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RIP Patty Andrews, 1918 – 2013

Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of swing-era vocal group the Andrews Sisters (and the center sister in the photo below), died today of natural causes. She was 94. A beautiful lady with a golden voice.

‘Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four’ will always be my fav of their songs. Thought I’d post the clip here. Not the mention that we get to see Jewel McGowan and Dean Collins dance.

From the late Thirties through the Forties, the Andrews Sisters produced one hit record after another. Patty Andrews is in the centre

http://youtu.be/aPEIn-1JrOw

Categories: Celebrities, On Film, Vintage Videos
Tagged: Andrews Sisters, Buck Privates, Dean Collins, lindy hop, Patty Andrews, swing, WW2

31 Jan 2013 Posted by Michelle Comments (1)

Modcloth: So many shoes, so little time…

Well, I’m in Argentina right now, so Modcloth shopping is out of the question. Boooo. But you should all go buy some delicious shoes over at Modcloth.com, so that I can live vicariously through you Send me photos! Here’s a danceable selection….

Categories: Shoes
Tagged: 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, dance, fifties, forties, heels, pumps, retro, Shoes, style, swing, thirties, vintage

10 Sep 2011 Posted by Sharon Comments (2)

Top Picks: Plasticland Shoes

A Quebecois buddy of mine, Alisha Ruiss, just tortured me with two emails in quick succession, with links to online stores where I want to buy EVERYTHING!! Oh no, Alisha, how could you do this to me? The first was Plasticland, an old favourite of mine, but I haven’t visited for a while, and was rather unaware of the current shoe collection. Swoon! Here are my top picks, and they’re all available right now, in the range of US$54 – $72. These shoes are a steal. They stock a few Stop Staring dresses as well, and they have some cute pencil skirts…

Categories: Shoes
Tagged: balboa, dance, lindy hop, Plasticland, retro, Shoes, swing, vintage

6 Feb 2011 Posted by Sharon Comments (2)

My sudden panic…

So I was procrastinating a few days ago, browsing vintage dresses on eBay with no intention of buying (no seriously, I went on a November shopping spree, so no more this year!). And I got to thinking about the photographs of vintage clothing for sale online. What a resource! When somebody sells a vintage dress online, they photograph the dress from all angles, with closeups of details and embellishments – they show more detail in those photos than most costume museum archives! It’s an amazing historic record. Plus, so many of these dresses are one of a kind, or at least, the last of their kind.

But the photos are online only as long as the item is for sale, and given that it’s changing hands to a new owner, it may never be seen again! Once the listing is deleted, that photographic record is lost to us! Sitting there, I had a terrible panic that we were losing a valuable resource, oh my word! And proceeded to nab as many photos of the 1920-1940s dresses listed as I could. So yeah, an hour later…

Anyway, what do you think? I’ve always liked to post the lovely vintage things I see on eBay and Etsy, here on SwingFashionista. That way, even if none of us get to buy them, we can still enjoy the pictures, get inspired by the style, and maybe even use them as a reference for making our own. And well after the original listing is gone and the item has headed on to its new owner. But now I feel like I’m on a mission!

What are your thoughts? Want to join my mission? Do you have that same photo-saving habit I do? Do you have a folder on your desktop, filled with photos of pretty things from the glorious internet? So why not start your own blog? Or send them to me and I’ll always post any gathered photos of original 1920s – 1950s fashions here on SwingFashionista. Drop a comment if you have a thought!

Oh yeah, and to satisfy, here are some of those photos

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Categories: Clothing
Tagged: 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, antique, costume, dresses, fashion, fifties, forties, historical, photographs, record, swing, thirties, twenties, vintage

13 Dec 2010 Posted by Sharon Comments (8)

Swing Kids Los Angeles

Some pics of the über cool LA swing crew, which I Facebook-swiped from Chandrae Roettig. I spy some buddies of ours, like Minn Vo, Nick Williams and Katie Anderson. Looking awesome, you guys!

Categories: Events & Festivals
Tagged: 1940s, dance, dancers, fashion, forties, katie anderson, LA, lindy hop, Los Angeles, Minn Vo, Nick Williams, scene, swing

15 Dec 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (2)

Emelie & Rebecka bring 50s to Gotland, Sweden

I have absolutely no idea what inspired my friends Emelie & Rebecka to do this fabulous photo shoot, but it popped up on Facebook and I just can’t help but post it up here. I’m sure many of you know these fabulous swing dancing ladies from Sweden, but maybe you haven’t seen them as Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn? They might kill me, but they look so glamorous in their fifties getup, in that crazy Swedish scenery! Hopefully they’ll forgive me for posting it up here!

Categories: Clothing
Tagged: 1950s, audrey hepburn, beach, dance, Emelie DecaVita, fifties, Gotland, lindy hop, marilyn monroe, Rebecka DecaVita, Sweden, swing

11 Dec 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (0)

Katja has gone black!

The best bob hairdo in Lindy Hop without a doubt goes to the drop-dead gorgeous Katja Hrastar from Slovenia, and I just noticed on Facebook today that she’s gone from fiery redhead to femme fatale ebony black. Ooh la la! Either way, still the best bob since the 1920s. Luckily for us, one of her best buddies happens to be the brilliant photographer Luka Dolenc, so there’s plenty of documentation of Katja’s uber fabulous hair!

