What Makes You Choose One Decade Over Another?

[Caledonia]

I think we've hit on it Rosie! . And I also loved those empire lines, until I found corsets! Not knowing that they could do you serious damage, I really wanted to wear that tiny waist look complete with the forward "S" bend shape they forced you into through the 90s to the 1900s. Silly me . But I eventually found the hobble skirts of the teens and that was me sold. lol I'm just thinking whether my favourite year groupings are also linked to the various periods of female emancipation (ok, setting aside the 50s, but I think there's an argument there too). I'll come back to that after I have a small moment of mental clarity... which obviously may be some time.

 

[decodoll]

I love the fashions, design, music, and movies from the 1920's to the mid-1950's, but from about 1938-1944 is my favourite and the fashions flatter my figure the best. I adore the girly puff sleeves, frills and little doll hats. I can't say there is any particular reason that time period is my favourite besides that being what I'm drawn to. I just love the girl next door look, and I think it suits me. At the same time, sometimes I'm more in a early-mid 30's mood.

 

[Caledonia]

Don't get me wrong about those 30-40 years. Some of the outfits are gorgeous, even with puffy sleeves , but I would look ridiculous whereas other people would look fantastic, yourself included.

 

[decodoll]

Oh, I knew what you meant. We each have different styles that make us look our best. I'm just much more the girl next door than the sophisticate or vamp.

 

[maisie]

But I have to be highly selective for about 4years from 38 to 41/42 when some of the styles got very "little girly" with puff sleeves, frills and just twee-ness.

And to end a really long post Maisie, those are great photos. What book? Don't you love that funny little lapel they did - your photos (1) and (3) show it.

Those photos weren't from a book, I think I found them somewhere on the interent a while back, but they are so lovely and show of the utility look perfectly!

Funnyly enough I really love the little puff sleeve dresses, I think it is quite funny how it went from a really girly look with the puff sleeves to a really military look with padded shoulders and short, and straight, skirts but that's the influence WWII had on Britain.

I also love the variety of colours that were used in the 1940s, also acessories which often made and outfit that had to be worn over and over again (even for years) due to clothes rationing.

Outfits like:

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Not to turn this into a political thing because that isn't what this is but, I like movies, music, entertainment from the earlier periods but, when I'm watching a good movie and that one person of color comes on screen eyes bugged out and having to do that "sambo-ing" thing, it makes me cringe, puts this thing (for lack of a better description) in my stomach, often times, and I'm not exagerrating, it makes me cry.

THAT is the Exact reason why I can never make it all the way through the movie Holiday Inn (I think that's the one...), or, the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers movie, Swing Time.

It gets me EVERY time...

Every couple years that go by, I read the description on TMC and say "Wow, what a cool sounding movie! I thought I'd seen EVERY one with Bing Crosby / Fred & Giner / Whomever in this era, why don't I remember this one?" Then I set it up to tape it. Then I start watching it, really getting into it, loving every minute, wondering how I missed this wonderfu-... AACK those Bastards...

I have to admit, I joke around a lot about wanting to build a Time Machine and go back to the 40s, but I even told a friend (a fellow lounger) that that's the one solitary reason why if time travel became a reality, I could never do it... I'd start sticking my nose into things and get involved, and back in those days, there would be no federal agents coming around afterwards to find out what happened to me, I would just quietly disappear...

too bad, otherwise the 30s-40s are pretty cool.

- Cousin Hepcat

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

OOPS

sorry, didn't realize I was posting in the Powder Room!

I just clicked the New Posts link at the top, saw an interesting post, and replited... guss I'll be more careful about what forum I'm in

- CH

 

[maisie]

This picture below just shows the major difference in styles, even in a few years. I don't think that any one style can suit everybody so we are quite lucky that we can pick and mix what era's we collect and wear. But if you had been living in the 20's you couldn't have worn 40's clothing (if you wanted to be 'in style' anyways!! )

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not sure, but as LizzieMaine and Jitterbug were saying, you just get drawn to an era with no real explanation.

I was thinking more about this, and I guess the best way to explain it is that there's something about our specific period, whichever it is, that just kinda makes it feel like *home.*

On the other hand, when I find myself at the mall or some other place where I can't get away from the skankiness and sleaziness and the crassness of today's culture, it's like I've been dropped into some alien world where I don't speak the language, don't understand the customs, and feel this overwhelming sense that this is NOT where I belong -- a Stranger in a Wicked Strange Land -- and I can't wait to get away from it.

 

[Viola]

I like earlier period hats. By the 50s, ladies hats weren't the same level of high art.

