Comments You Get When You Dress Vintage

[Wire9Vintage]

I think it's a compliment in that he noticed you, probably because you stood out in looking nice. Probably meant to be chivalrous rather than an indication he thought you weak.

 

[Stray Cat]

I think it's a compliment in that he noticed you, probably because you stood out in looking nice. Probably meant to be chivalrous rather than an indication he thought you weak.

I thought about it.. you could be right.
And, the fact is that I couldn't bend in a pencil skirt. [huh]

 

[Wire9Vintage]

I thought about it.. you could be right.
And, the fact is that I couldn't bend in a pencil skirt. [huh]

Ha! Well there is that, too!

 

[Maudelynn]

I had to walk down the dreaded part of Hollywood Blvd to see a film the other day and all the guys who usually say things to girls that they ought not say were so polite to me. "M'am, you look so pretty!" "Excuse me, you are beautiful!" They actually moved their happy behinds and let me pass unmolested. A couple of people wanted to pay me for a picture, thinking I was supposed to be a Boardwalk Empire or Great Gatsby character. It was very sweet.
I should caveat that I dress very 1920s everyday, shoes, hair, rolled stockings hat et all

 

[TheSacredFemme]

In a vintage shop today. "Look at you, the 40s really suit you!"
Somehow it's even better when the person even knows what they're talking about.

 

[JoesSweetheart]

"There's a certain beauty about you." -From a gal I was browsing earrings with at a local thrift shop. Needless to say, my day was made!

I rarely get compliments from men though, it's mostly 30+ year old women who compliment me.

 

[Wire9Vintage]

My boss told me the other day that I have a "collegiate style." I tend to wear skirts, tights, and cardigans. Classic with vintage overtones. Not sure when that became collegiate. Having taught college, I'm positive I haven't seen a college girl dressed in anything other than jeans, pajamas or yoga clothes ... Ever.

But I guess I'm glad I wasn't told I look "secretarial"... Not that there's anything wrong with that! But it would have been a problem hearing it from her, if you know what I mean.

 

[Annixter]

Having taught college, I'm positive I haven't seen a college girl dressed in anything other than jeans, pajamas or yoga clothes ... Ever.

Same here in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is somewhat off topic, but I'm intrigued how styles change from locality to locality in the opposite way logic would suggest that they should. For example, here on the coast of CA, especially Southern CA, we have wonderful dress/skirt weather for at least 3/4 of the year and year-round if one wears thicker stocking/tights during the colder months, yet dresses/skirts are not the predominant fashion style in most regions of CA. The dress sections of department stores say a lot: most are tiny compared to a region that champions dresses. For example, I was amazed when I moved to Buffalo, NY, for graduate school. I walked into Macy's and other department stores there, and a good 1/2 of the ladies section was dresses alone. I've never seen such a thing in CA, not even at the gigantic lady's Macy's store in Union Square, S.F. In Buffalo, there are even dedicated dress stores in the larger shopping malls with vintage-inspired dresses/skirts. And sure enough, many of my female classmates and many of the women I saw around Buffalo wore dresses well into November/December until it started snowing. Then most of them reverted to jeans, but the dedicated ones still wore dresses in the dead of winter in Lake Effect blizzards. So what confuses me is how a region that sees heavy snow, wind, and bitter cold (in comparison to CA's coast) for approx. 4-5 months out of the year loves dresses while the coast of CA that doesn't experience anything like the anti-dress weather of Buffalo don't love dresses. Buffalo can see 1-2 months of temperatures in the 90s with higher humidity during the summer, but that doesn't explain why women continue wearing dresses into and through winter. I would think for an area as culturally rich as the S.F. Bay, I'd see more dresses/skirts, but maybe Buffalo hoards them all.[huh]

 

[scottyrocks]

Because the women of Buffalo have more class than the women of coastal Cal?

 

[Annixter]

Because the women of Buffalo have more class than the women of coastal Cal?

I don't think your judgement is accurate or appropriate. I find stereotyping and judging coastal CA women, or any other group, offensive and unbecoming of gentlemen/women. It's a shame when vintage-centricity breeds arrogance and exclusivity.

 

[Lenore]

Today it’s quite cold (for Houston) so I’m bundled up in jeans, a fleece jacket and tennis shoes.

My boss took one look at me this morning when I walked in and remarked “You look weird…”

I guess the casual look is not for me. ;-)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

So what confuses me is how a region that sees heavy snow, wind, and bitter cold (in comparison to CA's coast) for approx. 4-5 months out of the year loves dresses while the coast of CA that doesn't experience anything like the anti-dress weather of Buffalo don't love dresses. Buffalo can see 1-2 months of temperatures in the 90s with higher humidity during the summer, but that doesn't explain why women continue wearing dresses into and through winter. I would think for an area as culturally rich as the S.F. Bay, I'd see more dresses/skirts, but maybe Buffalo hoards them all.[huh]

Another factor to consider is that California is more or less the birthplace of the casual look: i.e. t-shirt and jeans.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ladies..
Is it a compliment:
I was about to lift a heavy piece of hardware in the office, and a man came up to me, took care of it saying: "You should not do this, you're wearing a skirt" [huh]

A while back I was changing a bulb in our marquee while standing on a stepladder. A guy comes by and says "You're pretty brave doing that in a dress." My reply was "Not half as brave as you'd be."

 

[scottyrocks]

I don't think your judgement is accurate or appropriate. I find stereotyping and judging coastal CA women, or any other group, offensive and unbecoming of gentlemen/women. It's a shame when vintage-centricity breeds arrogance and exclusivity.

Okay, I didn't put in a winky face. Pardon me. How could anyone make that kind of broad assumption seriously? No harm intended.

 

[dhermann1]

I was wandering around aimlessly on my lunch hour today in Marshall's (discount dept store for those who don't have them nearby), with by beat up Knox, vintage tie and trench coat, and one of the female employees said I had a detective vibe going on. I did not take it as an insult, and I don't think it was meant as one.

 

[Shangas]

I was on a commuter train last week, going to an appointment. It was (and still is) unseasonably cold this time of year. So I was wearing a darker, brown outfit, with my brown fedora on top. I was sitting in a mostly empty carriage at the back of the train, and this other guy looks up and said I looked like Indiana Jones! Hahaha!!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I got an Indiana Jones comment. I was wearing a plaid jacket, black pants, blue shirt and an Akubra Camp Draft in Bluegrass. Hardly Indy, to me.

 

[Annixter]

Okay, I didn't put in a winky face. Pardon me. How could anyone make that kind of broad assumption seriously? No harm intended.

Unfortunately, people have made such statements in earnest. Pardon me for not interpreting your comment in good humor. Not being able to see one's face or hear his/her voice can be a great downside of online communication.

 

[Annixter]

My fiance and I were out on the town wearing our typical daily garb: I in slacks, sport jacket, tie, fedora, etc. and she in a dress with her hair in a 40's pin-curl fashion. While we waited to be seated at a restaurant, a man came up and asked if we "just finished a play or something." We explained that we had not seen a play that evening, which promptly confused him by the looks on his face.

 

[TheSacredFemme]

Last night was such a confidence boost for me. Hair properly done, 1930s inspired dress etc. I got lovely comments all night long, including a few ladies from tables near by coming over to congratulate me on how well my style suits me. It was very sweet. Sadly there was also some piggish, accosting behaviour from some "gentlemen" in the pub.