Changing one's look.

[BegintheBeguine]

Prettier than Dita von Teese, to me.

Myself, I've been vintage since I was a baby and wore hand-me -downs. Started making my own clothes in 2nd grade. Mod, 50s, 70s, 40s, 20s, all of it. I love it.

 

[gluegungeisha]

Okay, so this is a little embarrassing.

Before (age 14-ish):

I'm the one on the right, of course. The girl on the left is wearing my clothes, wig included. I still wear that coat.

After!

 

[Hepcatkitten]

So pretty! I think I've seen you post on Livejournal...can't remember what group it was....

 

[CherryRed]

I just want to say that it is interesting that everyone looks nice and pleasant in their first pics....but the second ones you all look absolutely STRIKING!!:eusa_clap

 

[Miss Brill]

I went from a non-style--jeans & shirts, to dresses and skirts and being all outfitty & into clothes, to wearing nothing but khakis and preppy pullovers, to a super sexy style with lots of black leather, knee-high boots, animal prints & sheer items, to a jeans & 70s pullovers look, to my current quasi-preppy look of jeans & cords with button-front shirts. So I change my look every 3-4 years, it isn't intentional though, it just happens.

 

[Lauren]

This is really interesting! It's neat to see how everyone's changed.

Gosh, I've been though SO many phases.
14ish it was tomboy all the way- cut off jeans and flannel shirts and oversized t shirts and ponytails.

17ish it was everywhere... one day I'd dress like a hippie in bellbottoms and polyester shirts I'd find at the thrift store, the next day I'd be in Roxy tank tops and shorts, and the next I'd be in all black velvet with feathers. I'm sure my high school teachers thought I had a personality conflict. lol

From there on out, until about 21 it was all Abercrombie jeans and printed T shirts, and then I discovered BCBG when I worked there and went to the factory sales so I'd wear nicer shirts with my jeans or skirts and plain t shirts. I also dyed my hair for the first time to a deep auburn color.

In college I was kind of sleezy- I'd wear crop tops and super low jeans, super tight whatever- with crazy choppy cut hair that was dyed dark mahogony with big fat bleached streaks in it. I also started getting really into indie and emo music so had plastic frames on my glasses and started mixing and matching clothing I found at thrift stores with designer jeans. I still do this, it's fun

And now I guess I'm just whatever... button up shirts, t shirts, jeans, linen everything. I really like comfortable clothes but I learned you don't have to be a slob to be comfortable. I like to put a funky twist to things and I love classic stylings and interesting details, so when I put in effort it looks more vintage or artsy. I'm starting to phase out the printed t shirts other than when I'm putzing around the house and running errands and wearing a lot more semisheer cottons in lighter colors and skirts- I love the whole "Out of Africa" safari takeoff look- so classic and wearable. Almost all my clothes come from the thrift store, with the exception of a few core pieces. I'm working on making more vintage sportswear as I have time because I really think I could wear that without taking forever to get ready, and I'm figuring out vintage style hairstlyes that don't involve hours of prepwork for my thin straight hair. I'll probably never dress all out vintage every day, but it's fun from time to time. Funny, cause I started collecting the stuff at 14, before I ever discovered "fashion" lol

 

[Naama]

When I was younger, I used to be in the gothic scene, but strange thing, I wore more colour back then as I do now..... I added a bit grey and more white, but no "real" colours....
I also lost a lot of weight 2years ago. Dyed my hair blonde (while everyone told me, it won't suit, people now say that they can't think of any other colour for me)
and when people met me, who knew me 2 years ago, they don't recognize me! So, yes, it was a really drastic change..... But now, I'm looking like that for over 2 years now... I'm a bit bored of it lately... But it seems like I turned into somehting... I don't know.... People tell me not to change, and somehow I already feel like it's almost like I turned into a trade mark lol yes, no joking! If people see me, they don't forget me, and I cause attantion (like a guy I got intorduced to a few days ago, he was like; Oh! Ive seen you yesterday at the subway!). So I don't know if I should change again too drastic..... (and I don't even really have ideas what to change....)


