The Complete Guide to Vintage Burberry
Burberry is one of the most collected — and most counterfeited — names in vintage fashion. This guide walks through the brand's history, how to read its labels to date a piece, the story behind the Nova check, and what to look for when buying vintage Burberry online.
A short history of Burberry
Founded by Thomas Burberry in Basingstoke in 1856, the house built its reputation on gabardine, a tightly woven, weatherproof cotton patented in 1888. The gabardine trench coat, refined for officers in the First World War, became the brand's defining garment and remains the piece most vintage collectors hunt for today.
Reading the label to date a piece
The single most useful skill in vintage Burberry is reading the woven label. The wording and styling changed over the decades, which lets you narrow down an era:
- "Burberrys of London" / "Burberrys" — note the trailing s. Used roughly from the 1960s until the late 1990s. A genuine vintage tell.
- "Burberry London" — the s was dropped in 1999 during the brand's modernisation. Pieces labelled this way are generally late-1990s onward.
- "Burberry Prorsum" — the historic runway/premium line (Prorsum is Latin for forwards, from the equestrian knight logo).
- "Blue Label" / "Black Label" — Japan-only licensed lines (Blue Label for women, Black Label for men). Authentic, but made for the Japanese market — not the same as the main line.
The Nova check
The camel, black, red and white Nova check was introduced as a trench lining in the 1920s and only became an outward-facing pattern decades later. Because it is so recognisable, it is also the most faked element of the brand — pattern alignment, colour accuracy and weave density are all things to scrutinise.
Garments worth collecting
- Trench & car coats — the signature. Check the gabardine hand-feel, horn buttons, and the buckle hardware.
- Scarves — lambswool and cashmere checks; feel the weight and look at the fringe.
- Shirts — check shirts and poplins; labels and placket construction help with dating.
How to spot a fake
No single test is conclusive — authentication is about stacking evidence:
- Label wording must match the era (see above) and the font/weave should be crisp, not blurry.
- Buttons are typically horn or branded; cheap plastic is a red flag on older pieces.
- Check alignment — genuine Nova check lines up across seams and pockets.
- Construction — even stitching, clean linings, and quality interfacing.
- Provenance — care labels, country of origin and union/RN tags should be internally consistent with the era.
Caring for vintage Burberry
Gabardine's weatherproofing can be refreshed; cashmere and lambswool should be hand-washed or specialist-cleaned. Store coats on broad hangers and scarves flat to keep their shape.
Every piece in our shop is authenticated vintage Burberry. Browse the current collection and reach out if you are hunting for something specific.
