I feel like a princess ~ I have donned my petticoat, pretty 50s style dress, floral heels and softly gleaming pearl jewelry. Then I step out the door and all of that changes…. I walk with my head high, conscious of the stares and double takes. Yes, I know I am dressed differently from the average person, but is it really that strange?
I have heard other vintage bloggers talk about their fashion choices and the effect it has on public when they walk out the door in head to toe, era perfect wear. To be honest, I thought I knew what they were talking about. I’ve had my fair share of odd looks ~ I haven’t really dressed in ‘normal’ clothing for sometime, but then again I have never gone the full head to toe of any style in particular ~ i.e. Goth, punk, Lolita, vintage etc.
Apparently outfits that are slightly off magazine trendy are unique and edgy, but a completely non~fashionable style such as vintage is peculiar. I say this because the general public response to my vintage outfits and to my ‘interesting’ arty outfits is not the same and this surprises me for some reason! Therefore, I am wondering if my expectations of people’s reactions is slightly warped perhaps?
You see, what I see on my computer and what I experience in the real world are two very different things. You might say there are almost two separate worlds that I wear vintage in, one is the internet in vintage~friendly blog land and the other is my life; amongst real strangers with real judgments and preconceived ideas.
If you are wondering what I mean by saying that, let me say that this is how I see it:
In internet~blog land we read and visit blogs that we are interested in; so if you are into food you will read food blogs, and if you are into IT development you will read developer’s blogs. It’s much the same with fashion blogs ~ if you are obsessed with runway fashion, you will read blogs that focus on that, and if perchance, you happen to like vintage fashion, those are the blogs you will focus on and immerse yourself in.
So everyday in your feed reader you will see gorgeous ladies dressed in 50s tea length dresses, 20s flapper outfits, 30s, 40s, 60s ~ you name it. Every era, every style, every part of history is represented online. And the thing about that is, you not only see bloggers themselves excited to wear these gorgeous clothes, but their readers eager to see them wear those clothes too ~ to me, these blogs are communities built around expressing yourself through your clothes.
Therefore, in the online world vintage clothing is an acceptable mode of dress; and not just vintage, but pretty much any style of fashion distinct from main stream is okay. I think that this acceptance creates an idea that dressing in vintage is a part of normal life.
But the thing is, in reality, that’s not the case. Sure, anyone that wears vintage, or other subversive styles of dress, are really just ordinary people with different ways of expressing themselves. However acceptable and ‘normal’ this is in the online world, it’s pretty unusual to see someone in everyday life wearing unordinary, un~everyday clothing!
I forget that. I walk out in vintage clothing and I forget that the majority of people around me may think that queer, bizarre or even odd.
Because of that I find it easier to post pictures of my vintage outfits than actually wearing them, because in one world uncommon fashions are admired, but in the other, they are just plain weird.
Does anyone else have this problem when they make daring fashion choices?
xox,
bonita
~ ♡ ~
Find me:
Instagram | missbjvear
Pinterest | bjvear
Ravelry | BJVear
Twitter | bjvear
Youtube | Bonita Vear
