Changing one's look.

[killertomata]

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?

 

[Lady Day]

Skirts/dresses. When I first started wearing them, I hated them. I had gotten so use to my 'waist' being my high hips, that at my natural waist, things felt too high.

Colors for me as well. I dont feel very light or should I say eggshell whites, and up, fit my skin tone. So I avoid them, using creams as a base instead. Also braking into heels was a big stretch for me.

Geeze this girlie thing.

LD

 

[pigeon toe]

I used to wear ill-fitting t-shirts and even worse fitting jeans all the time, because that's all there was! So wearing vintage and really taking the time to find cute blouses and jeans that fit me was a challenge (but a fun one!).

Now I feel totally awkward wearing t-shirts, which sucks, since I'm still totally attached to my band shirts. I just feel like I don't look as nice as I could when I wear them.

I used to also wear a lot of very pale colors and heather grey, which wash me out completely. I need much more vibrant or richer colors to keep me from fading into the background!

It was easy to adjust to these things though, because once I started paying attention to what actually looked good on me I felt so much better about myself. Finding vintage and higher waisted jeans made me feel like I didn't have a freakish and ill-proportioned body (like modern clothes make me feel), but instead made me feel like I have a really great one!

 

[TheKitschGoth]

Killertomato I'm actually doing the same thing as you right now. Almost my whole wardrobe is black and I'm trying to bring colour into it. I've got this gorgeous white and pink dress which I'm dying to wear, I know it'll suit my colouring, but just cant persuade myself to wear an outfit without black in it :s

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I'm the same - used to be more psychobilly and all my skirts, shoes, coats, cardigans etc were black, and the rest were in bright colours. It does take a while, I haven't replaced all of my old stuff, just introduced new things in slowly. A pair of brown 40s pants here, a green skirt there, mix it in with my new wardrobe. Of course black can hide a multitude of sins so you have to be more careful of flattering your figure in lighter clothes and prints.

PT I have exactly the same thing about my t-shrts. I feel like a slob and just so not me in them now, so I never, ever wear them (except to yoga) but I can't bear to part with them - they were a part of me for so long.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I've done every look there could have been. My hair has been every colour of the rainbow -- the most drastic was black. I ended up getting it stripped and dyed back because it was *TOO* drastic, even for me!

I've been a crusty punk, a girlie punk who worshipped Mr. T Experience, a headbanger, a ska girl, a rockabilly betty...

My hair was down to my waist in 1997 and in a Chelsea style in 1998!

And even though I was into punky things, I never started to wear makeup until 1998. And those first applications were stright out of the pages of Making Faces!!!!

I hated looking the same for too long. I got bored so easily. And I used to like to keep people guessing! The people I used to work with never knew what to expect when I walked through the door!

Then I gave all of this up in favour of the "vintage" or "schoolmarm" look! I've been rather dull lately, though I haven't changed my look or hair in about 6 years.

 

[killertomata]

You know, I've had every color of the rainbow also, but that was in high school. Since I mostly just do colors within the black I usually dye my hair. My hair is very thick, grows very fast and is past my bum, so I'm trying to learn to work with it all and still get rolls or such.

These days I've been wearing jeans more than ever because even though I don't like them, I don't feel comfortable in a lot of my clothes. Most of my vintage stuff is dressy, so I really need to invest in more casual stuff.

It's just not that easy changing when your wardrobe refuses to magically change too. heh. I need to shop... but uh, job first, then priroties... meanwhile I will just have to wear the few things I feel comfy in.

 

[Paisley]

A couple of years ago, when I was about to turn 37, I started changing my wardrobe, too. I retired the mini skirts while I still had the legs for them. I stopped buying men's Levi's. I adopted a more elegant look that I thought fit my age because I didn't want to turn into that middle-aged women who is trying very hard to look 25.

I bought a few vintage suits, but mostly I shop at Talbots.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

A couple of years ago, when I was about to turn 37, I started changing my wardrobe, too. I retired the mini skirts while I still had the legs for them. I stopped buying men's Levi's. I adopted a more elegant look that I thought fit my age because I didn't want to turn into that middle-aged women who is trying very hard to look 25.

I bought a few vintage suits, but mostly I shop at Talbots.

I slowly broke out from the more youthful 'sorta goth' look I had up until about 35....and I stopped dying my hair -too- many different colors and started dressing a -bit- nicer for work...

I now get work clothes from Ann Taylor Loft....

D...who turns 37 this year

 

[gluegungeisha]

I started wearing the occasional vintage ensemble in early middle school, but my look didn't turn primarily vintage until my junior year of high school. Before that, I did everything. My hair has been long, short, completely shaved and every color of the rainbow.

