Vintage Clothes, small sizes, unflattering shape?

Spirogyra

Hi I visited a 'Vintage Clothing store' yesterday, had been looking forward to it. I'm a great fan of 'period dramas' and retro. But not that many garments were a good fit and none really looked well, in my opinion. I'm normally 14-16 so not exceptionally large. Was a bit disappointed and don't think I'll try 'vintage ' again. What has other's experience of 'vintage' or 'vintage style' clothes?.
S

baby and crumble

In general, women were smaller in times gone by. The average size was more like a 10 than the 14 it is now. I have friends who dress vintage a lot, and the only ones who can really do it and do it well (with genuine vintage) are a size 8-10.

Personally I love vintage, but it'something you have to work to find bargains in. Lots of places say they stock vintage and retro clothes, and tbh 90% of it is just old. Old tat, at that. If you want good quality real vintage you'll pay through the nose for it. And you'll need to be prepared to pay for tailoring to make them look the best- as I said body shapes, in particular womens body shapes, have changed considerably in the last 100 years or so.

It also depends on what period you're looking for. Obviously clothes from the 1920's are nearly 100 years old, so unlikely to be in amazing condition, unless they were really well made in the first place, and really well looked after. I find it easier to pick up vintage accessories with which to accessorise modern clothes that have a vintage "look" about them.

Spirogyra

Thanks B&C,that make's a lot of sense, I really like the 50's and '60's, something about that era, that 'does something to me'...I'm sure it wasn't an especially great era to live in, especially in 'Catholic' Ireland, but they say 'teenager' as a distinct life stage, began in the 50's. Something about it, I love the clothes and a have quite a few 'collectable's' from that era. But the clothes, no, they do not like me.

baby and crumble

Tbh if it's 50's/ 60's then have a look at websites like Lindybop for dresses etc. Bo Peep are an Irish company that sells Lindy Bop stuff too. Their customer service is AMAZING. Also try Mod Cloth.

These are the shops my other half always recommends. She's a big vintage fan and is a 14/16.

Day Lewin

There's an English website (and retail shop) called Voluptuous Vintage, specially for a range of sizes from very small to very large.
They use film-star names for the sizes...starting with A, the smallest, then going on up by letters to larger fittings and well into plus sizes.

They have lovely dresses and accessories too. (No, I'm not a shareholder or anything, this was on facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/VoluptuousVintageStyle/

huskerdu

Dont forget that women in the 50s and 60s routinely wore really tight girdles to pull in their stomachs ( Imagine a cross between spanx and a medieval torture device). This meant a lot of dresses where unnaturally small in the waist, even for the size.

huskerdu

There is a lovely Vintage clothes shop just outside Dundalk called After Sybil.
There is a section on their website about sizing for Vintage clothes.

http://aftersybil.com/size-guide.html

The shop is lovely, worth a visit, if you are in the area.

Twee.

I have a few fabulous vintage pieces, but most have been tailored to fit my body now. B&C is spot on that body shapes have changed so much. I've accepted that I'll never have vintage shoes or gloves due to my huge hands and wide feet Hats, on the other hand, will always fit

Inspired by and reproduction pieces are a great way to get the look, and you can supplement with vintage accessories like bags, brooches, jewelry etc.

My biggest fashion regret was not buying a 1950s forest green wool suit in a vintage store in NY - it was the height of summer and I was on a J1 budget, but dammit I should have sucked it up and bought it!

adohar

I agree with other posters re sizes - people were generally smaller in years gone by.
But the other big lesson I've learned in vintage shopping is to look regularly. Stock changes and its worth popping in for a quick look on a regular basis. You'll also get to know the people working there and they're usually glad to see people genuinely interested in vintage clothes.
I'd also give a thumbs up to After Sybil, mentioned above, good range of vintage and vintage-inspired. Also Jenny Vander on Drury St - I'm the same size as OP and have bought great items there over the past few years - https://www.facebook.com/Jenny-Vander-196205753744367/.
A lot of vintage shops are on-line/Facebook and post new stock regularly.
And final bit of advice - a lot of charity shops have a vintage section. They can be a bit hit and miss but worth a look if passing.
Vintage shopping usually takes a bit of time and you have to accept many days of finding nothing suitable but then you find that gem that makes it all worthwhile!
Don't give up!!

.........

There's very little if any quality vintage clothing in Ireland. Most people in Ireland had very little money in times gone by, and the sizes were definitely smaller. It's nothing to do with religion (why are some people obsessed about trying to bring religion into everything). You might be very occasionally lucky, but a lot of the clothes you see advertised as "vintage" in Ireland (and elsewhere) is just smelly / worn out / junk.

Airyfairy12

When you hear about people being size 12/14/16 ect in the past its only because sizing was different back then, in the 80's vanity sizing became popular with fashion brands so the number on women's clothes were made smaller to encourage women to buy more by making them feel smaller. So a size 12 or 14 back then would be equivalent to a size 6 or 8 today. When people say Marilyn Monroe was a size 16, she was actually a size 8. Women also wore undergarments to cinch in their waists so the sizes are reduced even further. The average waist size of women in the 40's and 50's was 24/25 inches.. I dropped out of fashion design school years ago and did an essay on vintage fashion and vanity sizing lol.

Try Retro in Georges street Arcade in Dublin, theres loads of vintage clothing shops in temple bar which cater to different sizes, Galway has loads too, irregular choice are good for shoes and bags, their ruby shoo collection are much cheaper and very 1940's/50's style. Bo peep is an online vintage shop that's quite good too.