Come to think of it, Katja is a pretty smashing photographer herself. Check out her website for more photos. Anyway, check out these 1920s illustrations and you’ll see just how spot-on that ‘do is:

And of course, I can’t go without mentioning Louise Brooks, the 1920s and 30s actress who made this kind of bob iconic:

Categories: Celebrities, Hair
Tagged: 1920s, 1930s, bob, crop, dance, dancer, do, eton, Hair, katja hrastar, lindy hop, Louise Brooks, shingle, Slovenia, style, swing

1 Dec 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (2)

Polyvore: Blousin’ Around

Polyvore, the ultimate fashion procrastination tool. Here’s a simple set of blouses I would totally wear…

Click here to visit this set on Polyvore

Items in this set include:
Alexander McQueen blouse, 1,275 GBP
Christian Dior blouse, 595 GBP
Birdla.com blouse, $455
Maruione.jp blouse, $224
Luella blouse, 215 GBP

Categories: Clothing
Tagged: blouses, polyvore, set, swing, Tops

30 Nov 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (4)

Shoes on Amazon.com

So, you will have noticed the new Best of Swing & Vintage on Amazon banner in the sidebar, and this is what I’ve been procrastinating with the last week, what fun! I’ve set up my very own Amazon store, with all – well the name says it all really – the best of swing and vintage to be found on Amazon.com. It’s so fun, like curating your own collection. Anyway, the best thing though is the shoes! I mean, we all think of Amazon for books, CDs, DVDs, but I had no idea there were so many shoes!! There’s loads of styles, but for example, here’s some of my favorite granny heels:

Yeah, on Amazon! Who would of thought….

Categories: Shoes
Tagged: balboa, dance, granny, heels, lindy hop, retro, Shoes, swing, t-bar, vintage

8 Oct 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (5)

What’s Hot: International Lindy Hop Championships 2009

Thanks to Toni Duguid for uploading about a million photos from this year’s International Lindy Hop Championships to Flickr. Check them all out, they’re beautiful photos! Here’s some of SwingFashionista’s favourite looks…

Categories: Events & Festivals
Tagged: 1930s, 1940s, Alice Mei, Annie Trudeau, Carl Nelson, Carla Heiney, championships, Claudia Joyal-Laplante, Davis Thurber, Dax Hock, Evita Arce, fashion, Frida Segerdahl, hop, ilhc, international, Jeremy Otth, Jo Hoffberg, Juan Villafane, Karen Turman, Kevin St Laurent, Laura Glaess, Laura Keat, lindy, looks, Max Pitruzella, mia goldsmith, Michael Jagger, Nathan Bugh, Nick Williams, Peter Strom, Ramona Staffield, retro, sharon davis, Skye Humphries, swing, Tiffany Wine, Todd Yannacone

9 Sep 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (1)

Frankie 95 Festival, New York City May 2009

I’ve finally got around to posting up some photos of well-dressed folks at Frankie Manning’s 95th Birthday celebrations in New York in May this year. Sorry for the delay, and remember, if you have any photos from this or any swing event, of swing girls OR guys looking fine, then email them through!

Categories: Events & Festivals
Tagged: 1930s, 1940s, dance, fashion, festival, forties, frankie, Frankie 95, hop, lindy, manning, new, retro, swing, thirties, york

8 Sep 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (3)

Urban Outfitters Shoes

Check out Urban Outfitters’ new season of shoes, available on their website. Above, the “Contributor Oxford” by Rachel Comey for only $78 – thanks Jo for sharing that one! Plenty of flat lace-up Oxfords for women, saddle shoes, heels with retro mesh or cutouts, and of course, plenty of the Lindy Hopper’s essential canvas tennis shoes, in a bunch of bright colors (and two pairs for $30). Coolest thing, if you order online, shipping AND returns are free. Here’s a few more:

For more shoes, go to Jo’s post about ASOS!

Categories: Clothing, Shoes
Tagged: dance, heel, hop, lindy, outfitters, oxford, saddle, Shoes, swing, urban

4 Sep 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (2)

Southern Belle Swing Bash, Atlanta, August 2009

Both ladies and gents turned out in fine style last weekend for the Southern Belle Swing Bash in Atlanta GA. A fabulous event, not to be missed! The only thing I can say is why were there so few ladies in the Charleston contest? Here’s a true SwingFashionista.com tip: ladies, it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got many moves, just find yourself a cute outfit, and get out there and shake it! Congrats to Morgan (and her gloves) who won – now, that lady knows how to work a cute outfit! Here’s a few more pics from the weekend:

Categories: Events & Festivals
Tagged: atlanta, bash, belle, southern, swing, usa

28 Aug 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (3)

Original Jitterbug Fashions

What the LA swing dancers wore back in the day:

Above: The Ray Rand Dancers

Above: Venna Archer & Gil Brady

Categories: Vintage Photos
Tagged: dancers, jitterbug, LA, lindy hop, Los Angeles, Ray Rand, swing

11 Aug 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (0)

Swing Fashion on The Sartorialist

Every now and again swing fashion is featured on influential international street fashion blog, The Sartorialist. Here we have some shots taken at Governor’s Island in June 2009. The Sartorialist doesn’t give the name of the event or names of the stylish swing fashionistas in the photos, so if you know these details, email them to shaz@swingfashionista.com

Categories: Events & Festivals, Men's Fashion
Tagged: art, deco, fashion, governors, island, sartorialist, swing

15 Jul 2009 Posted by Sharon Comments (0)

Boys rockin’ the vintage at Swing Crash Festival ’09

As usual in Italy, the boys were just as well dressed as the girls at this year’s Swing Crash Festival, in Como. And let’s face it, men in vintage suits was one of the main reasons I got into swing. Got any more pics of swing boys rockin’ the vintage and looking fine? Send them through: shaz@swingfashionista.com Uuhh, for the blog, honest.

Above, Vincenzo Fesi & DJ Ivan. Here’s a few more from Swing Crash 2009, notables including Pontus Persson, Peter Loggins, Todd Yannacone, Guiseppe Olla & Juan Villafane: