Playing vintage tag

Jessica at Chronically Vintage posted a game of vintage tag, which was very fun to read, so I thought I considered myself tagged and post my answers. Consider you ALL tagged.

 

{21 vintage lifestyle questions and answers}

 

 

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1. Who are your style icons? Tricky question, actually. I love so many old-time movie stars, but style icons? An important aspect of style is that it should fit you, otherwise it isn’t really style. And though I adore Audrey Hepburn and her style, I have more in common, body wise, with Jayne Mansfield. Or Christina Hendricks. If I tried to look like Miss Hepburn, it wouldn't suit me, however much I love her style.



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50's wiggledress

See?


 

 

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So I don’t think I can say I have one particular style icon, but pick here and there.

2. What is your favourite way to get inspired? Watching movies. Reading blogs. Seeing friends who share my affection for vintage. Like Pimpinett who always makes me want dress better when I see her.

3. What's your most-used hair tool? Booby pins. I use them all the time, for pin curls and when I’m fixing hair.

4. What's your favourite hair tool? The booby pin again. Versatile and practical and can even be dressed up.

40's evening gown made after a
Vogue Vintage Style pattern.

5. Updo, down, or half-and-half? Up. I had long hair for many years and I always wore it up. I can’t abide having hair falling down around my face. Even now when my hair reaches my shoulders, I usually put it up. Or, at the very least, up around the face. I only wear my hair completely down for a party, when I have had time to fix it nicely.

6. Is vintage something you do every day, on weekends, or for special occasions? Every day, more or less. I wear a uniform at work, but otherwise I do. I’m a bit bad with being home, I have a tendency to slouch around in any old thing, but I’m working on that.

7. What's your favourite blush and lipstick? Bèsame’s lipsticks are my absolute favourite. I have several shades, but I can’t say that I have a favourite colour, more than something red. As for blush, I have very few and I find them nice enough, but I can’t say that I have a favourite.

8. Dress, skirt, or pants? Heels or flats? I prefer dresses and skirts. I gave up wearing pants 20 years ago because I never found a pair that both fit me and looked good. I am toying with the idea of getting some 40’s style trousers for leisure wear, though. Heels, heels, heels. I have a bad heel and I learned to walk in heels on my doctor’s orders. I have some well-cushioned trainers only used for dog walks; apart from that all my shoes have at least 2 inch heels, most of them higher.

9. Off-the-rack or homemade? I usually get luckier with homemade when it comes to fit… But I’m not at all averse to off-the-rack if I find something that looks good on me.

10. Do you swing dance? Not really. I learned in my teens and I know the basic steps, but I haven’t danced in years. I could probably pull it off with a good partner, though.

11. Extreme vintage or subtle touches? Both, though I rarely go to the extreme end of the scale if it’s not an occasion. Having to wear a uniform at work makes it impossible to do more than subtle touches on workdays. For a casual look I probably land somewhere on the middle of the scale.

 

12. Favourite perfume. Caron’s Tabac Blond. I’m also rapidly falling in Love with Chanel’s Cuir de Russie. My wallet hates my taste in perfume.

13. Favourite skincare product? Phytic cream from M&M. And regular facials. I can’t recommend that enough.

Handbag in lizard skin that my grandmother Greta
 made in the late 40's.

14. What does your family think of your style? They like it and a very positive about it.

15. Favourite accessory? I have a confession. I’m really, really bad in remembering to add those. So I have to say handbags, as I never forget those.

16. Do you find the vintage community welcoming or snobby? I have only had positive experiences, in real life as well as online.

17. What drew you to vintage style? A long time love. I used to love watching old movies as a kid, being a bit surprised that people looked so different from people around me. So neat and polished and smart. (I’m a child of the 70’s.) So I have always been drawn to the style.

18. Favourite places to shop vintage? Etsy and various shops in Stockholm like Epok and Old Touch.

19. What vintage eras are your favourite? The 30’s and 40’s.

20. Most glamorous film stars? Goodness, weren’t they all glamorous? But I will have to say Rita Hayworth, as she was my first movie star crush ever.

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21. Favourite vintage object that you own? My Radiola radio gramophone. My maternal grandparent’s bought it in 1955 and as a kid I loved to listen to it. When I was 18 I got it and it is in almost perfect shape and works just fine.

40's quilted bed jacket.

 

 

Wardrobe musings

Still trying to come to terms with wearing uniform and came up with another positive: I will be able to drastically clean out my closet. I guess most of us have clothes that we don’t really like but wear anyway on the days when the dirty laundry is piling up. I quick survey of my wardrobe revealed that about half of what I have falls into this category. Clothes that are perfectly fine, but don’t fit as well as they should or have a colour that isn’t exactly right. My wardrobe space is rather limited and at the moment it is pretty crammed, so a clean out would be very welcome. I know I have sweaters, cardigans, dresses and shoes that I don’t really care for.

