Thursday 5 April 2012

Fashion Calendar: April - Vintage or Retro?

Has anyone noticed that there was no Fashion Calendar post during the month of March?
Somehow, there was always something else happening - either something I wanted to post about (and did), or that prevented me from posting for lack of time, occasion and/or inclination.

But today, I have a special fashion post for you, and while you can simply read this post as you have been reading all the other stuff on my blog (out of curiosity and interest, for entertainment or because you were looking for a recipe or book/film review), this time, you are invited to take a little quiz:

Can you guess which of the four dresses shown on this post are vintage ones, and which ones are retro?

Just give me your answers as comments; there is nothing to "win" or lose here, no giveaway connected to the correct answer, it is simply meant to be fun.




Top left: Pink and white gingham with daisies. The fun bit about this one is that is not really a dress - underneath the front flap, a pair of shorts is hidden.
Top right: can't go wrong with navy and white, can you?
Below left: summery stripes and a fabric that hardly creases - perfect for travelling.
Below right: yes, you've seen it before. I wore this lilac dress for my cocktail party.

By the way, it has become way too cold now to wear any of these - from 20C (68F) less than a week ago, we have gone as low as 6C (42F), so I am back to the stuff I wore for most of the winter.

21 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your label -- fashion for the shallow-minded. And, I'm guilty, of course.

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    1. Thanks, Mark! Sometimes it feels good to be shallow (at least to me), give myself a rest.

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  2. Hello Meike:
    Absolutely no idea which is vintage or retro but they all look well on you! Can it be too long before the 'Mental' fashion label hits the shops?!!!

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance,
      since none of these were designed or made by me (I call it a major achievement just sewing a button on a blouse), there won't be any "Mental Librarian's" creations to be found in the shops anytime soon :-D

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  3. I had to look up the difference between Vintage - Something that is old or made recently which gives you a complete taste of the old days - and Retro - Something that is made recently which gives you a taste of the modern and old days. So now that I know can I guess? TL = V TR = R BL = V BR = R. And I would like some marks for having the courage to have a try. Not because I worry if I am wrong but because there are three things a man should beware of trying to guess and be very careful about commenting upon: a lady's age, whether she likes or dislikes her hairstyle and whether clothes are new or have been in the wardrobe for ages and resurrected.

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    1. Vintage should actually be the real stuff, old, and not made recently, while retro is new and trying to emulate the spirit of old, yes.
      You guessed all four of them right, congratulations!
      As for new additions to my wardrobe - well, there haven't been any for quite a while now, not even for the ball did I go and buy anything new, what with so many dresses already in there, waiting for the right weather and/or the right occasion to be worn.

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  4. You really would not believe it. One of the wv words on the last comment was newworn.

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    1. I didn't even know I have wv active. I don't want it, since I know it does prevent people from commenting as much as they would like to. Now I'll try and find out how to get rid of it.

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  5. I'm awfully sorry, I don't seem to have much fashion sense or knowledge. None of these dresses seem to be particularly one thing or the other. English fashions are quite different from German fashions.

    I would like to say though that you look seriously good and very attractive in all of them.

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    1. Thank you, Friko!
      Well, strictly speaking, only one of these dresses can be called German fashion - the bottom right one (lilac), from Betty Barclay (which sounds English but is a German label). The others are Swedish (top right) and American (both the dresses on the left side).

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  6. Well the pink check (my favorite) has got to be vintage.
    The navy and white, Retro,and classic.
    the stripe, Retro,(or maybe vintage) as my mother had a dress similar
    and
    the lavender? That looks a little like something Jackie Kennedy might have worn. I'm going to say Retro.
    All wonderful!
    xx
    julie

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    1. Yes, isn't the pink gingham with the daisies just perfect for spring? It a little on the large side for me, but I still like wearing it at home when it is warm enough. It is, of course, vintage, as is the stripey one. The other two are retro.

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  7. Hey!
    I would say the two on the left...vintage.
    The two on the right...retro.
    That was fun,
    let's have more modeling and more guessing! :-)
    I like the dresses on the right the best.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed my little quiz, Kay!
      You guessed all four of them right, congratulations!

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    2. I got them all right! Even if I don't win any prizes, does this make me seem more intelligent in your eyes? I could use all the help I can get.

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  8. The pink gingham! BTW, they all look great on you! Happy Easter!

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    1. Thank you, Mary, and the same to you!
      The pink gingham is indeed vintage, and so is the striped dress.

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  9. Woo love the wardrobe posts!! I'd guess that the two on the left are vintage and the two on the right are retro.

    From here in Scotland though, every one of those needs a nice warm cardigan over it

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    1. Glad you do, Macy! I am always in two minds about my fashion posts, thinking them too shallow and as in "who cares?", but then I always get such nice comments on these that I guess I'll keep doing them.
      You are right on the two on the left being vintage and the other two retro.
      At the moment, the weather is way too cold to wear any of these. I have in fact been going out in my padded winter coat and boots again.

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  10. The dress down on the left is the old (vintage) one, all the others are new.
    12

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hello 12,
      the top left (pink gingham) is vintage, too. I bought it on ebay about 7 years ago from a seller specialised in vintage clothing, and the striped one is even older, I bought that before moving to this place.
      11

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