Guess who has a new last name

Well it's official! I want to thank you all for sticking with me while I handcrafted my special event. Lots and lots to share with you now that everything is said and done and we are back from the Honeymoon in Japan!

-BG

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. 

$25V's Facebook debut!

Jacqueline Bouvier ca. 1947

Much like Miss Jacqueline Bouvier above $25V is having its debut. Except instead of in fancy dress at a lavish party we're debuting on facebook. Come be our fan won't you?





Remember that we have a new Google Friend Connect Box over on the right as well so if you prefer to follow blogs that way please check it out!

See you!

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!

Vinspiration Tuesday! 1940s Wedding?

I haven't gotten anything done this week! The endless phone calls to family members, friends and soon to be in laws have taken up most of our nights. On top of that apparently when you get engaged everyone wants to see you which is awfully sweet. I feel like a princess with people asking me about how my Fiance (formally my Beau) proposed, asking to see the ring, and sending us their well wishes.

There's also the matter of planning a wedding! Holy cow! The engagement was a bit of a surprise for me and I'll admit I did not have one bit of my wedding planned in advance. My Mama and Maid of Honor (aka Sister) have got me thinking about colors, bridesmaid dresses and themes. I'm not sure on any of those things, but you can be sure I'll be pushing for a vintage feel like this.

Just kidding! Though my Southern Man Fiancé tells me he's been to three Gone with the Wind Weddings where the wedding party was in full regalia. He denies it, but I think he secretly wants this type of wedding. The man is descended from the first Governor of GA, two signers of the Confederate Constitution and many many Confederate officers. Me on the other hand? My ancestors were pretty much all poor farmers in the mountains of New York and Pennsylvania. I'm marring up in society!

I'm still in shock from the whole thing. I almost don't believe that this is really happening. So in honor of all the wedding craziness today I am posting some Wedding Vinspiration. As I browsed the historical photo archives I couldn't help but be drawn the gowns of the 1940s. They're so glamorous and so Hollywood. These are the gowns I really would like to emulate on my big day.

I love this dress from 1941. The lacy overlay and the long flowing train! It also has sleeves, which I love in a wedding dress. The strapless look just doesn't do it for me. The cascading bouquets are so elegant as well. The veil is a bit much for me, but perfect for her. She looks lovely!

This photo was shot in 1940, but the dress was actually originally worn for a wedding in 1928. The long simple veil with the lace edging is so pretty and delicate. It's definitely a formal gown, but it's not stuffy. The gown itself has a beautiful bodice and I love the simple long sleeves. I'm also in love with the delicate, but not overly done lace around the neck line.

A gown from 1943. Long veils really seem to the the style of this age. Hats on Bridesmaid's are also very popular. Does this dress remind you a bit of the 1990s? Designers of the 90s were certainly pulling from this time period. Again I love the cascading bouquet, but I much prefer the bouquets of Image #1. Still Image #1 was early in the war, this wedding happened mid-WWII. If you know the story behind the photo the look seems to make more sense. I pulled this bit of info from the Australian War Memorial Collection's Flickr Page.

"The wedding dress was purchased second hand by the bride's mother because the family could not assemble enough coupons under wartime rationing to buy a new one. The bridesmaid wore a dress that she had previously worn when bridesmaid to another bride pre-rationing restrictions." 

Nifty piece of history there.

This is totally my wedding day makeup look right here. I just love it! She looks so pretty, the perfect image of a blushing bride. This image is from a McCall cover circa 1942. It was shot by our good friend Nicholas Muray. I love her soft pink cheeks, her perfect red lips, and her chocolate eyeshadow. The fresh flower on the center of her head is a bit weird, but I'll let it go for now. You can also get a clear view of the nail polish style of the day in this photo. Only the center of the nail was painted leaving an unpainted crescent at the top of the nail and another unpainted crescent near the cuticle area. Loving the peachy pink shade of the polish.

Those shoes! This photo is only fueling my need for a pair of strappy white shoes! This dress is very different from the long flowing gowns, but a much better example of the post-war wedding gown. This image was taken in 1946. My grandmother's dress was tea length and similar to this one. I'm loving the lace sleeves.

So hope you enjoyed today's vintage goodness. I'm still gushing over Image #5's shoes. I also want to apologize for not commenting on all your blogs over the weekend. Everything should be getting back up to speed this week.

