Age appropriate dress for your chosen era?

[AllaboutEve]

About looking like mutton as lamb? Sheesh. I'm about to turn 48, and boy, do you make me feel old!

As long as you're not dressing as a teenager (like ugly fads and dressing for shock value) you can probably wear anything you like. The red pencil skirt outfit sounds fantastic, picture please.

I never think at all about if something is too young for me, I have enough trouble finding anything that fits me! But you won't catch me in things like poodle skirts and jeans - they're just too unattractive. On any age of woman/girl.

And I am reminded of a very amusing story in a 1936 magazine, in which the wife who fears she is losing her husband to his young secretary decides to stay with her short curly hair as the long pageboy bob (on the secretary) was just too youthful for her. And I think the wife was about 36 herself!

Thank God we are freed from the tyranny of these artificial styles, and can wear anything we like if it looks good to our own eyes!

Thanks for the kind encouraging words Miss1929, and for the record you look terrific in your pic.

It's really great that you're so positive and self confident about how you dress, I think that is the kind of attitude that I am aiming at as I don't want to feel compelled to be too puritanical and overly self critical just because of what other people may or may not think of me.

The red pencil skirt is lovely and as soon as I get a chance I will put up a pic. Promise..

That story sounds absurdly funny, that the length of your hair can determine your destiny!!

I feel better already, thanks!

 

[Paul]

I think age appropriate dress code is changing, looking at some vintage photos and thing I see often are ladies dressed old before there time compared with taday.
Because when they got to a certain age it was tradition they worn a older style of clothes, and as life expectance is increasing they spend a larger proportion of there life as a old lady.
My Grandma was a good example I look at photos of her just before I was born when she be 40 something and then when I remember her last in her 90's and her style of clothes were very similar thus spending 50 years of her life as a old looking lady fashion wise.

Today I often see ladies wearing short skirts and at first glances I think she too old for them, then I take notice of how she is wearing them and with what and realize that she look fine and they suit her, a few I admit do get it very wrong and should think again.
I think with vintage styles these days you got to be very careful that you do not compare your actually age today with what you seen worn by ladies of the some age say in 1945 or 50 because of to days longevity distorting the styles worn back then.
Then today in the main society accepts a broader spectrum of styles been worn especially in the US and Europe. therefore I think you should wear appropriate dress but lean more to the younge spetrum for longer.

 

[deadpandiva]

So something like this would be okay?

 

[AllaboutEve]

So something like this would be okay?

That's a great pattern, and would look lovely. The other great thing is that you could get away with wearing it all year round by changing what you wear underneath, either a blouse or a sweater.

What kind of fabric do you have in mind, and any particular colour?

 

[deadpandiva]

^ I don't know. I like wool (as it gets cold here) and I like green, but I usually just go with what I can find at the fabric store which isn't very much. I think, Burgandy, Brown or Navy would also be nice.

 

[The Shirt]

That is really cute and I think the wool actually makes it seem more age appropriate (you have no worries anyway in that dept!). I would love it in a dark green or burgandy with your features. Man I wish I knew how to sew.

 

[AllaboutEve]

Navy would be nice, you can put it with red then and it'll look very smart. Wool is a good choice too.

 

[deadpandiva]

Thanks Shirt-I am still not sure if I know how to sew. Abd I have trouble getting motivated.

AllaboutEeve- I love red and navy together.

 

[Snookie]

If you're nervous about wearing a pinafore, you could just make it as a skirt -- the bib probably attaches at the end after the skirt is made. Or, you can make a detachable bib (buttons or snaps or something), for a quick-change act if you're suddenly self-concious! (also useful for mix-n-match...)

 

[Miss Brill]

Regarding the hair up as a grownup thing -

Before the 20s, you knew a girl was a girl and a woman was a woman by the way she wore her hair. Putting up your hair was a rite of passage. Madwomen and whores wore it down, and very occasionally, actresses (which polite society mostly lumped in with madwomen and whores anyway).

In the 20s, the bobbed hair became ubiquitous. Suddenly, if your hair was long it made you look old.

And then in one short decade, in 1930, everyone started growing it longer, but so they could do waves with the back put up. You just did not let it hang down below the collar!

Just as suddenly, in about 1933, everyone was doing short curly do's, and if your hair was long, it didn't make you look old so much as terribly dated.



Thank God we are freed from the tyranny of these artificial styles, and can wear anything we like if it looks good to our own eyes!

I was thinking the same thing. It is so odd that one generation decided that long hair was ugly, and bad, and old-timey, and women are still paying the price. I don't see anything frumpy about long hair, as long as it isn't frumpy. I always thought I'd wear my hair in a bun when I got old--I want to look like Tasha Tudor when I'm elderly, not Mamie Van Doren.

 

[Dexter'sDame]

Without dressing like a 20 year-old, I don't really follow the "age appropriate" rule for what was "appropriate" in the 1930's and 1940's, because my lifestyle and lifespan are vastly different than our foresisters of the 1930's. In 1934, age 30 often meant someone's life was almost half over, they'd probably been married for 9 or 10 years and had several children, and it was the part of the Depression where lack of funds were really starting to show unless you were a wealthy family. Now most of my relatives live into their early 90's, so age 30 is only the tail end of the first third of life! And most of my friends have chosen to remain single into their 30's, wait to have kids until their late 30's, and have well-paying jobs, which means different wardrobe choices than our 1934 counterparts. So for me, it's more about my body type, what looks good on me, what doesn't, and what's appropriate to the occasion, as opposed to a number.

 

[ShortClara]

I always thought I'd wear my hair in a bun when I got old--I want to look like Tasha Tudor when I'm elderly, not Mamie Van Doren.

