The passion of vintage; being a newb and getting to know it.

 I decided to explain a bit my different passions and what they mean for various people. Since I have many different interests, not everyone who read this blog know how people lives their different passions and sometimes even what they are.

The first I will do is the passion about everything vintage. This will be the hardest one for me, as this is the one I am the less knowledgeable in, since it's my most recent one. And my Mimi (mom for me) always told me to start with the hardest part so only the easy part is left for the end.

So let's start that!

Definition

Vintage enthusiasms, by definition, like things from a  a time period who have now come to a past. At least for clothing, anything made before 1990 is considered vintage. Until before 1900, were it is considered antique.

They are often interested in more than one aspect of the life like it was in the XXe century. This can include fashion, history, cars, house furniture, dances and music. Although many of them push it to the extent of having everything in their life (except maybe their lover) being at least  30 years old, hating computers, Mp3 players,Facebook or anything modern, a lot of them just enjoy a part of this culture (which is in fact, our culture, just half forgotten) while still living fully to our times, and using the practical side of our modern world ( I always find it funny to write" modern" it always remind be of when I read old magazines or interviews and people from the nineties... or from 1934, or 1882.... and I think of someone of  2050 who would read this and laugh at me).

Clothing, hair-dos and make-up

A lot of ladies who like vintage clothing say to prefer the vintage look because the style is more classic, elegant, feminine and “of good taste". At a time were stretch in fabric was not really present, all those clothes had to be well tailored. Which in fact bring us to a second advantage often brought up: the clothes confections. At a time were something you buy at the mall will last you one year or two, it's impressive to find pieces that hold together better... and are more than 60 years old. On my own classic pieces, only one of those items have a tendency to break, and it's an organza dress from the fifites/sixties. It is not because it's not well done, the piece is so fitted that with some intense movement, it broke the thread use to sew pieces of fabric together. It's not that it's not well made, but the thread is just too old

 Pretty dress.... (not sure I like the necklace O.o)

Pieces from that time are usually more modest than modern pieces too. What is considered pin-up material for that time cover more skin than most of any outfit we could see on the street this summer. But all those style still remains very feminine.

And as for the men. My god ,they were so elegant. I really really want to reverse back all the process who leaded men to dress like they do today. Let me burn those t-shirts and jeans, bring back the suits, hats and elegant shirts. I must say that’s one of those thing that make me my boyfriend is going to be an accountant: he need to wear suit <3

Anyway, I'm getting away from the main subject. The fact is I can't say exactly why people like vintage look. Although I could say it's because they like the classic, elegant look of that time as long as they remain fan of the fifties and before.... what about fan of the seventies and eighties. Although interesting, we can't really classify those styles as classic and elegant, no?

I think , like for the rest of the vintage, it may be linked to some kind of nostalgia or some kind of wish to connect better with our past.  Still, there is  a great distance  between looking with delight at old pictures of your grandma in her twenties.... and wanting to have the clothes she is wearing so, so much... and then recreating her hair style. Maybe some kind of desire to be different? A passion of costumes ? I know this is what hooked me.

I guess I will have to interview my friend Pierre who dress in a seventies style every day.

Movies

 I think it can be very easy to develop interest in old movies and for many many reasons. As soon as you get over the sound quality or the fear to watch something in black and white, you realize fast enough how a LOT of movies were done before you were even born and own much potentials and great classics can be found if you search just a little. For about any genre, there is a ton of great movies who were done before 3D movies, HD and all that made. And although it is in black in white, and more than 80 years old, I can swear to everyone that Captain Blood is as good as Pirates of the Caribbean... Ok maybe almost as good.... I must say Disney have a way of doing movies I enjoy very much.

 A great pirate movie. With Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. Awesome!

Danse, shows, burlesque and rockabilly

 A lot of people who are into vintage also really like the musical scene that come with it. I know a lot of person who enjoy jazz, swing dancing and burlesque boutiques seems to be even more common that classic vintage boutiques.

Although it not always coincide for the music and dance part, it is hard to be a burlesque artist without liking the vintage fashion or music. I think it is if in fact precisely this part of the “show “ that can make the burlesque shows called “art”, although this is still a lot discussed.

As for rockabilly, this stand for a more wild, modern take on the vintage fashion. I often think it look a bit between a mix of gothic and vintage fashion. Hairstyle and make-ups tend to be much more dramatic and sexy, but it also give a more freedom to the style. I personally enjoy it a little less that classic vintage style. I’m not a huge fan of dark things and rockabilly clothes tend to be form fitting because of the stretch of its fabric instead of tailoring... For me, it just have less elegance. But still, it is very interesting.

Cars, home decoration

 Why exactly some people love older style for the home is hard to explain for me again... I personally just find it prettier. Often... I am not a huge fan of the 3- colors floor of the fifties, probably because I grew up in a house who had such a floor (pretty white parts with parrot green and red parts x.x) and was never a fan of it. Although I enjoyed trying to jump from colored spots to colored spots when I was a child.....

Anyway, all that to say I guess this is the kind of style that please for some people, “old souls” like my parents often says...

I won’t say that older style of home decoration where less cluttered, etc.... this is frankly just depending of who live in there and how they managed it. Books and vinyl disks could take as much place as video games and DVDs now take.

There is still the fact however, that old furniture is often more sturdy that newer one. How much young adults herited old furnitures from their parents or relatives for their first apartment?

I currently have a 1954 kitchen set, and although the vinyl on the chairs will need to be replaced (small holes that I could live with... but also HUGE RED STAINS... so yeah... I will need to change that), oh my 3 kitchen sets I have ,this is the most solid and awesome. The table is a Transformer, with the part to make it longer hidden under it. Also...arborite  table? HEY that’s like a second counter!

 Transformer table! With stained chairs.... but still awesome!

I will finish by stating a lot of vintage enthusiasms also seem to like car shows. Now, although I must agree older cars look way better than the current ones.... I’m still really not a car fan :/ . 

Some of them also take part in huge re-enactments. The ones I heard the most about where taking places in the US and were situated in the fourties. Now I don’t exactly know how this work: do they create characters or just act as themselves, but in that time period. This would be something I would really like to  try, since I already like roleplaying.

   

    See this website, I think this is a good example : http://www.northernforties.org.uk/

So hope this was a good introduction to some of you. I am definitely still a novice in that world and hope I will manage to enhance my knowledge of it a lot in the future. You can be sure there will be so post related to it soon.

 Next post will be about Christmas decoration and a Drink and Draw meeting I had this monday. Possibly an outfit post too!