Defining ladies style and fashions your take.

[C-dot]

I love the 1940's alot.A little bit of leftovers from the 30's and the new look.I do really like the 30's but I need to learn how to sew first to get that look.(it isnt cheap ) I chose 40's beacause I had such a difficult time choosing between 3 great eras.

I do late 40's-early 50's because then I can mix 30's with 40's and so on, just as I'm sure women from that era did.

As for being expensive... Sewing materials and a good machine will cost you - although it is a good skill to have - but for day to day wear, go repro. I save my real vintage for special occasions, because everyday wear would simply be too hard on them. Garments get more delicate with age!

 

[swingkitten85]

For me, confidence has a lot to do with it. The clothes I wear don't only give an immediate impression to other people about what I like or who I am, but they make me feel a certain way. I know how to dress my body in the most flattering shapes so that I always feel I'm at my best, looking my best.

Cici made a great point! This is a major part of why I dress the way I do, and find myself drawn towards vintage styles! It's a confidence thing; I feel much more comfortable when I'm dressed in styles from that past that flatter me, as most modern stuff doesn't do much but make me uncomfortable! I also love the fact that people can take one look at me, and know right away I'm a bit of an eccentric to dress the way I do. lol.

 

[Penny Dreadful]

I think one of the things that may drive us to wear vintage now is, ironically, our modern society. We have more choice now than ever before. If someone in the 40s or 50s wanted to wear fashions that were over 60 years old I'm sure they wouldn't have been able to get away with it. Also, since fashion has come so far it's kind of hard to imagine where it has to go. I mean if you see half the girls on the street you would think it was disappearing completely! So part of it is that we feel that in order to not remain stagnant, we have to look to the past (I'm reminded of the trad jazz revival of the 70s I think it was) and we also want to rebel against what we see as a deterioration of style.
That's much of what it is for me. I hate trends, I think they're almost all completely tacky and I wouldn't be caught dead in Ugg boots or with a thong sticking out of skinny jeans or sweat pants. People of the golden era had the best way of looking timeless, classy, glamorous, and sexy all at the same time. It's also super flattering to a woman's shape (I feel GOOD about my curves in these clothes), and far from boring, it's a really exciting selection of clothes too! It has everything I would ever want in a wardrobe, so I see almost no reason at all to give in to what's modern and trendy right now. Even if I did, I would probably have to toss it all and start all over again every year when last year's clothes are "out" even though they're still perfectly good. To me that's beyond ridiculous.
Like many here, I come from the goth community. I have to say I DO still love those things, but after doing it for ten years, it got a bit old. I was tired of seeing the same looks on a ton of people claiming to be non-conformists. I also felt a lot of the styles were a bit silly, even juvenile, elaborate to the point of discomfort, and frankly, inappropriate for most of the situations an adult might find themselves in. I have nothing against wearing a long black dress and spiky jewelry in college, but I'm trying to make a place for myself in the world, and as much as I might be "allowed" a gothic look I don't think it would do me any favors either.
The whole cataclysm you could call it came on new years eve last year at an event. I was wearing a long crinoline, a bustled skirt, a stiff ill-fitting corset, platform shoes, and a top hat with a veil. It took me almost an hour to get dressed and I could barely sit down. Then seeing the pictures later I thought "I look stupid. And that was NOT worth it. I REALLY need to simplify." I knew I admired the vintage look ever since coming across it while planning my wedding, so that was it. I bought some dresses that made my heart sing and so far it's been the best fashion decision I ever made.
Vintage is something I not only love, but to me in my life it's something very fresh, very comfortable, and something I see will help me gain respect. I had a test for a new job yesterday, and in my early 60s-inspired dress I got lots of compliments from the moment I walked in the door and looked even better than the lady doing the hiring! I wasn't out of place in the company either
Damn, sorry to give you ladies my life story! lol
So in short, the vintage style just makes a LOT of sense for me. I feel fabulous in it physically and emotionally, and I can do it whenever I want with (so far) positive effects.

 

[LinaSofia]

Like many here, I come from the goth community. .

