Classic, Not Costumey: How To Wear Vintage Goods with Style

When you buy something using the affiliate links on our locate, we may earn a small committee . many of our long-time readers know that we ’ re all about classic manner and high-quality gorge. We love vintage apparel and accessories that have stood the examination of time, therefore nowadays, we ’ ll discuss how to incorporate them into your outfits so that you look classical, not costumey or dated .

We believe that quite a few things, including certain aspects of manner, are well the antique way. however, there are some things from the past that should actually just be left in the past. For exemplar, a three-inch grandiloquent collar that is starched and rigid ; that ’ s rather uncomfortable, and I ’ m glad we don ’ t have to wear this anymore .
If you ask our critics, they say, “ well, what are you talking about ? You already look like from the 1930s ” or “ You dress like you ’ re right out of Downton Abbey. ” I get the opinion because we ’ re decidedly more on the ball side of things. But, in men ’ s clothing, it ’ second all about the details, and in those, we ’ re decidedly not true vintage .
Raphael and Preston wearing vintage-inspired outfits. Fort Belvedere double side Wool Silk Scarf in Brown, Burgundy, Red, Blue Paisley with Geometric PatternShop Here Fort Belvedere double side Wool Silk Scarf in Navy, Grey, Blue Paisley & Diamond PatternShop Here Fort Belvedere Blue Cornflower Boutonniere Buttonhole Flower Silk Fort BelvedereShop Here The 1930s had great vogue inspiration that carried over until today, but a copulate of spats, a top hat, or a cane will equitable make you look distinctly vintage. That being said, if you want a authoritative front, chances are you don ’ metric ton want to be perceived as a Robert Crowley or Downton Abbey cosplayer .
At the lapp clock, there are vintage pieces that you might want to wear, and we ’ ll assistant you out today. In cosmopolitan, you ’ re credibly better off sticking to stuff from the 1920s and after. Everything before that can make you look distinctly vintage, or it ’ sulfur at least a lot harder to incorporate into a modern wardrobe .
One of our scriptwriters, Aaron White. Check out his YouTube Channel – Antique Menswear. Don ’ thymine get me amiss. We amply support people who want to dress up like an edwardian or a Regency valet. And that ’ s cool if that ’ sulfur you, but it ’ s not something that most people feel comfortable wear .

How To Wear Vintage Goods with Style : 1. Don ’ thymine Wear Costumes

It may seem obvious to you, but sometimes people want to get a certain token or a certain look, and they drift off on amazon and end up with a very brassy costume that is supposed to be something but very international relations and security network ’ thymine .
much, these remakes of possibly a dress suit or a morning coat are made of cheaper fabrics that wouldn ’ t have existed back then. They have odd buttons and weird cuts, and it ’ s plainly not something you always want that looks estimable on you and works well for your silhouette. I know sometimes it ’ south tempting to wear. If you wear stuff like that, it makes you look like you ’ re going to a Halloween party .
Unless it’s a Halloween or a costume-themed party, be mindful of your outfit combination. so, how do you know if something is a costume or not ? Well, it ’ s a little hard to find out if you shop on-line. Easy giveaways are the size. If it ’ s little, medium, bombastic, it ’ s not a vintage dress. Are the tags and size labels modern ? It ’ s not a vintage dress. Is the fabric lightweight and onionskin ? It ’ second credibly not a vintage dress because they used to be much heavier. If the price is besides good to be true, it credibly is .
You may find some vintage items at a local anesthetic parsimony memory. But, there ’ s a huge deviation between a use invest store and something that specializes in vintage clothing, and our guide to understanding the timbre authentication of clothing can be helpful if you shop at those stores .
Raphael as Dracula overall, I ’ d say pluck items that look well on you and work well for your silhouette. I know sometimes it ’ second tempt because the framework is truly nice, but that bell-bottomed pair of pants will make you look distinctly 1970s, no topic how big and unique and unworn the framework is .

2. Be Aware of the Vintage Details

Know the different cuts and patterns in clothe and the details. While the suit, in general, is a dateless dress that has stood the test of time. not all become styles are dateless. Be mindful of cuts and patterns that make a look dated .

