Photo Friday: Bob and Mom Edition

Good morning!

I was about to apologize for having every Photo Friday of late feature dazzling midcentury color...and then I was like, wait-- I'm not sorry! I am actually enchanted by the number of out-of-this-world color photos from the fifties' and sixties' I've been running across recently. And if ya don't like it, you can lump it! :)

This week's entry showcases two Kennedy-era characters with style to spare...folks, meet Lydia and her son Bob, from this Flickr stream.

From what I picked up from the photos and captions, it looks like Lydia's husband, Chuck, ran a camera shop in the sixties', and his interest in amateur photography wasn't just professional. There are gorgeous, crystal clear photos of his wife and son, starting in black and white around the time Bob was born, and continuing onto into the eighties' and nineties'. What really sweeps me off my feet about these photos are again, the color, composition, and their delightful subjects. How serious the mother and son's expressions are! How ON POINT their mid century fashion. I just can't stop looking at them.

Lots of the pictures are taken on vacation-- what better time to capture family memories? The photo below looks like a freakin' postcard, it's so pretty:

I wonder if they're swimming in the same lake they're standing over in the previous photo. I also love that Bob has brought Lydia something she's examining. A shell? A piece of pirate's gold? Who can say?

How about this sassy little stance? And the mom's perfect, PERFECT playsuit (which I think it just shorts and a shell top in the same pattern, but I might actually be going through death throes of envy).

THIS. COUCH. And Lydia's print pants. And the fact that they're actually playing one of those four in one board games I always see at estate sales but have never actually played. I spy Chinese Checkers, regular checkers, and Parcheesi...but what game-you-play-with-dice are they playing?

Hurtling through the frozen tundra on a sled. "Hop on, my boy!" and whooosh.

I love this shot because it includes the crazy, Googie looking hotel in the background. And how well does Lydia "work" these cats eye frames? I promise I would look like an actual Ringling Brothers clown in a similar pair, yet she makes hers look like the best part of any outfit! Also, the handtooled leather purse. Snaps to that.

Look. at. the little boy's. GAITERS. Buttoned up his tiny little pant legs! And of course the timeless looking VW Beetle they're standing in front of.

Finally, here are some shots of Lydia alone. I can't get over how crisp and cool she looks in all her outfits, staying slim and stylish throughout the fifties' and sixties', and beyond.

Does this not look right out of Mad Men? At the dad's camera shop.

And on the beach. I could see a hipster (or heck, me) wearing this exact outfit, right now, with no costume-yness to it.

Last but not least, this was a flub of a photograph, but it's one of my favorites in the bunch. See how Lydia in the foreground isn't focused, but the flowers in back of her are sharp and clear? I know that has something complicated about lenses and depth of field and camera settings to do with it, but this almost looks like an art print to me for how perfectly out of focus just the subject is. Like a painting, and kind of eerie! I love it.

So! What do you think? Which Bob and Lydia photo is your favorite? Which outfit would you like to copy? Do you have similar photos in your family's collection of true-blue photograph posing companions? These two look like they should start a band, they're so cool.

Anyway, I have to get going on this Friday afternoon...it's the weekend already! Praise be. Have a great Saturday and Sunday, and I'll catch you right back here Monday with more vintage goods and griefs. Take care! Til then.