do you sometimes feel like a freak?

[HadleyH]

Marc Chevalier that was nice!!! Thanks for posting.


...and the again, at the end of the day...we are all the same, same beginnig same end. Kind of funny, isn't it?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks! I always did like Mama Cass. A person that was full of life, with an irrepressible voice.

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[Maj.Nick Danger]

Different is cool,...different is creative,...different means one can think for one's self.

But I wonder, if we were all around in say 1935,...would we rebel against the norm and be wearing giant sized pants and T-shirts that were 10 times too big? With our backwards baseball hats? lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

We would have been wearing zoot suits or something.


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[Maj.Nick Danger]

I'm sure I would have been involved in many a zoot suit riot.

 

[Fletch]

Different is cool,...different is creative,...different means one can think for one's self.

But I wonder, if we were all around in say 1935,...would we rebel against the norm and be wearing giant sized pants and T-shirts that were 10 times too big? With our backwards baseball hats? lol

Not me, brother - in 1935 I'd've dressed like this and been thankful I could.

 

[Diamondback]

But I wonder, if we were all around in say 1935,...would we rebel against the norm and be wearing giant sized pants and T-shirts that were 10 times too big? With our backwards baseball hats? lol

Not me, if I were deported to '35 I'd be trying to cultivate an 'in' with my prototype, so that I could learn from the "proof-of-concept model" firsthand...

And then trying to make myself so useful as to earn a ticket on one of those B-17s out of the Philippines, the whole time doing advance planning to help facilitate The Big Return...

 

[Benny Holiday]

We would have been wearing zoot suits or something. .

Some of us still do!

A few years back, I was working in an office and one of the women there asked me if I ever went to any clubs that 'normal' people go to. I replied, "What, you mean I'm not normal, like I've got three arms growing out of my back or antennae popping out of my head or something?" As she stammered to cover her slip I went on, "Oh, you mean one of those thump-thump music joints where all you squares go? Nah, I don't dig that mess." She sat down and shut up. Good move on her part.

It was a timely reminder of how the squares really do view us. They really do think they're superior to the Rockabillies, hepcats, vintage dressers and Swing fans, or anyone that doesn't fit into their media-driven image of what is 'fashionable' for that three-week period of time. I've noticed over the years that they're pretty vocal about telling you how superior they feel, too. At least until they get an earful from me, anyway.

 

[herringbonekid]

... It says alot about them. As far as I'm concerned, when someone does that to me (oddly enough, no one has...) that it is because they don't like a part of themselves and belittle others to make themselves feel better (rather than face their own inner hurt, or whatever it may be.)

don't worry, that's almost exactly as i see these people too. safety in numbers. you must also remember that what passes as current fashion is a kind of public consensus that says "we all agree that we look good in these clothes". if you go against the grain some people take it as a personal affront, as if you're effectively saying "your clothes aren't good enough for me" which i would never say to anyone in real life, but people might still read that message in the clothes of the fashion dissident. therefore you will encounter hostility.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I never feel like a freak. I know I'm cooler than people who intentionally try to make me feel out of place. It makes me do it even more lol

I'm a rebel like that! I've always done that even in my teenage punk days. Like Miss LizzieMaine said -- I don't *want* to be like them!

They're BORING!

 

[lindylady]

Sometimes people's comments or strange glances can make me more aware of my choice of fashion, but I like my style and am glad to have found something that works for me. I have learned to ignore the more outspoken folks. What are they saying to me, essentially, that has some value or meaning? Not much, if they're choosing to be shallow. I also believe that many of them are just secretly envious that some of us have managed to find our unique style and go against the trends.

 

[Bebop]

Sometimes people's comments or strange glances can make me more aware of my choice of fashion, but I like my style and am glad to have found something that works for me. I have learned to ignore the more outspoken folks. What are they saying to me, essentially, that has some value or meaning? Not much, if they're choosing to be shallow. I also believe that many of them are just secretly envious that some of us have managed to find our unique style and go against the trends.

It seems to me everyone wants to "do their own thing" or "express themselves" by getting the tattoos or hairstyle or pierced body part that everyone else has. It's getting to the point where not having any of these things that used to mean you were different is what makes you different. I never understand the groups of people that want to dress alike and get together to talk about how different they are. [huh] Like the bikers. Or the people with tattoos that cover their arms to the point of being indestinguishable from anyone elses full body tattoos and insist that they have them to express themselves. I feel like a freak and then embrace that feeling. I know that a lot of guys look at me and wish they could pull off wearing a hat as comfortably as I wear it.

