So.....lets start from the beginning.
I've been thinking about when it all began, my love of 'vintage' and retro style, and I'm pretty sure it's down to my mum. Mum was born the year World War 2 broke out (we've always joked that it was her fault). She would recall how clothing packages from America would arrive after the war ended, containing such gems as a circle-stitched bra. Growing up as the oldest in a family of 10 children, with post-war rationing still in force, these packages must have been like parcels of treasure. Mum saw her older female relatives in the feminine clothes of the 1940s & 50's, hunting out seamed stockings, saving their rations for new clothes, altering existing clothes to update them, and setting their hair on a daily basis. My overriding memories of mum when I was a child involve her in a beautiful, french nightie & negligee made from extremely delicate silk. She looked incredible, like a silent film star. From her, I learned that you should wear silk, satin, lace, and all things wonderful whenever possible, and preferably at all times!
My love of feminine dressing wasn't immediately apparent on the surface, but I adored lingerie from the time I started needing to wear it. Even through my teenage uniform of baggy jeans & BIG shirts, I always wore matching lacy bra & panties. Frankly, if I could swan about all day in silkie pieces of nothing wearing marabou slippers and a Hollywood robe, I would.
The fact is, though, I can't. My husband and I run Window Cleaning business (yes, I know this is called Dr G's vintage, and I am in fact a Dr, but that's another story). The only people I see during my working day are window cleaners. Glamorous it is not. And it's been so easy to slip into the standard uniform of jeans and a t shirt. Slowly, I've lost myself under a uniform of denim and cotton. Yuk. So this year I said 'Enough!' to myself. Its time to stop hiding my style under my clothes and start wearing it on the outside!
In my head, I'm attending glamorous soiree's on a regular basis. Thus I have a tendency to purchase a plethora of cocktail dresses and such like, which I then wear on rare occasions. My only 'real' vintage dresses are currently all cocktail dresses, and most of my repro clothes would be considered suitable mainly for smarter occasions.
I'm having to re-educate myself to 1) buy more 'everyday' vintage clothes, and 2) re-define my concept of 'everyday'. Because why shouldn't you wear stockings and 4 inch heels even when you run a window cleaning company?
