Whether past or present, my style icons typically tend to be real world women just like myself. One person who's superb eye for style, passion for the past, and incredible fashion sense continually knock my Cuban heel stockings right off is the deeply beautiful Joanna from Dividing Vintage Moments.
She's a real world lady with a heart of gold, a skillfully curated (incredible!) vintage wardrobe, and blog post after blog post that never fail to inspire, education, and delightful myself and, I'm certain, all of her other readers, too.
Last week Joanna announced a giveaway on her blog in conjunction with a post in which she highlighted ten vintage items that she feels are always worth the splurge. Her list is excellent and truly speaks to the sophisticated style that flows through everything this elegant woman wears. As a means of gaining two additional entries for giveaway, participants are encouraged to write a blog post on the same topic themselves.
The chance to win some stellar items (jewelry, perfume, matching beaded purse and gloves!) and write about vintage fashion, sign me on the double!
I wanted to get set to work on creating this post the moment I read Joanna's, but I've been going through an extra rough spell on the health front this month, so this post, though not overly large, took me a few days to put together. The winner of the giveaway isn't being drawn until tomorrow though, so I just barely managed to finished on time. Phew! :)
I feel like there's a sense of serendipity to the fact that Joanna suggested giveaway participants follow her lead and write about vintage pieces that they personally feel are worth splurging on, because that's a topic that I touched on in this post at the start of the year, and which I'm making a conscious effort to focus some of my wardrobe budget on this year (and beyond).
While I have certainly made some investment purchases (vintage and otherwise) throughout the course of my life, generally speaking, I tend to be the type of person who seeks quality on a budget. I traverse the web right, left and center, hunting down bargains, deals, sales, you name it, so long as it helps me get the most bang for my wardrobe buck.
Sometimes however, especially once one already has a decent basic vintage wardrobe, there comes a point when you need to step back and evaluate where it would be wise to save and where it would suit you best to splurge.
The answer to this question will be different for each of us, as no two people have exactly the same wardrobes nor daily circumstances around which they dress. Part of me would love to have a closet teaming with nothing but 40s and 50s evening gowns, but that would highly impractical for someone in my shoes, who is lucky if they have one black tie event to attend a year.
Investment pieces don't have to be impractical of course, but at times they may be items that you know full well you're not going to get as much millage out of as a basic LBD. That is 100% ok. A splurge of any type generally implies some degree of extravagance and that said item (or experience, for example, in the case of a super pricy dinner at a posh restaurant or a trip to Europe) will long be viewed as a special treat. If it wasn't, one might argue, would it still qualify as a splurge?
The following ten items are ones that I believe are worth investing in, so long as doing so isn't going to put you into any kind of serious finical hot water. I own a some of these things myself, but others are items that remain still to be added to my wardrobe as time goes on.
Instead of highlighting examples of these ten garments and accessories that are for sale from various sources today, I opted instead to show you photos and illustrations from the 1940s and 50s, as these are the kinds of images I usually turn for inspiration before I begin really getting serious about my quest to find my next vintage investment piece.
{A pinafore/jumper dress}
{A wonderful mid-century umbrella}
{A classic, well made winter coat}
{A few really nice pairs of vintage gloves}
{An amazing cape}
{Mid-century rain and/or snow boots}
{A classic two-piece skirt or dress suit}
{A fun novelty print cardigan}
{A glamorous evening gown}
{A warm winter muff - all the better if it comes with additional matching items, such as a scarf, hat or gloves}
{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}
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No such happening, however, as I already picked up an item this month that had been on my vintage wish list for years now, and which I was happy to invest in (mind you, still at what I considered to be a relatively good deal - just because something's an investment piece doesn't mean you can't try to get a good deal on it), when it came along: a wonderful pink 1950s patio/squaw dress, which should be arriving in the mail any day now.
Which of these items would make it on to your own top ten list at the moment? If you're in the mood to write about ten of your own choices are are interested in taking part in Joanna's giveaway, there's still time today to do just that.
Even if someone waved a magic wand right now and, poof, all of these items were in my closet, that wouldn't change the fact that I would still recommend them to others are worthwhile investments, especially if we lived in similar climates and led lives with much in common.
These pieces - very much like ones Joanna recommended - are classic, becoming, beautiful items that will stand the test of time and bring their own much joy and use. And those points, my dears, should always be amongst the hallmarks of any wonderful vintage splurge.
