Boy have there been some strange beauty contests over the years! These photos include the contestants for ‘Miss Psywar’ (doesn’t that stand for Phsychological Warfare…?), ‘Miss War Worker’ and ‘Miss Bobbed Hair 1925’…
I treated myself to a 1950s Hammer B-movie yesterday: X… the Unknown. It kills… but cannot be killed! It rises from 2000 miles beneath the earth to melt everything in its path.. machine gun bullets, flame throwers… nothing can stop it! Sounds fabulously terrifying eh? Happily I can report that it wasn’t very terrifying at(…)
You’ll never guess what I discovered today! Well, you probably don’t need to guess if you’ve read the title of this article… ANYWAY Clint Eastwood narrowly escaped death in a plane crash when he hitched a ride in the cargo compartment of a plane in 1951. And you thought he was just a tough guy(…)
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(…)
Now that the schools are out for summer and we’re enjoying such glorious weather, I couldn’t help but think of Grease and Sandy’s fabulous outfits! So here are some things inspired by Olivia Newton John at her best– once in virginal sweet and innocent mode and one in spandex and leather. Which is your favourite?(…)
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(…)
I sent out a challenge to the vintage stores I know this week, asking them to pick their favourite outfit for Grace Kelly, and this is what they sent in. What do you think? Which outfits are spot-on, and which are totally wrong? I think my favourites are the lace cardigan (below) and those amazing(…)
You probably know Barbara Bel Geddes best as Miss Ellie (JR’s long-suffering mother) in Dallas, but she actually had a movie career which started in the late 1940s. She started out on Broadway and was the original Maggie ‘The Cat’ in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a role which was most famously played by(…)
You probably know Donald O’Connor best from the movie Singin’ in the Rain – I know that’s where I first came across him. While I fell madly in love with Gene Kelly, I was wowed by Donald O’Connor running up the wall and in fits of giggles at his fight with the mannequin. If you(…)
Never underestimate the marketing power of Lucille Ball! I grew up watching re-runs of I Love Lucy on the telly, and there is a special corner of my heart reserved for it, but even my love of the 1950s sitcom wouldn’t make me buy these hideous spin offs! Even the gorgeous Lucy looks unconvinced about(…)
If you follow my blog you might have noticed that I’m going through a bit of a Hitchcock phase at the moment. I very much enjoyed The 39 Steps last week (much to my surprise and delight) but sadly I can’t say the same about this movie. Up until this point I’ve pretty much enjoyed(…)
Stars were having nips, tucks and predominantly nose-jobs from as early as the 1930s. It’s not well-documented as the stars who had succesful surgery rarely owned up to it, and those who had less successful surgery (like Mary Pickford who was rumoured to have damaged facial muscles after an early facelift) just faded from public(…)
Taylor was married 8 times. Her shortest marriage was with her first husband Conrad Nicky Hilton which lasted just 9 months, and her longest marriage was with Richard Burton which lasted 10 years (plus an extra year when they re-married in 1975). Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred together in 11 movies.
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(…)
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(…)