Please, careful with hats! I look like a demented house matron in a hat from 1920 to present.
Ah but a great big wide brimmed floofy hat, with feathers! The only good thing about doing Ibsen in college; I fell in love with the clothes.
Chalk another one up for 1910!
I’ll let Mr. Lissar know. A good friend has a black puffy pirate shirt- is that an acceptable compromise? And he’s still got the cute layered Legolas/Aragorn costume.
I love cotehardies. They’re so comfortable and unrestrictive- well, they are if you tie your tippets back and make the skirt ankle-length. I think my least favourite article of male clothing is petticoat breeches. Ugh.
I think Mr. Lissar has some pics of my very pretty dark red silk Georgian up somewhere on his webpage. I’ll try to find them. Yum.
I like bliauts, too. I should dig mine out
Mid 50s to mid 60s. Full skirts, sweetheart necklines, halters, tulle underskirts, slightly silly looking hats that neither shielded the face from sun OR rain.
Most importantly, full skirts hide hips while making waists look tiny. Terribly flattering. And the sex symbols of that time were WOMEN. Complete with curves and everything. Marilyn, Rita Hayworth, etc.
And if women didn’t WANT to wear bigass skirts and stuff, they could take the Kate Hepburn route with pants and big shoulders and stuff. So while the period wasn’t the best for women’s lib, it was good for women’s fashion. ::sigh:: I dream of a day when both will happen simulatiously.
Jesus, tying your tippets back sounds painful!
Always knew my first post would be in an Eve thread…
1920’s and 1930’s for me. Filmy flapper dresses with all that beading…sigh. And I adore bias cut gowns. I have a vintage midnight blue silk velvet gown with silver bugle-beaded epaulets that I’ve worn as a costume in several shows. Never when I have to do anything physical - it’s in great shape and doesn’t need to be shvitzed on.
My corset story: did a production of Oliver! in summer stock. Got fitted for my costume, including a corset. Had the obligatory flat-chested girl’s moment…“You need to lift them up and place them in there.” “I did!”
A couple of weeks later, it’s tech week for the show. I get my costume back, but the corset just doesn’t fit quite right. Maybe it got switched for someone else’s? Maybe they just gave me the wrong one? Who knows. Anyway, I make do.
I realized two weeks later…
I’d been wearing it upside-down.
And backwards.
Great story! Drool- you have a silk velvet flapper dress? I’d kill for one of them. I have a slighly ratty late 30’s silk velvet dress, and it’s beautiful.
I love vintage.
[blushes prettily]
I used to collect antique clothing, when I worked at a costume history museum; about 20 years ago, I auctioned off a lot of my collection at Christie’s (including a 1910 Callot Sisters suit and a 1914 tea gown). I still have some items I could not bear to part with, though they never get worn: a white silk-satin, bias-cut gown, c1933; a red silk-velvet bias-cut gown, (backless!), c1931; a 1938 burgundy silk-satin opera cloak; and some 1940s day frocks in mad fabric patterns.
Lissla writes:
No, a bias cut one. Very figure hugging, and kind of Grecian-looking because of how the top drapes. Bought it in a vintage store in Champaign, IL, the same store where I had a panic attack because I got stuck in another, tighter bias cut dress & couldn’t get out!
Eve blushes:
Eve then goes on to write:
::drool::
Schoolyard bragging voice Oh yeah? I have a late 20’s midnight blue silk velvet opera coat (wore it after my wedding- the only time I’ve worn it), a 1908 silk satin cream evening dress, with the lining in really bad condition but the outside perfect ($30), two late 20’s evening dresses- a deep cream one with pewter beading and rhinstones, and a black lace over nude satin and black silk chiffon one. They all fit!
Wait, you still win. Anyway, every time I buy an atrociously expensive antique piece I tell myself that it’s practically like buying RRSPs- whenever I can’t get into the outfit any more I’ll just sell it.
I’ve really got to stay away from antique clothing auctions and vintage stores for a while.
Oh, I forgot the 1890’s silk-mix handmade dress I got for $5. It’s a bit small now. I should sell it. It’s something like a housecleaning dress- one layer, not a lot of complicated snaps, and very simple.
I should be about to get at least $30 for it- it’s in good condition.
I have two dresses from the 1950s - one white sundress with trim of red buttons and red gingham, one gorgeous satin party dress in black, but the skirt is lined in scarlet. The black one was my Winter Holidays dress - I wore it to two different occasions (Christmas eve church service, and the work Christmas dinner). I haven’t had occasion to wear the sundress yet. I’m always on the lookout for new dresses, but it’s hard to find them in a large size.
I have several vintage hats, too. One’s very small, made of blue wool felt with white piping, just sits on top of the head. My grandmother called it a half-hat, and said she wore a similar one with feather trim at her 1950 wedding. Another’s from the 1930s, and is in EXCELLENT condition - could’ve come off the shelf yesterday, except that they don’t make 'em like that anymore. It’s a brown and gold herringbone tweed, fits close to the head like a cloche, has a small brim in the front, and a huge “feather” made out of the same tweed; you can bend the feather a bit to change how it looks. It’s lined in brown silk. Sadly, it’s just a hair too small for me. 
It’s very Bonnie Parker. My last vintage hat is gorgeous and black with big feathers and a veil.
1940s-women actually wore flared skirts. They wore some straight skirts, but as this was the swing era, you couldn’t jitterbug in a tight skirt.
And men’s fashions were best from 1900-1960. The suits, hats, suspenders, shirt sleeves rolled up…sigh
Okay, peeps-dopefest at Eve’s-we can raid her closet!
I don’t own any vintage items. YET. Someday.
If I get married, someday (crosses fingers), I’ll have to have about five weddings. Because I can’t decide whether or not to have a Russian court gown, a 1920s dress, an Edwardian dress, etc…you get the idea!
Oh, yes. I like 1930s menswear, myself. A nice fedora, buttoned braces, the pants cut with a high waist, wide legs and narrow cuffs (not as extreme as the zoot suit style, but definitely shaped like that), sleeves rolled up and maybe gartered…
Yes, boning is goooood!
What?
WHALE BONES?
Sheesh, give a guy a break will ya?
For men, I like the early 1950’s-big fedoras, 3-piece suits, wide ties, and those “zoot suit” keyrings!
Seriously, anybody remember that famous photo of Howard Hughes at the controls of the “spruce goose”? he was wearing one of those 50’s contrast jackets-the sleeves were of a different material than the body. I’d give a load of cash to get one of those!
for women: I like the Egyptian look (old Kingdom)-transparent linen skirts, …very sexy! After that, I guess early medieval would be good also.
<squeek!>
Someone spray that man down with silicone shine polish.
sigh! It will have to do. Not one of the guys I work with wears a pirate shirt - not even when we have clients on the floor and need to dress up.
double-sigh!
slumps dejectedly in chair and knocks copy of The Cad and the Lady off the desk
