THOUGHT PATTERNS

On Dior's New look and our kitchen becoming a greenhouse

My husband is working on his new book which is partly set in the 1940s. I've been doing some research for him on clothing (gladly!) and found some hilarious details about the upheaval Dior's New Look caused when it was first premiered in the U.S.

 

 

(About the New Look: In 1947 Christian Dior presented a fashion look with a fitted jacket with a nipped in waist and full calf length skirt.  It was a dramatic change from wartime austerity styles. After the rationing of fabric during the Second World War, Dior's lavish use of material was a bold and shocking stroke.  His style used yards and yards of fabric. Approximately 10 yards was used for early styles.   Later Dior used up to 80 yards (WHAT!) for newer refinements that eliminated bulk at the waist. The New Look and new approach to fashion was a major post war turning point in Fashion History.)

 

 

 

 

The fashion and news world were absolutely delighted and head over heals in love with Dior's line, but, not everybody shared their enthusiasm...

 

"Christian Dior himself encountered negative reactions to the New Look later in 1947. On his first American trip, he was promptly whisked away from a Chicago train station as 'embattled housewives brandishing placards bearing the words: "Down with the New Look," "Burn Monsieur Dior," "Christian Dior Go Home" advanced'.

 

Chicago was not unique. In Louisville, 1,265 women believed that the New Look was not only impractical but also anti-feminist, and signed an anti-Dior petition as members of The Little Below the Knee Club. In Oildale, California, Mrs Louise Horn gave a timely demonstration of the dangers lurking in the New Look. As she alighted from a bus, her new long, full skirt caught in the door. The bus started up and she had to run a block alongside it before she was freed. In Georgia, a group of outraged men formed the League of Broke Husbands, hoping to get '30,000 American husbands to hold that hemline'." {source}

Haha. "Burn Monsieur Dior"?! 

...

 

We have officially turned our kitchen into a greenhouse. All of our plants had to be taken in because our house is undergoing a major paint job. And, I'm kind of liking being overwhelmed by green...

 

 

 

 

Luckily, we have three big windows in the kitchen, so the plants are getting plenty of light. We might consider keeping them here through the winter.

 

(Hurray! said the plants in unison)

 

xoxoxo

 

{Dior's New look images via Glamourdaze, Showstudio, 1000fragrances}

Vintage Fashion Expo

There was a big Vintage Fashion Expo in San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday. A couple of our friends were going and I so desperately wanted to go also (vintage-clothes-shoes-jewelry-all-in-one-spot-85 booths-damn!), but was feeling really rather poorly from my cold and not in any state to go Saturday. I didn't really expect to be able to go at all, but by Sunday afternoon I started to feel better and decided to visit the fair for an hour. And Terry graciously agreed to take me even though vintage fashion expo's are not on his "love to do" list. This expo only happens once a year so I would have been a bit sad if I missed it.

We got there at about 3 (the expo was closing at 5) and luckily there was a cafe conveniently located in the same building so Terry didn't have to come along look at the dresses. He was very happy about that. I was on my way, in total vintage bliss. I strolled and browsed for about an hour, which was plenty. There were so many stalls and things to look at, clothes and accessories form late 1800s to 1960s, vintage fabric and trims, jewelry... one can get quite mad and dizzy from it. I'm sure the best things were sold on day one of the show (and at the early morning preview showing), but the advantage of coming for the last couple of hours is that most of the prices were slashed almost in half.

I was most in awe by 20s and 30s dresses - the fabric and the detail is so amazing - but even reduced they were quite pricey. On top of it all they were in an unusually small sizes. These ladies must have been willow thin!

Anyway, I managed to find a couple of things I truly liked and get a huge discount, so I was pretty happy with my visit.

My finds were a 50s circle skirt with a Parisian street type scene and a delicate, colorful 40s necklace.

The lady modeling the necklace is a gorgeous black haired blue eyed doll, part of my Salon of Broken Ladies doll collection.

Love seeing all of these colors together. And against her alabaster skin.:)

...

I've always wanted to own a 50s full circle skirt. I love this photo of women wearing circle skirts by Nina Leen called Conversation Skirts.

...

