I recently received this beautiful vintage Hawaiian dress by Kamehameha, worthy of an immediate walk around the block. Literally, as I wore it to see President Bill Clinton speak at a Hillary Clinton organizing event down the street from my house. I figured the blue and white cattleya orchid print offered the correct partisan colors. To finish the patriot look, I added bakelite in red, black, and yellow plus a red MAK cardigan to match the small red accents in the print.
Kamehameha Vintage DressKamehameha Vintage Dress
This specific style and print have been favorites of mine for awhile now. Special thanks to Erika of Frosted Kookie Vintage for letting me take it off her hands!
I don’t consider myself much of a “Disney bounder,” but I do love me some Disney theme park and I especially love 1. the Haunted Mansion attraction at both American Disney resorts and 2. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. I plan to attend my second “MNSSHP” this coming September, and will be wearing NerdBound’s Haunted Mansion Ghost-ess skirt when I go!
Haunted Mansion skirt
NerdBound is a unique Etsy shop run by my friend Gretchen Burneko, offering “bounding” basics for any fandom in virtually all sizes. While Disney-inspired gathered skirts are Gretchen’s bread-and-butter, she can custom make just about anything in any size. Her prices are more than reasonable and her pieces are well-made, comfortable, and look great! My favorite piece is this Ghost-ess skirt, inspired by the dark green costumes worn by female Haunted Mansion cast member, but I own and love her Tarzan’s Jane Porter-inspired skirt, as well. Continue reading “Disney Bound? NerdBound!”
Happy new year! I’ve resolved to spend more time blogging this year, so I’m starting with my New Year’s Eve outfit. After seeing a beautiful mid century-style sari dress by Jeannette Redhead of Redhead’s Vintage on the Ooh La La! Vintage Facebook group, I promptly ordered one.
Sari Dress
I’ve always loved the bright blue sari dress worn by Shirley MacLaine in the 1960 classic film Ocean’s Eleven, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have one of my own! While we couldn’t find a sari in quite the right blue color, Jeannette did discover several gorgeous color options for me. I picked a rich emerald green with gold accents and she got straight to work. Continue reading “A new mid century-style sari dress for the new year!”
Last year, Missy of Miss Missy Photography and I put together some beautiful old Hollywood-inspired images. I’ve posted at least one already, but there are more that I’ve saved for a special occasion like this one. As the Christmas season is rapidly approaching, I thought I’d share these festive images.
We chose poses and lighting to emulate various movie star shoots from the 1930s and 1940s by Hollywood glamor photographer George Hurrell, which turned out rather well. I’m always happy with the inspiration and professionalism Missy brings to her work, as it shows in the finished products! More photos after the jump! Continue reading “Old Hollywood glamor pinup for the holidays!”
Summer school is over and I finally have some time to blog pose for oversaturated selfies! Because hot summer weather lasts forever until November here in my part of NorCal, I figured it was time to bust out some of my recent purchases.
Recently, two of my favorite artists created pinup portraits of me! My friends Christine Geasey and Brian (AKA Les Toil, creator of the famous Toil Girls) worked very hard to create some beautiful pinup art! They are available for hire if you are in need of some great custom artwork, pinup or otherwise!
Kali by Christine Geasey.
Brian’s portrait is based in part on a photo set taken by Angela Morales a couple of years ago, and features the late, great Francine Ann, my precious kitty.
I don’t really watch the Academy Awards for the films, the artists, or even the fashion. I watch it for the excitement and the feeling of impending springtime it’s come to represent. It really is a show that brings more than the sum of its parts! In honor of the season, I’m bringing you some of my favorite fancy, mid century vintage gowns, all in spring pinks and greens.
Fancy Spring Gowns!Green Emma Domb Dress
The first is a beautiful full-length gown by Emma Domb of California. This beautiful spring green tulle dress has beaded floral appliques on the skirt and bodice, making it fancy enough for a red carpet. Continue reading “In honor of the Oscars, fancy vintage gowns!”
Like most people, I get my style cues from so many different sources I can’t keep track of them all. More, I’m sure a huge proportion of my influences are so subliminal I couldn’t articulate them if I wanted to. That said, the spirit of self-exploration has taken hold and inspired me to try. So with that, I’m presenting my first style influences. Not the first in the chronological sense of my life, but the first I’m bringing to the blog: Piero Gherardi – art, set, and costume designer for many of Federico Fellini’s iconic films – and the luminous Anita Ekberg, one of the talented female stars of my favorite Fellini, La Dolce Vita (1960).
Sylvia’s Fountain Dress from La Dolce Vita at a Cinecitta exhibition on Fellini. Photo by Cassia Afini via Wikimedia.
Since Ekberg just passed away, she’s a logical first choice. The designs that she – and everyone else in La Dolce Vita – wore also happen to be some of my favorite clothes ever. Her strapless velvet gown from the famous Baths of Caracalla and Trevi Fountain scenes is legendary, but I’d love it even if it were 1/1,000,000th as famous as it is. With its sweetheart neckline, carefully-engineered bodice, and sweeping, diaphanous silk underlayers, it’s truly a dream dress. The way Ekberg whirls through the Caracalla scene, it’s almost like the dress has taken on a life of its own.
Sylvia dances at the Baths of Caracalla in La Dolce Vita.
My other favorite Ekberg ensemble from the film includes the off-shoulder, v-neck lace top her character, Sylvia, wears during the press suite scene soon after her arrival in Rome. It’s perfect – just the right balance of structure and femininity, balanced delicately on the pinnacle fulcrum of the best fashion era that ever was or will be – the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Sylvia’s lace top
It helps that Ekberg didn’t have a standard body. While not exactly plus, she had bigger curves than the average actress and looked amazing. This inspired me, as a girl who is nothing if not curvy.
