Some questions about vintage clothing for everyone.

[Viviene]

Just wondering do most of you ladies wear vintage everyday, or just on special occasions?

I carry a vintage handbag everyday and some of my favorite shoes are from the 70s so I guess you could say it's an everyday thing for me, though I don't actually think about it.

What era do you feel most attached to, or do you play around with all sorts of eras?

My favorite eras are the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Since I sell vintage clothing I buy all eras. Each one has something different to offer and labels don't always attract me. The best item I ever purchased was a homemade dress in liquid gold silk satin from the 1950s.

Does the vintage look extend into your home (ie) antique furniture, retro appliances?

Here and there I have items scattered throughout the house. My husband's grandmother gave us a RCA victrola which is in our living room. We have an art deco dining room set including table, buffet and china closet that I received from my grandparents. They had bought it second hand in the 1930s. Our bedroom furniture is art deco as well. The only appliance I have that is retro is a Dormeyer mixer that I picked up at the Salvation army. It blows the doors off my newer mixer.

Do you mix and match vintage pieces with modern pieces or wear head to toe vintage?

Yes I do mix and match. One reason I do that is that I'm a large size lady so finding an entire outfit in vintage clothing is rather difficult. Mixing and matching works quite well as I love hats, purses and shoes so that makes it a bit easier.

What is your "dream vintage item"?

I don't have one "holy grail" item. My dream vintage item is the next one I find! Each era has something to offer us. As a vintage clothing seller it's up to me to figure out what that something is.

 

[pigeon toe]

To answer your questions:

Just wondering do most of you ladies wear vintage everyday, or just on speciel occasions?

Almost always I wear a vintage-inspired outfit, if not vintage. I'm a jeans and blouse kinda gal (though less so recently), so I usually try to pair vintage style jeans with a vintage (or vintage-inspired blouse). It's hard for me to wear vintage every day because I have "delicate" flat feet (I fractured a bone in my foot last year from wearing one-inch heels all day! Pathetic! ), and an outfit doesn't feel vintage to me unless I'm wearing stockings. And as of right now, I am wedge-less, so I have to suffer with heels. So fear of broken feet is a slight deterrant from wearing skirts for me. However, I do my hair vintage (simple curls & pins) everyday, which definitely adds to the vintage look, even though I'm wearing jeans.

What era do you feel most attached to, or do you play around with all sorts of eras?

Right now I'm definitely mostly into the 1940's. But I love 50's casual & western looks too. I'd say I range from 40's to early 60's (it's so easy for me to do my hair in a big 60's bouffant that I just can't help myself sometimes).

Does the vintage look extend into your home (ie) antique furniture, retro applicances?

Somewhat! Luckily my roommate loves mid-century modern as much as I do (I'm more drawn to that sort of furniture rather than deco), so it's expressed in much of our furniture. My boyfriend and I love going to estate sales and picking up stuff for our future home. Right now he has a gigantic vintage radio and TV he has nowhere to put!

Do you mix and match vintage pieces with modern pieces or wear head to toe vintage?

I wish I could wear head-to-toe vintage, but it's just not practical for me on my budget right now. Also, for things like stockings, sticking with vintage all the time is sort of a waste, since most vintage stockings bite the dust way quicker than modern ones.

What is your "dream vintage item"?

There are too many! Right now I am lusting after the perfect pair of high waisted jeans. I bought a pair recently that it just half a size too tight, and it's so frustrating! I also want a whole bunch of 40's day dresses & evening dresses. They are hard to come by for me. Basically, my dream vintage item is anything beautiful that costs less than $20!

 

[NicolettaRose]

Pidegon Toe, I too have foot issues, I don't wear very high heels at all, ever.My problem is my feet are pretty sensetive, but also quite narrow. If you wanted to wear skirts more, I would recommend a cute little ballet flat, in a neutral color, they look great with jeans, as with skirts. As for heeled shoes, I generally go with a pointy toed kitten heel for my with my modern clothing. Gucci is really all that I buy in shoes, because it is comfortable and very well made. They may be expensive, but I wear the worth out of em, another company that makes some nice, very classic shoes is Chanel, I have a pair of Chanel shoes from this year that I can wear with vintage dresses. Also if you are ever on Ebay, check out Ferragamo, they make a very, very cute classic flat called the Vera I believe, it is a flat with a little bow and the gold name plate.

 

[Paul]

I think it is great to see any vintage been worn, even if it is a re production or mixed with modern you have to be practical simply because you live in different times to those ladies in the 40 or 50’s or what ever decade.

Unlike some people who are horrified when they see original vintage been worn I think that if you are careful and choose the right occasion then wearing original vintage is fully justified.

Of course it is increasable difficult to find original vintage in the right size also becoming more and more expensive especially with the older periods to find or put together a full head to toe vintage which is a shame the effort and money is well spent.

Then there is the issue of wearing of wearing some one else cloths unless you can find NOS which is hard to find for very early vintage how far do you go down the route of wearing full original vintage. For me even holding an original 20’s dress holds some sort of emotion which is hard to qualify. Is that the same for every one?
Maybe that is part of collecting vintage apart from having some nice decorative and well made items.

If it’s not possible to wear original vintage mixing or repro are fully justified.

 

[pigeon toe]

Pidegon Toe, I too have foot issues, I don't wear very high heels at all, ever.My problem is my feet are pretty sensetive, but also quite narrow. If you wanted to wear skirts more, I would recommend a cute little ballet flat, in a neutral color, they look great with jeans, as with skirts. As for heeled shoes, I generally go with a pointy toed kitten heel for my with my modern clothing. Gucci is really all that I buy in shoes, because it is comfortable and very well made. They may be expensive, but I wear the worth out of em, another company that makes some nice, very classic shoes is Chanel, I have a pair of Chanel shoes from this year that I can wear with vintage dresses. Also if you are ever on Ebay, check out Ferragamo, they make a very, very cute classic flat called the Vera I believe, it is a flat with a little bow and the gold name plate.

I've got a very, very narrow foot too! Which is great cos I can squeeze into those 5 1/2 AAA vintage shoes, but for modern stuff, I tend to slip right out.

See my problem is, I am addicted to seamed stockings. And to me, they just don't look right with flat shoes! So I'm stuck with heels or wedges, and as of right now I haven't been able to indulge in any vintage or repro wedges. So my feet have to suffer!

Oh, if I could buy Gucci, I totally would! I find Aerosoles to be a good brand too. I can't quite wear them all day without pain, but they are OK for a couple of hours.

Then there is the issue of wearing of wearing some one else cloths unless you can find NOS which is hard to find for very early vintage how far do you go down the route of wearing full original vintage. For me even holding an original 20’s dress holds some sort of emotion which is hard to qualify. Is that the same for every one?
Maybe that is part of collecting vintage apart from having some nice decorative and well made items.

I feel the same way in terms of the "emotion" I get from the clothing. Wearing other people's old clothing doesn't bother me in the slightest because I feel like I am wearing a piece of history. By wearing what women wore back then, I feel like I have some small piece of secret knowledge of how they were like. Because wearing full-on vintage, or at least VI that's as accurate as possible, definitely changes how you move, act, behave, both out of necessity (I can't just plop down on some concrete steps to gab with girlfriends when I'm wearing stockings and a skirt), and out of how it makes you feel.