Photo Friday: A Beautiful Swan Edition

Good morning!

These 8 by 10 glamour shots from the early forties' or late thirties' are more from the Doris and Ray collection. I remembered opening up a manila envelope in the box that was given to me at an estate sale just for the asking, after having spent most of the afternoon thumbing through vacation snaps from the seventies' and actually having a little out-loud gasp. Now HERE was the kind of stuff I was looking for!

Look at that marcelled shock of Marlene Dietrich hair! I really wish I could learn the trick of those little aluminum clamps people would use to get the waves just so in their vintage hair. I did this ONE TIME and ended up looking like Totally Hair Barbie (yes, I had one of those; no, I did not want to look like one of those). I think from the drape she's wearing that this is probably a high school senior portrait. Doesn't she have the loveliest face? It's interesting to compare this to her photos as a middle aged woman-- the same impish tilt of chin and nose are there on a much older but no less spritely face. And to have naturally somewhat blonde hair! I lost out on that lottery to my sister, who was as tow-headed as they come.

Another stunner! Just a little later, her hair has grown out into a slightly more sophisticated look, and the photographer has thought to make good use of her sweet, Irish chin and nose. See the high collar and puffed sleeves on her perwinkle dress? See the pink blush at her cheek? I wish they still did hand tinted photographs like this! Matthew's grandma has the most beautiful portrait of her husband and she when they got married in the forties'...the unreal-yet-real quality of it, like colorized black and white movies, is stylistic in and of itself. Here's a super in-depth tutorial on how to do it yourself....dare we? How neat a hobby would that be?

I found these photos pretty much in chronological order, and this one is probably from after she married Sonny's father (or possibly after she had Sonny!). See the ring on her third finger, left hand? Bingo. Delicate ladies' wristwatch? Check. Pearl cluster clip ons? Check. Thin gold chain bracelet? Check. Jungle red nails? Check. How stylish and grown up a gal looks! Which was what made it all the more fun when I found this grade school snapshot in a box of slides from the sixties', completely unrelated to the other contents:

While she's by no means an unattrative little girl, I love how this shows a progression to having become the swan-like adult woman. Do you see how her mouth and nose are a little too heavy in her tiny face? How those eyes are already full of the same strength of personality that would come across in pictures all the way into her seventies? See her no-doubt-naturally-stick-straight hair shaped in a semi-curled Dutch boy hair cut, her simple shift, and just that waiting-to-hurry-up-and-grow-up look. It reminded me so much of my own middle school pictures where you could see how scattered and not-yet-together my look was. I love this picture almost best of all.

Do you have any pictures to compare and contrast what your grandparents or other relatives looked like as children as opposed to grown people? Do you have any pictures from your adolescent years that are less embarrassing than neat-to-compare to the adult you've become? I'd love to hear about 'em! 

Well, folks, I'm going on vacation next week! I might not post until Wednesday, but when I do, what stories I'll have to tell you all! Have a great weekend.