posts tagged ‘vintage inspiration’
scarf tricks c. 1944
I’ll be the first to admit I am not the most consistent person when it comes to utilizing my stash of scarves. More often than not, like a lot of women, I’m at a bit of a loss to figure out more artistic ways to show one off! Some of these ideas from 1944 are quite dramatic and would be fun to try even in a modern context. Plus a scarf is a great way to add a little pick-me-up to your winter wardrobe right about now!
[ as usual, be sure to click for the enlarged view! ]
[ as usual, be sure to click for the enlarged view! ]
So I’m curious: would you try any of these scarf tricks? What is your favorite way to sport a pretty scarf?
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Posted to: quick trick, style inspiration, vintage inspiration. | 2 lovely thoughts
late 30s fashion in film {part two}
[ check out the unique, "winged" sleeves on the jacket, and the lacing up the front of the playsuit. ]
In my last round up of late 1930s film fashion, I can’t believe I forgot to mention one of my favorites (and seemingly many of your’s too!): the 1939 classic The Women! If you haven’t seen it, you really must. I won’t clutter this entry with a description of the plot, but suffice to say it’s a wonderful mash-up of fashion, amazing actresses (Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russel… just to name a few!), and witty dialog. It’s basically what we’d call in modern terms a “chick flick”, but it’s certainly one of the chicest chick flicks I’ve ever seen!
The film is so chock full of wonderful, over-the-top clothes (designed by the talented Gilbert Adrian), that I’m not even going to try and cover it all in one post! For this (first!) post I decided to cover my favorite part of the movie: the fashion show! Although the rest of the movie is in black and white, midway through the main characters attend a fashion show and the film switches into color (a true late 30s touch!). The fashions are fantastically theatrical as only Adrian could design them, with many sly winks at the mania for surrealism at the time. (Check out the beach jacket with the modeled-hand closure!) I hope you’ll be as inspired by all these fun looks as I am! (If you haven’t seen the movie, check out the scene in action here.)
Seeing all these makes me wildly excited about playsuits with sweet little details and jaunty hats! What details catch your eye?
[ more sweet playsuits. ]
[ one of the most interesting, surrealist pieces in the whole fashion show--check out the modeled hand clasp on the jacket! ]
[ I've pretty much decided if I can have a beach jacket with snappy red stripes around the shoulders, I'd be a happy girl! ]
[ more seaside fashions; two longer lounging outfits. the series of pockets on the left outfit are so interesting! ]
[ eye-catching cool-weather outfits. the center one is my favorite--especially the jaunty hat! ]
[ more gorgeous daywear. the fur details on the black outfit are pure Hollywood--so glamorous! ]
[ fanciful gowns. the one on the right with the simulated black skirt and midriff waistband and scalloped hem is so pretty! ]
[ more floaty gowns! ]
[ striking evening gowns. take a close look at the hat the model in the green gown is wearing: the crown is a clear plastic! ]
[ the caped evening ensemble is so interesting... ]
[ more glamorous looks! ]
[ I love this bustled gown so much--the shaping is divine, while the color keeps it elegant. ]
[ gloves all in one with the sleeves! ]
[ another nod to surrealism: gigantic gold "studs" on the gloves! ]post link
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In my last round up of late 1930s film fashion, I can’t believe I forgot to mention one of my favorites (and seemingly many of your’s too!): the 1939 classic The Women! If you haven’t seen [...]
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Posted to: style inspiration, vintage inspiration. | 40 lovely thoughts
weekend finds
[ weekend hunting finds. ]
Thank you all so, so much for the amazing comments about my latest sewing project! Per popular request, I am going to work on a couple sleeve support tutorials: first for puffed sleeves and then how to make 40s style shoulder pads. So hopefully those will be up soon!
[ two 50s patterns I found at the estate sale. I'm most excited about the robe/morning gown! ]
You may have noticed I skipped posting last Friday–I have a good excuse though! I was out hunting down an estate sale I had found out about and seeing if it held any goodies. This was the first estate sale I’ve ever been to (I know: really weird for a gal who has been thrifting/antiquing/yard-saling for years!), so I didn’t know what to expect. Although there were no amazing stashes of vintage clothing (boo!), I did come away with a couple vintage patterns, an old tablecloth, some notions, an old frame (slated to be made into a jewelry holder), and two matching feedsacks. Not bad!
