a vintage lifestyle blog centered on uniqueness, craftsmanship, and authentic relationships
source Imagine what traveling to the Middle East would have seemed like to Westerners in the 1910s and 20s. Picture it with me.... You've finally arrived in Egypt after a few days of travel. You are riding through old Cairo, surrounded on all sides by thousands of years of history. Tall mosques tower around you on either side, and you hear the muezzins perform the call to prayer with long, haunting notes and exotic minor key melodies. You drive past the proud lions of the Qasr Al-Nil bridge, sharing the road with donkey carts, pedestrians, and loping camels with tall piles of hay on their backs. Next to your window a man in a long white robe and turban carries a long tray of bread on his head, shouting, "Aish! Aish!" to inform everyone of his wares. Women sit in the doorways and watch their children, chatting and laughing. Merchants selling large gold bangles and coined scarves use their most persuasive language to convince potential buyers. The air is filled with the scent of sweet perfumes, humanity, and cinnamon shisha smoke. Old men sit in cafes and sip tea as they play backgammon and discuss politics. They pause to stare at you as you drive by. source You drive to the outskirts of the city, the buildings being separated by more and more sand. You pull up in front of the Mena House, your lodging for the trip, amazed at the detail and lush setting in such a harsh desert. You step out and the hot desert wind hits your face, the hum of humanity far behind you, and now only quiet rustling of the palm trees. source A doorman in long, flowing trousers and a red fez cap opens the boot of the car and takes out your steamer trunk. You follow him through the entrance of the hotel and are taken aback at the luxurious furnishings, exactly what you had only imagined and seen in movies. source You check in, and your things are taken to your room. You go back outside to mingle with the other fine looking ladies and gentleman on the veranda. As you walk out, you gasp as you look ahead and see the stunning view of the pyramids at your doorstep. You sit and sip tea, the slight grit of sand and dryness of the desert air softly blowing your curls, and you soak it all in. source You can see why Westerners were fascinated with the Middle East in the 1910s and 20s! It was romanticized in art, movies, music, dance, and literature, and the discovery of the treasures of Tutankhamen's tomb in the 20s added to the style craze. As people read about it in their homes- a place so drastically different from places like Illinois, Quebec, and England- they learned of beautiful women living in harems, flowing robes and jewel-encrusted turbans. The Middle East was a place of mystery, intrigue, and glamour. source Thus, many 1910s and 1920s styles drew from these exotic influences. Jeweled clothing, lavish layers, turbans, tunics, robes, head wraps, harem pants, fringe, all of these were included in 10s and 20s clothing: source vintage Assiut tunic (named for a city in Upper Egypt); the design is done in metal work on mesh source men's Turkish robe I'll be highlighting Poiret and showing you guys my 1920s Orientalism-inspired look later this week! Meanwhile, if you'd like some more info about Orientalism in this time period, here are a couple good sources: Assiut tunic Orientalism in Dress, 1910s Fashion Scheherazade Orientalism, 1910
I love fashion photography of the last century and more if it is framed in the wonderful city of NY. I made a selection of the work of the best fashion photographers who portrayed the 40’s, 5…
See these vintage McDonald's restaurants - the food, menu boards, uniforms, old ads and retro architecture - starting back when fries were 10 cents in the '50s, to the food concepts of the '90s.
Ysenda Maxtone Graham quizzed dozens of former female boarders across the UK about their school life for her new book, Terms & Conditions: Life In Girls’ Boarding Schools 1939-1979.
