Wardrobe: Revisited.

Elegant Russians on the left, casual Americans on the right.
1998

One of the things that struck me immediately upon my arrival in Russia in 1998 was how nicely the women were dressed — from the high school girls on up to the babushkas, women left the house dressed up.  Or at least, more dressed up than anyone I knew back home.  When it got cold at the end of September, out came the elegant long wool swing coats, the felt berets, the Pavlovo Posad scarves. And heels, always heels—stiletto or stacked pump, it mattered not.  During snowy weather, out came fur-lined sturdy ankle boots.  

Photo credit: Tuppence Ha'Penny blog

I didn’t put it together until recently that the street style of many Russian women (at least at that time) was very reminiscent of the 1940s.  I loved it.  My jeans always seemed a poor relation next to these elegantly dressed women.  I know most of them didn’t own many clothes, but the ones they did own were high quality and had a classic style to them.  Many women, even high school girls, wore skirt suits on a daily basis.  As I’ve thought recently about developing my personal style sense, I keep returning to those mental images.  I like being dressed up, and I think there is a certain amount of civility in public life that accompanies more formal dress that is lacking when everyone is wearing sweats and a t-shirt. 

The Eleanor Dashwood dress, 1997

I've always marched to the beat of my own drummer when it comes to personal style.  When I was in kindergarten, and all the other little girls were coming to school in trousers, I wanted to wear only dresses (and was quite emphatic about it, according to my mother).  I wore knee-high boots and fitted turtleneck sweaters from the 1970s long before it was even remotely fashionable, not because I'm so fashion-forward, but because I'm a bit anachronistic.  When I got a little older, I became enamoured of costumes from different eras, and even went through a brief Eleanor Dashwood phase in high school, where all I really wanted was to look like Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility (and even had a dress to make it work!)  We won't talk about my Braveheart phase.  Let's just say there were war braids involved and leave it at that, k?  And I'm sure there are a few college chums who remember my happy pants (jeans that I cut into flares and added crazy printed fabric in the V of the cut. When jeans were still fashionably tapered and stretch pants were in).

It should come as no surprise that I grew up to be a historian.  One of the things I've always loved about history was the living into of it.  I love to imagine myself in earlier eras and to learn about how people lived.  I've always felt a bit out of step in the post modern era, and it has always seemed to me that I would have fit better in an earlier age.  (When I'm tempted to wax nostalgic about living in, say, the Elizabethan era, I remember that I would have died a thousand times over without the modern miracle that is synthetic epinephrine and am kept basically functional through daily antihistamine use). But I digress.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the battle I have with my closet. What I really want in a wardrobe is the minimum number of items I need to be both fashionable and functional and that look well on my figure (which at the moment is a rather curvy 14-16, depending on the garment maker).  I’ve realized over the years that I struggle mightily with casual clothing—I just don’t do it well.  I end up feeling like I didn’t bother to get dressed, or that it is too fussy or something.  I’m most at home in clothing that is slightly dressed up, and as our society doesn’t dress up for much of anything anymore, it is hard to pull it off and feel good about it.  Especially when today’s dresses typically end several inches above the knee.  Not only is that a singularly unflattering length on almost everyone, it is hard to run around after little ones in a dress or skirt that length.  I get why moms complain that they can’t wear skirts with little children. 

Russian chums from university.  I think they were rehearsing a skit.
But how many 19 year old boys do you know who dress that nice every day?
And how about that classy outfit on Olga? 1998

One of my goals for this year was to really get a sense of my own style and run with it.  My closet is a mishmash of pieces bought here and there that I liked (but mostly didn’t love).  There is no stylistic cohesion—I have a few pieces that I would define as “sporty,” and the rest of it is just basic long sleeve shirts and a-line midi skirts and a few pairs of jeans.  Trouble is, I’m not really a “sporty” kind of girl.  I like dresses and heels, necklaces and earrings.  My hair is long (and my husband likes it that way), curly and generally unmanageable for current trends.  I usually end up tying it up in some unimaginative way just to get it out of my face and grabby little hands.  Shorter styles look terrible on me because my hair is so curly. 

My other goal, once I defined my style, was to refine my wardrobe into a capsule that was both functional and made me feel good about what I was wearing every day.  I wanted to be able to pull something out my closet in the morning without thinking about it too much—I’m finding that my current hodgepodge of clothing and styles require a lot of thought in the morning.  There are many lovely modern styles that I like very much, but almost everything designed post-Mary Quant is meant to be worn on a coat hanger-type frame, and that is definitely not me.  It takes a fair amount of shapewear, clever accessories and layers to make those styles modest, nursing friendly, and figure-flattering.  I’ve tried fitting into current fashion—I want to feel “cool” as much as anyone else—but I just can’t pull it off for the most part.  I’ve allowed other people’s fashion choices to dictate my own, rather than deciding if something fit my style or not.  So I’ve decided to stop trying to fit in and start dressing to fit myself.

