Do your best/worst!

[Dixon's Dame]

Best: "Where'd you get the cute dress?"

Worst: Best friend gives me very skeptical looks when I wear my hair up (I'm still practicing, so some of those looks are warranted). At least she stopped harrassing me about my hats.

Oddest: I was walking my dogs wearing my WWII buckle boots and a neighbor said, "I've never seen boots like that, are they for snake protection?"

 

[Rosie]

Best: That is a great outfit.

Oddest: Are you religious?

[huh] [huh] :eusa_doh: A real comment fromt the cultural plethora of New York City.

That's funny. I'm a New Yorker too and have gotten that "are you religious?" question. Actually, last summer I was taking classes and this guy asked me out to lunch one day, I went with him and then every day after that we had lunch, breaks, etc. together. He then asked me which church I attended my answer was "none" he was absolutely shocked. He thought the fact that I wore dresses, skirts and dressed vintage meant I was religious but like really, really religious, which I am not.

Normally people just think I'm prissy or stuck up. [huh]


The best: One day I went to my mom's house and when I walked in she just stared at me and started crying, she went on and on about how I looked JUST like her mom, she said it was like looking in her mother's face. I always resembled her but for some reason that particular day, with those particular clothes, it was just too much.

 

[Strider]

Strider, I LOVE your icon!

Thanks! I saw that episode of Animaniacs on YouTube last night, and knew it had to be an avatar! The episode was called "This Pun for Hire", if anyone's interested in watching it.

The nice comments always make up for the bad ones, don't they? I'm wondering, though, how easy is it for the people on the FL to ignore the bad comments? Is it just a thing where you take the time to develop a thick skin, and honestly don't think about it when someone calls you Inspector Gadget or Count Chocula? I must concede that when I was called Inspector Gadget, it made me feel stupid and utterly self concious, whereas I didn't think that before. The fact that this man got half the store to laugh at me as I was doing my shopping made it worse. It was a very mortifying experience :cry:, so I wonder, how easy would it be for some of the people here to put that out of their minds?

 

[Tomasso]

Worst: Christmas time on a crowded Michigan Ave. in Chicago. As I passed three preppy college aged kids, one turns to me and begins screaming at the top of his lungs,"I love the hat and you look fantastic". This was not meant as a compliment. He repeated this several times until literally hundreds of people were staring at us. His friends laughed initially but after the third refrain they began to get a bit nervous.

I stopped momentarily as I was startled but I was soon on my way, then when I was several yards away I heard an equally loud voice ask,"How do you like my hat". I glance behind me to see a CPD Sergeant screaming into the kid's grill, which immediately brought a smile to my face. Then passersby began hurling insults at the kid. Jerk. Punk. A**hole. So I guess it had a happy ending, almost heartwarming.


Best: Several years ago I was voted "best dressed" by the two women(seniors) who run the cloakroom at my club. I considered it a high honor as there are hundreds of very well dressed men who are members of the club. Shortly after the ladies bestowed their award I began receiving regular complements, for my dress, from the club staff and many of the African American members but interestingly none from the white membership.(I should add that the ladies are AA and I am white). Finally, I was clued into the situation when, during a break in a pick-up basketball game, another player(an AA) congratulated me on the award. He then explained to me that there was a relatively small group of people who were even aware of its existence. Seems that it was something of a "stealth" award, which made it much more valuable to me.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Best: "I love the way you dress. More guys should dress like you." From a young woman in her early 20's.

Worst: "Hey, Al Capone! You look like Al Capone!"

Yeah, and I acted like Al Capone, too. It might not be considered the best response by a lot of people, but I was raised by my father to look after myself and not take crap from anyone. If someone tries to make fun of me in public, then they'd better give me a public apology or shape up, simple as that. Rude people need to be taught manners.

 

[Lady Day]

Best Worse

Worst: Why dont you dress your age. You look like you raided your grandmother's closet (which I prolly did)


Best: You look like Billie Holliday.



LD

 

[Sefton]

...The nice comments always make up for the bad ones, don't they? I'm wondering, though, how easy is it for the people on the FL to ignore the bad comments?

Being able to ignore the ignorant comments is something that just gets easier with age. When I was younger these things would make me angry. Now that I'm older they become just a minor irritation. Consider the dress of the person(s) making the comment. That's usually enough to bring a smile to your face. lol

 

[Matthew Dalton]

The nice comments always make up for the bad ones, don't they? I'm wondering, though, how easy is it for the people on the FL to ignore the bad comments? Is it just a thing where you take the time to develop a thick skin, and honestly don't think about it when someone calls you Inspector Gadget or Count Chocula? I must concede that when I was called Inspector Gadget, it made me feel stupid and utterly self concious, whereas I didn't think that before. The fact that this man got half the store to laugh at me as I was doing my shopping made it worse. It was a very mortifying experience :cry:, so I wonder, how easy would it be for some of the people here to put that out of their minds?

I tend to ignore people around me in public to the point where it often takes some effort to get my attention at all, I'm generally lost in thought and keeping my mind on my business.

Before reading this I'd completely forgotten about Inspector Gadget. Anticipating what people would throw at me when I'm out and about proved fruitless, teens are generally too ignorant to know about Capone, Dick Tracy and such here I think. Everyone else would probably just stare and whisper. Which I'd quite possibly enjoy.

If it does happen you could always turn to them and yell "GO-GO GADGET FINGER!" then flip them the bird and walk away.

 

[LolitaHaze]

If it does happen you could always turn to them and yell "GO-GO GADGET FINGER!" then flip them the bird and walk away.

Bwhahahaa! Now I wish I was a boy so I could use that! :eusa_clap

 

[SWTroopers]

Sideburns and fedoras...

