If you have vintage leather apparel, it requires special care. Failure to care for your leather properly can result in hardening, cracking, brittleness or other damage. Caring for vintage leather is simpler than you might think.

Cleaning

If proper care is exercise, you can clean your leather yourself in your own home. The cleaning method depends on the leather type. For finished leather, you can purchase leather cleaner or use a gentle soap such as Dove or baby shampoo.

If using a store-bought cleaner, follow package instructions. If using soap, dampen a clean, soft cloth with water. Make sure the cloth is not overly wet. Add soap to cloth and gently rub into leather. Once you have worked it into a light lather, dampen another clean, soft cloth and wipe away lather completely.

Finish by drying with a fresh cloth, removing as much moisture as possible. Lay flat and allow to air dry in warm location. Make sure the location is out of direct sunlight and not near a heat source such as heater, fireplace or stove.

For unfinished leather, you will need saddle soap or a cleaner made for this type of leather. Work in a small amount of cleaner with a dampened soft, clean cloth to create a light later. Wipe clean with another dampened cloth. Let air dry.

If you are not comfortable cleaning your leather yourself, you can pay to have it cleaned by professionals. Keep in mind, though, that most local dry cleaners do not have the capabilities to do this type of cleaning and send the items out to another company for cleaning.

Since there is a chance that the cleaning process may have an effect on the leather, you may want to send sets out together, regardless of whether all pieces are dirty. This will ensure that if the leather is effected, it is uniform across all pieces of the set.

Conditioning

As your leather ages, it loses the oils that were applied during the tanning process. Eventually, this loss of oils will lead to the fabric becoming stiff, brittle and cracked. Conditioning helps replace these beneficial oils, ensuring the leather remains supple for years to come.

There are a wide variety of leather conditioners available. For optimal results, choose one that is designed to be used with your type of leather. Make sure that the product does not contain silicon or waxes as these reduce the leather’s ability to breathe.

Microfiber cloths are ideal for applying leather conditioner. Lightly dampen the cloth and add a small amount of conditioner to it. Gently rub into the leather in the same direction of the nap. Let sit for a minimum of thirty minutes before applying another coat of conditioner.

For unfinished leather, you may want to apply a leather preservative. Mink oil is used by many people. It can be applied by pouring a small amount of oil onto a clean, dry cloth and massaging into the leather. Take care that you do not use oils that are made for human skin such as baby oil. These can damage the leather.

Conditioners or preservatives should be applied every six to nine months to keep your leather healthy. With proper care, your vintage leather apparel will last for years to come.

Heather loves writing about leather. You can check out her latest articles on kids leather jackets buy visiting her newest website, cheap leather jackets.

Oh, we all know women love nothing more than a sale or a bargain, don’t we? And casual clothing for women is always on sale – if one store isn’t on sale, the other one probably is! So, in terms of casual clothing for women, there are absolutely no problems in finding sales.

Here are some quick tips to help you pick and choose casual clothing for women during sales and closeouts:-

Examine the casual clothing before you buy

Before you pick it up, remember, the casual clothing that you’re looking at has been probably tested a few hundred times before this. So, a little bit of wear and tear on the casual clothing is to be expected. If they’re not worn out or at least a little bit stretched, the casual clothing store probably won’t be putting it up for sale, don’t you think?

Check the seams and edges to see if they are OK. And if you want value for money, check for holes and detached labels and discoloration too. Yeah, we know, it’s on sale and we shouldn’t expect TOP QUALITY casual clothing for that kind of pricing, but STILL, you want value attached to the casual clothing. You’re still PAYING for it, not getting it for free, surely.

Testing the casual clothing out before you take it to the cashier

I know, this sounds so logical and yet so important. Never buy casual clothing or any other types of clothing without testing them out first. The sizing and cutting is very, very important. What looks good on the shelves or mannequin may not look as good on you. The shape and size of your body is very different from the mannequin, so, take it to the fitting room and try the casual clothing out for shape and size. If you have fussy kids with you, come back another day (maybe tomorrow) for it. A time when you can test the casual clothing out.

Is the casual clothing REALLY on sale?

I don’t know about you, but I think this is when window shopping actually makes sense. Let’s say if I see a casual clothing that I like, I’ll go in and take a look and note the pricing. When they hold a sale or discount, I’ll know if they’re cheating or not. Some casual clothing stores DO actually cheat and they say their normal pricing is $49 when it’s only $35. I know, I know. it sounds petty and calculative, but hey, you want to get value casual clothing or what? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be one of those easily excitable casual clothing enthusiast (erm…which, I think I am).

