Swing Fashionista » thirties

Top Picks: Ralph Lauren Spring 2012

Sharon — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:16:59 +0000

Ralph Lauren fully embracing the 1920s trend for the season, in anticipation of Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby…

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.

Chloe Memisevic in Donna Karan by Yasunari Kikuma

Sharon — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:47:55 +0000

Chloe Memisevic in Donna Karan by Yasunari Kikuma for Numéro Tokyo November 2011

The many hairstyles of Ginger Rogers

Sharon — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:14:06 +0000

Ginger is definitely one of my greatest idols, and her look in the 30s inspired me to go blonde myself. She had a long career, so her style (and hairstyles!) span the golden era of showbiz. Here are some of her looks that I love love love.

Modcloth: So many shoes, so little time…

Sharon — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:50:31 +0000

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….

100 Years of Fashion in 100 seconds

Sharon — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:47:53 +0000

Lovely! Great concept, how fantastic…

Three lovely gowns: Chanel, Fall 2011 Couture

Sharon — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 05:53:06 +0000

Some strong 1920s and 1930s influences in these three gowns on the Chanel couture catwalk…

Vanity Fair September 11: Editorial for W.E

Sharon — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:02:08 +0000

Oh what a delicious editorial in this month’s Vanity Fair, shot by Tom Munro! The shoot is to promote the upcoming film W.E (directed by Madonna!) which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in a few days. If you haven’t heard about it yet, W.E of course stands for Wallis and Edward, and the film will explore the story of the romance between Mrs Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne to marry the glamorous divorcee. Some stills have been released from the film, so I will post those as well – it’s going to be a Swing Fashionista’s dream come true, swoon!

Everyday fashions of the 20s, 30s & 40s by Sears

Michelle — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:34:56 +0000

For me, as a vintage clothing collector and wearer, old clothing catalogues are must have as they are gold-mines of imagery and info. Part of recreating a vintage look is understanding how an outfit was put together back in the day, and old catalogues are the best way to find this out.

The clothes people bought to wear to work, around the house, for vacations or for more formal or glamourous occasions are all to be found in Sears catalogues. Dresses, hats, shoes, purses and scarves, jewellery and stockings. These books are a wonderful record of exactly what people wore in the 20s, 30s and 40s and HOW they wore it. It can be hard to source original catalogues these days and most go for a fortune on ebay, so these three “Everyday Fashions” books from Dover Publications are great resource and not too expensive. I use them all the time as a reference. They are available from Amazon.com

Golden Gowns

Sharon — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:25:44 +0000

I stumbled across this photo of Cheryl Cole in a golden gown on the X-Factor. It reminded me of some photos of vintage starlets in metallic gowns I have set aside over the years. Amongst the beauties here we have Ginger Rogers, Jean Harlow, Baba Beaton, Rita Hayworth, Eleanor Powell, Nancy Coleman, Veronica Lake, Myrna Loy, Carol Hughes and Delores Del Rio. Wow, I need something like this…