Comments You Get When You Dress Vintage

[cherry lips]

Tatum hasn't mentioned this yet - she must be busy I spent the weekend with Tatum and her lovely DH, and had a wonderful time. We went shopping on Saturday, and by coincidence we both wore skirts and blouses. I was wearing a vintage wrap skirt with a strawberry print, and she was wearing a handmade A line with a lobster print. We got several pleasant comments, but the one that cracked us up was "Oh, don't you two look nice... like dinner (he points to Tatum's skirt) and dessert (he points to mine)."

Haha! You must have looked yummy!

 

[LinaSofia]

I had a well-meant but annoying comment last weekend at an antiques fair... I was dressed in a vintage polka dot dress with a vintage sweater over the top with my hair in victory rolls and wearing 40s bakelite earrings, 40s repro shoes etc.... fairly obvious what era I was going for I thought, but one lady at a stall pointed me towards her 70s things and said they'd go perfectly with my look... hrmph! Haha.

 

[KittyAnneMalloo]

I was at a Vintage Steam Rally last weekend dressed in a frock made from one of Lady Day's patterns, seamed stockings and rocking an awesome set and feeling great! A lovely lady came upto meand said I looked like I had just stepped out of Rose Seidler House which was nice. It was built between 1948 and 1950 so I was pretty chuffed.

 

[Black Dahlia]

I was recently shopping in the USA and got several comments. One was 'do you always wear vintage?' I replied 'yes.' And the woman said 'well it's perfect...your hair, glasses, clothes, makeup, accessories - it's perfect on you!' Sweet of her, she use to deal in vintage clothing.
X
BD

 

[rotebander]

I got a really awful look today, it was the first time I have ever had a negative reaction when dressed vintage. It was by a salesgirl in the Ann Taylor outlet. She looked me up and down with disgust. Hubby and I were out shopping for shoes (we both needed sandals) and I was wearing a cream sleeveless sweater and a red and white polka dot skirt along with HUGE v-rolls. I wanted to crawl under a rock. Hubby said to heck with it, and to consider where we were... The girl behind the counter at Bass, however, gushed and quizzed me on how I did my hair! That helped a lot. So did the three pairs of shoes Hubby bought me...

Ohh, I know where you're talking about, and I got the same reaction from a girl in American Apparel! I don't get it-- it's an Orlando outlet mall, she must be used to seeing abnormally dressed people. Anyhoo, I get a surprising amount of comments and odd looks from people at school. I usually just laugh a little since most of the girls look exactly the same.
A couple of girls at Ulta the other day said I looked like a pin-up on two separate occasions, and I almost squeaked like a guinea pig out of glee!

 

[ThePowderKeg]

The other day I got "Your shoes make me want to go on vacation!" They were floral peep-toes with an ankle strap. I took it as a compliment.

 

[RodeoRose]

The other weekend I went to my hometown's big parade/market thing, and I had many people telling me how much they loved my vintage look. Two separate people each approached me to tell me I was perfectly suited to the 40s/50s look-- I was stunned that they had actually picked up on the right era . In the bleak city I lived in this winter for college, I usually just got snickers and stares, so this was a wonderful welcome home!

But then.... I had an encounter similar to LinaSofia's...

one lady at a stall pointed me towards her 70s things and said they'd go perfectly with my look... hrmph! Haha.

I recently was wearing a '30s day dress with t-strap heels, red lippy and my hair in a pincurled bob... and a well-intentioned woman stopped me on the street to tell me she loved my "60s/70s retro look". I absolutely despise '70s fashions so I was quite livid inside, though of course she was just trying to be nice. Maybe these women were remembering the 70s retro revival!

 

[LinaSofia]

I recently was wearing a '30s day dress with t-strap heels, red lippy and my hair in a pincurled bob... and a well-intentioned woman stopped me on the street to tell me she loved my "60s/70s retro look". I absolutely despise '70s fashions so I was quite livid inside, though of course she was just trying to be nice. Maybe these women were remembering the 70s retro revival!

Let's hope that's why! It would explain it... because I don't understand how people could confuse 30s/40s/50s with 70s otherwise?

I had another encounter today... I normally get lots of really nice comments and it's really lovely and encouraging, but sometimes I get these comments that are a bit 'off'. Today I went in for some milk from a small convenience store in another town, and the woman behind the counter exclaimed "where are you going?! Is this fancy dress? fancy dress is it?", I just smiled and said no, I just like to dress like this, and then she gestured to another salesperson somewhere in the store behind me and pointed at me, making a sort of "come look at this" face. It was all a bit weird.... But then we had ended up stopping in quite a rough area [huh]

 

[Katinka von K.]

A friend of mine yesterday mentioned that he´s always afraid to hug me because he thinks he could ruin my hair and make up .

I had a 70s comment some time ago by my boyfriends dad, too. But he thought I looked cute, after all.

 

[RodeoRose]

I had a really bizarre encounter a short while ago that I feel compelled to share! While shopping with my dear mother at our town's general store, this [rather tipsy] vague acquaintance of hers stopped to chat. Upon seeing me, she grabbed my arm and stared at me for a second, before exclaiming "you're that vintage girl with the blog! My son loves you!". And this woman, who by the way was at the store to pick up another six pack, kept going on about how "hot" I looked in my pictures. OK! Awkward! But then she was clearly trying to set me up with her son, who is the ripe old age of 16. She then wanted me to get in her car and go to her house to meet him, as apparently I'm his "dream girl". Umm, I'll take a rain check on that one...

