McCall's, mid-late 30s!

Some more from my university's magazine archives! I must say, while I always check out Vogue and McCall's when I'm there, I usually prefer the style pages of McCall's - they used color printing much more often, and their illustrations were more straightforward (but still full of plenty of Fancy, as you can see!) than Vogue's sometimes too-artistic ones that made it difficult to make out the clothing.

Le sigh. Flipping through these pages is always sheer agony of longing.

Euphonic Earworms: Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia

Here's a fun song by two different sister harmony groups that I just love!

A funny and super-upbeat version by The Dinning Sisters:

A charming and alternatingly fast and slow version by The Boswell Sisters:

Emily

A Pajama and Loungewear Obsession: Part Three

Here's part three (one and two) of the pajama and loungewear series, a good four months after it began! This time, with a bit of trepidation, I'm sharing some of my favorite personal loungewear and boudoir finds.

Probably my favorite part of reading other blogs is the outfits posts and/or vintage finds posts other vintage-inclined ladies around the world share. I'm pretty terrible about doing them myself (I think I've done a grand total of one so far), mostly because I really am pretty awkward in front of the camera and am really not photogenic (it's okay, I'm fine with my real-life self. But the camera doesn't like my face), but I also have little patience for fiddling with the self-timer. 

Anyway, I finally did some today, because I recently added a 40's robe to my collection, and figured I may as well share that and my others as part of the series! I apologize for the rather unimaginative posing, this would be my camera awkwardness at work.

I'm also wearing Daniel Greens in all of these - I've got three pairs! They really are so comfy, I wish Daniel Green would re-issue their designs from the 20s-40s because they perfectly wed prettiness with comfort. The heels aren't bad at all - on the two dark blue pairs they're only 1.5 inches, and the light blue ones, which I think are late 40s or early 50s, are pretty tall, but are still fine!

My newest addition - a 40s swishy rayon robe scored on eBay for 30 bucks! I love the side tie and the aforementioned swooshiness of this, I feel like I'm wearing a (rather floral) Hogwarts gown when I walk around the house in it - I realize this is an odd association but ah well!

A Pajama and Loungewear Obsession: Part Two

This part of the loungewear series centers mostly around robes and fancier boudoir wear.

Le sigh... I want all of these pretties! As impractical as the fluffier and feather-y-er ones are, they just look like so much fun to wear!

Ann Sheridan in a silky boudoir robe.

Claudette Colbert in a lovely patterned silky robe, with an interesting corset-y bodice method for tying it up.

Weekend Update

 The Wedding clothes

rehearsal dinner:
my first (and only) time wearing ALL vintage.

40s Coat from Etsy
30s shoes from Eee

40s peach dress from a shop in Savannah
early 50s bullet bra
50s girdle
50s (I think?) nylon stockings
and amazingly non-vintage hair.

Wedding:

my sister in a beautiful late 40s dress she wouldnt let me take a picture of

stupid 80s dress with alterations

Ill be back with some questions about international travel soon, so be prepared. this will be graded.
oh on that note; schooooooooooool's out for winter! oh yeah, I'm happy.
- gee

A Pajama and Loungewear Obsession: Part One

If you were to ask anyone who has ever had to live with me, or just knows me really well, about how much I like pajamas (no idea why you would be asking this question, you nosy creeper!), you will unanimously be told - a LOT. Yes, I do love me some pajamas. PJs. Pa-jay-jays (Gracie hates this one). Lounging clothes. Jammies. They're wonderful. As soon as I get home at the end of the day, or even if I get home in the middle of it, I immediately put on my pajamas. It's not that my day clothes are uncomfortable, its that pajamas are just so very comfortable, plus, I can sit however I like in them without fear of wrinkling, eat in them without fear of stains (because unlike much of my dry clean only clothes, I can pop them in the washing machine), and generally just be very comfortable in them. 

Very comfy and even more cute: I want all of these!

Pin Curl Projects

Really, this is just me playing dress-up with some lovely friends who let me pin-curl their hair, humoring me since I get major kicks out of vintage-ifying folks for a day. These girls are both gorgeous anyways, but I think the pin-curled look especially suits them, don't you agree? 

My favorite part about doing other people's hair is when they are really obviously pleased with the results and they walk around smiling, with a little pep in their step for the rest of the day. Having helped pep-their-step is most satisfying, indeed. 

I did Jeanette's hair on Thursday night. We sat in the dining room, where some of our friends were beginning an all-nighter for their papers, and I cheerfully pin-curled her hair while she watched Star Trek on her iPod and dozed off, jerking awake every so often to quote a line in the movie while it was being said. 

