Woman, 25, who's obsessed with WWII reveals she's stopped wearing modern clothes

[Dial H For Hero]

and admits she's spent more than $10,000 on her 1940s wardrobe from thrift stores

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10667303/Real-estate-agent-25-lives-1940s-time-warp-admits-people-think-retro-life-bizarre.html



A real estate agent has revealed how she's amassed a $10,000 vintage clothes collection - because she's obsessed with living like she's in the 1940s.

Gwendolyn Erin Patterson, 25, from Dallas, Texas, says she's so fixated with wearing wartime fashion that she now refuses to leave her house unless she's sporting glamorous attire from the Second World War era.

The 25-year-old even wed her beau, Sam, also a huge 1940s fan, in a Second World War-style wedding two years ago - but admits that sometimes people assume she's wearing fancy dress.

The vintage fashion fan admits that her unique style has garnered some strange looks on occasion but says that her glamourous head-to-toe wartime look also gets lots of compliments.

(Excerpt)

There are certainly worse hobbies!

[Efilroft Sul]

1. Va-voom!

[peppertree]

2. Reminds me of the man who was emotionally stuck in 1941 - and wouldnt have anything newer in his apt

Besides all the period attire, furniture, decor and appliances, he would go so far as to repackage his groceries in c. 1940 boxes, tins and containers.

The power of nostalgia.

[Hoyt]

3. They've got the look down.

[Piasladic]

13. but not the rest...

Does she own property in her own name? Did she get a credit card on her own? Can she keep a job if pregnant? God help her if she has an unwanted pregnancy. It's like these cosplay creatures have no idea what they idealize.

[Hoyt]

16. You do have a point. Not to mention we had segregated troops fighting the Nazis.

[Dial H For Hero]

22. I suspect she's well aware of the socioeconomic status of women in the 1940's.

[Piasladic]

23. I get history buffs and role play

but she seems to glorify the fashion while overlooking the oppression.

From the first few lines of the article:

"A real estate agent has revealed how she's amassed a $10,000 vintage clothes collection - because she's obsessed with living like she's in the 1940s.

Gwendolyn Erin Patterson, 25, from Dallas, Texas, says she's so fixated with wearing wartime fashion that she now refuses to leave her house unless she's sporting glamorous attire from the Second World War era."


note the word "living"

She ain't living the lifestyle. She's playing an imaginary figure and aggrandizing a time when some believe America "was great." Women and non-whites knew their place, and she wouldn't have been able to afford any of her fashions without her husband's pay or permission, and he doesn't look like he could afford it on his salary back then. She can afford it now because a lot of people fought for her right to earn enough to play dress up.

[Dial H For Hero]

24. Is it that different from someone being *really* into (for instance) Rennaissance fairs?

They dress up as knights in shining armor and royalty, but no one volunteers to be a peasant doing backbreaking labor 14 hours a day. Granted, I've never heard of anyone trying to live like they're in Camelot 24/7, but that wouldn't work very well in the real world, whereas wearing 1940's fashion and filling a house with vintage furniture, while eccentric, is actually doable.

People have always looked at past times through rose-colored glasses.

[Piasladic]

25. good response!

First, I don't think most ren. faire types actually won't leave their house ever unless in full armor or peasant gear. Royalty, maybe.

Second, do people dressed up like that glamorize the time in fancy peasant wear or knight get ups? Royalty, perhaps, and I have the same complaint. YOU AREN'T LIVING the life. No chamber pot? No leeches? You ain't living it. You are playin dress up and making royalty seem noble and '40 life seem glamorous. I also don't see people wearing red duck caps that say make 'Camelot Great Again.'

Yeah, people really do see things in rose-colored glasses (thank god for glasses- I'd be blind as a bat)

[Aristus]

26. I think that may be a little uncharitable.

I don't think it's necessary for an enthusiast to have to be burdened with the downsides of whatever period in history she's cosplaying. Within certain bounds, of course. She's dressing the way women of her socioeconomic class did at that time.

Now if she was dressing as a Klansman, or an antebellum plantation lady (at a ball held at a former plantation, which I think is just a little outrageous) that would be different. Excluding the harsh realities from one's cosplay period is not the same as celebrating them.

