Your Wardrobe Range.

[mysterygal]

I only have about 4 dresses that I can truly call vintage, the majority is more on the modern side but, on a classic level. I tend not to have much luck finding anything I like at a vintage store so mainly, I keep my eyes out for anything that has the vintage 'feel' to it.

 

[Decobelle]

Hi, my clothes are pretty much all prewar-wartime 40s, with some late 40s-early 50s vintage or authentic repro casual wear (like sweaters and dungarees) filling in the gaps. I have mostly suits since that is what I wear to work every day. Almost all of my shoes are Remix or other vintage inspired as I rarely see vintage ones in my size (and would fear ruining them if I did - I am kind of hard on shoes). I have discovered that the 40s styles best suit my figure, are easily found in my size, and are fortunately what I really like best, too! I admire 20s & 30s and 50s clothes on others very much, though.

 

[Mojito]

What happened was, when I first started collecting, I was fixated on 1920's, and everytime I saw a pretty dress that had my measurements, I automatically "had to have". I'm much more reasonable now, or at least I'd like to hope so.lol I also keep and buy vintage inspired and reproduction vintage modern clothes. I like to mix & match too.

Same issue here! When I started out, I was indiscriminate - if the measurements were broadly correct and if I vaguely liked it, I bought it. Resulted in a lot of lovely, floaty, but slightly repetitive black beaded tabards and 1920s dresses. Now I have a 'collection policy' - not overly rigid, but I do try to acquire particular items within a loose framework in terms of scarcity, what I already have, and condition.

My earliest pieces are Edwardian (or Victorian jewelery), but I focus on the 1920s. Outfits and accessories. I'll also use appropriate reproductions.

 

[timorous me]

I am quite the collector, generally fifties "new look" and rockabilly but it really runs the gamut... But some of my favorite pieces are quite ambiguous as to age, so I'm not quite sure which would be the oldest...

I have one dress that I reckon is the oldest, but I've never been quite able to date it... I found it wadded up in a ball at the bottom of a big box my mother won for ninety-nine cents at an estate auction... Handmade, floor length red and white seersucker, and the panels are beautifully pieced together so that the stripes form a great chevron design - of course it's handmade, so there's no tag, but I've guessed early fifties, maybe? I'm not sure. It's just so simple and so delicate that it could have been made in ANY era. And I have a couple of blouses that I believe are from the forties.

 

[VanillaT]

;-) Well, I don't quite have a wardrobe yet! But I will tell you the years that I wish I did have (whether real vintage or repoduction)!

I am a BIG fan of anything 1930s, and still a fan of the 1920s and 1940s. Actually, what got me started in all of this was watching A & E Poirots and Nero Wolfes. For whatever reason retro stuff seems to be really comforting to me. I feel like even if I am chubbier I will still fit in and look great.

Okay, I will get off of the corny train now.

 

[LadyStardust]

I feel like even if I am chubbier I will still fit in and look great.

And that's the honest truth. My first time out shopping (in the REAL world lol ) for vintage dresses, I remember going into the dressing room with my armful of dresses, anxiously thinking "Oh please, I hope something fits, these are all so wonderful!" As I entered I saw a little collage of vintage images on the door, and in the middle of them were the words "Love vintage, and it'll love you back!" and I really took that to heart, and it really is true. It's almost like the clothes form a bond with you!
Gosh, now I'm being cheesy! Excuse me.

 

[timorous me]

It's almost like the clothes form a bond with you!

IT'S SO TRUE!!! My dresses are like my babies, I love them all and couldn't part with them for anything! It's rare to find modern clothing that makes me feel like that! A great vintage dress is more than just a piece of clothing.

 

[Laughing Magpie]

Vintage clothes hold a special place in my heart too! I love the sense of history that they have.

When I visit my local vintage store, I cluck over the dresses like a mother hen, straightening them out, untangling them from hangers, smoothing them so they hang unwrinkled, picking them up if they *horror!* have fallen to the floor... they aren't really badly looked after there, but you can tell they are sometimes not loved the way they should be!

My own collection of vintage starts with two 30s day dresses, one of which I'm itching to give some TLC too and clean up and mend some seams on. I am especially fond of the 30s, since I think it's the decade that glorifies my relatively broad shoulders on a petite short-waisted frame, though some of the fashions are little too fussy for me. Myrna Loy in the The Thin Man series is my hero! I just love her style!

