State of the Vintage Wardrobe

Trying to put a bit of glam into camping...

It's time for my annual appraisal of a year's purchases and style. I like doing this, because I've done it every year since getting more into vintage fashion, and it's nice to see where my style journey has taken me. I think when I've made mistakes in the past, aside from the obvious ones of buying the wrong size, they've been because I've bought something that would suit someone else who I've seen looking lovely online. I prefer things that are simple, streamlined and practical, and need to stick with that. My beloved spreadsheet, which I blogged about last September, has been a massive help. Nothing else has ever brought home to me quite so clearly what I actually wear – as opposed to the style I would like to have – and what I need to be buying. As a result I made far fewer poor purchases than in recent years, managing to buy things that were both my size and style.



Office-wise and for smart daywear, I go midcentury. There's no way to ignore it. I love the jazz age, its music and art and movies, and always thought of myself as more of a jazz baby than anything else, but when it comes to work it's Hitchcock Heroine or Woman of The Hour all the way. A fitted dress in a block colour or smart skirt and jumper are always winners. I kind of let things down by sticking to deco-style louis-heeled shoes, but that's what I like so that's what I'm going to wear. Anyhow, I'm pretty much sorted for workwear. All satisfactory, move on!

This 1950s dress was bought in 2013, but got its first outings in 2014.

 Most of my big vintage purchases and makes in 2014 were midcentury, and dressy or work-friendly: a gorgeous 1960s brown lace cocktail dress and coat, a beige 1950s summer suit, a honey 1950s/60s wiggle dress (bought in cold weather with this coming summer in mind, so not worn yet) and a navy early 1950s cardigan.

I also bought a couple of very 1950s-feeling dresses from Boden; I feel they capture the midcentury vibe every bit as well as many repro ranges. There are an awful lot of 'repro' ranges out there nowadays which, well, aren't particularly accurate. Pin-up, yes, or vintage-inspired, but probably not massively like actual vintage clothing. So I won't apologise for wearing Boden. My 'Nancy' dress, which has a fantastic midcentury-looking print, got loads of wear, and I believe they're bringing it out in some new prints for spring 2015.

I do love the print on this dress!

Accessory-wise, this year's purchases were mainly midcentury costume jewellery, plus two cheap boxy bags from charity shops, and a couple of pairs of shoes. The penny loafers were a particularly good buy; not the sort of thing I'd have thought of but I had vouchers to spend. I've been wary of slipping over ever since spraining my ankle badly a couple of years back, and the thick, grippy soles on the loafers have been welcome on frosty mornings.

On the AUGH! accessory front, moths got in my hats! I am SO CAREFUL to keep mothballing my wardrobes and jumper cupboards, but never thought of my hats in a corner of the dining room. Of course, it would be the furfelt ones that got nibbled. They're not badly damaged, there's just a couple of tracks in the pile, but it annoyed me no end. They're now stacked with Zensect balls between to prevent future problems.

I won a Debenhams voucher giveaway on retrochick.co.uk and
got penny loafers and a super-soft dressing gown.

I blogged about being unable to find casualwear that really worked for me back in February and things didn't get any better as the weather warmed up. While I got out things like my faithful old Heyday Fleur dress and bought and repaired a 1960s shirt dress to wear for work on hot days, I spent a lot of the weekends in 2014 looking awful. I have far too many things in my wardrobe that are clean and tidy and fit so I don't get rid of them, but that I freely acknowledge I feel at best invisible, at worst downright unattractive, in.

Halfway through the year I made an attempt to remedy this, dyeing a pair of pale grey cropped jeans and a short-sleeved blouse that was a dreary shade of beige. They are much cheerier in apple green, and are pleasingly 50s in style, though they look a bit mumsy on my matronly figure. That's not really the fault of the garments, though, more a reflection of the way I'm shaped. I also bought some custom-made 1920s beach pyjamas, which are brilliant for loafing in. They arrived late in the year, so I expect they'll get much more wear in the coming summer.

New blouse: starting 2015 in style!

My aim for 2015 is a general one to increase the amount of genuine vintage/accurate repro I'm wearing on a day in/day out basis. This means paying more attention to make sure the vintage clothes and accessories I already own are 'earning their keep' All too often it sits in the wardrobe because I'm terrified of damaging it, while I go out in the things I don't really like, convinced I look awful. I will also put in some hard work with my knitting needles, because I've got loads of pretty patterns for summery tops in my old Stitchcrafts and they'd be perfect for replacing those unstylish weekend T-shirts.

And finally, there will be a little targeted shopping, mainly aimed at replacing my slobwear with something nicer. I've already made a start, ordering this bow blouse in Heyday's sale, which arrived yesterday, the day after I ordered it. And, erm, I ordered a midcentury fitted dress in a sale on Etsy. (Did I say I was all sorted for workwear? I really am now!) I also want some more stylish shoes, and if you can point me at a range of vintage-repro lingerie that goes up to a GG cup, I'd love to hear about it.