vintage/faux vintage style

[SoManyLovelyKnickers]

following on from my vintage underwear thread anyone fancy sharing their top vintage (faux ou vrai) style tips...

eg links to sites, inspiring icons, pictures, clothes, accessories etc

so far I do like whatkatiedid for knickers etc. Also noticed they have some gorgeous cosmetics in there now, Besame range...anyone know them? the red velvet lipstick is amazing...

style icons for me would have to include audrey (though a bit skinny) marilyn (now theres an hourglass) bettie paige and pretty much all well dressed 50s laydees...

I remember my mum heading off to the local shops in a pencil skirt and heels (only a one and a half mile walk ) and I still remember the day I persauded her to buy a pair of dark red patent t-bars for wearing with said pencil skirts (I must have been all of about 6 or 7 ) - gosh I wish I had them now

in fact, my mum is one of my style icons now I think of it - have unbelievable photos of her and my dad in kew gardens in the 50s her in full swing coat and heels...beautiful

I don't dress vintage much, but would like to incorprate a bit more

anyone else with a love of this stuff, please share

im a little bit project runway obsessed, this designer was a finalist a while back, she was very much inspired by the 40's.

of course you wil be aware of vivenne of holloway, i'm planning to get the pinnafore trousers soon

tippy hedren's green suit and immaculare hair in the birds are one of my inspirations

mad men has also opened my eyes to 50's styling (though it set in the early 60's)

I mentioned the forum on the WhatKatieDid website on your other thread, it's a good place to get ideas for shopping!

Do you like just 50s style? Or 40s as well?

Here are a few of my faves

www.bigbeautifulbarbarabrown.com/

www.heydayonline.co.uk/default/

www.misshussy.bigcartel.com/ (Based in Oz)

www.20thcenturyfoxy.com/en/index/a1 (just discovered this one)

www.pinupgirlclothing.com/femmefatale.html (US based, but lots of drool-worthy stuff)

www.rocketoriginals.co.uk/

www.freddiesofpinewood.co.uk/

pinup-parade.com/shop/index.htm (closed 'til 5 Dec)

www.berniedexter.com/rockabilly-clothing.html

www.tarastarlet.com/

www.whirlingturban.com/ (if you're feeling flush!)

I love the Vivien of Holloway pencil skirts but they don't work with my shape sadly. They are made to a vintage pattern for a higher waist to hip ratio than I have, but great with a corset as it will reduce your waist size. I would have to buy for my hips and then get the darts and waistband readjusted. Mind you, I think that would only cost about £10-15 so might be worth it.

Oh, and this ebay seller does great made to measure reproductions of vintage patterns

stores.ebay.com/TopRunway

wow HavingKittens - thanks so much for all your links...I am going to have a lot of fun looking through them...best put the kettle on and snuggle down

I'd like a viv of H pencil skirt, think a black one with a [[http://www.vivienofholloway.com/en/category/wrap-blouse/wrap-blouse/761/ black wrap blouse] might look nice with that red'n'black corset, some stockings and some nice black heels [which I don't yet have]

hmmm....dreams....

btw LOVE 40s style too

hmm,, trying again wrap blouse

oh twoboots, didn't mean to ignore you, thought had already thanked you actually...for the vofH reminder. YES madmen - fantastic!!! utterly inspiring.

By the way, just to make you feel like you're in good company, I'm pushing 41 myself and dress in vintage style most of the time. Even if it involves wearing jeans a lot, still in a vintage way.

The thing I love about vintage style is that you can be as glamorous as you like without looking trashy or like mutton dressed as lamb.

I found this today. Vintage fashion - and all for a fantastic cause!

HavingKittens - you make me feel better - I love glamour but hate trash...and mutton...that's really why I was concerned about wearing the corset outside clothes - would it look trashy/muttony...but tbh the girl in the shop is right, they are beautifully crafted pieces and really should be seen (ok, not the bullet bra, I ain't going that far!)

I'd like to dress more vintagey, I do better in summer I think, wear lots of skirts and dresses then, andeadbands in my hair etc...

so what are you wearing this winter, if is not too bold a question...

also I reckon depends on your shape a bit, I have a friend with nice slim boyish shape (but big bosum) and she can do it easily, nice, blouse, jeans, tah dah...I'm more of a pear (silently wishing to be a willow or an hourglass) and I can feel very unbalanced if the sytle isn't right...

I am pretty obsessed with 40s/ 50s style. My gorgeous collection of c30 dresses were all of the American Ebay website but I also get new stuff - most of it mentioned above by kittens (AWESOME list, Kittens - you must have an awesome wardrobe). My best accessories to everything to give a liddle vintage style are my Betty Page fringe and a slick of bright red lippy - currently sexing up the thermals/ fleeces/ boots look...also headscarves tied the classic land girl way look really sexy (so DH tells me - he loves this look: goodle We Can do it girl).

goodle? GOOGLE of course? Duh!

