6 Vintage Essentials for Any Wardrobe

Merry here. I buy about 90% of the vintage for the shop, and while I always envision the woman who wears it and what to pair with it, that does not mean everything is "my style." My most frequent example is tunics. While many tall women with smaller busts look like Kate Moss at a festival in them, I cannot pull it off. I am always fitting at DD or higher and, without cinching at the waist, tunic will look like a bag on my body.

While in college, I entered a summer program designed to promote women in Oklahoma politics. Once complete, all the attendees sat down for dinner with several women running for politics or already in office. I sat next to a sophisticated and intelligent woman, but to this day, I do not remember any more about our conversation. I was staring at her eyesore of a $1,200 handbag. While her tailored suit was sure to run over $1,500, it was unimposing and label free, but I could not combine labeled bling with her woman of the people ideas. For me, that was an illustration of the power of knowing the appropriate audience for your dress and how fashion could divide and change people's opinions of your character.

So I'm going to come out of the closet, my closet, and give a few of my own guidelines for what I choose and why.

1. Vintage Purses. Both my sister and my mother have had a Coach bag fetish. I do not understand. Seriously you can purchase five or more incredibly interesting purses for the cost of one leather bag. Worse yet, I abhor designer bags covered in logos. I am an admitted fanatic for Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Moschino, however, wearing interesting items by talented designers is different in my mind from flashing socioeconomic dividers.

For business or professional meetings. Timeless and structure. Unique without being obnoxious.

For evenings or dressing up an outfit. The middle is my current purse. 

I've had several variations of this over the years. It's larger for lugging around my Ipad mini and son's toy cars. Also, I love this style with a white day dress and wedges at Sunday brunch.
 

 2. Vintage Hats. Men's fedoras are my personal favorite. I'm big into accessories, because I have a lot of tattoos. That probably requires elaboration. There is a lot of design and color on my arms, so I keep my dress simple. I wear mostly black in anything. Black or white is a comfortable base onto which you can add pops of color or unique accessories. I first got into hats in film school. All the most glamorous actresses and film noir villians wear badass hats.

1960s turban style hat.
Also, hats hide your roots between dye jobs. 

3. A big ass coat. Vintage fur coats are not as expensive as you may think. Depending on the size, fur and condition, you can find most for $75 to $400. Even if you don't want to shell out that much or are vegan, many use faux fur collars on bright fabrics. There are also a lot of colorful swing coats and well structured ponchos.

My husband is wearing my vintage fox fur coat. Purchased for under $150. My down ski jacket cost more than that. 

4. Quirky but professional business skirts. A simple black top and 1960s polka dot pencil skirt. Or I just added this handpainted skirt to my closet. After working in the professional world and then more creative fields, I love items that can go between worlds. A kind of nod to knowing and respecting the rules of professional fields while still showing my more rebellious and creative nature (though still doesn't work for a courtroom).

5. Day Dresses for Sunday Brunch. Many of my beliefs have no foundation in reality but are merely tradition. On the rare occasion I wear clothing that is not primarily black or white, I am probably at Sunday brunch. Perhaps it was a reaction to the bright color of mimosas?

More dressy but great for themed brunches. 

6. A few worn in staples. My most worn vintage items are an old jean vest, a leather biker jacket and cowboy boots. Usually you can find them pretty cheap, and they can be added to any simple day to day outfit or most black or white prom dresses.

6. A few off the wall items to liven up an outfits. The best vintage pieces I've ever owned include my lobster print romper from burlesque favorite Panhandle Perle, orange jelly heels with a Statue of Liberty snow globe in the heel, and these PVC high-waisted shorts from Lyric Theatre's showing of Rocky Horror.

 I bought those shorts for the store, but when they didn't sell, they found a good in my closet. I paired them with a long matte silk tank top, a long vintage necklace and some matte black wedges. I do believe anything can look great, if you keep the rest simple. Well, maybe not Affliction shirts.