Going Vintage

September 17, 2011

Several months ago a lovely lady asked me to be in her fund-raising vintage clothing fashion show.  I was actually a bit giddy.  It just sounded like so much fun.  I didn't even care that I would probably be showing quite a bit and limited to what I would be able to wear.  I just wanted to do it.

Just thinking about it reminded me of when I was about 9 years old. I was in a community fashion show at the local Holiday Inn.  My mom worked for KMart and I was chosen to model a cute little outfit.  It was teal colored with leggings and a striped skirt.  Probably something I would put my girls in now.  I remember getting my hair done, make-up on and really falling in love with the clothes I had on.  I was sad when they said I couldn't keep them. Shouldn't that have been my payment??

I waited till about 3 days before the show to pick out what I would wear.  Sharon (the lovely lady) actually sells the vintage clothing online and had an entire room full of clothes from the 20's and on.  It was fun playing dress-up, although I felt a little silly trying to shove these baby curves into some of those dresses. I found my four outfits and showed up that Saturday night excited to be involved.

This was my 'fall' outfit.  It was an 80's light green lace dress paired with a 40's shrug.  Interesting combination as far as decades go. But I had to have some way of covering up the fact that it wouldn't quite zip up the back! That shrug ended up being sold to someone in the audience that couldn't live without it.

It was more nerve-racking than I thought it would be. I was just gonna go out and have fun and be silly...but chickened out and just put on a huge nervous smile.

(Please forgive the quality of pictures.  You see, my husband was taking them and he will be the first to admit that photography is not his strong suit!)

This is my 'Winter' outfit.  The material truly felt like upholstery!  It was a 50's cream, with a bit of texture dress.  This was Doug's favorite.  He said it reminded him of Jackie O.  The hat was an interesting last minute addition.  It had fruit all over it and sharp edges that kind of dug into my head.  But, maybe that was to help it stay on.

My 'Spring' dress.  I loved this one!!  It was a 60's periwinkle colored dress with a sort of netted over lay.  I felt so girly in it!  I got a little more brave and walked with my hands behind my back and put a little more spring in my step...I know...I shouldn't have been so crazy!

And lastly, my 'Summer' number.  This dress was a 70's flowered flowy thing.  It was actually completely see-through. So, I had to add a little something of my own to help that situation out.  I actually really liked this one.  It made me feel a little like a flower child but I loved how long and flowy it was.  Doug, on the other hand was NOT a fan! 

When I saw these pics, there was a part of me that was a bit horrified.  It appears that none of these dresses where very figure flattering and I was very hesitant to even put them up publicly.  But, oh well.  This was something, out of the ordinary, that I did and I had a blast doing it.  All the other 'models' were super fun and helpful (Thanks Carlie!) and we saw a bit more of each other changing in the back storage room of the Toledo Senior Center than we imagined.  But we all laughed and had a fabulous time together.

Can't wait to do it again next year!