Why I Love the Vintage Life

I Love Vintage

When I met my Mr P I had no way of knowing how dramatically my life would change. Not just because I had met the man that one day would become my husband but also because I was opening the door on a strange new world that – almost three years later – would become my passion.

I adore vintage, I’m not even sure when this happened! It crept up on me slowly with a dress here, a quiff there, the occasional sneaky listen to some doo-wop.... then suddenly – BAM! I’m a vintage girl through and through.

I’m sure it’s bemused many people in my life. My Mum has viewed it with a mixture of wonder and slight incredulousness. After all I didn’t grow up with the stuff – Mum is definitely a prog rock girl, in love with Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin, while my step-dad constantly filled the house with the sounds of Blues legends such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy – certainly I never heard any Buddy Holly!

I can’t even say my grandparents influenced me towards 50’s rock n roll, they were big fans of musicals and when I was little they often used to put on their vinyl copies of west end soundtracks such as “Cats” for me to dance too! (I was also a fan of their vinyl copy of War of the Worlds, even though it terrified me!)

But since I started first listening to the music and then exploring the lifestyle I have become entranced by this vintage sensation that seems to be appearing everywhere!

So what is it I love?

#1 The Music

I adore rock n roll, rockabilly, doo-wop and more, it makes me dance and it makes me happy. I love the simple complexity of the lyrics, I don’t mind that the songs are (mostly) all 3 chord wonders, I love the themes that pervade through. There’s Summer: Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran, V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N - Connie Francis, Here Comes Summer -  Jelly Keller. Falling in love: Teenager in Love - Dion and the Belmonts, Why do fools fall in love - Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Oh Boy -  Buddy Holly. Or there’s just rock n roll itself: Whole Lotta Shakin -  Jerry Lee Lewis, Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley, Johnny B. Goode -  Chuck Berry.  

I’ve been through a few rubbish times over the last few years and I’m not going to lie it left me feeling low and really just tired but listening to this music makes me feel refreshed and hopeful and happy again. To me it really captures a time before cynicism became the norm and when fame wasn’t achieved by being vile on reality TV.

#2 The Fashion

I love vintage fashion, I absolutely worship it. Now again this is a complete U-Turn for me – I spent my student years almost exclusively in tatty jeans, hoodies and converse – black normally. For a special occasion I might put on a strappy top but that was as far as it went. You certainly didn’t catch me in a dress.

Now try and stop me! Mr P bought me my first vintage style dress from the wonderful Vivien of Holloway in Camden www.vivienofholloway.com and it was the start of a long and enduring love affair. I don’t often have the money to splash out but I will spend hours trawling in charity shops, picking through Ebay or prowling around vintage fairs for the perfect dress.

Gorgeous

What I love about Vintage style is how it is designed to accentuate your curves and celebrate your shape. The Vintage style can be worn by anyone no matter what size you are. Nipped in waists create beautiful hourglass silhouettes especially (if you’re like me) you have a bit of a tummy. If you’re a little self conscious about your bum or thighs you can wear a circle dress with a full petticoat which covers your problems areas and shows off your pins – add high heels for instant sexy legs. If you have a smaller figure you can channel your inner Audrey Hepburn and create curves with a wiggle dress. 

www.vintage-and-retro.co.uk

To me the Vintage style is about celebrating how you look. I find it one of the sexiest styles out there yet it reveals far less skin than most “going out” dresses. Dressing Vintage means you can dress up and feel glamorous and sexy without having to put yourself on show. If you start to feel adventurous you can go further and start wearing stockings and corsets under your dresses! It’s the perfect way to instantly feel gorgeous without needing to be self-conscious.

 

#3 The Beauty

A while ago a friend gave me a book which has become my bible. It’s full of tips on beauty and style from the Vintage era. It’s absolutely perfect for me, I love playing with makeup to create a look but I also hate to look over-done or fake  (which is why Snog, Marry or Avoid on BBC3 bemuses me – not seen it have a look, great entertainment) which is why this book is perfect for me.

It contains tips on everything from nails “Massaging Olive Oil into your nails works just as well as investing in expensive nail oils” to skin “Cleanse, tone, moisturise... the mantra of beauty experts everywhere” to lips “A woman needs at least three lipsticks in her make-up bag. One for day, one for night and one for emergencies: fire-engine red.”

This little book also has some great adages for when you’re staring at pictures of Marilyn Monroe wondering why that could never be you... “Being happy in yourself, settling into your features, your body and your life is what we should aspire to, and ultimately living is far more enjoyable and attractive than simply appearing...”

For me this is perfect, it helps me to feel confident in my own brand of beauty every time I need to. However, I still maintain that everyone needs days when you just don’t bother – sometimes you just need to put on your pyjamas and cardigan and veg out. Nobody is expected to look perfect all the time.

#4 The Values.

To me loving the Vintage life means also loving vintage values – love, friends, marriage, family, health, happiness... working hard and paying the bills without losing time for the important things in life. I know that things in the past weren’t rosy and often values were built out of necessity rather than choice but I feel we could all stand to learn something from them. As a newly married lady I find myself constantly drawn to the “old fashioned” view of marriage. It is a statistical fact that divorce is far more prevalent today than it was for whatever reason and as someone who hopes to never contemplate divorce I often look to the past when I’m thinking about my marriage. Below is one of my favourite pictures.

This is probably a bit of a contentious issue with many sides but I suppose that all you can ever do is take the lessons that are relevant to you to heart and discard the ones that don’t work. I hope to inject some vintage values into my marriage whilst also keeping a bit of the independence, opportunity and spirit that modern life has given us.

So there you have it! There are a few things that I love about Vintage life. I actually have many more but looking at it I’ve already waffled on for ages and I have a radio show to go and do!!

If you’d like to listen to some of the music I’ve mentioned you can tune into Saint Fm – 94.7 fm for the Maldon district or online at www.saintfm.co.uk if you’re elsewhere 13:00 – 15:30 every Wednesday to hear me chatter away in between fantastic retro tunes!

Mrs P

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