Photo Friday: Cavalcade of Color Edition (1958-1962)

Good morning!

Well, I lived through my headache yesterday (and didn't even have to get a skull-to-skull transplant, though I thought I might at one point). In celebration of my continued life, I'm here today on this gloomy, rainy Friday to infuse some color in your end-of-the-work-week day! This flickr user has hands down the coolest set of color photographs of their family in various states of formal attire, and you know I'm just ready and rarin' to show them to you!

Let the show begin: 

This photo was the one that really caught my eye out of the whole flickr stream. How this woman's dress torments me. Bateau neck, flared skirt, and that delicate gold print over pink organza...plus her general aura of looking like a healthy Judy at Carnegie Judy....I am jealous. Let's just leave it at that. Can you see how all the detail of the dress would have been lost entirely if this photo was in black and white? Notice, too, that the pink marble coffee-table with silk flowers, and the little step up to the next level of the house. Ever since I went and saw that dream house off Murfreesboro Pike, I'm stuck on the idea of living in some kind of midcentury  split level...I hope some day my prince(ss house) will come! This photo is date 1961. Bid time return!

A year earlier, these cuties posed before a high school dance in front of the mantle in that same room (see the roses?). I think the gal in blue is the pink-dress woman's daughter. I like seeing the younger siblings' toys squirreled under the arm chair and laying out in the open, as if they were just scooted out of frame in time for the picture to get snapped. The black sequins and inky hem of that blue dress is KILLER, though I wouldn't object to wearing the powder blue, flower-brocade one, either.

And the dresses keep coming! Here, a floor length number with elbow length white gloves AND corsage. That shawl collar tuxedo jacket on her beau isn't anything to sniff at either, what a cute little couple they make! Is he the same bespectacled guy from the year before? I can't tell!

If I were looking back on these beautiful high school photos of myself, I would be thanking my parents for investing in a color camera. LOOK. AT THIS DRESS. All that mottled, modern print and the big flower applique would once again be lost in greys

Yellow: a popular color in the late fifties'/early sixties'. This corsage is CRUSHING all the other corsages, doesn't it really make the dress. I like the insubstantial, dreamy little wrap and the dream of a tulip skirt here.

The other set of photos from this photo stream mainly come from Easters with the same daughters and mother looking dressed to beat the band for church services. I do love how perfect and prosaic and pastel these photos are. While these girls are only in their early teens, look how grown up they are with their somber handbags and perfectly matched coat-to-dress-to-hat ensembles. "I'm doing pink this year, what color are you doing?" I can hear the one saying to the other. Look at the cut of these wide brimmed, flower trimmed hats, the shape of their handbags, and the uniform length of their dress coats.

THAT BROOCH AT THE NECK OF THIS BLOUSE IS EVERYTHING. How pretty are the delicate little details of this outfit?

Here, the relative on the left is serving Jackie Kennedy realness-- the dainty hat! The checked coat and skirt! The pearls and gloves! The floral print on the other girl's coat is nice, but I place second runner up squarely on the shoulders of the mother, along with that gorgeous dark sable, and the subtle flowers-on-navy hat.

Last but not least, this suit looks super simple but I am really interested in how the bow at her neck and the hat changes the whole dynamic of the suit. I have a handful of sixties' sack coats like this, with or without a matching skirt, that I am realizing would look SO much more chic with maybe a big black bow at the neck on top of the print pattern of the jacket. Thank you, Mrs. Easter 1962, for opening up a world of possibilities here.

I gotta get back to the grind...only two more hours until I'm free! FREE! And then it's the weekend. Praise the Lord. How about you? Any crazy plans or sales I need to know about? Which of these 1950's/60's ensembles are you the most broken up about? Been inspired by any vintage photos lately? Let's talk!

That's all for this week, but I will see you right back here next week with even more vintage craziness. Have a great weekend! Til then.