Vintage Wardrobe Essentials: The Summer Skirt

 There’s a challenge inherent to dressing vintage: How to enjoy the quality and design of times gone without looking like you’re headed to a costume party. Yes, you want to flaunt your passion for the past yet must move seamlessly and stylishly through your present day (and night). Easily done, via separates—mixing contemporary pieces with those from other eras. That’s why vintage skirts are absolute wardrobe musts, especially now.

Dita does it right!

 Whatever your decade, fabric and cut of choice, your vintage skirts will pair beautifully with modern tops. Then, accessorize at will and whim—old school purse with brand new shoes, perhaps; a generational melange of jewelry. The result will be uniquely you—classic, quirky, sexy, preppy, etc.—and never anachronistic.

Vintage skirts are even more valuable in summer, when you want to look and feel cool and breezy. The craftsmanship of cotton skirts from way back when is bound to surpass that of what you’ll find at the moment in your local mall. These pieces have survived for a reason; they were well made, no doubt right here in the USA (to be sure, look for the Union Label; go here for a terrific article on the ILGWU: http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/ilgwu/)

Bold graphics, Sixties style! $40, http://www.ebay.com/itm/131221356549?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Rickrack rockabilly, $25: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131222118219?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 Versatility is yours, and your looks are limited only by your imagination. 
 

• Team a full or A-line Fifties’ skirt with a fitted tee (perfect for running errands with flair).

 

• Put a tailored button-down over a slim Sixties pencil skirt (ideal for the office, with flats or heels). Neutral shades are classic, or do it your way with a jolt of color or pop of pattern. A wide belt shows off your curves to perfection, while a kerchief conceals a bad hair day.

  

  Khan-do!

  
  

• For easy evening glamour, try a skin-baring camisole with a long, flowing haute hippie number. 

• Indulge your imagination! Sport a thigh-high vintage tennis skirt or golf skort to a club, concert, gallery—anywhere but the country club.  

Talk about fashion fore-ward! Textured pink and white skort, $32, is not for the golf course only: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131229164426?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Enjoy the celebrity inspiration here to see how vintage skirts  — plus items you already own — add up to style that suits real life, right now, with your unparalleled individual charm. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131221370284?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 Adorable and reversible, this Sixties era patchwork wrap, above, $30, is two skirts in one, while the purple prairie skirt, below, $35, has romance and ruffles in pure, breezy cotton.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131222106277?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Have a look at my Pinterest page for more summer skirt ideas: http://www.pinterest.com/ninamalkin9/stylish-vintage-skirts-for-summer/