Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday! I'm going away to visit my family, so I won't be writing for a while. But I can guarantee I'm going to have some vintage treasures to show off when I get back! Much love....

Vintage Wedding Gown

I'm getting married in February, so I'm trying to decide which decade of dress I'm gonna go with. My choices are a short flapper style 1920's dress, or a slinky satin bais cut 1930's dress. I posted pictures of 2 similar dresses. Two totally different looks! I can't decide! I love them both! I suppose whichever one fits me better closer to the date :)

Vintage Fashion 1929

I found this picture and I had to post it. Recognize the ladies in the middle? If not, it's Clara Bow and Jean Harlow in a photo from the late 1920's film "The Saturday Night Kid". All the girls are so adorable, and so are their dresses! Clara Bow's wardrobe for the film didn't fit, so she passed it on to the then unknown actress Jean Harlow, who was very grateful and apparently never forgot the favor. Obviously Clara, being the huge star that she was, must of had the most desirable and gorgeous wardrobes for her films. I love the dress Clara is wearing in the above photo, the buttons, the pleated skirt, the collar, so beautiful! All the girls look so great.

Keeping Warm This Winter

I was browsing on Ebay today and found some great 1940's coats and 1950's coats. It's starting to get colder so I think I may need to get another one. There were so many beautiful vintage coats, but these are my favorite three. For now anyway!

Vintage Holiday Dresses

Here's some beautiful 1930's and 1940's dresses that would turn heads this holiday season. My favorite vintage dress is the lilac colored satin one in middle. I also love Barbara Stanwyck's little fuzzy bolero jacket worn with her long black gown. The picture is from "Christmas in Connecticut". Has anyone seen it? I haven't, but I would love to. It sounds pretty cute. I actually bought the dvd for my sister for Christmas this year. I was hoping I could somehow unwrap it, watch it, and then seal it back up, but I don't think that's gonna work. Too bad. Last but not least that gorgeous velvet dress. I'm picturing it in a deep red, but you can pretty much picture it in whatever color you want. :)

Vintage Christmas Browsing

On Ebay that is. I decided to browse today, as I've done more than enough real shopping in the last few days! Though thats never stopped me before....hmmm, I may have to put a bid on that purse. Anyways, I tried to find some good holiday looking items. I found a beautiful red velvet 1950's dress, a vintage lucite bracelet, a 50's lucite purse and of course some gorgeous red vintage shoes!

Vintage Christmas Decorating

I decided to decorate my place early this year. Otherwise, it seems that as soon as put the decorations up, I have to take them right down again! So I have posted some photos of my vintage decorations. I was looking at some photos of 1950's Christmas trees, and I saw that most of them had tinsle. So I went out and got some tinsle to give my tree more of a vintage look. Do you think the tree looks better with or without the tinsle?

Different Shades of Jane

I came across this photo of Jane Russell with bleached blonde hair, which surprised me since I had only seen her as a brunette before. Then I found the red haired Jane photo, which I thought suited her a bit more than the blonde. What do you think? Jane as a brunette, blonde or redhead? I personally love her with dark hair best. So glamorous.

Vintage Winter Coat

Wow! Check out this 1940's coat. I want it! I found it on Ebay, but it's not my size. I love vintage coats, especially ones from the 40's and 50's. They just have so much class.

Grace Kelly in Rear Window

I went to see a matinee of Rear Window today at the theater downtown. I'm so thankful that there's a theater close by that plays old movies, otherwise I'd never get to see my favorite films on the big screen! Anyhow, it's been a few years since I had seen it, and this time I really noticed what elegance Grace brings to the film. She also displays a gorgeous collection of early 50's fashion. It's funny, at the beginning of the movie her character kind of annoys me, but by the end I love her.

Cute Vintage Swimsuit

Here is the latest edition to my vintage bathing suit collection. I swear I buy twice as many swimsuits in the winter as I do in the summer! Kind of like how I crave ice cream in winter and not as much in the summer. I think its a reverse psychology thing! Anyways, my new swimsuit looks late 1950's or maybe early 1960's. I'll have to check it out more once I receive it in the mail. It can be my early Christmas present!

Vintage Shoe Shopping

I just won 2 pairs of gorgeous vintage shoes on Ebay! First is a pair of flapper style 1930's shoes with silver t straps. I love them. The second pair are black suede 1940's heels. Of course, I love them too. Now I just hope that they fit me!

Vintage Lucite Heels with Roses

Have you ever seen heels like these? Wow, I love them. Lucite 1950's shoes with roses inside them! How unique are they?! I've found lucite heels with rhinestones before, but never roses!

How do Vintage Starlets Measure Up?

Which vintage starlet is your height? I was surprised at some of the heights that I found! For some reason I always thought Joan Crawford and Veronica Lake were really tall, but they weren't. Anyways, check out the info I found!

5'1"

-Norma Shearer -Mary Pickford

5'2"

-Louise Brooks -Jean Harlow -Veronica Lake

5'3"

-Clara Bow -Lana Turner -Vivian Leigh -Olivia DeHavilland

5'4"

-Betty Grable -Carole Lombard -Joan Crawford -Bette Davis

5'5"

-Marilyn Monroe -Barbara Stanwyck -Ginger Rogers -Mae West

5'6"

-Myrna Loy -Ava Gardner -Rita Hayworth -Jayne Mansfield

5'7"

-Jane Russell -Audrey Hepburn -Gene Tierny -Grace Kelly

5'8"

-Greta Garbo -Katherine Hepburn -Maureen O'Hara

5'9"

-Lauren Bacall -Carole Landis -Sophia Loren

5'10"

-Ingrid Bergman

Vintage Halloween Presents

Instead of candy, this October I bought myself some non-edible treats! I'll start with the least expensive to the most pricey. First, 2 Clara Bow dvds. One is her third speaking role in "The Saturday Night Kid", which also features Jean Harlow. It's one of Jeans first roles and she has one line in the whole movie. They're both so adorable! The other Clara dvd is "Call Her Savage", which was apparently her favorite role. Next I got a beautiful blue velvet 1940's vintage hat. It's so cute. Lastly, I bought the most gorgeous rayon 1940's dress. I'll have to post pictures soon! As for now, enjoy the Clara Halloween pic!

