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September 2009
Fabulous from Etsy: Jennifer Loiselle
She has some darling, quirky headbands that rock my world. Here are some of my favorites:
For more Fabulous from Etsy, check back with Jo.
Categories: AccessoriesTagged: Accessories, alice bands, Etsy, headbands, Jennifer Loiselle
Aquilano Rimondi Fall 2009 Ready To Wear Collection
Exaggerated 1940s shapes, in luxe furs, feathers and satins. Elsa Schiaparelli meets Bladerunner.
From Style.com: “Good taste and chic are needed in fashion,” said Aquilano. “On the runway, you sometimes have to exaggerate, but we also just want to make clothes women will want to wear. And not to keep changing every season for the sake of it. Continuity matters.”
Tagged: 1940s, Aquilano Rimondi, Bladerunner, collection, Fall 2009, forties, futuristic, RTW, wwii
Fashion and All That Jazz – Sept 09 Harper’s Bazaar by Peter Lindbergh
Absolutely wonderful editorial in the September US Harper’s Bazaar, shot by Peter Lindbergh in Harlem, New York. The models are Chanel Iman and Arlenis Sosa, and you can see them in front of Harlem landmarks like the new Cotton Club, Sylvia’s Soul Food Diner and the Lenox Lounge. Bi-line reads “The fabulous 40s live on in gorgeous details, wonderful prints and all out glamour.” Need we say more?
Tagged: 1940s, all that jazz, Arlenis Sosa, Billie Holiday, Chanel Iman, Cotton Club, fashion, forties, harlem, harper's bazaar, lenox lounge, New York, Peter Lindbergh
Pinup Superhero: Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre in Watchmen (2009)
I just rented Watchmen on DVD, and lord, it’s a great film – the opening credit sequence is amazing! But anyway, of particular interest to Swing Fashionistas, is Carla Gugino playing 1940s superheroine, the original Silk Spectre (aka Sally Jupiter). Check out those victory rolls! Here’s a few more shots from the film, and at the end an unrelated pinup shot of Carla Gugino in a similar Varga girl style. Va va voom!
Tagged: 1940s, Carla Gugino, cheesecake, comic, forties, pinup, Sally Jupiter, Silk Spectre, superhero, vargas, victory rolls, Watchmen
Governors Island Jazz Age Lawn Party This Sunday
If you’re in New York this weekend, here’s an opportunity to air out your favourite vintage threads:
Fall Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island
Sunday, September 27, 2009
(Rain date: Sunday, Oct. 4th)
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
From the website:
“Michael Arenella and His Dreamland Orchestra invites you to join us on this hidden gem just off the southeastern tip of Manhattan, nestled in the heart of majestic New York Harbor. Under a shady grove of centuries-old trees, caressed by fresh sea air, a sprawling green surrounded by historic officers’ quarters and 18th century naval ramparts becomes the setting for a true Gatsby affair. A recession-friendly $5 admission gives you access to one of the Fall’s most magnificent celebrations. Widely anticipated by flappers, sporting gents and tiny tots alike, this event has been featured and reviewed consistently by The New York Times and the Sartorialist.
A wide array of music, food & drink, activities, games and contests are open for all ages to enjoy:
- A delightful variety of refreshing cocktails will be served by St. Germain.
- Picnickers are welcomed and encouraged.
- Tasty sandwiches and BBQ provided by Cercle Rouge.
- Authentic ‘78 records from the 1920s played on a phonograph provided by Michael Cumella of WFMU’s Antique Phonograph Music Program.
- Charleston lessons given by Roddy Caravella of Sandra Cameron Dance Studio.
- 1920s Motorcar Exhibition – take a spin around the island in a genuine rumbleseat!
- Vintage clothing dealers and boutique milliners will all be peddling wares
- Special literature/ephemera booths and readings by the Dorothy Parker Society & F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.
- Bathing Beauties & Beaus Promenade
- Live dance performances
- Vintage portraits by R.A. Friedman.
- Tug O’ War
- Parade Of Hats
- Bake Sale and Pie Recipe Contest”
Sounds great, wish I could go, but I’m in Buenos Aires right now! If any of you make it, send us photos!
Categories: Events & FestivalsTagged: 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, age, Dreamland, forties, gatsby, great, jazz, lawn, Micahel Arenella, Orchestra, party, picnic, thirties, twenties
The Blue Devils in crisp linen suits
The Blue Devils were a Kansas city jazz band in the 1920s and 30s, and above we have a photograph from 1932 of the saxophone section (Theo Ross and Buster Smith) welcoming their newest member, Lester Young, in the middle. For jazz fans, other big names that were in the band included Hot Lips Page, Bill ‘Count’ Basie and Jimmy Rushing. If you don’t know who any of those guys are, no problem – just look at how fine those 1930s suits are! Freshly pressed three-piece linen suits, and look at the details! Jazz orchestras knew how to dress. Perfectly matching down to the ties, the shoes, even the pocket handkerchiefs. And look closely, Lester is even holding a pipe.