Buuuut I cannot wear 20s straight-up-and-down dresses because you need to be either tall or gamine or preferably both to make that work, and I'm not built that way. I just look like a Munchkin wearing a sack, and while a potato sack might be period, it ain't attractive.

In 40s suits, however, I'm a hottie. lol

There's also the whole Runyon/Nero Wolfe/Indiana Jones setting.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

It's a funny thing: by dressing the vintage way, you gals can choose what looks good on you, depending on the period. Meanwhile, women dressing in today's fashions are pretty much stuck with one look -- the tight, midriff-baring, hip-hugging kind -- whether or not it suits their body type. And more often than not, it doesn't.

In short, you have the advantage!


.

 

[Rosie]

I like earlier period hats. By the 50s, ladies hats weren't the same level of high art.

Isn't that the truth? What happened in the hat department during in after those years?

sorry, didn't realize I was posting in the Powder Room!

I just clicked the New Posts link at the top, saw an interesting post, and replited... guss I'll be more careful about what forum I'm in

- CH

You don't have to apologize, men post here all the time. I post in the "men's" forums.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

It's a funny thing: by dressing the vintage way, you gals can choose what looks good on you, depending on the period. Meanwhile, women dressing in today's fashions are pretty much stuck with one look -- the tight, midriff-baring, hip-hugging kind -- whether or not it suits their body type. And more often than not, it doesn't.

In short, you have the advantage!

This is very true--but again, women who lived in the eras we love so much were stuck with the fashions of the moment, too. So I would say that I'm glad I am not a young woman in the 1920s, because those styles look quite frumpy on my figure! I'm happy to be able to pick and choose what I like best

 

[Rosie]

I wonder if there were a group of people 60+ years ago complaining about the horrible fashion of their time, looking back to an era they found more pleasing.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

This is very true--but again, women who lived in the eras we love so much were stuck with the fashions of the moment, too.

Oh, surely. And it really is unique of our era that we can buck today's trends and choose to dress in the styles of other times.

.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I wonder if there were a group of people 60+ years ago complaining about the horrible fashion of their time, looking back to an era they found more pleasing.

You bet there were! Even so, few women in the '20s, regardless of their age, wished to return to whalebone corsets and hobble skirts. Imagine wearing those on a day-to-day basis ...


.

 

[Novella]

1930s all the way!

LizzieMaine, I like your description of a period as feeling like *home*! I think you said it perfectly.

My interest originally started with World War II, but I've been slowly migrating backwards in time. I started out being a fan of big band swing - Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, etc. But then I found a place online to download late 20s/early 30s jazz dance music and I fell in love. I love the lyrics of the songs! With movies, I love the pre-code era, which I never knew about before when Invasion of the Body Snatchers was one of the oldest movies I'd seen. Modern movies have also added to my interest in the decade, including Gosford Park, I Capture the Castle, and Indiana Jones. Really, the more I become aware of different periods, the more I realize that I love the 1930s and the 1920s the most and feel at "home" in those decades. I think in the mainstream there is a greater awareness of the World War II period, and the 1930s are often just labeled as the "Depression." It seems to take more initiative to learn about the 30s beyond the economic climate - which also may be another reason why I like it. I like to learn about things that counter the accepted ideas of a time - like the conservative aspects of the "roaring" twenties, and the more racy things about the 1930s.

I guess my preference is more due to culture than fashion. I do prefer the 30s look over the 40s look (I'm not so into the big shoulder look and I like the glamour of the 30s), but the deciding factors for me are largely cultural. This is probably because I'm waiting to graduate from college and stop moving around all over the world before I start purchasing vintage clothes so a period's style takes second place to what it produced culturally.

 

[Rosie]

Oh, surely. And it really is unique of our era that we can buck today's trends and choose to dress in the styles of other times.

.

Oh, yeah, forgot about the whale bones and hobble skirts. Ouch! lol

 

[Lauren]

My body shape lends well to the 30's, and so does the shape of my face and my aesthetic preferances. I think I do 1870's and 1910's rather well, but my figure doesn't lend well to areas where an hourglass figure is needed so other victorian eras and 40's and 50's are pretty well out for me.

 

[Caledonia]

I was thinking more about this, and I guess the best way to explain it is that there's something about our specific period, whichever it is, that just kinda makes it feel like *home.*

On the other hand, when I find myself at the mall or some other place where I can't get away from the skankiness and sleaziness and the crassness of today's culture, it's like I've been dropped into some alien world where I don't speak the language, don't understand the customs, and feel this overwhelming sense that this is NOT where I belong -- a Stranger in a Wicked Strange Land -- and I can't wait to get away from it.

Lizzie, one day you and I must share a cup of coffee and several pieces of pie!