Young loungers

[Juliet]

Something occured to me the other day which I think might also be a reason, if a flippant one. You know those insects that are brightly coloured to warn predators not to eat them because they are poisonous? Sometimes I feel that my wearing vintage can be asort of gentle warning to people that says no, I'm not quite normal, talk to me at your own risk

That is probably very true nowadays! lol
I don't know why it should be SUCH a bother to other, erm... modernly dressed people, that some individuals actually like wearing vintage. And if you're by any chance comfortable in your clothes, then of course you have to be deluding yourself! You can't be comfortable in a skirt! Unless it's two inches wide.
And surely one can't comfortably do pincurls! It's awful, it's a torture, and it takes all your time!

Goodness, why don't they just let it go?

 

[silverladybug]

The Younger Folk

What makes the younger generation go vintagei? How did you find it? What do your friends think? If you're a part of the older crowd (and I'm not putting any age limit on that) when did you realize that it was your style of choice and why?

I'm 21and I feel like I was born into the wrong decade. I've always been interested in the past, always looking backward instead of forward. To me, there's a sense of idealism to it even though I know life at any point is tough. It just always seems perfect. The men in their well tailored suits, the women with their perfect hair. It just incites a giddy feeling within me and i want to be a part of it. I think it really struck me in high school watching black and white movies and then it grew as I read "classic" literature. I don't know. Did others have similar experiences?

 

[angeljenny]

For me it is just that certain eras of the past feel more familiar than the modern era. So when I read magazines from the 50s I relate to them far more than I do to modern magazines.

I love the vintage 40s and 50s looks but don't actually dress like that or do my hair and make up like that. Trying to work up the confidence still! I feel more like "me" with my hair curled and a circle skirt but I hate to stand out.

My friends and family think I am crazy but that has always been the popular opinion. Old fashioned and traditional things just seem to fit me better. It isn't just a clothing thing, it is a heart thing I guess.

I'm not technically all that young any more though!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I'm 21, as well, and have always felt a connection to the past.

I feel that the major grasp on common-sense and what's proper was more prevalent in the past. The styles for men and women were both much nicer and more presentable over what they are today. The programs, literature, and music were all better, as well, in my opinion.

I guess I just feel more comfortable with the vintage life. When I try to fit in with modern folks, I feel like a fish out of water.

 

[Deafjeff]

Well I'm seventeen and I've only started really dressing well and looking into vintage over the past year. When I was younger I loved noir films(still do) and that probably influenced me alot. I love the modern world with my cell phone and internet and all the other newfangled doohickeys there are to play with but vintage clothing styles appeal to me. I admire the age when men dressed like men and didn't go out dressed like hobos. I also admire vintage values alot more than modern ones I suppose(politness, smiling at people, holding doors.....stuff you don't see very much anymore) so that likely has to do with it as well. I guess I just like the Golden Era because those were good years to be alive. I'm told by alot of people I was born in the wrong decade too. I'm usually told I belong in the 1950's

 

[Shangas]

I'm 24. I got into it because I've always been fascinated by history. Ever since I was four years old. And I was always more interested in...shall we say...'classic' attire. And it distressed me to see how sloppily people dress today. Among other things, too numerous to mention.

 

[Gene]

I'm 27, so maybe not all that young anymore, but I share the same sentiments as the rest of you. Interested in history, not caring much for modern culture, and trying to straddle the line between vintage and modern lifestyles.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I think we are almost ALL "younger folk" when it comes to our loves of vintage (pre-1950s). Unless there are some 70-100 year olds on here....which there very well may be!

I was scared of old stuff when I was a kid, but eerily fascinated at the same time. Now I'm 36 and love all the stuff I used to be scared of. lol I like history -- mostly social history and pop culture history, but I love the entire timeline from the nineteenth century to now (special interest in the time between the two World Wars.) The evolution of fashion, popular culture, and social standards is so interesting to me.

 

[Yeps]

I am 22, and I don't feel any particular connection to the past. I really do like old music and such, but it is mostly just that I find that the styles of the Thirties in particular (and the 20s to a lesser extent) really look good. People tell me all the time I was born in the wrong decade, but I think they are wrong. I like the internet entirely too much to be from a different time.

 

[scottyrocks]

I was attracted to 1930s and 40s styles as a child because my mom always had the 4:30 movie on in the afternoon. Back then, movies from those decades were not that old and movie genre of 'blockbuster' had not yet been invented. I watched all the classics and loved the suits, and especially the hats.

My brother and I wore a couple of old fedoras and cowboy hats that had belonged to either my dad or grandfather. On the rare occasion I was put into a sport jacket and tie, I always felt special and loved the way I looked in pictures.

As much as I loved the wide-brimmed hats of the 30s and 40s as seen in those 4:30 movies, it wasn't until Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) was released, though, that I was able to even find wide brimmed fedoras anywhere and I started wearing them.