When I was a freshman in high school, I was really into decora:

That was fun, but very hard work! lol

 

[SarahJane]

It must be something about this age, 37 also

I used to wear black , black and more black, with black and at times purple hair

I am trying to soften the whole look, and introduce a kind of grown up femininity to my look, adding some colour and florals here and there, but I have to say it isn't easy.
The building up of a new wardrobe is something I have no problem with, I love to shop, but actually having the confidence to stop hiding behind the safety of black that's another thing entirely
There is a part of me that will always want to play the femme fatale, and I will always be drawn to the darker and more dramatic, but it is refreshing to try something new, necessary even .
How about some then and now photos ?

 

[pigeon toe]

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.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I can't say as I've ever done as drastic a change as some of those that've been mentioned -- ever since I was allowed to start choosing my own clothes as a kid, my look's been vintage. Of course, we didn't call it that then -- we didn't have any such thing as teen subcultures in the town where I grew up, and I pretty much was going it alone. I was simply "that girl that wears her grandmother's old clothes."

But I've gone thru stages of not putting much effort into it. When I worked in radio, I had to be at my desk by 330 AM, and there were some mornings where I went to work in my bathrobe and changed into whatever I'd managed to grab on my way out the door when I got there. My hair tended to be rather poorly maintained, and most of the time I didn't even bother with any makeup. In the on-air part of radio, nobody cared what they looked like -- and truth was, none of us were paid enough to care what we looked like anyway.

When I got out of radio, though, and I finally started getting enough sleep, I wised up and started taking better care of myself and the way I looked, and now I wouldn't think of going to work in my bathrobe, a fact for which the local moviegoing public is no doubt grateful...

 

[Kaela]

I'd say I definitely went through a crazy change when I started going "vintage." I had always had a great affinity for the music and movies of the 1940's, but I used to dress so many different ways. At fourteen it was a hippie phase which turned into a sort of vague punk phase, followed by a hipster phase where I, too, collected t-shirts that I'm still very attached to, by 17 I was doing lots of vintage stuff and I still feel a little conflicted and out of place when I'm out and not dressed in vintage. I usually can't help myself, though, if I wear t-shirts any place, I often do it with a 40's hairstyle!
I think this is a very interesting topic. After all, many people will have transformations through their lives, and what brings a gal to go all out vintage is a very interesting thing to consider.

 

[Miss Sis]

Chat here about colour combinations so you can be encouraged to incorporate more colour in your wardrobe:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=1797&highlight=wearing+color

 

[Bunno]

I'm so glad this thread is here. I've always been a t-shirt and jeans kinda gal but lately its been feeling too frumpy and I've been unhappy with being just a jeans and t-shirt gal and wanted something resembling a little style and a little glamor.

I made myself a 40s/50's rockabilly inspired dress for my cousin's wedding and came looking for a hair-style to go with it and stumbled upon the beauty that is the 1940s. I fell in love with the look and am hoping and dreaming of replacing my drawers full of shirts with hangers full of blouses and skirts.

This site has been SO inspirational and I'm looking forward to seeing just how this whole personal transformation thing goes.

Its also reassuring to see that its ok to come from super modern casual to some vintage glam and not be totally looked down on for it as it can be in some "scenes."

So thanks for having me and hopefully I'll be able to contribute around here once I get going!

-Sarah

 

[CourtneyJordan]

I, like most others of you, transformed from "regular modern dressing" to my own vintage style. This happened rather young for me...I was about 13 or 14, but my understanding of "vintage" was not the vintage that I am into now, due to my poor knowledge and friends and others influences around me. Although I was always into what I am into now, and how I dress now, I was intimidated and didn't quite know how to pull it off. Through those few years, I slowly began to incorporate more and more of my look into my wardrobe, and began to educate myself, and learn more of the look, the era, the clothes, etc. etc. Now, not only do I have the look that I always admired and dreamed of, but I have the knowledge to back it up, and to keep it going. I think that is the best that could have happened.

 

[RetroModelSari]

Until I was about 18 I just wore what I found in the wardrobe... Than I got interested in fashion, that I got interested in wearing Vintage. I have some before and after photos, but I just dare to show the "Sari gets interested in normal fashion" and "Vintage Sari" to compare. The time before is too horrid. Between those photos are between 3-4 years and one can tell I gained quiet some weight, too (and got a butt finally), but I used it for my advantage and sorted out all the old clothes.

2002/2003:
http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1383724lr2.jpg

Today:
http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sailorns4.jpg

 

[SarahJane]

That sailor outfit is adorable Sari

 

[Hepcatkitten]

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.

You are so pretty and how neat that you have met Dita Von Teese!