Vinspiration Tuesday Goodness and some ARRRG

Vinspiration Tuesday is here again! And today is 1930s Day! In color! There absolutely was color photography in the 1930s. It was primitive and outrageously expensive at the time, but it did exist. The photos I'm sharing today are mostly from Print Ads. I borrowed the images from George Eastman House's online collection. They are all by Nicholas Muray, a great american advertising photographer. These are some of his earlier works. He later goes on to take some AMAZING photographs in the 1940s which I may do a Vinspiration Tuesday on later, but what we're all interested in today is the 1930s fashion! So away we go.

Starting off today we have an image that's just perfect for summer. Yes, yes, smoking in the picture. Just ignore the cigarette. It's the 1930s alright?  Instead enjoy her adorable swim cap. Do you think those leaves and petals are made out of rubber like the cap? Probably. I am also gushing over her cute yellow knit swim suit. I haven't run across many 1930s swim suit photos or patterns so I'm not completely sure what this would look like out of the water, but it's just darling in this photo! The photo was taken in 1936.

Another Camel Ad. Apparently it's from Camel Cigarett's "Magic Campaign, Fun to See - More Fun to Know, 1931" Not quite sure what is going on here other than the fact that there are belly dancers dancing in a box full of broken glass? What? Well, much more interesting than the dancers are the frocks! I love Miss Red Floral Print on the far right with her smart red cardigan. A close second favorite is Miss Green Frock in the back towards the left. She has a fabulous belted minty green print dress with scarf accent. Yummy. And the hats! Wow, those hats just make me swoon all over. Pink hat in the front is my absolute favorite lady's hat, but Miss Haughty Red Scarf to the right has a darling tan hat with dark band. Beau would look fantastic in the men's hat to the far right there, between Miss Red and Miss Haughty.

This one I picked especially for the Vintage Baroness. How fashionable is this lady? Be still my beating heart! The image's name is "Lucky Strike Girl 1936." (Sensing a theme with these photos yet? I told you the process was expensive and rare.) This dress might be one of the most fabulous 30s outfits of all time. I'm head over heels for the flowy blouse with red triangular detail. Her matching hat and gloves are to die for! I wondered to myself if her outfit might be couture, but after looking at the image further I think she's just highly fashionable... times 3. 

And now we enter the land of "what the heck are you wearing, Joan?" She looks like she should be leaving for marching band practice. Still I suppose that Joan Crawford was a very fashionable lady in 1939 so she must have known what she was doing. Her outfit is another great example of cyclic fashion. Don't you think this would look right at home in a 1970s magazine? Or even a 1980s one with those shoulder pads. So you can probably all look forward to wearing this look in the future.

This is a photo of Bertha Case taken in 1932. I'm not sure if this is the Bertha Case, American artist or just someone named Bertha Case. I was only able to find one photo of the Bertha Case on the internet to compare this with, but that photo had been taken in the 1910s and it was hard to tell. I'm leaning towards this actually being her because it is a color print from the 1930s. I am very much enjoying her elegant gloves with the scalloped edging and her hat. Bows nowadays seem to make hats very childish, but this hat is nothing but tasteful. 

And lastly the beautiful Marlene Dietrich in her wispy evening gown circa 1935. Marlene was just so gorgeous, truely one of the timeless beauties. She always looked a little miffed in her photos, but that was her style. Not my favorite dress of today for sure, but it's certainly interesting and dare I say- racy? I wish I knew what the fabric of that dress was. It reminds me a bit of chalk lines on a paper bag. Anyone else have any ideas?

So there's your Vinspiration for the week and now for the Ruby Shorts and rest of Nancy's life update...

Sooooooo, it is one thing after another around here. Today as I was snapping some pictures of my newly completed right Pink Ruby leg my Point-and-Click camera decided to call it quits. My first thought? Needs new battery, so I popped the battery out and plugged the camera into the wall. This worked for like a second, then the camera took some weird grainy liney pictures and decided to DIE on me. I can't even get it to suck its lense back in...

So instead of showing you my nifty button holes (thanks to my awesome automatic button-hole attachment) you get these grainy cellphone pictures. Enjoy... if you can.

Yes, that is my bathroom. Yes those are my cleaning supplies. Yes those are my panties for all the world wide web to see.