Euphonic Earworms: He Says Murder, He Says

Here's some of the ridiculously wonderful Betty Hutton, being infectiously energetic and entertaining as usual! 

I could use some of her pep during my many paper-writing all-nighters that I've had to pull here (and the many more that lay ahead)... I think a dose of Betty ("a vitamin pill with legs!") would do wonders compared to the weak tea I've been throwing back!

- Emily

Soldier Blues - Five Days of Being Blue

Salutations,

This weekend was magnificent. I went to my moms (Again, I know. I need to stop) and did some baking and sewing and it was all grand. As a part of my weekend I went to my cousins school for a parade they held. He goes to a military college so it's mostly boys which I find sort of amazing and awesome (to a girl who goes to an art school, this is a big deal, at least) and hotdog! did they look good in their uniforms. I mean they look REALLY good. Forgive me, for sounding shallow and petty, but I am very frank about these things. Anyway, so the whole time I was just ogling the band members. I believe my favorite (a trumpet player, no less!) spotted me trying to take sneaky from-the-hip pictures...

Hunky band boys looking sharp in their wool dress coats and pants. Poor boys, it was quite toasty out that day.

I LOVE bagpipes. My cousin is going to be in the pipe band soon enough! I also really love that they wear kilts!

Euphonic Earworms: How About You?

I love this lovely scene, how about you?
I love Judy Garland way too much, how about you?
I love impromptu dancing and singing, even though I can't carry a tune...
I love Burton Lane for composing this song, and reportedly discovering young Miss Garland... How about you?

I just emerged from a week-long stretch of essentially non-stop paper writing. Four papers. One week. My reward to myself was a day trip to Whales with two friends! T'was marvelous, I really, really love it there. We went to Tintern Abbey, which was amazing:

Okay, it didn't look quite like that, because the sky was one big cloud all day, but still, it was gorgeous.

Also, here is a shitty Mac Photobooth shot of where I am typing right now:

I wasn't very successful at leaning out of the shot, but I'm in a cafe and don't want to weird out the other people. Point is, I just love the architecture here. Ancient or just really old buildings are everywhere, and far outnumber the occasional 70's construction (which Atlanta is full of - ugly late 20th century architecture, that is).

I'll be sharing some better pictures soon, I just need to transfer them off of my camera!

'Till next time!
- Emily

Lovely Ladies of the Past: Audrey Hepburn, and how I owe her BIG TIME.

My love for Audrey Hepburn goes beyond just admiration for her beauty, grace, and wonderful personality. It is also mingled with gratitude. Yes, gratitude.

Euphonic Earworms: Sailboat in the Sky

Wednesday I leave for England as I'll be studying there this semester, so I've been running around trying to get everything ready in time! Gracie left my house on Thursday, and since then I've only been on the internet to do school related things and do a few quick read-throughs of my blogger dashboard (I couldn't completely stay away!).

Anyway, here's an aviation-related-ish soundie from 1942 that I just love - super cheesy, but I couldn't care less! Knowing my luck, I'll be sat next to a 180-year-old fart machine the entire ride (as I was when I went to China), instead of honey-voiced Johnny Johnston, but one can dream, right?

- Emily

Artist Feature: Enoch Bolles

My blogging may be rather sparse over the next two weeks as I'll be moving back to Atlanta and then immediately heading out to Oregon for a few days for my cousin's wedding... 

So - I'll leave you with some eye-candy: the gorgeous and, ahem, very naughty artwork of Enoch Bolles! One of the most successful earlier glamour artists, he did cover art for tons of magazines in his heyday (the nineteen-teens through the 1940s), but he also did a lot of advertising work - an interesting and unfortunate little piece of trivia is that his "Windy Girl" work for Zippo lighters is often mis-credited to Alberto Vargas (who was in fact very influenced by Bolles).

While gathering up some pictures from around the web for this post, I happened across a fabulous blog dedicated to his artwork! Check it out if you like his images, there is a lot of good information (and tons of rare images) there. 

I just love the utter richness of his work: the jewel-toned color palates, the "overripe girls" (a perfect description from the folks at the Bolles blog), the impossible/ridiculous but wonderfully fantastical poses and situations of the Bolles girls. And as it is with any pinup work, his portrayals of the female figure are unrealistic: the girls have cartoonishly beautiful faces and impossible curves that could make Rita Hayworth look boyish, but that doesn't spoil it for me - in fact, its part of what I enjoy about his work, and good pinup art in general. It's not supposed to be realistic, its idealized and over-the-top and it doesn't take itself too seriously. 

