Swing Fashionista » 1940s

Vintage colour swatch…yowza yellow

Michelle — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:23:18 +0000

So, I thought I would do something fun and write a regular post every 2 weeks that focuses on a particular colour. I will also include pics showing all sorts of vintage fashion items that were produced in varying shades of that colour, hopefully to inspire some new outfit combinations in the future and some possible purchases.

Yellow: I chose yellow today because I was inpsired by a superb pale buttery yellow, early 1940s dress in my collection, and funnily enough – a 40s handbag to match. Not a colour I would probably wear myself, but lovely nontheless.

In my mind, yellow clothing always screams warm weather and sunny days. So, since it is summer here in Perth, a yellow gathering of items it will be for this post And oh so many shades…from canary and lemon to mustard, pale yellow and daffodil! Have also included one modern item in this group…but it is very worthy of being here

* Please note that all photos are linked back to their original source.

Carl Erickson Fashion Illustration

Sharon — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:40:52 +0000

Carl Erickson (1891 – 1958) was an American fashion and advertising illustrator from the 1910s through to the 1940s. At the peak of his career, he signed his work “Eric” and was known by this name. He worked a great deal for Vogue in the 1930s and 40s. He had a reputation for being obsessively hardworking. He only ever sketched from live models. For each illustration that appeared in a magazine, he had made dozens of studies. And he was known for bringing his sketchbook with him everywhere he went – to the restaurant, to the theatre – and capturing the elegance he saw around him.

Top Picks: Burberry Prorsum Fall 2010 Ready To Wear

Sharon — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:13:33 +0000

Military chic a-plenty. Oh for one of these coats…

Kat Hessen by Alexander Neumann for Vogue Mexico October 2011

Sharon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:24:34 +0000

Gillian Anderson by Squiz Hamilton for Fault Magazine Fall 2011

Sharon — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 05:00:49 +0000

Frida Gustavsson by Andreas Öhlund for Elle Sweden

Sharon — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:53:05 +0000

Andreas Ohlund for Elle Sweden pulls together all those 1940s looks that marched down the Fall catwalks…

Gil Elvgren Pinups: Reality to Fantasy

Sharon — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:29:16 +0000

How interesting to see the difference between reality and the final product in Elvgren’s pinups. I’d never seen these before…

Burlesque/Vintage Costume Designer: Stephanie Ludwig

Morgan Lee — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:27:58 +0000

Stephanie is a one of my role models for sure! I was her intern 2 years ago, and she showed me a world filled with rhinestones, feathers, and pasties. Her work is tantalizing and she used to dance with Hop Swing & A Jump back in the day!

I asked Stephanie to share her story about how she came about making costumes, here is piece from my interview with her:

I was inspired to make show/dancer costumes after I saw a really terrible burlesque show in 1999. The dancers’ costumes were falling off at all the wrong times, besides looking really cheap and badly made. I was attracted to the idea of reverse engineering – making clothing to meant to peel off effortlessly and the fact that I coud work with fun materials like sequins and beading. I kept the idea in the back of my head until I finally contacted a burlesque dancer to offer my costuming services. She encouraged me to just join her troupe and make costumes for myself, which I did. My first costume was a pearl bead embellished bra and belt, which I still love. I’ve made many costumes since – my favorite burlesque costumes are the Marie Antoinette piece and the blue satin corset outfit.

Forties Style at Miu Miu, Fall 2011

Sharon — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:12:18 +0000

Wearing History Patterns

Michelle — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:47:15 +0000

I like to sew. I may not be great at it but there is something very satisfying about sewing a garment yourself from scratch. And I really love making reproduction clothing of the 30s and 40s from original or vintage repro patterns. This means you can have authentic looking garments from the era that are easy to care for and that can be thrown in the washing machine, unlike like original vintage pieces.

Seems that sewing is becoming a dying art amongst the young ladies of today, which is why I love to keep my hand in. I have taught myself over the years and you can only really learn by doing. It’s also nice to have a bunch friends in the vintage scene that sew and a few that even have their own line of patterns for sale. One my favourite lines comes from Wearing History, which is run by my friend Lauren Maringola. She is an amazing seamstress and you can see many of the pieces in her line made up on her site.

I have made several garments from her patterns and they fit like a dream and are very easy to put together in most cases. I am an intermediate sewer so haven’t tried the more advanced ones yet. My next project is a pair of 1930s beach pajamas to take to Thailand with me. The thing I love about WH patterns is that they are based on original patterns with some tweaking to make them easier to make. They also come in many sizes which is a real bonus. She even has hat patterns

You can check out Wearing History Patterns here: http://wearinghistorypatterns.com