It's interesting for me that so many people come to vintage from other "alternative" styles. I suppose I have done, in a roundabout way, as well! When I was younger I was an all-out hippy, I went to an alternative school and a lot of my friends lived in a commune nearby the school, and the general atmosphere was alternative/hippy/eco/vegan etc. So for years I dressed in charity shop finds from the 70s, huge bell-bottoms, long plaited hair and a bindi on my forehead! Peace and love man But I guess I grew up and I wanted to be taken seriously, I wanted to feel like a woman and I wanted to feel sophisticated, not tatty! I have never minded people looking at me, but I still really want to be seen in a positive light, so I really hated the distasteful looks I got from older people when I dressed like a hippy.

I didn't really properly find my style until quite late, I guess, because I was 29 when I started wearing vintage/repro clothing full-time, but as soon as I made a full commitment to always styling myself like this, I've always felt great!
I mostly wear the styles of the New Look era, late 40s and 50s. This is because the big skirts and small waists are what flatter my shape the most. But recently I've gravitated more towards the WII years with the more slimline silhouettes, because somehow the early 40s fashions look more sophisticated to me, compared to the 50s. So I feel like 40s dresses are quite suitable for work, for example, whereas I'm happier wearing a big 50s frock for going out!

For me, it gives me a sense of sophistication and it makes me feel a bit like a femme fatale! I feel sexy, confident and proud to be a woman. I also for the first time feel proud of my curves . And like others have said, it's quite nice that as soon as someone lays eyes on me, they will know that I am fascinated by the past and that I am a bit eccentric and quirky, and I like that.

I have friends from various "alternative communities", punks, vegans, rockabilly etc. But what I love about dressing in a vintage style is that I can go into ANY situation and feel accepted and get complimented on my style, and I can be somewhat different than most people without ever looking or feeling out of place or tatty. This feels important for me because I socialise and work across social, class and educational divides, and I get accepted by them all looking the way I do.

Oops, that's another very long post! sorry

 

[ThePowderKeg]

I think Viola's phrase "vintage-eclectic" fits me as well. My cousins and I played dress-up a lot as kids with my grandmother and great aunt's throw-away clothes, shoes, and purses. As we got older, I'd carry some of the purses in daily life. My step-grandmother was always giving clothes to my mom, sometimes things that tenants had left when they moved out of the cottages she rented. I remember an old black silk tiered skirt I wore as often as my mother would let me when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I loved that thing. I also loved my uncle's army coat. Then in high school I hooked up with a bunch of creative types who shopped at the Salvation Army and that was a new adventure. I just liked wearing things I knew no one else had.

As I got older, I became more aware of how different styles look on me. With my particular brand of hourglass-verging-on-pear-shape, short legs, long torso, long neck, A-line and pencil skirts work best. Those happen to be classic shapes that fashion keeps revisiting, making it easy to find stuff that works for vintage looks. Red looks good on me and I picked up my grandmother's habit of never leaving the house without lipstick. Does an affinity for red lipstick and pencil skirts automatically equal vintage? I don't know. I like stuff from all different eras.

I don't know that my fashion decisions are always a conscious choice to try to capture a vintage look. If I put something on and I feel like myself in it, I buy it, whether it's a pencil skirt, pair of jeans, patent leather heels, pair of corduroys or a used men's suit jacket. If I put it on and don't feel like me, I don't. I'm a more genuine, happier person when I have bobbed hair. When I grow my hair out, I feel like I'm trying to be someone I'm not. Same goes for curling my hair. It may be the vintage thing to do, but it isn't me.

Someone else posted she notices when people don't feel right in their clothes. I think someone who's comfortable in what she's wearing--and in her own skin--can handle any situation with grace.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I don't have a fine-tuned look. One day I'll wear a flashy 1930s dress that I made and do my hair in fingerwaves. The next I will wear my hair in a straight bob and wear skinny jeans with a girl-cut t-shirt. I get bored looking the same every single day, even in vintage.

I just recently died my hair bright flaming red because I was bored of it! My hair has always been the center of my overall "look" -- it's been died, cut, and tortured since I was in the 5th grade and discovered that 80s colour gel you could buy around Halloween time. lol

I will do whatever idea pops into my head and give it a try -- fashion-wise and hair-wise. I never thought I would wear skinny jeans until my husband insisted I try on a pair and turned out they flattered me perfectly. Not all skinny jeans wearers wear thongs and look gross

My next sewing project is a Client dress -- made from a 1930s nurses uniform pattern:

As for vintage specifically -- my heart does belong to the 1930s aesthetically, but I usually mix everything from all different times. And even some days I'm 100% 1937. Mixing it all up is my style. I feel comfortable in it all.