Oh dear. I have been most neglectful of my blog of late. My 'vintage journey' has evolved since the last time I posted here and I feel my blog needs to evolve with it. My writing a post everyday was great but I think a tad optimistic especially given I'm a Mum to two very demanding little boys! I also think my posts were very rambly and unstructured and where I was focussing on writing something, anything, everyday I think the quality of the posts were sub par. I have a tendency to go on and on - 'verbose' is definitely my writing style. So, I really need to write something and then spend more time carefully editing & structuring before posting it.
Something I also struggled with was the lack of feedback and interaction through my blog. I know people were reading it because you have stats to look at but there were no comments etc so it was a little demoralising. It's hard to know if you're actually writing anything that people want to read. I didn't start it entirely with that goal in mind but of course I would be lying if I said I was happy that no one read it at all... what's the point in blogging then?! I think that's why all my attention has been spent on Instagram - it's an instant response. A lot of work goes into an outfit (some days more than others) and it's so much quicker to post it on there and then continue on with your everyday stuff whilst still getting that interaction with like minded gals.
I've 'virtually' met a lot of these like minded ladies and have recently joined a closed group on Facebook called 'Yesterday' Gals.' For the most part the 'vintage' world is a very friendly, body positive, female affirming sort of community. There are of course negatives - we're human after all. Some people are very judgy and there is some snobbery especially in regards to vintage repro versus genuine vintage. There's also some people who are very strongly opinionated about the dos and don'ts. My personal opinion is that this sense of right and wrong is bollocks. I dress this way because I love it and it's great if others appreciate it but if people don't like it or have negative opinions on how or what I've done then that's their problem. Don't make it mine!
And of course, there's the walking around my home town dressed this way... the looks are one thing but it's the comments i.e "what the fuck" being the most recent utterance. Cheers dude, you too. I also experienced a very negative experience with a drunk moron, see below Insta post on it. In spite of these things, or maybe because of them, my confidence is growing. Where once I might have stripped off everything before leaving the house (not naked obvs, haha) I now generally think 'fuck it.' Actually, often now I don't even think that much of it at all. Depends what sort of day I'm having though.
There are also a world of events out there that I didn't know about! The Rockabilly Rave, Twinwood, Rhythm Riot... I want to try them all. There's a 40s weekender coming up at Chatham Dockyards which is actually fairly local to me so I'm thinking that might be the perfect opportunity to pop my vintage event cherry. Just need to find people to go with me and work out what I do with the kids - I actually think it would be a great event to take them to. Just need to convince the husband. I also think my sister would love it. Actually, I would love to dress her up too like when we were kids, haha.
So, in order to reinvigorate this blog I've come up with a few new ground rules:
- I've decided to try writing a post once a week (possibly two depending on what material I have and how much time I actually get). I want to aim for quality over quantity.
- Better quality photos. I am guilty of shooting everything with my iphone. It's ok for instagram but I would like to practice and improve my photography with my much loved but ever so neglected Nikon.
- Get my arse out of the house. I really think it's important to have posts that are more than me being a shut in! It needs to be less diary like and full of more interesting pieces... I'm sure no one wants to read about how I'm having a crap day.
Vintage is for life, not just for Summer.
Originally this blog was about me going for it over the Summer months before my maternity leave was up. But, due to fortuitous circumstances I'm not going back to the world of work as soon as originally planned. In fact, I'm not going back to my corporate job at all so the future is wide open. Scary but exciting.
I've got plenty of ideas for posts so I just need to get on with it now.
Here's to a hopefully new and improved blog. And an exciting new chapter in my life.
Thanks for reading.
