After the hardships of the wartime years, the 1950s exploded in a riot of colour. Women embraced the hourglass figure of Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ and wore big petticoats to make their skirts larger, and for the first time teenagers developed their own fun sense of style.
An actor or actress dying suddenly during the filming of a movie can either make it a huge success of cause enormous problems (like Oliver Reed dying during the filming of Gladiator). Here are 9 classic Hollywood movies which either the star died suddenly on-set or was murdered/committed suicide during production. Marilyn Monroe: “Something’s Got(…)
I sent out a challenge to the vintage stores I know this week, asking them to pick their favourite outfit for Grace Kelly, and this is what they sent in. What do you think? Which outfits are spot-on, and which are totally wrong? I think my favourites are the lace cardigan (below) and those amazing(…)
Of all the top models of the 1950s Dovima is perhaps the most well-known. Her fabulously unique model name came from a combination of all of her names: Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba. She was scouted by the editor of Vogue on a street in New York. One of her most famous fashion photographs is the(…)
You probably know Barbara Bel Geddes best as Miss Ellie (JR’s long-suffering mother) in Dallas, but she actually had a movie career which started in the late 1940s. She started out on Broadway and was the original Maggie ‘The Cat’ in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a role which was most famously played by(…)
Gable started out in Hollywood playing bit-parts in silent movies in the mid 1920s and starred in his first starring role in 1931 in The Painted Desert opposite leading lady Helen Twelvetrees. The movie that really catapulted him to fame was Red Dust (which I reviewed last week) where his rough and ready sex appeal(…)
You might think that the 1950s was all about style and sophistication, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, but according to this list of top 10 grossing movies* it was very much the decade of historical epics, Charlton Heston and Walt Disney! How many of these big screen blockbusters have you seen, and are you surprised by(…)
You probably know Donald O’Connor best from the movie Singin’ in the Rain – I know that’s where I first came across him. While I fell madly in love with Gene Kelly, I was wowed by Donald O’Connor running up the wall and in fits of giggles at his fight with the mannequin. If you(…)
Never underestimate the marketing power of Lucille Ball! I grew up watching re-runs of I Love Lucy on the telly, and there is a special corner of my heart reserved for it, but even my love of the 1950s sitcom wouldn’t make me buy these hideous spin offs! Even the gorgeous Lucy looks unconvinced about(…)
If you follow my blog you might have noticed that I’m going through a bit of a Hitchcock phase at the moment. I very much enjoyed The 39 Steps last week (much to my surprise and delight) but sadly I can’t say the same about this movie. Up until this point I’ve pretty much enjoyed(…)
Did you know that Uma Thurman’s mum was one of the most popular models in the 1950s? The Fifties was a great time for models. For the first time they became superstars in their own right. Apart from ‘the big three’ (Suzy Parker, Dovima and Jean Patchett), there were lots of other models who really(…)
Stars were having nips, tucks and predominantly nose-jobs from as early as the 1930s. It’s not well-documented as the stars who had succesful surgery rarely owned up to it, and those who had less successful surgery (like Mary Pickford who was rumoured to have damaged facial muscles after an early facelift) just faded from public(…)
Taylor was married 8 times. Her shortest marriage was with her first husband Conrad Nicky Hilton which lasted just 9 months, and her longest marriage was with Richard Burton which lasted 10 years (plus an extra year when they re-married in 1975). Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred together in 11 movies.
Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli was one of the most influential designers of the early 20th Century. Along with her great rival Coco Chanel, she transformed womens fashions during the 1920s and 30s and is famous for her ‘fashion-as-art’ dresses. She collaborated with artists and surrealists including Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali to create amazing(…)
I turn 40 next week and this milestone got me thinking about all the Hollywood stars who died tragically young and didn’t even make it this far. Their deaths ranged from suicide, to murder, car and plane crashes and even an allergic reaction to a headache tablet. Did I miss anyone out of this list(…)
Hitchcock’s fair-haired heroines are perhaps those that spring to mind when you think of an ice-cold blonde. They was certainly the type of woman Hitch fixated on: beautiful women who were cold and distant on the exterior but full of passion underneath. However the ice-cold blonde has been around for a lot longer than that,(…)
So, you thought the selfie was something new? Apparently not! Here is the evidence that people have been taking selfies since the late 1800s – even naked selfies! It’s not just the celebrities of today who love showing off their bods! These photos range from the 1890s to the 1970s, some are self-portraits done with(…)
Jayne Mansfield was an iconic bombshell of the 50s and 60s and was known as the ‘Working Man’s Monroe‘. She was a master of self-publicity and pioneered the use of the wardrobe malfunction to raise her profile. “A forty-one inch bust and a lot of perseverance will get you more than a cup of coffee-a(…)
The news this morning is filled with the pictures and winners from last night’s Academy Award ceremony – well, that and the slightly terrifying crisis in Crimea. As always the dresses were gorgeous (at the Oscars that is – I’m woefully under-informed about dresses in the Ukraine) and Jennifer Lawrence continued her Awards tradition of(…)