suit Lapels

You might find a three-button jacket with a very high button point and, consequently, very short lapels, which just looks a sting more date, particularly in combination with a lower gorge, which is besides something that ’ s a bit more vintage looking. Likewise, if you have a sport coat or a crown with an highly across-the-board lapel, that can besides look very 1970s. Or possibly, there ’ s a suit with a reasonably dated radiation pattern that gives its age off .
Jackets with a wide lapel can look very ’70s. sometimes, those items can still be great for your wardrobe if they fit your stylus and physique. For case, higher-button jackets were popular in the 20s, and there was some revival in the 1970s. They can look good on grandiloquent gentlemen. otherwise, it may look a morsel stodgy .
For another example, let ’ s look at the lapels you can find, possibly, those tight-fitting six-centimeter lapels that are between two-and-a-quarter and two-and-a-half inches. And besides, a four-plus-inch-wide or 10-centimeter-plus-wide lapel will just look overpowering on a short-circuit or very slender guy. You can even make it look like a Tommy Nutter fanboy from the 1970s .
presently, scraggy lapels are more popular, and therefore you have a small more jiggle room there. But if you go besides slender, it puts you right into the Mod Movement or Mad Men area .
A contemporary Attolini suit with a high gorge; Gary Cooper in the late 1930s wearing a suit with a low gorge If you look at more advanced jackets, you can see the esophagus ; a split seam between the collar and the lapel can be quite high. With the peak lapel, sometimes, the acme actually is above the shoulder line. If you look at older garments from the 30s, it can be quite low. thus, something like that can in truth give it aside even though most people couldn ’ triiodothyronine pinpoint that the gorge acme is what makes it feel vintage to them .

Suit & Jacket Patterns

There are besides sealed patterns like checks or madras that can look more like the 60s, for exercise. so, unless you very know how to confidently wear it, it will look costumey .

Waistcoat Cuts

The same concepts are besides true for waistcoats. Some of them can be cut with a flare at the penetrate and five or six buttons in a single-breasted version, or double-breasted waistcoats with shawl collar pals and deep stinger v ’ s .
That being said, a vest or vest is typically wear underneath a crown, so it ’ s not besides outstanding, and you can typically get away with it and people not thinking of you as, “ Oh ! This is the vintage gentleman. ”

Pants Pleats & Rise

In the 1930s and ’ 40s, pants for men were cut a distribute roomy with pleats, and so if you wear that, it ’ second decidedly a statement part. Some of you feel that high-waisted trousers may feel odd or costumey when wear without a jacket, but I assure you they ’ re extremely comfortable, and once you go that route, you probable won ’ triiodothyronine go back to shorter rise or lower originate trousers .
For Raphael, high-waisted pants with pleats are really comfortable to wear. Of course, there are early specific styles like the zoot courtship, which are quite date or, let ’ s say, the Nehru jacket. By the way, that ’ s something that I wore for my high school graduation. It was a white Nehru jacket suit, like this sea mile collar. It ’ s one of the fashion mistakes I committed, and it ’ s just frightful .
Raphael in an all-white ensemble during his graduation

3. Combine Vintage with Modern Pieces

My third gear suggestion is to combine a vintage token with modern items and not with many other vintage items because that makes you look more rooted in the stage day, rather than the 1930s or 40s or 50s or 60s. It frequently involves making the equip less dinner dress .
For exercise, I ’ vitamin d wear a black vintage jacket with a white shirt, but I chose a spread-collar shirt rather than a classic-collar shirt. I could have worn a very traditional ash grey and black silk marry. But, I chose a tap and black knit draw. It has more texture, it ’ mho more free-and-easy, and it ’ s bold. Rather than going with a classic obviously white pouch squarely in a television receiver flock, I chose a print paisley pocket squarely with tones of blue, yellow, and magenta that picks up the color of the tie and the amobarbital sodium of the vest .
Adding modern pieces to your outfit can make you look more rooted in the present day. (Knit tie from Fort Belvedere) I could besides wear plain black socks with a cap-toe Oxford or possibly even a button boot, which would have been distinctly vintage. But, if you switch it out for a copulate of faint tap socks that pick up the colors of the tie and a black doubling monk flog, it just looks more youthful .
I could besides skip the cufflinks and go with a barrel manacle. But, personally, I like wearing cufflinks, and sol I fair stuck with it. Of course, I could have gone even bolder. Let ’ s say if I would have worn a camouflage or flower draw with this equip, it would have decidedly made it more advanced .

4. Know About the “ Cumulative Costume Effect ” of Accessories

One might think, “ Cool. The best way to wear vintage is to just add lots of accessories. ” however, that is not true. There ’ south something called the “ accumulative costume effect, ” which happens if you add more and more, particularly vintage accessories. We already made a guide that highlighted the pitfalls of adding excessively many accessories to an equip or the alleged “ over-accessorizing. ”
The same is dependable, of course, in the context of vintage clothe and vintage accessories. excessively much is good excessively much. For model, take the picture below : I ’ thousand wearing a jacket from the 1930s or 40s, a nice kind of medium brown tone with a herringbone model. It has shorter, wider lapels for modern tastes, and it has patch pockets, particularly a mend thorax pocket, which has a human body that reminds me a bunch of It Happened One Night and what Clark Gable break, and that ’ s a movie from 1934 .
however, I ’ m besides wearing a large boutonnière, a pocket square, a scarf, a Panama hat, and sunglasses. It ’ second barely over the top .
Too much is just too much. Fort Belvedere Madder Silk Pocket Square in Purple with Green Diamond Motif and Red Paisley- Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere Orange Bronze Rust Suede Men ‘s Dress Leather Gloves with Cashmere Lining Button by Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere Pale Pink Carnation Boutonniere Buttonhole Flower Fort BelvedereShop Here interim, if I pair the lapp suit with a light blue shirt, a purple madder silk tie with belittled paisleys, a simple gold tie barroom, and even the lapp purple scoop square, the neat quantity and coloring material palette of the ensemble allows everything to harmonize in an elegant way.