But enough talk, here are just a few of the many beautiful illustrations done by Bolles. Believe it or not, I actually tried to choose his less-naughty/suggestive pieces - Google his name and there is some much more blush-inducing work of his out there! 

Enjoy!

1941. This gorgeous lady reminds me a bit of an inflated Hedy Lamarr... inflated boobs, inflated lips..

1916. "Look before you leap this year!"
This is definitely one of my top favorites! Because the first time I saw this I laughed out loud, very loud. And I still audibly chuckle most times I look at this. The guy's face is priceless, and it's a moment perfectly suspended in time, both sentimentally beautiful and genuinely humorous, something that I think is very difficult to pull off in images and is thus very impressive to me. I know the feeling of the guy in the water - I always get afraid of getting accidentally jumped on by friends at the pool, and I also always check the water before I jump off a diving board!

A Wonderful Weekend & Down Argentine Way

Hello all!

This past weekend was grand, with lots of vintage-related goodness packed in and some merrymaking (that involved lots of yummy food, always a plus) with friends last night. 

Saturday I had a shoot that was somewhat hastily planned with a girl I know from work - me taking the pictures, of course (I say this because if you know me, you know how I get extremely uncomfortable in front of the camera - behind it, however, is where I love to be). I just had this urge to play dress up with somebody, and Emily (yes, we have the same name, but that's not too exciting since it's the most popular girl's name for people born in the 90's) is pretty and has this really long wavy hair I was dying to vintage-ify, so I thought, hey, lets do a little vintage inspired shoot! It's been ages since I took pictures so I was a bit nervous that my "technique" would be rusty, and it was, but practice makes perfect, right? I went over to her place the night before and pin-curled her hair, then came over on Saturday and did her hair, makeup, and brought some clothing, and away we went! She was actually really great, even though she'd never done a shoot before - no awkwardness, really relaxed, so that was great. I'll try and edit some soon... I need to get Photoshop but for now I'll have to make do with Gimp.

On Sunday I got up early and headed out to the SoWa Open Market that happens every Sunday in Boston, because it's located right by Bobby's and the market also has a market-within-a-market vintage section, and it's been weeks since I last went. And boy, did I hit the jackpot (and my wallet... really hard. Meh.)! More on that in a later post. 

Then I came home, took a cold shower (something I have to do all the time here, it being so hot and humid and my apartment with no A/C), and hunkered down with baking for a friend's dinner party that night, where everyone was supposed to bring a little food/drink to contribute. I made a cheese & croissants recipe I learned from Gee, and then made chocolate croissants too, but those were an utter flop as the chocolate I used was wayyyy to bitter. Not bittersweet. Just plain bitter.

But the party was a blast, lots of good food, good people, good times. 

Anyway, if you haven't dozed off by now, I'll leave you with some pictures from Down Argentine Way (1940) with Betty Grable and Don Ameche, which I watched a few days ago, and really loved, not that I'm surprised! There was some marvelous fashion in this film, and Technicolor never fails to dazzle me!

First up: there was some really cute sportswear and equestrian clothing in this film!

Betty Grable at the races. 

Euphonic Earworms: Blues in the Night

Hello!
Gee here, finally doing a post in this series! This is probably my number one car song at the moment, really great for singing along with and listening to over and over again (for me, at least) for my daily half-hour commute into town. It's not the most soulful/deep of blues songs, but I enjoy it and I like the lyrics, even though they're a bit... negative.

I love original blues in general, and am attempting to visit some of the many blues museums in this here state. I actually went to one today, but alas it was not open on weekends - which is not logical to me at all, but hey, who am I to say when they should be open?... okay, I'm a potential customer, so I should have some say, but that's not the point. Anyway, I hope you can see some merit in this post, despite the not-so-appropriate image accompanying this song (it was the only good-quality version I could find).

Dinah Shore in 1942.

- Gee

Can't Help Lovin' That Man: James Stewart

Greetings all!

Here begins a new series, on the men Gee & I adore from afar - across time and space and TV screens. Mostly actors and musicians from the eras we love most, we'll share a bit about why we love them, and add plenty of pictures to give you the visual evidence to convince you that you should like them too!

