Comments You Get When You Dress Vintage

[Lareesie Ladavi]

I don't usually wear vintage, more "vintage-inspired." Today as I walked through the lobby of my office building wearing ankle-strap heels, pencil skirt, peter pan-collared blouse and a belted cardigan I passed by two women and heard one of them say to the other "I bet she's somebody." It made my day.

I'm the same. I have a professional-vintage feel on a daily basis. My husband thinks it's funny because I dress this way to go grocery shopping. I figure it's just as easy to wear slacks as it is ratty jeans...Frankly, I find slacks more comfortable than jeans.

 

[RebeccaMUA]

I'm the same. I have a professional-vintage feel on a daily basis. My husband thinks it's funny because I dress this way to go grocery shopping. I figure it's just as easy to wear slacks as it is ratty jeans...Frankly, I find slacks more comfortable than jeans.

I'm the same I love my vintage inspired wear and I agree with slacks being wayy more comfy than jeans!

 

[Lillemor]

Anything is more comfortable than modern jeans!

I can't find our thread about dressing our age or younger but I've noticed that I get more compliments on days where I wear clothes that might've been more appropriate for someone half my age in the 1950s than for a woman in her 30s than I do on days where I make the effort to dress more like a mature lady from the 1950s, which usually just draws odd looks from people of all ages including those who would've been my age in the 1950s I see the signs of age (nasio-labal lines, falling eyelids) and I know I don't look like a teenager but maybe it's best for me to accept that the younger styles suit me better?

Ie. people tend to like me with half updos, ponytail, ribbons, little make-up, bobby socks and flat shoes or low pumps with full skirts and simple blouse/twin-set, shirt/slip over combination, as opposed to a more sophisticated, pulled together lady-like look with tidy updo and matching red lips and nail polish.

People in their 70s love it when I have that sweet teenager look but everyone seems to think I look dated if I dress my age. Even older people think it's a mistake.

I'm happy to switch between dressing my age for the era or dressing younger. But I like compliments as much as the next lady. Sooo?

 

[kamikat]

Lillemor, you're not alone in the "dressing younger" thing. My theory is that more mature women tend to get stuck in their style and wear their wardrobe much longer. Meaning today's 70 year old ladies might still be wearing the clothing of their middle years, so people look at you and see you dressing the same way they see the little old ladies dressing.

 

[Lillemor]

Hmmm...Kamikat, you got me thinking.....Could it be that the older ladies actually feel threatened/a hint of jealousy if we dress their style because they then perceive us as competition?!lol Maybe they encourage me when I dress like teenagers would've when they were my age so we're not in competition?lol Sorry, I can't stop laughing now.

 

[Caity Lynn]

^ all I can say ladies is be glad those remarks are based at you dressing vintage, I get them from teens when I dress in todays fashion...they're always telling me to stop being old fashioned and act my age....and I'm not even trying to dress old fashioned [huh]

 

[LizzieMaine]

It might also be that older folks see someone in the styles they themselves wore as teenagers and it triggers memories of a happier time for them, a time before jobs, kids, and adult responsibilities. Seeing someone wearing the clothes they themselves wore to the office in 1950 might not trigger the same warm feeling.

 

[Lareesie Ladavi]

Anything is more comfortable than modern jeans!

I can't find our thread about dressing our age or younger but I've noticed that I get more compliments on days where I wear clothes that might've been more appropriate for someone half my age in the 1950s than for a woman in her 30s than I do on days where I make the effort to dress more like a mature lady from the 1950s, which usually just draws odd looks from people of all ages including those who would've been my age in the 1950s I see the signs of age (nasio-labal lines, falling eyelids) and I know I don't look like a teenager but maybe it's best for me to accept that the younger styles suit me better?

Ie. people tend to like me with half updos, ponytail, ribbons, little make-up, bobby socks and flat shoes or low pumps with full skirts and simple blouse/twin-set, shirt/slip over combination, as opposed to a more sophisticated, pulled together lady-like look with tidy updo and matching red lips and nail polish.

