Betty Ford wasn’t born a First Lady (well, of course she wasn’t!), and in fact didn’t even meet Gerald Ford until she was 30 years old and divorced from her first husband. All of these photos are from when she was still young Betty Bloomer before she married and I thought it was just lovely(…)
Cheerleaders didn’t always look and dress they way they do today. Far from athletic girls in crop tops Cheerleaders of the 1920s looked very different (and they weren’t just women), and in the 1950s it was the band girls dressed in the sexy outfits, the cheerleaders looked very different! Here are some vintage cheerleading photos(…)
This very serious young man is Ernest Hemingway photographed in 1923 from his passport. To be fair we all look ridiculous in passport photos, why on earth don’t they let you smile in them? (or is that just in the UK?) Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in the United States(…)
Alice Brady was a silent movie actress who won an Oscar for best supporting actress in 1937, and successfully made the transition into talkies. She started her career on the stage and made her silent movie debut in 1914 in As Ye Sow. Over the next 10 years she appeared in over 50 movies as(…)
Ziegfeld girls were the cheesecake pinups of the 1920s. Beautiful and talented they were the chorus girls of the spectacular Ziegfeld Follies which ran from 1907 to 1931. Many Ziegfeld girls went on to fame and fortune in the cinema and stars including Barabara Stanwyck (below), Louise Brooks and Joan Blondell all launched their careers(…)
Pola Negri was a Polish silent movie star of the 1920s. She was famous for both her roles as a femme fatale and her tragic roles and, ever the drama queen, she never hesitated to use her personal life to boost her career having high-profile relationships with some of the biggest movie stars of the(…)
When we think of silent movie stars we inevitably think of Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino as well as perhaps Lillian Gish (not forgetting the quintessential flappers Clara Bow and Louise Brooks). But for every movie icon there were hundreds of actresses who appeared in silent movies whose names haven’t stood the test of time(…)
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(…)
Well, I say there are 3, but frankly there are so many stunts packed into these movie clips that I couldn’t reliably count them. Movie-goers in the silent movie era loved slapstick as well as bold and outrageous stunts, all of which were made without the help of CGI and which could have been catastrophic(…)
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(…)
Valentine’s day is rapidly approaching, and I know it’s an occasion that people either love or hate, so I thought this was a great Valentines theme. ‘I Won’t Send Roses’ is almost an anti-love song – if you don’t know it, it comes from the 1920s musical Mack and Mabel and it makes me weep(…)
Kung hei fat choy! Happy Chinese new year! Today marks the start of the new Chinese Year of the Horse, and to celebrate I thought I’d share a fabulous vintage outfit inspired by the first Chinese-American movie star of the 1920s: Anna May Wong.
If you’re looking for an authentic 1920s makeup-look DON’T look at The Great Gatsby – it’s great for a general sense of style and decadence of the roaring Twenties but for some reason they made-up Carey Mulligan with great sweeps of 50s eyeliner which isn’t right at all! For 1920s make-up inspiration take a look(…)
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(…)
Following on from my fascination with the history of the London Underground earlier this week, I wanted to share this amazing video with you. It shows original footage of London in 1927 next to the same journey photographed now. It’s not just interesting to see how different things are (the number of buses vs cars,(…)
Lillian Gish 1922
Bebe Daniels from Motion Picture Classic, 1920. Miss Daniels stepped from screen farce to drama so recently that the even is still being talked about. Miss Daniels was Harold Lloyd’s charming foil in dozens of Pathe film comedies Source and copyright: This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies(…)
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED AND THE WINNER IS Allison Conlon. CONGRATULATIONS ALISON, THE BEST VINTAGE CLOTHING WILL BE IN TOUCH TO ARRANGE DELIVERY OF YOUR PRIZE. I’ve got the most amazing prize to give away this week, a genuine vintage 1920s bangle thanks to The Best Vintage Clothing. Real 1920s items are becoming rarer(…)