Ever wondered about the actual dollar value of the vintage clothes in old clothing catalogs such as Sears, Spiegel, or Bella Hess? (BTW all the images below are from Bella Hess catalogs) I always see "$1.98" for a dress and I'm thinking "Oh my gosh, how cheap is that?!?" I do realize the value of the dollar is much different than back then, even from 10 years ago it's different... so here are just some fun number figures to show what today's price would be for vintage clothes.


$19.98 in 1924 is approximately $249 today.
Note the advertisement reads "2 Wonderful Bargains!" *hehe*


From 1924: $14.98 = $187.00, $5.98 = $75.00, $8.98 = $112.00


From 1940 Catalog: $.95 = $14.65, $1.00 = $29.00
Thrifty prices indeed!


From 1957 Catalog: $2.99 = $23.40, $1.99 = $15.60, $5.99 = $46.90

So just a quick rundown...
In the 1910s... $1.00 is about the same as $21.60 today
In the 1920s... $1.00 is about the same as $11.40 today
In the 1930s... $1.00 is about the same as $12.60 today
In the 1940s... $1.00 is about the same as $15.40 today
In the 1950s... $1.00 is about the same as $9.15 today
In the 1960s... $1.00 is about the same as $7.35 today
In the 1970s... $1.00 is about the same as $5.73 today
In the 1980s... $1.00 is about the same as $2.82 today
In the 1990s... $1.00 is about the same as $1.71 today

As much as I would like to claim I am a super genius and got all these facts and figures through sheer brain power, I found a handy dandy inflation calculator.