Film Fashion Friday: Mr. Imperium

I was so excited to feature this film this week!! Not only is it a really great movie featuring Lana Turner, it also features a fabulous costume designer, Walter Plunkett. Plunkett is known for his designs in Gone With the Wind and Singin' in the Rain, among numerous other hollywood classics. He shares an Oscar with Orry-Kelly and Irene for their collaboration on American in Paris. Since Plunkett was apart of so many iconic fashionable films, I really wanted to feature a film of his that is lesser know but still has a keen eye for style.

Mr. Imperium (1951) stars Lana Turner as a traveling showgirl that captures the heart of a prince in hiding. The two begin a whirlwind romance that comes to halt when the prince's father becomes ill. One of my favorite parts of the film is a brief montage of Lana and the Prince enjoying the French rivera. During this, Lana is shown wearing some great casual looks, including the classic 40's dungarees and button up shirts. A definite inspiration for a vintage gal's casual option for a daily look.

Lana is also seen wearing a few different coats throughout the film, which I thought would be a great inspiration for the up coming colder season. My favorite combination is the red coat and turban paired with the pale yellow dress. I love the red and yellow color combo and just may have to try that out myself this spring!! Overall, this is a great Plunkett film that may not be as well known as his other pictures, but it still holds up to his reputation for magnificent style. The film is available on dvd and is on Netflix but it appears they don't have the dvd yet, however you can save it to your queue.

The honorable mentions for this week are Madame X, another great Lana Turner film, and Coco Chanel, starring Shirley MacLaine.

I remember seeing Madame X as a young girl and was totally captivated by it. It receives an honorable mention for a lovely green gown worn during a party scene and the wonderful mid-60's fashions.

Coco Chanel just recently came out on DVD and I highly recommend that everyone see this movie. It is great on so many levels. The plot is structured through flashbacks, making for a very engaging narrative. The costumes are simply amazing and feature really great designs from the turn of the century to the mid-50's. I know this film didn't really receive great reviews, but I think vintage lovers will be able to appreciate the fab costumes. Plus the actor that plays Boy is quite the hunk!!

I am approaching my 100th post and I think I am going to do a giveaway tied into Film Fashion Friday. Look for more info as I get closer to my 100th post!!

Emily

Parisian Ballerinas

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about this new blouse. It came in the mail on Monday and I couldn't wait to wear it to class today. I won it off eBay and couldn't believe the deal I got on it, considering it is a novelty print and all. I loved the print...what can be better than ballerinas and the Eiffel Tower? Oh and can you see those fantastic vintage rhinestone and lucite buttons??

Up until graduating from high school, I used to dance. I did studio dance for about 12 or 13 years and was on my high school's dance team all four years of school. I really miss dancing and have been looking for a studio that has classes for older girls. It's hard to find these type of classes, typically they go up age 18 and that's the cut off. Finding this shirt reminded my of all my wonderful years spent dancing and I truly enjoyed wearing it today!

I was kind of going for a 60's casual look...I don't know how well I achieved it. The top is really blousy and I wanted to offset that by wearing slim pants...ergo trying to obtain a more 60's aesthetic. But, whatever era I ended up channeling, I was really pleased with this outfit and plan on wearing it again soon. I just loooooove this blouse!!!!!

Emily

Sweater: American Eagle (ages ago)

Blouse: Vintage 50's via eBay

Jeans: JC Penny

Navy Blue Leather Bag: eBay

Silver Flats: Target

The Perfect Watch

I have ended a year long quest to find the prefect vintage "everyday" watch. This past Friday after work, I decided to take a trip over to the craft and antique mall that I used to have my booth at. I hadn't been there in ages...really the last time was there was when I closed my booth months ago. I was looking for a vintage casserole dish in a larger size and instead I found this watch. I normally always look in the cases that are in the different booths...you really never know what can be found in there; dealers always keep different things in their cases. This watch caught my eye and I asked the lady to see it. It was marked $15 and said it was running. I make a quick check for size and working condition and quickly told the lady I would take it. I feel in love with the beautiful stainless steel stretchable wrist and the scratch free crystal. It was really exactly the watch I had been searching for. I wanted a really nice casual vintage watch for everyday purposes. I have a lovely white gold vintage watch from my mother, complete with three small diamonds. It's kind of dressy for every day and I tend to only wear it on special occasions. I have a few modern watches, which I love, but I wanted a casual vintage option for day to day use. Now that I have the stretch kind, all I need to find is the prefect watch with a black cord bracelet.