Bonnie and Clyde

I watched the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde" last night. The movie was enjoyable enough, but it always bothers me when period films aren't authentic to the time they're portraying. I just don't take it as seriously.
The producers seemed to have had enough money to put into the set, the cars, and even the clothes. When it came to doing the hair and make-up though, it looked like they just couldn't be bothered. So what did they say, "Hey guys, we just spent all this time and money making the whole town look like the early 30's, but don't worry about hair and make-up! Just do it modern 1960's!"
This is most recognisable on Faye Dunaway's character Bonnie. I have posted a photo of the real "Bonnie". Even if they didn't want Faye to look exactly like Bonnie, they could have at least given her a 1930's look. The 30's were known for short hair, finger waves and thin eye-brows, but there you have Faye with her very 60's hair and heavy liquid eyeliner.

I don't get it.

Vintage Lamp

I picked up the cutest 50's lamp two days ago. It's small, about a foot tall and has a 1950's fiberglass shade. I love those vintage fiberglass shades! Anyways, it's pink with silver and white swirls throughout. My whole bedroom glows pink now!

Vintage Starlet of the Day

Leila Hyams. Leila appeared in many of the early talkies of the late 1920's and early 1930's. The movie theater by my house plays old movies quite often, so last night I was lucky enough to see "Freaks" and "Dracula" on the big screen. Leila Hyams stars in "Freaks", the 1932 film about a traveling circus and the scandals that take place within it. The film was actually banned for 30 years because it disturbed movie goers at the time. Anyhow, the beautiful Leila stars in this film which role was originally intended for Jean Harlow. Ultimately MGM decided not to cast any major stars in this movie. I thought Leila was great and would love to see more of her! Unfortunately only 4 of Leilas films have been released on dvd, which is quite sad when you find out she appeared in over 50 films! Apparently 48 of her films are still stored away and have never been released.

Interesting fact: Leila used to carry around a little satin bag attatched to her garter, which contained extra stockings in case the ones she was wearing got damaged:)

Vintage Clothing Sale!

Well, it's the time of year that I need to make room for new vintage goodies in my shop! From now until the end of the year, I will be taking 20% off everything in my vintage store (Proper Vintage Clothing). All you have to do is send me an email and I'll discount whatever item you would like. The link to my store is in the sidebar to the left.

I have posted a photo of a 1930's dressing gown that I just got. It's so delicate and beautiful! I still can't believe how glamorous women used dress when they were getting ready to get dressed! That sounds funny. Hence the "dressing gown".

Bombshell 1950's Dress!

Wow, check out this 50's vintage dress I just got! I love how the chiffon is layered so has a puffy look to it. It must have been a prom gown, or worn for something very special! Unfortunately it's too big for me so I'll have to put it on my website. Hmm, who could I picture wearing this? Maybe Betty Grable or Marilyn Monroe in "How to Marry a Millionaire"? I wouldn't say Bacall, as her dresses seemed a little more conservative compared to the other two. But this is more of the glamorous girly look that they had, I love it!

Vintage Radio Find

I went to a antique & collectors show last weekend, and look what I got! It's a combination radio and record player from 1946. In perfect working condition! It's actually the "Bing Crosby model" as Bing promoted this radio in the 1940's. Hey, if it's good enough for Bing, it's good enough for me!

Vintage Workout Wear

I started going to the gym again, and it's got me thinking. What did ladies used to wear while working out or playing sports? Say during the 40's or 50's. I know that "working out" wasn't what it is today, but it did exist. Marilyn Monroe used to lift weights, and Jean Harlow & Ginger Rogers were avid golf and tennis players. In the photos I found, it looks like the usual shorts & tops worked just fine. But wow, I wish I looked that cute while at the gym! These modern day lycra outfits just aren't the same. I do have some absolutely adorable 1940's shorts that I could wear, but I wouldn't wanna chance getting them all sweaty! Not to mention the weird looks I'd get! Haha, but I'm used to that wearing vintage clothing all the time. No pain, no gain:)

Vintage 60's Bikini

Oooh yay! I finally won a couple auctions on Ebay! The first is the cutest little 1960's bathing suit. It's a pink gingham bullet bra bikini, and styled exactly like the one on the picture above. The second one is a 1930's wool one piece! There are a couple tiny holes in it, but overall in excellent condition. Too bad I'll probably have to wait until next year to show them off!

Vintage Starlet of the Day

Lucille Ball. I remember watching Stage Door with my sister and thinking "that dosen't look like the same Lucy from the I Love Lucy Show!" She was just so much more glamorous and gorgeous! Lucy grew up in New York in the 1920's and attended dramatic school with Bette Davis. Apparently Bette got all the attention and Lucy was constantly sent home and told she was too shy. Strange to think that now. Lucy did some modeling and soon started getting movie roles in the 1930's. Did you know Lucy and Ginger Rogers were best friends until Lucy's death in 1989? I guess cute redheads stick together:)

I posted my favorite Lucy photos above. Isn't she stunning?