What is Retro Clothing or Vintage Style?

The term Retro has been around since the 1970s and seems to be tagged onto many things but in its most basic form, it refers to a style that either imitates or is a derivative of a style from the recent past.  Therefore, retro clothing tend to be the copying of styles from the 1940s through to the 1990s and means many styles and trends fall under its banner.

When looking to put together a retro outfit for an occasion, you need to decide if you want to stick wholly to the look or whether you want to combine retro pieces with modern elements for your own unique take.  Whatever you decide, here are a few ideas about the more popular retro clothes available.

1940s Fashion Ideas

If you want to go for a look that would have been common in the 1940s, the first thing to remember is that women weren’t expected to leave the house unless they had stockings, a hat and a handbag!  One of the easiest looks to wear is the tea dress.  This was worn to dances and had a sweetheart neckline with puffed cap sleeves.  Shift dresses were still worn from the 1930s but were more utilitarian than in the flapper times of the previous decades and also tended to make use of the sweetheart style.

Film noir was an inspiration at the time with strong and serious eveningwear being a big take from this.  Simple bodices with padded shoulders and decorated with sequins were common as well sarong skirts on dresses.  Colours were very muted with red, navy, white or black being favourite.

1950s Fashion Ideas

The good thing about the clothing in this period is that it can be adapted to nearly any shape or size.  The two favourite looks were the wasp waist with the full skirt and the slim fitting pencil skirt.  Clothing was starting to be manufactured on a large scale so standards were improving as were cloth quality.  It also saw the development of clothing for the adolescent separate from the child and woman.

The petticoat or full skirt look is one that was worn for both daytime and eveningwear.  The skirt always stopped at mid-calf but was longer sometimes on eveningwear while several layers of net petticoats were worn.  They were starched for extra stiffness.  Chiffon was also used in bright colours such as green, yellow and pink.

The opposite look was the pencil skirt, sometimes called the hobble skirt.  This was because it limited the ability to walk and left women with a funny wobble to their step.  These dresses used a natural waist and were very sophisticated so were worn by the mature lady.  A swing coat was often worn over the top along with plenty of accessories and high heels.  The length is the other 1950s thing – it has to be calf length to be authentic.

These are just a couple of ideas from the retro period that can easily be recreated with modern clothing for a true outfit from the era.  The looks can also be easily adapted with modern elements to have a retro-inspired outfit that no-one else will show up wearing.

Come and visit us at our vintage shop in Lancashire for a wide range of original vintage clothing and vintage style clothing or shop 24/7 online at www.myvintage.co.uk for even more fabulous vintage fashion.

Mv x