 

[Shangas]

I still remember, the first classic movie that I recall watching with any real enjoyment was "San Francisco", from 1936. A truly classic drama & disaster film. It starred Clarke Gable, Jeanette McDonald and Spencer Tracy. It's a lovely movie.

I remember also, watching "Gone with the Wind" with my grandmother. She always loved that movie.

 

[Penny Dreadful]

I'm 26, and I've just never been mainstream in any way. When I was really little I liked pink and frills and all that girly stuff. When I was older my love of spooky things grew into me becoming part of goth subculture. Then the other members of the subculture where I live embarrassed me enough to look elsewhere for my inspiration. Besides, that Victorian stuff takes WAY too damn long to put on, and doesn't exactly help you move forward in an office environment. In an effort to simplify and look more age appropriate while still wearing beautiful and interesting things I enjoyed, I turned to vintage fashion, which lead me to want to learn everything I could about the time period. I'm an internet research addict, and the more I learn the more I love it. I've also converted a number of my friends who love it for the same reasons. I'm still evolving, but I love history and looking fantastic, so this is me for the foreseeable future

Edit: I would also like to add that it creates warm, cuddly, familiar feelings for me, as some of my most cherished memories are of spending a lot of time with my grandma when I was a kid, watching old movies, even going to visit her friends with her. I could go on for days abut those times. So it brings me back as much as possible. (She doesn't care at all for fashion, as long as there are no stains or holes, but she definitely appreciates it compared to my all-Heavy Red wardrobe lol) Wow, I really miss those days.

 

[Gin&Tonics]

What makes the younger generation go vintagei? How did you find it? What do your friends think? If you're a part of the older crowd (and I'm not putting any age limit on that) when did you realize that it was your style of choice and why?

I'm 21and I feel like I was born into the wrong decade. I've always been interested in the past, always looking backward instead of forward. To me, there's a sense of idealism to it even though I know life at any point is tough. It just always seems perfect. The men in their well tailored suits, the women with their perfect hair. It just incites a giddy feeling within me and i want to be a part of it. I think it really struck me in high school watching black and white movies and then it grew as I read "classic" literature. I don't know. Did others have similar experiences?

Hmmm, well I grew up reading Edgar Alan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle; being a huge Sherlock Holmes fan I fell in love with Granada TV's Holmes series and Brett's magnificent, incomparable depiction of the Great Detective, so that probably has a lot to do with my affinity for all things Victorian. I also grew up in a house full of antiques and always appreciated them since I was a small child. My mom used to call me an "old soul" and say I'd "lived before", and while I don't agree in a literal sense, I can see what she meant at least figuratively speaking.

I've long had an underlying displeasure with modern men's fashion, finding it dull, repetitive, cheap and uninspired, and I've long despised modern architecture and interior design. Almost everything modern causes me distaste to some degree or another. On the other hand, when I pass a victorian house or an old weathered brownstone, I practically drool over it. One of my favourite activities when on vacation is to visit old historic homes that have been opened to the public, such as Craigerroch Castle in Victoria, or stay in victorian bed and breakfasts like the Old Consulate Inn in Port Townsend, WA; I love everything about those old places: the creaky floors, the quirky floorplans, the gorgeous detailing, even the "old house" smell! I can't even describe the smell, as I think it's more an amalgamation of many smells that to me is intoxicating, it just speaks to all the ages that these venerable walls and windows and beams have seen. It makes me wish the houses really could speak and tell me about days gone by...

Yeah, I'm a weirdo, I know lol but anyways...I've long admired the Victorians' fashion sense as well, and it's only recently that I came to a point in my life where I got up the courage to dress how I want and the hell with what anyone thinks. I haven't gone 100% Victorian in my wardrobe, for various reasons, but I have definitely tried to incorporate some different items into my wardrobe such as waistcoats and my homburg as well as dressing more classically in the sense of suits, sportcoats, ties, etc. I've been wearing a pocket watch for over seven years now and much prefer them to wristwatches (hmm was the pocket watch the slippery slope toward sartorial revolution? lol) So far I love it and I've actually gotten all kinds of positive comments from total strangers out and about. Now if only my wife would come on board!

Oh, forgot to mention I'm 29 so I still qualify as part of the 'young crowd' (at least I think so! lol)

 

[Shangas]

Be off with you, grandpa, lest my walking-stick find thy backside!

...Nah you can stay.

I was the weird kid at school. I was fascinated by everything old. I was more interested in vintage cars than the latest computer-games. I was more into pocketwatches and fountain pens than the latest TV shows. I was more into typewriters and old telephones than the latest celebrity gossip. When you're eight, and "old" is anything that's 15, a lot of my friends just didn't understand.

And that's just something that's stuck with me ever since. As I got older, I got...older...shall we say. More and more into history. My brain really loses interest in most things past the 1950s.

 

[silverladybug]

We all seem to have similar stories. It's really interesting to see how people from all different backgrounds have the same ideas. Some of you mentioned friends thinking you're a bit odd, which happens in my case as well. Do you have similar problems with your significant other? Are they open minded, or do they not want to associate with you? In the past I've had mixed results.

