Packing, Procrastination, and Pretty Pictures of Pretty Pals

You can see I was determined to make that alliteration work.

So while I should be packing for my second semester in Oxford since I am flying out tomorrow, I'm sitting on the internets and updating my iPod for the long flight.

So I decided to share a couple of pictures (Gee, you should be proud of me here - did you catch it?) that I took recently, as I've been trying to get back into photography after college pulled me apart from my best friend and main model (Gracie, duuuurh) and my shutter-snapping skills are getting a but rusty.

Photography used to be such a passion of mine (sorry if that sounds trite) and it consumed so much of my everyday thought process, much as early-twentieth century culture does now. It feels like utter crap to try to  get back into this and find that the old adage is true - use it or lose it - as I've found I'm nowhere near as fluent as I used to be with a camera and translating what I see into a photograph. Ah well. It'll just take practice, as that's what got me there before. I have a Flickr account that I began... sheesh, my sophomore year of high school!... that has been sadly neglected since I went to college.

Anyway, here's one picture of Gracie that I took while she was staying at my house.

And one of my friend Cady, who was an awesome and patient model while I once again figured out fingerwaves and futzed around with the camera settings.

I have been itching to edit more pictures from these sets, but I don't have photoshop (I did before I switched to Mac) and so I've tried to make use of iPhoto's editing software but its just no good. I need to buck up and buy photoshop sometime soon...

See you all on the other side of the Atlantic, if I don't post again before then!

Emily

So Happy Togetherrr

... that was meant to be said to the tune of The Turtles' 1967 hit.
Though to be honest, the soundtrack of Gee and my travels together in the UK was more of our usual 30's and 40's genres, with a healthy dose of hideously out-of-tune bellowing to Connie Francis tunes thrown in - but never fear, we are not so lacking in social awareness that we did this in public - only on our walks through empty (we hoped) countryside.

Traveling with Gracie was (almost) the perfect end to a wonderful semester in England. I say almost, because for nearly the entirety of our time together, one or the other of us was sick. There were two blissful days where we were both in good health, but even when we were loaded up with LemSip we still had a grand time together. Gracie is a wonderful travel companion, the best I've ever had. Besides the fact that we've been best friends for nine years, we have the same taste and the same interests, so we both wanted to do the same things at the same time. Except for train travel. I loved the UK's rail system, but Gee kept getting motion sick. Poor dear.
Anyway, I hope to go on many, many, many more trips with Gracie before we're both through with this place! (erm.. that would be, life)

So, although I know personal travel pictures are potentially the most boring topic I could choose as my first blog post in.... sheesh, exactly three months!... this is after all our personal blog so I'll just go ahead and share what I like. And I sure loved this trip, with this wonderful friend, through a beautiful region.

In our room at a B&B at Wells.

Making Haste.

Hi!

Emily and I are once again in the same city and both working far too many hours to remember to come up with interesting blog posts. I know I keep promising I'll post something worth while, but I think we both know that's not happening soon. I really just cannot for my life come up with anything interesting to say. And I feel like the majority of the images I love and want to share would be for nothing since Im pretty positive most of them were snagged from other blogs (i.e. your blog)

so personal photos it is, except Emily is not friendly to the camera. These two are the only ones I got on our day trip to Monroe and Madison last weekend. We did a fair bit of vintage shopping. She brought back a few music sheets (shocker!) and some gloves and possibly something else I cannot recall. I bought nothing since I am beyond skint and the most horrid shopper ever.

Eee looking extremely cool (smug) under a lovely ... erm... vintage shark.

The alligator purse. I, personally, think it is ever-so-slightly cute, but Emily was down right disgusted.

And, lastly, my very own daguerreotype boyfriend. :)

xGracie

Artist Feature: Helen Dryden

Helen Dryden was a successful woman artist of the 1920s and 1930s, doing fashion illustration for Vogue under contract from 1909-1922 and in the later 1920s also doing some industrial design. I just like the bright colors and whimsy of her illustrations - aren't they fun?

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!

In the (Moving) Pictures...

A couple of months ago Gracie and a few other friends were awesome and helped me do this somewhat last-minute project. I needed to have a small film project to submit as part of an application, and seeing as I had never made a film, I needed to make one while I still had some actors (meaning: friends still in town) available, and before I left for England. So we (Gracie helped much) threw everything together essentially a few days before the shoot, and it was all great except: the location, Gracie and my old high school, could only lend us the classroom we needed to use for three hours on a Saturday morning. Three hours! If any of you have ever done a scripted shoot before, you will understand that this is a VERY small amount of time (especially when you get musical numbers involved), even for a four minute clip. So, it didn't really turn out as we had planned - when we would do takes and there were mistakes or we just wanted to re-shoot, it just kind of had to be pushed through since we had so little time! Also, I had no previous experience, so it was a major learning curve, and in retrospect there is a lot I would do differently. But alas, it is what it is! Even though it doesn't match my ideal, I'm still pleased that we did it, and really grateful to all of our friends who helped out! 

