5 Tips on How to Create Your Personal Vintage Style

[@StarspangledHeart]

I live in Florida and decided a few months ago that I no longer wanted to wear polyester. It made me so sweaty even in the winter when the weather was nice! I’ve been so much more comfortable since letting go of all of my poly blouses and have been focusing on adding more cotton and linen tops. I definitely will be using some of your tips to further refine my wardrobe.

[@TheGlambassador]

That's great! I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@celticgoddess81]

I got rid of most of my poly blouses too, but it soooo hard to find clothes that use natural fibers.

[@Gomba13]

There are so many modern staples that can be styled vintage! Regular shirts work great in vintage outfits. Straight cut jeans can be used with the hem rolled up. Things that are striped or have polka dots can work great even if they are not vintage. I have a parka with big polka dots on it. Parkas are not vintage at all, but when I put it on with my vintage style, it fits right in just because of the polka dots. It is also very much a matter of HOW you wear a non vintage piece to make it look vintage. For example, tops and sweaters meant to be worn hanging can be tucked in, or you can put a belt over them and cinch them at the waist. One smart thing I did was to use a men's shirt, too big for me (I used it for lounging) and instead of buttoning it, I criss-crossed the front flaps and brought them around the back to tie them there. This made the shirt short and cinched, with a very feminine silhouette reminiscent of the tailored high waist shirts worn in the 1950s. It makes my waist look much smaller and by bust look bigger, and has a playful yet elegant style.

[@Gomba13]

Pockets! It is one of the many reasons why I love swing skirts. The least significant reason why I love swing skirts is the look! 😂

[@fromtonghua5018]

Hi Christine, you are a master of colors. I hope you can make a video about how to wear colors for spring, summer, fall...

[@melanielester2106]

Hi Christine.... I thoroughly enjoyed this video, it is making me think about things in a different way. I wear 1950's style clothing for the office (I'm a secretary.......... well, when i'm allowed to go into with the office with these Covid shenanigans!) and I do feel very smart and comfortable but my main passion is the 1940's and yet I have always struggled to get my outfits to feel comfortable. I am a 1940's re-enactor (here in the UK) and I have multiple outfits for events (including Womens Land Army, crane driver from the Sunderland Shipyards, WAAF Parachute Packer, Munitions worker, USANC etc) and am comfortable at events but just not for work. I definitely need to extend my 1940's 'office' wardrobe and I am confident your great advice will help me figure out being comfortable in 1940's clothes for work ! x

[@TheGlambassador]

The 1940s had some amazing styles for the office. More and more women were working outside the home, so there is a lot to reference for that time period. I just did a style guide for 1930s details and I'll be working on another one for 1940s, so keep your eyes open for that. But in the meantime, check out my Pinterest page for some 1940s inspiration.

[@melanielester2106]

@@TheGlambassador ... Hi ! I have just this minute watched your 1930's video, it was excellent ! Will definitely be watching out for your 1940's episode ! I shall check out your Pinterest page, thank you !

[@heidizabel3180]

Great tips! I would love to see your shoe wardrobe because I feel you on if your feet ain’t happy ain’t none of the rest of you gonna be happy either. 🙂

[@joannemcmillan9201]

Mama used to say ain’t nothing meaner than a woman whose feet hurt.

[@heidizabel3180]

@@joannemcmillan9201 That is the truth!!

[@TheGlambassador]

I do have a video on some of my favorite shoes and you can see my whole wardrobe set up in another video.

[@heidizabel3180]

@@TheGlambassador Awesome!

[@rodentary]

Omg. I learned so much about how to better use pintrest. I love. I was just thinking the other day how much o wish i could organize my pins

[@drmichelledaf]

I seriously love your channel! Thank you for the work that you put in to create these wonderful and helpful videos 💕✨

[@TheGlambassador]

Thank you so much!

[@laurenschiller1804]

Yes, pockets! I have all of these women's dress pants that I never wear because they only have two inches of pocket. There are a lot of tutorials on how to add pockets to skirts, but pants? Need to make sure there's the leg room for it.

[@rachelleford2675]

Hello Glambassdor, As always I love your tips, I tend to mix up my fashion but I love learning. Keeping ideas open, is also important...

[@tabathaedwards395]

Awesome video! My favorite tip is starting with my own closet. What a wonderful way to figure out which way I'm already leaning! Its been a while since I've done a closet purge. It just moved to the top of my list.

