Lessons I Learned from Wearing Vintage: Experiment with Silhouettes

 

So, the other day I was sorting through my closet, and it made me think of how long I have been wearing vintage. Over 10 years! Yikes! I remember when I got started wearing vintage, vintage was really hard to find. What was available was crazy expensive, not my size, or just not my style. Sewing my own quickly became my only option. Thankfully I knew how to sew, and I had a few fabric shops in my local area that stocked plenty of fabrics and the reprinted retro dress patterns from Butterick. Those reprinted Butterick patterns quickly became the cornerstone of my vintage homemade look. It was not until later that I got my first true vintage patterns and were those a game changer!! Wow!

 I can still remember my excitement when I got my first box of those patterns. I don't have a lot of them anymore, but I do have one of them - my favorite of all time. It was a jacket, a skirt, and a blouse pattern. A whole outfit in one envelope and I made it up in so many different fabrics. From wool to linen. The blouse? I made that pattern up so many times I think I could have made it blindfolded. Since then, I have acquired many more patterns in all assortments of decades, styles. However, for all the patterns I have acquired, I still only use a few of my favorites time and time again. Call me a one trick pony, but when I find a pattern that works, I like to stick with it. And that is what this post is about, experimentation until you find what works. 

When I started to sew my own clothes, I was after quantity. I wanted to try every style I could - slim skirts of the 1920s, the A line of the 1940s, the full skirt of the 1950s. Not to mention necklines, shoulder lines, and waistlines. You name it, I was after it. My wardrobe definitely had variety but that was not necessarily a good thing. Why? Because not all styles suited my body type to start. I wanted it all and it led to a chaotic wardrobe where some looked great on me and some . . .well . . .didn't. I learned really fast what worked and what didn't. For me, I found that the 1940s silhouette really worked for me while that of the 1920s and early 1930s not so much. By trying on different clothes from different decades I learned fast. I learned what suited me best and what clothes accented my best features. I also tried clothes that hid my worst features. 

I know some will disagree with me on this, but not all body types can wear all clothes. At the end of the day, you can wear whatever you want but bottom line, not everything will look good on you. I'll use me as an example. Based on my measurements and from my own experience, the silhouette of the 1920s is too long and shapeless on me. It looks sad on me to be blunt. Bummer because I think the 1920s had some beautiful silhouettes. However, there are some women who can wear the silhouette of the 1920s and look simply incredible. That woman is not me and that's ok because of the silhouette of the 1940s looks great on me- it suits my body type, and it also suits my personality too. Some stuff from the 50s will suit me but not all. Experimenting with different looks and decades helped me figure that all out. 

When you learn to sew your own and you are just getting into vintage, there is nothing wrong with experimenting. Not only will you learn a lot of sewing skills and techniques, but you will find out what your body type is and what does and does not work.  A great thing about vintage is that there is a lot to choose from, different skirt shapes, different necklines and different silhouettes. Each decade has its own personality, and I am sure there is one out there that will suit you. You just need to experiment until you find what works for you. This not only applies to clothes but hats, hair, makeup, and even shoes. Try it all if you can and I bet you will be amazed what does and doesn't work. Even more than 10 years in, I am still experimenting. But, once you find what works, stick with it and use that as your foundation to build on. 

In line with trying on all sorts of silhouettes, read! Read period beauty books, as many as you can. I have a little library of 1940s and 1950s beauty books, and they had a lot of really great information. Those were so very helpful for me in helping me determine what necklines suited my face shape, how to apply makeup and more. These books are not expensive either and can be found as digital downloads for a fair price. Movies! I love old movies for the fashion, hair and more. Movies offer a wealth of information and on the plus side you can see clothes in motion, what a treat. If you are just getting into vintage, have fun with it and enjoy the learning process.