welcome to sunny hartford

Like a lot of vintage girls, I’m not much for summer. Its novelty wears off far quicker than other seasons’. Spring and fall I could savor forever; I love that in-between. Summer and winter are altogether too in your face.

So when we spirited off to ConnectiCon, I took advantage of an air-conditioned hotel to wear what vintage girls are made off. The whole corset and caboodle, plus hat and gloves and nylons. I found this late-19th-century capelet in the con’s merch room – for only $30. Yes, that’s just two digits. I also picked up a ’40s wool hat, whose winter debut I’m eagerly awaiting. I would’ve gotten into conventions much sooner had someone told me there was vintage there.

I had a nice time at CTCon, and I’ll probably return. I have reservations about “geek” culture, though. A lot of it seems overly prescriptivist: there are certain Objectively Geeky/Nerdy things to like, and engagement with those specific things determines your status. I’ve always thought of nerdiness as “obsessive interest in specific, often obscure topics”. I’m one hell of a vintage nerd! So it’s frustrating when that meaning gets tied up with “liking things deemed nerdy”. There’s nothing inherently nerdier about loving Star Trek than about loving fashion.

It’s disingenuous to conflate “enthusiasm” with “enthusiasm for specific things“, and I struggle to find a place in communities that do so. I’ve never cared for sci-fi or sword & sorcery, for anime or vidya games, but I sure as hell love the things I love. And I think there should be room for that.

Dress suit: vintage, via brick-and-mortar store

Hat: vintage, via Bos & Ruby Vintage

Gloves: vintage, via Mainly Vintage

Shoes & brooch: vintage, thrifted

Cape: antique (!), purchased at the con

Socks: purchased at the con