Awesome wardrobe? I wish. Awesome aspirations is more accurate!

BTW TCOB the "We can Do it" reference is called "Rosie the Rivetter". I sometimes wear a scarf like that too, although my head seems to be a bit flat at the back so I have to bulk my hair out to stop it slipping up and off.

I mostly wear trousers in winter and unfortunately can't really wear heels much anymore as I have problematic feet so my winter wardrobe consists either of dark blue jeans with big turn ups, creepers or converse, either a vintage style shirt, long sleeved top or rock & roll t shirt with black long sleeve thermals underneath and a cardi or a vintage style jumper, usually either a sailor style breton, snowflake pattern or my current favorite which is a black jumper with a vintage motorbike on the front which amusingly I bought from Gap Kids! For a smarter look I would wear wide leg trousers, either sailor trousers or tweed ones, with a 40s style blouse or hawaiian blouse knotted at the waist (with the sailor trousers) and brogues or converse.

My hair is either in a sort of Dita-esque side parting or in a quiff or Imelda May style roll, with a ponytail and a big flower in it, and of course, 50s style make up.

Oh, I do wear 40s or 50s style dresses when it's not so cold or in the evenings by the way. Usually with vintage style wedge shoes.

oooh having kittens your style sounds GORGEOUS! love it.

thanks TCOB - I do like that headscarf look but I feel I always look a bit more like a flat faced woman working in the drab munitions plant looking heavy and dull at the end of Dr Zhivago than a feisty/glamourous rosie riveter style gal

when I see it on other woman I LOVE it - especially when they have dark hair and red lips and look all "put together"

would love to see pictures of you both, bet you look utterly fab !

I used to do the betty style fringe, did for a long time and straightened my hair which was then a sort of darkish brown/red, but then I grew the fringe out and let my hair go to its natural wave, but the colour now is a sort of honey blonde (with a "hint" of grey)...hmm...maybe I need a hair rethink - at moment am growing it so it'll at least be tie upable again soon but I think dark hair looks much better for that red lipped retro look, unless you can carry off the platinum bombshell thing - which I don't think I can sadly

anyway, I went out at lunch time and bought a rather spiffing fake leopard skin swing style coat...only from H&M but I like it a lot, and teh detailing is good, eg the buttons are really lovely and look very vintage. I also bought a pair of dark blue jeans to wear with turn ups (when wearing flat shoes) and a narrow striped blue and white jersey top with pretty frills on the shoulders - will be nice with a denim skirt and wedges in spring/summer

otherwise today I am rather sadly rocking [ahem] the parka, skinny jeans, wellies and beret look, along with a very long handknit scarf that wraps around me four or five times!!!

I know what you mean about looking at other women thinking 'that looks fab' then not necessarily feeling I can carry it off - something just changed for me gradually over the last four or so years where I just don't give a shit what people think anymore and I know I try anything!

With hair: I always think quite fake colour hair works well for vintage style. I had black last year for the Goodwood Revival(Kittens: I will eat my hat if you don't go to this) and am currently Joan Holloway red.

Check out the Goodwood website for some gorgeous pics...also a blog by a girl called Natasha Baillie who has some amazing stuff on her website.

I think the skinnies/ parka look is dead sexy by the way!

Kittens - great to have a name for Rosie. She is so cool and strong and beautiful

I did indeed go to the Goodwood Revival, just for the day as some of my friends do the Mods & Rockers renactment. Didn't go to Vintage at Goodwood though, it had very mixed reviews and the people I know that worked there were not treated very well, sadly.

I had very red hair with a Bettie Page fringe until about 7 years ago. Now just dark brown but I do have a natural white streak at the front which works well with the look. I can't be dealing with the fringe anymore, my hair is too frizzy and cow-licky. It only looks good when it's exactly the right length and only indoors when there is no wind or damp to contend with so I gave up on it in the end!

Joan Holloway is an inspiration - similar colouring (both me and the actress are really blondes) and a similar shape (though she is probably a bit smaller all round).

Has anyone ordered from TopRunway? Looks good but it's hard to judge how they'd turn out once posted to me!

I've not ordered from there but have bought a dress second hand off an acquaintance of mine who had one made to similar measurements to mine. It fits very well and is good quality. I do know lots of people who have bought stuff from them and are thrilled to bits, but you do have to be very accurate at measuring yourself which scares me a little. I've ordered off the peg stuff online measuring myself and still got it wrong! At least under these circumstances you can send it back.

I'm going to have to get used to measuring myself though as my best friend bought me a voucher for Whirling Turban for my 40th and I need to get a dress made at some point. I'd say, if you're confident measuring yourself or know someone who can do it for you then go for it. They also welcome patterns from clients, especially if they think it's something they can also sell to other customers.