Lauren Bacall, 1945

So, what to leave? My favourites, of course. My 40’s wardrobe project, which I hope will be a little more visible if I get rid of my so-so clothes. I suspect that there will be a few holes visible as well, especially in the departments of leisure wear and outdoor clothes. As it is now I try to change when I get home from work, but as often as not I don’t bother. When I start wearing uniform at work I really have to. Cotton housedresses are really nice wear at home, I have already noticed that, but I would need one of two additional ones. Paired with thicker stockings and a warm cardigan that ought to work for winter as well.

I have tried to organize my sewing projects-list as well. I divided it into four lists; 40’s clothes, vintage clothes from other eras, 18^th century clothes and one for other historical eras. I then assigned a letter to ever project. A for projects that needs to be finished ASAP. B for projects I have started and C for projects that I have planned. For example, my 40’s wardrobe has an A on the raincoat and black wool dress. They are clothes for the Autumn/Winter wardrobe and they are very near completion. All the other clothes for Autumn/Winter this year has a B and Spring/Summer clothes got C. Even clothes that I have started actually, as they are for the next season. I did this with all four lists and then I made a fifth one contains all the A’s. Then I divided that list into A, B, C. A there is my Victorian circus costume for Fraulein Frauke that needs to be finished by the 24^th. B is my raincoat and then all the rest got C. When the Victorian costume is done, the raincoat will get A and something else B. I’m not sure that this will work for me as I have just started it, but it really feels that I have got a much better overview and it’s easy to see what I need to focus on.

And yes, I did use an app for it, but I am sure it works just as well with the pen and paper version.

I have bought a few clothes these autumn, staple items that I know I will have use for later. A green cardigan and sweater combo in lamb’s wool. And a few clothes from a company called Emmy Design that Elsa brought to my attention. I can really recommend them! It’s not reproduction clothes, but the style is definitely 40’s and 50’s for most of the design and the quality seems to be high. I bought a swing skirt in both brown and black and they are excellent everyday skirts. Perfect for a late 40’s or 50’s look.

I also bought this knitted dress, which was a bit nervous, knits tend to cling just where you don’t want it.

But the fit is great and it’s so comfortable, despite being 70% wool it isn’t the least bit itchy, even if you do need a slip underneath. I bought it in ruby red and I’m very tempted in the black version too. And I think I need the knitted cardigan to match!

Be smart in uniform?

I’m currently in a complete clothes-funk so I need cheering up. Come January it will be mandatory at my workplace to wear uniforms. That would be great if that meant well-tailored elegance. Something like this perhaps.

Air stewardess

But that is not to be. For me it will mean a shirt, black straight skirt and a little striped scarf. I worry about getting cold at my air-conditioned workplace. There is a heavy sweater and wind-proofed jacket to the uniform, which is designed for people working outside, but will be far too heavy to wear inside. I hope that it will be possible for me to wear a black cardigan for warmth- especially as I’m looked into room all day and never, ever meet any passengers (I work for a train company).

 Of course, that could be smart, but I suspect it is the hat that makes it...



Girl pilots, 1943



Girl pilots, 1943

 The best I can say about this uniform is that it’s neutral and it will make my ordinary wardrobe last longer. The boring thing for me is that I’m not a social butterfly- I usually work and then go home, so work is basically the place I dress up for. I like dressing nicely, it makes me feel good about myself and I think its fun.

I think she looks like Pimpinett!
Navy Nurse With Hospital Ship - John Philip Falter

 So I have kind of lost my inspiration when it comes to sewing clothes and I need to find my mojo again. I can’t do much to spruce up my future uniform, but there are no rules on what kind of stockings to wear and none of the design of shoes, except that they are to be black. I have a lot of stockings, so I can take this as an opportunity to wear the more fancy ones I never get around to use. And IO can buy me a pair of really smart black high heels. And I guess I can spend a bit more time in the morning son my hair and makeup when I always know what I will wear at work.

Off-duty uniform, WWII

 I could also notch up my social interactions. The last two years I have been ill so much that I haven’t had much energy for fun, but hopefully that is now under control and with more energy, I could have more fun.

WWII uniforms

 Then there is the matter of coats and jackets. I don’t have to be in uniform when I commute to work and even if I wear the shirt and skirt I can wear my ordinary outerwear. So perhaps a bit more focus on that will make me feel better. I’m almost finished with a raincoat with checkered wool lining and then Mrs. Depew posted a few 30’s coat patterns recently that I want, every one of them.

1930's side-buttoned coat

I have heavy black wool at home. And white faux mink. And a black coat with fur collar on my wardrobe list. Perhaps with a little matching fur hat?

1930's bouffant sleeve coat

I guess this jacket would look better with the matching dress.