I love the curves of the 40s and the 50s (especially the 'wiggle' skirts rather than the full skirts), so I have a smattering of those as well. I love 40s suits! Love love love 'em. I have a 40s coat with the most amazing full skirt on it that has been such a hit this winter. And cardigans and sweater/skirt sets are so useful that I have several of those. And I love Hawaiian/Tiki things too.

I don't own a lot of 60s, but I do like the Space Age/Atomic/Mod/whatever thing, and some of the suits are also very smart. I have one scooter dress and a sailor sweater from that era (actually, the purchase that got me started collecting was my Adolpho sailor sweater!)

So far as reproductions go, I have made some of my own that go as far back as the Regency Period - I have a red winter coat that I will wear on dressy occasions, not just costumey ones. Some 50s - I've made boleros for my sister's bridesmaids who were wearing Stop Staring repro dresses for instance.

And I've purchased a couple 50s tiki/bowling sorts of reproductions. My husband loves the shirts at DaddyO's for instance, so I get lots of those.

I collect vintage patterns from time to time. I have some reproduction patterns from 1066 onwards (since I occasionally have brushes with Battle of Hastings re-enactors!) and the real thing from the 30s-60s, but especially the 40s.

Jen

 

[goldwyn girl]

My oldest piece is an 1880's lace day dress that I was married in. My everyday wardrobe consists of 40's 50's mostly original but I an not adverse to making a reproduction from a vintage pattern as well. As we all know you can not always find what you want, or in your size. When I do make a repro I like to use vintage buttons and metal zips.

 

[Cheesecakecutie]

My oldest piece is from the 1800's a gorgeous jacket with lavendar bags in the armpits...i am looking for a victorian skirt so i can wear it.

All my other stuff is 30's 40's and 50's...

 

[NicolettaRose]

My vintage collection ranges from 1900-1980's. I really appreciate all decades, and really like to wear all deacades, each one is very unique and offers something speciel to the wearer. My biggest sections of my vintage wardrobe is made up of 1920's-1940's, but I am totally getting into the whole mod look from the 1960's, and have some cute little sundresses from the 1970's.

 

[MoxieGrl]

My collection dates from the 1850s- 1950s, with the bulk being 1890-1900 and 1935-1945. The earliest piece is a late 1840s/ early 1850s folding carriage parasol (or possible the early 1850s bonnet veil, hmmm) and the newest peice is a 1950s picnic printed housedress. Everything 1920 and earlier I keep in acid free boxes and take out very seldom. Oddly (or maybe not) the 1920s dresses are usually much more fragile than the 1800s dresses, because the fabric was so flimsy to begin with. The stuff newer than 1920 is kept in a vintage wardrobe. I will occasionally wear one of those for a Very special occassion, but none of it is in my regular wardrobe.The pre-1920 stuff doesn't even get touched without gloved hands.( my collection is a snob )
I have a big box of vintage patterns that get used for everday wear-constructing.As far as what I actually wear, everyday its a mix of modern, 1930s, 40s and 50s style and for living history its early 1800s, 1855-65, or 1940s.
Lol, someone else was saying how they go and mother-hen over the clothes at the vintage stores? I do the same thing! And then I worry about some that they will hang on the wire hanger too long and wear through at the shoulders or than some punk teenager will buy them and wear them for a costum and destroy them. :-( If I had endless funds and room I would open up a clothing-rescue shelter :-D
Sorry for such a long post!
-Stormi

 

[Pink Dahlia]

My very tiny but ever expanding collection consists of items from the 40s-50s.

My oldest item is from the 40s. Good news for all you ebay buyers I won't be snatching up anything older than that (not to worry Lady Stardust ).

My repro items are mainly 50s inspired.

I would like to add some vintage shoes to my collection and I recently (thanks to Daisy's jewelry bug) added some vintage jewelry. I am also currently adding some color to my very black wardrobe for the summer and I am still looking for the perfect vintage swim suit!

Okay so I lied. I have two hats from the 1920s. I don't have a thing to wear with them but I wish I did! I bid on this gorgeous dress from the 20s which would have been perfect with the hats (as they are the same color) but it went well out of my price range.

 

[Louise Anne]

I thought I dig this up from the deep and dark past of 2007 becuse there are so many new people joined since 2007

To those of you who collect, what is the age range of your wardrobe? What is/are your oldest item(s)? How good a condition are they in?
For the rest of your wardrobe, which decade or era do you have the most of?

