A decade of Hollywood-inspired sophistication and grown-up glamour sandwiched in between the roaring 20s and the austerity of the 1940s.
Doesn’t every girl love paper dolls? I always loved them as a child and these are delightful! They were published in a French magazine and I’m guessing by the fashions that they’re from the 1930s. Suzy has a truly amazing wardrobe which I’m very jealous of – I particularly adore the dress with all the(…)
Fay Wray is perhaps the most famous of all the early scream queens because of her role as Ann Darrow in King Kong. She began her career aged just 19 in 1926 as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (actresses who the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers thought were on the threshold of movie(…)
I love old Hollywood Horror movies, they can be scary but not in the horrible gory vile way that movies tend to be today. I watched the 1958 version of Dracula the other day and it was an absolute delight! Not really scary at all, nice comfy horror, which is just about right for me!(…)
I love the different Hallowe’en costumes in these photos, although being British I always find it strange to see people dressing in ‘regular’ fancy dress during Hallowe’en. Here we just wear spooky costumes (ghosts, skeletons etc) whereas in America any kind of fancy dress seems fine. Anyone know why? I have no idea but I’d(…)
I’d forgotten just how delightful Fred and Ginger movies are. It’s been probably 15 years at least since I last watched one and they really are the best kind of movies. If you love a good rom-com, amazing dancing and show stopping glamour, then they really are for you. Swing Time has got to be(…)
Boy have there been some strange beauty contests over the years! These photos include the contestants for ‘Miss Psywar’ (doesn’t that stand for Phsychological Warfare…?), ‘Miss War Worker’ and ‘Miss Bobbed Hair 1925’…
Myrna Loy is perhaps known best for her roles as femme fatale in silent movies. Because of her exotic beauty she was often cast in the role of Asian or Eurasian characters but later became a popular female lead in romantic comedies where she was frequently paired with William Powell and Clark Gable. Here are(…)
The 1930s are a decade which haven’t really had a popular revival in the same way that the other decades of the 20th Century have. Pretty much anyone can tell you what a 1920s flapper looked like, or a 1950s circle skirt or a 1960s Mary Quant mini dress but quite often if you mention(…)
10 wierd, wonderful (and sometimes terrifying) vintage inventions which have been lost in the mists of time… My favourite is the collapsable bridge invented by Mr Deth.
Did you think clowns couldn’t get more disturbing than ‘Cho-Cho the health clown‘ who terrified young children into good dental hygiene habits in the 1920s? Well it turns out they can be a darn site scarier. I don’t think any of these clowns were intended to terrify but they’ll certainly haunt my dreams. Wish I’d(…)
The 1930s was such an elegant decade, and nothing shows this more than the beautiful wedding dresses people wore. Here’s a gallery of a few of my favourites. I particularly love that little flowergirl’s striped dress, which is your favourite? Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and copyright:
Marion Davies is as well known for being a famous man’s mistress as she is for being a movie star. She already had a successful movie career when she first met newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and became his lover. The relationship didn’t do her career any harm at all. He both financed her movies(…)
Apparently some people prefer taking exercise on the beach rather than just lounging with a Margarita. I don’t understand it myself. It’s all very impressive but I’d be hanging out with that handsome guy in the bottom photo chilling out and getting a tan.
Swedish-born Greta was christened Greta Lovisa Gustafsson. Garbo’s first job was as a soap-lather girl in a barbershop. She also worked as an errand girl in a department store, in the millinery department selling hats and as a model before her acting career took off. After being spotted by MGM she moved to America where(…)
Betty Ford wasn’t born a First Lady (well, of course she wasn’t!), and in fact didn’t even meet Gerald Ford until she was 30 years old and divorced from her first husband. All of these photos are from when she was still young Betty Bloomer before she married and I thought it was just lovely(…)
Cheerleaders didn’t always look and dress they way they do today. Far from athletic girls in crop tops Cheerleaders of the 1920s looked very different (and they weren’t just women), and in the 1950s it was the band girls dressed in the sexy outfits, the cheerleaders looked very different! Here are some vintage cheerleading photos(…)
We all know Carmen Miranda as the famously exotic lady in the tutti-frutti hat, complete with stacked platform shoes and fabulously ruffled costumes, but she didn’t always have this colourful image. Back in the 1930s she was a lot more understated and looked completely different, take a look, you’ll be surprised! If you’re not sure(…)
Was Fred Astaire the greatest dancer on the silver screen? Personally I think he probably was, I grew up glued to Fred and Ginger movies and absolutely adored him! Born Frederick Austerlitz in 1899, Fred took to the stage at an early age singing and dancing with his sister Adele in a vaudeville act (see(…)