August 2011
"It" Girls: Nigel Barker's Favorite Old Hollywood...
“‘It’ is that quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force. With ‘it’ you win all men if you are a woman — all woman if you are a man. ‘It’ can be a quality of mind as well as a physical attraction.”
Elinor Glyn (1864-1943), on actress Clara Bow (1905-1965).
Check out these female paragons of the...
July 2011
Advice for Vintage Vixens: The Basics of...
“Are you feminine in the best sense of the word…in the way a fellow uses the word?
Do you remember daintiness, at all times?
Can you wear slacks or shorts and still be girlish…and do you avoid them otherwise?
When you’re dressing for an evening date, do you avoid mannish suits?
Do you always remember that white gloves, or a white collar, should be spotless?
Do you...
Empire Lines and Hobble Skirts: The 1910s...
“The fashions of the 1910s are the sartorial missing link between the belle époque (1890-1914) and the modern fashion of the 1920s. The Edwardian S-bend silhouette made way for the less restrictive empire line with raised waist (1908), followed by the dropped waist (1920s), in which the waist and bosom simply vanished.
By 1908 social mores were beginning to relax, and this could be seen...
Body Beautiful: Vintage Vixens throughout the Ages
Early 1900s: “The Gibson girl” was curvaceous, with a small waist and large breasts, a cartoon look that real women achieved by wearing a painful corset.
1920s: Louise Brooks’s showgirl look had little to do with fitness and more to do with style and personality. Compared to today’s beauty standards, these lovelies were downright zaftig.
1930s: High glamour was more...