[ vintage powder compacts! ]
Sunday the vintage-hunting fun continued when I met up with my new friend from swing dancing at a local vintage store. I got another pattern (a 40s jacket and skirt), and most excitingly: two powder compacts. I have been on the hunt for vintage compacts to add some flair to the contents of my purse for awhile, but I held out over Christmas and only just started looking with an eye to buy. Both of these, although not 100% perfect, fit the bill of functional and pretty. The black one is a bit scratched, but the lady at the store said it’s easy to fix with a bit of hobby model paint, so I’m going to raid Sailor Husband’s model building supplies and see what I can do to pretty it up. Now I just need to get some loose powder and follow Solanah’s tutorial for refilling a compact…
[ I am probably more excited about this find than is sane... ]
Otherwise, the weekend was fairly quiet: the weather was gloomy, so it was perfect for spending time reading and organizing ideas for my next sewing projects, and then Sunday evening was swing dancing. Last week I really wasn’t sure I was going to be able to learn how to dance–it just seemed too confusing! I feel a bit more confident and less clumsy after our second class. I am definitely not the most graceful or talented person on the dance floor–but at least it’s fun! What did you do over the weekend?
Have a great Monday, friends!
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Posted to: happy things, thrifting, vintage inspiration. | 27 lovely thoughts
twenty questions… answers pt. 1
[ our little trip this weekend to a museum. I decided to do "knot" buns with my hair! ]
Apologies that no post went up yesterday. I was having one of those days where I was sure I was on the set of an I Love Lucy episode, rather than my normal life–weird and wacky things just kept happening! The icing on the cake was when I powered my computer up to start a post and I had a software glitch. So… after some tinkering by Sailor Husband, I’m up and running on the web again. Still, it was weird to not be able to just pop online whenever I wanted; I kept thinking of things I wanted to look up and couldn’t… lol! The upside was that the “halfway finished” dress I started this weekend is now nearly complete… yay!
[ a tried and true outfit, but one of my favorites. also sporting my new Remix Vintage wedges! ]
How was your weekend? We spent Saturday out on the east coast of Florida, and then Sunday evening we went swing dancing for the first time! We both fell quite in love with it, although I decidedly dance with two left feet and still haven’t gotten the basics down for either jitterbug or lindy. lol. I have a lot of work ahead of me… I also got to meet a lovely gal who reads my blog! It’s always great to finally meet people in person who share the same interests I do and don’t regard you as some sort of crazy person. hehe!
Remember this post where I asked you to submit any questions you’d like me to answer? As long ago as it was (I’m such a bad blogger! lol), here’s the first half of the answers! Thank you so much for all your sweet questions (feel free to throw in any others you might have here)!
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Most of the vintage patterns I knit with on a regular basis are from booklet reprints available from Iva Rose. I also search the internet for any websites that might have free patterns available (because I always love free!); a few of my favorites: FreeVintageKnitting.com and Vintage Purls. Try searching “free vintage knitting patterns” on Google; it’s amazing how many resources are out there!
Yarn substitution can be the tricky part, and something I haven’t fully mastered yet. I always start out by Googling the yarn name and brand; sometimes there is a forum post or webpage that has some basic information on the yarn that can help. A good website is Wise Needle, which sometimes has yarns recorded that are matches for those I’m seeking information on. If that fails, then determining the weight of the yarn by the gauge listed on the pattern is the next step. I’m slowly learning to familiarize myself with what weight yarn is knitted on certain needles, and results in a certain gauge (I spent a lot of time browsing around Knit Picks and figuring matches of their yarn to whatever pattern I’m working on, based on needle size and gauge). It’s still hit or miss for me–especially in the area of ordering enough yarn for a project! My best suggestion, especially if you’re new to vintage knitting, is to visit your local yarn shop–the people that work there are usually very experienced knitters and can offer some great pointers if you’re stuck!
As for fiber content, I tend to stick with mostly natural fibers, and some blends. Websites like KnitPicks help make my knitting addiction and love of natural fibers affordable!
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At the moment, I don’t have a “regular” job in the traditional sense of the word. It’s a decision my husband and I made prior to getting married, plus we have some transportation issues that prevent me from commuting to a job. So for now, I do odd jobs as they come my way! But in the past I’ve done things from graphic and website design, selling vintage clothing, to making handcraft items for sale on Etsy. I’m planning on reopening my Etsy shop early in 2010 and striking out in that area again! I also like to think of my blogging as my part time job (I probably spend about the equivalent of working a part time job doing this each week. The difference is that I love this a lot more than any job I’ve held! lol!), and that has opened up several doors as well for me.