 

[RodeoRose]

I'm 19, and have been wearing vintage since I was 14. I started out with a '50s and '60s aesthetic that leant toward country-western and girl group kitsch, because I've always been enthralled by early country music and garage rock. Today I prefer to wear more '30s - early '50s clothes for everyday, but I'm still primarily inspired by music.

As for how I got into it, well, I'm from a very rural town that's quite stuck in the past, and grew up in an old home filled with generations worth of antiques, so on a superficial level, it's simply what I'm used to and have come to prefer aesthetically. Beyond that, I have always been very shy and rather lost in a dreamworld anyway, so I never felt terribly grounded in modern society. Because I was so quiet and mousy in school, I spent more time with my parent's old books and classic films on VHS than interacting with other kids, which turned me into a very strange luddite lol.

My friends do find me quite an oddity as well, but generally respect my passion. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to contend with confused friends, haha! It gets kind of lonely, but I've found keeping a blog has enabled me to connect with lots of sweet like-minded vintage girls from around the world, which is really integral to keeping up my morale.

 

[angeljenny]

. Beyond that, I have always been very shy and rather lost in a dreamworld anyway, so I never felt terribly grounded in modern society. Because I was so quiet and mousy in school, I spent more time with my parent's old books and classic films on VHS than interacting with other kids, which turned me into a very strange luddite lol.

My friends do find me quite an oddity as well, but generally respect my passion. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to contend with confused friends, haha! It gets kind of lonely, but I've found keeping a blog has enabled me to connect with lots of sweet like-minded vintage girls from around the world, which is really integral to keeping up my morale.

Not being grounded in modern society - not heard it described like that but it fits! It is almost like I don't have any real ties to modern society - my parents wonder where I came from!

Blogging is a really good way of finding people who share the same views and interests - I know the community aspect is something I really like about having a blog.

 

[Gin&Tonics]

... Do you have similar problems with your significant other? Are they open minded, or do they not want to associate with you? In the past I've had mixed results.

My wife thinks I've gone off the deep end. lol She generally hates and is annoyed by my retro-style and desire to wear "fancy" clothes every day now. I think she may be starting to slowly come around since I've been getting more and more compliments from random strangers every time we go out, both men and women. She says the compliments I've gotten from our friends are because they feel obligated, but it's hard to argue that random strangers are feeling obligated to go out of their way to compliment a guy's attire.

Some of my friends are super supportive and think it's great; they realize that actually this look is more me than what I've ever worn before, so they think it's great.

 

[sheeplady]

I'm 30, so older than some. I have been into vintage since I was little. My parents are collectors.

I didn't start wearing vintage until I was older. To be honest, when I was younger I lacked the self confidence and the funds to do so. Towards my senior year of college I was able to take on more work and I started to be able to afford some things from a thrift store, most of which was not vintage but vintage look. After I got married I started doing vintage hair, and from there got vintage glasses and a few vintage pieces. Having the encouragement of my husband popped me over the edge.

I'm not trying to be snarky or overly critical here, but most couples who stay together for a long period of time go through things that are extremely major: death, illness, loss of work, etc. If someone can't be supportive of "who you are" on a day-to-day basis how do you know they will be supportive when you really need it? I can understand not being supportive of something that drains a couple of funds or space, some things are not to their partner's taste, and that relationships are all about compromise. But nobody should be in a relationship where you have to "hide" a big piece of who you are.

 

[Captain Lex]

I'm 20. The slippery-slope that led me started in my sophomore year of high school, when I saw a picture of John Kay from Steppenwolf wearing orange pants. Something about the orange pants entranced me, and I had to go find some. Of course, I was jeans-and-t-shirt only at the time, so I needed more than just pants--shoes, dark socks, button-up shirts. I have the good sense not to wear orange pants anymore, but I never turned my back on dressing a little more deliberately.

Deliberately is, I think, a good word for why I like vintage clothing. It demonstrates that I'm making decisions in what I wear; I wear neither the t-shirt and jeans of my oblivious youth nor the standard steel-gray power suits of your average businessman. It communicates clearly that I dress to please myself. Even though that also motivated my t-shirt-and-jeans phase, it wasn't nearly as obvious when everyone else was doing it.

I agree with Yeps; I would never have thought I was "born in the wrong decade" or anything; I'm a computer programmer for heaven's sake, it would be MADNESS to claim I wish I'd be born earlier. But the magic of having a well-preserved past is that you don't need to have been born earlier. The entire history of the many cultures of the world is out there for each of us to pick and choose from. I don't quite have the funding yet to dress '30s every day, but it is my goal; but I also love the sense of adventure and optimism from Victorian and Edwardian times; I listen to American rock-and-roll and Irish folk music (among much else, of course); and I eat most of my meals with chopsticks. It is the special privilege of all of us now to be able to benefit from the hard work of all our forebears.