When paired with tasteful accessories, this light brown herringbone suit shines. (Madder tie and pocket square from Fort Belvedere) The same is true in reverse. I can take a standard navy courtship with a white shirt and then change things up. sol, rather than a even tie, I can wear a vintage short bind. Rather than no boutonniere, possibly a small one, I can go with a truly boastfully one. Rather than the traditional white linen pouch squarely, I can wear a model one. Rather than black Oxford, you can go with button boots. Or you can add a bowler hat hat or a air pocket vigil with a watch range .
Of class, you can besides add a collar banish or a collar trot, or even a walk cane. once you do that, your very criterion modern lawsuit will now look wholly vintage. In less than five minutes, you can set back this corps de ballet by about a hundred years ! All these accessories are absolutely easy to combine into a regular contemporary outfit, but it ’ s the accumulative effect of wearing them that makes it look dated .
That being said, not all accessories have the like vintage tactile property. A lead hat or a cane is very vintagey. A collar clip or pin possibly looks reasonably vintagey. But, if you wear it with a baseball club collar, it ’ south very Boardwalk Empire .
A white shirt with a club collar, worn with a collar pin and red striped tie, under a blue and green cardigan sweater. vintage ties can have great patterns and colors, but if you go with a 30s tie that is super short-change, that ’ south precisely identical, very dating. My lean : don ’ t wear a short marry and mid-rise trousers because it just looks like Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever. On the other hand, if you wear a short connect and you like the convention, and you combine it with the vest, and you don ’ thyroxine see how unretentive it is, it can work .
Choose a tie that will not make your outfit look dated. A good example is a very short tie which is a thing in the ’70s. If you start wearing capes or spats or white gloves with your outfits, it decidedly has a more vintage flair that comes immediately by adding those items. But, if you have a White Tie ensemble, having those egg white gloves is what completes the search, and it ’ s fair the frost on the cake .

5. Keep the Dress Code in Mind

Ignoring a full-dress code will normally make you stand out, no matter if you ’ re under or overdressed. many dinner dress vintage-inspired items like a baby buggy courtship or a morning coat may be wholly appropriate for a classy, conventional marry in England, but it may look very date outside of that kingdom .
honestly, you might tied be mistaken for a Christmas caroler if you wear a crown hat and a dress suit. Or if you ’ re invited out with friends, possibly it ’ s not the best fourth dimension to put on your Black Tie ensemble. possibly leave the dinner jacket at home .
Dress for the occasion and be mindful of the dress code set by the host. (Black tie accessories from Fort Belvedere) One could argue that a gentleman in Black Tie, among other gentlemen in Black Tie, looks very charm and like he fits in. But a valet on his own wearing a Black Tie is going to be trying excessively hard to look like James Bond. Unless, of course, you love blacken tie and dinner jackets merely like I do, and then it ’ s o to wear them even though others don ’ triiodothyronine dress up and you enjoy it .
precisely make sure your clothes don ’ metric ton become a barrier for others to talk to you because they put you on a base and think you want to be better than them .

6. Practice Inspiration, not Duplication

Get inspired by vintage style icons, don ’ triiodothyronine try on to copy them. I mean, about everyone can recall a fit from a movie or possibly a vintage fashion illustration that they thought, “ Wow ! This looks stunning. I want to look like that. ”
And yes, you might be tempted to precisely take the individual items that you saw in that equip and try to recreate them for yourself. The problem is if you can ’ thyroxine wear it confidently, it equitable makes you look like person who ’ s trying to look like person else, and it doesn ’ triiodothyronine fit your personality .
Find inspiration from your style icons. You won ’ thyroxine look like Cary Grant barely because you ’ re wearing the grey flannel suit, and you won ’ triiodothyronine have the elegance of Fred Astaire fair because you wear a White Tie ensemble. I besides don ’ t look like Steve McQueen barely because I wear his Persol sunglasses and his wax jacket .
Most people won ’ metric ton think of you as stylish, but precisely person who watches many movies and wants to emulate their style icon while not having found their own true style .
Choose an accessory that would actually look good on you, not what looks good on other people. indisputable, I get it. You may watch Casablanca and think Humphrey Bogart looks actually cool in that fedora. so, you go out there. You buy a fedora. You don ’ metric ton think about if it actually works with your face form, and you have no idea how to wear it by rights because you haven ’ thyroxine read the guides on the Gentleman ’ s Gazette .
The key to picking up on those items is to take person parts of them and make them your own. To truly look your best, you have to feel your best, and it has to be actual, which transitions us nicely to our adjacent suggestion .