1935 dress and coat

1933 autumn coat

We are all real

Notice my new widget. It is brought to you from Brittany at Va-Voom Vintage and can be found here. She wrote a post yesterday on a subject that has cropped up again and again in blogs for a while, on what is a “real” woman. There is Facebook memes and similar that totes that a curvy woman should somehow be better than, more real, than a skinny one. I can, sort of, see what this is coming from. We live in a society where media totes one body type, the very slim one, as the ideal. An ideal that many women just can’t live up to. Then it’s a bit a relief to look at Marilyn Monroe or Christina Hendricks or Nigella Lawson and say- Look, these women are bigger than the usual model and they are beautiful. I look at these women and think so. I love that there are blogs out there, like Brittany’s, written by women with bodies that are similar to mine. I really love that.

Dressing vintage, a sub-culture?

Lina Sofia made a comment on my post Properly Dressed? about dressing in a vintage style at a sociology institution where some people study the retro sub-culture. I have been thinking about this before, on and off, and her comment put it on again. Am I and you and you part of a sub-culture just because we opt to dress a certain way? To me a subculture have always been more than about the way you dress, even is fashion is a significant way off defining yourself to belonging to a certain way of life. It’s about sharing an outlook on life, setting yourself voluntarily apart from what is considered the norm in society. I have never felt that people interested in vintage are uniform enough to warrant the label sub-culture. I discussed the subject with Pimpinett who pointed out the diversity of what she calls “retrophiles” (which I think is a very good name, btw.) There are those involved with the burlesque scene, those who dance, living role-players, rockability and so on. All with different outlooks on how they define vintage and what they want from it.

Properly dressed?

At Hederlige Harrys I talked with a girl who asked me if I dressed like this on a daily basis. I said that I dress more or less “vintagy” every day and mentioned that I had worn this particular outfit at work that very day. She asked “But what do your workmates say?” I felt a bit puzzled- why would my workmates say anything and then it got me thinking on how “normal” I see myself. I don’t think my clothes stand out, if anything I feel I dressed rather modestly and unflashy. I don’t always dress myself in full regalia vintage-wise, but I always wear skirts and at least moderate heels, I fix my hair and even if I don’t wear much makeup a normal workday, I do usually wear red lipstick. And of course that does stand out, especially at a workplace like mine where people either wear uniforms or dress very casually.

The outfit in question. Usually, though, I don't wear suits at work.


When I went to art school in my late teens it was very easy to see where you belonged. The girls in art classes died their hair red, wore a lot of tie dyes and long skirts and a lot of dangly jewelry. The girls in music tended to have curly hair in top knots and dresses patterned with flowers. And the girls in drama were easy to spot too- they were the ones who worked hardest to not look like everyone else. Of course, not every girl looked like that, but enough to make these particular looks the norm. A few years later I was standing at a bus station with a friend when a group of people approached and I said to my friend: “Musicians.”. She wondered why I thought that as they weren’t carrying any instruments, but when they come so close that we could hear what they talked about, I was proved right. At first I couldn’t answer my friend to why I had come to my conclusion, but later it dawned on me that all the women in the group had the “right” look.

More typical workwear, usually paired with a cardigan too- my workplace tends to be chilly.




It’s not so odd that people in a more or less closed group start to look alike. Its people you see often and it’s much easier to think something look good if you are exposed to it again and again. I don’t think any of my school mates thought that now that I’m in art/drama/music I need to adapt a certain look, rather they got attuned to it and unconsciously adapted. I certainly died my hair red, though I never fell for tie-dye, but I certainly didn’t do it too “look arty” Of course, my interest in looking the way I do started a long time ago, but my actions these last years have certainly fuelled and influenced my interest. I don’t buy glossy magazines to find clothes inspiration, I read blogs written by people who, like me, like the vintage look. And even if not all of my friends share it, a lot of them do. I’m not a part animal, but when I do go out I go to places like Fraulein Frauke, which inspired me further. I have, by choice, distanced myself from contemporary fashion and as I don’t see much of it, the way I and my friends dress, have become my norm.

I wear a lot of dresses too


What about my workmates then, what do they say? Not much, actually. They are used to me and if they say anything then I get compliments. I have, though it is a couple of years ago now, been told by my boss that I don’t have to dress up like I do, but I think she actually thought that I thought that I had to dress this way. But I do dress casual at work. Casual for me, that is.

Two examples on what I don't wear at work. Far too body-hugging and, in case of teh white blouse, far too low-cut.




What is proper work wear is, naturally, something that varies according to what kind of work it is. Many jobs demands uniforms, for example and if you work out of doors, then skirts and heels are not very practical. A more formal workplace may frown on clothes that are considered to stand out too much, and so on. What are your experiences? Can you wear what you want at work/schopol7with friends? And have you, like I have realized I do, started to see yourself as dressing perfectly normal and nothing to look twice at?

Living the vintage lifestyle?

This is something I have been thinking about, from time to time, since I started this blog. When reading this thread at The Fedora Lounge about what it is that attracts you to the vintage areas, I started to think about it again.