It’s always enjoyable to look back at past fashions. Whether you’re reading a vintage magazine, looking at old images online, or even watching a movie made or set in the past, it’s fun to imagine what it might have been like to wear those styles and fashions. In some cases, especially if the images you’re looking at are from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, you might even have worn the clothes yourself, and you’ll have a particular affection for them. 

The beauty of fashion is that it is cyclical, and at least some elements of past fashion ideas will turn up in modern styles. What are some of these fashion statements, and will you decide to incorporate any in your own wardrobe?   

Hats 

Some types of hats haven’t ever gone out of style; think of the baseball cap or floppy summer hat, for example. Yet in the 1950s and earlier, it was common for both men and women to wear beautiful hats all the time; hats that matched their outfits and were as much a part of everyday wear as shoes or a purse. You might even have been looked down on if you went out showing your bare head. 

Although these kinds of more formal hats did get out of fashion in the 1960s and 70s, they are now making a truly exciting comeback; a hat can change an everyday outfit into something special. You can buy new hats, but to get a better feel for the era they evoke, it’s great to purchase vintage and put your own mark on them using millinery ribbons and trims. 

Head Scarves

If hats aren’t your thing, what about headscarves? Popular in the 40s and 50s, they were used when hats didn’t look right or even around the house to keep hair out of the eyes. They were, in other words, a practical item rather than a fashion statement. 

In the 1960s, however, the fashion world decided that these headscarves should be considered ideal pieces to wear as part of an ensemble, and they began to be worn much more widely – think of any movie star from that period, and you’re like to see images of them wearing a gorgeous headscarf. Once you understand how to tie them up (there are a variety of different ways because they are so versatile), you can wear them all the time. 

Modest Bathing Costumes

There is a strange idea that to wear a bathing suit in public you need to have the perfect ‘beach body’. This is not true; if you want to wear a bathing costume, you should wear a bathing costume, and having a beach body (whatever that is) or otherwise really shouldn’t come into it.  

The problem is that many women are unable to get past this public conception of what they ‘should’ look like, and that makes them nervous and uncomfortable. The fact that more modest bathing costumes have come back into fashion may actually help them then; they can wear a bathing suit that covers their thighs or that rises higher in the neck, for example. If it makes you more comfortable, it’s a great way to utilize fashion for your own needs.