...But that doesn't mean you take some serious fashion cues from one!
{Who doesn't love a great vintage inspired headwrap like this wonderful leopard print cotton gem? It's cute, practical, fun, and such a handy helper when it comes to creating mid-century, rockabilly, and pin-up girl hairstyles alike. $14.00 from Eternal Magpie.}
{You're eyes will look especially fierce when you surround these fantastic 1950s tiger meets confetti clear horn rim style eyeglass frames, which are the purr-fect blend of mid-century fabulous and modern day appropriate cool all in the same go. $98.00 from Dia Vintage.}
{Reminiscent of late summer sunsets, harvest moons, fall pumpkins, these timelessly pretty orange plastic 1950s/1960s clip-on earrings are an ideal, lightweight way to bring one of the season's most iconic colours to your wardrobe. $9.50 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy. }
{Go on, I double dare you not to squeal with sheer delight over this immensely cute vintage 1960s kitty cat novelty print blouse! It's sweet, fun, and adorable - not to mention bursting with several of the finest shades from autumn's palette. Fits up to a 38" bust/28-29" waist. $86.00 from from Rococo Vintage.}
{Though we may still technically have a few more days of summer left, for most of us, the temperatures have already started to take a noticeable plunge and our minds are shifting more to thoughts of overcoats than swimsuits at the moment. If you want to stay roasty-toasty and look seriously chic in the process, than this awesome 1950s/1960s faux tiger fur coat is for you. Fits up to a 45" bust, full waist and hips. $155.00 from True Value Vintage.}
{Rich, luxurious gold tone metal and faux tiger eye plastic stones call this strikingly elegant, circa 1970s/80s does 1930s/40s bracelet home, and would make for such a fabulous, autumn hued piece of vintage jewelry to wear to your next Thanksgiving get-together. $25.00 from Chronically Vintage on Etsy.}
{My renewed summertime love for vintage reproduction swing trousers is going mighty strong as we look fall's return square in the eyes. As we do just that, I find myself especially yearning for pairs in dark, seasonally fantastic hues like these beautiful brown pinstripe 1940s vintage reproduction pants. Available in modern ladies UK sizes 10 to 18. £60.00 from Heyday.}
{Oh-la-la - and then some!!! This wildly alluring, figure flattering 1980s does 1940s tiger print peplum dress is all kinds of magnificent! From the "killer" pattern to the summer into fall perfect sleeve and hem lengths, this yesteryear frock will have all who see you roaring with praise about your ensemble. Fits up to a 40" bust/20-38" (elastic) waist. $29.00 from Bombshell Shocked.}
{At the moment, I'm tucking away my summertime accessories and bringing out my fall and winter ones, be they berets, boots, or gloves, to ensure they're all ready to go at at moment's (chilly!) notice. A gal can never have to many great winter gloves as these vintage appropriate brown leather beauties embellished with brass studs would look right at home in my - our your - mid-century wardrobe. Available in modern ladies sizes small to XL. $45.00 from Blue Velvet Vintage.}
{While we tend to typically associate them with spring and summer, there's no reason why vintage straw handbags like this good sized, classic 1960s beaut can't keep on serving us well come autumn, too - especially on sunny days when their flaxen hues call to mind fields of wheat, corn, and barley all waiting to be harvest. $38.00 from Dalena Vintage.}
{Suede high heels have been a favourite of mine for many years, with my beloved black 40s pair being one of my most currently sported pairs. If these beautiful brown suede 1950s pair was my size (they're a touch too small), I'd be adding them to my closet. My loss, is your gain, especially if you're hunting for fall time fabulous vintage high heels. Fits a vintage size 7AAA. $79.20 from The Best Vintage Clothing.}
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What, dear Jess, are you talking about, you may be wondering as you read the title and introductory line of today's post. Allow me to elaborate.
You see, I am blessed to have a husband who is incredibly wise and insightful. I don't say that with any bias. If I knew, but was not married/in love with Tony, I would still say that he deserves to have a word like "sage" in front of his name, for he possesses that rare and fantastic combination of true intellect, stealth-like perceptiveness, deeply rooted compassion, the ability to see logic in any setting, and a knack for putting one's mind at ease, which is worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world.
