This is really just a musing of mine. I was watching If Walls Could Talk on BBC Four last night, it was quite interesting but I went to bed just after 9:30 as I really was pooped. But on my way to bed it got me thinking. Why do most people dress from roughly the 1940's onwards?
I've posed that question wrong I know but hear me out. People who class themselves vintage profess their undying love to a range of era's. When I think Vintage, I think 1940s and 1950s. But, having said that, I have a deep love for things from the 60s and 70s too. And even the 80s had some touches of genius (Though there were few and far between!) but most people are pretty die hard to their chosen era.
We recently attended some vintage fairs and they were classed as Vintage despite including everything up to the 1980s, which I wouldn't call Vintage but others would. This whole debate blew up last summer after the inaugural Vintage at Goodwood (which, as we all know is this year twice the price, held at Southbank in London and being called, Vintage by Hemingway, because of course that baldy fool invented Vintage it would seem....)
The debate was, how dare people dressing in afro's class themselves as Vintage? People were having fun, they weren't being violent, they weren't directly offending you or shitting in your face or anything, so just yknow, chillax, go with the flow and let people enjoy themselves. At the end of the day, afro's were sort of a part of the 70s as were fluorescent flairs and platforms, the 1970s was like 40 years ago, so yeah, I'd say that's Vintage these days!
My other point (not that any of these points hang together, these are merely a collection of thoughts), Vintage is different to everyone. One person might think it's the 1940s and not much else, others might think it's the 60s, the 70s or even the 80s. Just because you've made an effort to be true to your era, doesn't mean others can't mix it up, or get in on the fun in an afro wig in a camper van!
I suppose the question is What is Vintage? Well, who can say, no one person can define Vintage as it means different things to different people, and that's what makes it great, everyone can get involved. So really, I might start dressing like I'm from the 1980s (as, quite frankly with this body shape I don't stand a cat in hell's chance of fitting into anything pre-1980s!) and say I'm Vintage and be done with it. I really might, you watch me!
But, my original musing last night was, you don't see many people dress in everyday gear from the 1920s or even the 1800s. Is it because before a certain point (20s/30s) everything was still a bit too heavy and corseted for modern people?
This post, like I say, doesn't have a point, I'm not here to piss people off or say people are shit for having different styles or whatever. I wish we lived in a society where really anything did go, but people are too judgmental and closed minded in this world these days to allow freedom of dress, even when people go out in 1940s dress they get stared at so heaven knows what would happen if someone went out wearing a Victorian dress with a full crinoline/bustle combo!
And there's a lovely girl who works in our student shop and she totally rocks the Victory Rolls and circle skirts, and she does it with aplomb and I fucking applaud her, because all the sheep that go to this uni must stare and snicker and take the piss out of her, but she pulls it off every day. So it must take balls to dress vintage, balls I clearly don't have. But then, having some vintage clothing might help! I have two cheap Chinese VoH copies *whisper it, sorry Viv, I cannot afford or fit into one of yours!* but I can't exactly rock up to work in a swing dress and petticoats!
So, anyway, I don't have a point really, what are your thoughts on the whole, What is Vintage? debate?
