New Flashback Summer Emails!

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I've been pondering this addition to my blog for a long time, and I've decided to take the leap and do it!  Flashback Summer will now have an email newsletter you can subscribe to for more vintage inspiration!

And rest assured, the emails will be full of inspiration.  I'll be sending one out every 2 weeks as I start out, and it will be content exclusively sent to subscribers.  It won't be a repeat of a blog post or anything you've seen before on Flashback Summer, and you can only get it via email subscription!

Here are some of the things that will be included in the emails:
- DIYs and tutorials
- vintage magazine snippets
- stories
- outtakes and behind the scenes info

To subscribe, just put your email address in the form on the top right of the page, and you'll be receiving emails from me soon!


P.S. Random Fact: The lady in the photo above is Jeanette Lee, the first female letter carrier in Chicago!

Subtle Winterizing and a Sewn-Up 40s Blouse Pattern

As the weather somewhat cools off (silly Missouri, it goes back and forth so much), I've begun the process of "winterizing" my wardrobe.  I haven't gotten to the point of pulling out my winter clothes quite yet (still not cool enough), but I'm beginning to tone down my look a bit for the season.

I'm turning to separates that I can put on or shed depending on how the weather goes, darker colors, sweaters, and foregoing the bright red lipsticks for more muted or berry tones.  I put this outfit together using a fabulous cashmere sweater I picked up at a flea market and paired it with another vintage skirt and a button-down blouse I just finished!  (Details are below!)

After trying out a different shirt pattern and finding it's not exactly what I wanted, I got this one.  I adore the pattern, Simplicity 4762.  I sized down in the bust, and I didn't change a thing.  It's perfection!  It has a perfect 40s silhouette ('cuz the pattern is from the 40s...), it's simple to make up, and the options for styling and customizing are endless.  You'll be seeing my many versions of this pattern coming up on the blog, because boy do I have plans!

seller photo, from Fancywork

Are you doing any "winterizing" yet?  What are the changes you make to your wardrobe for the changing season?

Here is a summary of the pattern details and things I changed:

Fabric: 100% cotton

Pattern: Simplicity 4762

Year: early 1940s

Notions: 4 buttons

How historically accurate is it? Very accurate!  Cotton is good to go for the 40s and the buttons, although newer plastic, fit the style of the 40s as well.

Any tricky parts to the pattern?  The area around the neck is strange.  In some places it has four layers of fabric (The front facings, two collar pieces, and back facing), so it's a bit bulky.  The instructions were not very clear on how to layer them properly, so if you haven't done collars before I'd double check your process with some more experienced as you go.

Did you change anything?  Nope, I did not, but I think I'll skip the back collar facing next time and just hand sew the underside to the blouse.  Less bulk.

Time to complete: 2 days

First worn: October 5, 2014

Total cost: Geez, I never properly keep track of this stuff.  I think about $9 for fabric, about $10 for the pattern, and the buttons were given to me.

Notes: As always, size down on the bust size for this 1940s pattern, and have fun with it!  It's so easy to customize!

Controversial Post: Cultural Appropriation

About a week ago I ran across a post on the preference of "whiteness" in the fashion industry and even in the vintage community.  (The post is by Jenny of She Loves Dresses and you can find it here.)  In so many ways, I truly agree with Jenny and I'm irked by the pseudo-diversity measures taken by the fashion industry, like including a racially ambiguous model in a sea of white models in a show, or dedicating a special issue of a magazine solely to black women while largely excluding them from normal issues.

However, Jenny also talked about "cultural appropriation," which by the context of her post and comments she seems to mean the taking of tangible pieces of a culture not your own and using them for your own work.  (It has a negative connotation, but it actually isn't always negative.)  This can range from a designer using traditional textiles in a new garment to someone finding a "pretty" religious artifact and putting it on a white girl in a fashion show as an accessory (to use examples from Jenny's post).

Note: "Cultural appropriation" is a hot buzz word right now, but the actual definition from the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities is, "Cultural appropriation means adopting a cultural product in terms of local meanings and practices. In its broadest sense the term means taking an existing cultural form from one social group and replaying it in another with different meanings or practices: perhaps taking the tune and playing it in a different key or at a different tempo so that it becomes something different, yet still the same."  It can sometimes have the idea of "contextualization" as well.  Keep this in mind when determining what is actually appropriation and what is not!

