Like a mid-2000s superhero, I'm having something of an identity crisis.
Vintage style has been my life for over five years now. Ever since I discovered there were other people who dressed in such a way 24/7 and decided I wanted to do that too, it's been an all-consuming passion. But then, last year, my frankly anal adherence to my aesthetic started to be slightly tempered by my new-found love of running, and I started to scour the 'net for skin-tight lycra and performance fabrics... then found myself wearing my huge, fleecy tracky bottoms around the house instead of my 40s style pyjamas... what a phony I have become! I am semi joking - vintage has been my image, but I'm the first to admit that I've never been a lifestylist or a re-enactor. I listen to modern music, hanker after the latest gadgets and am generally a thoroughly modern girl in every other aspect of my day-to-day life, other than my clothes and general love of old-fashioned design.
But my recent, spur-of-the-moment decision to get a fringe cut has thrown me into the aforementioned crisis. For I have discovered that I only like it straightened, and there's nothing remotely 1940s about it any more.
Behold! The damage done by years of hot sticking! ... and the fringe.
I can't claim to be drawing inspiration from the 40s collegiate look, as it would need to be more of a pageboy. If I was channeling Paulette Goddard or Barbara Stanwyck then I'd need a bit of a wave. And Bettie Page rip offs needs curls and more length.
While the old me has stuck rigorously to my chosen look, even writing guest posts about how one should always wear the right hair to match the outfit (within reason, I've always paired 50s and early 60s frocks with 40s hair for example), I'm now stuck with a 'do that only looks good (to my eyes) straightened into ultra-modernity, even dare I say trendiness; but yet I still love my vintage wardrobe. Kind of. I'm also finding myself yearning to be a little more... sexy.
I have been secretly buying little short dresses since I got my first one a few months back for my 'ice skater' outfit. I discovered I really like having my legs out... these gams have carried me strong for miles and miles of running - they are toned and taut... they might not be physically perfect but they are darned awesome in what they can do. And they do come out in the summer, when I wear playsuits, but not for a long time have I worn a short skirt in public. And there will come a time, in the not-too-distant future when I will be too old to wear them. I always intend to push boundaries, but not to the point of being mutton (luckily a Young Person told me he thought I was 23 the other day, so hopefully I'm not too haggard yet). And I discovered something that most other women have known for years... men like short skirts! I have lost count of the compliments and chat up lines I have had from the chaps since going out three or four times in this type of dress. And as someone who's been extremely unlucky in love and is yet still a hopeless romantic, then perhaps this is something I need to make the most of this summer, unless being a spinster is my destiny as I'm starting to fear...
But let's face it: with the hair, and the short frock, it's all starting to look a lot like, well. Not me. Not the old me, anyway.
As my readers, it's important to me that you don't abandon me in droves because I've changed my image slightly and become, being deadly honest here, a vintage style hypocrite (NB. I almost put hairpocrite here, but it was a pun too far... even though I have still made it!). Because I will be continuing to wear my beloved vintage dresses as well as these modern styles, but with my new 'do 'ruining' the authentic effect, at least for the time being. And some other, slightly different looks are going to start creeping in. Because I'm at something of a crossroads, both in my life (for various reasons) and my look. But nothing really stays the same forever... can it? Maybe I am just convincing myself here...
If nothing else, after all this time blogging, I have realised you can't always please everyone all the time (read the comments on my last entry to see this in action!) and this is, as it always has been, a document of my life and the trials and tribulations therein. But ultimately, if no one reads my blog because it's lost its way, then it's all a little bit pointless, innit! Whatever happens here, it will be an interesting journey, and it will always involve lots of lovely vintage. This blog will ALWAYS be called Diary of a Vintage Girl, I will ALWAYS wear clothes that come from or echo the eras I love (and which suit me best). And I will ALWAYS do my best to inform and entertain. I do have some really fun projects coming up soon, too. I'm quite excited about this new phase, actually!
But please do let me know your thoughts in the comments. :)
Lots of love,
Fleur xx
DiaryofaVintageGirl.com
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