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GIVEAWAY: My Love/Hate Relationship with Vintage Clothing
If you love dresses from Shabby Apple, then you’re
in luck! Thanks to Shabby Apple for providing the prize for this
giveaway, and may the luckiest gal win!
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with actual legit vintage clothing for ages…
I’ll be honest. I haven’t always picked the best vintage clothing. “Those darn seagulls” t-shirt with the white paint splatters that looked like bird plops rained down from above, I’m looking in your direction. Sure, you were a steal at 2 dollars at my local Goodwill store… but my taste in oldies but goodies has changed (for the better, I hope) since I bought that shirt in grade school.
Fast forward to 2003, living in Wisconsin and working at OshKosh B’Gosh. My bff Jenn and I had a such a blast discovering thrift store treasures in small town Wisconsin.
What do I love about vintage clothing?
The style.
I’ve always been a pretty modest gal, and vintage clothing really supports that. I don’t wanna have my bits and pieces hanging out all over… and sometimes I feel overexposed if I wear a skirt that ends just above the knee.
But also… shopping vintage means never having to say “oh I have that
same dress at home.” The selection at the thrift store is ever-changing.
And no two vintage wardrobes are the same.
The price.
One of the great things about hitting up your local thrift store is there are some AWESOME deals to be had.
I have two favorite thrift store finds. One is a mint green shirt dress from the 50s that fits me perfectly (when I’m not pregnant, anyways). The other is an amazing 60s polyester wiggle dress that works great both as a vintage stewardess Halloween costume AND a Sunday dress.
Each one cost me five bucks.
What do I hate about vintage clothing?
The fit.
When I was getting married in 2006, I went on an Ebay quest for a vintage wedding dress. I must have looked at hundreds of different options on the site, in a bajillion different styles.
The problem with true vintage clothing is that the sizing and fit is very, very different from today’s standards. The sorts of dresses I like, the ones that are kind of 40s or 50s looking, with a nipped in waist…
Ladies totally wore corsets back then. So tons of the dresses are big up top, tiny in the waist, and then normal hips.
And I don’t even wanna wear Spanx
So needless to say… Shopping for vintage clothing online can be kind of a crapshoot.
What’s a girl to do?
In the case of buying my wedding dress, I actually found the love of my dress life, believe it or not, on the sale rack at David’s Bridal for 250 bucks. One snazzy skull pin added to the drop waist, and it was totally unique.
Sometimes it’s better to go with a new dress that’s got that old school vintage vibe you love.You get today’s modern fit, yesterday’s awesome style. It’s the best of both worlds! Add some rockin’ accessories, and you’ve got yourself a totally unique look.
That’s why I’m so excited that Shabby Apple’s doing a vintage clothing giveaway on our blog this week! I’ve been a big fan of the Shabby Apple site for a long time for the exact same reason I bought my vintage style wedding dress brand new.
So check out what you could win on our blog this week:
But don’t just take my word for how awesome this dress is – I showed it to Nicole Longstreath of The Wardrobe Code and she fell in love, too!
“I love polka dots because they’re classic and playful. However, it’s tough to pull them off without looking a tad juvenille – especially if the colors are pink, blue, yellow, etc. I love this brown and white polka dot dress because it mixes the playfulness of polka dots with crisp and neutral sophistication. The shape of the dress is also flattering to a variety of body types.”
So get on it folks! I know so many gals with supercute style, and every one of you would look great in this. It’s so easy to enter below – the first two entries are making sure you’re a fan of Shabby Apple on Facebook, and following them on Instagram, and then there’s other easy entries that unlock after that. Best of luck to everyone!
Freelance illustrator Steph Calvert is an award-winning artist with 24 years of experience working as a creative professional. She is based in McDonough, Georgia, just south of Atlanta.
Steph Calvert has expertise as a children’s book illustrator. She is an expert surface pattern designer for art licensing and creates line drawings for publishing and product design. Steph has years of additional expertise as a mural artist, creating original art, and logo design for small businesses. She is currently querying literary agents with her first author/illustrator book projects.
