Learning Vintage

Living so close to the Haight is starting to mess with my sense of style.  Some of my more quirky fashion sensibilities that have been suppressed or otherwise dormant since freshman year of college are starting to come squeaking out.  There is a shop down there devoted to socks.  I walk in and longingly think to myself "Why don't I have any knee sock appropriate ensembles?" or "Why am I not wearing Paisley tights RIGHT NOW?" or worst of all "I wonder if I could pull of jeggings."

Further down the road I walk into store and try on vintage 1960's mini-dresses or these floral 1970's numbers that make my boobs look great. "I am rocking this dress" I think to myself.  And then realize it isn't 1978 and my name isn't Jackie Burkhart.

The time today I most seriously considered making a purchase was when these puppies appeared before me in what could probably be my size for a grand total of $13.

It was hard to resist such a flamboyant and cheap pair of shoes.  The only problem is my jeans and t-shirt, Old Navy dominated wardrobe that developed in college doesn't leave much room for clothing as outrageous as this.  I can picture in my mind how to wear these shoes.  Black tights, cut off jean shorts, a baggy gray shirt/sweater and maybe a red hat... maybe.  But I don't own any of those.  So how would I assimilate these into my wardrobe?  Into my current wardrobe (if I was in high school though, like, 17 years old, oh man, I would have bought these in a second).

In the end I determined to walk away, and if I come back in a few days and they are still there, well then hey, they were meant for me and I'll have to figure out a way to make them work.  The other thing holding me back was the massive amount of what I assumed to be leather in the insole.  Is it against my principles to buy leather-using garment from a consignment store?  Probably.  But sometimes I don't want it to be.

It's just when you are buying vintage clothes is it better to buy something flagrantly vintage or something that smacks of the "modern day inspired by vintage".  The other thing is that half these vintage stores are like vintage/consignment, so you have a mix of both in there anyway.  And man,  am I actually too old to be wearing things that aren't designer/old navy/department store clothes, anyway?

I wonder if I was famous and/or had a lot of money if I would throw myself into actually being fashionable or if I would continue to have this half-assed, mix and match, not quite committed to looking good, and seriously I don't own any jeans that fit, style that I've been struggling with for most of my life.