This is a question that often perplexes me. I see references to the word vintage in many contexts and often in relation to things that I wore, maybe only 20 years ago. I guess if you are 25 that might be old to you but is it really vintage? 20 years ago takes us to 1989 - almost the beginning of the '90s. Has grunge actually become vintage or is it just an old fashion we remember. If it is hard to accept as vintage the styles I wore, it is even harder to accept my childrens old clothes as such.
I hear a real aversion to the fashions of the '80s but they may even be vintage and who knows that our children will not think of them as spectacular in a few years time. After all ABBA became fashionable long after it was popular! Maybe it is because I am so old (47 years young) but when I think vintage I think of things before my time like in the '50s and maybe just the '60s. 
Does it really matter, is it even ethical, if you label a product you sell as vintage if it is only ten years old or do people have definite expectations? Has it just become a euphenism that serves to make anything old or used fashionable or acceptable again? Perhaps those offcuts of Sheridan sheeting that I used for my first patchwork class are actually vintage now, even though I only think of them as old fashioned and part of my history that I have moved on from. Maybe I am vintage. Scary.
And what is retro? Are they possibly the same or is there a distinction? I would love to know your thoughts on these matters.