A while ago, I ran across this picture of a "Teddy Girl" somewhere on the internet, and I LOVED her look: (I don't know that it's original vintage as the famous Ken Russell Teddy Girl photos were taken in London, and this girl is wearing an American Air Force jacket, but nonetheless, the Teddy Girls were brought to my attention!) I began researching who the Teddy Girls were, and here's what I found out: Very little is known about the Teddy Girl subculture of late 1940s to early 1960s Britain. They are often pictured in the rubble of bombed-out buildings, the result of World War II. However, if it weren't for Ken Russell's photo shoot from 1955 and one article that mentioned them in the 1950s, the small group may have been forgotten all together! The Teddy Girls were a spin off of the Teddy Boys, a group of working class London boys (often poor Irish immigrants) that would hang out on the streets and in cafes, oftentimes known for causing a bit of trouble and being general "hooligans". Their dress (and sometimes, actions) seemed to draw inspiration from the old American Wild West and Edwardian period. Sometimes they were connected with more violent crime, much like modern gangs (hence the picture below this paragraph, probably). However, most Teddy Girls claimed that the negative, law-breaking part of their culture really applied to only a very small number of girls. Rose Shine, a Teddy Girl in some of Russell's 1955 photos, described what their culture was really like, "We weren't bad girls. We were all right. We got slung out of the picture house for jiving up the aisles once, but we never broke the law. We weren't drinkers. We'd go to milk bars, have a peach melba and nod to the music, but you weren't allowed to dance. It was just showing off: 'Look at us!' We called the police 'the bluebottles' -- you'd see them come round in a Black Maria to catch people playing dice on the corner. But we'd just sit on each other's doorsteps and play music." Those crazies. While the boys dressed mainly in drainpipe trousers and blazers with a twinge of Edwardian influence, Teddy Girls embraced many silhouettes. Some chose more "mannish" styles with short hair, blazers, and even jeans: by Roger Mayne Some girls, on the other hand, still wore earrings, hats, head scarves, espadrilles, skirts, and jewelry, all with an Edwardian flair: by Roger Mayne It's really interesting to think that these ladies were the vintage gals of their day! In the 1950s, they were bringing back styles from the Edwardian decades past, just as we do with their time now! They were inspired to go against the flow of their mainstream culture and dress as they pleased. Does anyone identify? I know I do! You can bet you'll be seeing a Teddy Girl-inspired outfit post from me soon! What do you think of the Teddy Girl style? Would you incorporate any of their looks into your wardrobe? (All photos by Ken Russell unless otherwise noted) Other sources for info: Enjoy Your Style- "Teddy Girls" Style Icons: Teddy Girls Hint Blog: Randomness "When the Girls Came Out to Play" by Susannah Price 1950s Subculture: Teddy Girls 50s/60s British Fashion: the Teddy Boys (and Girls)
To coincide with the 30th anniversary of the film Dirty Dancing, here's a look back at how cool the dance floor looked during the '50s and '60s.
These were popular back when a gallon of milk only cost $0.82!
Flashback-Grade Pieces of 70s and 80s Nostalgia - The internet has generated a huge amount of laughs from cats and FAILS. And we all out of cats.
Flashback-Grade Pieces of 70s and 80s Nostalgia - The internet has generated a huge amount of laughs from cats and FAILS. And we all out of cats.
Iconic clown Ronald McDonald is getting a hip new look for the first time in nine years, and it's quite a departure from his first outfit, a food-tray hat and cup nose, worn by TODAY's Willard Scott in 1963. Donning a red-and-white striped suit and larger-than-life smile, Willard starred as the hamburger-happy clown in a series of early commercials.Now the Twitter-embracing character is styled i
In 1969, Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane took the music world by storm with her powerful and captivating performances. With a voice that could reach the heavens, she sang about love, peace, and understanding in an era of significant social change.
The Miami Herald reported in 1952 on the burgeoning number of local drive-in restaurants staffed by scantily clad young women. "There seems to be a race going on among Miami drive-in restaurant o
Flashback-Grade Pieces of 70s and 80s Nostalgia - The internet has generated a huge amount of laughs from cats and FAILS. And we all out of cats.
Flashback-Grade Pieces of 70s and 80s Nostalgia - The internet has generated a huge amount of laughs from cats and FAILS. And we all out of cats.
Moments become memories. Here are some of mine. via I remember hearing my father getting ready for work well before dawn. He delivered mail out on remote country roads. via I remember my mom and dad taking us to this drive-in theatre in Rule, Texas. Mom always dressed us in pajamas beforehand. via As a
Contrary to that hoary old adage, a book is often judged by its cover. Whether that’s right or wrong, is unimportant, that’s just how it is. Indeed, it’s far easier to dismiss a book by its cover because so many books today look stupid. Once book covers were discussed, considered and only then created by a team of whizz kid artists and designers. Nowadays, it’s easy to find three or four books by different authors on different genres with exactly the same black & white or color stock photo. It’s bad economics and lazy design. Even at their worst though, pulp covers are aesthetically interesting. Some artist has invested time and effort into creating a cover that would (hopefully) bring readers to the pages. Not all pulp covers work—but at least they show some intelligence at play rather than just an editor indifferently picking a stock pic of a snowy street out of a catalog to save money. This selection of covers for pulp fiction and nonfiction books on LSD and other psychedelic drugs give some idea to the variation in style book designers once had. Not all of these covers hit the...
