I'm glad to notice that a somewhat more feminine image of a woman is arriving behind our backs. There has started to be a large number of vintage shops in all of the greatest cities of the world and an increasing number of consumers are buying their clothes from 1920 - 1970. -Against the trend that still wishes the woman to be bold, harsh, breastless and almost masculine. Increasing number of women (and men) have made a change of style, when for example the innocent, life-loving, decade of the 50's has been the answer to their prayers. No man can say "no" to a curl-haired girl with blood-red lips. Believe me, they won't even notice the top model that just passed in jeans.
I presume no woman wants to "return to the kitchen", which unfortunately was the woman's way in the past. But when you check the old Pin up's, you might notice that the women in them are not just feminine -they are strong and they know exactly what they are doing. Marilyn did not step on that ventilator by an accident.
This strength is a part of a modern woman's image. With time, the image got more harsh, more masculine and more demanding, because we had a message to make. We had to free the women, we had to rip them off from the kitchen and leave the man to cook for himself. The woman did not want to use her strength silently behind the cute skirt and safe walls, but wanted to run to the barricades to show it also outside. The point was to show that this strength was there and that we were able to make our own decisions. I believe the new style became hand-in-hand with the new message, just to clear it out.
But now I can see a change. The woman's position is far more better than before and world is now more used to it. Maybe we have come across the moment, when the same respect can be reached by just being a woman. A true feminine woman, that can still work and be independent. The moment to be harsh and masculine in power, but not in image. The moment, when we don't need jeans or a curveless body to prove that we are equal to men.
Probably the fashion for masses will recognise this rise soon. I pray it will also recognise the new need for a new type of models. No pin up -girl was a thin, 175cm high model. They had been maybe thin in waist, but they had damn big curves. Hail Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez for bringing this out too!
Maybe this new wave of vintage will bring out an interesting mix of the past and the future. A pretty dress does not oblige us anymore to bow our heads and listen. Maybe the pretty dress is our new way of settling things down on their modern place. And only god knows, it might be our newest weapon -the woman back then, used her strength in the ways the listener would not notice. Like a cat with velvet paws. A modern woman uses her strength with cat's nails out. So what happens when the modern, independent and oh-so-used to her position female puts on a dress and combines both of these powers?
We are more equal than before. Let's not over-do it, and take down the world. We need both men and women, because the Black Widow must be madly lonesome after she realizes that she actually won. There is no winner when you try to make a tune of harmony. Maybe this new rise for vintage is simply because the young boys and girls are crying to find a bit of fun, innocence, and most of all a healthy life-style and -self image. In this new world where everything so serious, changed and asking for miracles (that an average person can not do), it is natural some put an a skirt and say "I won't be a model, and I look better than them this way. And I don't need to act like a man, to do his job. And I am what I am just as I am and that will make me a success."
For what I have noticed on the streets, girls in vintage style get the looks and the attention from men and women alike, gain a lot of respect and positive comments. -And no-one is especting these girls to stay home. Not anymore. It gains the respect from everyone around you not to fear anymore to look like a feminine woman, for it no more means we have to do as we are said. And for men, a woman with a harsh style that looks like she's ready to bite, is less attractive, than a woman that puts on a skirt and a sweet smile. It intriques them. Because they know this is a modern woman, and a modern woman might bite even behind the sweetest skirt. And they do want to find the truth out by themselves.
(Image: model Nina Lahtinen, photo by Mari Kasurinen.)
Here is a link to a Youtube-video of an old lingerie commercial, after the animation comes a bit more "new" outfits and real models.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y7OMkH1bQA&feature=related