People in their 70s love it when I have that sweet teenager look but everyone seems to think I look dated if I dress my age. Even older people think it's a mistake.

I'm happy to switch between dressing my age for the era or dressing younger. But I like compliments as much as the next lady. Sooo?

Don't kid yourself, you look great! Men love women that are unique. Women stare with envy, I am finding this out. I say "eat your heart out". Wear what you love and what makes you happy.
I can relate with you about what others think. It really pisses me off too. Do they think we rely solely on their opinions?
Women always tell me I should dye my hair...I think "why so I can blend in with you?". Why would they want me to dye it? I've always been blonde and I feel most confident with it. My favorites are the questions I get about "staying so pale", like I have a choice in the matter...idiots. lol

 

[Lareesie Ladavi]

I'm the same I love my vintage inspired wear and I agree with slacks being wayy more comfy than jeans!

Girl you have great style. hehehehe!

 

[Caity Lynn]

This amused me today, I didn't get a comment, but today I wore a vintage inspired/rockabilly look and a couple of good old boys in a pick up truck honked their horn at me, made me feel good and made me giggle lol

 

[MissHannah]

I've had some nice comments lately. I tend to dress in suits or skirts, blouses and cardigans and as I am in my mid-30's the effect can be a bit stern and formal in a modern context, but women often come up to me in the supermarket or shops to tell me they love my style. Last week in Sainsbury's a teenage girl, about 14, came up to me to say she "just had" to tell me she loved my hair. That's not the usual response of teenagers! Plus I had a stinking cold and big red nose so I appreciated the confidence boost. I get the most comments from women my age up to around 50. Oh and gay men of course!

Living in London people have mostly seen far stranger styles than mine but when I go back to my hometown the way I look really seems to make people sort of angry, which I just don't get. I have been insulted loudly in the street when there so I tend to tone it down a bit now. I have noticed that men definitely hold more doors for me when I am dressed up too!

 

[Bubble Cheeks]

This past week, hubby and I went to an Irish pub for dinner. I had to go to the bathroom, so I went to the back of the pub. There was a table of about 6 other people sitting at a table located just outside of the bathroom, all in their 40s and 50s I think, staring at me. Wide eyed. I smiled and said hello, and went into the bathroom.

While in there, I could hear them talking just outside the bathroom door. They were having this huge conversation about me, and they didn't know me at all. It was so FUNNY! I live in Astoria, just outside of Manhattan. There is a film studio over here in Astoria, and one of the women at the table was saying "She probably works at the film studio. Maybe she's an extra in a movie or something, and she came here after a dress rehearsal." Then one of the men at the table said, "No, she's probably in one of those Broadway shows. The kids in those shows, most of them cant afford to live IN Manhattan, and since this is about a 15 minute subway ride out of it, they all move here. She's dressed for stage, not film." (I was? I am? What's the diff? I'm sure there IS one, but, I don't know what it is. lol) Then someone at the table, I think that same guy, exclaimed with absolutely certainty that I was probably in the show Grease, on Broadway. Just here for dinner after work, for a burger. He ended that with "Yep. That's it, I'm tellin' you." I finished washing my hands and stepped out, grinning, and winked at them from behind my cat eye glasses. I just got a bob cut, and I had finger waves in that day. And a sheer vintage scarf in a powdery blue on my head. I went back to my table and told my husband everything. He said, "WOW, they sure have YOU figured out, don't they?"

I'm not in Grease. Honest. I'm not even an actor. So funny! lol

~Lenore

 

[kyda]

That is so cute bubble cheeks. Are sure you are not grease???? Or Happy Days?????fftopic: fftopic: fftopic: I heard Blueberry hill today and could not help having a little chuckle, you would in soo well on a Happy Days set

 

[BombshellBella]

I finally had the nerve to dress the most vintagey I ever have... usually I will do the red lipstick with a conservative style outfit but Friday I went to a bar with my friends while visiting home, in upstate NY.

