Tag: retro crap

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Must-have dresses from Pinup Girl Clothing

Black Birdie dress
Black Birdie dress.

The wide variety of vintage-inspired, retro, rockabilly, and pinup-style fashions available online is both a blessing and a curse, especially if you like to wear dresses. There are literally hundreds of options available at a variety of price points, from slinky and elegant pencil dresses in work-perfect, subdued colors to frothy tulle gowns in bright tones. It’s fun to check out all the pretty clothes, but it’s also really easy to get overwhelmed.

If you’ve never done business with an internet clothing seller, how can you be sure of fit, color, quality, and service? Will the dress that comes to your door be as beautiful as the dress you saw on the web page? And perhaps most importantly, is the sense of dresslust you sate by clicking that order button really worth the money you spend? If you’re wanting to jump into the online vintage-inspired clothing world but you’re afraid of making decisions you’ll regret, Pinup Girl Clothing is a wonderful place to start. In fact, I have six versatile, high-quality, American-made dress choices pulled from the Pinup Girl house brands to get you happily on your way in the world of retro-fabulous fashion! Continue reading “Must-have dresses from Pinup Girl Clothing”

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Outfits of the Year: Pinup fun with Holly West, Deadly Dames, and new friends!

Kali by Holly West
Kali by Holly West. Makeup and Hair by Rockwell DeVil.

Most of you probably know that I’ve lost around 150 pounds over the last several years. I’ve battled with crappy body image for much of my life, and medically influenced massive weight gain in my mid-twenties certainly didn’t help. My goal has never been to get “skinny” or hit some sort of arbitrary weight goal. I’m happy just to feel comfortable with my body again, and the photo shoots in which I’ve participated this year have definitely helped with that. My most recent shoot happened this September at a custom car shop in Sacramento, with the superlative photographer Holly West. Continue reading “Outfits of the Year: Pinup fun with Holly West, Deadly Dames, and new friends!”

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Your Disney Doppelgangers and Alter Egos

April
Besides this one…

Everybody has at least one fictional character with whom they identify. I have dozens, including my own literary alter ego, whom I wrote about for years. Visual character representations are most relatable for more people for obvious reasons, and some of the biggest “personal totem” characters are Disney animated – and sometimes attraction-based – characters.

Here are my “Disney Doppelgangers,” chosen because they represent how I look, feel, or approach the world in one way or another: Continue reading “Your Disney Doppelgangers and Alter Egos”

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Holiday Fashion: Lilian and Monica

Lillian Dress Detail
Lilian Dress Detail: Trashy Diva’s Lilian Peacock Dress plus vintage sunglasses.

People tend to create longstanding relationships with the clothing brands that fit their bodies and their lifestyles the best. Two of my most meaningful fashion relationships have developed with New Orleans-based, vintage-inspired Trashy Diva and Los Angeles’ Pinup Girl Clothing. This holiday season, in true fangirl fashion, I’ll be wearing pieces by both Trashy Diva and PUG! Continue reading “Holiday Fashion: Lilian and Monica”

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The wonderful world of PANTS: Part Un

Lately, a lot of my friends have been talking about pants. For me and for many others, pants are a touchy subject. My crazy waist-to-hip ratio makes it hard for me to find pants that fit comfortably and attractively. As I’m roughly 42-32/3-48″, a pair that fits in the hip is almost always too big in the waist. Sometimes, pants are fine in the thighs and WAY too baggy in the knees/calves. Continue reading “The wonderful world of PANTS: Part Un”

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The WPIX Yule Log and classic Christmas music

Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!

I’m a Christmas nut. I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I freaking love everything about the season – the lights, the food, the festive mood, and maybe most of all, the amazing holiday music. My favorite Christmas tracks are nostalgic, particularly the ones from the 1950s through the early 1970s that remind me of my early childhood. This is why I love the original WPIX Yule Log, a Christmas Eve television tradition since 1966. Originally conceived by WPIX General Manager Fred Thrower to bring old-fashioned holiday hearth experiences to New Yorkers, the “classic” WPIX playlist – like the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom Main Street Christmas loops compiled by “voice of Disneyland” Jack Wagner – brings many of my absolute favorite Christmas recordings together in a single, quirky package.

Being a West Coaster and a child of the 1980s, my first TV Yule Log experience happened care of KOFY TV-20, the legendary independent station in the San Francisco Bay Area known for its crazy dog bumpers. I remember hours of Philadelphia Brass, but I’m fairly sure the playlist was similar to the following WPIX playlist, which features everyone from Percy Faith to David Rose:

Continue reading “The WPIX Yule Log and classic Christmas music”

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A 1930s Halloween

Halloween Kit
Halloween kit cover.

‘Tis the season for spooky festivities! While some current Halloween traditions have roots that stretch back to antiquity, our contemporary children’s holiday activities – like parties, games, costume parades, and even trick-or-treating – were actually devised in the 20th century as ways to keep kids from partaking in the destructive and dangerous pranks that plagued the season in the 1920s and 1930s.

The following Halloween party ideas come from a wonderful Halloween Program Kit distributed by the Cooperative Recreation Service in Delaware, OH, in the 1930s. My copy is stamped as the property of the Fresno, CA, Works Progress Administration. The kit – marked #28 in the series, revised – was edited by Lynn & Katherine Rorhbough. Continue reading “A 1930s Halloween”

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Q & A: Readers ask about size and shapewear

Lorelei Dress
Lorelei Dress from Pinup Girl Clothing, worn over Spanx Slimcognitos and What Katie Did’s Morticia corset.

I don’t get a ton of email from readers, but I do get enough useful questions to merit an irregular feature on the subject. Since a large part of the blog involves fashion, fit is an obvious concern. To consider how an item or style might fit you, it’s important to know the circumstances of my photos and reviews. With that in mind, I’ll address my first two questions: Continue reading “Q & A: Readers ask about size and shapewear”