Autochromes!

So today is the day that I have been looking forward to for a loooooooooong time. Autochromes!

Anna Stocká by Josef Jindřich Šechtl ca 1909. This photo is the earliest known autochrome of Šechtl's. The lady in the photograph is his future wife Anna. This is my favorite autochrome of all time and it is currently in the collection of the Šechtl & Voseček Museum of Photography. I am especially fond of the soft pale blue color of her dress and her beautiful wide brimmed hat.  

I'll start with an explanation of what an autochrome is. An autochrome is a color photo printed on glass using potato starch. Crazy right? The process was invited by Auguste and Louis Lumière (the same Lumière brothers who invented the motion picture camera the cinématographe). The process was patented in 1903 and was used as late as the 1930s.

The process used a screen of tiny potato starch grains dyed orange-red, green and violet. The grains were dusted onto a glass plate and then covered with a layer of panchromatic silver bromide emulsion. As light entered the camera it was filtered by the dyed grains before it reached the emulsion. The exposure time for one of these images was very very long, but the result was a semi opaque positive color image on glass that required no further printing.

Close up of Autochrome approx 1911

While working at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film I was very fortunate to get to look at some autochromes up close. They need to be viewed on a light table to be seen properly, but I can tell you that the colors are even more vivid and stunning than the images in this post. It is very difficult to reproduce autochromes as digital files true to color because of the nature in which they are printed.

Autochromes are composed of a series of tri-colored dots (as you can see in the image above) that work like a video screen. Because the dots are so small and so closely packed together the colors of adjacent dots blend together in our eyes. Light from neighboring red and green dots will create a yellow color and like from violet and green dots will make a light blue. Neat, right?

I've included some of my favorite autochromes here, but I strongly encourage you to do a quick search online for others. It's amazing how well these images have held up over time and I just love getting to see the actual colors of frocks from the 1900s and teens!

Couple ca. 1910 by Mrs. Benjamin F. Russell. 

This lady is subscribing to a more relaxed fashion than the lady at the top of his post even though the photos were taken at relatively the same time. She's equally stunning in my opinion. I love the color of her frock, the simple cut, her matching pink scarf, and her cute hat. What do you think, Readers? Is that an engagement ring on her finger there?

Woman wearing red dress with houses in background ca. 1915.

 I find her up-do to be very lovely and her shoes to be very charming. It's a little hard to see but she is wearing a high lace collar and sleeves with lace cuffs. There are a ton of little button details up and down the front and sides of her dress that remind me of traveling coats from this era. I'm not sure what this frock is made out of, but the fabric is obviously quite thick and heavy. Canvas maybe? The way the fabric wrinkles around the skirt hem makes me lean more towards a heavy plant based fabric than an animal fabric.

Dancer wearing Egyptian-look costume with wings reaching to the floor ca. 1915

This would have been at the height of Egyptian fever, though still previous to the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb. As with most images from this period I could find out very little information about the woman in the photo and why she might be wearing this getup. Perhaps she is a dancer, though for what type of production I couldn't say.

Cowgirl by Mrs. Benjamin F. Russell  ca. 1910.

I love her! I love this image!  This autochrome is in the George Eastman House collection, Rochester, NY. I love her big hat and giant rodeo pants. I suspect this is more of a masquerade outfit or show outfit than actual work clothes, but I'm totally cool with that.

Lady Helen Vincent by Lionel de Rothschild ca 1910.

Lady Helen was apparently a society beauty and wife of the diplomat Sir Edgar Vincent. I am swooning over her beautiful pale pink dress with the lace sleeves. Just look at the lacy detail down the front of her skirt and the black belt around her waist is so classy.

Man and women carrying suitcases by Charles C. Zoller  ca 1907 - 1932.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that this print comes from 1918-1922 based on her dress and his sweater and tie. The only thing that keeps me from pinning this a few years later is the lack of make-up on her face. The early 1920s saw a huge swell in make-up usage with the widespread post-war availably of cosmetics. What do you think, Dear Readers? What time might this couple have lived in?

Unknown photographer, subject, and date... but wow. Just wow. Look at that dress! And look at those plumes on that hat! Look at that lace on her blouse! If this lady's attire doesn't scream fashion I don't know what does. Makes a girl want to start making Edwardian clothing doesn't it?

Seneca Pool 1924 ca. 1924

I really love these cute 1920s bathers. This pool was actually located not too far from where I went to college, but it has since been filled in. Look at how the ladies are mostly in dark wool swimsuits, but they wear brightly colored swim caps. I didn't realize that there were so many different cap color options when I wrote my 1920s swimsuit post. You learn something new every day. 

