I am Somebody’s Mother and I Still Dress ‘Vintage’

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Lately, I’ve been on a big YouTube kick in my spare time. I don’t really have a lot of time to sit and consume media, and YouTube allows me to watch content in small bites in my own time. Recently on one of my binges, I stumbled upon a few vloggers who are into vintage costuming and wear, which if you know me, ticks all of my boxes. In one of these videos I happened to be scrolling in the comments and I read one along the lines of, “they can dress this way because none of them have kids.”

Challenge accepted.

See before I had kids, I too tended towards vintage fashions. After I had my first daughter, however, I became quite lazy with the majority of my day-to-day appearances. Often opting for leggings and a tee-shirt, throwing my hair into a braid, and outside of special occasions, never wearing makeup. Now, I truly believe that people can dress however the heck they want to dress, and if you feel amazing and unstoppable in a wardrobe like that- GET IT, QUEEN!! I tend to struggle with my self-image, and for me, it was more of a way to hide, rather than a way to feel good and confident about myself.

When I read the comment above on YouTube, I was in a place where I already was wanting to make changes, but I was struggling a bit with finding clothes that made me feel good about me. I have always loved vintage fashion and feel amazing in it, but I often felt like it was only something I could wear on special occasions because I had toddlers. Well, I certainly don’t feel that way now.

I gave myself a challenge, using the clothes in my wardrobe to attempt to dress full vintage with hair and makeup, just to see if I could do it. And you know what? I could. Easily. Almost as if, people in the ’40s were somehow able to be parents even through the clothes they were wearing. WEIRD. (Can you read my sarcasm here or is it not strong enough?)

See, the only thing that changed for me was my self-image. I felt more confident and more motivated to go about my day. And in this year of our Lord 2020 that is saying a lot. I didn’t have any trouble cooking for my kids, giving baths, putting them to bed, changing diapers, or any of the normal day to day duties of parenthood, in fact, they were more fun. I wasn’t going through the motions anymore. By spending time on myself and my style I was able to tune in more to the day because I didn’t want the outfit to ‘go to waste’.

Look at me doing all the mom things.

Now that the experiment is over, I think it’s safe to say that, for me, vintage fashion is here to stay. I donated and sold all of the clothing (void of nostalgic value) that didn’t fit my new found aesthetic. I also made myself some new wardrobe pieces as well. As I write this, I am in a vintage circle skirt with a vintage head-wrap and a red lip. If you are hesitant to update your style because you have little kids, I urge you to just go for it. If you don’t feel good about what you are wearing, you don’t have to wear it.