something old, something new

Last fall I got bit by the vintage bug, and it's still got me in its grips. I'm not complaining, I welcomed this as a new adventure for me.

The first time the bug had tried to bite me was when I was travelling in Napier, NZ with my friend Meagen. Napier is a town on the North Island that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931. Napier rebuilt itself pretty much completely in the style of the time - art deco. They take a lot of pride in this, and focus a large portion of their tourism at this aspect. The city hosts an annual event where people dress the part and there are festivities like lawn bowling and vintage car shows. There were a number of vintage clothing stores around town and Meag & I spent a morning there cruising the racks. I was originally looking for something from the 1970s to wear to an upcoming wedding, but a 1930s dress caught my eye and it became one of my souvenirs. This was in January 2009 and nothing else vintage entered my clothes for a couple seasons.

The last fall I visited a local vintage fair and came home with a cute Gloria Swanson dress (of "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" fame) which was likely from a high-production run in the 1950s. It's a cute green and white gingham print complete with original matching belt.

After that, I had to take my new-found addiction online. Victoria's a great city, but it's small and there's not huge options here for vintage shopping. I turned to my trusty old friend, eBay.

One of the things I love most about shopping for vintage clothing on eBay is that the size labels can't be trusted as sizing has changed a lot over the last century. I know that I wear anywhere from 2 - 4 sizes larger in vintage than I do in today's sizing (and that doesn't really account for the difference in sizing between designers). The reason I love this, is that most reputable sellers will instead provide measurements; shoulders, bust, waist, hip and length are the common ones. The trick is to find a dress in your closet that fits you well and measure that (not your body). This limits the amount of clothes that don't fit once you've received them, which is great as there's no returning vintage wear bought online unless they described it wrong or hide a major flaw.

So here's a few piece's I've bought this last season, and the sellers I bought them from - they are eBay sellers with great reputations and I'd buy from them again without hesitation.

This robin-egg plaid vintage 1950’s plaid shirtwaist dress with adorable poin pleats accenting the bodice came to me from Forever Lovely Vintage. Love it - I feel like I should be greeting the Beav with milk and cookies when he's home from school.

 

This 1950s cocktail dress detailed with the a floral lace covering the decolage, a deep-v back with a velvet bow and a swishy skirt came from Rose's Vintage 'Vantage.

And lastly, this 1940s red, white and blue cutie (complete with original sales tag - NWT) from Mill Street Vintage - they have gorgeous pieces every week!

These are just a few of the pieces I now own, and I do try to wear them. I don't want high-volume wear as it will shorten the life span of the already long-lived pieces, but they deserve more than being tucked away in my closet.

Is anyone else a vintage lover? What decades or styles do you adore? Which ones do you want to wear, but just can't? (For me it's the 70s - they didn't love the curves in the 70s)