My Russian sister, Katya.  1998

I’ve always been drawn to the WWII era fashion-wise.  I think there was an easy elegance to women’s fashion in that time period.  Fashion was frugal, and women had more limited wardrobes.  Sometimes, an excess of choice is not a good thing, especially where cheap fashion is concerned.  I also think it is easy to look at fashion of an earlier era and think it is too fussy or hard to wear every day, or whathaveyou, but in fact, many of today’s fashions have roots in the late 30s and early 40s.  The modern shirtwaist dress, the a-line midi-length skirt, the basic button down blouse, the circle skirt, and the elegant peplum all have roots in that time period.  And it is all what you are used to.  I wear tights almost every day during the winter, and I’m sure to some women, tights are an unbearable encumbrance.  I sort of feel that way about most pants—modern styles hit me at my widest point and as such are not only hugely unflattering, but also constantly falling down, so I walk around all day hitching up my jeans so as to prevent an unseemly display.  (Yoga pants are pretty comfortable, it must be said, but they’re, um, yoga pants.)

So I’ve decided to go retro.  I’m going to embrace the hourglass, release my mental image of a coat hanger as a feminine ideal, and try something new.  I’m taking the rest of this year to transition my wardrobe into something evocative of the late 1930s and early 1940s.  I admit, it will take some mental reconditioning to see myself in a circle skirt and not cringe at my hips, but I’m determined to let go of some of my image issues.  A few caveats.  I know I will not always be consistent—I have a couple of outfits that I just love and feel great in that are more 1970s than 1940s, and I intend to continue wearing them.  I’m also still on the fence about my skinny jeans—I like them, I have two pairs that fit as well as any pair of pants ever fits me, and I’m wondering if I can retrofy them.  So I’ll keep them around for a while.  My plan is to take everything out of my closet that doesn’t fit the era, put it in storage for six to nine months and see if I miss any of it.  My guess is probably not.  Mostly I’m excited to try something out and see how it goes!

My Barefoot in the Park dress, 1996

And since you’re probably dying to know what I’m aiming for as a capsule wardrobe, I’ll tell you!  I came across a few great blogs that gave a lot of great tips for styling the 1940s, including this blog, which listed actual wardrobelists from the late 1940s, as well as the typical day for a 40s housewife (I find it hilarious that she only has to nurse her baby 4 times, at 6 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.  Oh how lovely that would be!) I came across a fantastic blog by a British blogger, Charlotte, who wears full vintage every day.  Seriously, I want this woman's clothes.  Fabulous.  She has lots of great tips for getting started in vintage (either the real thing, reproductions, or just a general vibe of an era), how to pick what looks good on you, and what sorts of things to look for.  She is mostly a 1930s/1940s girl, and I had a ton of fun reading about her adventures in vintage fashion whilst administering late-night nebulizer treatments to two of my children. She is my new style icon. The style links on her sidebar were equally useful and now my Google Reader overfloweth with great ideas, circa 1942.

Moscow, March, 2003

Hats/Coats

3 felt hats

1 straw hat

1 winter hat

Longer black and brown leather gloves

Light jacket

Trench coat

Wool coat

Heavy winter coat

Dresses

3 winter day dresses

3 fall day dresses

3 summer day dresses

1 cocktail dress

Skirts

Pencil skirt

Circle skirt

Pleated plaid

Tea length a-line wool or garbardine skirt

Blouses

Long sleeve button down with turned up collar

Cap sleeve button down

Sweaters

2 long sleeve button down fitted cardigans

4 ¾ sleeve button down fitted cardigans

2 short sleeve button down fitted cardigans (summer weight)

2 pullovers

1 turtleneck

Trousers 

1 high waist wool trouser (ala Kate Hepburn)

1 high waist olive khaki peddle pusher

Shoes

Heeled black Oxfords

Chunky heeled Mary Janes

Black pumps

Brown pumps

Flat brown oxfords

Galoshes

Accessories

1-2 brooches

Pearl necklace (I have a nice faux strand from my grandma with earrings to match)

In the Tien Shan mountains, Krgyzstan.
For the record, my skirt was kirtled to keep it dry.

I fretted for about two seconds about whether my list was going to be practical with small children, but then I remembered two things.  1) Women have been raising children in dresses for most of history without problems, and 2) I climbed a mountain in Krygzystan up to 10,000 feet in a long skirt. (Where we were going up 100 feet in elevation at points).  I also hiked all over Scotland on my honeymoon is a VERY long skirt. It was fine. So I can do this in a dress.  I've been doing it in a dress for some time, but hadn't really committed to a total look.  

Honeymoon in Scotland.
And yes, I hiked more than 20 miles in that skirt.
Super comfortable.

 So, I'm going to give it a good go.  I've got a few wish-list items picked out from various etsy sellers, and now that I have a general sense of what gaps are in my wardrobe, I can be choosy and specific about what I purchase this year.  And hopefully by the end of it, I'll have a manageable wardrobe, rather than just a closet of clothes.