vintage without vintage

I love the style of the 1950's. It was elegant, modest and playful, but mostly: feminine. What I also like is that women of all sizes were considered beautiful. Audrey Hepburn was very skinny, Marilyn Monroe very curvy, and both were (and still are) seen as incredibly beautiful women.

from ohsophialoren.tumblr.com

from theniftyfifties.tumblr.com

I don't own a lot of vintage clothing (on the top of my head I can only think of one dress), but I do want to imitate the style. And luckily modern clothes can be used for that. It might be because Mad Men is so popular, but a lot of stores have clothing suitable for the vintage-look. The key elements are:
- skirts that sit at the natural waist, and hit below the knees
- heels
- tight-fitting bodices
- gloves and hats
- wavy hair, mostly short or in an updo

So, here's my try (though of course still with my own twist):

 

 

 Turtleneck: Promiss/ Skirt: H&M (with a small handmade petticoat underneath)/ Tights: V&D/ Shoes: Graceland/ Earrings: present from my mother, from Estonia/ Necklace: small shop in Singapore (though you can get them at Six and other jewelry stores as well, nowadays)

What I like about this outfit is that nearly everything was bought second-hand or in sales, or handmade. So, budget-vintage :D
A thing I'm a bit insecure about, is that skirts at the natural waist always sit very high on me, almost as if it were empire-waisted, which is of course a bit weird for a skirt. I have a short upper body and an ample bosom, so I'm often afraid that the skirt begins where my bust ends. Ah well, there's nothing I can do about it anyways.