Comments You Get When You Dress Vintage

[desi_de_lu_lu]

I think that men love to see a feminine woman, because they rarely SEE this anymore. As well as being a vintage fan, i am also a swing dancer so I wear seamed stockings and tap pants under my a-line skirts when I dance. I'm always amazed at the dropped jaws I get from non-dancing men who get to see the tops of my stockings in a spin. And yet I'm fully clothed from head to toe - unlike half the women around me. A glimpse it seems, is so much more alluring.

It's funny to see the reaction of men to shapely, classic clothing, feminine makeup (more the red lips than anything) and seamed stockings! I truly believe it's because men don't see their girlfriends or women in general dressed in really feminine attire anymore. It's a novelty to them but to other women...they seem to get upset that you can look sexy without being baring all. So many girls these days go out clubbing wearing barely anything at yet the men are staring at women like us.

This is so true! Today I am wearing a very plain 1940s style dress and a head scarf (to cover up my pincurls for later) and I had very plain makeup and of course lipstick on, and the man at the Chick-fil-a counter told me he loved the 'retro' look and gave me free lemonade! This was quite flattering considering there are scads of scantily clad freshmen running around barely dressed and there I was in a plain dress that went down to my knees.

 

[Widebrim]

Wearing Vintage

When I dress vintage (which is about 5 days a week as a teacher), I usually get positive comments. Once when I was wearing a black, single-breasted jacket with thin lapels, along with a gold tie and grey fedora, an Argentinian mother came up to me and said in accented English something like, "You look smoking fantastic." I sheepishly answered, "Gracias," and kept on walking. Older women (I mean like over 70) will often comment on how they like seeing a man in a hat again, and even younger ones will give me a smile.

 

[alexandra]

I've gotten a ridiculous number of positive reactions/comments over the past 3 days which is really nice as I've been feeling like a pile of crap on legs lol

Yesterday a guy said this to me when "Donna" came on:

"You look like you popped out of this song. It's like I'm waiting for Marty McFly to come dance with you."

And I laughed and was like "Close enough!"

 

[Darhling]

It takes very little to get looks in Copenhagen, just wear red lipstick as Lillemor said and you get annoyed elevator looks from women and smiley winks from men. In Malmö (Sweden) they barely look, I was out doing my weekly food shopping today in a pink 50's dress, high slingbacks, red lipstick & eyeliner - no sign of shock.

 

[pigeon toe]

In the Netherlands I got no comments from anyone, ever! Which is probably good, since I wouldn't have understood them anyway!

But since I've been back in California I've gotten comments galore. I've been dressing in skirts everyday since I've been here and it's nice to be noticed again. I even had one middle-aged woman basically cat call me from her car at a stop light! First time I've ever gotten that from a woman! lol

 

[Pink Dahlia]

I even had one middle-aged woman basically cat call me from her car at a stop light! First time I've ever gotten that from a woman! lol

NICE! :eusa_clap

 

[cherry lips]

It takes very little to get looks in Copenhagen, just wear red lipstick as Lillemor said and you get annoyed elevator looks from women and smiley winks from men. In Malmö (Sweden) they barely look, I was out doing my weekly food shopping today in a pink 50's dress, high slingbacks, red lipstick & eyeliner - no sign of shock.

This is interesting. I thought that you blended in to the crowd in big cities (Copenhagen) and stood out and got more comments in small ones (Malmo). Maybe I'm wrong?
Yesterday I was wearing my beloved vintage wrap (house) dress with my hair in braids, and a man with a ponytail screamed at me like a hen/ rooster (not sure which one his was portraying) for an entire block (prolonged screams). This was not in a friendly/ joking manner, but rather agressive. I don't know if he was mentally ill, or just another rude slob. I swear, Malmo can feel like such a hicktown! (It's the third largest city in Sweden.)
fftopic: Ladies, is it period (40s-50s) to wear your hair in plain braids (not tied up on your head)? If you're not a little girl but a woman, and living in a city and not on a farm? I felt pretty and a little like Dorothy, but please let me know!

 

[Sunny]

fftopic: Ladies, is it period (40s-50s) to wear your hair in plain braids (not tied up on your head)? If you're not a little girl but a woman, and living in a city and not on a farm? I felt pretty and a little like Dorothy, but please let me know!

