Women's wardrobe is a storehouse of a wide range of things for different tastes and colors. The same girl in the closet can contain completely opposite in the stylistic direction varieties of clothes - from modest feminine dresses under the belt to glamorous latex vinyl leggings. Every woman - from an avid homebody to a business shark, has a bunch of things in her closet that she has already forgotten about.
But there are still several fashion trends in women's clothing, which are present in the arsenal of almost every representative of the fair half. There are a lot of them! But one of the best of these areas is rightfully recognized as a vintage style in the clothes of girls.
Background
What are these clothes? And what are the features of vintage fashion? Initially, the word came from the English term vintage, which literally means "age of wine." The initial meaning of this concept was related to the criteria for evaluating the aging of wine drinks. But over time, the terminology in this vein has somewhat transformed and has acquired a different meaning. For some time, the concept has been correlated with fashion, fashion trends, trending trends, classics of the genre and retro stylistics in the fashion of past years.
Roughly speaking, vintage fashion is a clothing style of past seasons, correlated with a period of thirty years or more. Each generation interprets it in its own way. The very first references to the vintage style (photos of some models are presented in the article) originate from the era of the 20s of the last century. It was the girls of those times with their epoch-making distinction in attire who were the first to become representatives of the reference clothing of the studied direction.
Style features
How can you distinguish between ordinary and vintage clothes? Like any other style in clothing, this variety of fashion trends of the past has its own distinctive features. They appear in different ways and can be represented by the following versions:
- Non-vintage direction - characterized by worn out, colorless and artificially aged clothing models (often jeans, denim jackets, denim shorts or skirts).
- Purely vintage direction - represented by exclusive originals and originals of eminent designers, as well as famous designers, created no later than the eighties of the last century.
- "Screw-in" direction - due to the manifestations of the stylization of new patterns of things, cross-linked to certain fashion trends of past years. This can be an absolute imitation of a fashionable pattern (tailoring a replica), or it can be a separate emphasis on the nuances of style with the help of some elements - style, print on fabric, trim, stitching, and so on.
- Combined direction - provides for the use of appropriate accessories in sewing clothes. These include lace, buttons, lace, fringe, bows, locks, rivets and other elements from vintage fashion magazines. By the way, they are loved by girls also because many guys like them.
- Specifically, the vintage-fabric direction - this means the use of exclusively those materials that were relevant in the old days. It is noteworthy that they are used not only for sewing rare things in the same style with the bygone era, but also for modern models.
And finally, the main feature is that the girls in love with the vintage style personify the fashion of the past years when wearing clothing. Combining classic elegance with sophistication in tune with the fashion trends of our time.
Most important attribute
A whole book with a description and photographs of images of the past century was devoted to vintage fashion, namely, dresses. This is a storehouse of useful information for those who seek to at least one step closer to studying the history of trends of that time and plunge into the world of the most elegant and sophisticated versions of the apparel of fashionable women of past years. It was released in 2013, and the author was Emma Bexter-Wright.
Book “Vintage Fashion. Dresses ”demonstrates the features of creating amazing compositions from clothes of the past. In their reviews of it, many regret only that not every description is supported by illustration. I really want to consider a photo of a vintage style again and again, because it reflects the most interesting versions of dresses of an entire era!
But what are the main features of such unique things? Indeed, with every decade they have changed, transformed, modernized and sewn in a new way. The most interesting of them are characterized by the following important details:
- Narrowed waist - almost any vintage dress provides for the presence of a belt or mandatory narrowing of the cut in the belt. This once again emphasizes the femininity of the outfit, the gracefulness of the silhouette, the sophistication and fragility of the girl's figure.
- Flared hem - rare dresses often have an A-shaped style from the waist line, or else it is also called a "bell". Such a move in a dress cut strikingly contrasts with a thin waist, due to which the outfit looks even more tender and feminine.
- Midi length - few rarity dresses are presented in the form of a mini. The lengthening of the skirt just below the knee gives the impression of diligence, subjugation, and observance of etiquette. Do I need to remember how in the old days belonged to a naked body? It is not surprising that virtually any retro dress minimizes the risk of being condemned by society.
- Sleeves in three quarters - if the dress is not summer, as a rule, vintage style assumes the presence of a sleeve with an incompletely closed forearm. The summer versions are mainly represented by short beveled sleeves with flashlights or openwork stitching sewn along the edging line.
- Delicate coloring - vintage style does not imply too elaborate mottles. Unless in the warm season it can be gentle light shades of fabric with floral print. Models for the cooler season are often represented by expensive graphite, dusty gray, chocolate peas, dark burgundy, plum, saturated blue and other shades.
Skirts
In tailoring of fashionable and stylish skirts, vintage fashion is also actively visible today. Photos of modern design work and the latest developments of famous fashion houses, dotted on the covers of glossy magazines, serve as direct confirmation of this. What features are endowed with skirts in this style:
- Pleating is an amazing feature of the small and large corrugated folds on the fabric to make the image even more expressive. The pleated technique for cutting vintage skirts can not only hide the minor flaws of the female figure, but also bring a twist to her outfit as a whole.