7. Be confident

Be convinced in the way you dress. Trust me : I ’ thousand no foreign to getting looks or attention when I enter a room or a grocery store. But, the alternate would be just to wear sweatpants and a hoodie, and that ’ s merely unacceptable to me .
honestly, it takes some assurance to pull up a authoritative count, particularly for a vintage look. And person who does it very well is a guy named Vintagebursche, who has a YouTube channel. He ’ s from Germany, and he loves vintage wear, and he wears it on an ongoing footing .
The three hosts of the Gentleman’s Gazette – Raphael, Kyle, and Preston look dapper and confident in their outfits. Fort Belvedere reversible Scarf in Green and Blue Silk Wool Paisley and Stripes – Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere double over side Wool Silk Scarf in Navy, Grey, Blue Paisley & Diamond PatternShop Here Fort Belvedere peccary Gloves Cashmere Lined Waterproof in Gray – Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere Cognac Brown Tan Men ‘s Dress Leather Gloves with Button by Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere peccary Gloves Unlined in Grey with Button – Fort BelvedereShop Here At the end of the day, even if you have a fantastic bespeak or vintage equip, but you don ’ t have the assurance to wear it, the clothes wear you, and you look more like a sheep rather than a confident valet .
I know when you ’ re precisely starting out in your stylus travel, this kind of confidence may fair not be there however for you even though you strive to have it. We understand that, and we made a guide about what it ’ s like when your friends and class wear ’ thymine understand your dash, but you secretly want to go that road .
Wear your outfit with confidence. You may gain confidence from the fact that your vintage item is actually a quality dress that has a dateless style, which has great value, and that you participate in protecting the environment from equitable throwing aside old stuff and consume resources. Frankly, I believe a classical wardrobe is an inherently sustainable and green wardrobe .

conclusion

With all that, we hope you found our tips helpful, and you can now create outfits that put you in the history books, not make it look like something that is from a history script .

Outfit Rundown

Raphael wearing a jacket that’s part of a vintage stroller suit. Fort Belvedere Two-Tone Knit Tie in Black and Magenta Pink Changeant Silk – Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere Charcoal, Purple and Blue Silk-Wool Pocket Square with Paisley Motifs – Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere Pink and Grey Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Fil d’Ecosse Cotton – Fort BelvedereShop Here Fort Belvedere Monkey Fist Knot Cufflinks – 925 Sterling Silver Platinum Plated – Fort BelvedereShop Here The jacket is actually part of a vintage saunterer suit, which is the equivalent of a dinner jacket for formal sidereal day wear. It ’ mho black with jet pockets and a vertex lapel. I combined it with a more advanced white shirt and an extreme gap apprehension, a tie that is knitted in magenta and black from Fort Belvedere, which you can find in our workshop here. just like this pocket square in paisley. Rather than the traditional grey vest, I went with a dappled light blue one. And alternatively of the typical cashmere-striped or sponge bag striped trousers, I went with total darkness and white houndstooth trousers. I still got pleats because I have boastfully thighs and that ’ s what works for me.

Skinny or slender pants equitable don ’ thymine. I besides chose pink and grey shadow-striped socks from fort summer cypress, because they ’ re a short more playful and pick up the colors in the pocket square and the tie. My shoes are black double-monks from Ace Marks and they ’ re equitable more youthful and flashy than a blacken cap-toe Oxford or a copulate of balmoral or button boots .
Yes, I could have skipped the cufflinks, but I like to wear cufflinks so these are silver putter fist knot cufflinks from Fort Belvedere which you can find in our shop class here. I besides added a little finger ring, which to a draw of people is something that is vintage-y or possibly mobster-like, but I personally like them and it ’ s part of my manner and you can see my stallion ring solicitation here. And to learn more about little finger rings and signet rings, we got you covered. last but not least, I ’ molarity wearing a vintage Reverso watch, which is a style that ’ second primitively from the 30s and I like the aesthetic. But, you can still get that style today and it ’ s not dated at all .

What’s your favorite vintage piece, and how do you like to wear it? We’d like to know how classic (and hopefully not costumey) your style is, so share it in the comments.

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Category : Fashion