It's period, all right! It's definitely a more casual look, and rather girlish, since it was extremely common for all little girls. But it's quite period, and not just for the farm. I just wouldn't wear braids with a dressy dress or business wear.

 

[Smuterella]

today: "why you always have 70's hair"

from a girl at work

*rolls eyes*

 

[Miss 1929]

today: "why you always have 70's hair"

from a girl at work

*rolls eyes*

What IS it with these people????

 

[alexandra]

today: "why you always have 70's hair"

from a girl at work

*rolls eyes*

I don't even understand people sometimes. I've also gotten 80's.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Much like most of us couldn't tell you the specific dress and hair differences between various other subcultures....they simply do not -know- the differences between any of these decades, so they pick one.

They mean no more offense then me calling an emo person a 'rocker' or whatever.....


people merely try to label something in relation to the things they -do- know.

Now, if everyone knew precisely which decade we were dressed in, they would dress this way too...and you would lose some of your uniqueness.

 

[Miss 1929]

"I'm melting.. all my beautiful uniqueness.... gooonnnnneee....."

It's true. But I guess it just trips me out that people can be exposed to all the same cultural influences (TV, movies) and not get the same information out of it... for some reason, the whole human race just is not as retro conscious as we are. It's like this weird blind spot they have!

I don't mind any kind of comment as long as it is given in the spirit of a compliment, it's the aggressive, judgmental asses I can live without! And there are plenty of those.

Lilliemore says:
Red lipstick alone can make a huge difference. Men look and smile, women glare!

What a bizarre reaction. They feel threatened by red lipstick? WTF? They could always try it themselves, it's really odd!

 

[alexandra]

It's not about being offended. I just expect people to know simple things about their own history. It's not about expecting people to recognize small details.

It's more like if I said Tupac made polka music and The Beatles were opera singers.

 

[Miss 1929]

It's more like if I said Tupac made polka music and The Beatles were opera singers.

Now that would be interesting...

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

'Tis okay. I've had people studying fashion misidentify eras! Which always confuses me. It's even more interesting when you go back past 1920 (not on *me*, but just showing items). Most people don't have much knowledge of clothing pre-1920, which makes for some pretty interesting errors. Giving everything from 1820-1915 the label "Victorian" seems to be a biggie.

I know some items from the 70s can look 30s to me, so I can't really judge others for not being able to pin things down exactly. But there *is* a difference between an overall 30s look and an overall 70s look, and the 40s are *not* the 60s!

 

[GreyAndWhiteCat]

Why I think people say the wrong decade

Personally, I actually think the seventies redid a lot of the lines and cuts of the late thirties and early forties. I have some burda magazines from the early seventies, and except for the hippie trends, I have often thought that I could make a forties style dress from the patterns. There are of course differences in detail. The seventies had a love for polyester and oversize collars, and of course the the trousers are terribly tight over the hind. I think people see the lines and like Miss Neecerie said

people merely try to label something in relation to the things they -do- know.

And the people are more knowledgeable about the seventies because it is a closer decade.

And for those who said sixties, even though that has its own very distinct outline, they probably do it because they think everything retro must be sixties. At least I feel that is what all the magazines in Norway have been labeling retro in the later years. Based on that people make a wrong connection.

Why people would say the eighties I have no idea....

 

[Smuterella]

yeah but i'm talking about hair alone, not clothing, 70's hair tended to be long and straight - especially in london, perhaps with the odd Farrah flick. Mine is usually short (above shoulders) and curled. I just don't see the link.

oh well, it made me laugh.

 

[GreyAndWhiteCat]

In my burda magazines there is very little straight hair. The magazines aims for a more polished suburban style, and not the young urban “we are revolting style” (my interpretation ) There are lots of curls, semi pageboys and even some Gibson rolls, and of course the flick.

But I understand that you get annoyed when people make mistakes like that. I do to

 

[cherry lips]

I just expect people to know simple things about their own history.

I find this very interesting. I understand if young people who aren't into fashion history don't get it, if they don't care about things that went on before they were born. It's the people who were ALIVE then that puzzle me. Like a customer I once had who was in his 60s. He couldn't tell the diffence between the styles of the 1950s and 1970s! I mean, he was a teenager in the 1950s and a thirty-year-old in the 1970s! At least he should remember vaguely what he wore/ what he saw other people wear.
Smuterella, my only guess is the curly top from the 70s, as seen here on Frida of ABBA:

Not that your hair looks like that though!