How to Dress Vintage Chic Style in Everyday Clothes

Will you like to always look stylish in your everyday clothes? Do you desire a change to your dressing style? Are you considering trying to create a sophisticated chic look? If your answers are yes or maybe, this article is for you and the vintage-inspired.

If you are an enthusiast of vintage fashion but don’t like the head-to-toe vintage appeal, you can create your fashion signature using everyday clothes in combination with authentic and vintage-inspired fashion pieces.

Classic Vintage Fashion Accessories

For a vintage-inspired look, you don't have to change your wardrobe. You do not require a huge budget to accomplish this either. The things you need are some choice basics that take care of the finer details – apparel finds, accessories, collectables, and other heirloom items.

One of the most important items to have to achieve a vintage-inspired look is fashion accessories. We know how accessorising can help dictate an era of fashion. These include shoes, costume jewellery, hats, handbags, belts, and purses. These are the finer fashion details that can give that lady-like charm characteristic of antique and vintage fashion.

Creating the Look

So, how can you create the look? How can you make yourself stand out from the crowd’s usual way of dressing? It’s simple. By adding the most unexpected details to your ordinary-looking outfits, you can give yourself that second-glance look every time.

Clothing

If you like to rummage through estate or garage sales findings, you will sometimes find the unusual item of clothing. It may be a 20s blouse, a retro skirt, or a halter top. Apparel made with classic fabrics like embroidered cotton, linen, tweed, silk, wool, and linen are good finds. Clothes made of these traditional fabrics give off timeless elegant flavours.

Don’t underestimate the clothing you already have in your closet. You can integrate and combine your clothes in many ways you didn’t think possible. Clothing with bold patterns, polka dots, and remarkably large prints are very vintage. They work well in combination with plain pieces. And neutral colours like black, white, cream, navy blue, emerald green, and grey are colours you can count on to create a stylish ensemble.

Your tailored and form-fitting dresses that show off your figure are typical of vintage clothing. If necessary, wear body-form shapewear to give you the required curves.

Typical Vintage Styles

The following type of clothing will give you that stylish vintage-chic look you aim for. You don't necessarily require every item listed, but you’ll get a general idea of what can work best for your new look.

Tailored pants:

Ankle length, slight boot cut, straight, skinny (pencil), flared, and wide-leg.

Informal pants:

Pedal pushers, culottes, jumpsuits, and knee-length shorts.

Skirts:

High-waist, pencil, midi, ballerina, full-circle, swing, flared, short-bustle, and wriggle skirts.

Dresses:

Swing, shift, peplum, coat, sheath dresses, ball gown, polo dress, shirt-waist dress, drop-waist dress, and flapper style dresses.

Tops:

Long, short, cap, and sleeveless blouses. These also include shirts with tiny buttons, cardigans, knit tops, puff-sleeve shirts, peasant tops and halter blouses.

Jackets and Coats:

Frock coats, blazers, faux-fur collar coats, short and long wool coats, swing coats, trench coats, hooded capes, and vintage tweed coats.

Vintage Clothing Features and Details

Vintage styles have certain identifying features which make them stand out. If (for instance) you are a sewing enthusiast or dressmaker, you can revive some of your old forgotten-in-the-closet clothes and turn them into something new. These features include:

Necklines:

Square cut

Sweetheart

Cowl

Scoop neckline

V-shape

Boat

Crew necklines

Collars:

Peter Pan

Embellished detachable

Classic

Portrait

Boat-neck collars

Traditional Cuffs:

White cuffs

French

Square

Mandarin

Double cuffs

High 3-button

Long and pointed

Classic Accessories

Nothing can throw off your new style than if you use the wrong fashion accessories. The shoes you wear, your cameo costume jewellery, or the headpiece you put on must serve as elegant round-ups to your entire ensemble.

The good-to-have accessories include scarves, retro sunglasses, hats, purses, perhaps a parasol (for some drama), and clutch bags. Have at least one of each in your wardrobe and consider them the finishing touches you need.

Jewellery

Simple traditional jewellery is good to wear with modern outfits if you want an understated but stylish appearance. But you can wear the more elaborate costume jewelry for an air of class and sophistication.

You can invest in affordable classic-style costume jewellery when you need to glam up your attires for that va-va-voom look. Traditional design costume pieces of jewellery are the easiest and most affordable items you need to create a vintage-inspired tasteful look. The following fashion accessories are great to have and wear with your everyday clothes.

Earrings

Small hoops, cameos, studs (faux pearl or Swarovski), and chandelier earrings.

Bracelets

Cuff bangles, cha-cha bracelets, tennis bracelets, and wristwatches with metal or leather straps. Name bracelets, charm bracelets, wrap, and clamper bracelets.

Necklaces

Long gold and silver chains. Elaborate faux gems pendants, pearls, birthstones, and cameo pendants, including diamond solitaire, lockets, and gold cross pendants. Choker necklaces and bib necklaces are also inspired pieces from a past fashion era.

Rings

Statement rings, rings with wide or thin bands, heirloom rings, Art deco rings, and cocktail rings.

Brooch and Pin

Whimsical and flirty pins, cameo brooches, personalised brooches, and gem-set pins.

Shoes

If you like classic styles, you will love shopping for affordable vintage-replicated shoes because good shoes make the best impression. Wear a nice suit with the wrong pair of shoes and you’ve made a fashion blunder.

Finding one or two fabulous pairs of vintage-inspired shoes is essential if you want to incorporate styles from another era with today’s trends. Vintage-reproduction shoes, also referred to as modern vintage shoes are quite affordable. Women's vintage shoe style reproductions to look out for are:

Espadrille wedges
Sling-backs
Lace-up Oxfords
T-straps
Mary Jane shoes
Saddle shoes
Peep toe shoes
Patent pumps
Lace-up boots
Ballet flats
Kitten heels (pumps or boots)
A pair of red shoes
Animal print flats
Stilettos

Moccasins

Handbags and purses

Traditional handbags and modern ones fashioned after vintage bags are popular and never go out of style and many die-hard vintage fashion enthusiasts have one in their closets. Reproductions now have special pockets for makeup, writing material, cell phones, and other modern devices. Owning one (or two) is a unique way to establish your fashion signature. Examples of vintage style bags that have been replicated to suit modern fashionistas are:

Retro bags
Lucite handbags
Beaded flapper purse
Floral bags
Coin purses
Sister Jane handbags

 

Sunglasses and frames for reading glasses

You can find inexpensive old-style eyewear like sunglasses and frames for reading glasses at street markets, on Amazon, and Etsy.

1950s cat-eye sunglasses
Brow-line sunglasses
1960s over-sized glasses
Retro square
1970s tinted lens
1980s aviator sunglasses
1990s round wire-framed

 

Scarves

When you think about vintage hair scarves, your mind brings up images of glamorous silver screen stars of Old Hollywood. Scarves are versatile and functional and you can wear them around the neck or over your head and tied under the chin, classic French style. Add some drama and playfulness with vintage-inspired scarves with floral, green foliage, polka dots, bold stripes, and paisley patterns, or in vibrant block colours.

Hats

Stylish hats are back in a big way and the best of the pick are the styles inspired by 20th-century hat designers. Designs range from the 1920s cloche and 1940s berets to the fifties pillbox hat, fascinators, and retro pagoda hats. Wear them for some oomph and charm and make them an essential part of your informal clothing. 

The vintage-chic style demands that the clothes and fashion accessories you wear are neat, clean, stylish, but simple. Clothing should be wrinkle-free and colour coordinated and it is important not to over-accessorize for a vintage-inspired look.