From the Pinterest Files...

Hi! This week I wanted to go through some individual elements of rockabilly fashion for both women and men, so I had to do some research to find out what those elements were. I was surprised to discover that I actually feature rockabilly-style fashion on here quite often, but classified it under pinup fashion instead. The two are quite similar, I've found, but after doing some research on the different types of vintage fashion I've also found that I'm a bit too thickheaded to understand the more subtle differences between them all. I decided to make this week's Pinterest Files a piece-by-piece breakdown of rockabilly fashion for both men and women. Enjoy!

The funny part about this Pin is that even though the descriptors are correct, this photo is actually from a site mocking various styles, including rockabilly. So some elements that are mentioned are highlighted for comedic purposes to highlight the style's stereotypes. With the rockabilly photo, those stereotypes would be the 'caked on makeup' and tattoos. Moving on, despite the fact that the photo was made to mock the style, the other descriptors are pretty accurate. This is an overall view of the rockabilly style. I see a lot of greaser fashion in rockabilly wear for males, and the females are this really cool mash-up of greaser, pinup and vintage. Alternatives of the rockabilly style are a bit darker and integrate more of a rock feel into the clothing.  This would be a modern look at a 'rockabilly couple' as well as a visual on the combination of pinup and greaser in rockabilly fashion for women that I mentioned above. This is another take on rockabilly fashion, with this particular photo being more of a Rosie the Riveter/greaser mix. 

Worn-in leather boots are a big part of greaser/rockabilly fashion for males, but women can wear them as well. I chose this pair because even though they're not as beat up as many of the pairs I saw in photos, they have the look that I was going for. I've seen more black boots than brown, but these have that slightly worn but freshly shined look to them that, along with the smaller cuffed pant leg, put a modern spin on the trend. These boots are more beat-up than the brown ones in this photo and they're black, so those would probably be a bit more accurate. 

A scarf/bandana is a common part of rockabilly fashion for women, and this Pin shows various ways that it can be styled. I'm more partial to hair flowers myself, but that's partially because unless I'm trying to cover my entire head with the bandana, I can't style one properly on myself to save my life. 

I don't know that this is necessarily rockabilly, but when I saw this Pin of various specs I had to slip it in here somewhere. I've had the typical 'sophistinerd' (a word I came up with to combine 'sophisticated' and 'nerd' LOL) small, rectangular glasses for yeeears and I'm really jonesing for something new. I keep coming across specs like these and I love them. I don't know if they'd be a good fit for my face, but I'd really like to try a pair out. I was going to point out a favorite then realized I love all 5 pairs. I want 'em!

This is a diagram of typical greaser/rockabilly hairstyles for men, although I typically see more pompadour and slicked back styles than any of the others in the photo. Whenever I think of the greased-up hairstyles though, this always comes to mind. LOL Personally, I'm more partial to pompadours and, dare I say it, hipster hairstyles for dudes. They really gel (see what I did there) with the rockabilly style for me, but in a way, hipster fashion is a more modern take on different elements of rockabilly for me. Please don't throw tomatoes at me. 

This pin combines two facets of rockabilly fashion for women. Wiggle dresses for me are more pinup than rockabilly, but rockabilly and its alternatives (which we'll be discussing in the next couple of weeks) have helped popularize them as well. Rockabilly prints more commonly include birds, atomic prints, bows and cherries. Cherries are another element that pinup and rockabilly clothing share, and I really like that this dress was a classy combination of both of those things.

This is another photo I chose because it combines two elements of rockabilly fashion for both men and women. The main reason why I chose the photo was because of the cuffed jeans. I usually saw men wearing the jeans with the cuffed hem, but I've been seeing more photos of women wearing them as well which I liked. I'm not entirely sure if its intentional or not, but I've seen dark denim being worn more often than lighter washes of denim in rockabilly fashion. I've also been seeing photos of the cuffed jeans and biker jackets with Converses rather than boots, and I think if I were to wear this outfit, I'd go with the Converses as well. Biker jackets are another element of rockabilly/greaser fashion that I typically see on men but I'm starting to find more photos with women wearing them as well. As with the boots, the biker/motorcycle jackets typically have a 'worn' look to them. 

Victory rolls are another part of rockabilly fashion that blend into other retro styles. A rockabilly take on victory rolls might include a bandana but quite often, it involves a badass cat-eye and a cherry red lip. I'm in love with victory rolls regardless, but I love the fun variations on the style that I see on alternative pinups and rockabilly models. I like that this pin is a simple walkthrough with a few tips at the end on how to really nail the style. 

The last major detail that I wanted to cover was the style of shirt that many greasers/rockabilly men like to wear. While I was looking for photos of what I wanted, I'd initially found this one but kept looking to see if I could find something I liked more. I kept coming back to this one so it would appear that Pinterest made up my mind for me. LOL Even though the guys in this photo are wearing button-downs, the sleeves are rolled up. If they were just wearing white t's, another rockabilly trend, those sleeves would be rolled up as well. Again, this is another element that I see on women as well, but from what I've seen it appears to be a signature greaser/rockabilly fashion element for men.  

This week's post, unlike last week's eBay Files (which went up suuuper late and I am so sorry! If I told you everything that was going on in my life right now, including the reason why this post is late, I promise you wouldn't believe me) post was a lot of fun to do. Turns out, I didn't need to do quite as much research as I thought but it was still helpful to have a better understanding of the individual elements that comprise rockabilly fashion. To me, vintage encompasses all of the elements I enjoy, from pinup to rockabilly, time-accurate to a modern/retro mix, so I don't usually bother with trying to differentiate too much. Despite that, it was still so much fun to find out individual parts of the overall style and I can't wait to jump into the alternatives next week. As always, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you soon!