Sunshine and Flowers

It has been sweltering hot here the past few days, almost border-lining on unbearable and I will admit, I have been wearing a lot of shorts and tank tops. But, the other night I was going out with some friends and wanted to dress nicer than just shorts and a t-shirt, so I pulled out this new knockoff Swirl. I honestly think it is among the top five of my collection of vintage dresses. I just love it. Plus, I found these awesome sandals that look like they were made for each other!

I also took out my new lucite purse for a swing. I think I may need to get another one because I really like how all my stuff fit in it and stayed so organized. And, they are deceptively roomy!

Emily

Knockoff Swirl & Lucite Purse: eBay

Shoes: Love Couture

Gold Hoops: Gift from a Friend

4th of July

This past Sunday was the States birthday and in honor of such, many people have bbqs and at home fireworks shows. I attended one of these celebrations and had a blast.

Being the dork that I am, I wanted to wear some red to honor the holiday. It was over 90 F so I needed to pick something comfortable and practical. What would work better than that than a Swirl? This is one of my favorites, with the little butterflies on the pockets!

Hope all you other bloggers in the States had a great holiday!

Emily

Dress & Bakelite Jewelry: eBay

Shoes: JC Penny

Purse: Estate Sale

Film Fashion Friday: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Yay!! I made it this week!! :) So, for some reason I was feeling in a gloomy film mood tonight and decided that a noir would be a great pick for this week's Film Fashion Friday post. Plus, I have a slight obsession with Lizabeth Scott, whom I think is absolutely gorgeous and always seems to be wearing the most envious of outfits on screen.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) stars Van Heflin and Lizabeth Scott as a complicted couple who become involved in the messy marriage of Barbara Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas (who was making his pretty impressive filmic debut in this feature). Stanwyck and Scott both wear some really fabulous outfits throughout the course of the film. I especially adore the playsuit set that Scott "models" in the hotel room and all the lounge wear Stanwyck is costumed in. The costumes were done by Edith Head, whom I have featured numerous times in previous weeks. If you are interested in some of her other work, please click on the label at the bottom of the post to be directed to my other posts on her.

The film is not only fashionable, but really well put together too, especially when you consider that this was Douglas's first film role and it was a pretty large part. I feel he started his career with a bang. And, how could he not, while work alongside Stanwyck!

The film is widely available on DVD, is an instant on Netflix, and can be found on YouTube. Click HERE to be directed to part one.

Emily

1961 PJs

One of my really good girlfriends is moving to Arizona in a few weeks to teach second grade. While she is really excited to start her new job, she is definitely bummed out that she will be so far from all her closest friends. She decided that a good old fashioned slumber party would be a great way for us to all get together and have one last hurrah before she leaves.

Until today, I didn't really own any real pajamas. And, knowing me, I couldn't go to a slumber party without the proper attire, so I decided VERY last minute to whip up a pair from a vintage pattern that my mom and I just pick up at an estate sale for a mere 10 cents.

With the help of my mom I made a few changes to the pattern, opting for a simple elastic waist, snaps instead of buttons, and shorter pants and sleeves, but I love how it came out. I used a vintage bed sheet that I got on my trip to Canada two summers ago. If you haven't used a bed sheet before, I would certainly recommend it. My jammies are super comfy!!!

Emily

Vintage Pajamas: Made by Me from a 1961 pattern

Almost Vintage

So, I completely missed Film Fashion Friday this week, sorry guys!! Last week and weekend were super busy, filled with lots of hanging out with friends, which was definitely much needed!

I wore this outfit a while back and somehow it got lost on my computer. Well better later than never at all. Pretty much everything I am wearing is modern except for the skirt and the purse, they are both vintage, most likely 50s. I found this skirt about a month ago at one of the vintage clothing shops near by and was super excited about it. I have been wanting one of those Mexican inspired circle skirts for a long time! Instead of hiding the ties on the skirt, I opted to just tie a simple knot in front. I think wearing the Swirls are getting to me. ;)

Emily

Modern Sweater, Tank Top, Shoes: Target

50s Skirt: Lost and Found Vintage

50s Purse: Salvation Army

Product Review: TRESemme Heat Tamer Spray

I am sure that most of you are familiar with Ashley of LisaFreemontStreet on youtube and The Lisa Freemont Pages. If you aren't and you want tips on how to get vintage hair, I would certianly check her out. I feel she has the best vintage hair tutorials on youtube and her videos are very simple to follow, making it easy to have vintage hair. Anyways, Ashley swears by her TRESemme Heat Tamer Spray and since she gave it such a great review, I decided I would try it out.

I had been having a difficult time getting my curls from both my hot sticks and my hot roller set to stay throughout the day. Part of the problem is my hair needs a cut, but it really isn't too long that my curls should fall flat as fast as they did. Before using this product, I was using hair spray to set my curls during a hot set. Now that I have found this spray, I will NEVER go back to hair spray again.

I tried the heat tamer spray with my hot roller set first, as it was the worst of the two when it came to my curls falling out. I saw a major difference between using this spray and using hair spray. The curls were much tighter and lasted significantly longer than ever before.

I then tried the heat tamer spray with my hot sticks and this is where I saw the biggest difference. I noted in a few posts back that I now have two sets of hot sticks due to Delta being careless with my luggage. (Note to all: just put then in your carry on!!) I had set my hair with both sets before, but my hair would still fall flat within a few hours. This time I used both sets along with the heat tamer spray and my set lasted all day (in high humidity) and I was able to style my hair the following day which also lasted all day in high humidity. I could have even gone a third day, but didn't want to push my luck! :)

Needless to say, this product gets a 10/10. It is cheap (less than $5), smells great, and does what is says it will. It has now become one of my "can't ever live without beauty products" and my list for those are extremely small.

