How to Work Vintage Into Your Modern Wardrobe

This is Aisha Faridi.  She writes one of my favorite blogs, Bold Minimalist.  Aisha recently purchased this vintage Lanvin blouse and skirt set at the Randolph Street Market in Chicago.  Aisha has a wonderful eye and the unique talent of being able to see the possibilities of a garment when it's on a hangar.  I know many of us would have looked at this dolman sleeved blouse and longish skirt on that hangar and passed it right by.  But look at how fabulous they are when mixed with modern accessories like the bold belt and clutch!  Even better?  Because this is two pieces, Aisha can mix and match the blouse and skirt with other garments in her wardrobe for many different looks.  And she shows you how to do just that in her blog post about "The Art of Vintage Shopping."   Please pop on over to Bold Minimalist and see how Aisha wears these vintage pieces in other ways and get inspired to do it for yourself.  And thank you, Aisha, for making the world a more beautiful place by wearing vintage!

Photo by Zeeshan Shaykh, courtesy of Bold Minimalist.

Why You Should Wear Vintage

Writer Lynn Hirschberg with Tom Ford, 2010.  She's wearing vintage, of course. (source)

I want to share with you a 12 year-old article published in The New York Times in 1999.  Writer Lynn Hirschberg talks about her love of vintage clothing far more eloquently than I ever could.  But it is almost as if she reads my mind.  Please take a few minutes and read her article called "The Haunted Wardrobe."  Then come on back here.

"The clothes are interesting, better made and more resonant than almost any new garment."  I couldn't agree more.

"In the last 20 years [now 30+], most women have opted for slouch. They buy defensively: necessary clothes for work and play and maybe one dressy black outfit for a wedding....They wear exercise gear to the market, jeans to the theater, and every piece of clothing in their wardrobe stretches. There is, quite literally, no structure to the way the average 90's [and 2000's and 2010's] woman dresses."  Is she talking about you?

Have you tried adding a piece or two of vintage to your wardrobe?  Have you experienced the joy of a garment that is made from high quality fabric and constructed with skill and care?  Have you worn something that is truly unique and unlike anything that anyone else in the room is wearing?  If not, I urge you to give vintage a try.  I know that once you do, you'll be hooked.....for life.