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(…)
I haven’t done a vintage lookbook for ages now, so I decided to put together a 40s outfit inspired by the fabulous Carmen Miranda, who can’t have been dressed in frut-topped hats and exotic costumes all the time! I think she would have rocked a look like this, some chic wide legged trousers, a tropical(…)
The Finest Hair Care Merchandise For Black Girls With Pure Hair Lace Wigs have been around for years, however it wasn’t till a few years ago when celebrities resembling Beyonce, Lil Kim and Tyra Banks began sporting lace wigs that their popularity soared. The UK market for hair care products designed particularly for black ladies(…)
After discovering the stories of the Nazi female concentration camp guards last week, I wanted to share the stories of their male counterparts. It’s interesting to see how all of them tried to worm their way out of any responsibility in the war crimes trial. All the guards who herded the unfortunate people into the(…)
The first movie I watched starring Ann Miller was On The Town, and I was totally wowed by her dancing. Her legs were the longest on screen (or at least they seemed to me to be) and her tap speed was truly astonishing! Here are some facts you might not know about the lovely Ann(…)
Fancy something delicious for the weekend? How about this? It’s moist, tasty and fabulous, and there’s nothing like the combination of carrot cake with buttercream and a splodge of whipped cream too. I can’t recommend this cake highly enough – hope you like it too! x Ingredients: 175g/6oz golden caster sugar 175ml/6fl oz olive oil(…)
Brooklyn-born Tierney was a leading actress in 1940s Hollywood. She started out her adult life as a socialite, before becoming bored with the social scene and pursuing a career as a stage actress (her family thought being a ‘proper’ actress was more respectable than being in the movies). Her Broadway career started in a pretty(…)
I think we need something a little more upbeat today after the last 2 days of stories about concentration camp guards, what could be more light-hearted than playing dress-up with Brigitte Bardot? I sent out a call for vintage stores to send in their best Bardot-style vintage outfits and this is what they came up(…)
I’ve had a lot of interest in the photographs I posted yesterday of the female Nazi concentration camp guards of Bergen-Belsen* and the sentences they all received. *Bergen-Belsen is the concentration camp where Anne Frank died – I didn’t realize that until today. A few of you wondered about the back-stories of these women and(…)
These are photos of the female prison camp guards which were taken after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp.while they were awaiting trail in 1945. Their sentences ranged from a few short years imprisonment to the death sentence. Here’s an interesting challenge, see if you can guess just by looking at the photos(…)
Wow, talk about a movie Epic! You think Harry Potter’s Deathly Hallows was a long movie? Try this one, it’s a full 3 hours of sandals, sword-fighting and sex-appeal! Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren are the headliners and they have fabulous on-screen chemistry. Whether they love or hate each other (and there’s plenty of time(…)
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(…)
When you think of 1940s fashion, you probably think of tailored looks, tea dresses, victory rolls and red lipstick (even after makeup the had run out), but fashions were very different in Nazi Germany. Hitler had a very specific idea of how women should look. He even created a German Fashion Board, the Deutsches Modeamt(…)
Judy Garland is one of those movie stars that everyone is aware of, even if it’s just becaue they watch The Wizard of Oz every Christmas (surely everyone has seen that movie, haven’t they?). Everyone remembers the happy, talented girl on screen, but not so many are aware of the tragedy of her life which was filled(…)
I came across this photo of Marilyn doing her lipstick from 1948 while I was looking for a photo of her to use in my Paper Doll post yesterday, and I thought it was just charming! I love all the little drawings of lip shapes on the wall behind her too! The caption that goes(…)
Following on from my ‘dressing Grace Kelly challenge‘ last week I thought it would be fun to ask the vintage stores I know to dress Marilyn Monroe this week, what do you think of their choices? Some of them are absolutely perfect, some less so. I’d love to know which you think are the best(…)
Who comes to mind when you hear the name Dracula? Gary Oldman? Christopher Lee? Or is it in my opinion the ultimate Dracula, Bela Lugosi? Lugosi was born in Hungary and was already a successful actor with the National Theatre of Hungary when he moved to America at the age of 42. He was forced(…)
I hope so! I’ve got a pretty limited knowledge of photography but I really want to be able to improve my photos. I have a Canon EOS 60D, which I’ve had endless issues with – not least because you have no control over the focus point in all of their ‘automatic’ modes – it always(…)