So gals, check this out if you need some longer lasting curls!

Emily

****Please note that I was not contacted to do this review nor was the product provided for me. This is just my personal opinion*****

Pastel Plaid

I have added yet another Swirl to my ever growing collection. I swear these dresses are addicting and I can see why so many vintage gals love them so. I loved the color scheme and the high collar on this one -- definitely different than most of the Swirls out there. I paired it with some pink sandals I got an estate sale last summer. My hair inspiration came from Lizabeth Scott. I adore her 40s hair and it is so easy to recreate not to mention a great style for girls with bangs, since you need to pin back one side.

I was certainly the most dressed up gal at the post office today. Not that I minded one bit! :)

Emily

Dress: BombshellShocked

Shoes: Estate Sale

Vintage Car Show and USO Dance

This past weekend was the vintage car show and USO dance that I mentioned a few posts back. It was so much fun!! I have a feeling that this is a recurring event, so I hope to make it back next year. The event was held at Greenfield Village which is also home to the Henry Ford Museum. The Henry Ford is one of absolute best historical museums I have ever been to hands down. And I don't just feel that way because it is in Michigan, hehe! The museum is home to the chair Lincoln was shot in and many of the presidents' cars, including JFK's. They also have a great display of kitchens over the years and a vintage air stream trailer. I plan on making a trip to the museum this summer and will definitely take pictures to share with you all. And, if any of you ever visit Southeastern Michigan, the Henry Ford along with the Dodge Mansion should be on your must see lists.

Anyways, back to the event. The Greenfield Village has a large group of employees that all they do is period reenactments. I would love to get into doing this, but the hours can be odd and I don't think the pay is very good. Anyways, for this event, there were about ten guys and gals that were dressed up in 40s garb, including a variety of soldiers & nurses and some lovely ladies dressed in period clothing. While I didn't think the hair/outfits were totally period correct, it was still fun to see other people there dressed up, as I was the only patron that was dressed in what felt like a costume. The re-enactors had the job of dancing with one another and the guests of the event. I didn't get the chance to dance, but I am hoping next year I will have a cute boy to take along with me! ;)

Here's a closer shot of my outfit and hair. I did faux bangs and a victory roll on either side. I used my hot sticks to set my hair and now that I have two sets I can use more rollers on my whole head and I find that the set lasts much longer, even longer than a cold set. I had to get a second set after Delta Airlines stole three of my rollers and the top to the case. I have had this dress for a long time and love it, but somehow always manage to forget that I own it. Does that ever happen to you?

Emily

40s Dress and 40s Play Shoes: Mother Fletchers

40s Clutch: Royal Oak Flea Market

50s Earrings and 40s Sunglasses: Estate Sales

A Thousand Thank-You's!!!!

Just a quick post to give a heartfelt thank you to Mary over at Deluxeville. I won her giveaway and today my package arrived. I was so excited to win and am ecstatic about this lamp!!! Isn't just the sweetest lamp?! So, thanks again Mary for such a generous giveaway!!!! I really love my lamp! :)

If you haven't checked out Mary's blog, you should definitely do so. She has such a lovely eye for Mid-Century Modern decorating. Her home is absolutely beautiful!!

Emily

Film Fashion Friday: Million Dollar Babies (1994)

For a really long time now, I have had a mad obsession with made-for-TV movies. I guess my main fascination with them stems from the fact that majority seem to be made about the lives of famous people and are set in the past. Plus, I love anything that's a "tell-all." So for Film Fashion Friday this week I decided to feature one of my all time favorite made-for-TV movies, Million Dollar Babies (1994), the "true" story of the Dionne Quintuplets. I can actually remember watching this mini-series on TV when I was a little girl! And after, I became really interested in the Dionne Quints.

This mini-series spurred a resurgence of replicas of all the famous Dionne Quints memorabilia, such as paper doll books and the Madame Alexander dolls. I can still remember how excited I was to find a reproduction of the original 1930s paper doll of Emilie. I loved it so much that I didn't have the heart to cut into them, even though they were so cute and came with some of the cutest accessories. :) You can find a repro set of the original 1940 paper dolls HERE.

I feel that out of all my made-for-TV movies, this is among the best of the best. The acting is very good and the sets and costuming was executed in a highly authentic manner. Renne April won a Gemini Award for her work on the costumes. The film features numerous examples of 30s farmhouse dresses and casual working class clothing from the Depression into the 40s. This is also contrasted with the look of Helena Reid, the famous reporter from New York, and her staff, who showcase some of the more stylish fashions of the time. Great attention to detail was made all throughout this film, especially with the hats! I am in love with the hats in this film!!

The film was shot on location in Canada and was aired on both Canadian and American television stations. Critics gave the film much praise and it won a total of four Gemini Awards.

What I find most interesting about the film itself is that since a set of identical quintuplet girls were not available to use for the shooting of the film, the directors instead used two sets of triplets to recreate the Quints. I am still amazed that they were able to find two sets of triplets that looks so similar -- I know I was completely fooled by them and thought they were a set of quints themselves.

Million Dollar Babies is available on DVD (although I have heard it is a bit difficult to tract down a copy) and through Netflix.

Quintland has now become a museum and is open to the public for viewing. I know that I really want to make the trip out to Canada to tour the museum!! If any of you have been, please let me know how it is!!

Emily