The psychology of vintage
In amongst all this there is also a female icon we all identify with. She doesn’t have to be famous. Perhaps it is a Hollywood startlet from the Fifties whose style we iconicise. But perhaps it’s a girl you know, or saw once at a party who you always think of when daydreaming about what’s missing from your wardrobe?
I’m fairly sure your mother is in there somewhere. Whether its complete rejection of her era, or an embracing (and possibly loft-raiding) of it. I imagine my mother in the Sixties when vintage shopping, or perhaps it’s not my mother, just an imaginary woman of that era who looks like her.
Finding vintage versions of current catwalk reinventions also holds a certain appeal. Jumpsuits from the Seventies are just that bit edgier than current high street offerings, and the stonewashed/ripped denim trend works so much better when its an original Eighties piece. Shoulder pads? Again, vintage come up trumps.
So whatever your reason for wanting vintage, there’s never been a better time to explore the wondrous wardrobes of the past. Playing with different vintage eras and looks is like playing dress up, and what better way is there to spend an afternoon than hunting for a look which has already been tried and tested and somehow seems to ‘find you’?
Category: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, Fashion, Vintage news
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
i like the article – one thing I can safely say though – my mother is NOT in there!
“iconicise” ?
Good article, would like to see it explored in more depth and with some quotes from people. Great starting point though : )
So often Queens of Vintage and I are one in the same mind, for I pondering this very topic last night myself (in respect to what drives others to also love the same time period that I do).
I know that for me – a die hard lover of the 40s and 50s – the desire to embrace those particular decades transcends more than just the fashions of those years (which of course, I love with an unyielding passion). I aim to hold onto some of cultural elements that made those mid-century decades what they were.
I believe in civility and kindness, dressing up when one goes out, having pride in your appearance, the importance of community, the value of family, and the the Gold Rule, all things which too often seem to be lacking from the modern world.
When I don vintage (or vintage inspired) styles, I hope to carry with me more than just a “look”, but also an embedded respect for the past and those who inhibited it.
There are as many individual reasons to wear vintage as there are individual vintage pieces to be worn!
And while it’s interesting to examine what these reasons might be, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what motivates you to wear vintage.
What matters is that you are dressing in a way that expresses your authentic self AND doing something good for the planet at the same time.
Hail to the Vintage Crusaders!
(And if you care about the footprints your high heels make on the world, then we’d love to have you join us as a Vintage Crusader at http://www.zuburbia.com)
I think you have the beginnings of a master’s thesis in here somewhere. As a trained archaeologist who no longer works in the field, I like to think of vintage hunting (furnishings as well as fashion) as urban archaeology.
I agree that the reason we wear clothes from a cvertain period has do do with identification. Personally I love the strong women of the 1940s and think they wear glamourous as well as “go-getters”. Think Betty Davies, Joan Crawford, Barbra Stanwyck etc And when I admire the stars of the 1930s they still tend to have that strong quality, women like say Carol, even though they had a softer silhouette. But the 1950s with its flowers andf pastells, how ever beautiful, still is not me… Great article !