Oh I would love to dress this way, was a HUGE 1950's/rockabilly fan back in the day (age 16 ish, was in the 1980's but I was very into Rock and Roll!) I also have the figure for it, very much on the curvy side, would love a bit of glam and va va voom instead of my usual school run jeans/boots combo. Any tips on where to start - maybe make up? Maybe a different cut of jean (I normally have gone for bootcut or straight legs in the past).

Kittens: I heard various not-so-great stuff about vintage at Goodwood - that's really bad about your friends not being treated well. Although I love the vintage stuff I do like the cars and bikes too so will be sticking with the Revival.

With measurements I've got used to vintage sizes now - before I was pregnant I was a vintage size 14/16 (36-26-36). Think in modern sizes that's a mix between 10 and 16.

Teenyweeny: vintage sizes are brilliant for curvy figures - the 'overhang' between boobs and waist is something you just can't get on even really lovely modern clothes. I reckon start with hair and accessories. I reckon Kittens will have some good advice re jeans which I would love to hear as I am a bit stuck in this department at the moment...over to you Kittens!

The problem for me is finding anything in my size, though - I'm a modern 16 which would have been an 18/20 (I think I'm a 44-34-44) and there's not much out there unless I want to up my budget. I really do struggle getting high street clothing to suit my shape as many things just aren't cut for an hourglass. Sizing up just makes me look enormous.

There are a lot of very negative reviews of VaG. I like vintage clothing, but am not a vintage lifestyle person like many - I like unusual things and the shapes they had in the past, but don't prefer a specific era. I really love the music and pop culture of the 80s but the clothing is not for me!

i'm much more into the 60's/70's look personally. Time was, 'Vintage' included that time period too. Nowadays it seems to exclusively mean 40's/50's/ occasionally 80's.

I don't think that's the case MysteryWhiteGirl, I think it's just that as this thread was an offshoot from a conversation about corsets, which are typically worn by people into the 40s/50s (but also 80s) style so I think it's attracted a few of us with similar interests.

There was a conversation on here a while back about the true definition of the word Vintage. Vintage doesn't just mean of a particular age, it also denotes a certain level of quality. Nowadays the term is bandied around as an adjective to describe anything second hand that is not from this season's collection as far as I can see, with oh so annoying people on eBay describing items as "Vintage Primark".... erm, yeah, ok....

I try to keep an open mind but I don't really like to hear the word vintage used to describe the 80s because it makes me feel really old having the fashions of my "coming of age" referred to as such! I don't think anything worn by members of Generation X from their teens onwards should qualify as vintage yet. After all, we're not even vintage yet .

BUT, in line with what you just said MysteryWhiteGirl, I'm a make up artist and I hate it when people just ask me for a "Vintage look". This pretty much gives me 50 years to choose from! Mind you, I also hate it when they ask for say, a 60s, 70s or 80s look - that's still only narrowing it down to 10 years during which there were so many different styles.

As far as jeans are concerned, I recommend dark blue/indigo straight leg jeans. Preferably up to 4 inches longer than your normal leg length so you can wear them with turn ups and with a high waist. Ideally with a selvedge seam but that can get bit pricey. My day to day jeans styles are either Levis 751s, or if you don't like them so high, Levis 627s. Or the jeans from Freddies of Pinewood but they are super high waisted, sitting just under the ribs so you might want to build up to those .

Mippy, a lot of the places I've linked to cater for a "Vintage figure" - ie. high waist:hip and bust:waist ratio and Pinup-parade.com do lots of plus sizes

I have a friend who has very large hips and small waist and she has her jeans custom made by makeyourownjeans.com. I tried them and it didn't work out for me but I don't think I'm very good at getting my measurements right.

my figure when I measured it the other night was 38 - 32- 42 . crikey. I didn't realise I was that big :-O {having some bloating issues at moment which may [hope hope] explain the large waist size and am cutting out carbs in a bid to get it under control}

what's best sort of clothing cut to suit me and make most of my [ahem] curves?

havingkittens - are those levis 751s mens or womens? I can only find mens when I google...

am wearing lots of skinnies right now (not at same time, obv!), tucked into knee high or motorcycle boots, with my new faux leopard skin swing coat and a pretty petrol blue beret

I may be larger than I thought but hey ho, need to get on with it eh?

going for a haircut and colour next week so will be back to ask advice on that no doubt!

havingkittens - don't suppose you are in London? always fancied getting advice from some-one I trust and whose style I admire on makeup etc...

mysterywhite - I guess I also wouldn't term the 80s "vintage" as of yet. for some reason but 60s 70s I would. Weird. But I'm mostly drawn to 30s, 40s, 50s I think...

enough rambling...back to work