[@angelagrimes8237]

I am just seeing this and I LOVE THIS! Thank you. I have been really hesitant to try and create a vintage look that works for me and like you said not look like a costume! You are so awesome! Thx!

[@Gomba13]

There are vintage styling options that just aren't practical today because life is different now. An example is wearing aviator sunglasses, which are lighter and more protective than what midcentury women wore. So I have started to not care so much about substituting. This has made my styling more creative and it has been a great way to come up with my own brand of vintage. One thing that is very important is to know your body and know what cuts look good on it. For example, if you have a very small chest, then tops with high necklines, especially those with embellishments around the neck, are not the best, it is better to use lower necklines which have detailing around the chest. If you have issues with a hip dip, buy the pencil skirt that has smocking or pockets around the hips, not the classic pencil skirt. If you have a short torso, size up your swing skirts so they sit a little lower at the waist (and perhaps shorten the hem). I see a lot of very colourful styles everywhere, and I find they often look immature or attention seeking. So I use less patterns and more neutral colours. I love khaki, goes with absolutely everything. My accent colour is red. I have all pieces of jewelry, clothing and accessories in red, even seamed black tights with a red seam. But the key is to never have more than two red things on you, and never more than one that is big (don't wear a red dress with red shoes, for example), especially if you also use red lipstick. My favourite is a tiny red purse shaped a bit like a gemstone. Because I have everything in red, I buy everything with the idea that it must look good with red, accessorizing is child's play, and the touch of red has become a trademark. Also, because of the kind of hair I have, my everyday go-to hair style is a French twist, which I play with by varying what I do with my fringe. The nice thing about having a go-to hairstyle is that you learn to master it super fast and it takes two minutes to do it, making your life easier but also making you look like you came from the salon-all while creating a unique style rather than just doing generic vintage. Also, I refuse to iron ANY clothes, so I have a lot of synthetics, like polyester and viscose, which tend to have creases if they come through the mail and which I then get professionally cleaned to get the creases out. Then, I just have to learn to sit down properly in my clothes so they don't crease, set the spin cycle to a low speed, and promptly remove clothes from the washer when done. Synthetics also dry much faster, so I don't use a dryer. I do use natural fibres when they are clothes that stretch over your body, or clothes I don't wash often like coats. I do prefer natural fibres, but they are not as durable and higher maintenance, so I make do with synthetics.

[@FatiguedButFabulous]

This is so true! I spent so much time (not to mention money!) buying items that ultimately didn't fit my personal style and would never get worn. I wish I'd seen this video back then.

[@TheGlambassador]

I think we've all gone through that misery. It's a live and learn situation.

[@HappyBabyAngie]

I enjoy your videos so much. I saw this when you originally posted it and while I was looking for something to watch tonight, I decided to watch this video again and interestingly enough it was like watching it for the first time. When I first watched it I was just touching the surface of discovering my vintage style. Now that I'm deeper into it and know a bit more, I was able to better relate and understand your suggestions. I'm so thankful you share so much with us.

[@TheGlambassador]

Thank you so much for this! I’m so glad that my videos have helped you, I warms my heart to read these messages 🥰❤️

[@HappyBabyAngie]

@@TheGlambassador You've been an inspirational part of my vintage journey 😘

[@Yana.Polyanichko]

Great tips! Thank you, Christine 🤗!

[@TheGlambassador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@black.lady.vintage]

I'm still figuring out my style, so thank you, this video is very useful guide 🥰 regards!

[@TheGlambassador]

You're so welcome!

[@babygracie68]

I always enjoy a new video 🌸😊

[@TheGlambassador]

I'm so glad!

[@seestellysew8472]

This was very helpful. Thank you.

[@TheGlambassador]

You're welcome!

[@themoonflowerfaerie]

Love your tips. My issue is that I love all elegant styles from the regency period up to & including the 50s. So I’m trying to pin one down even though I would like to do them all. I also am very color sensitive. I’ve experimented with many colors over the years and I only really like one to two colors. So I have a restricted color scheme along with pinning down a style. Well it’s going to be interesting seeing what I end up doing.

[@hummingbird4335]

In all the world of colour, only two suit you? I highly doubt this. I believe every colour suits everyone, it is just a matter of what hue/shade you pick. So take yellow for instance, it can go from very pale or pastel yellows, to medium yellows & then the darker richer ones like mustard, marigold, etc. Some where in that wide range, is a shade that will compliment you. Same as with every other colour. It's like how they used to say black women were better off without red lipstick & boom, blue based reds enter the chat & the rest is history.