Oh...did I mention along with coats, watches are another one of my weaknesses??

Emily

Watch: Countryside Craft and Antiques Mall

Film Fashion Friday: City Without Men

Welcome to Film Fashion Friday!! This week's film is a Linda Darnell picture from 1943. It was released in January, so much of the fashion is coming out of 1942. There is no costume designer/director for this film, which I am not too surprised since this is more of a B film. The director is Sidney Salkow and he would go on to direct a lot of TV shows -- most notably "The Addams Family."

Although this film is only 75 minutes long, there are many costume changes that display great wartime fashion. Linda Darnell has some really stylish hairstyles going on as well. I am loving the jumper she has on in the opening scene of the film. I have been wanting one of these for a long time....still no luck yet. There is a grey one on eBay at the moment and I am considering it!!

City Without Men has a super supporting cast of some lovely Hollywood stars, including Margaret Hamilton and Glenda Farrel. Both give wonderful performances.

This film is available on dvd and Netflix. However, I should warn you that it is not a good print and the sound is pretty muffled. It is still a great film to watch for both the fashion and the plot. Plus Linda Darnell is just awesome...I LOVE her!!!

My honorable mention this week is The Big Sleep. Another grand 40's picture. It's hard to resist Bogie and Bacall. Lauren Bacall has some awesome outfits and there are a lot of female characters in pants. I especially noticed the hats that the extras were wearing...they were fabulous enough just to watch the films for that reason alone!!

Emily

Birthday Suit...er..Dress

Today is my birthday and I had planned on wearing my 40's robin egg blue suit but the weather here was so nice, so I decided to take this dress for one more spin before the snow comes. I love this dress. It is cut on the bias, making it drape beautifully. It has purple polka dots all over it, giving it a great contrast between that and the periwinkle blue. Black is always a "go to" color for me and I like the added contrast of the pastels and the stark black accents. I set my hair in sponge rollers last night and I really liked the out come of the setting I did -- one that I had never tried before. If anyone is interested, I can do a post on it. I did a modified take on one that LisaFreemontStreet did on You Tube. She has a really great channel with lots and lots of tips.

Dress: Late 40's, Mother Fletchers

Belt: Kohls

Sweater: Target

Purse: 40's, Salvation Army

40's Heels: eBay

Emily

Attention Cary Grant Fans!!!

While surfing youtube the other day, I stumbled across this adorable old short film with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and just had to share it with you all. I really enjoy these little films that classical Hollywood stars made. They are extremely cute and show a lighter side to old Hollywood. I hope you all enjoy it and if you have any links to more clips like this, let me know!!

Emily

Vintage Magazines and Estate Sales

One of the many vast vintage items I collect is vintage magazines. I love to thumb through all the old ads and pictures and discover new recipes. I also really enjoy the cover art. I like how some magazines have photos for cover art, like LIFE; and some have a more artistic take, like Ladies Home Journal. I think one of the biggest reasons I enjoy collecting vintage magazines is because they are relatively inexpensive and normally easy to come by. The last two estate sales I went to didn't have any vintage magazines, however there were many other great items up for grabs.

The sale I went to last weekend yielded the above; a beautiful painting ($2) and a vintage knitting bag ($4). The knitting bag has been on my list of things to look out for and the painting just kind of happened. I found it in the basement under a bunch of stuff and figured if the price was right I would buy it. I did get a few other items at the sale; some lovely linens, a super cute vintage apron, and some dishes -- something I can't seem to get enough of!! I sure do hope that I will have a lot of stage pace in my future kitchen and lots of dinner parties to make use of all these purchases!!

I went to a bag sale today and picked up a few items. The most exciting was four strips of vintage shelf edging in the most beautiful rose pattern. I also picked up a bag of vintage iron-on embroidery transfers for my mom and I to share. She has already picked out her favorites!

Hope you all had lovely weekends!