Lovely colors, and beautiful design. And I quite like that green speck of paint on the paper that was conveniently there and matched the colors on the necklace.

...

One can just get lost in those streets.

...

Can't wait for the next year's Vintage Expo.

xoxoxo

A matching game

As I wrote in my last post I often go on a particular virtual visual chase (or binge), where I follow a similar visual trail. It often leads to interesting and visually pleasing compositions. This post was going to be about clothes embroidery, but as chases often go, the trail led me in a somewhat different direction. I found myself trying to find interiors to match the clothes. And I did! And I didn't even have to look far, as all of these images were previously saved up in my computer, independent of each other. I can see a pattern here: I'm obviously attracted to certain colors, images, shapes... as you will see...

Shall we play a matching game?

This dress...

A breathtaking 1920s evening gown. It is from the Fall-Winter 1922-1923 collection by Jeanne Lanvin and is entitled ‘Jolibois’, literally ‘Pretty Woods’.

And let's match it (oh, how I love matching!) with this pretty chair...

Incredibly similar, no? The color, the flower... amazing. (Photo from Marie Claire Maison)

This jacket...

British jacket from between 1600 and 1625

I will match it with...

A mural in St. Basil Cathedral in Russia. 

Incredible!

More? OK. Here it goes...

This bodice...

Incredibly preserved bodice from the 18th century...

Oh, I have to show the back too...

I'll match it with this incredible room...

A spectacular interior by Irina Graewe(Africa Meets Neon)

I am on a visual high right now, completely overwhelmed. What a perfect color composition.

I could stop here and keep staring at this photo, trying to mentally squeeze myself into that bodice, but I will play a bit more and match...

... this most adorable of stockinged feet...

Shoe and Stocking, 1870-90, Kyoto Costume Institute

So incredibly sweet, can only be matched with...

A stunner. Again, Irina GraeweInterior (Africa Meets Neon)

And for grand finale I've saved up some stripes. Because I LOVE stripes...

... and love this dress...

 Robe retroussée dans les poches*, 1780s, Kyoto costume institute.

This is my favorite stripe color combination (it's so festive, chic and quirky somehow, reminds me of circus tents and French courts)

I'll pair it with this lovely room...

A charming James Plumb Interior. Worn-out, decayed, antique, full of charm. I'm loving it. 

Hope you had fun playing a matching game with me!

xoxoxo

{Photos of clothes are from this fantastic site Hats and Laces- do visit!}

*The robe retroussée dans les poches appeared when the English custom of walking in the countryside became fashionable among the French. The skirts were pulled through the slits for the pockets (hence the name) and "practically" arranged at the back. This style later developed into the robe à la Polonaise.

Love Espadrilles

Espadrilles, I want one in every color this summer... I like mine flat and plain, like these...

These kind of espadrilles were my favorite shoes as a teenager. I would live in them in the summer. Would wear them until there were holes in the sole and the rope would be sticking out everywhere. I would occasionally wash them in the washer which would make them fall appart sooner, but that was the Espadrille deal. Everyone knew that. :) Espadrilles last a summer.

I completely forgot about them until a couple of years ago, when I spotted a pair in a local linen store. I bought them and they have been a treat to wear. A bit more sturdy than the ones I remember from the 80s.

These are so simple and cheap, around $20 - which is what you would expect to pay for a shoe like this. I found a great selection in this store - Love Espadrilles. They make them in women's and men's sizes.

However, as one might expect, nowdays you can also find espadrilles that are more expensive than these. Mymu is a store that carries just that...

Love the fabric on these...

Quite gorgeous. (and cost $168)

Espadrilles originate from Spain, I beleive, and used to be peasant footwear. Here is a shelf of Catalan espadrilles in Barcelona...

How I wish that was my shelf!

Oh, and here is lovely Lauren Bacall wearing ankle-laced espadrilles in the movie Key Largo, 1948 (which turned them into a very popular item, of course)...

I love her entire outfit in this scene. Great circle skirt paired with a crisp plain shirt and some casual but cool espadrilles. Definitely a look to recreate!

xoxoxo

{last photo via}

Wild Kimono Chase

I've been obsessing about getting an old, intricate, and delicate kimono to wear as a robe, instead of the thing I have that makes me look like a mangy bear. I had in mind something flappers would seductively lounge in in the 20s or Ziegfeld Follies chorus girls would wear in the 30s. Silk, not too heavy, embroidered, slightly falling apart. Alas, after spending days and days searching through websites and stores, I found only several I truly liked and they were either financially beyond my reach...

