Unfortunately, wearing vintage can be tough enough in its self, let alone to school. High school is notorious enough for gossip, stares and general meanness so putting yourself apart from the crowd can seem like a pretty daunting task! Never the less it’s a task meant to be accomplished and today I hope to help you with that!
1. Taking What You Love
I’m sure if you’re reading this article you’re no stranger to vintage and you already have a decade or two in that heart of yours that you’re just dying to transform into. Take that decade and ask yourself a couple of questions, what was the general silhouette, fabric type and patterns, what type of shoes and accessories did they wear?
2. Toning It Down
While you should never be ashamed of yourself and your style, school can be brutal. Don’t look at this step as being shameful but more so a survival tactic. A good way to tone it down is picking, era accurate hair or a 100% era accurate outfit. If you’re going to go through with classic hair I would recommend wearing vintage styles that could pass for modern. On the other hand if you would prefer a more period accurate wardrobe simple hair such as a pony tail with a ribbon can be a quick 50’s look.
Another simple hairstyle you could opt for would be a pageboy! Pageboys are great because they work for most lengths of hair and are relatively easy to achieve. The pageboy is marked by sleek straight hair with a soft, rolled under curl on the bottom. While emphasized bangs are optional it’s an easy way to dress the style up or down!
3. General Outfit Planning
When planning what you’re going to wear I think the most important elements are saddle shoes, blouses, shirtwaist dresses, and lightly pleated A-Line skirts. Ideally if you were to build a dream wardrobe for dressing at school it would include:
- 2-3 blouses
- 2 A-Line skirts
- 3 shirt waist dresses
- An arm full of sweaters
- Two pairs of shoes- saddle shoes and plain flats
While all of this isn’t required, I would say it’s a good guideline to start!
Colors depend largely on the era you’re following but for a general rule of thumb I would suggest pastels for 1930’s, rich earth tones for the 1940’s, and richer colors for the 1950’s.
For school I would suggest keeping the amount of accessories to a minimum, a couple belts, small brooches, and dainty necklaces should be your go to. In order to keep an authentic look instead of a costume-ish one I would highly recommend always wearing something! Whether it’s a small locket or a waist cinching belt.
Grandmas Inspiration 