When I was heavily into the rockabilly scene I'd hear a lot of Elvis comments. They were always meant to be a negative, but I kind of got a kick out them. On the other hand, comparisons to the 90210 guys was something I always hated. I had sideburns long before those punks!

I've been fortunate to get nothing but positive comments in my lids. Best one was from an older gentleman at the stockyards that just broke out into a beaming smile and said "now that's a hat!" It made my day!

Marc

 

[magneto]

That's funny. I'm a New Yorker too and have gotten that "are you religious?" question.
{{respectfully SNIPped}}

I get that too! (on the West Coast) I guess because Pentacostals and some Baptists are supposed to wear below-the-knee skirts.

Come to think of it, true, most of the smiles/complliments I (and/or the other vintage-dressed people I'm with) get come from middle-aged/older African-Americans, doubtless because they seem to be the only people in mainstream America who still largely remember how to dress properly!!

 

[mysterygal]

dressing vintage, your in a whole other class of posh. A well put together lady or guy will undoubtly get far more compliments than criticisms...though on the other hand, I've noticed that people are pretty stingy on giving out compliments these days. For me, I would say for every 9 compliments, I get maybe 1 bad comment...so it makes it easier to not let it affect me at all!

 

[Hiram]

Best: Me and the missus out shopping, stopped by a woman who was dressed to the nines and oozed style: "My, don't you two look wonderful! *sigh* People just don't dress anymore, do they?"

Worst: "Damn, dude! That shirt is ug-LEE!"

 

[Veronica Parra]

[Middle-aged / older African-Americans] seem to be the only people in mainstream America who still largely remember how to dress properly!!

Los Angeles has a lot of Armenians. I have noticed that Armenian (and Middle-Eastern) women dress quite well, noticeably better than do many other American women. Not to mention women from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who look SO very beautiful in their saris.

 

[Lady Day]

Come to think of it, true, most of the smiles/complliments I (and/or the other vintage-dressed people I'm with) get come from middle-aged/older African-Americans, doubtless because they seem to be the only people in mainstream America who still largely remember how to dress properly!!

That is who hits on me most, older men of color. Mainly black men, or Mexican men, both with their canes and polished shoes. But they do it in a real sweet way, "Hey there pretty lady, you are too pretty not to smile." or something of that nature. Ive even heard men at tables, playing their dominos and say, "Now that's a beautiful woman." How great does THAT make you feel?!

Now if only the fellas MY AGE could say things like that . . .

LD

 

[Jack Scorpion]

The Best happened last Saturday... said to me by Mark Grace (swoon), "Now that's good looking!!"

Hey, now there you go!

---
Very politically incorrect, I must add that in the city, it seems to me that black people--of all ages--tend to be the ones to compliment. 90% of compliments recieved for me are as such. I'm not complaining.

 

[Rosie]

Come to think of it, true, most of the smiles/complliments I (and/or the other vintage-dressed people I'm with) get come from middle-aged/older African-Americans, doubtless because they seem to be the only people in mainstream America who still largely remember how to dress properly!!

Very politically incorrect, I must add that in the city, it seems to me that black people--of all ages--tend to be the ones to compliment. 90% of compliments recieved for me are as such. I'm not complaining.

Not politically incorrect in my eyes. I think, and this is only my personal point of view, people of color especially older, really appreciate a well dressed person. Dressing that way, in their eyes, commands respect. Have you ever seen a group of especially older black people going to service on Sunday morning? :eusa_clap It's a beautiful thing.

I know that with my family as I've stated before, a man is not dressed unless he dons a hat upon his head. When my dad, uncles and their friends go outside on the porch and talk (a favorite passtime of retired men of color) their casual is a pair of pressed slacks, a tailored shirt, though they may not wear the tie, polished shoes and a panama. Oh, and they daren't leave the porch without their jacket, unless it's too hot, then it gets carried out on their arm. My dad used to press his jeans, I always got a kick out of that.

I usually get my compliments from older women and men of color. Maybe it's just the neighborhood I live in.

 

[decodoll]

Best: I get "You looked like you stepped out of the silver screen" fairly often.

Worst: This was fairly recently. I was riding the street car to work, and this crazy, drunk guy started going on loudly(to himself) about how horrible it was to dress in 1940's vintage because they were all racist back then. I'm assuming I'm the one that set him off. After about 10 minutes of that, he switched to telling a guy with a jersey on with some sort of logo on the sleeve that he was a nazi....

 

[Viola]

I think, and this is only my personal point of view, people of color especially older, really appreciate a well dressed person. Dressing that way, in their eyes, commands respect. Have you ever seen a group of especially older black people going to service on Sunday morning? :eusa_clap It's a beautiful thing.

I am shy about walking up to people I don't know on the street, (can we say city girl?) but I REALLY want to know where these ladies buy their hats! Maybe they bought them years ago, I don't know, but older black women on their way to church have an disproportionate number of spectacularly great hats.:eusa_clap

Orthodox Jewish women also often tend to dress in a vintage-esque style frequently since they need long sleeves and long skirts and often wear hats to cover their hair. (Their hats are rarely in the same league as the Baptist ladies, though.) I really liked the couple of services I was at; quite a change from my Conservative synagogue and all the blue jeans and Iggles jerseys! I could get used to that.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Hm...

I don't know about best and worst, but how about funniest?

Last year at my company's Christmas party there were superlatives. I was voted "Most likely to buy fabulous vintage clothing on eBay". (I guess they noticed me slacking off at work! lol)

I don't really move in circles where people are going to comment negatively. Most are either curious questions or kids saying things like "Are you going to a costume party?" (To which I always reply, "Well, sort of.")