... like this one...

 

1920s Peach Crepe Embroidered Boudoir Kimono Wrap

... or were sold by the time I made up my mind, like this one...

1930s Japanese Rayon Robe

But all is well as it ended well. I got a really lovely new kimono style robe and I will show you some pictures of it after I receive it. Perhaps I will even sneak in a shot of me wearing the robe! We shall see...

...

In my extensive search for the perfect kimono robe, I also stumbled upon some stunning paintings of women wearing, well, what else, but kimono robes...

Purple Robe and Anemones by Matisse

The Blue Kimono by Guy Rose

Girl in Blue Kimono by W.M. Chase

Girl in Japanese Costume, W.M. Chase

Girl in Blue Kimono by Robert Reid

Blue and Yellow Robert Reid 

(I'm not sure why most of them painted women in blue kimonos. Kind of strange, no?)

Madame Monet by Monet

(love the detail on this painting and Madame Monet's goofy-sweet grin)

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt by Rochegrosse

(I love her completely-lost-in-thought expression and would love to know what she was thinking)

Spring Flowers by W.M. Chase 

...

And a couple of truly wonderful paintings that I also came upon while searching for a kimono. I want to share them with you even though I don't think the women in them are wearing any kimonos. The paitings are so wonderfully detailed and quite intimate and have this boudoir atmosphere to them, quite appropriate with the theme...

Artist and Model by Alfred Stevens

The Reader by Georges Croegae 

La Charmeuse by Leon Herbo

Gorgeous!

...

I'm visually fed and exhausted! This kimono search truly brought me some unexpected artistic delight!

Have a good night...

xoxoxo

{paintings source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-12} 

They caught my eye

A spectacular evening dress by Duval and Egan, 1889...

then...

... from the collection of Kyoto costume institute... regretfully, I know not any other detail about it.

One more?

French evening dress from 1865. Stripes! Bite lip and gasp.

Can I, just for a moment, go back in time and try on these dresses, strut them out in public, thoroughly vain and proud?

Oh, please?

xoxoxo

{via and via} 

Tonight I'll dream of shoes

Like most women I have a passion for shoes. Although, luckily mine is controllable. I'm often content just admiring them visually. I will (most probably) not be seduced into throwing money on shoes I will never wear, simply because they sing their siren song to me and are utterly gorgeous (pointy toe shoe that squeezes my toes or sexy and extravagant skyscraper heel). I also have a bit of a passion for the history of shoes (clothing and costumes also). I just found photos of some truly remarkable ones, some particularly unusual, but also some that would be very wearable even today...

Starting with...

The shoemaker's wife showing collection of his goods ranging from boots to slippers.

I love the colors of her outfit.

Three elaborate 16th century ladies shoes called Venetian Chopines. I guess these were the original platform shoes? To keep ladies toes dry while walking along Venetian canals.

 

Three elegant wooden sandals from Bally Shoe Museum. Hmm, it must have been hard to keep these on one's feet, holding onto these sandals with nothing but one's toes!

Various styles of shoes of all ages from the 15th to 18th centuries as seen in an exhibit at the Museum of Costume, Paris.

If I didn't know that the top two were shoes I would have thought they were corsets!

Many types of shoes w. text, showing styles from 17th and 18th centuries.

Richly decorated shoes: for men, from second half of 16th century (top); ladies shoe, from England, 17th century (center); ladies shoe from France, from 17th century. (Pointy toe alert!)

Illustration of many types of shoes, w. legend "New Summer Chaussurie".

I've always loved these types of booties.

   Sketches of footwear at fashionable watering place near North Foreland.

...

And finally these... I would love to wear them this summer...

Three Egyptian sandals made of strips of Palm leaf from (L-C) 19th or 20th Dynasty (1320-1085 BC) & (R) 1st or 2nd century AD from Bally Shoe Museum.

... and these below in particular....