I wore a black pencil skirt, red cami, belted cardigan, black seamed stockings with vintage style shoes... I did red nails, red lips, black eye liner with fake lashes... My hair was even in victory rolls!!

The reaction.... EVERYONE LOVED IT... I had girls asking for my lipstick color and telling me I looked like I belonged in a black and white movie.,.. the dj even played some big band music for me, mind you this was a COLLEGE BAR!!!

 

[Bubble Cheeks]

LOL! I'm sure, I'm DEFINITELY NOT in Grease. However, I was in it back in High School, my freshman year. I was Jan. Because I've always been chubby, and had enormous bubble cheeks. Hahaha!

I oftentimes just get told "Wow! I really like your look!" from people who aren't in vintage. And the ones who are? They just ask me "where did you get your glasses?", etc. But thats about it.

Once a homeless man in China Town said to me from the layers of cardboard he was sleeping on in the street, "Dayumn lady, you look OLD FASHIONED!!!"

My husband and I have been going to The Film Forum in The Village a lot this past month, for their Breadlines & Champagne festival, a festival of daily double features of depression era movies. Here's the schedule: http://www.filmforum.org/films/breadlines.html#223
I just got a bob, and now look more of that era than my previous 40s and 50s look. So we went, and a woman sitting to my left in the audience said, "So you dressed the part, I see. Did you do it for the movies, today?" and my husband said "Nope, this is just her daily look." And she said, "Amazing. May I take your picture?" That was nice. But in the lobby, people kept on coming up to me and asking me questions about their tickets, or membership fees, or when the next movie starts, etc. And I said "I don't work here", and they said "But you're in costume!"

Oy vey. lol!
PS: Happy Days! Would you have me dating The Fonz? Mrrrow!!!

 

[MaryDeluxe]

Bubblecheeks...that is the best story! I think it would be more fun to be in "crybaby" then say "grease".....

I got all dressed up and went and saw the Puppini Sisters a couple of weeks ago and was the topic of conversation of many people in the place. It was mostly an older audience and the ladies had lots of fun telling me how they use to dress the same way when they were younger. lol I've been thinking about doing the nursing home rounds....I could probably make a career out of it! lol lol

 

[MissHannah]

I had a day of amazing comments today - I'm feeling so good!
I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum with my hairdresser, Nina, for the opening of the Stephen Jones hat exhibit (http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/hats-anthology/). I wore my nipped waist dark green wool jacket with a black wool pencil skirt and vintage black heels, plus pale green kid leather gloves and a dark green Essel box handbag. Oh and a cute black hat on the back of my head. Several people came up to tell me they loved my outfit and asked questions about it but 2 of them asked me if I was wearing vintage Dior! I nearly fainted I was so chuffed! If ONLY! But then to top all of this, as it was a press preview event, Stephen Jones himself was there giving interviews and a talk and as he was heading into the Museum's restaurant he walked past me and sad "Wow! You look FAB!". Seriously! This man has designed hats for Dior! I could have swooned!

 

[kyda]

well done Miss Hannah :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Lillemor]

MissHannah, that's great. That just confirms that the problem isn't me or us, it's just that some of us meet the wrong people.

 

[cherry lips]

Woohooo! You go girl! Grrrrrr! :eusa_clap

I had a day of amazing comments today - I'm feeling so good!
I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum with my hairdresser, Nina, for the opening of the Stephen Jones hat exhibit (http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/hats-anthology/). I wore my nipped waist dark green wool jacket with a black wool pencil skirt and vintage black heels, plus pale green kid leather gloves and a dark green Essel box handbag. Oh and a cute black hat on the back of my head. Several people came up to tell me they loved my outfit and asked questions about it but 2 of them asked me if I was wearing vintage Dior! I nearly fainted I was so chuffed! If ONLY! But then to top all of this, as it was a press preview event, Stephen Jones himself was there giving interviews and a talk and as he was heading into the Museum's restaurant he walked past me and sad "Wow! You look FAB!". Seriously! This man has designed hats for Dior! I could have swooned!