*** on another forum I got into trouble digging up something 3 months old so I thought I do it in style here by finding something 4 years old lol

 

[Miss sofia]

Ooh good idea. The oldest item of clothing i have is late victorian, (1880's) an evening shawl, some nightwear and some accessories, purses, lace bonnets and what have you. Most of the rest of my clothes are forties or fifties, up to early sixties. I do own a few twenties and thirties pieces (i would like more) and some seventies too. I also of course have modern and repro clothing as well.

 

[sheeplady]

Oh, this is FUN.

The oldest piece I have is a victorian wedding gown with handmade lace (I believe it was made by the bride)and the leather shoes that match. It will never fit me, it was a gift from my parents who bought it for $15 at an auction- nobody else bid on it. I have several fur muffs and a hat from the victorian era as well. I have used the muffs on special occasions.

I have a few suits from the 1940s, one dress from the late 40s and one from the late 1930s. I also own a dress from the 1920s (also a gift- that one fits ). I own two swing coats from the 1950s, one nylon dress, and one circle skirt.

I have a weakness for goodwill type shops, and around here they sell wool pendleton and silk skirts for $4-6- with half off sale days or 25% off on student day. Because we live in a very cold and snowy place (which is sadly a place with very little economic opportunity as well), things like skirts and suits don't sell, because very few jobs exist around here that people dress up in skirts for.

Needless to say, I have many, many, many modern skirts, blazers, and suits that have vintage lines but are from anyplace from the 1960s to last year. My work requires business casual/professional, so most of my wardrobe is separate blazers and skirts, but I am slowly trying to add more suits as that increasingly will be expected of me. I don't have many far out things that that are really the edge of fashion at one time or another.

I really don't care when it was made, as long as it is in decent shape and appeals to me. However, most of my items do appear to be "vintage" looking, as that asthetic appeals to me.

 

[rue]

Good Lord.... I'm trying to think....

I have a couple of Victorian dresses and one Edwardian dress that are unwearable because they're so fragile. I also have a (I think and I keep meaning to post it and ask) 1930s dress that is wearable, but I can't fit into it right now, although I did and wore it once. I have a picture somewhere. It's a beautiful black velvet long gown with a little jacket that matches.

Other than that I have a few late 1940s early 1950s dresses. I have held off buying more vintage until I get to be the weight I want, which is only about 10 lbs away... yay!

 

[Miss Sis]

Goodness, I read this and thought, the oldest clothing item I own is a Victorian wool challis day dress circa 1845. I fell in love with it, it was very cheap and if I got the right corset, I'm told I could get into it. (only need to take about 3" off my waist for that) Amazingly, it is long enough for me and I am 5' 9". The bust does up but not the waist! Usually it's the opposite.

Most of my clothes are from the 1930s, and I have ALOT but I have a few 20s, more 40s and a bit here and there of 50s. I do have a 60s outfit but that is entirely for fancy dress rather than everyday. Back with my Mum (on the other side of the world) I have some late 50s/early 60s things that were my Nana's. I'm thinking of wearing one of those dresses for a friend's wedding next year. She is a big Vintage Fan (mixed eras - mostly Victorian and 1950s!) so I know she'll appreciate it.

 

[ThePowderKeg]

I have a gold sequined bolero from the early 1930s that belonged to my paternal grandmother. I wore it to my prom and a few formal events in college. I have very few vintage clothing items...I have better luck finding accessories, so I have a number of bags and hats from the 1940s and 1950s. I do have one stunning vintage coat, green with a fur collar, passed on a from a friend who bought it while thrifting then decided it didn't fit her...I'm not sure exactly how old it is, I should probably post pics here on the Lounge for help dating it.

I'm terrified of damaging vintage clothing. Since I regularly trash modern clothing, I simply don't trust myself to wear anything vintage and irreplaceable. I leave that to the ladies who are easier on clothes/have better repair skills.

 

[C-dot]

Wow, you ladies have some old pieces!

My oldest is a black sequined evening bag from the late 1930s that my great grandmother owned. I now own it by way of my aunt. It's shaped much like a candy wrapper. I also have a few mink hats, some more evening bags and a couple of dresses from the late 50s-early 60s, my favourite being a black velvet cocktail dress from Holt Renfrew in I believe 1957. I wore it and the candy wrapper bag to my prom:

I also wore the dress to a wedding last year, but I was horrified by the pictures because I was a bit pleasantly plump for it I haven't tried it on lately, but I'm sure it would fit because I've dropped some weight.

My repro collection is far more impressive - It dominates my wardrobe. I have quite a few modern pieces aswell, but they are all heavily vintage inspired or classic cut.