Vinspiration Tuesday! 1920s Hats!

So this week has been nothing short of crazy. Operation finish the dining room is nearly complete. I may or may not have taken an artist brush to my dining room molding this weekend. After about two hours or trying to perfect every stroke Fiancé told me the room was done. Complete. I'm not allowed to paint it anymore. So I can now say that after two months of hemming and hawing over the painting lines the dining room is finished. It is finally time to move in Fiancé's 1930s Brazilian mahogany inheritance. I'm looking forward to actually having a nice place to seat guests. Guess it's time to get to work on those curtains!

My sewing output has been very low this past week, but my business output has been high. Yay work! "But Nancy," you say, "How will you ever finish your summer essentials?" Well my friends, bathing suits. Bathing suits are the way. You may remember the 1980s swim suit post from a while back. I'm planning to make two of these and perhaps a blouse for good measure. Fiancé also wants me to finish Magenta Dress which has been hanging out on the ironing board for a month now. I have to get myself some clear seam stabilizing elastic before I do that. Heavier weight jerseys, like the jersey I am using for Magenta Dress need some added strength at the seams. I refuse to sew my shoulder seams without it.

So that's the goings on here. There probably won't be too many pictures of the sewing process. Unfortunately the new old camera just does not like my operating system and it's a big project to get the photos off the camera. I'm hoping to get a SLR for my birthday in September, but I'd settle for a point and click.

So onto today's vinspiration. I've decided that today will be all about hats.

The Beautiful Marlene Dietrich in "Desire" ca. 1936.  

I love hats! Hats give me this wonderful happy feeling. I can't get enough of them! I love the look, I love when other people wear hats, I like to wear hats whenever possible. Bring back the hat I say!!! Nowadays however I find that hats really give off more of a formal feel than I would like. Whenever I wear a hat I am always asked what the special occasion is or what type of formal event am I going to even if the rest of my outfit is casual.

Two girls in straw hats ca. 1907

From the 1700s up until the 1940s-1960s hats were an every day article of clothing. So what happened? When did the hat become something that is never worn or only worn for special occasions?

Girl in super cute hat ca. mid-1930s

Well most sources point to World War II as the beginning of the downfall of the hat. During the war years many women found themselves working outside the home, doing jobs that were historically men's work, and with rationing many women stopped wearing hats daily. It was just another expense in a tight budget. In the 1960s hats almost completely disappeared. My soon to be Mother in Law can give you a very convincing argument as to how the Kennedy's killed the hat, but I think the most probable cause of that hat's demise is the popularity of big sculpted hairdos.

A family photo ca. 1969. That is some serious hair. 

Women were literally spending hours on building their hair as high as possible. I wouldn't stick a hat on top of that either.

There was a short resurgence of hats in the 1990s thanks to Princess Diana, but that resurgence has long fizzled out. So enjoy these photos of a time long gone when no outfit was complete without a fabulous chapeau. Hats of the 1920s.

And for a little color.

And just for fun I had to include this cute 1920s wedding photo. Love it!

The Rubys!

Tada! I'm so happy to get to present these! What is it they say? The victory you work the hardest for tastes the sweetest? And I worked for these photos lemmi tell you. Someday I might tell you about the 3 hour downloading ordeal, but not today. Love my shorts, and sooooo perfect for the beach. Actually Fiance's office is having a fun summer boating trip in August... can you guess what I will be wearing? Loving the fit around the waist and the hips.

 I'm digging these rubies un-folded. I like the longer shorts feel. Yes, big floppy hat is mandatory.

Think they look anything like my 1947 Vinspiration?

They definitely have a good flair out to the sides.

And if I'm not feeling super retro-esque I can wear them the way they're supposed to be worn. Here's the traditional Ruby fold, but as you can see I did not iron these into a crease. Also cute, but not really loving them as much as I do when they are long.

First summer essentials done and posted. Sew-a-long completed. Phew.

Vintage Etsy Wedding Finds under $25.00

I feel like this blog is taking a turn towards a wedding blog, so I solemnly swear to cut back on the wedding stuff after the new camera comes. Lucky for all of you it should be waiting for me at the P.O. box today.

Mostly life around here has been the continued hustle and bustle of engagement announcements and venue searching. I think we may have settled on a date. We've definitely found our dream location for the reception. I don't want to give it away until we secure the location, but I will say restored art-deco ballroom.