Emily

Film Fashion Friday: How To Marry a Millionaire

Hello lovely readers!! To introduce my new series, this week I am featuring a classic favorite that often gets talked about for its fabulous costumes. How to Marry a Millionaire features numerous ensembles created by Travilla. Travilla got his start in the film industry in the early 40's and continued to work into the 80's. He often worked with Marilyn Monroe and even did some of the costumes on the hit 80's tv show Dallas.

The film stars three wonderful leading ladies; Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe, and Betty Grable who were all known for their keen style sense. They all have about 4 or 5+ costume changes each throughout the film, each showing off some of the most fashionable clothing options for the 1950's. Each girl is always accessorized well and always beautifully put together. If you haven't seen this film before, it's a cute romantic comedy about three gold digging girls who are on the hunt for some millionaire men. Their journey in luring in the men provides much of the comedy. Besides the marvelous costumes, this film can stand well on its own for great witty dialog and some beautiful cinematography.

One of my favorite parts in the film is the fashion show sequence. The models are wearing some of the more couture items for 1953 (the year the film was made and released). It's fun to see what was considered high fashion and it really gives us vintage girls some great ideas!!

There is also a great scene in the powder room where the girls are primping themselves before joining the men at dinner. The set for this scene is really decadent and glamorous. I also really love the mirror shots. Pictured above is Marilyn, but there is also a similar one of Betty Grable that is just as fabulous!

So that's my pick for this week. I wanted to start out with something readily available both on dvd and Netflix and easy to find at your local video rental place. I have also decided to feature at least one or more films each week as honorable mentions. These films will also be available on dvd or Netflix as well, but might be a little more difficult to find.

This week since the main film was from the 50's, I wanted to feature a film from both the 30's and the 40's. Both honorable mentions this week come from Alfred Hitchcock, "the Master of Suspense." The Young and Innocent is from 1937 and is a really great film. The main character on has about two or three costume changes, but they are some really outfits featuring classic 30's designs. The extras in the film are also well dressed. The Paradine Case is from 1947 and showcases some really great new look fashions. There are a few fancy dinner scenes that show off some really great formal gowns and for this reason, I feel it's worth watching..also if you enjoy a good courtroom drama.

I hope you enjoyed the first week of these series and if you have any requests for a certain decade or star, let me know!!

Emily

Feathered Hat

As I mentioned in my last post, I made a last minute change to my costume for the costume night at the Redford. I decided I wanted to wear this dress so I would get a chance to wear these heels and hat, both purchased over the summer. I also felt that the green matched better with my vintage mink stole than the black suit. I didn't take any pictures of myself with the mink on, but its a traditional brown one. If I had kept the blonde mink that I got with the other, I would have probably worn the suit again. Anyways, I love the combination of brown and green, so I was pleased with my outfit. My friend and I were pretty much the only ones who dressed up, but we both had a blast and got many compliments as well!!

The other picture is of the inside of the theatre, right outside of the actual seating and between the lobby. The lobby is closed off by big red doors. The lighting fixture came from Europe and is period but not original to the building. There are three of them hanging and are quite lovely!

As I am writing this post, my finds from the really great estate sale at the historic home are soaking in the laundry tub. I hope to have pictures up soon!!

Emily

Costume Night at the Redford

This past weekend was costume night at the Redford theatre. My outfit pictured above is actually from two weekends ago. My friend, Taylor and I didn't know that they had moved the films scheduled for that weekend to this past weekend, so we got all dressed up and drove all the way out there...only to find out the date had been moved. Regardless, I was excited I got to wear this suit. I got it over the summer off eBay and it is probably one of the best deals I have ever gotten on any piece of vintage clothing that I own. The suit with the shipping and handling cost me $8!!!!!!!! It is a perfect fit and a lovely cut...don't ya think??

I ended up wearing a different dress to the actual showing of the films this weekend. Pictures to come!!

The picture next to it is off this lovely website I discovered last week on Amy Jeanne's blog. I suggest you take a look if you are into old photos, but I must warn you...you may be on the site for hours shifting through all the images!! :)

I also attended the most luxurious estate sale at the home that originally belonged to the Kresge family. I am assuming that the home was built around the mid to late 20's and everything was kept just as it was when it was built!! I have some pictures I pulled off the estate sale website that I will share later on this week, along with my finds.

Suit and Heels: eBay

Hat: Estate Sale

Jewelry and Shoe Clips: Great Grandma's

Emily