STITCHING
Look at the sleeves on the t-shirt you’re wearing now. Does it have two strands of thread running around the opening or is there one? If there are two, this is called double stitch as seen on the left shirt. If there is one, this is called sing stitch as seen on the right shirt. If your shirt is double stitched, it's most likely a newer shirt (late-1990s and beyond.) If your shirt is single stitch, it’s most likely older (pre-late-1990s.)
MADE IN U.S.A
Flip the label over of your garment to see where it was made. The majority of older vintage is made in the U.S.A (if you’re in the states.) The U.S.A didn’t start majorly offshoring clothing production until the 1990s. However, some newer vintage from the 1990s may have been made in China, India, or Pakistan. So while this is a handy trick, it is not always 100% accurate.
DATE
Check the bottom corner or the tag of your item of clothing. Do you see a date? Typically manufacturing companies will add the date that the item was made somewhere on it. For t-shirts it is almost always in the bottom left or right corner as seen in the photo. While this may seem like an obvious way to tell how old something is, some people are not aware of the meaning or location of the date.
