Comments You Get When You Dress Vintage

[dgenevieve]

As it seems we all run into comments of varying degrees, I found this blog post over at Already Pretty very appropriate and timely. I am preparing for our monthly blues shows/dancing and I always get remarks on my attire, usually good, lots of stares, but this will help me this season:

http://www.alreadypretty.com/2009/09/reader-request-defending-dressing.html

I hope you all find it useful too it's worth the read.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap I LOVE that post! Another blog to add to my feedreader. Thanks for the link!

 

[Countess]

I certainly agree. In a modern world of overexposed female flesh, modest clothing such as vintage is, well... refreshing. I think lots of women that wear women's clothes but they don't look feminine in them, does that make sense?

I know what you mean and I agree. A lot of what is 'fashion' in the shops for women doesn't fit all body shapes, so what would look good on one shape, doesn't for another, which doesn't make them look too feminine and at ease with themselves.

Most of my friends are guys and they all have a similar philosophy: a girl who shows too much flesh is great to look at and fun to be with but he'd be too embarrassed to take home to meet his mother.

I have a small daughter and I'm trying to drum this into her early before teenagedom strikes!

 

[Bettie Booh]

I was at the local thrift store today, buying a pink vintage slip, and a red 40's dress, wearing my pink diner dress, a leather jacket and my hair in a Rosie updo, very Grease lol and the lady who owns the place asked me if I always looked like that, since the other customers my age always bought clothes from her and made them into modern versions, and was curious if I did it too. So I told her that I was looking unusally modern today, and that I mostly looked 40s, and I wouldnt dream of tearing apart an old dress to make it more modern.

 

[ilanacharnelle]

I'm always dressing in a 1940s/ 50s style, and generally the responses are really lovely. I get some funny looks at university sometimes, but I think standing out in a sea of skinny jeans and t-shirts is part of the reason I dress this way! One of my tutors actually came up to me and asked if I deliberately went for 'a 1940s look' and when I said yes, he said, 'I think it's fantastic'. I've been stopped in the street and complimented on my look or my circular skirts/ petticoat that my Nanna made for me. People are generally just lovely and complimentary.


Oh, but I was told by a boy at uni once that I wore 'grandma skirts'. I took it as a compliment.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Tonight I modeled for the watercolor society's 'Toulouse Lautrec' evening. The only truly vintage thing I wore was the hat, but the look certainly suggested another age.
One of the painters - a man who must have been near 80, and reminded me very much of Vincent Price - said to me: "you remind me of my mother. She was a flapper."
That made me smile.

 

[Dutchess]

Two days ago we came back from Bruges and stopped at MacDonalds for a quick bite. The lady right in front of me in the cue turned round and kept eying me up and down. Her mouth open. For a whole minute. So funny. I guess my 1950's look didn't match the surroundings....
But overall peoples comments are really nice and quite often they get the era right. A friend once commented: "Well, going for the interbellum look, are you?"

 

[marilynfan]

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a walk through the University of Toronto's downtown campus with a student friend. I was wearing victory rolls, a white eyelet lace corseted top, and my favourite sailor pencil skirt: Full pin up attire.

U of T students are notoriously "fighting the system," so nearly none of them dress nicely. I got a lot of stares and catty comments - but a few professors smiled!

We left the campus for Queen St, where people were much more appreciative. One guy on a bicycle gave me a huge grin, so I winked at him, and he actually ran into a fence! It was just like a movie! lol

That has got to be THE coolest thing ever! I would have paid good money to see that.

 

[Smuterella]

I love reading this thread -- I don't dress vintage, but I love vintage clothes. I truly believe men appreciate a feminine looking woman in modest attire.

I think this is where the word modesty means something different to a Brit.

To me modesty would suggest not attracting attention, a lack of vanity. Hence dressing vintage can seem the complete opposite of modesty.

What is modest about dressing so differently from the norm that people comment on it? Its attention seeking if anything.

Then I realised you probably meant modesty as in, below the knee skirts and no cleavage. Right?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Then I realised you probably meant modesty as in, below the knee skirts and no cleavage. Right?

That's the American meaning, exactly. There's actually a whole non-religious "modest-dress" movement that's taken shape over the last few years as a backlash against modern excesses. Wendy Shalit's books "A Return To Modesty" and "Girls Gone Mild" are considered prime manifestoes for the movement.

Getting back to topic, I got several inquiries last weekend at work, when we hosted the annual awards for the state Art Commission. Several people asked if I myself was an "artist," given my style, but I looked them in the eye in all earnestness and said "No, I follow the traditional ways of my people," and they nodded solemnly.

