Feminism and vintage/retro dress

[ElderberrySyrup]

Been meaning to start this thread for ages.

I've been doing a spot of vintage dressmaking lately and hence looking at quite a few blogs on the subject. 1950s style seems to be the most popular and there were a fair number written by women who dress in 50s clothes because they love the 50s, when men were men and women were ladies and everyone knew their place. Often it goes with being a happy Christian SAHM.

However there are also some who find something subversive in vintage style (eg this one - I don't want to link to the happy Christian ones in case it gets bitchy and they seem like sweet people whom I have no desire to upset.) Tea dresses worn with tattoos are quite common.

It has also struck me that a fair few of my feminist friends are into vintage style crafting and dressing. At all the marches I have been on there have been a few marchers who could have stepped straight out of the 40s or 50s (there was an Edwardian one at Million Women Rise IIRC) and I have seen pics of quite a number at Slutwalk.

So, I'm intrigued and fascinated. What is the connection, if any? Is it about resisting MODERN fashion? It would make more sense if we were all dressing as Suffragettes or 70s women's libbers, but that's quite rare. And the clothes are often no more comfortable, or less sexualised, than contemporary fashion. Is it about acknowledging the constructed nature of femininity? Or is there no connection at all, is it that in any group of women in the UK in 2011 there will be a few retro dressers (is that the case?) and it just happens that a proportion of them are feminists?

Any thoughts?

"And I just LOVE dressing up!"

Lapsed. Yes, I reckon the real feminist progression would be to extend the joy of dressing up to men.... let them have a bit of sparkle!

great line from your sewing teacher, Messy

My DH is a Lapsed Goth. He know all about dressing up!

I think if you find a style that makes you look good then you'll feel good. I wish I had the confidence to carry off a vintage style as I love the smartness of the clothes when I'm usually so flipping mumsy looking. In December I'm going to be the 3 Fs but that is not me and I hate it.

If they're wearing the clothes because they long for the days when husbands gave wives a slap round the chops (heard this in a film in a context that made it seem like part of married life) then I don't understand it.

I'm probably not of a level to take part in these discussions but that is my viewpoint! :)

Ah, I miss the days when men wore eyeliner!

Did someone mention men in eyeliner?

Ah yes I remember that - the first measuring session, where everyone goes from being all embarrassed to "oh who gives a crap, we're all odd shapes anyway!" Except I don't remember any vulva-measuring Helvetica - must have skipped that lesson

LRD, hmmm, would it be very un-feminist and shallow of me to go to the next feminist summer school with the intention of meeting eyeliner-wearing men?

I'm not a frustrated hourglass, I'm skinny and last year lost loads of weight through long term stomach problems. In the course of putting it back on I discovered that the vintage style I loved anyway helped me feel like I had some shape again. Consequently I am sticking to it and mostly wear belted dresses (at work - at home I am a mess covered in toddler snot). They make me feel better than a suit ever could.

I consider myself a feminist. I like to think that looking feminine, having a brain and being successful aren't mutually exclusive. (Can 3 things be mutually exclusive?)

It is indeed one of the founding tents of feminism.

I agree though that it would be excellent feminism to encourage men into the brave new world of better clothes and more eye makeup. For the sisterhood, you know?

(Founding tents?! Lovely image, but I meant founding tenets.)

Clearly I am missing out through not having been to sewing classes!
Though I know exactly what you mean about how matter-of-fact you are about people's shapes when you are sewing together. You have to be. They haven't started making vanity sizing-scaled tape measures yet. When you read pattern reviews the women writing them go into precise and unembarrassed detail about their figures and you're more interested in whether they've managed to make the pattern work for their shape than whether that shape meets the patriarchal beauty standard....

I don't even get my own joke, I'm afraid.

Bugger, can't believe I missed most of the discussion.

I wear mostly vintage clothes, and have done for years- however, my taste is firmly rooted in the late 60s/early 70s. As are all my home furnishings. And crockery. I live in a bit of a timewarp

I have noticed a shift recently, as I have got to my mid thirties; suddenly the clothes I wear no longer have the ironical aspect that they did when I was in my twenties- an 'old lady' dress on a young woman has now become an 'old lady' dress on a middle aged woman, and feels a bit different. However, I haven't stopped wearing the dresses because I like them; but how odd that I should be aware of the shift.

LRD, you don't have to have a sense of humour to be a feminist. The hilarious and the humourless alike are all welcome in the movement

I think vintage looks great on women of all ages. But I do know what you mean - I saw a woman who must have been in her 70s wearing a fabulous late 70s evening dress (liberty peacock print, square neckline, long, flowing skirt). She looked wonderful but my first assumption (correctly I think) was that she'd simply been wearing that dress for a long time, rather than that she was wearing it as vintage.

I doubt you'd run into that in your 30s quite so much though!

Oooh, Helvetica, I have all Denby Arabesque- can't believe how much the stuff goes for now; I amassed my entire collection from various charity shops.

Sorry, my last was to tethers - slow typing.

elderberry - thanks a bunch, I'm a welcome humourless feminist then!