This isn't to say that he doesn't worry sometimes himself (how can anybody not?), but that of the two of us, I tend to be the one who worries far more - especially about things that are, objectively, not worth fretting over for two seconds, let alone days or longer. I'm no stranger to genuine anxiety, and stress and I might as well wear matching halves of a grade school BBF necklace.
I have a near crippling fear of confrontation and another of not pleasing people when I know they want me to do something (they're two sides of the same coin most of the time), as well as a workaholic's approach to business. My health is forever throwing curveballs my way that means I quite literally do no know what my world will be like, in some ways at least, from one day to the next. I am a recovering perfectionist (I was a major one as a child) and great fan of everything being in order, even though I know full well that life is never endingly chaotic.
This year, with the significant number of changes that have been underway in my life (especially on the professional front), which I chatted about recently in this post, I've been dealing with - what is in the scope of my personal world and circumstances - an unhealthy amount of stress and worry. As I discussed in that post, I'm working on taking steps to reduce that somewhat, but as we all know - such is easier said than done with it comes to scaling back on stress and work alike. Enter the title of today's Vintage Fashionista Friday post. You see, sometimes, when I'm having an especially difficult day on the stress/anxiety/worry front, my perceptive, caring husband will say to me, "It's okay, there's no tiger chasing you". And he is 100% correct.
Our brains (and nervous systems) are products of our human evolution. Once, long ago, we were traveling bands of hunters and nomads whose lives were constantly in danger. We developed certain internal systems and responses (such as the flight or fight response) to help us survive and cope in these harsh, life or death conditions. In fact, we lived in these kinds of circumstances for millions of years more than we've yet to dwell in cities, had weapons like swords and guns to defend us, and created man made barriers to keep the wolves at the gate, both literally and figuratively.
Yet, as with so many elements of how we behave and respond to the situations we find ourselves in millennia after most of us started to form civilizations and no longer live quite so on the edge of constant treats to our lives (or at the very least, not all of those same ones that our early ancestors knew on the plains of Africa), we still respond internally to danger and worry exactly the same way. We're hardwired to do so and overriding that internal programming is so hard, it verges on impossible.
How can you tell your brain, the epicenter of your emotions and thoughts, to just chill and take it easy, that most of the worries and problems we face today are not matters of our very survival and that, ultimately, you'll be okay? There isn't an easy answer to that question, but learning to put stress and worry into prospective can be a big leap forward there. Believe me, I speak from experience. Tony is also fond of saying (in situations that worry me), "What's the worse that can happen?", and he is so incredibly right – what is the worst that could happen? Usually, when you spell the realistic worse case scenario to a given situation out in black and white, it's not as bad as you've made the possible outcome to be in your head.
We may still have our ancestors responses to worry and danger, but we don't have their set of daily challenges. Now there’s a new, different, equally (if not more so) complex ones, which we may adapt to and come to handle differently in many thousands of more generations, but for now, we're still dealing with a hunter-gather's brain clothed in Nike shoes, Armani suits, Levis jeans, or - in our case - vintage threads.
However, we're very fortunate that there isn't (with exceptions made of course for those who still live in parts of the world where animal attacks are a very real threat) a tiger chasing us. We can stop, breath, take stock of our thoughts and circumstances, discuss our problems with loved ones and paid strangers (such as doctors and psychologists) alike, and decide how we want to take down the beast that it is our own worry and stress.
This is a luxury our ancestors rarely had when a wild, menacing creature was hunting them every bit as much as they had their spears aimed at the animal itself, and we're profoundly fortunate that such is the case, however we must be incredibly careful that we don't let stress us eat us alive, instead of a saber tooth tiger.
I share this topic today, which I know has rather little, objectively, to do with vintage fashion, other than providing a tie in theme for this fun yesteryear outfit, in the hopes that if you're also a chronic worrier and/or if something has really been weighing on your mind and bringing a lot of stress into your life lately, you can also avail of Tony's insight - so simple, yet so brilliant in its entirety.
Instead of running from imaginary tigers, let's access each worrisome situation as it comes our way, remind ourselves that we likely have the strength and coping skills needed to survive it, and spend our days far less consumed by stress and way more filled with peace, happiness, and all of the amazing things that we're fortunate to have in the 21st century - very much including our beloved fashions from the past (animal print or otherwise).