So after looking at that venue and after looking at the vintage wedding gown photos I've got a vintage inspired wedding on the brain. I looked for a few 1940s dress patterns, but saw little point in purchasing any. It is after all very bad luck to sew your own wedding dress. Still out of curiosity I went through some of my vintage patterns to see if I already had any wedding gown patterns. I have a few, but they are very 80s and way over the top. I keep them mostly for the pure enjoyment of owning them, not because I plan to ever reconstruct them. In fact one of my patterns showed up over at Male Pattern Boldness' Ugliest Pattern Contest. She lost to a much uglier and much more deserving ensemble.

Anyone want to wear this to your special event? Yikes. The 1980s were a bit of scary time for fashion, but they certainly had their own style. It's hard to look at an 80s dress and not know exactly what decade it came from.

After the pattern search I went on to search for some wedding accessories. Here's a few wedding themed vintage accessories that you can add to your vintage wardrobe. All for under $25.00 of course.

Beautiful Sheer 1950s Ladies Tea Gloves with lace cuff. Wow! If one of you doesn't snap these up I will. They're going for $8.00!

1960's Proxy Floral Pumps. Love love love! Waaaaaaay cute, and a great deal at $13.00. Very tempting for my own big day, but I think I should find the dress before I start picking up the matching accessories.

Gorgous Rhinestone Orchid Blossom Earrings. So cute. I just love these, but I have pierced ears so clip ons are not very comfortable for me to wear.

1980s Glass Pearl and Rhinestone necklace. I'm so in love with this. Sure it's a bit tacky 80s, but it's fun and very kitschy. It's selling for $17.00.

Great pair of 1940s Leather strap peep-toe pumps. Sure wish I was still looking for vintage white shoes to go with my Ruby short outfit. They're currently selling for $20.00, a great price for a pair of vintage shoes.

And to top it all off a Lovely White 1960s Hat with Bows. This is going for $7.99 which is an excellent deal for a hat. Someone better snatch this baby up. I'm trying so hard to resist from buying this. It does need a good dry cleaning and reshaping though, so take that into account if you're thinking of taking this baby home.

Have a good weekend! See you on Monday!

Some $25 Dollar Vintage Shoes for you

Well. My back is still out of whack. Darn roller coasters...mutter mutter mutter....


And the magenta dress still remains unfinished. This is about to become my longest sewing project ever. I did manage to finish cutting out all the pieces last night except the detachable collar. I'm holding off on that until I see how the actual collar of the dress itself looks and whether it's really necessary. 

So far I've managed to do the whole dress in under two yards of fabric and the collar would put me over. Why is this important to me you say? Well this jersey came in at $3.99 a yard and I can use a more expensive zipper if I stay under $10 for fabric! Yay!


Alrighty. So in apology for no dress updates here are some real Vintage things for under $25  to add to your own wardrobes!  All in lovely shades of pink for spring!

Shoes! Glorious shoes! These are some very nice vintage 1930s SILK mauve Peau De Soie pumps. I think these are the Cat's Pajamas! I wanted to snatch them up and hoard them all to myself... but then I decided it's always best to share vintage love. These glorious glorious shoes are only $25.00! 

1950s Pink Paradise kitten heel sling backs. Very very cute and only $15.00! 

Vintage cotton apron in Lavender, Lime and Pink. This lady found this lovely piece of history in an abandoned house. She's parting with it for $16.00. As I've said before, one cannot have too many aprons. It's literally impossible.

Hat! Glorious hat!  Cute little vintage cloche for $18.00. This would be cute with a spring day dress. Simplicity 1426 maybe?

And this cute little 1970's cocktail dress for $24.50. 

And then finally something that is not vintage, but very important for that vintage look. 

Some reproduction 1950s fully fashioned nylon stockings. The proper foundation is important to any vintage look. That includes hosiery and unmentionables. What Katie Did has a great selection of vintage unmentionables, shapers and hosiery. Check them out. These stockings sell for 17.50 GBP or 25.85 USD. Yes yes, they are over 25 dollars but they're so close to cost and I just had to sneak these in. I bought a pair of these about a year ago now and they really hold up. You could run a marathon in these things, trip, fall down, get back up and finish. Their longevity is amazing, especially for someone like me who gets runs the first time she wears a pair of stockings. So far I've worn mine probably 12-15 times and they're still going strong. That's under $2.50 a wear, not a bad deal for stockings. Not to mention their amazingly authentic look.