Also, Gracie is ridiculously awesome. She put up with my, ahem, quirks of directing, and I think she did a really fabulous job of acting, especially when you realize she's never been in front of the camera before (acting, that is). And of course, she's easy on the eyes (she'll be majorly embarrassed that I am saying this..) and looks great as usual, so... give it a watch here if you'd like! Any comments, (constructive) criticism, what have you - it's all appreciated!  

- Emily

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. 

Auld Reekie, a Weekend Excursion.

I shouldn't be writing this right now... but I need to write something non-academic just to remind myself of the sensation of writing for fun!
A couple of weekends ago, a few friends and I took a train to Scotland for the weekend. We stayed in Edinburgh (apparently nicknamed "Auld Reekie"), in a hostel right smack in the middle of the city - New Town, that is. Old Town, the side that Edinburgh Castle is on, was so lovely and old-looking (shocker, I know) and was definitely my favorite part of the trip.

A scenic park/valley separating Old Town (to the right) and New Town (to the left). 

Point is, I really love the aesthetics of old European cities (more than "old" American cities... is that un-patriotic of me?), and am loving how easy and relatively cheap the public transportation system is here. Once Gracie joins me over here our shenanigans will be unstoppable! Granted, they involve rather tame plans like a day-visit to John Keats' house (drool/fangasm/faint - I am really looking forward to this, if you can't tell), perhaps a jaunt to the Emerald Isle, and who knows what else!
Anyway, I won't ramble on about it. Here are some pictures from Scotland, including me in my sartorial attempts to blend my vintage aesthetic with the functionality and practicality necessary for hostel-hopping with only a backpack in tow.

On the approximately 6 hour train ride over there. European trains are super nice. After hearing Gracie's (horror) stories of Amtrak, this was much appreciated. Me, to the left, and my friend/roommate Carolyn to the right. 

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.

More McCall's!

Hiya folks!

I have been woefully negligent to this little corner of the internet that I so adore (the vintage blogoverse, that is) since I got to England, but I assure you (not that you were worried) that I am not failing to share any fascinating experiences - I've just been utterly drowning in work. Reading countless books, writing papers (2 due this week) projects/presentations every day, it seems. 

But no pity party here! I'm trekking through, and I will get to leave this big house, eventually. And when I do, I will try my best to remember my camera and document this country's loveliness!

Without further adieu, here are some more pictures from my university's magazine archives! Including some season-appropriate looks (if you're in the Northern hemisphere) from the mid-late 1930s. 

The Sum of My Parts

Hey-o,

This little post is more for my benefit and entertainment than for you (meaning that I am procrastinating, but also too lazy to come up with a real/good post.) So, I thought I would share some of the things that make being away from home a little less weird:

1. A comfy room with all of my unnecessary stuff.
Honestly, these things are all very representative of who I am and how I live, so though they may seem trivial to you, they are a big part of me (as dumb as that may sound)

where I get my most of my work done (when I actually do it,  that is) 

The Cat and the Berry .... A Grand Reunion.

If you read the "It" post (which you probably didn't) you might know that for the past two weeks Emily and I have been together wreaking havoc on our hometown. In the case you didn't then, I feel obliged to inform you  that this has been the first time in four and a half months she and I have seen each other in person, so we have been far too busy enjoying being together to sit down and write a post about our time. Sadly our time here (in Atlanta) is coming to close. I go back to my mother's house and then school, and Emily leaves for Ol' Blighty for school.

We figured we should do at least one proper post together while we have the chance. Forgive us if you find it appallingly long and unnecessary, but honestly, this is more for us than anything else. I won't bore you with the details of our hometown adventures (especially since they were mostly mundane), but I will bombard this post with photos of  what we did. Also, as a treat for you lot, you finally get to see Emily's beautiful self! I know you're very excited to see this mystery woman, but simultaneously concerned that all of your illusions while be shattered by reality, but believe me you'll love her and wonder why she never put up any of her beautiful outfits and hair do's on the blog before. ((Emily's Edit: Ha.))

Emily wrote the photo captions:

Some of our friends (Gee in the back, me behind the camera) at a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner.  

Gee in her new (via Goodwill) purple Jean Harlow-eqsue skirt. We went to see "One Day" in theaters with a  friend, who hated it, but we liked it. 

Me in my beloved green pom-pom skirt and my new-to-me peasant blouse. We didn't get a good shot of the shoes, but they're wooden carved wedges!

Euphonic Earworms: Loveable and Sweet, In the Middle of a Kiss

I was supposed to be packing yesterday, but did a single stitch of clothing get put in any bags? Nope. Not only was a being a dirty ol' procrastinator, but the weather was making me sleepy and dreamy - it was raining hard most of the day. So I cracked open a window (sacrificing my pincurls to humidity in order to better hear the wonderful sound of rain - which can be had anytime you want, for those of you in drier climates) and lazed around in bed, feeling happy with my comfy little setup and sad that I will be leaving it in just two days.

