Friday, February 8, 2013

Photo Friday: Dresspiration Edition

Good morning! And what a morning-- the Zombies official page shared a link to yesterday's blog post on Facebook! It was like hearing my name on the news. If you're a fan and you're not an OFFICIAL fan on FB, pop over and see my 15 minutes of fame over at their real-live page. I am tickled pink!

So sorry to be late at posting-- I spent most of my waking hours today trying to wrestle a piece of patio furniture from a Michael Taylor estate sale into my car with Eartha. Exciting, right? The poor girl innocently came estate sale shopping with me, not knowing that she would be pressed into furniture moving service, made to stand in the cold for some time as we negotiated the piece into one and then the other of our cars, and accidentally forced to drive on the interstate...but I have to say, it looks great in its new home on my patio! Thank you for being a friend, Eartha Kitsch! No, seriously, I won't make you drive on the interstate again. :)

At any rate, we had fun, but what kind of a week would it be at She Was a Bird if I didn't show you somebody-else's-family-photos to get you forties' clothes inspired for the weekend? A lousy one, that's what! Let's get to it:


The above photo was the immediate draw to this user's Flickr account...because OH MY GOODNESS, LOOK AT THOSE COATS. I want them. I want them bad. The entire ensembles are really something, actually-- from the girl on the left's sunglasses and gloves, to the girl on the right's ankle strap heels and beribboned hair, these women look adorable. Do you see their escort's saddle shoes? The anklestrap wearer is Enez, the user's mother. I dug through the set a little further to find out what else we could about this dark haired beauty.

Pearls! How understated and pretty. Do you see how perfect her hair curls? If it wasn't for my lilly-livered constitution, I would cut off my elbow-length hair right now and go in for a permanent or at least a clever vintage rolling pattern. When I did have hair this short, however, it never looked this well-maintained.

These two are red-blooded Americans (from NYC, I think), but don't they look like British royalty of the time in these photos? I think it's the ties and the button down jackets, and the man's pale sports-jacket/dark vest combo, but whatever it is, I love it. The gent on the right is Enez's husband, Bud. Whatever happened to good, strong nicknames like Bud, by the way? I'm a big fan of naming your kid Henry or William or Lawrence or what have you, and then calling him whatever you want-- Link, Chet, Cash...something else that would look better on a 45 label than a business card. But it seems more of the reverse is done nowadays, where the poor kid's birth certificate actually reads "Skip". What is with that?




We do appreciate a man in uniform, and here's Bud in just his dress uniform shirt and then again in his jacket, on the right. See the oversized buttons on Enez's red coat, and the American flag in the background? I wonder what the occasion was that they had their photo taken in color. Maybe the baby in that awesome, Cadillac of a perambulator is the reason for it. At any rate, this side by side shows they look good as a couple in both color AND black and white.


THIS LAST ONE IS MY FAVORITE. Does it not look like something straight out of Fried Green Tomatoes (one of the highest compliments I can pay a vintage photo, as I have been absolutely obsessed with that movie since childhood)? Look at Enez's print dress, red lipstick, and short cropped hair! See her mother's ribbon-tied brooch and stylish, drop waisted dress! See her dad's straw boater and proud expression as he poses with his "girls"! I seriously love this.


I really loved a comment I got the other day from Jessica Cangiano over at Chronically Vintage about pulling inspiration from vintage photos of everyday forties' and vintage wear for contemporary every day vintage wear today-- if I may quote, "I am constantly inspired by the fashions sported in real world vintage photos. In fact, I'd say that's long been where I gain more of my yesteryear outfit inspiration from than any other source." I couldn't agree more if I'd said it myself!

What do you think? Which Enez outfit leaves you with the most "dresspiration"? How often do you look at vintage photos to see the REAL version of what people in the forties' and beyond wore on an every day basis? Let's talk!

Thanks everybody for reading and giving me a reason to keep committing all these heggledy peggledy thoughts to the blog. I hope you have a great weekend, and I'll see you all back here Monday! Til then!

10 comments:

  1. I love the tweed suit with the pleated skirt. It's really beautiful.

    Congrats on your facebook mention. I'm off to go check it out.

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    1. Re: skirt: totally natty, right? Isn't she just neat as a pin throughout? Re: Zombies: I know you're a fan, too, and realize how big a deal that is to a fellow fan. I could've fainted.

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  2. I love the floral dress...totally wearable today! Were you guys at the Madison sale? That house had some good stuff--can't wait to see what you got.

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    1. Re: dress: Don't you wish you knew what colors it was? The print is AWESOME!

      Re: Madison: I bought a bench! That place we ppppprrrriiiicey though (other than the bench)! I haven't heard of anyone who went who didn't think so, too! Wish I could have gone back on Sat or Sun (or whenever the half off day was, haha).

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  3. someday i will attempt to have a cute vintage wardrobe. i LOOOOOVE looking through the old photos and mostly for the clothes!
    also, we've talked about it and if we have a kid we'll probably name her dorothy and call her dotty, and if we have a boy I want to call him buzz but i'm not sure what that would be short for. i LOVE those old nick names. my grandaddy is a william robert and his family always called him billy bob.

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    1. See?! That's perfect! So when people address your boy or girl at work, they can be President William Q. Public, or Mayor Dorothy H. Everyman. Then those who know your child and love them can call him something closer to their personality, like Buzz or Dottie! I am unshakable in this belief (watch me name my kid Elvis Sprocket Gewgaw, and have to eat my words some day!).

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  4. I totally agree with using the everyday photo's for inspiration. I do like illustrations on pattern covers, and they inspire me too, but you don't see the clothes on a real(istic) body. I also love watching 40s movies, but they are sometimes a bit too glamorous for me. If i want to wear something 40s inspired I'm leaning more towards the everyday look.

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    1. As much as I like the dream of that glamorous, all feathers, Dietrich kind of ensemble (and may someday wear one, you never know!), I feel like the looks you see in pictures, like you said, are so ATTAINABLE. That's classic and gorgeous, but still something we can pull off at home, even in 2013!

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  5. Oh the old photos are beautiful, everyone's dressed up to the nines for all manner of occasions here! I'm with you, the fur coats are absolutely gorgeous!! xo

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    1. I want both of those coats! I wonder what color their dresses were in real life.

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