Friday, January 18, 2013

Photo Friday: Oh that COAT Edition

Good morning!

In final celebration of what has unintentionally become "animal print week" at She Was a Bird, I thought I would round Photo Friday with a stunning, I MEAN STUNNING, set of newlywed photos from this Flickr feed. Guys, meet "Mrs. Congeniality 1947":


Ok, now her hair is GORGEOUS, but are you seeing the coat?


AAAAAH! LEOPARD PRINT SWAGGER COAT, GREAT HAIR, *AND* WAYFARERS (cheat sheet on the difference between cheetah, leopard, and jaguar print, for the curious)! Could this woman look more like a movie star if she tried? I think I actually like this one better, with its long, black fur pocket and full length black fur lining than my previous favorite 1940's leopard print coat, screenworn by Jane Wyman in The Lost Weekend (1945). What a coat! Note how the shoulder pads are Joan Crawford grade, the bell sleeves drape out elegantly from said shoulderpads, and she's added some kind of white silk scarf at her neck and a brooch on her lapel. I am speechless. Perfect "10".


Here, you can see her shoes, her triangle shaped handbag (!!), and a peek of the striped dress underneath, as well as the neighborhood from the vantage of a...footbridge? The roof of a building across the street? Somewhere up high. We were discussing awhile back what to do in the winter months about we vintage ladies wearing skirts and not freezing our legs off at the knees, but here you see a forties' woman in full winter attire, and I guess the answer is she just went for heavy nylon stockings and kept thinking warm thoughts! I know there are those clear or black overshoe booties you could wear over your pretty pumps, but do take notice-- there is snow on the ground and she's still proudly showing off those pins with nothing more than a little nylon to keep her from the cold! I take comfort in this observation that I'm not crazy.

So, if she's on a honeymoon, who's Mr. Congeniality, you may ask? Oh, just this guy:


Talk about swagger! How cute is he?!! The pictures are mainly labelled "Dad" by the account user (um, duh, because this is his dad), but one pen-scrawled notation also gives the name "Shorty", which I think makes him even cuter somehow. Great suit, great hair, great car, and THOSE SUNGLASSES. Can you imagine how adorable they must have looked together? Spoiler alert, you don't have to, check out these next shots:


I just noticed in looking over this picture that a) the car has an antennae out to the left of the driver's side door (I don't know why I was so surprised, but it seems weird to see an antennae on this old of a car!) and b) the way the handles are situated, wouldn't the back passenger door be a suicide door (where the hinge is in the back and the door opens where the hinge would usually be)?  See how the door handles are on this 1947 Buick by comparison? Am I just looking at it wrong? At any rate, look at their little pressed together faces. The woman's wide, high cheekbones reminds me of my great grandmother, who had the same heart-shaped face and pretty permanent in her hair.

Aw, cut out the mush, you guys! Nah, just kidding, go ahead kissing. You've been doing it for sixty five years, you might as well keep doing it:


As I actually have a pang of sentiment over how sweet this set is. Undone! By Flickr! ((sniffles))

Anyway, have you EVER in all your days seen so great a coat? So nice a couple? So great a pair of honeymoon going-away clothes? Do you have anything so loud and so glorious in your vintage wardrobe? When and with what do you wear it?

That's all for this week-- more couch news after the weekend (please don't get sick of my interior decorating updates, haha!). See you Monday!

14 comments:

  1. That coat is fabulous! I love the last pic. Not only the sweet kiss, but also the skirt which is peek out under the coat.

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    1. WE WANT TO SEE THAT DRESS. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of it without the coat in that set! :(

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  2. I can't get over that coat! And like Anthea mentioned, the skirt underneath must be equally adorable!!

    This couple is just marvelous!

    xoxo
    -Janey

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    1. Right? I couldn't believe just stumbling across them that fast. Young and with glamour to SPARE.

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  3. What a stunning couple! The one of them kissing is just THE sweetest thing. I have a leopard coat...but I think it's snow leopard? Not nearly as cool as hers though.

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    1. Snow leopard! Oh man! That's one of the prettiest faux furs from the sixties' and seventies'. I spent many an unhappy hour getting outbid on perfect, Dr. Zhivago looking belted ones on ebay in the early 2000's before I gave up. Maybe I'll find one yet, though!

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  4. she is so glamourous! and i lOVE that picture of their faces squished together in the window. and i would love to see what her dress looked like under there! you know it was stunning.

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    1. The hair! The coat! The (intimation of a) dress! I could just daydream on this outfit all day.

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  5. I don't even know where to start! I definitely think people need to start taking photographs with their cars again, though. Seems like that's gone by the wayside. Oh my goodness are they the cutest couple. Wish I knew what the occasion was! Of course, people used to dress a lot more formally than they do today. Maybe it was just "hey we look fabulous; let's take photos!"

    P.S. Have a fantastic weekend!
    P.P.S. Listened to Matthew's music yesterday. Thought it was tops!

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    1. These photos were from their honeymoon! Isn't that the sweetest? I don't know where they spent it, but these were all labelled with that occasion. There was another on Easter Sunday of the next year (1948) with the same coat, but a different dress. We want to know about the stripes! I agree with your "let's bring back car photos" by the way-- such a cute way to date the snapshot.

      PS: Thanks for the kind words on Matthew's music! He's a talented little guy, for sure; I'm glad you liked it!

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  6. I don't have a loud coat but I have a loud 70's floor-length halter dress. It has blue, orange, and green flowers and it's my favorite summer dress. I wear it everywhere. You can dress it up or down. Oh... and I'd love to get together a post for you about my grandparents and dad from the pictures on my Flickr. I have more pictures I can scan, too!

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    1. Re: dress: YES. That sounds fabulous... I love wearing something loud and proud, just like it was meant for in the seventies!

      Re: pictures: We should do that! Message me at shewasabird at yahoo dot com if you want to get something together for a Photo Friday, that would be so much fun!

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  7. PS- Love this car and couple. So swank!

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  8. I love looking at styles from the 40s because it features clean and classy cuts. The coat falls into that category as well, but it definitely makes a big statement with that print. And I agree with you; the woman does look like a Hollywood star.

    -Joel

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