Anyway, the late-20s/early-30s continue to dominate my playlists, and here are two songs (of many) that played softly in the background all day yesterday. The first is by the adorable and dimple-cheeked Annette Hanshaw, and the second by Connee Boswell (of the Boswell Sisters). The two songs have completely opposite tones - one a light-hearted and gay (in the old-fashioned meaning of the word) celebration of love, and the other a wistful song of failed romance. 

"Loveable and Sweet" - Annette Hanshaw 

"In the Middle of a Kiss" - Connee Boswell

- Emily

P.S - Tomorrow TCM is playing Three on a Match (1932) at 9:45 pm! I highly recommend it, I saw it a few days ago on TCM's Forbidden Hollywood set, a collection of Pre-Code films, and I really loved it. 

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!

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!

Euphonic Earworms: I Won't Dance, in 1935 & 1952

Here are three different versions of "I Won't Dance", composed by the famous Jerome Kern and penned by Hammerstein and Harbach.
The first two are from Roberta (1935), which Ginger and Fred starred in alongside Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott. Any Fred and Ginger fan has probably already seen these scenes before, but hey, there's no such thing as too much Fred & Ginger!

And here's the triumphant finale, with a high-energy dance by both Fred and Ginger to a reprise of the "I Won't Dance" theme.

Finally, the version of "I Won't Dance" from the 1952 adaption of Roberta, renamed Lovely to Look At, here featuring the singing and dancing of real-life husband and wife Marge and Gower Champion. I don't like the musical arrangement or the singing of this duo as much as the Fred & Ginger version, but the dance part is great! I love how they incorporated the environment/the mannequins, the number is so playful!

- Emily

Recently Acquired

Okay, I have a problem.
And it's Daniel Green.
I am obsessed.
Who is this fella, you may ask? Well, it's not really a him that I'm obsessed with - it's Daniel Green's slippers/boudoir shoes that I so adore. I recently acquired my third pair of Daniel Greens, and the place where I got them had more styles in a variety of colors, so I had to hold back from making it two new pairs! This is really getting ridikulous (as Gee and I like to put it, like the Harry Potter spell), considering I now own more vintage slippers than vintage shoes/heels, which I get more everyday use out of. But, they're so lovely, I really can't refuse! Plus, it's not like they make pretty and comfortable house/bedroom slippers anymore, the modern Daniel Green itself now makes rather ugly slippers, to put it bluntly. So I feel I've got to snatch them up every chance I've got!

Sorry for the poor photo quality... I really don't know what's up with my D90!

Museum Musings

Howdy all!
This weekend was grand (only a personal level, obviously - Norway's horrifying attacks were utterly shocking and saddening, to put it mildly. But this is a vintage blog so I will keep it peppy), especially since today the heat wave cleared up and it was a tolerable 80-ish degrees!
Saturday was the last day (fingers crossed!) of the heat, but it was really bad and I was fed up with suffocating in my apartment with no A/C, so I headed out to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, partly to escape the heat, but mainly since I'd been meaning to go to the museum since I got to Boston.
And boy, am I glad I didn't leave it to the last minute! Because I definitely need to make at least one trip back there, it was so huge I missed out on one and a half floors and the Chihuly exhibit because the museum closed before I was finished!
And I had a nice encounter with a stranger - I was staring at Victorian-era American painting when a young Irish fella came up to me and asked me if I had any experience with time travel. I took it as a compliment (even though he said I looked like I was out of the 50s, when technically my hair and outfit pointed to mid-late 40s, but hey, I won't be persnickety lol) and we started chatting, and exchanged numbers. Eventually, after the museum closed, we got coffee at a nearby cafe. It was a pleasant day, and good stranger-meeting events always put me in a good mood and make me feel like the general friendliness of the past isn't totally dying out (I read this article a few months ago that was on the Yahoo front page about how research shows most American young people think it's creepy/inappropriate to talk to strangers, which makes me sad because how else are you supposed to meet people outside of your normal circle??)
And then today I went out to a vintage shop I hadn't yet visited - and it was a success! More on that tomorrow, when I'll post some recent finds.
Anyway, I thought I'd post just a very few of my favorite parts of the museum that I saw - it was really difficult to narrow it down, but here's a few nice pieces that I found images of on the MFA website (except for the first two images).

"Stream in the Forest Near Plombieres" (1870s) by Francois Louis Francais. I don't know why I liked this so much - I mean, it is beautiful, way more so in person, but usually I'm drawn to paintings/art of people. But I just stood in front of this one for at least five full minutes, feeling really weird. After a bit I realized that I think part of it was that at that moment, even though I was enjoying the museum, I so badly wanted to be there, in that forest, by the stream, alone, with a picnic blanket and a cool breeze, to just lie there for ages - it would be perfect happiness.   Hah, okay, mushy ramblyness over. 

"The Haymaker and the Sleeping Girl" (1785) by Thomas Gainsborough. This one was pretty, and the description accompanying it was interesting, talking about the social context of it and whatnot. 

Artist Feature: Chéri Hérouard

Chéri Hérouard (1881-1961) was a French artist known for his numerous illustrations for the magazine La Vie Parisienne. Here are some of my favorite of his works - they're sometimes humorous, often sentimental, and always whimsical!