 

[Diamondback]

Wanna really mess with 'em? I've always been rather peculiar and taken flak for it, so I cultivated a response of locking eyeballs (well, my tinted lenses, their eyeballs) and in a very creepy, mechanical monotone voice telling them "Your opinion is irrelevant."

Few things annoy people like being told they don't matter...lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I never understand the groups of people that want to dress alike and get together to talk about how different they are. [huh] Like the bikers.

Or the "Open Road Guild"? Or the "Stratoliner Society"?


We, too, are guilty as charged.

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[Miss Neecerie]

Or the "Open Road Society"?

We, too, are guilty as charged.

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I think its a human thing....to want to fit in with a group...yet be differentiated from others.

 

[skwerl-hat]

i live in a pretty rural place and the county fair happens to be taking place this weekend thus the influx of cowboys. Well yesterday one of them actually pointed and made a face like this
perhaps in their eyes i am a freak, but thats okay to

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

What really makes a person different? It's not their clothes, I'll tell you that.
Be yourself. If you can't except who you are, you might as well be a stranger. Feel like a freak? Then be one. Be the best damn freak you can be. It's called being an individual. You aren't any better or worse by doing just that. Appearance has nothing to do with being yourself. Who you are can't be explained that way.

I've learned so many things since elemetary school. I've gone through a lot of phases to get where I am. I was the skater, I was the punk, I was the sports jock (not really), I was the goth, I was a lot of things. I had spikely hair, I had a pony tail, I had the long dirty hair, the really short crew cut, backwards cap, t shirt, Dickies, Chuck Taylors. I can go on and on. Did it make me any different? Of course not. I still laughed, I still cried, I still had emotions. Does making a mean face make you strong? No. To really be strong you must first be independent.

I could walk into an FL event with a t shirt and jeans while everyone else is in a suit and hat. It doesn't change who I am. I'd get the same looks as I do when I'm the one in a suit and hat while everyone around me are in t shirts and jeans.

This goes the same for those of us who wear suits and dresses. If you are to put on a suit and hat or a dress and high heels to fit into this website, you are not being yourself. Do it proudly because you want to, not because you think you need to. BE YOURSELF. Be who you want to be, not what you need to be.

Miss Naama and whoever else feels like a freak, I hope you do the same.

 

[PADDY]

A little slice of "I'm in Heaven" in Oz...

Since I don't dress "vintage" but rather contemporary, the world doesn't know... but if they could read my mind and spend some hours in my home, then.... they would totally freak out!! because for me it's ONLY 1930s music(and late 20s) that's all I hear all the time...ALL the time..... and movies the same (20s and 30s) ____________- So yes, vintage through and through but it's a secret , nobody knows.

Sounds like a little time capsule of a vintage oasis in the Land of Oz I'll bring the wine and canapes!

I think many of us here don't neccessarily dress 'vintage' all the time, but use modern clothes that may have a vintage influence.

I'm wearing double breasted suits quite a bit right now. Not 30's and 40's originals, but by today's standards the DB suit does stand out. Pocket hankies too stand out as do some of the lovely 40's screen printed ties!

Just today I was visiting a hospital that specialises in mental health conditions and a couple of the girls there quipped that: "You look like a trendy young psychologist!!" (that was dressed in my dark DB suit, 40's tie, hankie).

So, must have hit the mark with my vintage 'inspired' look.

But when I'm out on the hills walking, or playing tennis, or mucking about in the garden, I'm in modern functional clobber!

 

[Adelaidey]

Oddly enough, its far easier for me to be my "vintage self" out and about, amidst strangers, than it is here on campus-- if I seem different walking around in my dresses and hair rolls downtown, then I really stick out like a sore thumb and attract attention on a college campus, where everyone leans toward casual or the trend of the day.

 

[Steve]

If I walk around with a vintage or classic look, I never feel like a freak for long, because within the first five minutes of being out, a gaggle of boxer shorts-clad loafers in their thong sandles and Family Guy t-shirts walks by and reminds me that I stand for class, and not mediocrity.