The Pro's and Con's of Reproduction Vintage

Dear Readers,

How are we all today? Full of the joys of spring? I am not, I currently have a stinking cold. And while I was shuffling around doing the laundry in my yoga pants and t-shirt (oh so glamorous I know!) I got to thinking about reproduction vintage. Now I have been accused of being a vintage snob in the past  (with regards reproduction vintage) but I really don't believe this term applies to me so I have weighed up the positives and negatives of purchasing reproduction vintage clothing. I'm fussy, yes. Passionate about vintage, certainly! But a snob, never.

Dress from the Seamstress of Bloosbury

Ease of use - do you know how often I do hand washing? About every 6 months so I have a number of clothes which are pretty much never worn and only gazed at adoringly. During those times I have done the hand washing I have pondered quite what a marvellous invention of women's liberation the washing machine actually is. So to be able to gad about, do what I like, be as clumsy as I am want to be, and still be able to lob my frock in the washing machine is a great boon in my eyes. Modern fabrics are very easy to keep and clean.

Preserving the past - as previously mentioned I am clumsy and so very often something will happen to my frock to cause damage or destruction and to do that to a garment which managed to survive 60 or more years before I got my mitts on it is true vandalism. I hate the thought of destroying that history, that past, everything that garment was and meant. Also if I do destroy my dress then it is more easily replaced than true vintage.

Choice and variety - certainly folks back in't day were much smaller than we are now. This is a statistical fact. Therefore I find it difficult to get my ankle into some dresses let alone the rest of me. Having the choice of sizes certainly makes life easier and I feel more inclusive.

Dress from Heyday! vintage clothing

Cost - one thing that has niggled me about reproduction vintage in the past is the price because "how much" is something I find I actually exclaim from time to time. I do like my bargains. So to find that sometimes a reproduction dress costs the same or more than buying true vintage puts me off somewhat. Though I will say that since the companies producing reproduction are often small, local, businesses they have bigger overheads and do not have the advantage of economies of scale.

Quality - all I will say is "Primark finishing" is not going to cut it on a dress I am shelling out £80 for.

Individuality - one of the main reasons I turned to vintage in the first place many moons ago was because I wanted to look different so to wear the exact same outfit that 80% of everyone else at the event also has feels like it's going against that. To some degree as well it feels to me like there is a blurring of the eras and styles and it's almost changing history or skewing people's perceptions and I'm not happy with that. I feel that there is almost a bit of an obligation to get it right, to honour the past and remember things as they were.

Oh blimey I think I'd better stop there as I am in danger of going into a completely different conversation all together! Those are my feelings of reproduction vintage for better and worse. I would never judge anyone for wearing reproduction and I myself wear it often for the reasons I have given above. But I do still love my true vintage!

What are your thoughts? Do you wear reproduction or are you true vintage right down to your knick knocks?

ttfn!