Gracefully designed sandals from Mauritania in Africa: (L) for man, (C) for woman; (R) for child from Bally Shoe Museum.

Now off to bed, and hopefully dreaming of shoes...

xoxoxo

(LIFE archive}

College Fashions

Adorable college fashions... 

The photos are from late 40s early 50s, but the models and the clothes look so fresh and contemporary.

 

I'm so fond of the simplicity of these outfits.

 

And the boyish look.

 

 

Flats and culottes, my favorite.

 

 

There is something so charming in these modest outfits. Quite refreshing.

 

 

I love the sartorial elegance, the full skirts and little jackets.

 

 

She has an aura of a thinker, doesn't she? Francoise Sagan comes to mind. (This is a photo of a real student, not a model.)

 

I'm quite taken by this top, simply stunning and so romantic. Perfect for wearing to a Keats lecture.

 

 

But, I think it would look even better without the turtleneck.

 

 

Oh, that carpetbag on the left has my name written all over it!
 

 
 
 On her way to an art class. So nice.
 

{photos by Nina Leen (1950-1951), Alfred Eisenstaedt (the girl thinker) and last photo Loomis Dean (1948) via Life}

Today, Katie wore...

What Katie Wore is my absolutely favorite blog. Even if I'm horribly busy and distracted I will check to see what Katie wore today. I wrote about the blog in one of my previous posts, but to sum it up again, it's a blog where Katie wears clothes - every day a different outfit, and Joe, her boyfriend takes pictures and describes what she's wearing. I know that there are many blogs of similar type now days, but what's different about this one is Katie.

The legend is that Katie accused Joe of not being romantic and to prove her wrong he set up the whole blog clothes-wearing thing. So, the challenge that started about a year ago was for Katie to come up with a different outfit for every day of the year. She could use the same items of clothing, but the combination had to always be different. And, boy, did she meet the challenge! 

Katie was already well known in her circles for her colorful dressing style, but now she truly went out there. Some of the outfits she put together were really outrageous and absolutely mind blowing. See for yourself. I love visiting this spot in the internet universe as they always put a smile on my face. Katie never fails to give us the brightest and widest smile, never fails to be lovely, charming and unique, and Joe's descriptions are always hilarious.

The challenge was over this month, but urged and begged by their readers Katie and Joe decided to continue on and even created an additional sub-blog, What You Wore where the readers can submit pictures of their own outfits.

Katie has become quite famous, was featured in many fashion magazines and well know newspapers, was invited to fashion shoots and other events, received many gifts from people utterly besotted by her and eager for her to wear their item on her blog. You can imagine how popular that made Joe with Katie as he was an initiator of the whole thing :).

Anyway, today, Katie wore one of my necklaces! I was so thrilled and excited about it.

Here's our Katie...

...wearing "Waiting For The Phone To Ring" Necklace...

The image of the stripped stockings is so much Katie :)

 

And this is what Joe wrote:

I urge you to visit with Katie and Joe often!

xoxoxo 

Foxes and Furs

My grandmother used to wear this real fox fur collar around her neck. Fox head, fox paws, tails and all. Glass eyes. Brrrrr. My grandparents weren't wealthy or able to buy furs so my grandfather, who used to go hunting every Sunday, caught a fox for my grandmother and had a collar made for her (how many wives can say that?!) It was the best thing she owned so she would wear it every day.

The collar fascinated me, frightened and disgusted me. But, secretly I wanted to own one. I still secretly want to own one, especially after I developed this fascination with 30s and 40s fashion. All of those ladies would bury their chins into a fur of a poor, unlucky fox.

Alas, being a vegetarian and now vegan, and being strictly opposed to fur wearing I was prevented from acquiring such a wearable horror. Until last night when I spotted these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely adorable. I am determined to be collarless no more. 

For more foxes and other lovely items visit Celapiu's Etsy shop.

xoxoxo

{all photos Celapiu}   

P.S. I've been very good at following my vegan diet, no dairy or eggs since New Year's! Which is a great success as I've become totaly addicted to cheese. I've been experimenting a lot with vegan recipes and hopefully I'll have a few really good ones to share soon. (Some have been total disasters. Poor Terry, he's been such a good sport, eating everything I mix together without complaining much!)