Writing CLIENTS INCLUDE
Moonfrye.com
OC Weekly
Educational Highlights
National SCBWI Conference, 2023
Illustration Summer Camp – The Highlights Foundation, 2021
Make Art That Sells, 2017
BFA in Computer Art – SCAD, 1999
28 responses to “GIVEAWAY: My Love/Hate Relationship with Vintage Clothing”
I love Shabby Apple and polka dots are my thing! I hope I win this one!
Best of luck, this one is super cute!!
This dress is sooo chic!
It’s kind of killing me that I can’t win my own giveaway. Because COME ON!!!
I bought a vintage bowling shirt that I LOVE – it’s green and has a giant embroidered orange on it. I should wear that shirt again, I miss it…
Ok is it terribly shallow that when Josh and I started dating he showed up at my house wearing a vintage bowling shirt with the name Hal embroidered on it? And it was part of what I liked about him?
LOL – COME ON!!!
I’m yelling that in a very Will Ferrell manner. Out loud. At the monitor.
Working from home does strange things to a person.
So adorable! Thanks for offering this giveaway! 🙂
You’re so welcome – best of luck in winning!!
I found the coolest vintage birdcage that I used on my dining room table for decorating!
Oh I love that idea! There’s so many ways you could change it up with the seasons!
I love Shabby Apple! Would love to win this dress!
My favorite vintage find was a retro American Tourister Luggage set in bright red. I love it!
That’s awesome!! I found a cool orange Naugahyde bag at Salvation Army once for 35 cents, and I think that was my best deal ever.
I love the 40’s & 50’s style dresses too and totally agree that they’re cut & fit different. There is no way my waist is going to fit in any of them.
I haven’t found any great vintage deals. I think that I need to get to a larger area to shop at the thrift shops to find the cool stuff.
You’d think that, but I found it’s kind of the opposite in some ways! When I lived in Southern California, anything good was overpriced and everything cheap felt kind of picked over at times. When I moved to Wisconsin for a couple of years, there was GREAT thrift shopping to be had!
But then again, my buddy Nicole did help me realize the thrift shops in soCal do have pretty stellar stuff if you go through every single item.
Love this dress! Personally I am obsessed with 60’s (70’s?) retro swank. Nancy Sinatra in go-go boots – or poolside with the Rat Pack in a caftan, heels, bouffant hair and a martini. 🙂 I don’t see why I can’t do this everyday! lol My favorite vintage find was pillbox hats still in the hatbox. I don’t wear them but I love them!
Oh heck yes on the go go boots!! I’ve always wanted a pair, and they’d probably go amazing with the navy blue dress I posted a pic of in this post. Some day!!! I’ve also been drawn to vintage hats lately… Maybe I can pick up a couple and start bringing Sunday church hats back!
My wardrobe is pretty vintage-centric, I’d say my navy with white trim ruffle holiday dress was one of the best this year. It cost $3.50.
Now THAT’s a good deal!! Sounds adorable!
I have recently discovered my like for Vintage. My prior lifestyle was too hectic to enjoy anything. Now I get to stay home with my boys, homeschool them and actually find things to enjoy in life. I hope to win this giveaway to start my new life off with a bang.
One thing that my buddy Nicole taught me about shopping thrift stores is you don’t find as much good stuff if you walk in and skim. You actually gotta look at every piece on the rack… Which definitely takes some time. I’m so glad you have more of an opportunity to do that now!
The coolest vintage was a dress I found In cleveland Ohio it was a Marilyn monroe classic. The real mcoy!!!
Isn’t it awesome that she had such a distinctive style that the second you mentioned her I knew exactly what you were talking about? That’s an awesome find!
It is! Still not as nice as a 1950s mint shirtwaist dress (let alone for $5!) but I’m glad. Vintage and second hand is more ecological, although more demanding in sourcing, alterations and maintenance so it’s pretty hard to see which is best in the end 🙂
For sure – the time it takes to find the really special pieces is crazy sometimes! But once they show up, it’s always worth it!
I don’t have a smartphone so I can’t follow Shabby Apple on Instagram. I hope I can still enter because my daughter would look so cute in that! I love vintage things, but like you said the price is crazy! My son found a vintage fedora once though at Goodwill for like $5! That was the find of the year!
If you liked them on Facebook, that’s at least one entry in the game – best of luck!!