At least she told me I looked like Patsy Cline, though maybe it was just the whiskey talking lol.

 

[Marla]

A mystifying recent encounter with a stranger:

Her: "I like your dress. You look like Anne Frank!"

"But she died so tragically."

"Yeah, but for a good cause!"

No comment.

 

[Miss sofia]

That is truly bizzare Marla!

I had a nice comment the other day at work, I was generally cleaning and pottering about doing some painting, so i had on my old Freddies dungarees and a headscarf, anyway this chap came into the shop and said he really liked my outfit, as the headscarf reminded him of his Mother who always wore one when doing chores, i thanked him and said how kind, even though i looked pretty scruffy, to which he replied "ah, but there's scruffy and there's the right way to do scruffy!" Bless him!

 

[djd]

A mystifying recent encounter with a stranger:

Her: "I like your dress. You look like Anne Frank!"

"But she died so tragically."

"Yeah, but for a good cause!"

No comment.

Brilliant!

Not quite so good but a friend of mine was explaining to someone in my office that her nephew (who's an actor) likes to wear cravats, smoking jackets, and he also has a beautiful kimono as a dressing gown. The other person asked (not unkindly) whether he was gay or at least a bit camp? My friend said (in all seriousness) , no he just wants to be like Noel Coward. I said - Er... You know he was gay right?

She was shocked at this revelation

 

[Black Dahlia]

I recently got 'I heart your look.' Well...thanks!
X
BD

 

[W-D Forties]

Brilliant!

Not quite so good but a friend of mine was explaining to someone in my office that her nephew (who's an actor) likes to wear cravats, smoking jackets, and he also has a beautiful kimono as a dressing gown. The other person asked (not unkindly) whether he was gay or at least a bit camp? My friend said (in all seriousness) , no he just wants to be like Noel Coward. I said - Er... You know he was gay right?

She was shocked at this revelation

She clearly doesn't get out much!

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

Since I am a hat lady, most of my comments are usually on my hats. I don't ever recall one negative comment (or even a sarcastic one) on any of my hats.

The other comments of other stuff I have worn are listed below.

I was having trouble finding a dress one time and I found this great dress at Target that I thought I could pull off as a "vintage look". I ended up wearing it to the Vintage Fashion Show and Tea event. After the show, when people were getting their cucumber sandwiches (YUM!!!!) and tea, this lady that was in line with me told me, "I love your dress even though it isn't..." She stops in mid-sentence just like that. I wasn't sure to take it as a compliment or an insult. That still bothers me to this day....Did I really look that bad?

I wore a repo dress that was in a flapper style one time. People really liked that dress. One guy let me sit in his beautiful vintage car because of it. He told me that all his memories are in black and white. While I was wearing the same dress, this one man told me if I had been to this event before (at the time it was my first). He seemed to have remembered a lady in a similar blue dress at another event.

I know I keep mentioning the Queen Mary here. So I apologize in advance about this. I don't get out much. lol

Last year to the Art Deco Festival, I wore my black tiered button dress, maroon cloche hat, a feather hair piece, a carnelian necklace, a carnelian bracelet, and I took my "Art Deco" bag that I take with me to just about any vintage type event.

I got one comment on my dress (which was supposed to be vintage) from these guys that were standing next to me. It was pretty funny. I was trying to put my money away in my purse and I happen to notice these guys talking next to me and they said, "We're just talking about your dress." I smiled and thanked them. They were very friendly.

I've gotten comments on my vintage purse before. When I bought the bag, it was listed as a 40s bag, but I've tried to do research on it and I think it might be later. Maybe more of a 50s or 60s bag. It has a geometric design on it, so it "looks" Deco.

My hat got some comments. The hat is from Target. My sister got it for me as a Christmas present. However, I decided to add a feather hair clip to it and that I made myself. I was talking to a lady in one of the stores about it and she was shocked I made it. So I was telling her about how to curl feathers.

The one that got the most comments was my Art Deco necklace. That I made myself. I was talking to a lady and her husband. I remember very clearly she was carrying a book on her about jewelry. She had asked me about my necklace and I told her I made it and she was so shocked. The necklace had these hexagon carnelian beads and I connected them to these Art Deco style connectors. I told them that my bracelet (which was also carnelian) was vintage. It belonged to my grandmother.

Overall the comments were very positive. Sometimes I'll get the occasional stare (when I am out of "context") like, "Where did you come from?" lol

I remember this year on St Patrick’s Day, my friend and I were looking at magazines in a bookstore. I happened to look up and saw a guy that had the “vintage look”. More of a 1920s feel. I was so intrigued by him that I couldn’t help myself from staring at him. Plus, he was kind of cute and I really loved the shoes he was wearing. lol

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

BTW, what's with that weird comment about looking like Anne Frank? Not only does it sound really insensitive, but what point were they trying to make there? The things that come out of people's heads sometimes defies any logical explanation.

 

[djd]

Sounds like someone kind of saw it on tv but didn't actually watch it....

 

[Lily Powers]

Not quite so good but a friend of mine was explaining to someone in my office that her nephew (who's an actor) likes to wear cravats, smoking jackets, and he also has a beautiful kimono as a dressing gown. The other person asked (not unkindly) whether he was gay or at least a bit camp? My friend said (in all seriousness) , no he just wants to be like Noel Coward. I said - Er... You know he was gay right?

She was shocked at this revelation

Better not mention anything about Rock Hudson to her either!

 

[MissLaurieMarie]

At my cousin's wedding this weekend, a few (intoxicated) people asked me and my boyfriend if we were time-travellers [huh]