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It depends on the hairstyle! hehe! Some days, if I have some “playtime”, I will spend 30+ minutes on my hair for a more complicated ‘do. But on most days, my hair is either simply clipped back in the front (the back section left down), or I do one of my “lazy 40s” looks (such as this one, which take me no time. The ones that tend to take the longest are those that require Victory rolls. If I pincurl my hair the night before, that takes me another 45 minutes or so (I have really long hair, so it results in lots of pincurls). I have a few videos on my YouTube channel, which I have sadly let languish for several months! I have plans to start recording style tips and tutorials soon though!
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I maintain and shape my brows the old fashioned way: with a pair of angle tip tweezers! (The idea of waxing/threading is kind of like pedicures for me… I know I’ll get addicted to having someone do my brows and can’t afford to! lol.) I aim for a fairly natural, “fat” curve that is able to go 40s (a gentle and long, but slightly angled shape) or 50s (a highly arched shape and somewhat thicker). My natural brows aren’t very long, so I use a little kit from E.L.F. to fill in and extend the length at the outer edge a bit. I also use a different brush for the powder application: an angled liner brush for a precise, thin extension line.
As for shaping the brows, I use inspiration from \movie stars of the period. Most often though, my daily look is closest to Lauren Bacall’s brows (circa mid 40s).
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Aw, thank you! Truth be told, I don’t always fit things in! Sometimes I have to drop things, put projects off, or step away from this blog for a period because I have too much on my plate. (A failing of mine is that I tend to underestimate the time it’ll take me to do something, and say yes to everything.) But I think a large part of it has to do with the Brown family genes. I’m not kidding! My dad almost never relaxes in the traditional sense of the word; even on the weekends and holidays he’s working on household projects, writing or studying books. I get the “need” to be constantly active from him (and my granddad… there is a trend here!). Even in the evenings when I’m watching television with my husband, I usually have some sort of handwork to keep me occupied. Plus, we don’t have children yet, so I have a lot of “me time” available for projects.
Where do you find your vintage knitting patterns? Is it mostly via the internet? What kinds of yarn/substitutions do you suggest/use – I know acrylic wasn’t available until fairly recently.
I was just wondering, can you make a living of what you do? Sewing, blogging, graphic designing – or do you have a “regular” job as well? I do lots of different things myself and would love to hear what others do to make a living of it …
How long does it take you normally to do up your hair? Any chance of you sharing your styling tips in a video?
My question is about your eyebrows–do you get them professionally waxed or do you do it yourself? Tips on recreating vintage eyebrows?
How do you manage to fit everything in your schedule and still be able to look like a breath of fresh air.
I still have a few more questions to answer, so hopefully that post won’t be too far in the future! Hope you’re having a lovely day, friends!
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Apologies that no post went up yesterday. I was having one of those days where I was sure I was on the set of an I Love Lucy episode, rather than my normal life–weird and wacky things [...]
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Posted to: misc, vintage inspiration. | 19 lovely thoughts
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inspiration {week #104}
[ all vintage images this week... click for a larger view of these wonderful images & sources! ]
Whew! Can you believe it’s the end of another week already?! January has definitely been a bit of a whirlwind for me; not so much in comings and goings, but days just seem jam-packed with lots of little things to be done. Plus, I’m having serious project ADD lately, and spending (probably too much) free time day dreaming about various ideas. lol. One thing I have been working on is sorting the bins full of vintage clothing and patterns, sorting what I’d like to list first and starting to get that ready. Hopefully that means soon my Etsy shop will be open again!
- The glamorous Fleur has a lovely video featuring a week’s worth of her outfits–so inspiring!
- Some super-useful tips for keeping track of all those sewing patterns.
- Gertie (officially my Sewing Hero) has recorded and shared some excellent videos on tissue fitting patterns. I wish I had seen these years ago! View part one, two and three.
- I love this idea for a simple garland cut from old magazine pages using a punch cutter–would it’d be fun with others shapes as well? ( via. )
- Miriam showed a clever, old-school method to curling your hair: with toilet tissue! I think this is so neat!
[ click for a larger view. ]
This week’s inspiration image is mostly for the cute sailor dress in the lower right corner. As you know probably are well aware of, I love all things nautical and sailor-related, especially of the 1930s and 40s variety (this image hails from 1940). I am determined to make a sailor dress (or perhaps this adorable shorts and blouse set!) this year. (Along with the million other projects on my list… haha!) Don’t you love the title on this page too: “Easy Going Week-enders”?
‘Til next week… have a lovely weekend!
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Posted to: vintage inspiration, weekly inspiration. | 9 lovely thoughts
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