You asked: Do you wear vintage clothing all the time?

If you sport vintage fashions out in public, you're bound to find yourself frequently being asked a number of the same kinds of questions. Hopefully, much as my own experiences have typically been, these questions will be friendly and not overly nosy (though you may find some a bit, how shall we say, off the wall, such as the ones I discussed last year in this post). 

In fact, you'll likely quickly discover that the same handful of queries pops up time and time again, one of the most frequent of which I receive is, "Do you dress like that (aka, wear vintage clothing) all the time?"

I have on occasion also received this comment online, including from some of my lovely readers, one of whom (Jennifer from the blog thistlebear) asked just that on one of my vintage outfit posts (this one) a while back. 

The short answer - and the one I almost always give to those curious strangers who ask me such when I'm out and about - is, yes, I do wear vintage very nearly all the time (note that I put genuine vintage, vintage reproduction, vintage appropriate, and 1980s does 1940s and 1950s garments under, for the sake of simplicity, the banner heading of vintage; as well as, though I don't wear nearly as many of them rockabilly and gothabilly styles, too).

{A selection of my usual vintage attire (all from previous outfit posts here), which blissfully mixes vintage, repro, vintage appropriate, and 1980s does 1940s/50s items together to create the kind of mid-century looks that bring my heart tremendous joy.}


That said, there is the odd occasion where I may want, or need, to don modern attire outside of the house. It doesn't happen often, and usually relates to medical appointments/hospital trips or taking Annie to the dog park, though every once in a blue moon, I will wear a wholly current look just because I'm in the mood to do so.

I do not, by any stretch of the imagination, hate modern clothing (as I touched on recently in this post). Granted, I might not be a hurry to hop into neon skinny jeans or wedge sneakers anytime soon, but as a lover of fashion - not just vintage fashion - I certainly don't have anything against twenty-first century wardrobe offerings. They're just, typically, not the kind of styles that I feel the greatest amount of love for, nor any sort of magnetic pull towards wearing.

Those who have followed my blog for some time now may have heard me share this story before, but in case you haven't, I'll recount it here once again today...

For as far back in time as I have memories, I have loved anything relating to history, vintage (mid-century) clothing very much included. As a little girl, though I had no idea at the time that some people actually did so, I knew in my deepest heart of hearts that when I grew up, I wanted to wear the styles of the 1940s and 50s. The moment my folks started letting me buy my own clothing as a young teenager, I'd sprint down Main Street on my school lunch hour to hit the local thrift stores, where at the time, 1930s-50s garb was still readily available and often for what we'd now call today, mind blowingly inexpensive prices, too boot.

From my first true vintage garment onward, I was hooked and have been ever since. Over time, my wardrobe has become a fabulous blend predominately vintage, repro and vintage appropriate pieces. I can go months, if not longer, between when I buy an item of clothing or an accessory that would be genuinely hard to style in a 1940s or 50s direction. I have a small assortment of such (modern) pieces, yes, but they see very little wear and are definitely the visible minority in my closet, stocked and stacked as it is with 1940s house dresses, 50s circle skirts, vintage babbles, repro denim, timeless cardigans, and myriad other old school or vintage inspired items.

My wardrobe, much like the way that I dress, brings me an indescribable amount contentment and happiness. I feel more confident, less self-conscious, and a million times more like myself when I wear mid-century vintage fashions than when I do 99% of modern clothing. Many of these garments also fit my (short, curvy) body better than their present day counterparts.

I adore the hunt involved with finding them, the memories attached to when they came to live with me, the knowledge that I'm preserving tangible pieces of the past through my wardrobe choices, the fact that I own a closet full of pieces that I'm guaranteed no one else in town has, and that I get to be time traveler, of sorts, every morning when I select my outfit for the day.

Even, on those very rare occasions, when I do slip into something modern, it frequently has a vintage vibe to it, and even less common than me not wearing my beloved vintage attire, is for me to go without my usual mid-century style make-up and hairstyles.

Vintage fashion is one of my greatest passions in life. It is an integral part of who I am, how I see myself, and how I present my appearance to the world. I don't wear vintage attire to intentionally standout from the crowd, though naturally, such cannot help but be the case (especially when you live in a small Canadian town that lacks a vintage scene). 

Instead I sport it so that I feel more like I fit in with myself, by which I mean, I am true to my inner sartorial desires and my unending passion for the past.

I'm not saying you might never, ever, in a million years see me on the street in boot leg jeans, a modern blouse, and a pair of twenty-first century earrings, but if you do, there's a very good chance, I'll be thinking about, and missing, my usual old school garb the whole time.