In Love with Vintage Retro

 And #WowOnWednesday

Dear friends. Apologies for not being around last Wednesday, particularly to those bloggers who probably came looking for the link-up a few times.

As I explained in my post Tell Us About Personal Style, I was having a bit of a style crisis. It happens to us all, even seasoned bloggers.

The good news was that I figured out in that post how I would like to look. And I immediately dived in to the task at hand to find some suitable garments.

How I would like to look is neat and gamine, with 60s style retro dresses, pinafores and skirts (not too short though), Peter Pan collars and Mary Jane shoes.

I sent for several dresses from some online stores who recreate garments from previous eras. The dresses were quite cheap, and I'm afraid it showed. There was a belt that wouldn't sit flush in the belt tabs, for example. 

I realised that buying original "vintage" 60s pieces would probably be more viable, because the dresses often had good seaming and tailoring in those days.  The dresses I like come in at the waist and have pleats, folds and tabs, all of which need to sit flush. 

I'd sent for a textured green dress from a shop called Toxic Vintage Clothing on Etsy, and this is the dress you see today.

It's a perfect fit.  All the measurements were given, as vintage sizes often differ from today's.  It appears to be hand made. I'm delighted with it. It was £40, and I already had everything else in the outfit, 

I layered a couple of tees underneath and added my Kelly green coat (old). My gold flat shoes are from Boden, old, but they do have some similar shoes in stock at the moment.

It was a cold day on Saturday when I wore the outfit to a Kettlewell Colours meet-up.  We met at a lovely lady's house in Clapham, London, and after lunch at a Thai restaurant we went charity shop browsing. There were some very nice pieces - it's a good area to find charity shops.

Below: my photo of the group. 

Charity (thrift) shops will become my new best friend as I build my retro wardrobe.  Etsy has some very good shops too, and eBay throws up the odd gem. They have lots of Boden skirts, some of which have abstract prints and looks quite 60s.  I'm personally not keen on Vinted.

There are a couple of things I want to avoid.  Firstly, looking "like Mutton" which is a danger when I'm wearing pale tights and a shortish dress.  Opaque tights are fine but obvs not appropriate for summer.  I don't want the look to become too cute because I might look like "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane."  So I won't be adding the huge earrings or head bands. 

Is there any decade you admire, in terms of clothes which suit you? Do let us know in the comments.

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