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.

Bra Sizing

Bra sizing, honestly, I can’t think of anything more frustrating or complicated. As someone who has been wearing bras since around middle school, I can finally say I somewhat have a better grasp on what actual bra size I am, something I thought I’d never be able to say. Although this is just a basic guide to finding your right size, it is a great starting point because most bra wearers are wearing the wrong size bra. Once you become more comfortable with sizing and finding a brand you enjoy, you can also explore sister-sizing and become more familiar with what sizes you are in certain brands.

Bulges, puckering, loose straps, too tight straps, back pain, and overflow are all things most bra wearers have been familiar with, all symptoms of an ill fitting bra. Whether it be too big or too small, an ill fitting bra can cause real pain, not limited to headaches, back pain, chest pain, shoulder pain, etc. An ill fitting bra can not only cause physical pain, but can lead to clothes not fitting properly, and an overwhelming feeling of stress every time you have to put a bra on. While not all bra wearers experience such trials and tribulations when it comes to finding your proper bra size, it is not always a walk in the park. Some people resort to ditching underwire bras completely, opting for bralettes, sports bras, or going au natural, all of which are great options, if they work for you, but not everyone is as comfortable sticking to those options.

Now to the important part: how to size yourself and start your journey towards finding the proper fitting bra. The actual sizing part is fairly simple, all you will need is a measuring tape and about 5 minutes of your time. Following this simple guide by Playtex:

Step 1: Measure your band size, do this by wrapping the tape measure above your bust, under your under arm. Round up to the nearest even number.

Step 2: Now find the fullest part of your bust and wrap the tape measure around this part, rounding up if it falls in between 2 numbers.

Step 3: Subtract the measurement you found in step 1, from the measurement you found in step 2, this will help you determine your cup size.

Example:

Step 1: 34”

Step 2: 38”

Step 3: 38-34=4, 4” difference is approx. a D, therefore you would be a 34D.

It’s important to note that although this measurement is a good starting point, not all bras are made the same and depending on the brand and style, you may have to play a little with the band and cup size, but this measurement is a great starting point!

Bra sizes can change with weight gain, loss, age, pregnancy, etc so be sure to measure yourself at least every 6 months so you can have the most accurate bra size. Now that you have been given all this knowledge, go out there and find some awesome bras in the right size, and promptly throw out those old, improper fitting bras! Good Luck!

Some helpful sites: 

http://www.playtexfits.com/fit/find-your-bra-size/#

http://www.herroom.com/bra-fitting-advice,901,30.html

Photos of Live! Vintage on the Plaza Event

Hey all! This last weekend, we had our very first live model fashion show benefiting the YWCA. It was a success! We hung out during the Plaza Walk with great food from NANI  and our models showed off their stuff to everyone who came to check it out! We were able to raise money to support the YWCA (see our last post to learn more on the organization) all while having a great time. And congratulations to our raffle winners! Those who entered were asked to guess how many small pairs of undies could fit in a H-cup bra. The result was 26 for those of you who were wondering. Anyway, our lovely photographer for the evening, Mason Morrow, got some *great* shots and we wanted to share some of them with you!

Models: Nayelly Salinas, Alaina Hunt, Marin Harper, Carmen Deveraux, Zitta John, Cat Carter, and Becca Johnson

Hair: Allison Henrion

Makeup: Carmen Deveraux

Photos: Mason Morrow

Food/Appetizers: Nani, Colin Stringer & Andon Whitehorn

YWCA Ambassador: Staley Stidham

Managing Coordinator: Ashley Davenport