Greer Garson (or Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson Fogelson as she was christened) was a huge 1940s movie star who has rather faded from public memory. She was one of MGM’s biggest stars and also one of the biggest box-office draws during the mid 1940s. She also received an impressive 7 Oscar nominations! She was born(…)
Following on from last week’s guide to getting yourself a 1940s-themed outfit for Goodwood Revival, I’m moving onto one of the most popular decades for vintage: 1950s today. Perhaps one of the most recognizable decades, the Fifties were the decade of Dior’s New Look with its full skirts and nipped-in waists as well as the(…)
I had a bit of a baking fail today. It was my mum’s birthday a couple of days ago and I planned to make her belated birthday cupcakes using the boobie-cake recipe, which is scribbled inside one of my recipe books. It was only when I had started spooning the rather stiff mixture into the(…)
This week we heard the sad news that Lauren Bacall died aged 89. Famous for her husky voice and relationship with Humphrey Bogart (both on and off-screen) she was one of the most iconic screen presences of the 40s and 50s. Above: Armed Forces Radio Services broadcaster Jack Brown interviews Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall(…)
Another day another bevy of vintage bathing beauties – this time I’ve found some amazingly clad 1920s contestants from the Galveston Texas Bathing Girl Review. I think most of the costumes must have been homemade – quite a few of them are more like fancy dress costumes than swimsuits – especially that amazing Ancient Egyptian-style(…)
If you haven’t got your outfit organized for Goodwood Revival yet, it’s time to start looking! The dress code for Goodwood Revival is anything from the 1940s, 50s and 60s. People go to great lengths (as you can see here) to dress the part, and although it isn’t obligatory to dress up, most people do(…)
For me Cary Grant will always be the ultimate leading man. Sophisticated, debonaire and witty (not to mention a bit of a goof-ball at times) he was a Hollywood icon millions of women fell in love with. He acted alongside the greatest leading ladies from 3 decades of Hollywood, from Greta Garbo to Mae West,(…)
“Graham Chapman, probably best remembered as ‘the dead one from Monty Python’, writes and stars in the animated movie of his own life story, A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Although Chapman selfishly dropped dead in 1989, he had taken the trouble to record himself reading his book, A Liar’s Autobiography — and those recordings have now ingeniously(…)
Now there’s a title which just rolls off the tongue! Apparently ‘Pulchritude‘ is a really ungainly way of saying ‘beauty’ which (unsurprisingly) has fallen out of fashion. These photos were all taken at the International Pageant of Pulchritude & Annual Bathing Girl Review between 1926 and 1928. I adore these long old-fashioned photos. They remind(…)
I simply had to share a bit of a cooking revelation I had. I made brownies yesterday but instead of using plain dark chocolate I used dark chocolate flavoured with orange and WOW the results were good! Gooey, tasty, dark and delicious. I think they’re even better than the amazing ‘unbeatable’ brownies from a couple(…)
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER IS Jackie Chapman. CONGRATULATIONS JACKIE, MISS KITTY WILL BE IN TOUCH TO ARRANGE YOUR PRIZE! Who would like a bit of extra cash to splash on some beautiful vintage? I know I certainly would! Happily I can announce that I’ve joined with Miss Kitty from The Best Vintage(…)
Whatever your personal feelings about beauty pageants, they serve as a great reminder that fashion dictates what each generation considers to be beautiful. These 1920s title-holders, many of whom won the coveted Miss America crown probably wouldn’t have thought to even enter the competition today. I’m guessing unless you have pneumatic breasts, perfect teeth and(…)
Amelia Earhart was a pioneering aviatrix who was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic. She mysteriously disappeared in her plane whilst attempting to circumnavigate the globe in 1937, the wreckage of which has never been found. Here are 10 surprising facts you may not know about Amelia Earhart: She was nicknamed “Lady(…)
You know when you fancy trying something just a little bit different? We seem to be going through cake like nobody’s business now that the school holidays have started so I thought I’d try these Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars. When I saw the picture (and thought ‘mmmmm’) I didn’t realise there would be *quite so(…)
A movie called The Gay Falcon today would be a very different movie from this! Far from being what you might expect, this is the first in a series of detective movies starring the debonair and rather rakish investigator Gay Lawrence “The Falcon” played by George Sanders*. *George Sanders voiced the deep enthralling tiger Shere Khan(…)
I never stopped to wonder how Adolf Hitler spent the First World War, I certainly never imagined he was a soldier with a creased uniform and a flamboyantly-curled moustache.
Flappers were rather different in the 1920s than they are portrayed in fancy dress shops and I much prefer the original versions. As Billie Dove shows us on the cover of ‘The Flapper’ magazine (“Not for Old Fogies”) it wasn’t all about shimmying around in beaded dresses, being a ‘bright young thing’ was about bucking(…)
Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly: Mae West