Photo from ‘Jazz: A History of America’s Music’ by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns.
Categories: Men's FashionTagged: 1930s, cream, fashion, jazz, Lester Young, linen, men, suit, thirties, tie, vintage
Helen ‘Curl’ Harris
This lovely lady is Helen ‘Curl’ Harris – an original Swing Fashionista! She was an entrepreneur at a time when women (let alone African-American women) were a rarity in business. A self-made graduate of the Skidmore Vocational School and the Philadelphia Charm and Model School, she ran and operated numerous beauty businesses in Philadelphia (Curl’s Beautyrama, Curl’s Beauty Salon and Charm Service, and Curl’s Moderne Beautyrama) as well as created her own line of make-up and hair products. Ella Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker were among her clients.
Source: Emory University Library via Omega418’s Flickr Stream
Categories: Vintage PhotosTagged: 1930s, 1940s, beautyrama, charm, curl, forties, helen, Helen Curl Harris, history, model, Philadelphia, school, thirties
1939 Jitterbugs in Color
I just posted this video up on my personal blog, where I was geeking out about the 1939 New York World’s Fair. But I thought the Swing Fashionistas might be interested in it also, because it’s color footage of everyday girls dancing in 1939. Enjoy!
Source: Prelinger Archives, archive.org
Categories: Vintage VideosTagged: 1930s, 1939, 1940s, daywear, everyday, exposition, fair, fashion, forties, jitterbug, lindy hop, New York, New York World's Fair, savoy ballroom, thirties, world
Steven Meisel for Vogue September 2007, Grace Coddington, and the new Vogue documentary The September Issue
This beautiful shoot entitled Paris Je T’aime from the 2007 Vogue September issue was photographed by Steven Meisel, and styled by Grace Coddington. The models are Coco Rocha, Guinevere Van Seenus, Caroline Trentini, Sasha Pivovarova, Gemma Ward and Agyness Deyn.
Grace Coddington is in fact Vogue’s Creative Director, and is in charge of most of the fashion shoots. If you’re interested in her (and the almighty Anna Wintour) and Vogue in general, then you might want to check out the new documentary, The September Issue:
I haven’t seen it yet, but reviews are good, and it sounds like Grace Coddington is as much the star as Anna Wintour herself. In the New York Times, the director R.J. Cutler said, “[Anna] is cool, [Grace] is warm and languid,” he said. “Anna is all about ‘next,’ and Grace is most interested in a historical perspective on art and fashion.” Sounds like our kind of lady!
Here’s a fun article on the subject over at Gawker: How Grace Coddington Stole The September Issue From Anna Wintour
Drop a comment if you’ve seen the documentary!
Categories: In MagazinesTagged: 1920s, 1930s, Anna Wintour, cafe, fashion, film, flapper, France, French, Gemma Ward, Grace Coddington, Paris, Steve Meisel, The September Issue, thirties, twenties, vogue
Yves Saint Laurent did not invent the tuxedo for women!
We’ve been enjoying a fashion comeback of tuxedo styles for women over the past few seasons, bolstered by the passing in June 2008 of famed designer Yves Saint Laurent. It’s true, in the 1960s and 70s, YSL was responsible for re-popularizing suit and tuxedo styles for women, in particular his 1966 creation, “Le Smoking”, a tailored tuxedo suit with a long, slender 1960s silhouette. But, with all respect, it’s ridiculous to say he was the style’s inventor!
I caught Elle Magazine with this little diddy from last year: “It’s no coincidence that in the week when fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, the man who designed Le Smoking (the first tuxedo for women) passed away, the A-list are paying their respects in a way he would have loved- by wearing tuxedo jackets at every opportunity.” And even my beloved Wikipedia has this to say: “the Le Smoking tuxedo suit for women was the first of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture.“ What’s going on here? Yves Saint Laurent did NOT invent the tuxedo for women, and the 1960s was not the first time women fashionably wore suits and tuxedos. Every swing girl knows this!
Above and below, we have Marlene Dietrich, who wore this tuxedo in the film Morocco in 1928. In the scene she sings and even kisses a girl…
And here we have Josephine Baker, Gloria Swanson, Anna May Wong and Katharine Hepburn in the 1920s, 30s and 40s…
Rant aside, it’s brilliant that the look has been having a fashion comeback (even with mistaken origins). Here are a few celebrities, mostly care of Fashionising.com, who have been toying with the trend. We have Ashley Olsen, Diane Kruger, Naomi Watts, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Blake Liveley and Dita Von Teese.