Imitation(s) of Life: 1934 & 1959

A few months ago I watched both versions of Imitation of Life. At the time they were both available on Netflix Instant (now only the 1959 version is). Since this story/both movies are very famous, I won't tell you too much about it plot-wise, but here's my little review: I do highly recommend both films. Neither are very politically correct, which isn't surprising considering the subject matter and the eras in which they were dealing with it, but they are both entertaining and tell an interesting story if you keep in mind the times and are able to separate the medium from the message (as Lauren so perfectly put it when describing watching The Sheik). I watched the 1934 version first, and the next day, I was still thinking about the story, so I sat down and watched the 1959 version. What I noticed in terms of distribution of offensiveness, was that the 1934 version was more racist, and the 1959 version was more sexist (though both films have plenty of both).
Now to talk about some of the good points of the films:

Imitation of Life (1934), starring Claudette Colbert.
I've got a major girl-crush on Claudette Colbert, so in my opinion her presence alone gives this version major points. And of course she was great as usual. In general this film was engaging, and the characters pull you in enough to snag tears and laughs from you more than a few times.
Louise Beavers, playing the black maid Delilah Johnson opposite Colbert's Beatrice Pullman, was widely praised at the time of the film's release for a fine performance, but I can't say I loved it - not because she was necessarily a bad actress, but because despite the fact that her character was relatively developed compared to other roles for black actors at the time, the character is still a racist caricature (this wasn't her fault - of course she would've been directed to act this way).
Fredi Washington, who plays Delilah's daughter Peola, was absolutely gorgeous and portrayed the terrible anxiety and anger of her character very affectingly. Washington actually has a very interesting life story: She had a very rocky relationship with Hollywood, since she proudly defined herself as a black woman despite the fact that most people thought she looked white. She arguably lost chances at stardom due to racism and her refusal to pretend to be white, saying that success and fame wasn't worth the insult of having to deny one's identity/heritage. Her bravery in the face of racism and strong sense of self in general is admirable, but it's a shame she didn't get to do more pictures.
The last of the four main women, Rochelle Hudson as Jessie Pullman, was probably the least affecting, but mainly because her character is so unsympathetic. But Hudson plays it off well enough that you don't hate her, you just find her kind of annoying and naive (for falling in love with her mother's boyfriend). Also, she is delightfully adorable and wears a few cute outfits, which always helps!

Now for a few pictures from this film, mainly of pretty close-ups and cute outfits (though the clothing was not really a main feature, as you can see by the lack of full-length "look at the the pretty clothing" shots):

Lovely Claudette.

Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

I haven't got much time to lurk around the blogoverse over the next few days as I've got my final coming up and need to get crackin' on my final project. But, here's a photo-heavy post (seriously... a lot of photos) with some camera-taken captures of Ziegfeld Girl, from 1941.

I watched this movie months ago, and I love it. It's absolutely in my Top 5 Favorite Movies. It has a great, talented, super-beautiful-even-for-Hollywood cast (Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Jimmy Stewart, Hedy Lamarr, to name the most famous faces), and the story is fast paced and busy, following the lives of three women who become Ziegfeld Girls, played by Turner, Garland, and Lamarr. Lana Turner's character gets the most screen time, but Judy's story is also pretty well detailed. During a pep talk before all three girls' debut in a Ziegfeld show, they are told that there are many fates of a Ziegfeld Girl. I can't remember exactly what was said, but the jist was: some will make good and become a huge success; some will find they'd rather sacrifice the theatre and success for love; and some will let their fame go to their head and quickly burn out. As it turns out, each girl plays out one of these three scenarios.

Though it was meant to be set in the 1920s, the costuming was totally inaccurate, but it didn't bother me since it was still full of beautiful styles appropriate to 1941. Click on the images to enlarge... Enjoy!

Jimmy Stewart, my favorite actor, and Lana Turner, looking dramatic. 

I'm a Loafer, Not a Fighter

Howdy,

 I (Gee) am gracing the blog yet again (two in a row, what the netherworld?!) and I would like to put this post up for all of you who wish to wear heels all the time, but know better. I know I would love to wear gorgeous forties and thirties heels and wedges every second of everyday, but sometimes it really just isn't possible or logical.

Now that I am living in true redneck country (the South Carolina low-country is like New York compared to this place) I am treated even more differently for dressing the way I do. My whole family laughed when I came out of the house in a shirtdress and heels to go to a baseball game... they don't seem to understand how casual that is for me.

Anyway, since this occurrence I have done my darnedest to be "casual" more in line with their standards. OK, not really. I just have been wearing my oxfords and loafers more often than my heels, though my grandmother found a way to criticize those as well. Now she is obsessed with buying me new loafers. I haven't found any that don't look like they came from my mom's closet though...
So this one is dedicated to her, in hopes that she comes to accept that I dress the way I do and that I really am not that weird.

Sanchezin'

Gracie here. More family photos that just make me sad and jealous. But mostly sad.

Ana in an adorable hat I really wish she'd kept.

Ana in the 40s.

Ana again.