When you dive into the wide, wonderful world of vintage, it usually isn’t long before certain items start popping up on your radar. For me, when I first started perusing vintage blogs, it was Bakelite. Particularly, Bakelite bangles.
Bright stacks of delicately carved, polished plastic gracefully encircling the wrists of divinely dressed women would parade across my screen and I decided that I simply must acquire my own special supply to nonchalantly dangle on my wrist. Did I achieve that dream? Well….
Even vintage lovers have those “must have” items that everyone aspires to collect. It might be due to the latest trend to buzz around blogland ~ at the moment I’ve noticed a lot of vintage bloggers really embracing a 1930’s look. Or it might be that certain piece of clothing that every vintage collector has to have one of ~ a 1940’s suit or a 1950’s circle skirt for instance.
However, in the style of Jessica from Chronically Vintage’s post on Seven vintage garments it might surprise you to learn that I don't own I thought I would put together my own list of vintage items you might be surprised to find out that I don’t own.
~ A Wiggle Dress ~
The thought of 1950’s fashion seems to evoke two distinct images. One is the full skirted, floaty dresses of cotton print or dreamy lace ~ the other, slender and sleek silhouettes of traditional tweed or elegant satins.
A lot of 1950’s vintage lovers tend to enjoy both styles freely, but I must confess, I’ve never been that attracted to the slim-fit silhouette of the wiggle dress and pencil skirt. So I don’t own any of this basic keystone style for a vintage wardrobe!
~ A Pill Box Hat ~
Another iconic vintage item ~ the pill box hat. Beloved by many, it comes in all sorts of fabulous shapes and fabrics from leopard to fur to tweed that matches your suit! Although the pill box hat was really in its heyday toward the end of the 1950’s into the 60’s, you can still find quite a few examples of pill box hat styles in 1940’s millinery as well.
But, well, I don’t own any, nor do I really plan to either. I much prefer the look of a hat with a brim, or a half-cap.
In saying that, I almost forgot how much I adore cloche hats, so maybe I’m just prejudiced against the pill box hat?
~ A Pair of Vintage Shoes ~
Oh, loveliest of footwear! I have seen some incredible vintage shoes out there, and some that might even fit my feet {surprisingly enough after three babies I still have quite a small shoe size ~ EUR 38}. While I have often thought I would like own some vintage shoes, in the past I couldn’t afford them, and now I find myself rather reluctant to purchase any, even though I could.
Partially because, though my feet mightn’t be long, they aren’t particularly narrow either. I have heard that vintage shoes tend to be rather on the narrow side because of the foot shapes in the past. However, I haven’t taken that final step mostly because I fear that they will fall to pieces if I wear them!
I’m rather hard on my shoes. You never know when I might suddenly decide to scramble over some rocks or up a tree {dress, or skirt, and all} and though I generally try to restrict such activities to times when I am wearing appropriate footwear/clothing, sometimes you just never know… ( ~ _ ^)∠☆
~ Vintage Unmentionables ~
I know that some lovely vintage ladies commit to full vintage, head-to-toe-to-underthings, and I have great respect not only for their style choices, but also for the fact that they are helping to recycle those pieces that would most likely end up as waste otherwise. Honestly though ~ I cannot do it. The thought of wearing vintage undergarments squicks* me out…
I probably wouldn’t mind wearing vintage stockings, and maybe a garter belt? But unmentionables? No thank you, not I!
Note: This doesn’t include slips and petticoats for some reason. I’m perfectly okay with wearing a vintage slip or petticoat under my dress.
~ Tropical or Nautical Themed Vintage Pieces ~
Almost every vintage blog I’ve ever read will have either tropical or nautical themed posts pop up at least once or twice. I don’t know if the same holds true for those vintage collectors that don’t happen to blog {and I am sure there are many of them out there!}, but themed pieces along these lines seem to be quite highly desirable amongst the vintage loving crowd.
I haven’t really had many items in these motifs cross my path however, so I haven’t collected any. I probably wouldn’t collect tropical items anyhow as bright, cheerful, and busy isn’t my style at all! I wouldn’t, however, be adverse to a bit of smart navy & white nautical in my wardrobe. I do like those big sailor collars, and I would really like to make a nautical inspired play suit one day!
~ Palazzo Pants ~
Another greatly loved article of clothing that everyone raves about is the palazzo pant. Recently they’ve had a comeback in main stream fashion and I’ve seen a lot of vintage bloggers picking up on that trend.
Personally, I don’t think they are for me. I don’t really like the super wide pant leg ~ it just seems like all that fabric would get in the way all the time! However, I would be happy to be proven wrong as they do have quite a reputation for being comfortable. Maybe I should see if I can try a pair out one day?
~ Bakelite Jewellery ~
To end this list, and the story I left dangling above, in a word ~ no. In the four or so years I’ve been wearing vintage I never did start my much-desired collection of Bakelite bangles. In fact, I don’t even own so much as a single bitty button of Bakelite!
Bakelite seems to be continually rising in popularity as it is highly collectable ~ even outside of the vintage community, and as a result the price is continually rising as well. Not only that, in Australia we have a very limited supply of vintage, and Bakelite is scarce. I see beautiful pieces at vintage fairs going from between $100.00 for a brooch up to $200-$300.00 for bangles!
So maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to own a beautiful brooch like the one pictured, or some shiny Bakelite bangles to dance on my wrist, but not just yet! (✿◠‿◠)
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Are there any popular vintage items that you don’t own but want to? How about the items you don’t own and don’t want to? I’d love to hear your thoughts on popular vintage trends!
xox,
bonita
*Yes, “squicks” is a word.
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