verbingnouns

Vintage

I'm not typically into vintage clothes. Really, any used clothing at all is unappealing to me. There's something about digging through other people's old junk that gives me the willies. I don't like yard sales or flea markets or thrift stores. Admittedly, this is at least partially rooted in snobbery, but another part of it is based on something not entirely unlike germaphobia. It's ridiculous, I know. Sue me.
In addition to my dislike for used clothing, I am also uncomfortable in costumes. This is especially absurd given my love of all-things-flashy in general, every-day attire. But it's the truth: I feel weird playing dress up. Of course, if I attend a costume party sans costume: well, that's not cool either, and since I can't say no to a party - costume or not - well, I just have to get over it.
But today, I had a breakthrough experience: As I mentioned the other day, I'm going to a 70's party. I was thinking of wearing some 70's-inspired modern clothing, but decided I would look around to see what I could find without having to shell out too much money. Lucky for me, inflation has not hit old-school polyester.
I went down to Historic Antique Alley in lovely, smelly, sweltering West Monroe and Behold! A treasure-trove of vintage clothing that even a second-hand-costume-snob like myself could not pass up. Sweet Nancy! there were some finds in that place! I spent nearly an hour digging through the greatest fashion hits of the 60s, 70s & 80s. There were some items in there that were truly crimes against fashion and I would say crimes against nature, but there was not a natural fiber in the room, so nature probably doesn't give a rip.
Unfortunately, there were no dressing rooms, so I had to try things on over my clothes so some of the truly priceless items were a no-go because I couldn't tell if they were too big or too small. I did find a costume though: for the bargain-basement price of six bucks, I got a super-groovy bright yellow polyester dress. In fact, I bought another 70s costume too, because it was too good to pass up and I figured someone else might be able to use it. But wait! That's not all! I bought a totally hip red coat with faux-fur trim on the sleeves - not for a costume, but for actual cold-weather usage. It's a bit on the roomy side and has some weird vinyl-feeling lining, but it'll be nice to have anyway. Hopefully, my friendly neighborhood dry cleaner can get the used-clothes-funk out of it.
It's too late to make a long story short, but suffice it to say, I may have turned over a new leaf or two. Of course, I still feel like I need to take a shower after digging through all that stuff, but that could just be due to the fact that there was no A/C in the room and polyester doesn't breathe well.
This could be the first time I've been excited about a costume since my circa 1987 Barbie Halloween costume.