Vintage Daily Wear

[Miss Neecerie]

I wore a long linen-esque skirt camping with FL'ers a couple weekends ago. There are pictures in the Archaeological Expedition thread in Events.

Granted...the skirt and tropical expedition looking shirt-jacket....were from Wal-Mart and cost all of 15 dollars each....But they survived hiking around in the desert for a whole day just fine and were comfy.

and I cheated on shoes and just wore modern looking ones....but thats better then falling over hiking, in my opinion.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

You are always impecably dressed, JBD:eusa_clap I excected nothing less from you! I admire and respect your style

Thank you Goldleaf! You just made my day.

These photos of Norma Jeane give a general idea of the overall look (though I usually don't tie my blouse that high for hiking lol):

And I do agree with Miss Neecerie when it comes to wearing safe footwear.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've got a couple of sturdy cotton utility-type dresses -- including a '30s-era "American Golfer" shirtwaist -- that I tend to wear when I'm doing outdoors stuff, along with my saddle shoes. And, I have also been known to wear -- oh my! -- a vintage baseball cap!

 

[goldwyn girl]

The last time I ever hiked anywhere was to the top of Diamond Head in Hawaii. I wore high heel shoes and a frock. I don't recommend it but I sure did amuse the military boys who were jogging it up and down.

 

[MissyVamp]

Yoo hoo from WKD / Hourglass site!

Oh, exactly!
Indeed, I have bought reproduction pieces, only to go to a show and see four other gals wearing it. I always think to myself how uncomfortable they must feel, and am always glad that I opted to wear something else, haha!

But we can't all afford to buy vintage, or get it to fit us...

Fab Avatar you have on here - you look great!

Siobhan

 

[zaika]

sheesh. if i could even FIND vintage clothing in my size (huge), you bet i'd be wearing it everyday. there would be nothing better, in my mind. i'm so bored with modern clothing. i feel like a schlub.
i guess learning to sew would fix this! LOL.

 

[kamikat]

I have bowed to peer pressure for too long. In the past, I've worn vintage only on the weekends. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so you'd think I'd be able to wear what I want. However, the other moms are just like those old high school cliques. I don't really fit in anyway, so I might as well wear what I want. I'm losing lots of weight and I've decided all my new clothes will either be vintage or made from vintage patterns.

 

[Eleanor Marie]

I Wish......

I wish I had the money and was the right size to fit into vintage stuff.... however, at the mo we seem to be having a 40's and 50's revival in english fashion and its doing my wardrobe the world of good but not my bank balance!! :eusa_doh:
I accept that I will have to make do with repro and am finding some nice stuff that fits and I still manage to get compliments from people. I am generally managing to make an effort more days than not to dress vintage style and the infamous glasses help, they are vintage!!!! I did manage to get some lovely jewellery from when my Nana died last year and wearing pieces I know she loved. That means a lot to me.

 

[Helen Troy]

If anyone needs to get clothing "distressing" supplies (fullers earth pounce bags, "schmutz" dirt/sweat/grass stain sticks) etc, you don't have to get the full kit from Western Costume.

Manhattan Wardrobe Supply sells distressing supplies online and you can either buy a whole kit or just key individual items.

Here's the link:
http://wardrobesupplies.com/store/

Click on the tab for "distressing"

Hope this is helpful.

(I do this stuff for a living)

Thank you so much! I just wish I had this info a month ago, when I was making a prarie-dress that had to look that it had been lived in for a couple of years. I did the color-it-dirty-with-coffe-trick, but ended up smelling like coffee the whole time!

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

I have bowed to peer pressure for too long. In the past, I've worn vintage only on the weekends. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so you'd think I'd be able to wear what I want. However, the other moms are just like those old high school cliques. I don't really fit in anyway, so I might as well wear what I want. I'm losing lots of weight and I've decided all my new clothes will either be vintage or made from vintage patterns.

Right now it is just too hot for me to go all tricked out all the time, but come October I plan to be back in the game. Last fall and winter I got some funny looks from the other parents when I picked up my son and stepkids from school, but on the very last day of school I had one of the teachers tell me that some of them always looked forward to seeing what I was wearing every day! It was a lovely compliment, but I had long since stopped worrying about what other parents think of me and my kid. When my daughter was in kindergarten long ago, I was the youngest mom there at age 23, and got some funny looks then too! Don't worry about it, just be yourself. Better that than to be a clone!! :eusa_clap

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I wish I had the money and was the right size to fit into vintage stuff.... however, at the mo we seem to be having a 40's and 50's revival in english fashion and its doing my wardrobe the world of good but not my bank balance!! :eusa_doh:
I accept that I will have to make do with repro and am finding some nice stuff that fits and I still manage to get compliments from people. I am generally managing to make an effort more days than not to dress vintage style and the infamous glasses help, they are vintage!!!! I did manage to get some lovely jewellery from when my Nana died last year and wearing pieces I know she loved. That means a lot to me.

