Can't Summarize in a Title

[Rosie]

Just an observation. Since I'm into this "vintage thing", my point of reference as a yong person is kind of screwy. Case in point, last night, I was visiting with my mom, we watched Key Largo and a bit of Murder My Sweet on TCM, at one point, my mom (who is still amazed that I love all of this stuff) pushes the "info" button on the remote and goes "Wow!, '43, this movie is OLD". (She was born in 1944). I answer, "It's not that old". Because, since I'm searching for clothes, styles, books, movies, etc. from this time, the date seems kind of current to me, you know? My latest acquisition was a day dress from 1939. It isn't until I see something like 1905 or earlier that I think, 'Wow, this is old'. I guess this doesn't really warrant a reply, just sharing.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

A question of relativity.

60 years doesn't seem that old,...100 or thereabouts is getting up there,...200?,...now 200 years old is old. 500 years old is really old. Then on to about 700 or so and beyond,...that to me qualifies as ancient.

 

[flat-top]

I know what you're saying...sometimes if someone asks me about something I'm wearing and I'll tell them that it's from the 40's or 50's, they'll say, "So wait--that shirt is SIXTY years old??" It's those times when it hits me.. that with my being so caught up in all of "this", I tend to forget how OLD this stuff actually is!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

At least your mom watches those "old" movies with you. That is sweet that you can do that.
Sometimes the 30's seem like a really long time ago. Other times, since my life involves so much of that era, it seems like it was just a few years ago.
My mom recently informed me that, although the styling of 30's and 40's clothes is flattering to my figure, she thinks I, and I quote "look funny because I'm so out of style"! What a nice thing for a mom to say. This coming from a woman who used to really care about her appearance.
Old is what you make of it. Dresses, people,cars and books all can be old if not well taken care of. Gosh, sometimes I feel really old! Then I get all dolled up in vintage I feel young again.

 

[scotrace]

Great observation Rosie - many of the "old" things I use every day seem quite current.


Now, next year, I will have occasion to need a gentleman's entire ensemble, ca. 1807. Can you say Beau Brummell? That's going back some.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think "old" is totally a relative thing -- I've spent pretty much my whole life surrounded by things twenty or thirty years older than I am, so to me they're just part of my everyday experience. On the other hand, I have a trilobite fossil sitting on my living room mantel that's 250 million years older than me.

Now *that* I consider "old."

 

[Lady Day]

I think "old" is totally a relative thing -- I've spent pretty much my whole life surrounded by things twenty or thirty years older than I am, so to me they're just part of my everyday experience. On the other hand, I have a trilobite fossil sitting on my living room mantel that's 250 million years older than me.

Now *that* I consider "old."

I can relate a lot to your statement. Except for the really old fossil I was raised around old stuff all my life, and I remember when I was getting my first apt., and I was with my Mother showing my Aunt a vintage shower curtain I got at the thrift store (super cute) she commented, "yeah, she likes that old stuff". I guess I do.

Most of my furniture is 50 years old, what isnt is very plain so it wont compete with the vintage stuff. My clothes are what are considered 'conservative' now, as in I dress like an old fogie.

I think of old as being a past century thing. 1900 and less than is old.


LD

 

[Juniper]

My grandfather was an antiques dealer, so my Dad hates when people claim that something with plastic components is "antique." To him, furniture is not truly old if it was machine-made. And he hates that new-fangled stuff that started appearing in the 1920s (he was born in '57). Come to think, he's really not wild about any 20th century furniture.

Back in the days of VHS, most video rental places had some funny old B movies hanging around. My roommate and I were both raised on old movies and one day we got a hankering for a scifi B movie. We trotted on down to the video rental store and asked for a "really old" movie and were handed off in turn to 3 different clerks who led us to Grease and Annie.

 

[Paisley]

In the 80s, I used to work at the Air Force Academy, which was established in the 50s. The tour guides would recite their spiel, which included "the Air Force Academy is rich in tradition." The place was 30 years old at the time! I picture the traditions as one cadet saying to another, "Let's do it like we did last summer."

I told this to a Ukrainian friend, who thought it was funny. In her hometown of Odessa, there are buildings that are hundreds of years old. She chided me about my "old house," about 90 years old at the time, being an "antique that belongs in a museum."

