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.
In February 1954 Marilyn Monroe travelled to South Korea to entertain the troops. She performed a quickly thrown-together show titled ‘Anything Goes’ to audiences which totalled over 100,000 troops over 4 days. She flew to Korea during her honeymoon in Japan with husband Joe DiMaggio. The baseball star was said to be annoyed by the(…)
There were so many stylish men in the 1950s: Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Elvis and of course James Dean. Youth culture blossomed in the Fifties and sportswear became really popular, so grab yourself a pair of high-tops, a bowling shirt and a varsity jumper and get your vintage on boys! Clockwise from top: Vintage 1950s(…)
I never kept up with the fashions. I believed in wearing what I thought looked good on me – Bettie Page I watched the movie The Notorious Bettie Page last night. I didn’t know much about Bettie Page’s life before watching it, and it was very interesting to learn a bit more about America in(…)
Jean Patchett was one of the best known models of the 1950s. Today, February 16th, was her birthday and she would have been 88 so here’s a look back at the girl that fashion photographer Irving Penn described as A young American goddess in Paris couture. Patchett started modelling in April 1948 and scored her(…)
As the world of fashion’s love affair with all things retro continues, we are once again turning to the Fifties for old Hollywood-inspired glamour. With the world slowly recovering from the traumas of the Second World War, the 1950s heralded an age of social change, economic growth and rock and roll. Inspired by Christian Dior’s(…)
Woah, my article about 1920s makeup has been trending wildly for the past week – I’ve never seen traffic like it! I wonder whether 1950s makeup will be as popular…? It’s certainly a more wearable look for everyday, and it’s an easy one to learn how to do as well. Flicked eyeliner and a dash(…)
Nothing can transport you back in time like a fragrance. They say that your sense of smell is the most powerful and evocative sense, and it’s true: Chanel No. 5 will forever remind me of my mum, Armani pour Homme is my husband, and Brut – well that reminds me of staying out late as(…)
How can I talk about Gary Cooper without humming Irving Berlin’s Putting on the Ritz? Dressed up like a million dollar trooper Tryin’ hard to look like Gary Cooper (Super duper) That must have been the first time I heard Gary Cooper’s name, from the lips of Fred Astaire watching a Saturday afternoon movie on(…)
Grace Kelly truly was one of the most stylish women of all time. She exuded such easy style and sophistication, which is perhaps why Hitchcock adored her so much. He wanted her to continue being his iconic ice-cool blonde, but she had a prince to marry (as you do) and retired from acting in 1956.(…)
Some time ago the AFI (that’s the American Film Institute) released a list of the top 50 greatest screen legends from the Classic Hollywood era: 25 male and 25 female stars. I’m not sure exactly what their criteria were for reaching the top spot, but they classified a screen legend as an actor or actress:(…)
Mid-century fashions are so popular at the moment, but the main reason more people don’t embrace 1950s fashions is because they dont naturally have a typical 50s hourglass figure. It might surprise you to know that this isn’t a case of biology (although it’s true that women are getting taller and larger as the decades(…)
There really was an art to eyebrow shaping back in Hollywood’s Golden Era. When each young actress had their big Hollywood studio makeover their brows were plucked and teased (and sometimes even removed and pencilled in) in the process of turning them from a regular girl to a screen goddess. Each leading lady was able(…)
My little boy has seen 3 different Santas this year (or rather he’s seen Santa 3 times this year) and was slightly confused by the fact that Father Christmas wore glasses two of the times and then didn’t the third time. He whispered that he thought the last one *might* have been one of Santa’s(…)
Christmas is hurtling towards us now. How many sleeps left? I think it’s 4 but I’m writing this before I’ve had my 2nd cup of coffee of the morning and I might be wrong. I should have asked my 7-year-old, he would have answered without hesitation! I thought I’d get in the festive spirit and(…)
Lauren Bacall in a publicity photo from the 1950s I would guess. Isn’t she stunning? I’m not sure when this was taken or for which movie, but I’m guessing she’s in her early 20s in this picture. When I compare her with myself in my early 20s she’s astonishingly sophisticated *sigh*
Less than a year after its birth, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency announced its first astronaut class, the Mercury Seven, on April 9, 1959. Project Mercury proved that humans could live and work in space, paving the way for all future human exploration. This cutaway drawing of the Mercury capsule was used by the(…)
Everybody knows the beautiful green cigarette packets with a beautiful woman on the front dressed up in a tiger suit. She looks at you with intense seductive eyes and even if you don’t smoke, you’d want the packet just for its beautiful picture. A lot of people like the cigarettes or like the packet but(…)