I agree, we are having a bit of a 40's and 50's revival. I've seen a lot of darling belted shirtwaist dresses in a few of the stores that I will mix with some vintage accessories for fall. The one thing I can't wait to go out of style is those empire waist shirts that are far too popular nowadays. I think that it's funny that shirts went from being far too short to being far too long!! When it was once fashionable to show ones naval, it is now fashionable to wear a shirt that comes down to the hips. My how styles do go from one extreme to another.
But, those empire waist shirts are just so unflattering, even on the tall and lanky girls, they just look horrible. They make the thinnest of girls look like they have a tummy. Now, I think the only people who are benefiting from these styles are ladies who are pregnant. My sister is pregnant and she is able to buy the cutest tops, really stylish. Although maternity wear has come a very long way in the style department. Some of her outfits are cuter than what I can find in the ladies department! But then again she's lucky. She's tiny, one of those thin girls with just a tummy:rage: If you look at her from behind you wouldn't know she was pregnant. But, she's only 6 months along, there's still time !!!! (joking)

But anyway, I don't dress vintage every day. It's not that I don't like it, it's just not for me. I've always been a bit of a preppy. JCrew and Brooks Brothers have always been my favorite stores to shop. In the summer I live in dresses. If I wear a vintage dress, I'll wear it with flip flops, unless it's to an event or for a night on the town, then I bring out the vintage shoes. On the weekends I will dress vintage. But I'd say I wear more classic style than vintage. Although the past few falls I've gone a little funkier than I have in the past. I'll wear cute dresses but pair them with funky painted or embroidered tights and suede boots. I have a huge collection of funky tights. I had a lot of trouble finding them here in the states, but was so happy to find them very popular in Europe, so last year in Italy I stocked up. I'm hoping to find a bunch more when I go to France in November.
So for me it's really not about choosing one style over another. It's really a blending of different styles that makes me happy. Some days I just feel like getting all dolled up and being Vintage Daisy, the next day I feel more funky and pull out argyle tights, knee high boots and a pinstriped belted oxford dress. The next day you'll see me in high waisted wide legged trousers, a tight oxford and elegant high heels, making me into straight laced Daisy. Hmm, I'm beginning to think that I have multiple personality disorder!!!

Dressing vintage is fun! But, dressing up regardless of what era you're wearing is fun too. Just an observation, when I'm dressed neatly, whether it's in vintage or modern, I get more smiles, and I get treated a bit nicer. I know we are a group of gals who like to dress/collect vintage. But I think, at least for me, the allure of the 30's and 40's isn't just because it's clothing from a time period that I like but because of the elegance of the clothing from that era. I like to find modern pieces that also emulate that elegance. Weed through the racks of too low waisted pants and far too high waisted tops, and we can all find something with the elegance and class of yesteryear Besides, any of you ladies can make a piece of cloth on a hangar look like a million bucks when you slip it on!!!

 

[Ada Veen]

I generally only dress vintage for special occasions... what my parents called 'best'. Going out, going shopping etc.

My vintage clothes are the most expensive in my wardrobe everything else being charity shop (or 'thrift' for the Americans!) so they are very precious to me and I don't want to wear them out!

 

[kamikat]

When my daughter was in kindergarten long ago, I was the youngest mom there at age 23, and got some funny looks then too! Don't worry about it, just be yourself. Better that than to be a clone!! :eusa_clap

Would you believe that I was also the youngest mom when my son was in kindergarten? Here's the big difference, I was 30 at the time.
I'm gonna take your example! I'll go into my kids' school with my head held high and my high heels on (well, maybe my saddle shoes )

 

[Grnidwitch]

I have bowed to peer pressure for too long. In the past, I've worn vintage only on the weekends. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so you'd think I'd be able to wear what I want. However, the other moms are just like those old high school cliques. I don't really fit in anyway, so I might as well wear what I want. I'm losing lots of weight and I've decided all my new clothes will either be vintage or made from vintage patterns.

Kami,

You just be you honey. I think you are a beautiful girl no matter what your weight. You make those other women feel bad because they don't take care of themselves. You are what a woman/mother/girl/lady whatever really is. All you ladies are. I think every one of you are beautiful in her own way. Since coming to this site, I find myself wanting to let my inner girly girl come out. That is my new goal.

 

[ShortClara]

I agree with Grnidwitch, Kamikat! Be who you want to be and the positive vibes will follow! I do feel resented sometimes when I am clearly "out dressing" as it were the other ladies I am around, but you can't let it bother you. In my office where I temp, the entire place has stepped up it's fashion over the last couple of months, and I do wonder if it's my influence. The girls show me their new shoes or whatever, and comment about how they are more like my silly shoes

Be the you you want to be and be happy in your choices - I think radiating happiness brings light and happiness to you, in the form of new friends out there in competitive mommy-land!

 

[Nashoba]

I agree too. I've found myself toning it down or dressing more modern when I'm with certain people (like at home with my parents and when I went to DL with my friends a couple of weeks ago) and I never feel like I'm being true to myself when I do it. I have my lazy days when I feel like wearing a tshirt and jeans or shorts but I just feel like I'm not being me if I don't dress the way I want.
It's hard not to bend yourself to the world sometimes. But forget 'em all they're just jealous cause you look sooooo good!!!

 

[NicolettaRose]

I used to dress vintage a lot, do the whole thing, hat, shoes, gloves, hair, dress shoes, but ever since I have come to LA, I have toned it down a little bit. I still do wear vintage, but most of the time, I am dressed in modern, though I mostly wear dresses. I guess in the SF Valley, when it is so hot, its just to wear a mini dress and some flip flops.

 

[kamikat]

Wow! You ladies are such a source of inspiration!

 

[Kishtu]

Does anybody else find that having worn vintage, they find it hard to go back?

I can not - and I mean can not in that it makes me feel quite physically ill - wear 100% man-made fabrics, I hate the feel of them, the look of them, everything about them. I even struggle a bit with acetate linings "Contemporary" clothes - by which I mean trendy stuff, not repro - just feel wrong to me, they feel badly cut and skimpy.

I sometimes think that there's a very interesting pyschological profile to be had from what people wear, not just in the image that it presents to the world, but as in why people choose to wear disposable, one-season-only mass-produced clothes.

 

[kamikat]

I can totally understand what you're talking about. When I started sewing garments for historical reenactment (17th cent stuff), I quickly got used to wearing only 100% cotton, linen or wool. I won't wear anything that's polyester. Now that I've started sewing with vintage and repro patterns, I don't know if I can go back to modern patterns. The vintage patterns fit me so much better, without a ton of alterations.