Everything I Know About Thrifting V: Incorporating Vintage into your Wardrobe

I thought I would finish this series by talking about how to incorporate vintage clothing into your wardrobe. I know a lot of you are complete experts at this, and I'll be preaching to the choir for the most part; also, we all have our own individual senses of style, and no one style guide is going to work for everybody. I do know, however, that a few of you are just getting started with your vintage wardrobes, and have asked me for tips on working it into a day-to-day wardrobe. So this one is for you!

Blend it with modern pieces

It all depends on your individual sense of style, of course, but I think that a lot of us like to have a mixture of modern and vintage pieces in our wardrobe. For inspiration in blending the two, I look to my fellow bloggers. There are so many fantastic women out there who provide me with a huge amount of inspiration that it is hard to choose just a few - but here are three of my very favourites!

Anita always looks fresh and very contemporary while wearing thrifted vintage and vintage-inspired pieces. I love the shapes and silhouettes she plays with.

Mary Catherine has a quirky and gamine vintage-inspired style - again, using both thrifted and modern pieces.

Idee Geniale puts together practical, pretty vintage-inspired outfits that I love. I particularly like her casual looks.

The style blogging world is the best source of inspiration for blending your modern and vintage garments, I think - and it's great fun to explore!

Go mad with accessories

If you're just starting to incorporate vintage into your everyday looks, accessories are a great way to begin. Vintage scarves, belts, hats, bags and jewellery are pretty easy to find on your thrifting expeditions, and won't break the bank.

Experiment with trends

Most fashions have been around before, and so it isn't too difficult to find an of-the-moment garment in a thrift store after a bit of searching. And thrifting is the best way to try out new shapes and styles, because it's so cheap! If it turns out that you look like an angry chipmunk in harem pants or an over-stuffed sausage in skinny jeans, no real harm done. And you will be surprised at how many trends work on your body when you find the right way to wear them. I was not a big fan of blazers until I found my vintage little-boy's blazer in a thrift store, and now I wear it all the time!

Be creative

No one is going to jump out from behind a bush and whack you with a rubber mallet if you use a vintage item for something other than its intended purpose. There are thousands upon thousands of clever ideas out there in the blogosphere.

• Stacked vintage luggage can make a beautiful coffee table.
• Pin a brooch to a headband to make a pretty accessory. Or wear a cluster of brooches! I love doing that. A length of velvet with brooches pinned all along it would make a lovely belt or headband. In conclusion, I love brooches. And the more I type the word 'brooch', the less it looks like a real word.
• Attach huge clip-on earrings to your shoes.
• Vintage bed-jackets and nightgowns are usually intricately crafted and pretty. A bed-jacket can work as a pretty cardigan or cape over an outfit, and a nightgown can make a beautiful dress when belted. I have been lusting after a 1930s embroidered green silk night-dress for ages (it's in my favourite vintage store), because I think it would make a stunning full-length evening dress when paired with a gold belt and heels.
• Men's bow-ties can look lovely over a collared blouse, or used as hair accessories or brooches (there's that word again).

The possibilities really are endless.

Don't be scared of wearing it!

Starting to wear vintage can be a little intimidating. You're scared of ripping it; spilling things on it; getting it dirty. You're also worried about being too conspicuous (or, at least, I was, when I bought my first full-skirted fifties dress many moons ago and had little confidence in my style!). I think, though, that vintage dresses want to be worn. They want to be out in the world, loved and appreciated and used. You can always mend or clean them. Having said that, though, it may not be a good idea to wear a 1950s dress to walk the dogs in a muddy park; you could, however, pop on a gorgeous vintage hat and scarf!

Create 'special occasions'

I think we all have dresses that we're saving for a special occasion. Most of us don't go to red-carpet events every night, and those lovely evening dresses can go un-worn. Poor dresses! They probably feel a bit sad, seeing their more casual day-dress cousins going on exciting outings while they languish in the mothball melancholy of the closet. Take them out to dinner! You may, like me, live in a very casual culture - I have come to terms with the fact that, where I live, I am always going to be the most dressed-up person at restaurants and the theatre - but dressing up for occasions like that adds to the atmosphere for everyone, I think, and certainly adds to your enjoyment of the event. Most of the stares you get will be admiring ones, I'm sure!

If you feel self-conscious about wearing one of your glamorous dresses out straight away, work up to it gradually by holding a formal dinner party at home. Or inviting friends round for a pizza night with a black-tie dress code. Why not?

Please add your suggestions in the comments, as always - the comments section of these posts is always a fantastic source of tips!

P.S. This is the end of the thrifting series, pretty much, although I'm also going to publish a guide to op-shopping in Christchurch. If there is anything else you would like to see covered, however, or you have a question, please leave it in the comments and I'll address it in a future post!

P.P.S. I have to apologise for my lack of photos from the blogger meet-up last night - when I looked at them today I saw that they were all hideously out of focus and bad. Rather than inviting law-suits by posting them, I'll wait for the bloggers to post about it, and then link to them! Thanks to everyone who came - it was great fun.