From blah to "oh my gosh... look at him/her!"

[Sefton]

When I was a teenager back in the bad/good old '70s I just wore what everyone else wore...t-shirts and jeans. When I was in my early 20s I ran as fast as I could away from anything remotely resembling Hippydom. Living in San Francisco can do that to you... I've always loved old movies and hats so it was just a matter of time (and some gained self-confidence) before I took my first stab at dressing in the manner of our more formal past. In the early '90s I started wearing 50s style jacket/trouser combinations. I sometimes slipped back into the old ways though.
In the last few years I realized that I now feel more comfortable dressing in suits,etc. I like to look like an adult now (of course this doesn't effect my collecting vintage toys! I'm the best dressed kid in the toy shop now!lol )

 

[Zach R.]

Well, I wore faded jeans, white K-Swiss tennis shoes, Billabong/Quiksilver t-shirts, and "designer" hoodies(when it was cooler weather), CONSTANTLY. I mean, everything in my wardrobe was pretty much the same(I had two pairs of K-Swiss, for example)

But, I was never emo, goth, or any of that other stuff, I was just, well, bland when you think about it.

You probably couldn't pick me out of a crowd because I blended in so well.

 

[magneto]

Interesting responses!
Goth to punk to mod-ska gal to 30s-50s vintage enthusiast. Temporally, a strictly linear backwards trajectory; stylistically, ever forward!

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

My friends and I refer to rockabilly as the "punk rock retirement plan". The natural progression for most of the people in the "scene" around here seems to be: skinhead-punk rocker-mod-rockabilly-vintage
(Not skinhead as in Nazi, skinhead as in, shave your head and ride around on scooters and listen to rocksteady and stand by your brothers. [huh] )

Personally, I have always had a unique pick-out-of-a-crowd style but didn't get into vintage until I was in college.

 

[decodoll]

Victorian Goth to Vintage/Goth Hybrid to full Vintage (Now in Technicolor!) lol

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I was a "filthy grunge kid" in my teens, not quite as bad as some I knew who would roll out of bed in yesterday's makeup and roll into school without washing, but I did have long blonde dreadlocks and a much be-grimed pair of combat trousers. I listened to a lot of grunge and metal then. I progressed into clean, but low slung baggy jeans, hoodies, and skater-type clothes and shoes until I was about 23, I looked less metal and more hiphop, and I cut my hair short, then had like braided extensions and a sort of angular emo kid haircut later (before it was fashionable, because I am *that* cool ) and progressed to the sort of rockabilly/retro/whatever I feel like wearing look I have today.

About 2 years ago I cut my hair into bettie bangs and wore mostly 50s capris and rolled up jeans with halternecks and tanks until I started taking a real interest in vintage looks. I think I have always looked different, though I used to be vehemently against wearing clothes from high-street stores, now I wear whatever suits me. It's great that a lot of the looks I like are in fashion (pencil skirts, waist cinching belts, ballet flats etc) though a lot of my look stem from my hair, which I usually do daily. If I have boring hair I feel boring, but if I have pincurls, rolls or a big ol' pomp I feel so much more glamorous. And I rarely wear my nice clothes to work, so my hair is kind of an anachronism by itself, but really, who cares? I have never liked to be pigeonholed anyway! People have always stared at me on the street, so it doesn't ever bother me any more. I just hope that now it's because I look different in a stylish way, rather than a "what the hell are you wearing/you look a state" kind of way.

 

[Senator Jack]

Portrait of the artist as a young punk

You can tell this young lad had no style - it was before he discovered pocket squares!

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[herringbonekid]

jesus and mary chain...the smiths...james dean...the 50s...the 40s...the 30s...in that order

 

[Hemingway Jones]

So what do you think it is? I know several people on the swing dance scene who were part of the hole messed up lookin' dirty clothes and messed up hair and just plain bummed out I can't stand the world scene who made a 360 all around the same time...
...How about you? what were you like before the style bug hit?

Don't you mean a "180?"
A "360" is when you start out one way, change, do this and that, then go back exactly where you started; 360 being a full circle.
Actually, except for a brief bit of bushy hair in my teens, I have always been pretty much exactly the same. Although, I did wear a white "Miami Vice" style suit with a turquoise t-shirt underneath back in the 80s!

I started life out like this:


And ended up like this:

 

[TommySalieri]

Don't you mean a "180?"
A "360" is when you start out one way, change, do this and that, then go back exactly where you started; 360 being a full circle.
Actually, except for a brief bit of bushy hair in my teens, I have always been pretty much exactly the same. Although, I did wear a white "Miami Vice" style suit with a turquoise t-shirt underneath back in the 80s!

I started life out like this:


And ended up like this:

I noticed that the poor primate has lost it's ears in the latter picture. Is there something that happened to that unfortunate plastic chimp in between then and now?

 

[Zach R.]

Hey, the monkey's style changed more than yours.