 

[*martini*time*]

Oh Mylanta! I almost forgot about this thread! Well, a few weekends ago, I was playing with my hair and did some victory rolls with a big white flower, then i wore just some jeans and a red cardigan with a white shirt and went out to the BIG mall here. I got an AMAZING compliment from my fabulous gay shoe salesman...He told me i looked just like Dita Von Teese! I was like..."shut up! Really?" I almost bought the shoes he was selling me but it turned out they were WAAAY outta my price range. And WAAAAY to tall...but flattery WILL get you everywhere!

 

[Smuterella]

That's the American meaning, exactly. There's actually a whole non-religious "modest-dress" movement that's taken shape over the last few years as a backlash against modern excesses. Wendy Shalit's books "A Return To Modesty" and "Girls Gone Mild" are considered prime manifestoes for the movement.

Getting back to topic, I got several inquiries last weekend at work, when we hosted the annual awards for the state Art Commission. Several people asked if I myself was an "artist," given my style, but I looked them in the eye in all earnestness and said "No, I follow the traditional ways of my people," and they nodded solemnly.

Ooh, thanks for confirming. I love these cultural differences in a shared language. I'll have a look at the link when I get home, I like the fact its non-religious, though my decision to wear vintage is definitely more for vanity purposes than anything else!

...and great response re: the artist comment - I'm going to save that up for later use myself.

 

[vintage_jayhawk]

That's the American meaning, exactly. There's actually a whole non-religious "modest-dress" movement that's taken shape over the last few years as a backlash against modern excesses. Wendy Shalit's books "A Return To Modesty" and "Girls Gone Mild" are considered prime manifestoes for the movement. /QUOTE]

Thanks for this site LizzieMaine, it's nice to see that decency is making a comeback.

 

[MissHannah]

Sadly that site isn't non-religious Smuts. It's also very anti-sex, sadly.
Not what I was hoping it would be at all.

 

[C-dot]

Oh Mylanta! I almost forgot about this thread! Well, a few weekends ago, I was playing with my hair and did some victory rolls with a big white flower, then i wore just some jeans and a red cardigan with a white shirt and went out to the BIG mall here. I got an AMAZING compliment from my fabulous gay shoe salesman...He told me i looked just like Dita Von Teese! I was like..."shut up! Really?" I almost bought the shoes he was selling me but it turned out they were WAAAY outta my price range. And WAAAAY to tall...but flattery WILL get you everywhere!

I've always wanted to shop at Canada's largest mall, now I want to more

Sadly that site isn't non-religious Smuts. It's also very anti-sex, sadly.

I agree. I don't think you have to be religious to have respect for yourself - Maybe there is a different site out there?

 

[*martini*time*]

I've always wanted to shop at Canada's largest mall, now I want to more

Well just come and visit me!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I agree. I don't think you have to be religious to have respect for yourself - Maybe there is a different site out there?

Some of the contributors to the site have a religious slant, but the movement itself isn't dominated by religious thinking. Shalit's books, especially, go out of their way to avoid such -- she's Jewish herself, but not dogmatic.

As far as "anti-sex" goes, I see it more as anti-using-sex-as-a-substitute-for-self-respect. But interpret it as you will, it's offered simply as an alternative point of view. While I think Shalit's books make excellent points, I refuse to belong to any movement.

 

[C-dot]

While I think Shalit's books make excellent points, I refuse to belong to any movement.

You're right - One need not take everything from a book or point of view, only what they agree with.

My brother was being a real pill today. I visited my mum for a bit, and showed her my shoes. He says "Did you ever think that some nasty old lady was wearing those shoes, with corns on her feet and stuff? Or maybe the person is dead! Way to go Laura, you're wearing some old or dead bag's clothes!"

His abundant and freely expressed opinions stopped bothering me long ago, though sometimes I marvel at how creative he is.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Wendy Shalit's books "A Return To Modesty" and "Girls Gone Mild" are considered prime manifestoes for the movement.

fftopic: Has anyone here actually read Shalit's book? OMG, it is so, so badly written. I finished it, but felt stupider afterwards. fftopic:

Edited to say: Sorry, I didn't see that obviously some people had read it. I hated it. HATED IT!

 

[C-dot]

Has anyone here actually read Shalit's book? OMG, it is so, so badly written. I finished it, but felt stupider afterwards.

I know its cynical, but I find most modern writers write the way people will understand

 

[LizzieMaine]

I know its cynical, but I find most modern writers write the way people will understand

She writes like a third-year philosophy major, which she in fact was when she wrote her first book.

As for your brother, applying said shoe sharply to the side of his head a few times might settle him down. It always worked for mine.