When I watch movies, I always take pictures of the kissing scenes!!
Unknown, 1930s
I’m pretty sure this is James Cagney
Oh so sweet! Lookit their chicken dinner and her apron.
Face Smoosh!
Unknown, 1930s
My flapper afro is slowly coming back…
This is how I fluff it up… by running my hands in small circles until it puffs up.
Flapper/Afro Inspirations:
Allene Ray
Probably one of my most favorite photos, ever.
A very coquette photo of Alla Nazimova
Madge Bellamy
From some ukulele sheet music I have, called “Brown Eyes, Why Are You Blue?”
Joyce Compton in 1925
I bought this dress on ebay with the original intention of cutting out the pattern and using the shape as a projection screen as part of my MFA thesis. It’s difficult to capture on film, but this fabric is absolutely luminous and glossy – it burns with so many colors! However, the projection idea proved too obtuse, and luckily, was scrapped. The dress remained, quiet, in my closet.
The first strange thing I noticed about this dress was that the piping around the pockets and sleeves is the sweetest color of periwinkle. But, I’ve never ever even thought to pair periwinkle with orange, but I think it looks quite lovely. I also like how the breast pockets look like folded envelopes! One thing I wish I could change about the dress is the length. It has a full zipper, like that of a house dress, fancy as though this fabric may be. It was probably a glorified dressing gown. We just got these paper flowers in at my work. I had a fun time today moving them from my hair to my blazer and back again. I got them in almost every color so brace yourselves to see some in the next few posts.
My remix shoes are still pleasing me with every time I wear them! These got a little beat up in the back when I rode on my bicycle.
Now my favorite! The sleeves! These are the kind of poofy sleeves I draw on all of my cartoon girls:
I think in this image I was literally chanting “Puffy sleeve! Puffy sleeve!” in a muppet voice.
The first time I wore the dress, Halloween, 2007:
I was posing as a living mannequin inside and outside of Decades Vintage Clothing in downtown Portland. I started out in the window, but I am too tall for most people walking by to notice. When people made eye contact with me, I winked at them! When I posed outside, two men pulled on my fingers to see if I was real. I held a dish of candy and whispered Enjoy when people took a piece. One woman yelled the loudest I’ve ever heard in real life. Her friends laughed at her. Two business men tipped me.
Girl and Taxidermied Bird, 1920s
Yellow Floofy Bow from a 1930s Valentine
The Gale Sisters
Trivia from IMDB: When June was performing with her twin sister Jean Gale and her other two sisters, Joan Gale and Jane Gale (also twins), they were billed as quadruplets instead of two sets of twins.
Ann Dvorak
Jeanette MacDonald
Fay Wray – a still from The Wax Museum (1933)
And the ultimate “beau” of the 20s herself, Miss Clara Bow! I like how she’s literally surrounded by floating bows in the background and berribboned on her head and shoes.
Bows are extremely cheap and very facile to work into your vintage wardrobe. I bought a ziplock bag full of scrap ribbon from a craft store for about $3.00 this past summer. There are about a million and a half different combinations of styles: Silky, matte, grosgrain, gingham, skinny, fat, lacy, double layered. I have a few multiples of the basics: red, navy, white, creme, lace as well as silly ones like canary yellow and blossom pink for special occasions. Personally, I like to match my red lipstick to my bows, but then again, I’m an advocate for matchy-matchy accessories.
As long as the ribbon is about two feet long and able to be tied around the circumference of the head, it will work! If you’re wearing a darker colored bow you can seal off the frayed edges with a match (just don’t burn yourself!), or you can use Dritz’s Fray Check to draw a line at the edge of lighter colored ribbon. Wait for the Fray Check to dry, and snip off the ribbon’s edge. Fray Check is a liquid plastic and tends to yellow over time, so don’t use it on heirloom ribbons or garments.
The secret to hair ribbon placement is such: Place the ribbon on your crown where you want it to lie. Tie the ribbon around your head and tie it at the base of the skull. Tie the bow, making large loops. Rotate the bow from the base of the skull to the top of the head, and you’re done! Experiment with wearing the ribbon at the crown, the sides and at different angles. Or, be like Hello Kitty and have it right smack above your left eye. In fact… I’ve been sacrificing some of my Hello Kitty plush in a ribbon project myself! This post will follow!
When storing your ribbons, make sure not to rumple them. I hang mine on a stand meant for necklaces, but by all means, clip them to a piece of string hung on the wall! To “iron” your ribbons, dunk them in hot water and lay them flat to dry overnight.
This is my favorite scene from Ghostworld.
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