Look to Vintage Family Photos for Style Inspiration
Flip through old family photo albums orbrowse your grandparents’ yearbooks to get ideas for retro hairstyles, makeup, and clothing choices. Notice silhouettes, patterns, accessories, and color combinations that your grandparents and their peers rocked. Then try recreating those looks with your own modern flair. A crinoline skirt or cat-eye glasses can give a nod to the past while still looking current.
Shop Thrift and Vintage Stores
Skip the mall and hit up second-hand stores in your area to find great retro pieces at affordable prices. Look for items like vintage Levi’s jeans, floral day dresses, boxy blazers with shoulder pads, high-waisted jeans or trousers, and leather jackets. Hisotirc neighborhoods and flea markets are other places to uncover retro gold. Be sure to check the jewelry counter for chunky plastic baubles and charm bracelets.
DIY Some Throwback Decor
Give your living space a retro refresh by making some easy decor updates. Display vintage tin lunchboxes or your grandparents’ old cameras and typewriters. Make a memory board with old family photos. Switch out modern art prints for framed vintage advertising posters. Sew a throw pillow or cushion cover out of retro fabric. Paint an accent wall in olive green, mustard yellow, or turquoise.
Host a Themed Party
Capture the feeling of a soda fountain or sockhop with a retro-inspired gathering. On the playlist, include hits from the ’50s through the ’80s. Encourage guests to sport their best poodle skirt, letterman sweater, or platform shoes. Serve classics like milkshakes, banana splits, root beer floats. Decorate with checkered patterns and keep technology limited to a classic jukebox or record player.
Learn Classic Recipes from Your Elders
Ask grandparents or older relatives to teach you how to make tried-and-true recipes that were staples back in their day. Think dishes like chicken pot pie, tuna noodle casserole, egg salad sandwiches, baked mac and cheese, fruit cobbler, or their special fried chicken. Use vintagey ceramic bakeware for serving up these classic comfort foods.
Give Furniture a Retro Refresh
You can easily give modern pieces a retro twist with some DIY upgrades. Replace plain wooden chair legs with tapered metal legs in a retro shape. Adhere plastic laminate with a boomerang or floral pattern to dressers and end tables. Switch out modern hardware for vintage-style ceramic knobs and handles. Reupholster seating in eye-catching vintage fabrics. Distress and paint newer pieces to give them an antiqued look.
Ride Vintage Bikes and Scooters
Look for bikes from iconic retro brands like Schwinn, or try tracking down a vintage moped for putting around town. The classic look and stripped-down functionality of old school cycles is part of their charm. Customize your retro ride by adding a fringed seat cover, bold striped grips, a horn, metal basket, or bells. Don’t forget the helmet – safety first, even with vintage vehicles.
Make Your Makeup Bag Vintage-Inspired
The dramatic eyeliner, lush lashes, and bright lips of the retro era are definitely back in style. Stock your makeup bag with a liquid liner for perfect cateyes. Pump up your lashes with volumizing mascara. Go bold with red, coral, or magenta lipstick. Fill in brows with pencil for a defined retro shape. Add a touch of iridescent powder for a dewy finish.
Channeling grandparents’ retro style is a great way to reconnect with the past while also putting your own fresh stamp on it. By mixing old and new, you can pay homage to previous generations while also showing your own creativity and personality. Vintage style has staying power precisely because it has such timeless appeal.
Frequently Asked Questions About Channeling Retro Style
What are some key fashion pieces for achieving a retro look?
Some wardrobe essentials for embodying vintage style include A-line dresses, pencil skirts, cropped jeans, high-waisted shorts, blazers with shoulder pads, platform shoes, cat-eye glasses, headscarves and silk bandanas, leather jackets, and chunky plastic jewelry.
What type of makeup and hairstyle looks retro?
Classic retro beauty staples include red lips, winged eyeliner, bold brows, victory rolls, beehive upsweeps, finger waves, and bright blue eye shadow.
How can you give your home a retro feel through decor?
Decor touches like vintage advertisements as wall hangings, checkerboard patterns, jukeboxes, rotary phones, enamel kitchenware, and analog clocks can lend a retro vibe to your home.
What foods were popular back in the retro era?
Midcentury classics like deviled eggs, chicken a la king, tuna casserole, ham salad sandwiches, ambrosia salad, tomato aspic, fruit cocktail, and lemon meringue pie graced many retro dinner tables.
What could someone wear to a 1950s-themed party?
Some classic 1950s party attire could include a poodle skirt, letter sweater or cardigan, saddle shoes, cat-eye glasses, a pencil dress, an A-line floral frock, a varsity jacket, or a pair of cuffed jeans.
How can you add retro flair to a modern outfit?
Try pairing a vintage band t-shirt with high-waisted jeans, wearing Chuck Taylors with a flouncy skirt, styling your hair in victory rolls, or topping a dress with a cropped jean or leather jacket. The right accessories like retro sunglasses or jewelry can also lend a vintage vibe.
Conclusion
Looking back to historical styles for inspiration can breathe new life into your look and living space. By infusing touches of grandparent chic through your wardrobe, decor, entertainment, and more, you can put a novel spin on beloved retro trends. Embrace vintage aesthetics from the ’50s through the ’80s in your own way to produce creatively modern looks with a dash of old-school flair. Your grandparents’ generation knew how to rock retro – so channel their timeless sense of style to develop your own fresh take on this always-fashionable aesthetic.
