Plain cotton tee with a graphic, double stitch, care symbols | Late 1990s to 2000s | About $10 to $30 |
| Same graphic, single stitch, care tag in words | 1980s to mid 1990s | About $30 to $100, more for band and brand graphics |
| Levi's 501 with a red tab reading "LEVI'S" in capitals | Pre-1971 Big E | About $300 to $1,500 depending on wear |
| Levi's 501 with a lowercase "e" tab, care tag | 1972 to 1990s | About $40 to $150 |
| Women's dress with ILGWU AFL-CIO copyright label, no care tag | 1963 to 1972 | About $30 to $120 |
| Women's dress with ILGWU label and registered symbol, care tag | 1974 to 1995 | About $20 to $60 |
| Rayon Hawaiian shirt with WPL number, metal zipper or coconut buttons | 1940s to 1950s | About $100 to $600 |
| Wool overcoat with ACWA label, no care tag | 1950s to 1960s | About $60 to $250 |
| Chore coat, no country, no care tag, Talon zipper | Before 1972 | About $80 to $300 |
The band t-shirt guide and the denim jacket guide show how these dating lines translate into prices in two of the most active categories.
Common mistakes
- Treating the RN as a production date. It is the registration date of the company. A garment with an RN from 1965 could have been made in 1995 if the company stayed in business. Use the RN as a floor and date the garment from the other tags.
- Assuming a missing care tag means pre-1972. Care tags were often cut out because they itched. Look for stitch holes or a stub on the side seam before concluding anything.
- Reading "Made in USA" as old. Country of origin became mandatory in 1984, so a garment that says "Made in USA" is more often 1984 to 2000 than earlier. Earlier US garments frequently say nothing.
- Dating by the copyright year on a print. The year on a graphic is when the design was registered, and the shirt may have been printed years later. Read it with the tag.
- Confusing a modern reproduction label with the original. Several brands now reproduce their mid-century labels on new garments, usually with a modern care tag nearby. The care tag is the giveaway.
- Ignoring the zipper. A nylon coil YKK zipper on a dress with a 1950s-style label means the zipper was replaced, or the dress is not what it seems.
- Expecting age alone to be worth money. A 1960s polyester dress with a union label and no care tag is correctly dated and still sells for about $20 to $40. Value follows demand for the style and the maker, not the decade.
What to photograph
- Every label, straight on and in focus, including the back of the care label where the RN and the fiber content often sit. Label photos settle most dating questions on their own.
- The union label close enough to read the small print and any symbol.
- The zipper pull and the zipper tape, showing the brand name and whether the teeth are metal or coil.
- The hem and sleeve stitching close up, so single versus double stitch is clear.
- The whole garment front and back on a hanger or flat, for the cut and the style.
- Any damage, since condition sets the final price once the date is known.
How WorthPic reads a clothing photo
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. It reads the tags the way this guide does: the label wording, the union mark and its version, the RN or WPL number and the era it implies, whether a care label is present and whether it uses words or symbols, the fiber content and trade names, and the country line. It cross-checks those against what the garment shows, the stitching at the hems, the zipper brand and type, the cut and the fabric, and then gives a date range that the tags and the construction both support. From there it gives an honest value range for that garment, that decade and that condition. If the tags disagree with the construction, it says so, because that is often how a replaced tag or a reproduction shows itself. When a tag is blurred, folded or out of frame, it says which photo would settle the date rather than filling the gap with a guess. WorthPic identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate; for a garment that would be worth hundreds or more if the date holds, a vintage dealer or an authentication service with the piece in hand is what settles it.
When to get it looked at in person
Most vintage clothing is worth too little to justify a professional opinion; a careful reading of the tags and a look at completed sales is enough. Get a garment looked at in person when the date puts it in a category worth about $200 or more, such as pre-1971 Levi's, 1940s to 1950s rayon and gabardine, 1970s band and brand tees, early workwear or anything with a designer label, or when the tags and the construction disagree and you cannot tell which is right.
- A reputable vintage dealer will read the labels and construction in hand, has handled hundreds of comparable pieces, and will often make an offer on the spot.
- An authentication service that handles vintage and designer clothing can give a written opinion for a fee of about $10 to $40, which matters when selling a high-value piece to a buyer who wants more than photos.
- An auction house with a fashion department is the route for genuinely important pieces, such as 1940s designer gowns or rare early workwear.