Naama

 

[AllaboutEve]

Much cuter than Dita!!! You look great Pigeon toe

 

[fourstarbanner]

I'm still waiting for my own personal style revolution. I do t-shirts and jeans all the time. The other day I wore lipstick, and my roommates were shocked! As soon as I have more money, my goal is to phase out the slacker look and bring in more feminine pieces.

 

[Adele]

It's nice too see that I'm not the only one who has gone through many upon many phases.

If my memory serves me right, I went through being:

girlish,
a tomboy,
super messy tomboy,
slightly better dressing tomboy (meaning I actually wore clothes that fit me),
jeans and shirts,
sort of preppy,
jeans and shirts,
punk-like,
jeans and band shirts (fixed up to look feminine),
a mixture,
to now where I wish I could wear vintage (or vintage inspired) everyday, but I don't have enough outfits and accessories, so I attempt to just work with what I have.

I must say that sometimes I do get awfully frustrated with my wardrobe, because I just feel like many of the things I have just don't fit me (in the way of personality or such). I don't know if I'm making much sense.

As for hair... good golly, I'm not even going to get into that. All I can say is that it is always ever changing cut-wise (and before, color too). Which does make it hard at times to do vintage hairstyles.

 

[be_lovely]

Ch-Ch-CHANGES.....

OK, I have been thru my share of changes thru the years, I had fads that I went thru, but one always stayed true, always had a touch of the vintage in me, even as a child.

So, here are some pics of my changes, feel free to comment.....
Age 1:

At highest weights:

After Weight Loss Surgery to present:

<br>

Sorry for the lot of pics, but there were alot of steps to take to be where I am today.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

be_lovely: :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I used to be heavy, too, so I know how wonderful you must be feeling about yourself right now!

And speaking of changing one's look -- I've got the blue-black hairdye on my head right now.

 

[Martina]

Changing out of the BLACK look

I'm curious if anyone here has done any kind of drastic change and how it made them feel?

You see I've always had sort of a darker, femme fatale thing going on. It's always suited me... until recently. I think life changes sometimes and we change with it, and I find myself looking at my wardrobe and feeling like none of it 'fits' anymore. Things I wore regularly a year ago hang in the closet untouched.

I plan on, as soon as I can afford it, transforming my wardrobe a little at a time. Less fatale, more femme. I want to soften up my look.

My black ff seamed stockings can easily be relegated to dressier events and I can get flesh colored for everyday/office use. I need/want to buy shoes in different colors, they're all black right now. Vintage or otherwise. I also gained weight the past few years and now I have *curves* where I never did, which is nice on one hand... on the other hand, I weighed the same for 20 years and now I have to get used to clothes fitting differently. I'm not planning on doing anything to lose the weight, I think it's a natural change in my case. I'm 37, still mostly a health nut, but with less exercise, really it's no big deal.

However, recent tries with a few items really shows me how odd it can be at first. I feel really actually quite strange in colors most of the time unless I've got a lot of black on with it. I feel like I'm wearing a neon sign when I am wearing all colors, and I know it's just self-consciousness and it's very silly. But it's true! It's a transition that's a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Anyone else go through anything like this? How did you adjust, how'd you go about new things and discovering that some of it maybe didn't look as good as you'd hoped?

I've never gone through a BLACK phase but I can say that some people just don't feel or look good in the lighter pastel colors and I see no problem with that! I wear primarily earth colors; my skin is darker (Native American/Italian) so those light yellows, pinks, and blues tend to stand out on me like a neon light.
What I have learned to do though is to wear lighter tones of the colors I am comfortable in. Instead of a dark green, I can wear sage green. Instead of dark red, I will do a blush color. Instead of brown, I've found tan. Etc.
You get the picture. That way, you're not trying to make yourself wear colors that you're not comfortable in.

I think that if you're not comfortable wearing something, then you shouldn't wear it! You'll only end up looking as awkward as you feel.

killertomata, try wearing some earth colored tops with black pants or a skirt. That way you can bring in some color gradually, without feeling uncomfortable.