 

[Jay]

After being an avid "student" of the 30's and 40's for so long, when I finally started getting into 50's fashions and cars all I could thing is "wow,this stuff is....really advanced! I noticed synthetic materials in almost all kinds of clothing, cars had power windows, automatic transmissions, Cadillac had automatically dimmed headlights that sensed oncoming traffic. Jets were the norm... I began to think cars have only caught up to where they left oft in the late 50's. Anyhow, just my opinion.

 

[fortworthgal]

I know what you're saying...sometimes if someone asks me about something I'm wearing and I'll tell them that it's from the 40's or 50's, they'll say, "So wait--that shirt is SIXTY years old??" It's those times when it hits me.. that with my being so caught up in all of "this", I tend to forget how OLD this stuff actually is!

I was just about to post a similar response! I buy and collect a lot of WWII items, and I wear a few original uniforms. Sometimes I have to remind myself, "This stuff is 60+ years old!" I tend to forget, because so much of it is in good condition.

 

[Shimmy Sally]

I'm old stuff and I'm in pretty good condition.
But anyway, I know what you mean. I was raised on big band and musicals, in a house full of vintage and antiques, by parents who fell in love during WWII. So it doesn't seem like long ago history to me either. If I need hair or clothing advice for that era, I can just ask my Mom (who was 41 when she had me) instead of googling.

 

[mysterygal]

I'm dealing with this 'old' issue with the mister, although he's coming around little by little. I enjoy classic movies a whole lot more than most of what's out there currently on the market. Clothes; I'm still in the studying phase, but, women were just so classy! Head to toe women look impeccable, which makes me want to copy that same look for my day to day life. Last night, me and my husband had a date night and decided to go walking around, very rarely did I see a man or a woman who looked good, I'm finding today's fashion seems so boring and very unflattering to both sexes.

 

[Rosie]

Last night, me and my husband had a date night and decided to go walking around, very rarely did I see a man or a woman who looked good, I'm finding today's fashion seems so boring and very unflattering to both sexes.

There is a new family in my neighborhood and I've seen the dad everyday this week as I walk my dog and go visit my mom. Today as we exchanged good mornings he tells me "I just have to say, I like this style, it's good. You look good everyday, always nice". I was quite flattered.

There is a new thrift/vintage store in my neighborhood also so I go every few days to see their offerings, the other day, the owner, who is an older lady tells me, "so this is no accident?" kind of gesturing up and down at me. She says when she first saw me, she thought I was just kind of dressed "like this" for the day, like as a fluke or something. She just realized that "this" was my thing.

 

[Viola]

I was thinking about this because my sister and I are planning to buy a place together in the near future while she's still in college, and we were talking about decor.

We both like classic styles, but she... really cuts out by 1920. Anything after that is "modern, ew" and "too shiny."

Victorian/Edwardian, yes, British Colonial, yes, Arts and Crafts, okay, but she doesn't really like the Art Deco stuff I like because, "Its too streamlined."

This is a girl born in '86, but as I tease her, there's no way to be sure it wasn't 1886.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

This is a girl born in '86, ...

Stop making me feel old! lol

.

 

[Viola]

Stop making me feel old! lol

.

I was born in '84. Is that better? lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

AAARRRGGHHH! :cry:

.

 

[Haversack]

Viola wrote:
"Victorian/Edwardian, yes, British Colonial, yes, Arts and Crafts, okay, but she doesn't really like the Art Deco stuff I like because, "Its too streamlined."

Well, what about the various period revivals which were popular from 1900 to 1940? Spanish Colonial, French Provincial, Tudor, etc. Plenty of houses and apartment buildings built in the 1920s, 30s, up through 1941 in those styles. Furniture and decor to match was made as well.

Haversack

 

[Viola]

Viola wrote:
"Victorian/Edwardian, yes, British Colonial, yes, Arts and Crafts, okay, but she doesn't really like the Art Deco stuff I like because, "Its too streamlined."

Well, what about the various period revivals which were popular from 1900 to 1940? Spanish Colonial, French Provincial, Tudor, etc. Plenty of houses and apartment buildings built in the 1920s, 30s, up through 1941 in those styles. Furniture and decor to match was made as well.

Haversack

Oh, absolutely, and its not as though she insists on antiques, only in a period style. We get along quite well because of that. As far as her takes on those styles... well, they'll never tear her away from Gothic Revival or Queen Anne, that's for sure. Spanish Revival would likely come closest.

I believe if you asked her her favorite architect, she'd probably say Mad Ludwig.

I just find it amusing that with my interest in the Golden Age, I've got the modern aesthetic.