Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

What's the Funniest Things to happen to you in vintage?

Spitfire

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,078
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Came into a bar wearing my RAF BD jacket - bartende looked up and said:
"What's it going to be, Squadron Leader?"
Mind you the bar was in Copenhagen - not UK.
And he got the rank right.;)
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,074
Location
London, UK
Chas said:
I once had a drunken yob follow me for three blocks yelling "Al Capone" at me....

Aye, that can be intimidating. I had something similar a few weeks back, ceptin' it was my bald head and glasses that got aggressive shouts of "Oi! Matt Lucas! I know you can hear me, you-!" from a particularly vicious kid, who may or may not have been drunk. Being the vain old bird that I am, the first thing i thought was '****, have I really gained that much weight?' lol

Diamondback said:
An insulting one was with the same suit and gray overcoat, being referred to as "KGB"...

I feel that. Somebody once looked at my yachting cap and said "Stalin"... as a committed teenage Trotskyite I was extremely offended!! ;)
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
LizzieMaine said:
During a concert on a very hot and humid night this past summer, the theatre air conditioning system froze up -- and when this happens it's part of my job to press the manual reset button. Trouble is, said button is located in a loft above the stage, accessible only via a ladder and trap door, located at stage right. And further trouble is, that ladder is fully visible from a large portion of the audience -- so about a couple hundred people and the musicians on stage got to see my underpinnings as I climbed up the ladder in dress, stockings, and heels.

I spent the rest of that show in my office. With the door locked.

This honestly sounds like a challenge one would overcome in a video game sans audience; eg, Resident Evil, etc.

You're in a spooky abandoned theatre with no lights save a fickering empty projector running for no apparent reason (don't worry, you'll have to combine the film reel item you find later in the game with the projector to trigger a cut scene). In order to unlock a necessary office door in the back of the building you must first find the old key on the restroom floor under the broken stall. Then you must go to the back of the room, climb the spooky ladder, and use the old key on the trap door which brings you out to the roof where you can push the manual reset button, unlocking the office door.

Is it obvious that I've played too many video games?
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
I can't tell you how many stupid comments I've received and annoying situations I've been in...

But on one occasion, while I was courting a young lady, we were downtown in a coffee shop waiting for an order when three drunken women walked up and asked if they could get a picture with me. I was a bit embarrased at first and thegirl I was with seemed a little apprehensive as well, but in good nature, I agreed to stand in the photo with them. Afterwards, as they were leaving, I heard one of them say, "Yeah, I haven't seen a street performer like that in Des Moines before."

My ego fell through the floor a teensy bit.[huh]
 

reetpleat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,681
Location
Seattle
I wouldn't feel too bad. If it brightens people's day and you are seen as a performer of sorts, that is not so bad.

Mind you, I have always been a strictly vintage dresser. If you are just into being classically well dressed, that is a little different.
 

reetpleat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,681
Location
Seattle
My favorite story. I may have mentioned it in the previous thread of things people say.

I was walking down Haight street in san Francisco with Roberto (City Vintage of ebay fame, one of the best vintage dresser in the world in my opinion, and a great guy to boot) Haight street has many homeless hippie burn outs. One of them looks at Roberto in full regalia and sneers "You're livin' in a dream world." Roberto, never missing a beat, says "Yeah, and you're not iin it." and keeps walking down the street.
 

Dr Doran

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,854
Location
Los Angeles
reetpleat said:
My favorite story. I may have mentioned it in the previous thread of things people say.

I was walking down Haight street in san Francisco with Roberto (City Vintage of ebay fame, one of the best vintage dresser in the world in my opinion, and a great guy to boot) Haight street has many homeless hippie burn outs. One of them looks at Roberto in full regalia and sneers "You're livin' in a dream world." Roberto, never missing a beat, says "Yeah, and you're not iin it." and keeps walking down the street.

Having met Roberto, and having walked on Haight countless times, and having experienced the extra-special wonder of Bay Area hippies, I can easily imagine this scene, and that is very funny.
 

Dr Doran

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,854
Location
Los Angeles
Undertow said:
I can't tell you how many stupid comments I've received and annoying situations I've been in...

But on one occasion, while I was courting a young lady, we were downtown in a coffee shop waiting for an order when three drunken women walked up and asked if they could get a picture with me. I was a bit embarrased at first and thegirl I was with seemed a little apprehensive as well, but in good nature, I agreed to stand in the photo with them. Afterwards, as they were leaving, I heard one of them say, "Yeah, I haven't seen a street performer like that in Des Moines before."

My ego fell through the floor a teensy bit.[huh]

In 1988 I stood like a statue in New Orleans with a hat at my feet. I got three dollars in twenty minutes from tourists. Not a bad wage for 1988. Nothing wrong with being thought of as a street performer!

But yes, my ego would fall in your situation too.
 

ShoreRoadLady

Practically Family
Undertow said:
But on one occasion, while I was courting a young lady, we were downtown in a coffee shop waiting for an order when three drunken women walked up and asked if they could get a picture with me. I was a bit embarrased at first and thegirl I was with seemed a little apprehensive as well, but in good nature, I agreed to stand in the photo with them. Afterwards, as they were leaving, I heard one of them say, "Yeah, I haven't seen a street performer like that in Des Moines before."

My ego fell through the floor a teensy bit.[huh]

Ouch! lol <--- but laughing heartily at your expense!
 

pigeon toe

One Too Many
Messages
1,328
Location
los angeles, ca
This is maybe only funny to me, but it was super cool!

