I know you by your legs

Okay, potentially creepy/stalkerish sounding post title, I know, but I promise you there is an entirely innocent explanation behind it! :)

You see, as a general rule, when reading posts in my feed reader (Bloglovin'), I do so by starting with the oldest posts first, which are at the bottom of the page of new entries. Thus as I work my way from the end of the list to the top, I often see a person's feet and/or legs first as a photo accompanying an outfit post appears.

{1940s image source}

I've been reading my feeds like this for years now and have been following many of the blogs that those gams belong to the authors of, for far longer still. As such, I can often tell who a new post is from before I even scroll up to the part that says the blog's name, simply by seeing their feet/legs. I find this rather charming and hope you'll see it as such, too, for it leads me to a far greater point.

In about two weeks from now, this blog will hit 6.5 years of life. In that time I've had the great pleasure of getting to cross paths with literally thousands of fellow bloggers (vintage and otherwise). Some for the briefest of spells, others for multiple years, and some for longer still than I myself have been penning a vintage blog (I started following their sites prior to launching to my own). Quite a few of these folks have become friends - also for varying lengths of time - and a few have become so dear to me they feel like sisters.

It's scarcely a state secret that the vintage blogging world has shrunk somewhat in the last (roughly) three years (a point that I briefly touched on in this post). There are a plethora of reasons (the rise of certain "instant share" sites like Instagram certainly being one them) for this and I won't go into great deal about such here now. Suffice it to say, the vintage blogging pool is not as vast as it once was and that makes me all the more grateful for those who are still keeping at 'er, as I myself am, too.

No matter if such folks are blogging peers, personal acquaintances, friends, or die-hard BFFs, I know them - or in other words, I know you. Whether we've only talked through our blogs - perhaps even one sided-ly (in other words, I've commented on your site, but you haven't on mine) - or have conversed elsewhere, too, by sheer virtue of the fact that you've been sharing part of your life with me - and the world - online for quite some time, I genuinely feel like I know you and this is a beautiful thing unto itself.

I appreciate all of my fellow bloggers, particularly the vintage ones, as we walk a similar path in this new found digital world of ours. I find myself remembering fellow blogger's birthdays, anniversaries, and even due dates. I know who adores 1940s swing dresses, who can't get enough of two tone 30s shoes, and who 1950s circle skirts make go positively weak in the knees.

From BF/GF/husband/wife/partner's names to what people studied in school to favourite colours and foods, a body of knowledge has been acquired and cataloged for many of my fellow bloggers simply by virtue of the fact of how long I've known them and how frequently I've read their wonderful blogs. I have know doubt that many of you reading this post today can say the same about me and I love that fact.

Even the most raw, open and honest person never shares everything about themselves online - and that's a good thing (we all need and deserve some privacy, after all), but we all present a certain version of who we are to the world via our blogs (and social media presences) and what we opt to divulge or not.

Whether we chose to be an open book or present a very curated picture of ourselves and our lives, we still share who we are and those who give of themselves and their time to kindly follow our sites, learn about us through our photos, what we write, and sometimes even what is left unsaid.

I guess what I'm trying to say is how much I care for and appreciate every single one of you, my fellow bloggers and friends. Thank you for opening up your lives with me and allowing me to do the same here day after day, week after week, and ultimately year after year.

We've shared so much and I hope that a great deal more lies in store for all of us who continue to keep our blogs alive and going strong. I look forward to getting to know you even better - shoes and all - and hope that we can keep on supporting one another's sites, efforts (long term frequent blogging is a huge amount of work and very often a sheer labour of love for those doing so, especially in a relatively small niche like the vintage world), and cheer each other on as we continue to blog, share and grow as both individuals and an online community as a whole.

Reflecting on friendships, both old and new

✯ Day 332 of Vintage 365 ✯

You know those times when you stop and look back at your schooldays, places you've lived and moved on from, old jobs, or past romances and ponder the many people you’ve known and interacted with day in and day out, yet likely haven't seen or heard from in decades?

I can't help but do this sometimes - it's only natural to wonder about people, even those were weren't that close to you, with whom you spent months or years of your life. Social networking sometimes allows us to connect with these distant faces from our past once more, but there's almost always going to be people who's paths we'll never again cross.

This is - in this day and age, where most people move several times throughout their lives, especially - completely normal. Not even the most active of social butterflies can say they've kept in touch with everyone they've known throughout their lives, and that's totally fine. Some people will be with us until the very end, but others play a role (be it small or large) for a shorter period of time, and that too is completely alright - it's part of the ebb and flow of daily life.

The online world is relatively similar in this regard - perhaps even more so. I often think of people that I had never known in person, yet became very close with online for a spell, who have since faded out of my life. (Knock wood!) I've never had an actual falling out with anybody I meet on the web, it just seems that online friendships often have shorter expiration dates than real world ones.

Sometimes once the topic (whatever it may have been) that drew you together in the first place has been tapped out, you find you have little left to discuss. Other times one party is very busy or unable to get to the computer often and so the pair ends up drifting apart. There are many other reasons, too, of course.

Yet, it struck me the other day how now there are two sets of people now that, some of whom, in the natural progression of 21st century life we'll lose contact with: those offline and those online (many in the latter camp that we may very well never interact with in the offline world).

This thought didn't hit me melancholically, rather quite matter-of-factly. One of those "hey, you know, that's a good point" kind of musings that your brain has over the course of an average day and so I wanted to share it here, as I'd venture to guess I'm not the first person that this notion has struck before.

{An immensely sweet vintage photo by Charles Harris of two young friends in the 1930s. Whenever I look at endearing images like this one, which comes by way of spiralsheep on Flickr, I like to think that the pair stayed in touch and always remained close companions.}

 

As it's more than a little bit clear at this point that the internet (or whatever future versions of it will evolve) is here to stay, I know for certain that some of the people I correspond with, leave blog comments for, and otherwise connect with online will come and go from my life - as will others I've yet to even meet.

I suppose what primarily sets these people from those in the offline world though, is that many times we never interact, beyond the realm of our keyboards and computer screens with the friends and acquaintances we make online.

This isn't to say that such friendships are are any less valid or important than those in the offline world, not at all, but they - by the this very fact alone - inherently different.

What, you may be asking, got me thinking about this particular topic today? It was actually the fact that in recent weeks I've noticed some wonderful new faces here on Chronically Vintage and also seen a couple of great gals that I hadn't been in contact with for ages reappear again. As such, to visitors and online friends, new and old, alike I say a very warm hello!

Whether you've known me for year or just stopping by, our online journeys have intersected and I for one am very happy about that.