After much thought i've come to the decision to base my new jewellery and accessory collection on the 1950s. Yay! It's going to be super kitsch, super cute, super girly and disgracefully vintage! Here are just a few reasons why i decided on this genre, why i love it and a few snippets of the people, films and photos that have inspired me.....
1.) Awesome hats. Especially those cute 'half hats', modeled here by the beautiful Judith Evelyn playing the character 'Miss Lonely Hearts' in Hitchcock's 'Rear Window'. Please also note the beautiful shade of that emerald green dress!
And more to the point, how the hell was this woman dubbed 'Miss Lonely Hearts', how could she have possibly been single?! I watched this film over the Christmas period and it was absolutely amazing for it's time, very different to the later Hitchcock films, such as 'The Birds' that i'd seen previously. You should all watch it, if only to experience the beautiful styling and wonderful cinematography.
2.) Christian Dior couture. I may be being a bit biased here, given the current industry that i work in, but good god that man changed the face of fashion. I've had the history of Dior drummed into the back of my brain several times this past year and i don't mind one bit, i could read about this man's creations for hours and not get bored.
There we were in the middle of a post war depression in the late 40s, times were poor and down right drab. Rations had meant that dresses were bland, boring and tasteless and along comes this unassuming art dealer with relatively no fashion experience and turns the streets of Paris upside down with his beautifully fulls skirts, sumptuous fabrics and brilliant colours. This man made women feel like women again and brought back curves and femininity. (well to the seriously rich anyway!) Check out some of these breath taking creations from the 40s into the 50s.
And while we're on the subject, I've just seen the latest Dior campaign for the Miss Dior Cherie fragrance. Not only do i have a mini girl girl crush on Natalie Portman who looks almost edible here, but how deliciously sickly sweet is this? In fact there's a bit of a vintage boudoir feel to it, even after 60 years, Dior haven't lost their touch.
3.) Mad Men. Yes i know Mad Men is technically set in the 1960s, however it starts off in the very early 1960s, which actually, fashion wise, is still very much carrying on with the style from the 1950s. (i just had to talk about Mad Men, i'm positively obsessed!) One of my favourite things about Mad Men (other than the lovely, but devilish Don Draper) is the iconography. I especially love the realistic way that the leading female characters are portrayed. It is of course very sexist, but back then that's the way women were treated in the workplace and how they were expected to behave in the family home, Mad Men shows them in a realistic light.
The clever styling portrays each woman's character perfectly and reflects three very different aesthetics and personalities. Betty is seen as a classic, no hair out of place, picture perfect housewife = luxurious fabrics and beautifully feminine yet classic dresses. Joan is super confident, curvy and sexy = skin tight, figure hugging, bum wiggling dresses. Peggy is portrayed as a quite innocent, blossoming young girl coming of age = lots of florals, hardly any make-up, very classic looking. I love the how these characters are of the same era in history, but have greatly differing dress sense. To be alive to experience that revolutionary time in history would have been immense. God Mad Men is so bloody good!
4.) Insane differences in styles. Just look at these two completely different brooches from the 1950s. Two completely different looks, two completely different connotations.
This is why i love this era, it's has it's cutesy fun side, but underneath it's 'butter-wouldn't-melt' exterior there's always a glamour puss ready to wiggle it's bum and trot it's heels sexily to the surface. I could literally go on with this list for hours, but my eyes are sore and my bath is almost run, so that's it from me this evening, i will keep you posted with the new collection over the coming few days.
1 comment:
Some great inspiration, that brooch is adorable x
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