A while ago, I ran across this picture of a "Teddy Girl" somewhere on the internet, and I LOVED her look: (I don't know that it's original vintage as the famous Ken Russell Teddy Girl photos were taken in London, and this girl is wearing an American Air Force jacket, but nonetheless, the Teddy Girls were brought to my attention!) I began researching who the Teddy Girls were, and here's what I found out: Very little is known about the Teddy Girl subculture of late 1940s to early 1960s Britain. They are often pictured in the rubble of bombed-out buildings, the result of World War II. However, if it weren't for Ken Russell's photo shoot from 1955 and one article that mentioned them in the 1950s, the small group may have been forgotten all together! The Teddy Girls were a spin off of the Teddy Boys, a group of working class London boys (often poor Irish immigrants) that would hang out on the streets and in cafes, oftentimes known for causing a bit of trouble and being general "hooligans". Their dress (and sometimes, actions) seemed to draw inspiration from the old American Wild West and Edwardian period. Sometimes they were connected with more violent crime, much like modern gangs (hence the picture below this paragraph, probably). However, most Teddy Girls claimed that the negative, law-breaking part of their culture really applied to only a very small number of girls. Rose Shine, a Teddy Girl in some of Russell's 1955 photos, described what their culture was really like, "We weren't bad girls. We were all right. We got slung out of the picture house for jiving up the aisles once, but we never broke the law. We weren't drinkers. We'd go to milk bars, have a peach melba and nod to the music, but you weren't allowed to dance. It was just showing off: 'Look at us!' We called the police 'the bluebottles' -- you'd see them come round in a Black Maria to catch people playing dice on the corner. But we'd just sit on each other's doorsteps and play music." Those crazies. While the boys dressed mainly in drainpipe trousers and blazers with a twinge of Edwardian influence, Teddy Girls embraced many silhouettes. Some chose more "mannish" styles with short hair, blazers, and even jeans: by Roger Mayne Some girls, on the other hand, still wore earrings, hats, head scarves, espadrilles, skirts, and jewelry, all with an Edwardian flair: by Roger Mayne It's really interesting to think that these ladies were the vintage gals of their day! In the 1950s, they were bringing back styles from the Edwardian decades past, just as we do with their time now! They were inspired to go against the flow of their mainstream culture and dress as they pleased. Does anyone identify? I know I do! You can bet you'll be seeing a Teddy Girl-inspired outfit post from me soon! What do you think of the Teddy Girl style? Would you incorporate any of their looks into your wardrobe? (All photos by Ken Russell unless otherwise noted) Other sources for info: Enjoy Your Style- "Teddy Girls" Style Icons: Teddy Girls Hint Blog: Randomness "When the Girls Came Out to Play" by Susannah Price 1950s Subculture: Teddy Girls 50s/60s British Fashion: the Teddy Boys (and Girls)
Art.com | We Are Art We exist so you can have the art you love. Art.com gives you easy access to incredible art images and top-notch craftsmanship. High-Quality Framed Art Prints Our high-end framed wall art is printed on premium paper using non-toxic, archival inks that protect against UV light to resist fading. Experience unmatched quality and style as you choose from a wide range of designs to enhance your room décor. Professionally Crafted Framed Wall Art Attention to detail is at the heart of our process, as we exclusively use 100% solid wood frames that include 4-ply white core matboard and durable, frame-grade clear acrylic for clarity, long-lasting protection of the artwork and unrivaled quality. With a thoughtfully selected frame and mat combination, this piece is designed to complement your art and create a visually appealing display. Easy-to-Hang & Ready-to-Display Artwork Each framed art piece comes with hanging hardware affixed to the back of the frame, allowing for easy and convenient installation. Ready to display right out of the box. Handcrafted in the USA. This image from the archives of LIFE magazine first appeared on May 13, 1957. The Print This photographic print leverages sophisticated digital technology to capture a level of detail that is absolutely stunning. The colors are vivid and pure. The high-quality archival paper, a favorite choice among professional photographers, has a refined luster quality. Paper Type: Photographic Print Finished Size: 24" x 18" Arrives by Sat, May 18 Product ID: 14037727A
Words that conjure up style images of the 1970s in New Jersey include: platform shoes, pants suits and bell bottoms, "sizzler" dresses, sideburns and 'staches.
These were popular back when a gallon of milk only cost $0.82!
Toda la verdad sobre el #azúcar refinado, la sacarina y otros sustitutivos, en este artículo http://t.co/4yHwptml6t
These were popular back when a gallon of milk only cost $0.82!
Miss Modish is Jena Coray, a writer and marketing/pr coach helping creative entrepreneurs grow their business. Follow along to learn how to ditch the ick in your marketing, and life!
a vintage lifestyle blog centered on uniqueness, craftsmanship, and authentic relationships
www.scanagogo.com 1968
Last week I discussed girdles and how essential they are to creating a period correct foundation for your garments. I also mentioned that I use them mainly for the garters to hold up my stockings.…
Photo by Helmut Newton, 1965.
Delta Gamma girls singing in a bus which is taking them through the snow and mud to the talent show. Photograph by Lisa Larsen. North Dakota, May 1950.