- High Rise - Vintage clothing has never been worn on hips. Neither trousers, nor skirts, nor shorts in retro style are worn below the waist. And today, as you know, high-waisted clothing has returned to fashion again, which once again confirms the enduring popularity of vintage style.
- A-line format - as in the case of dresses, the optimal midi length and the hem of the skirt extended downward is the signature “cherry on the cake” in this stylistic direction of clothing. Today, various versions of skirts with grommets on the waist and stitched side pockets actively resonate in their style with fashionable skirts of past years.
Pants
The fashion of the first half of the last century did not particularly welcome women's attire in the form of pants. This type of clothing has always been considered the prerogative of men's wardrobe. Therefore, there are few varieties of retro trousers today. The most relevant and most extravagant version of them are modern culottes. Due to the high fit, the style of such trousers suggests flaredness from the waist to the ankle line.
Culottes have a slightly shortened length and slanting side pockets. Basically sewed from costume, cotton, in the summer - linen fabrics. Sometimes jeans in a vintage style are presented in a similar form. In combination with high-heeled shoes, they look incredibly impressive, feminine, elegant.
Blouses
Another elegant and truly aristocratic element of the wardrobe of every lover of a rarity orientation in clothes is a vintage blouse. Generally hand-sewn things with expensive, high-quality material taken as a basis can already be preliminarily classified as solid, worthy things. It is the quality and naturalness of the fabrics that are the main advantage of vintage clothing.
Vintage blouses are not an exception, the main characteristic features of which are the presence of the following details:
- Gate - it is always buttoned up to the top button. No neckline. No bare breasts. Everything is carefully hidden from prying eyes, everything is deliberately official.
- Openwork frill is a common element of retro-style, which, incidentally, is sometimes also used in dressmaking. The folds of thin silk ruffles falling from the neck to the chest look great in snow-white, milk, cream shades.
- The lantern sleeve is originally flared; it converges into a tight, tow-shaped elongated cuff. This is quite practical from the point of view of convenience - the flared sleeve does not interfere with a meal or any occupation associated with the involvement of the hands.
- Brooch - often in the area of the top button on the shirt collar there is an antique family jewel in the form of a family brooch or something like that. I must say that a similar detail of the women's toilet looks quite impressive in conjunction with a bow on the chest or an openwork frill.
Costumes
Skirt suits are the highlight of vintage style. An elongated narrow pencil skirt, combined with a short jacket with a sleeve in three quarters, perfectly emphasizes all the advantages of the figure of its owner. The high waist with a belt, a slightly flared bottom fish pattern of a skirt and delicate trim on the extreme borders of a bolero (jacket) together create a striking effect of a refined, aristocratic, incredibly feminine outfit. Today, often all this beauty is complemented by the Basques.
Basque, like no other detail, surprisingly emphasizes the thinness of the waist and roundness of beautiful female hips. That is why such a plan costumes are relevant to this day.
Hats
Vintage style headdress is a separate issue. These tiny bowlers, streamlined hats, flirty berets decorated with a miniature guipure veil - all these echoes of the fashion of the last century are so stylized, they reflect the era of that time, it is simply impossible not to miss them and ignore them. The most characteristic features are a voluminous floral layout in the side of the bowler, catchy feathers of medium length in a miniature rounded beret, and, of course, a seductive mesh in the form of a veil.
Shoes
If we talk about shoes, neat feminine shoes most clearly reflect the style of the past. What distinguishing features are inherent in them:
- low heel;
- rounded toe;
- a glass-shaped heel;
- convenient and steady block.
Accessories
Jewelry in vintage style is an embodiment of family dignity and antique values of bygone years. Basically, antique jewelry is represented by various beads, large stones in a rather bulky metal frame and inscribed engravings. Vintage jewelry is glitter-free, it is solid bakelite and with synthetic resin, from which antique brooches, earrings, rings and bracelets are made.
Makeup
The vintage style is not inherent in “war paint” or volumetric shading. On the contrary, minimalism, clarity and outlines of lines most vividly reflect the expressiveness of female features in vintage makeup. What features are inherent in it:
- Black long arrows.
- Long natural mascara tinted eyelashes.
- Bright red lipstick.
Manicure
If you want to complement your look, selected in a vintage style, with appropriate manicure - then you should cut the nails under an oval or almond-shaped form and paint them in a deep scarlet plain color. If your outfit does not provide bright accents, then it is better to leave the manicure in its natural form and open the nails with transparent varnish. Cleanliness and grooming were the main criteria for the beautiful hands of a woman in the first half of the last century.
Hairstyles
Before you choose the right vintage styling for your thematic look, you should go into the atmosphere of retro parties and recall these neat “gel” waves of shiny hair, horn-shaped buns from bangs of hair twisted from the face, and also turn your attention back to the veiled mesh. All these elements of vintage hairstyles so vividly reflect the then trends in fashion that they simply were destined to take root in the image of vintage fashionistas and become associative details of the women's toilet, so fittingly fit into the outrageousness of the original outfit.