Do you dress down to compensate?

[Berlin]

For myself, I find the idea of dressing down in order to not stand out preposterous. If those around me feel insecure about themselves because they perceive me to be ''dressed up'' that's frankly not my problem. When dressing I put consideration into choosing an outfit that is suitable for the setting(s) in which I will be that day. I don't consider that dressing down though, because I'm trying to dress for the occasion rather than conscientiously dressing in clothes my peers would approve of. Nuts to that! If I were truly worried about how people would react to my clothes I would just wear sweatpants and t-shirts like everyone else. Those types of mental barriers are just that--mental. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if you dress the way you want to in the modern world. Some might make rude comments, but it isn't as though you could face jail time or a forced visit to a psychiatrist.

I wear outdated clothes and dress by outdated standards that say a house dress shouldn't be worn outside of the house, a hat should be worn when going out, no slacks in professional settings, etc. Just because I wear vintage on a daily basis doesn't mean I'm likely to show up in a frilly 1950s prom dress to class. I just have higher standards than most people.

Amen.
'Nuff said.

 

[sheeplady]

I work in a conservative field, so wearing suits everyday is considered entirely appropriate for me (Causal fridays mean no suits in my field). However, my actual work environment can be quite casual because we have people from several fields, so some people are quite casual. Good diversity.

However, when I go to a conference, since my field is so conservative, I hold really strictly to my field's conception of business formal and would only wear an outfit was dark blue or black, within the acceptable skirt lengths and shirt colors. Something like red lipstick is not considered appropriate, so I wouldn't wear it. I feel it would be disrespectful to not adhere to the standards of clothing considered appropriate for my profession at the conference. I would actually be "dressed down" in most vintage or vintage-inspired stuff I own at such a place and would stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[SayCici]

Luckily the girls I know and hang out with from time to time are like me - they don't wear vintage, but they like wearing skirts, dresses, heels, hats, etc. so I just get compliments and not dirty looks!

 

[tuppencehapenny]

I dress quite "normal" most of the time, it just happens that a lot of what I wear is vintage. I've always worn skirts and dresses (never been able to get trousers to fit since I was a teen) I don't think I particularly look "dressed up" in a mid-40s shirtwaist day dress or knee-length skirt and wool cardigan, even to the jeans-and-a-T-shirt crowd. Of course, all that changes when I add a hat, but I've never had a negative comment.

 

[Hey_Laaaaaady!]

I almost *always* have my hair and makeup done, because I've found it affect my self-esteem (negatively) if I don't. That itself is "dressed up" to some people.

But I try to maintain vintage standards when wearing vintage clothes, ie, (as one member said) don't wear a housedress when a girl back then would've worn a wool suit & hat! I try to dress appropriate to the occasion, taking vintage clothing standards into thought.

But when I'm not wearing vintage I like to dress nicely--well, what some people would call dressed up. Nice tops, slacks or jeans with boots/heels, and in this weather, my leather jacket, beret, and cute little gloves.