Friday, November 23, 2012

How to dress 1960s on a budget!

I recently got a sweet email from a lovely lady named, Alexandria, and instead of simply emailing her back with a short response I decided to address her question here on my blog!

Alexandria asks-
" I read your blog and I love the way you have a passion for the 1960s as much as I do. I have a question regarding clothes. I am a college student and I do work part time, but I'm having trouble deciding where to buy clothes that are 60s style. I have a Beatles haircut and I do my makeup like Edie Sedgwick but those are pretty much the only 60s qualities that I seem to have. Since boutiques are very expensive can you recommend any stores that sell mod clothing or that type of style?"

To answer this question let me first describe the two sides to 1960s mod style.
I always admire other girls who want to dress 60s becuase it is a great look that will never go out of style mainly because it is classic and pretty much always on the Spring and Fall runway every year.
But as I said there happen to be two ways to wear the 60s.
There is authentic 60s style.
And modern 60s style.

Authentic 1960s style can only be created with using vintage 60s clothing.
Sometimes this can be tricky. I love anything from the 60s, but I'm small and a lot of vintage is quite large and long. I tend to favor mini dresses and skirts cropped well above the knee, but that isn't always easy to come by with vintage. Having a Beatles haircut and Edie eye makeup should make you authentic enough and dressing in head to toe true vintage clothing maybe make you look like you're trying too hard to recreate Halloween everyday! Some aspects of this authentic style are things like colour and pattern matching, large prints, shift dresses, long pea coats, ect. Some places to shop for these would be thrift stores!  I love a good Vintage shop as much as the next mod girl but they know what they have! They know how amazing and gorgeous and totally perfect that velvet mini cocktail dress is and they are going to charge you an arm and a leg to prove it. Goodwill is always great, but the trick is to go often! You have to really scout your favorite thrift stores and you will find some gems! other options are places like Etsy and Ebay. These can be ify because you cant psychically try that photo of the dress on, but it's good becuase if you go through a reputable seller you can get quality pieces at decent prices! Also if you know exactly what you are looking for hours of searching can result in the ideal 60s dress!
Here are some examples of authentic 60s style-




 And now for Modern 1960s style.
Honestly, I hold the belief that the 60s create modern fashion. That decade gave us mini! Mini dresses and skirts, really changing the idea that modesty doesn't mean that you can't show your skin. The 60s really embraced showing what women were naturally given(AKA- Show off what yo mama gave you)
So since the 60s has influenced modern fashion it is forever incorporated especially now.
Features like peter pan collars, high waist, high necks, shift dresses, knee high socks, lace, and oxfords are very modern with the "vintage wave" that is popular now.
Places to shop for these items would be Forever 21, H&M (Especially with their new Lana Del Rey line!) ASOS, Mod Cloth and Ruche. All of these places are pretty cheap. Forever 21 has been impressive lately, focusing on collared dresses.






Forever 21




ASOS



 My take-
Example- 
-My dad's vintage sweater with a vintage shop blouse under it. $0 & $6
-Vintage pleated skirt from the vintage expo in sf. $15
-Over the knee socks from target. $4
-Vintage 60s purse from Goodwill. $6
-Vintage leather heels from goodwill. $4






 Hope this helped answer your question Alexandria!
:)

6 comments:

  1. I love how you took the time to answer the young lady's question in a full blog post. I liked the outfit ideas. All are cute and would be easy for to pull off! I definitely will look for similar style skirts and jackets the next time I am thrifting.

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  2. Great advice and my god there was so much awesome vintage fashion eye candy here !
    xoxo,
    Iqra
    70th and Chic

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  3. Great post. I would add that there are lots of inexpensive vintage patterns and 1960s fabric out there. If you can sew or have someone who can you can whip up a little mini in no time.
    LaDeeDa

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  4. This post is awesome, you defintiely give some quality 1960s style advice! I totalyl feel you on the vintage usually being long, I run a vintage shop and I actually hem most of the items that go in my shop as I feel it keeps the fun print or cut etc, but makes it more wearable for the modern girl! Thanks for the fun inspiration photos as well!
    xo Hannah

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  5. Really fun post. I like your take on vintage and modern vintage. I haven't heard it put into those terms before but I can see where you're coming from. Your look is great and feels really personal to your own style. Love it!
    XOXO

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Hello darling! Thanks for commenting! Be sure to tell me when you follow, so I can follow you back! Lots of hugs and kisses, Mod Fox.

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