Check out other casual clothing stores before you decide

This lesson, I learnt one time when I bought a fabulous and chic looking casual clothing blouse to the counter, paid for it, and walked out to see a similar casual clothing on sale in the store opposite the store I bought it from! Boy, was I fuming. So, what I do now is to note the casual clothing that I like and the store, look around other casual clothing store and then if I can’t find something similar for a cheaper price or something better, I’ll go back to the casual clothing store and GRAB IT!!

Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who works from her home in Selangor, Malaysia. She loves nothing more than blowing bubbles in the park with her 2 kids, Joshua and Jared. She designs apparel and premium items at http://www.allmomstuff.com and is the author of “Raising little magicians”, and the popular “The Lance in freelancing”. More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com

Everyone’s wearing vintage style from the girl on the high street to A list celebrities. Even high street shops are now following suit with their own ranges of vintage inspired clothes. But why is vintage clothing so popular and how can you get the vintage look?

Vintage clothing is described by Trudie Bamford, author of Viva Vintage (Carroll & Brown) as clothing made between 1920 and 1970. Anything before 1920 is antique and anything after is retro. Although many people use vintage as a term to describe clothes that are not brand new. The popularity of vintage clothing is currently huge with large numbers of people owning at least a few items of vintage clothing and some people only ever wearing vintage clothes. Celebrities have fueled the popularity of vintage by wearing vintage designer clothes like Julia Roberts in her Vintage Valentino gown, worn for the Oscars in 2001. In the High Street Oasis and Next have also created there own vintage inspired clothing with similar styles and colors as clothing from various different eras of fashion.

The popularity of vintage clothing is probably due to three factors. The individuality of vintage pieces is a real attraction to many people. The range of clothing on the high street almost always follows the seasons trends. You are much less likely to see someone wearing the same or a similar outfit if you wear vintage clothing. Many will use one key piece of vintage clothing or an accessory to give an outfit bought on the high street an individual twist. Vintage clothing has also proved popular as many love the beautiful , delicate and detailed ladylike styles that can be found when buying vintage clothing. Many vintage clothes lovers have a keen interest in the history of fashion and finding vintage clothing is an interesting hobby.

Key looks such as 1940’s Dior New Look frequently inspire designer and high street main stream collections and those who wear vintage clothing have the benefit of wearing the ‘real thing’. Finally the beauty of vintage clothing is often in the quality of the garment. The vintage clothing that has stood the test of time and has managed to remain in a reasonable and wearable condition will usually be of a superior quality to many clothes mass produced in the present day. Clothing made before 1960 is probably handmade and quality natural materials such as silk and wool were used as man made and synthetic materials were not available. Styles and trends of clothing did not change as frequently as it does today so clothes were made to last.

Buying vintage clothes can be a time consuming business. Finding the right item takes time. There are many shops specializing in vintage clothes, charity shops and flea markets are also good hunting grounds. The internet provides an excellent resource for finding vintage clothes. eBay is treasure trove for vintage clothes and you can often get a real bargain if you look hard enough. There are also many online vintage shops which make it easier to find the item you are looking for but are likely to charge a bit more for the privilege.

A word of warning, there are some key pitfalls to watch out for when buying vintage clothing. Do not automatically trust the sellers description of the item. Check for indicators of the age of the items such as metal zippers and buttons instead of plastic on pre-1950’s clothes, any clothing with a care instruction label will be post 1970’s. When buying designer vintage you will need to do your research to ensure that the item you are purchasing is genuine. It also important to consider the quality of any vintage clothing that you would like to buy. When buying online you will not be able to assess the quality so should ask key questions to make sure you are happy with your buy. Due to the very nature of vintage clothing, it will be in varying conditions. Wear and tear can range from the easily solved tear along a seam or small moth hole to less desirable underarm perspiration stains.

Finally sizing can present a problem when buying vintage clothes. Sizes have changed quite a lot over the years and a size 12 item from the 1950’s may be the equivalent of a side 6 or 8 now. It is also possible that clothing can have shrunk in the wash making it even smaller than expected. If unable to try the item on use a tape measure to measure yourself and ask the seller to do the same with the clothes.

When you manage to find the beautiful vintage item that you really love, look after it well. Check the type of material and find out how it should be cleaned. If in doubt take it to a professional dry cleaner. Store carefully using acid free tissue paper for very delicate items and moth balls/ cedar wood for wool.

This article was written by Ceri Heathcote for Designerhighstreet.com For all the latest fashions including party cocktail dress and ladies evening dress