Vintage dressing for... the lesser endowed lady

[ShortClara]

I have a small upper part of body (yes, small breasts too) but wiiiiiideee hips and I am 5'7'' -> is that short or tall for vintage measurments?
any styling tips for me?

Seems tall looking up from 5'1" I'd say all the bust enhancing tips discussed above. For the hips, you can either emphasize them in figure hugging skirts and dresses for that man-killer look or de-emphasize them with a poofier skirt. The wideness looks like it's skirt and not hips so much.

 

[Paisley]

I have a small upper part of body (yes, small breasts too) but wiiiiiideee hips and I am 5'7'' -> is that short or tall for vintage measurments?
any styling tips for me?

I suggest avoiding any details around the hip area, like pocket flaps or trim. It will just call attention to the hips. Avoid tight-fitting pants, too; anything tight will make you look bigger.

 

[Vintage Betty]

I have a small upper part of body (yes, small breasts too) but wiiiiiideee hips and I am 5'7'' -> is that short or tall for vintage measurments?
any styling tips for me?

Without seeing a photo, I'm thinking straight line 1920's and 1930's dresses with lowered waistline would look fabulous on you.

Vintage Betty

 

[desi_de_lu_lu]

I wish I had this problem...

If I could only make donations, I am all boobs and hips...

 

[ShortClara]

Without seeing a photo, I'm thinking straight line 1920's and 1930's dresses with lowered waistline would look fabulous on you.

Vintage Betty

As a well-hipped girl, I'll say this style makes me look like a mile-wide cinder block and I can never, ever wear it. Without definition at the waist, it's all wide-load! Just sayin'

 

[Helen Troy]

I'll chime in on this one, since I too am not exactly top-heavy. I find that it's good to avoid tops that are too close-fitting or low-cut. I sew most of my own clothes, and have learned to leave the tops of dresses just a little bit blousier than the pattern might call for -- this kind of camouflages the lack of size upstairs.

I have to disaggree upon that I think that one of the advantagdes of been small-breasted is that I can wear quite low-cut things. I think a low-cut dress is sensual and elegant on me, but with a cleavage the same dress would have been rather tacky. I find the best style to be halter-neck!

 

[Goldfish]

Thanks a lot ladies for sharing your knowledge!

I have a lot of problems with finding modern tops long enough to cover my upper part of body and maybe that will be even more difficult concerning vintage clothes?
My idea is not really authentic, but could I substitute normal tops with dresses? Any other suggestions?

For the bottom part I really have to search for pencil skirts I think... I don't feel very comfortable in sailor pants... alternatives?

 

[jazthejitterbug]

Someone else who has a 13-year-old gymnast figure is one of my dance teachers, Tiffiny Wine. She doesn't wear much vintage anymore, mostly jeans and form-fitting tops now, but she always looks good. Here are some YouTube videos of her; you can see what she wears.

Wow! That is some seriously wonderful dancing!

She is very dainty; I think we're *slightly* less slight, a little more muscular maybe, but a lot of the advice seems great, and I'm really pleased to see more advice coming and more folk joining in.

I think perhaps I wll need to drag my sister to a good vintage shop in London to try things on, with regular 'panic' breaks (we share a hatred of shopping and crowds). I'm going to check out the Friday vintage market at Portobello this Friday, in the meantime- hoping I find something for her for Christmas!

Then my cunning plan is to start attending some of the decent clubs in London with her; we went to a 'Burlesque' night here last weekend and were kinda disappointed.