Medieval cosplay is very popular in Germany. People love dressing up in the clothes, sampling the foods and beverages, and enjoying the songs and dances of the Middle Ages. I don't think that obligates them to drop dead of horrible diseases, engage in destructive sieges, or poop in the streets, and so on.

[Piasladic]

28. sure, if it is just for a cosplay

That's not what was portrayed here. She says she lives her life pretending to be a 40s gal- not an act.

[Aristus]

29. If that extends to spitting on black people or demanding that they sit in the back of the bus,

then it's gone too far.

Or calling Asian people "Yellow" or "Oriental".

And so on. It's a matter of degree; and IMO, there are degrees that are acceptable.

[Piasladic]

33. I hear you and completely agree

The whole thing reminds me of when PBS did these series about people living back in certain times: Edwardian House, Ranch House, etc. I loved them and learned a lot.

Then came the Texas Ranch House, https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/ranchhouse/

A more Trumpy, lazy set of folks you never saw. The husband treated the workers and traders like shit, and the wife and children didn't tend the garden or clean up. When it all went to hell, who did they blame? Everyone and anyone but themselves.

[tirebiter]

4. Antifaplay

[Ferrets are Cool]

5. I must admit, it's better than amassing $10,000 in guns.

Some obsessions are mo betta than others.

[brush]

6. I watch a lot of TCM movies from that era. I like to look...

from the '40s too. I don't know how practical it is to dress like that everyday though. The early '40s movies like "Casablanca" and "Watch on the Rhine" had great women's fashion and the movies transitioned into film noir as the 40s look evolved.

I find it very interesting that the different decades had decidedly different fashion looks influence much by the events of the time.

[Irish_Dem]

7. Love it.

A great look and a lot of fun.

[Binkie The Clown]

8. Years ago I read an article about people who do that.

Some had their homes all outfitted like it was the 1920s. Others picked the 50s. Apparently it's a more common interest than most people realize.

I toyed with the idea of 20s decor, but I couldn't find a 1920s style laptop anywhere.

[haele]

18. You can get a Cherry keyboard with old fashioned typewriter keys.

I've seen steampunk and art deco case accessories for both laptops (docking station laptops with monitors) and towers so if you're doing a Roaring 20's art deco office, your computer or laptop can match the decor.

Haele

[Binkie The Clown]

19. Haha, That's great.

It could be fun. Maybe in my next life.

[haele]

21. I know, they ain't cheap.

But a girl can dream. I so wanted to make my DoD facility office steampunk. But didn't have the $3k or so to bling it all out (including the desk accessories).

Haele

[NBachers]

9. I love watching B&W films from the 40's, and often see some interesting outfits and hairstyles.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

10. Everytime my mom

had the rare occasion to style my hair when I was a teenager ,it looked like 1940's hair. I hated it. She said don't you look glamorus.. I'd say no. Than go comb it out and spike it.

[Laffy Kat]

11. I also love the clothes from this era, and the music.

And the dancing. If I could go back in time for a day, I think I'd pick 1944 or 1945.

[Emile]

12. Garter belt and nylons too?

[Hotler]

15. That stuff is so hot.

[Emile]

17. Hell yeah!

[Totally Tunsie]

14. She looks fabulous!

[Fla Dem]

20. Great she could find all those fantastic outfits in her size.

I love the 40's and early 50's style.

[Maraya1969]

27. I want to wear clothes like Miriam Maisel. The show starts in the 50's I believe and now they are

excited about Kennedy running for president. She has a thing with Lenny Bruce.

[Aristus]

30. I don't exactly cosplay the 1940's, but I do have some clothing that is inspired by the decade.

I have a few classic three-button suits, worn (always) with suspenders. I have two pairs of those wonderful, two-tone spectator shoes, one pair black-and-white, the other brown-and-white, and a few other things that don't scream "1940's!", but do drop a hint here and there.

Nobody is going to be able to convince me to increase the authenticity by smoking, though. Forget it. There's a limit.

[Emile]

32. Lucy Ball knew how to dress!

[LNM]

34. I love the look!

Good for her. My Mom had some cotton wrap-around dresses in the 50s that I thought looked great.

[Ron Obvious]

35. Why not? She looks great.

Looking at the average person these days, I'd say the world would be a lot better looking place if more adopted the style.

[Demovictory9]

36. stylish outfit

[Binkie The Clown]

37. It's 1958 again

[Blue_Tires]

38. whut