Beginners Guide To Dressing Vintage

What comes to your mind first when you think about delving into the world of vintage fashion? Expensive, confusing, daunting? Those are just a few that always plagued me but it turns out it’s not that hard with only a little help! There are some very obvious staples to any vintage wardrobe and a couple more non obvious ones. While it will cost you some money, I will be giving tips on how to achieve the look in the cheapest way possible!

Tops

Blouses are probably what comes to mind first, if so you’re absolutely right! What other kind of tops are there though? Knitwear tops, halter-neck blouses, peasant top blouses, and sport tops(Think sleeveless polos). You may be sighing, yawning, or plain out falling asleep at the thought of wearing a plain white button up everyday but fear not! Blouses in the 40’s and 50’s came in a variety of colors and cuts, more so in the 50’s. There’s a wide range of combinations you could find; a pastel pink peter pan collar blouse, a pale yellow boat neck, or a lacy cream blouse. Basically there’s a lot of options, even with sleeve length! If you’re going for a more 1940’s look a puffy sleeve would be the perfect choice! 1950’s? Maybe try a quarter length sleeve or no sleeves at all! In terms of knitwear just think slim-fit sweaters! The best thing about blouses is that they’re timeless, meaning you can substitute true vintage for modern thrifted ones!

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Bottoms

You have a couple of options depending on the era. As always my general focus will be on the 40’s and 50’s but some tips are transferable! Out of all the options skirts are by far my favorite! I love nothing more than a long flowy skirt that I can just twirl my cares away in! It’s basically a rule for dressing vintage that you must have skirts! Depending on if you’re going for a more 40’s or 50’s look the length, cut, and pattern will change.

For a more 40’s look you’ll likely want to stick to knee length and fabric saving cuts. Nothing to flowing or pleated as that takes more fabric to make. Stick to a more boxy and a-line cute, nothing with any extra embellishments! Obviously the whole decade wasn’t plagued by war but the most prominent fashion we see today was from during the war. If you decide to do 40’s but don’t want to go for the war time look I would add in element’s of late 30’s fashion as well!

In the 50’s skirts were big, flowing and magical, most of the time. Circle skirts, swing skirts, and pencil skirts were all the rage. Skirts had a wide variety of patterns, decals, and details. The ever iconic poodle skirt was introduced this decade, patterns were often small print but wild and kitschy. With pencil skirts they were more often then not one color and were typically worn to work. For the beginners wardrobe I wouldn’t consider them a necessity.

What you’re going to want for your wardrobe is at least three skirts, one solid color black, a neutral earth tone, and a kitschy pattern or plaid skirt, depending on your era. With these you’ll be able to style a good amount of outfits without looking to dull! If you feel you can’t afford the a good quality vintage skirt go to a couple local thrift stores and look for something poofy and plain or even for a pencil skirt in the uniforms section!

For the starting wardrobe I would consider pant’s and shorts an extra but if you’re looking to get that extra of pizzazz cigarette pants are the way to go. While they’re more a 50’s summer look they would make an exceptable addition to any vintage wardrobe! I mean you can’t wear skirts ALLLL the time, can you? If you’re more of a shorts kind of gal I would say just go for any high wasted cotton blend shorts you can find while erring on the side of modesty, for 1950’s sake.

Dresses

Admittedly the biggest bill in my life is my vintage dress shopping habits. They’re just so cute and comfy! Dior’s new look is personally my favorite, I love how the huge skirts aid in the illusion of teeny tiny waists, and lucky for me 1950’s is largely influenced by the new look style! There are, however, some dresses which are more form fitting or just less voluminous in general. Patterns of dresses are basically the same as skirts, fun and wild but small in size!

As we’ve already discussed, the 1940’s was a time of rationing and the styles were reflective of that. Dresses, like skirts, were also knee length with minimal extra fabric, the dresses reflected the clothes men were wearing and had a boxy, militant look to them. Colors, patterns, and fabrics were all very tame in comparison to the 50’s due to clothing restrictions from war.

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For me, dresses are the most important part of my vintage wardrobe! Someday’s it’s hard for me to get dressed due to my own illnesses so having something to just slip into is all I can ask for! Therefor I probably put a lot more emphasis on the importance in owning them. For the beginner I would strongly recommend owning at least two but preferably 4. The reason I suggest so many is because you should have two that can be worn with minimal decoration and two that can be dressed up and down. So two that are patterned and fun on their own and two that are plain or have very minimal decoration! Oh and I would make sure one’s a shirtwaist!

Dresses are probably the easiest vintage staple to find a cheap, thrifted substitute for! I’ve found countless and countless shirtwaist-esque dresses and actually a ton of true vintage dresses as well! If you can’t find anything vintage looking in your size, if possible look for something a size up that you can sinch with a cute belt!

Accessories and Extras

This is something that I have only really improved on as of late as the wide arrange of options and styles can be overwhelming! I do have a whole guide for the jewelry but we’ll also be talking about other accessories in this section.

So as a general rule you’ll probably want to find one purse that compliments your outfits vintage or not! If you’re deadest on vintage, a basket purse or beaded clutch would be my first pick! If you can’t find one that’s true vintage right away I see all kinds of vintage looking purses at thrift stores!

Of course a handful of belts, scarves, and nylon stocking are all a must! In terms of the jewelry previously mentioned I would stock up on bangles, simple costume jewelry, matching earring and brooch sets, and anything that really calls to you!

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Since shoes are a relatively simple topic we’ll only be touching on them briefly! I would recommend a pair of black heels with a Mary Jane strap if you’re feeling it and some brown oxfords. If your feet don’t want anything to do with high heels a pair of cute black flats can be a easy substitute.

Hopefully this guide can help you get started on your vintage journey! Good luck and make sure if this helped you, you send me your transformation! I’d love to see!