Vintage Dresses

Fashion Tips for Dressing Vintage

Remember these few essential tips for dressing vintage:

• Use the vintage item as an accent. Not everything you wear in one outfit has to be vintage; the dress is simply the centerpiece of your entire outfit.
• Avoid crazy combinations. Back in ’76, a plaid dress might have looked great with a jacket in a different style of plaid, but that doesn’t mean it works today!
• Choose according to body type. This is essential, as most used clothing stores and flea markets do not offer you the opportunity to try clothing on, and it’s impossible with an online auction site. Just as you would with other dresses, pick your vintage clothing with your body type in mind. Be sure to envision yourself in the dress type or try it on before you purchase it. If you’re unsure, ask an honest, tactful friend who you would normally take shopping.

After you’ve done some minimal research on size, style, and cost, you’re ready for the fun part—start shopping!

Finding the Perfect Dress

Locating the right dress can be the most daunting part of vintage clothes shopping. Unlike contemporary stores and clothing stores that offer new items only, vintage and second hand stores display a wide variety of items and styles. This makes the selection process more difficult, but also provides you with more options. First, you want to get comfortable with the various decades' dress styles and determine your likes and dislikes. Then scope out some of the following locations:

Yard and Estate Sales

Yard and estate sales certainly vary depending on the persons offering items for sale. Estate sales are usually great if you’re looking for vintage and antique items, and yard sales offer you the opportunity to haggle with the seller.

Salvation Army, Goodwill, and Specialty Stores

Secondhand stores usually separate items by clothing type and sometimes by size. To find your own blast from the past, you may have to search through a large rack of dresses. Specialty vintage stores often have items separated by type and decade, but their prices are much higher than other secondhand stores.

Flea Markets

Flea markets offer a hodge-podge experience. Depending on the market, price range varies depending on how much competition exists at the market and the location of the market. Remember also that vendors usually pay a table cost and sell at other events and online, so they typically know what their items are worth.

Online Auction Sites

Online auction sites such as eBay are valuable in your search for a vintage dress. Even if you do not find a dress there, you will learn about vintage measurements, the appropriate condition for such items, and most importantly the going rate for the type of dress you want. This is the easiest way to look at a variety of dresses and decide what style would work best for you. Sellers usually provide measurements for clothing items.

Older Relatives

The best price for the right gently used clothing item is of course free! Older relatives often have clothing that they or their adult children wore. They are usually delighted to give away items knowing they will be worn and loved. Think about all of the decades that your parents and grandparents have lived through, as well as the styles those decades represent.

Vintage Dress Styles

You definitely do not have to stick to one style of dress, but you will probably want to select a dress (or dresses) to fit one or more needs in your lifestyle. Just like contemporary dresses, vintage counterparts were made for a variety of events. A flapper dress, for example, might be appropriate for a contemporary evening at the theatre. A peasant dress from the Sixties would be perfect for a summer folk festival. In the 1970s, the women’s liberation movement created a need for professional style dresses because women wanted to work. Some of these dresses still work in the office today.

Other uses for vintage dresses include:

• Everyday wear
• Prom or semi-formal gown
• Theatrical productions
• Wedding attire

Size and Vintage Clothing

Before you purchase vintage clothing, make sure the size fits you. Over the years, size has changed, and it also varies by location. Even today, one size produced in Europe sometimes differs from the same size produced in the United States. Size also varies by clothing line and brand today, and that applies to vintage clothing as well. Gunne Sax, for example, made beautiful dresses in a peasant style, but their sizes ran much smaller when compared to contemporary ones. Also, keep in mind that more people handmade clothing in the past, so some dresses might be specifically tailored to one woman’s measurements.

Online Resources and Auction Sites

• eBay Vintage Women’s Clothing
• Goodwill Industries
• ConsignmentShops.com: find a store by state
• eBay Vintage Clothing Buying Guide
• FleaMarketGuide.com: locate a flea market by state

Written by Tara_Meacham