1920s Assiout Tunic, a Egyptian craft of metal-on-mesh, popular in the 1920s in the West

I commented about how I like to incorporate other culture's styles into my own looks and create a vintage-cultural fusion.  (Like my vintage-Maldives dress, bergundy Bedouin outfit, and vintage-Comoros dress.)  Jenny replied and included this in her response:

I believe it is very very important to remain respectful of other cultures by not donning any religious or culturally specific styles unless you are part of those cultures yourself.  

I lived in Japan for two years but am ethnically Chinese and Filipino. I never felt comfortable wearing a kimono unless invited by a Japanese family, and I don’t use the term “kawaii” in my speech as I have many Japanese friends who have expressed that kawaii culture has many layers that only Japanese people can understand.

While I agree to a point, I don't know that I would draw such a hard line.  Traditional clothing can be a very special thing, but seeing people of other races or cultures wearing it doesn't necessarily have to indicate an insult.  While living in Sudan, I wore long sleeves, long skirts, tied up my hair, and wore head scarves out of respect for the Muslim-majority culture around me.  I wore the abaya and, only on very special occasions, the tobe (traditional Sudanese clothing for women, especially married women).  It wasn't my attempt to "steal" someone's traditional clothing or to communicate that I knew everything about their culture.  I wanted to express to the Northern Sudanese people around me that I respect their modesty standards and that I am a virtuous woman worth respecting back.  I expressed myself through the lens of their culture.  It often surprised Sudanese people to see such a modestly dressed white person (that's not how white women dress in movies!) and they appreciated the message I was sending about my morals.  The women around me were delighted when I asked to wear a tobe for an event.  A woman offered to lend me one and even taught me how to wrap it properly.  It was honoring to these Northern Sudanese for me to wear their clothing and be sensitive to their cultural norms.  So, basically, what I'm saying is that I wouldn't assume it is wrong to wear traditional clothing, and I wouldn't assume it is right.  I would read the culture because it's different everywhere.

I do agree with Jenny on the idea that one needs to be especially careful about borrowing religious and ceremonial symbols, but other pieces like silhouettes, fabrics, patterns, etc. seem to me to be appropriate places to find inspiration in other cultures.  (Assuming it's done in a way that does not "caricaturize" another race or culture.)  Almost no one is completely original in their styles, and we borrow and recycle clothing across cultures constantly, much like how Babani borrowed from Middle Eastern traditional looks in the 1910s, or how Ghanaians have put their own twist on the Western three piece suit, the influence of sombreros on cowboy hats, the American adoption of the dirndl skirt from Germany, "Egyptomania" in the 1920s, the prevalent use of the trench coat style in present-day Islamic dress, or the kente fabric ties and cumberbunds for men to create a look that is a fusion of Western and African.

Not to mention, sometimes other cultures do a type of clothing SO WELL that I sincerely love it as much as my own culture's clothing (if not more).  For example, I adore women's pants from India, the one-size-fits-most drawstring kind I bought every time I was in Kenya.  I wear these ALL THE TIME (as many of you see on Instagram), sometimes with the coordinating Indian blouse (called salwar kamees in some places), sometimes not.  They're amazing.  I've also adored the qipao and kimono since I was a little girl, and I would love the opportunity to wear an authentic one someday if it was ever appropriate.

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To me, the key to good "cultural appropriation" is sensitivity and motive, but what are your thoughts on cultural appropriation or the wearing of another culture's clothes?  It has been done often in the vintage world (think 1960s cheongsam looks like the ones above or Poiret's harem pants).  Do you think it is a form of inspiration, or should it be avoided at all costs?  What would be "appropriate appropriation" in your eyes?

Remember to keep in mind that cultural appropriation isn't West vs. the Rest of the World.  The West includes a myriad of diverse, distinct cultures as well.

As always, keep things respectful and avoid derogatory statements and personal attacks. This is a conversation to hear lots of different views in order to learn from each other!