Looks like he had a bit of cosmetic surgery to his protruding ears as well. lol

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I noticed that the poor primate has lost it's ears in the latter picture. Is there something that happened to that unfortunate plastic chimp in between then and now?

Yes, about 35 years! -and a little sister.

And Zach, thank you for not pointing out any similarities between both primates.

 

[TommySalieri]

And Zach, thank you for not pointing out any similarities between both primates.

Oh, well. If you insist... lol

 

[Zach R.]

Yes, about 35 years! -and a little sister.

And Zach, thank you for not pointing out any similarities between both primates.

You don't know how hard it was for me to restrain myself.lol

 

[Robert Conway]

I guess I was never part of a scene myself... I am a true X gener and missed the new-wave, punk, grunge, goth, new mod (how can they be mod wearing vintage clothes... that just seems backwards)... whatever trend. I was always the one who didn't fit in, though could always hang out with them all, even with the ones who didn't fit in, and said they didn't... I just didn't fit in with them.

Well that just about sums things up for me, too.

I remember hanging out with some friends one night at Medusa's in Chicago circa 1989/90. My buddy had orange hair, a tweed jacket, torn jeans, a silk shirt that at best could be described as an explosion of color and a crazy 9ft scarf. The girls that were with us could have been extras in any Depeche Mode video you have ever seen. It was par for the course and beyond for the rest of the huge club. And in the middle of all of this I was wearing tan khakis, a pale yellow Polo shirt (complete with pony) and Oxblood loafers. Believe it or not I also had a white cable knit Polo tennis sweater with me. I left half deaf, but I made a bunch of friends and had a fun time.

And that's pretty much how its always been.

In high school and college I never belonged to any group in particular. I would hang out with everyone from the skaters and punks to the math geeks and the plain old normal folk, but I never got along with the jocks and hippies. In some strange way I constituted a group of my own. The only classification that has been universally applied to me is that I am a fossil, a ghost. Out of step with time and everyone else. And it doesn't even seem to matter what I wear. I get the same reactions in jeans and a t-shirt or in a suit.

 

[Etienne]

Fossils. (Relics). I LIKE that! What a great name for vintage lovers! HA!!!

 

[Matt Deckard]

Don't you mean a "180?"
A "360" is when you start out one way, change, do this and that, then go back exactly where you started; 360 being a full circle.
Actually, except for a brief bit of bushy hair in my teens, I have always been pretty much exactly the same. Although, I did wear a white "Miami Vice" style suit with a turquoise t-shirt underneath back in the 80s!

My circles have twice as many degrees.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

You talkin' crankshaft degrees or camshaft degrees? lol

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

My own transformation

I've been going back and forth with my look. I did wear a fedora and even a bowler when I was in high school, but I'd fall into the t-shirt and ill-fitting trousers look. I'd be in denial about my waist size and try to squeeze into my old pants that really didn't fit any more.

Within the last six months or so, I've taken control over my appearance. Just a pair of Dockers that were the right size, and some long sleeve collared shirts were a vast improvement. That was a start. Dockers aren't exactly vintage style, but in my size, they are high-waisted enough to approximate the old style.

I went without a hat for years, but I started wearing them again this past December, and I subsequently discovered this place. I've been inspired by the guys in this place, and have rediscovered fashion after being entirely unimpressed by the fashion of today. I now know that one doesn't have to be a "metrosexual" to give a damn about one's appearance.

Now I have my first Indy Magnoli suit, indeed the first really quality made-to-measure suit in my life, and I enjoy it and am planning on getting some more.

Here's the odd bit. My weight has always high but has fluctuated over the years as I'd get interested and then lose interest in eating right and exercising. Since I've been dressing better and taking care of my appearance, I've actually lost about ten pounds. I haven't really changed my diet or gotten any more excercise. It seems to be that my improved style and wardrobe has improved my whole outlook, and that positive attitude may have resulted in weight loss. I haven't read any studies on the matter, but I've always been convinced that mental attitude can have physiological consequences.

Now I need more new clothes in a (slightly) smaller size, but that's a small price to pay.

P.S. I'm now shopping for a steam iron and an ironing board. If you knew me, you would be quite shocked!

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is such an inspiring thread -- and I think it's a good reminder that we shouldn't be too harsh in criticising the trendies we see around every day. After all, they might just be looking at us and thinking "Hey, now, I wish I could pull off a look like *that*!"

Love the trendie, hate the trend, in other words.

My own story isn't anywhere near so dramatic -- I was kind of an anti-trendie thruout my childhood. Very much the straight-arrow...

I'm afraid I was painfully smug and self-satisfied in my Squareness, even. No wonder they used to give me such a hard time on the playground.

I first did a full-scale forties look on a regular basis back in the late Eighties. There were all those spandex leggings and giant shoulder pads and mall bangs floating around back then, and I felt like I had to take a firm stand. There was no such thing as a Retro Scene in those days, no such thing as a Fedora Lounge, so I was pretty much on my own -- but now it's nice to see I'm not!