Me, too. I don't want poodle hair!

 

[MJrules]

Bombshell v. Secretary

Couldn't really find the perfect thread for my dilemma so I'm plonking down here! (Please feel free to move, bartender)

Does anyone get the unexpected "secretary" look when dressing vintage? I like the late '40s through '50s but whenever I whip up something together, it looks more professional than I'd prefer. Like collared blouses, wool skirts, and dressy (i.e. not sneakers or flip-flops) shoes. I feel like the other alternative is an emo/rockabilly look, which can look great, but I'd prefer to look more authentic. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I want to add that I'm a college student, so I look very out of place, either just plain older or like I'm going to a job interview, if I wear a vintage outfit to school.

Though, I wouldn't mind looking like her:
(Secretary Barbie)

 

[Spiffy]

Embrace it!
I'm very proud of the fact that I have NEVER worn sweatpants to a university class (with the exception of Tai Chi). And when I can't dress vintage, I at least try to dress 'nice', ie no torn jeans/ratty sneakers/grubby hooded sweatshirts. Pretty much the only exception to this is when I'm in production class, climbing over boxes and wires in the pitch black and trying to pull focus, haul lighting equimpment, climbing ladders etc or during final exams.

But that's just me, I'm a weirdo!

 

[Lady Day]

I like Barbie's outfit

LD

 

[miss_elise]

yes, i get secretary all the time..that and librarian... which i put down to my glasses... but i figure, seeing as they were about the only jobs women had back then (i do mostly 40s) apart from nurse or teacher, i figure that people mean to compliment me on my "professional" look...

 

[Idledame]

Hey! Some of us can't help having poodle hair! This is not just a bad perm..I was born this way. My problem with vintage looks is that I'm thinking Irene Dunn and Ginger Rogers in my head when I'm planning and sewing an outfit, when really I should be thinking Marjorie Maine or Marie Dressler or at least Billie Burke.

 

[jayem]

There's a funny, old female-generational portrait we have somewhere in my house. It features my great-great grandmother (born in the 1870s) my great-grandmother (born 1890s) and my grandmother (born 1920s). It was taken around 1944. My great-great grandmother is dressed in a Edwardian styled mourning gown, hair up and all, my great-grandmother is dressed in a straight, sleeveless gown that would've been very chic during the 20s, her hair is done in a very 30s fashion, though... and my grandmother is dressed just about right for her age (about 18 at the time) during the 40s. I kind of look at it and laugh, because it's showing three generations of women each dressing in the style they remember and love best. It must've been pretty common for a young woman in the 40s seeing your mother dress like a flapper and your grandmother dress like a Gibson girl.

I kind of compare it to how my mom and grandmother dress today. My grandmother wears plenty of her recycled 50s-60's-esque dresses, and for some reason my mom clings to her old 80s and 90s wardrobe.

 

[dahliaoleander]

Hey! Some of us can't help having poodle hair! This is not just a bad perm..I was born this way. My problem with vintage looks is that I'm thinking Irene Dunn and Ginger Rogers in my head when I'm planning and sewing an outfit, when really I should be thinking Marjorie Maine or Marie Dressler or at least Billie Burke.

Well Billie Burk (if I remember correctly was portrayed in "The Great Ziegfield" by Myrna Loy. And I always thought her gorgeous.

(As for me, though I'm only 17, I'd always thought the ladies who wear that red/black, short, spiky hair-do were cool.)

And I like Barbie's outfit too... Except for the mermaid sparkle eyeshadow. I like blue.

fftopic:

(Ever see the movie, Suzie Q? Well I think that might be why. It might';ve been what got me into retro. Cuz I remember as a little girl, watching that movie and thinking:

"Gee, girls in the 50's were so glamorous! Even in the 40's, 30's, 20's....! Girls back then wore pink/red lipstick and blue eyeshadow! I wanna do that! But I can't. Supposedly only whores do that now (heard that somewhere... don't know where.) "Aww! Who cares! I can't wait till I'm older! I'm'a bring the 50's back!"

Years later at a so-called "beatnik/ 50's dress up poetry jam" I was the only one out of booty jeans, without a muffin top, in a poodle skirt.

I walked around in it the whole day, amid stares, head held high among the "Wannabe-thug/Gotti boy" boys, VPL Jeans wearing girls and "Pregnant-Teen-Statistic in waitings".

I even remember getting a "Is she crazy?" stare from my Algebra teacher. (WHO I HATED!!!)

***rant over***

 

[mrswheats]

Does anyone get the unexpected "secretary" look when dressing vintage? I like the late '40s through '50s but whenever I whip up something together, it looks more professional than I'd prefer... I feel like the other alternative is an emo/rockabilly look, which can look great, but I'd prefer to look more authentic. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

I want to add that I'm a college student, so I look very out of place, either just plain older or like I'm going to a job interview, if I wear a vintage outfit to school.
QUOTE]

MJ, it sounds like you're doing it JUST right if you look so polished you feel out of place in class
I think the issue is that to the modern eye, vintage is such a put-together, polished look that it's automatically placed in the "professional" category. And a lot of casual 50's clothing is assumed to be rockabilly because it's a look that's been adopted by that group, so that's the reference point most people have. I say, if you want to be authentic, wear your "secretary" look with pride!
But (because I understand feeling out-of-place) if you want to feel more collegiate, you can always go with sweater sets, higher waisted jeans, shirt dresses, blouses with full or A-line skirts, and capris.
No matter where you are, a nice pencil skirt and a collared blouse will look professional (but no doubt fabulous).

But have fun with your look, no matter what.