My ex and I were at the mall the other night, dressed really casually. I just had my hair and lipstick done, but was wearing modern clothes, and he was a bit more vintage than me with his hair in a pomp.

All of a sudden we see 5 young African-American dudes walking abreast, dressed like they walked straight off the set of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! I honestly thought we walked through some worm-hole and ended up at the Del Amo Mall circa 1989! One guy was wearing a neon turtleneck, red pants with suspenders, old Nikes, and to top it off, he had a TALL flat-top. While I'm gawking at their awesome outfits, they stop and ask, "So are you guys doing the 50's, 60's thing?". We nod and they all say how great we look and flashed us the peace sign.

It was actually really cool that they recognized that we were into vintage fashion too, just of a different era.
 

reetpleat

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,681
Location
Seattle
While very few African Americans are into vintage, they often get it, as their culture has held onto many aspects from the era. Just look at any black church and you will see suits, hats, and sharpness galore. Same with the women in their dresses, hats etc. Also, the culture still highly values an attention to detail in style. It may not always be our style, but those guys with the pants around their waist are very carefully put together, unlike your average slob.

As you surely know, Latinos in most of the country are similar, but in LA and certian southwest cities, there is a strong vintage movement that embraces 40s and 50s style. Not even rockabilly really, they are more into jump blues r and b and 50s rock.

A funny thing happend to me years ago. I was in a sharp vintage suit etc with my pencil moustache in Fremont, about an hour out of San Francisco by light rail.

A Mexican american guy who likely was born here, but grew up pretty immersed in latin american culture, comes up to me, looks me up and down, and says with a bit of a homie accent, 'My respect to jyoooo, homes."
 

Dr Doran

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,854
Location
Los Angeles
The best (in the sense of most genuinely appreciative) comments I get on my 1940s ensembles are from black people.
 

eldonkr

Familiar Face
When I was in high school when I wasn't doing the whole "dress weird to make people look at you funny I rocked the vintage greaser tough guy look, which was more often than the "make people stare" look. Its only in the last few years that I've really been into the whole suit and fedora angle. But moving on.

I've almost always made jokes about the mafia being after me. Stuff like "I might have pissed off the mafia so if you see guys in pinstripe suits and fedoras you don't know me."

And in high school I almost always skipped class. Do you see where this is going yet?

Well there was an important test coming up and the teacher says that there is no good reason in the world to miss the test. This is when I pipe up:

"What if we need to hide from the mafia."

There were a few laughs and the teacher said something about it. Well anywho a couple of days pass and I skipped school on the day of the test. And then I skipped the next day, and the next. Then the weekend rolls around and I go back to class on monday. And when I get into this lady's class, I swear she could have had a heart attack.

She said that she originally thought I was joking about the mafia bit, but then she started to worry after I hadn't shown up after a coupe of days.

Diamondback said:
In my case, though, it was deadly serious--the boss had a stalker ex, and my campus had a policy on concealed firearms for permitholders of "don't ask, don't tell"--I never actually carried then, but it created an effective deterrent by having others believe I did...

Secret service? The boss? concealed weapons? . . . .

Huh?
 

eldonkr

Familiar Face
Another interesting story is that I skipped town for a couple of weeks to go see a friend. I came back told everyone that I had slipped into a coma from a piano falling on my head and a lot of people believed it.

Of course then again I moved to a new school halfway through my freshman year, and for a good four or five months I had the entire school believing that I was British.

It made the ultimate april fools joke when I showed up on April first talking like a normal American dude, well with some "vintage speak" thrown in of course.
 
eldonkr said:
Secret service? The boss? concealed weapons? . . . .

Huh?
My boss on the college paper had a stalker ex, and I have some knowledge of executive-protection, so off-the-books my unofficial "job" in addition to being "on-book" as a reporter was as her bodyguard--and since, like I said, having a visible "presence" is the first line of defense... On the third thing, don't worry--I'm licensed and my usual range-buddies for training are local cops.
[voice=fat-kid Mall Ninja]"Don't worry, sir--I'm from the Internet!"[/voice]lol
 

Miss 1929

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,397
Location
Oakland, California
Forgive me if I have put this in some similar thread...

but it is funny!
We have an all-girl vintage club called Angels On Toast, and we meet in places for tea, cocktails, whatever. One day we were all in San Francisco's Chinatown together, and the attire was required to be "The Women" (circa 1939, not that current excrescence). So here we are trotting down Grant Avenue in our fabulous Rosalind Russell hats and Joan Crawford shoulder pads, and a drunken (I hope) tourist lets loose with "What's this, the F&*%^$# Renaissance Faire?"
Dude, you're only about 350 years off...And he was wearing the usual khaki shorts, t-shirt and fanny pack... my eyes...
 

Miss 1929

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,397
Location
Oakland, California
I know, he had no idea how stupid he looked and sounded. And hostile! But there were about 15 of us, I guess his brain couldn't handle such beauty.
 

dr greg

One Too Many
shoot

I had to go to court one day as witness in a matter so I dressed up in a 3-piece and hat (why not?), first I was told by the security guy to "check your weapon" over there, and then once inside the complex and waiting to be called, I was approached by several toothless tattooed types in brand new plastic clothes from K-mart.."hey man are you like, my lawyer?" Nope said I, but I'm in more trouble than you, they backed off real quick...very amusing day.......
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,100
Messages
3,074,105
Members
54,091
Latest member
toptvsspala
Top