 

[kamikat]

As a teen, I was punk/goth (we didn't call it goth back then), then skinhead, then ska girl/rude girl. However, it all went downhil when I had my first baby and became a stay-at-home mom. I've been into vintage music and swing dancing for a while, but being a curvy gal, never could find the clothes. My church clothes have always been nice, but my every day clothes are jeans and t-shirts. Now that all the pattern companies are reprinting the vintage patterns, I plan on making more vintage repro things for everyday wear. As for the black, yes, I have a closet full of black clothes.

 

[Jeynne]

I've been experimenting with my hair since I was thirteen. I've had blonde streaks, pink tips, been red on top and black underneath. I've died all of it different shades of auburn. I finally killed it when I put blonde streaks in my hair last year, and bleached the hair underneath. I ended up cutting a lot of it off in April.

This...

...Always makes me wonder what I was thinking when I was a teenager. I wore half the world's supply of eyeliner around my eyes. The lip ring is just...I don't even know. The only reason for it that I can come up with is boredom.

And this...

...Was last year. Still wearing too much makeup, still destroying my hair with hair dye.

I don't really wear much makeup now, and I feel so strange if I start playing around with it.

 

[zaika]

ha. i've been through one boring phase after another. first it was a strict 'no skirt' policy in which i went through a grunge and hip hop phase...but oddly enough, i still wore makeup and made sure my hair was done nicely. i never fit in with the real grunge. LOL. then i went through a phase where i thought i was too fat to wear what was fashionable at the time (mid-90's...ugh), so i just eeked by on jeans and large sweatshirts. then college came around and i went the earth momma direction. then i just didn't care and my step mom stepped in and started buying me clothes...so i walked around for seven years looking like a lane bryant cataloge. most recently i was trying out the punk/emo thing...but i wanted to feel more feminine so i quit that. these days i just feel so dumpy and boring and fat. but on monday...when i curled my hair for the first time and wore my first vintage-y outfit and wore red lipstick...i finally felt like...myself. it's amazing what a little care can do for your morale.

 

[Celia Crowson]

Hiya!

This is a great thread - very interesting.
It is interesting to read that many wore black, or were Goth types.
I myself was a Goth type for many many many years (as well as a tom-boy in my youth).
The turning point was when a number of life changing events happened at once which helped lead me to the decision to 'find myself'. So here I am!
At first it was hard to add 'color' to my wardrobe. It was very amusing to run into people I had not seen for a spell and them not recognizing me.

Anyway, I am very content now - I just need to find my Gene Kelly/ William Powell type of guy and life will be perfect

~Amanda~
Australia

 

[Blondie]

Okay, here's a before (my senior year of high school when I was just getting into the more rockabilly look -- peep the muffin top!)

This was the day that I decided vintage was THE way to go. And thank god, look how bad I look! I'm embarrassed to even show you all this picture!

And the "now" version of me is me in my avatar.

Pidgeon Toe, you look adorable !!!!!!!!

 

[pigeon toe]

Pidgeon Toe, you look adorable !!!!!!!!

Hahah, no way! Okay, maybe cute like a sad puppy!! I look so young in those pictures.

 

[dashiell]

So many looks, so much experimentation! This has been a fun thread to read.

I have elder sisters, but my brother was just ahead of me in the hand-me-down hierarchy, so I don't recall wearing many clothes made for girls as a child. I distinctly recall my first trip to buy brand spanking new jeans for school, in a year when my brother had been too destructive to hand any down. My mother took me to the girls' section and I was disturbed by the buttons being on the wrong side! I still wear mens' clothing, actually, and I wonder if it's a habit I'll ever break.

I've considered trying more feminine outfits, but I'm a handyman. As amusing as it would be, I don't suppose working with plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and so forth in a dress and heels would be very practical. In fact, given the difficulty of finding good vintage, I wonder if I might not be frowned upon for the damage I'd cause to any quality items I might find!

My "look" is as unwavering as a lack of imagination can make it: sturdy carpenter jeans, t-shirts, and steel toe work boots. Now, if anyone knows how to make *that* stylish, I'll bake you brownies!