[@themoonflowerfaerie]

@@hummingbird4335 well to each their own. I’ve tried many colors in my life and pale pinks and white are the only ones I feel compliment me; and that I feel good in. I know several people who only wear one color and have been that way for years.

[@cammieschmidt587]

These are all great tips!

[@TheGlambassador]

Glad you like them!

[@fitzwilliamdarcy24]

Great video and beautiful blouse! 😊

[@TheGlambassador]

Thank you! 😊

[@deniwolf100]

Great tips! I've been on my own personal journey to Vintage styling for about 3yrs now. I've learned what suits my body type and what kind of fabrics I like but am still building my collection of accessories. I'm also preparing for gastric bypass surgery so am not buying any more clothing as I know my body shape and size will be changing over the next year. I've started navigating Eshakti as I believe it will be a great place for me to find items that actually fit me correctly. I want to start wearing more blouses and skirts in the future and also hats, your videos are so inspiring and make me look forward to shopping for new items in the future. Any tips on blouses...what to look for and where sells lovely floral puffed sleeve blouses? Also cardigans...where is the go to place for a nice vintage style cardigan? Best wishes from the UK! ❤

[@TheGlambassador]

My favorite cardigans are from Emmy Design. They also have some lovely blouses. I've found cute puffed sleeve blouses from HeyDay Vintage as well.

[@denisecuneo1969]

I wm looking at my closet and really thinking about what makes connect with what i like un vintage and current. I want to vomnine them

[@msamios.321]

I have the same relationship with the Marilyn shoe! It is spot on gorgeous, but my feet chastise me if I don a pair of shoes with a heel higher than two inches.

[@emilyglass6625]

A couple of random observations from my own style life: 1) I have sometimes been 100% wrong in predicting what the most practical purchases would be and what would get the most wear. I'm definitely not disagreeing with the recommendation to do prep work and keep a list to help keep shopping moderate. That is the dream! But just as an anecdotal observation, sometimes the super practical item I thought I needed never got worn, and the impulse purchase I beat myself up about turned out to go with EVERYTHING somehow. 2) Over time, my style has become very layering based, for a variety of reasons. For one, ren faire itself isn't my very favorite look, but there's something VERY exciting to me about the kind of volume and restraint you find in your ren-faire-type silhouette. I love statement sleeves and shirring and pintucking and flounces... worn with something close-fitting that they kind of spill out of, romantic-like. But I'm also a plus size woman who has struggled over the years with limited options and weird fit and intense, routinized feelings of FOMO when there are so many beautiful things that exist and but say NOT FOR YOU on the tag. Wearing sleeveless or cap-sleeved dresses over blouses or shift dresses with longer, more voluminous sleeves, or shapely cardigans over bodices that fit but are... not... 100%... just... right can be a form of plus sized problem-solving. A lot of imperfect garments can be helped by combining them with a layer that has what they are missing. And on the one hand, I am kind of proud of how sneaky and strategic I can be about this. But on the other hand, it has landed me with a lot of imperfect garments, where few to no pieces are so good as to be totally effortless, throw on, go, and just look great. Maybe no one but my past self needs this warning, because I don't think the layering obsession is super common, but to sum up: it can be a great trick, but at some point you probably want to tell yourself to stop making things complicated/slightly disappointing for yourself, and really lean in to shopping for tailoring/perfect pieces only.

[@jenna6716]

Who gave this a thumbs down? THAT PERSON GETS A THUMBS DOWN!

[@TheGlambassador]

People are silly sometimes.

[@Starofthecity12Blogspot]

Where is your blouse from? It's super cute!

[@TheGlambassador]

Thanks! It's a dress from eShakti.

[@VerbenaComfrey]

A tip I learned from NaNoWriMo is to make a "Magna Carta" of things you like, and a "Magna Carta 2" of things you dont like. Its so easy to like the idea of a certian shape or the look of it on others, then remember you hate to wear that. For example, I love high, cute 30's collars, on other people, but anything up around my neck, even made of knit fabric, drives me crazy.

[@pambouchard721]

As a larger woman, real vintage never fits me. Do you have any tips for finding Reasonably priced clothes online. I already have several Bettie Page dresses. Unique Vintage and Mod Cloth are pretty pricey for the average person. If I really wanted something I would pay for it.

[@TheGlambassador]

I recently created a list of size inclusive vintage reproduction brands, have a look at some of these and see if you find something that suits you. www.patreon.com/posts/size-inclusive-75632060?Link&