Hey! Today I'm just going to compile a short list of "vintage" things I don't really do or like. I know "vintage" can get a bad rap because people can be too purist and snobby about it, but not this gal! Nope. Here's why:
I'm inspired more by "regular" people than by Hollywood glamour.
I do love me some Hollywood glamour, but when I look at candid photos of your average, everyday woman from the 1930s I get more inspired. More often than not she will be wearing an ill-fitting cotton dress (possibly a hand-me-down), socks that don't seem to "go" with her dress, and sensible shoes with small heels. Her hair will probably be frizzy or windblown. She won't have an "ideal" figure and she'll totally bust the myth that all women in the "Golden Era" were tiny. Her posture will be less than perfect, too. I love these Depression-era Janes more than the Harlows and Crawfords. Examples:
Looking at and collecting photos of "everyday" people has allowed me to not be so fussy if my hair doesn't want to curl right or if my skirt gets a wrinkle in it. I'm secure in the fact that women in 1939 didn't have perfect hair and often wore second-hand clothing that did not fit them properly!
I don't swing dance.
Yep, I can't do any of the old dances -- only my special versions of them, lol. I prefer Madonna Dancing at 80s night. Modern swing dancing, dare I say it, is cheesy (ducks tomatoes!) LOL -- but I don't look down on anyone who does it! If you love it that's all that matters! I can only respect it fully when it's done fast and properly -- not by awkward white people in a church basement (wink!)
I don't wear real vintage.
...beacuse I prefer to make my own. Again, nothing against those who wear real vintage head to toe or those who like repro. I just love to sew all kinds of dresses from the 1910s to now. Sewing is so therapeutic for me and helps control my anxiety. I also like the fact that the garment is new, sturdy, and can take a bit of a drunken beating when I wear it out ;) If I wore real vintage out I think I would be uptight all night. I also like that I can make it look exactly as I choose -- no limited options. And this ties in with the next one...
I don't do the vintage look 24/7.
Yup. I used to. When I first learned to sew I wore it to work, the grocery store, everywhere, lol. Now, I realize there is a time and place for it. I always have a "vintage-y" flair to me -- it's just such a huge part of my life that people comment on my "old-fashioned" look even when I am in t-shirt and jeans. It comes from within me, I guess, and an all-out "look" isn't necessary. Again, don't care if you like to go pump gas and stop at CVS in your 1938 ball gown, but I'll save mine for when the appropriate occasion calls. After looking at "normal" women (above) they liked comfort, too, when they had nothing special to do.
I have quite a few tattoos!
This one gets me from time to time! People have actually said that "no respectable girl" in the old days got tattoos. Well, no shit, sherlock. Let me just say I don't give a shit about historical vintage accuracy, I realize it's 2014, I love my ink and want more, and I never said I was a respectable girl! ;) Actually, all my ink is 1920s and 1930s based. I think most "purists" would dig the actual art.
Being a "Proper Lady" isn't what I'm about.
People who love vintage often get stereotyped as "good two shoes." LOLOLOL. Not me. I can drink and curse like the best of them in my "ladylike" 1940s skirt and sweater set! If you like being ladylike, wonderful. I like being stupid!
I like the whole 20th century.
Even the 1990s! I have my favorite era of course -- the time between the two World Wars. A lot of "Golden Era" fans stop there. Others are hardcore into post-War stuff into the early 1960s. You'll hear lots of "vintage" people claiming the 1960s "ruined fashion." There's lots of dissing the 1970s and 1980s! Not me! I LOVE the later 1960s. And the 1970s were more than orange and brown polyester and disco. There were lots of interesting lines in the early 1970s that were very 1930s-influenced. Just look at these passable 1970s patterns I have:
So, I fully admit to loving stuff past the early 1960s. I admit to loving 1970s fashion. My least favorite era of the 20th century is probably post-War. Late 40s to the early 60s.
I have NEVER EVER said I was "born in the wrong era."
This saying makes me cringe a little. I don't think very many people today could hack it -- with all of our modern privileges. I like modern menstrual science, I like birth control, I like not fearing catching polio of TB when I go out, I like anti-anxiety meds, I like modern underwear, I like modern music, I like modern labor laws, I like civil/women's/gay rights, etc. Now, I'm not painting the past as all bad -- this is just the way it was back then, which can look "bad" through modern eyes (except the labor laws and civil rights things -- BAD.) But if I had to choose between a belted bulky pad and a cup you put up there for 12 hours, I'll go with "B." I like that we can be out of the closet now. Just think of all the unhappy people from the past who weren't allowed to love whom they wanted because of stupid social conventions. And YEAY GOD for anti-anxiety meds! If only these were available to Clara Bow her life may have turned out completely differently. People have said to me "I bet you feel you were born in the wrong era, don't you?" I hate it. I have to say "No. I like 2014." The saying is just so awful to me I can't even lie for the sake of small-talk!
And that is it. What "vintage lifestyle" stereotypes do you smash?