my vintage 'phase'

Before I get to this post, I just want to thank my friend, Brenda over at Cozy Little House for making my new banner. Things have changed since the last time I had to do things like that, so she went and did it for me.

Thank you so much, Brenda! You're the best! I love it :)

xoxo

Now onto the post.....

I hate having my picture taken.

HATE it.

Even worse for me is posting pictures of myself. So, when I had to choose a profile picture I went by an old standby:

It was taken 3 years ago.

The picture below was the profile picture I used on my old blog and I think it stayed there for about 4 years.

See what I mean? 

I will find a picture that I don't completely dislike and there it will stay for years.

It's like time stood still, which obviously it hasn't.

Anyway, my point is not about how much I hate pictures of myself, but more about what I look like now.

By looking at my profile picture that I have on here and the fact that my blog is called An Old-Fashioned World,  you might think that I dress vintage all the time.

Well, that's not entirely true.

It was for awhile though.

 I went through a 'phase' (as my mother likes to call it) where I woke up one day and said "I'm going to not only live a vintage lifestyle, but I'm also going to dress like it every. single. day." 

And I did, for about 5 years.

I did my hair every day in a 1940s style.

I wore a girdle almost all the time.

I wore seamed stockings when I went out at night and bobbie socks with saddle shoes during the day.

My closet is full of vintage dresses that I still lovingly repair as they wear out.

"Make do and mend" was my go to slogan and honestly, it still is.

You see, the problem with dressing like that every day, isn't what you might think, which probably has to do with the question that I got asked the most: 

"Doesn't it take forever to get ready every morning?"

Nope. 

It actually took me less time than wearing modern clothes, because you don't have to play the games.... 

Does this go with that? 

or 

Will my jeans fit this week? 

or 

Is this still in style? 

etc, etc, etc....

I just threw my hair up in curlers, brushed it out, put on my makeup and threw on my dress.

Easy peasy.

Actually, the problem was that, for whatever reason, a great majority of people are offended by things that are different and a lot of people had a HUGE problem with the way I looked.

I'd get questioned or commented on every time I left the house.

"Why do you dress like that?"

"Why would you wear those saddle shoes? I hated them growing up!"

"The 50s called and they want you back!"

"What's with your hair? Can I touch it?"

"You look like you're on the show Mad Men"

"Are you in a local play?"

"Are you going to a costume party?"

and on and on and on....

Can you imagine if, for example, I said back to them:

"Aren't you a little old for a mini-skirt?"

"Why do you feel the need to dress like your daughter?"

"The 1980s called and they want you back."

"What's with the pajamas? Did you forget to get dressed when you left the house?"

"What's with the messy bun? Did you lose your hair brush?

But that would be rude, wouldn't it?

Of course.

Which is why I'd politely answer them or keep quiet and skedaddle out of there as quick as I could.

So, I stopped dressing vintage all the time.

Not to say that I never do (I'm dressed vintage today), but it's just not all the time.

I went out and bought some modern clothes (I had purged my closet of anything modern when I went vintage), so that when I felt like blending in, I could.

This is basically what I look like when I'm not wearing vintage:

All those pictures were taken in the last 6 months, so now you know what I look like on an average day, this year and not three years ago.

Will I change my profile?

I dunno.

We'll see if I can find a picture of myself that I don't hate, that will work for a profile picture.

It could be awhile ;)

xo,

rue