I love cookery books. I have an enormous collection of them. So many in fact that they’ve spilled out of my kitchen bookshelf onto windowsills and work-surfaces. So imagine my delight when my lovely friend Lou Lou introduced me to a ‘vintage’ cook book: “right up your street” she said, and I totally agree! The(…)
A striking photo of Joan Crawford in the 1920s. I love the way the silhouette and shadows really add to the composition of this picture. Isn’t it stunning?
Marilyn Monroe‘s costume test for the unfinished 1962 movie Something’s Got to Give. She’s absolutely hypnotic, even just trying out different costumes and hairstyles. It’s such a shame she died before this movie could be made… Edited with BlogPad Pro
I’m not sure quite what’s going on in this photo. Are they a lesbian couple (which I’m guessing would have been pretty scandalous at this time), or is the woman dressing as a man because her husband wasn’t around and a lady couldn’t sit on an ‘actual’ man’s lap without losing her reputation…? There’s no(…)
This is my first attempt at colorizing a vintage photo (below), what do you think? I love the original photo party because of the fabulous hairstyles of the two women. One of the women is wearing a “peysuföt” (a traditional Icelandic Costume) and the other a Danish dress. The photo was taken sometime between 1900-1920.(…)
The band Alice Cooper photographed in natty flared suits in 1973 before they adopted their hard-core rock image. You probably know Alice Cooper better for biting the heads of snakes (or was that Ozzy Osborne?) and looking like this. Amazing what a good stylist can do for your career isn’t it?
Photo of an unidentified woman photographed (I would guess) in the 1920s in Sydney, Australia. I love her outfit, from her sharp flappers bob, to her feather fan and drop waisted evening dress, it’s such a pity that her name has got lost in the mists of time. Could she even be a relative of(…)
I get contacted a lot by readers who ask me to recommend vintage stores and online resources. So I decided to start the We Heart Vintage Directory to list the best of vintage online. There’s nothing worse than wanting to buy vintage but not knowing where to start! Whether you’re a store, a blog or(…)
A dancer in a fabulous Egyptian costume photographed in 1915. I love this costume, it reminds me of that scene from Cleopatra (the 1963 movie) when Elizabeth Taylor is brought into Rome at the end of that amazing procession. Some of the dancers in that are wearing Egyptian style wings similar these (although with much skimpier(…)
Marilyn Monroe‘s Coca Cola commercial from 1953. Apparently this was a scene from the movie Love Nest which was later re-edited and used to advertise Coke. Who better to have to advertise your product that Marilyn? Chanel obviously agree! You can watch the Coke advert below:
I assumed that women’s boxing was a fairly new sport, after all it was only included in the Olympics last year for the first time, but from these photos you can see it was going on (although with varying degrees of inappropriate outfits) since at least the late 1880s. I’m guessing it wasn’t a mainstream(…)
A photo of Wild West showman and buffalo hunter Buffalo Bill wearing a surprisingly flowery embroidered coat. This photo was taken in 1889 when he would have been 43 (I think). Apparently he had to have a kind of hunt-off against William Comstock to earn exclusive right to use the name ‘Buffalo Bill’. He won the buffalo-shooting(…)
It sounds like the worst joke in the world doesn’t it? Why they thought it was a good idea to try and pose the 5 Jacksons on one motorbike I have no idea. It was probably the same person who decided all that sleeve-fringing was a good idea (health and safety anyone? That would SO(…)
Two different mug shots of Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, from 1963 and 1970. In 1963 he was arrested in Tallahassee after pulling a prank while drunk at a Florida State University football game. In 1970 he was arrested indecent exposure and profanity after he exposed himself during a March 1969 concert(…)
A very pretty 1920s advert for Ivory Soap. Never has soap sounded so appealing! Hidden springs of beauty in your skin – set them free! In your marvelous skin itself Nature has set up a beauty shop! Did you know that? Complicated little cells renew its silken surface day by day… invisible springs of moisture(…)
In 1953 the BBC created a time-lapse video of the train journey between London and Brighton. 30 years later in 1983 they did exactly the same again, and again 30 years later in 2013. This video shows you the 3 journeys side by side showing how much Britain has changed since the 1950s. It’s(…)
The strange and (thankfully) short-lived sport of turtle riding was popular for a while in Australia during the 1920s and 1930s. The general idea seemed to be that you would sit astride a turtle as it heaved its way across the sand and tried to stay ‘aboard’ once it was swimming in the sea. Probably(…)
Isn’t this the most beautiful family portrait? A photo of an Eskimo mother, father, and son, photographed in Noatak, Alaska, by Edward Sheriff Curtis circa 1929.