If the Fall 2009 and Resort 2010 collections are anything to go by, it seems as if the trend will be with us for a while longer. Viva Le Tuxedo!
Categories: Celebrities, Vintage PhotosTagged: bowtie, dining, dinner, Dita Von Teese, girl, hat, jacket, lady, Marlene Dietrich, suit, tails, top, tophat, tuxedo, women, YSL, Yves Saint Laurent
The Real Ava Gardner
We’ve been getting a lot of hits from our post about Kate Beckinsale playing Ava Gardner in The Aviator. So here’s a few photos of the real thing: Ava Gardner herself.
Ava Lavinia Gardner (24 December 1922 – 25 January 1990) was an American actress with MGM in the 1940s and 50s. Her notable films include The Killers (1946), Mogambo (1953), Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959) and The Night of the Iguana (1964). She was married to (in order) Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra (yes, he left Nancy for Ava!). After Sinatra, she had a long relationship with Howard Hughes (as depicted in The Aviator), and later with famed 1950s Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin. A lifelong smoker, she died in 1990 of pneumonia (a complication of her emphysema) at the age of 67. She was buried in her hometown of Smithfield, North Carolina, where there is an Ava Gardner Museum.
Tagged: actress, Artie Shaw, Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, hollywood, Howard Hughes, MGM, Mickey Rooney, starlet
Joolz “Third Time’s the Charm” Collection
Joolz is an Australian handmade jewelery company, and their ‘Third Time’s The Charm’ collection has a vintage twist. I’m not in love with all the pieces, but the photo shoot is gorgeous (well done to stylist Monica Buch), and I love the idea of jewelery made from vintage playing cards and antique umbrella silk. From the website:
“An anthology of accessories for style success in bold black and white, with a dash of cream and a splash of red. Theres a Charleston good-time girls’ influence, with tomorrow’s twist. Gleaming pearls are teamed with glossy obsidian and onyx, or contrasted prettily with hand-crafted vintage playing card butterflies that appear to have fluttered down to perch perfectly on the neck & wrist in a display of delicate symmetry. Beautiful black recycled umbrella silk teamed with pearls becomes a stylish bowtie choker, and the Lady Luck necklace of vintage dice is perfect with obsidian cubes. Eye-catching elegance is the key, allowing the wearer to be effortless in making her style statement.”
Tagged: 1920s, 1930s, ace, bowtie, card, flapper, jewelery, pearls, playing, spades, string, thirties, twenties
Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow in The Aviator (2004)
Tagged: 1920s, 1930s, blonde, fingerwave, Gwen, Gwen Stefani, Jean Harlow, platinum, Stefani, thirties, twenties
Africa Appeal: Koto Bolofo for German Vogue January 2008
Tagged: africa, cheetah, chimpanzee, Deutsch, dress, elephant, German, Koto Bolofo, leopard, photographer, print, safari, shirt, suit, turban, vogue
1920s Inspired Gowns in Alberta Ferretti Spring/Summer 2009 Collection
Source: Fashionising.com
Categories: On CatwalksTagged: 1920s, Alberta Ferretti, beaded, designer, dress, flapper, fringe, gown, Italian, twenties
Julia Roberts in a Tribute to Louise Brooks
By photographer Michael Thompson. For the book Femme Fatale: Famous Beauties Then and Now.
Categories: Books, Celebrities, In MagazinesTagged: 1920s, bob, film, flapper, Julia Roberts, Louise Brooks, Michael Thompson, silent, star, twenties
Cute Double Strap Scalloped Mary Janes at Plasticland
Check out these adorable cheapies: just $49.00! Not leather, so they might not be the best for swing dancing, but damn cute for strutting about in (and that makes them vegan shoes!). Website says “made of a slightly distressed (crinkly) black and taupe leather-look vinyl, they feature rounded toes, unique easy-to-use hook-on double straps, and thick stacked wood 2 1/2″ heels. Fit true to size, medium width.”
Get them here: www.shopplasticland.com
Actually, they have a bunch of cute shoes that Swing Fashionistas might like, all for less than $50:
Tagged: 1940s, 1950s, fifties, forties, heels, Mary Janes, Plasticland, pumps, retro, Shoes, vegan
Old school / New school
I do love vintage clothes, but unfortunately, they are really hard to find and most of the time don’t fit at all, specially when you’re a midget. So i decided to show some modern clothes i like and details about it that make it look really glamorous or vintage to me.
Some cool Tops in order of apparition : Urban outfitters, Manoush, New look and Asos
Tagged: Tops, vintage look