My Not-a-Magazine-Shoot Living Room

If you were ever curious about how I decorate, this post will give you a taste!  Unlike a lot of other vintage wearers, I don't really like some aspects of retro decor, so my house doesn't scream as vintage as you might think it would, though it definitely includes vintage elements!

By vintage elements, I mean that I include lots of homemade touches, and I like to think that my house is much like a 1930s dust bowl home: small, cozy, lots of handmade things, and oftentimes having a thin layer of dust.  (I'm still getting the hang of a full time job AND keeping up a house!)  Also, we just got out of college, so we don't have all the funds in the world to work with or a history of picking all the exact pieces we want.  Right now a lot of the pieces are in the "make do" category, but that's a part of life!

The 1920s Hoosier Cabinet we revamped

Our living room isn't blatantly retro, but it's so very me and Jacob.  We both love the overstuffed couches of our 90s childhoods and the Lovesac beanbag (stop giggling! It is the BRAND NAME!) that Jacob splurged on in college.  All the knicknacks have memories attached, like the Sudan posters to remind me of my time living there, or the WWII Army Air Force hat Jacob wore in our engagement video next to the modern one he wore for our wedding.  The Rosie the Riveter post is, well, just plain awesome along with reminding me of the lovely ladies I lived with in college.  (Rosie was our floor mascot.)

The color scheme throughout the house is just like this blog: red, navy, yellow, and sea foam!  (The green couch... is because it was a comfy, cheap couch.  Color wasn't high on the priority list.)  This color scheme incorporates the things Jacob likes (the Dallas Cowboys and the Air Force) and things I like (Rosie the Riveter, my Sudan posters, and... well, I just love sea foam).

That flea-market-found couch is where I do a lot of my post writing, Frasier-watching, and knitting.  My house may not be the best example of Midcentury decor or Art Deco details... but I love it!

Wearing Deer Hunters

You know those clothing items that, once you see them, seem to haunt your thoughts and endlessly reappear just when you had tried to forget them?  This dress did that to me.

I spotted it on Etsy and tried to keep myself from getting hooked until I checked the size... which was perfect, dang it.  I love the Middle East themed novelty print.  (Actually, it might be set in India... but since it's kind of ambiguous... I say it's Middle Eastern.  I see what I want to see in novelty prints sometimes.)  

The dress has fantastic details like little slits in the sleeves, a dropped waist, and a lace-trimmed neckline.  I love the way they oriented the print horizontally on the bodice and vertically on the skirt.  IT'S JUST TOO GOOD.

The price put me off of an immediate purchase.  While it was an okay price considering it's a novelty print, bright color, great condition, etc. it was just too much for me to think of dropping all at once.

But the dress would not leave me alone.

Finally, after letting it sit for a month, I decided it just had to happen.  It fits with what I want to collect, it's about my size, and I apparently love it past an "impulse buy" sort of love.  I put the dress on layaway and sold things on Facebook (thank you to those of you who bought items!) steadily until I reached the purchase price!  It was MIIIIIINE!

Due to some shipping confusion on my part, I had a moment of panic in thinking it was lost in the mail (sheer agony, I assure you), and then was elated to find it and pick it up after discovering its whereabouts!  It fits almost perfectly (nothing a belt can't hide!), and I adore the rayon crepe fabric and how it drapes.

I styled it simply for this shoot because the dress is so busy.  Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw my "test run" for the dress one evening where I wore it with jewelry, and it just seemed like too much going on to me.  Thus, I left it plain for its first "real" debut.

I was going to take better pictures before work, but it was pouring rain, thus the porch shoot.  Sorry guys, just not going to endanger my new dress for some better photos at this time.

Outfit Details

dress: Geronimo Vintage Etsy shop

shoes: Payless Kids

belt: came with another dress, I believe...

lipstick: Estee Lauder "Rubellite"

What do you think?  Have you ever had a piece be adopted into your wardrobe because it just refused to be forgotten?  How did you make it possible to get it?

Sponsor Flashback Summer in October!

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There are several ad packages available, starting as low as $5/month.  Don't miss out on this opportunity to let more people know about what you have to offer!