As Told by La Dauphine

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve most certainly heard of the “cottagecore” trend with its emphasis on swishy, modest dresses, baking bread, and frolicking in seemingly endless meadows. I’m a city girl, thank you very much, but I do find something endearing in bringing that country, cozy aesthetic into my modern vintage-esque lifestyle. But with everything now being some kind of stretchy,…

1950s Starter Pack | How-To Dress

The 1950s is THE most popular decade for vinties and probably the decade even those who are not fashion-minded would associate with “retro” style. Wide, full skirts with nipped in waists and high necklines in whisper-toned pastels are likely what most people thin of right away. But true ’50s womenswear wasn’t exactly what you’d expect. First of all, those skirts were long– far longer than our…

NEW BLOG POST!!! Historical Fashion, Fashion History, and Historical Costuming: What's the Difference?

Since about 2010 or so, it seems there’s been a trend of…well, old stuff. TV shows like Mad Men, Downton Abbey, The Crown, and Netflix’s Hollywood, or films like Hidden Figures, Belle, Emma (2020), and Sylvie’s Love* all have cult-followings and although they rarely break the bank (except, of course, the super hit that is Regency era-inspired Bridgerton on Netflix), after 2010 there has…

(Vintage!) Capsule Wardrobe Plans | 2021

New Year’s resolutions can be a doozy any year but particularly after the flaming hot mess that was 2020, frankly I think we’re all flat-out exhausted. However, sometimes we need a project to kick-start our optimism and I’ve settled on mine. If you’ve read some of my earlier work, then you know how important slow fashion is to me, and that one of the aspects that especially draws me to clothing…

Where Have I Been? Changes at TVG!

We all know 2020 has been…tumultuous, so I won’t spend too much time saying what’s already been said about an utterly unrecognizable year. But since March, if you follow me on social media you have likely noticed some changes in my content. When I started The Vintage Guidebook, I did it to celebrate my love of mid-century fashion and to connect with others who feel the same way. That hasn’t…

Brand Spotlight: Secrets in Lace

About the brand: Secrets in Lace was founded in 1984 in northern Virginia, USA. The brand offers a wide array of stockings and tights, bullet bras, and shapewear, all inspired by mid-century styles.

Claim(s) to fame:Every possible stocking style you can imagine. A variety of colors, styles, textures. Whatever kind of stockings or sheer tights you want, they probably have- and with a garter belt…

Review: Beauty Bakerie “Lip Whip” liquid lipstick

Whether you’re a vintage babe or not, we’ve all found ourselves in a situation where we want the lipstick look without the lipstick smudge. Sounds like Beauty Bakerie heard our cries. And yes, yes- I know these have been out for, like, ever and I’m late to the game buuuuuuuuuut… A lot of you have actually been asking about these and I still hadn’t tried them myself so I figured it would be a fun…

Brand Spotlight: What Katie Did

Oh, lingerie.

The very word inspires images of calculated and sophisticated sexuality. These days, lingerie is almost exclusively associated with the bedroom or adult entertainment, but for women of previous decades, lingerie wasn’t only sensual- it was functional. With fewer items of clothing, pieces had to last, and one way to achieve that was by putting as many layers as you could between…

Complexion products are the unsung champions of the makeup world, if we’re being honest. Their goal is to make you look like you’re wearing nothing at all and when you have the right ones, that’s exactly what they do. They not as glamorous as eyeshadow or highlighter but people will notice if you skip concealer far more than they will notice you skipping a bright lip.

Now, Cover FXis a fairly…

How A Vintage, Less Waste Lifestyle Helps Us All

You know this is a style and beauty blog. I love talking fashion and makeup with you all, chatting about which colors to pair with which, and how to shop quality so you can look timeless and fabulous. But I chose to give this blog a vintage lean for a reason: one of the things I truly admire about previous generations was their commitment to thrift. Today we use up and waste so muchwithout even…

How To: Be a Mindful Shopper (Find Your Core Look!)

Photo courtesy of http://www.pexels.com

Even if vintage fashion isn’t your thing, vintage attitudestowards fashion are something we could all use a little more of. Quality over quantity was the order of the day before the 1950s; women knew how to make the most out of a much more limited (by today’s standards) wardrobe whereas now we have closets that are overflowing yet have “nothing to wear.”…