I also had some photos of the nice fit I've somehow managed to achieve despite all the troubles people have been having with the Rubys, but you don't get those. They're on the dead camera. And yes, I am wearing a shirt, I pulled it up to take the photos.

So one leg down, the other should go together fairly quickly now that I know what to expect. I don't think anyone from this sew-a-long (SAL?) has actually finished their shorts.The Rubys are definitely a beast, but I hope well worth it. BurdaStyle seems to like to take the simplest directions and twist them around so it seems insanely difficult. These shorts really are not too bad, once you can translate the pattern. I know Purple Rubys will be a breeze now that I know what the pattern means to say. Lisette has an ongoing translation over at her blog Vintage or Bust.

Vinspiration Tuesday: The Photography of Alfred T. Palmer Women at Work

Must apologise for being a bad blogger. My Beau and I went to Six Flags Over Georgia this weekend to ride some of the rollercoasters. Secret confession time: Nancy is a roller coaster fiend. The lines were short for most of the day so we rode a lot of coasters (including some very old very bumpy coasters). It was a whole lot of fun, but my back has been hurting ever since. So I've been slathering it with an herbal remedy and recovering. No sewing has been going on since Sunday because my sewing spot is on the floor, but I did work a little on some knitting while I leaned up against the heating pad on the sofa yesterday.

I've been working on the Absolutely Fabulous throw from Colinette Yarns. If you haven't checked them out, their colors are phenomenal. The above image shows my throw in the color scheme "water lilies" and it really doesn't do the colors justice. They're much prettier in person, but this was the best my junky little camera could do today.


With that out of the way- Onto more vinspirational photos! Today the photography of Alfred T. Palmer from the Library of Congress. Women at work. I'm going to try to pick color images if I can for these Vinspiration segments. First of all it's extremely fascinating to see the colors worn at the time, what colors were actually popular and what not. Second it's so interesting to see an era that is almost always shown in black & white in full color. There are lots color prints from this time (believe it or not) and we should definitely embrace them!


Now a quick little history lesson about these prints since I choose a bunch from one set. All these photos were taken by Palmer while he was employed by the Office of War Information (OWI). During this time Alfred Palmer captured literally thousands of photographs. These photos were published in the major magazines and newspapers of the time in the United States and abroad. According to alfredtpalmer.com "His works were praised for their exceptional symbolic power and striking use of intense contrasts conveying the courage and determination that Roosevelt sought to arouse in the nation." So there you go. Time for some cute vintage 'doos and outfits! 

Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. 1942 Oct. For this image I think I am most interested in the way the lady in front wraps her hair with her scarf. Actually there are lots of interesting ladies with scarf wraps in this series. I tried to get a wide variety of photos so I think this is the only one I chose with a scarf over her hair. I like her masculine shoes and wide legged blue jeans. Makes me a little nervous seeing her working in a place like this in shoes like that. Where are her steel toes? This is one of the more masculine looking ladies in this photo series. She's not wearing lipstick or nailpolish like most of them so I have to believe this is pretty close to what women were actually wearing while working in factories. I don't believe those are men's jeans, but it's hard to tell. I can't find solid evidence of a side closure or a fly. The lady in the back is definitely wearing lady's bluejeans as evidenced by the cut around the waist so I'm going to say our lady in front is more than likely wearing woman's cut jeans.

Annette del Sur publicizing salvage campaign in yard of Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. 1942 Oct.  This is the only lady in the series who is named. I'm most interested by her shoes. I think I owned those shoes or something very similiar in Jr. High. I love love love her suit set. The cut is very nice and the color is a wonderful soft gray. The collar is a little difficult to see, but it is a nice cut. She is not wearing stockings which I wonder about. At the time stockings were being made out of rayon so I don't think her lack thereof is because of rationing. Not all ladies wore stockings, but it is unusual to see that in print ads like this. Especially with a suit set. Her crown and necklace are made of recycled air craft parts.

This girl in a glass house is putting finishing touches on the bombardier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber, Long Beach, Calif. She's one of many capable women workers in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant. Better known as the "Flying Fortress," the B-17F is a later model of the B-17 which distinguished itself in action in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere. It is a long range, high altitude heavy bomber, with a crew of seven to nine men, and with armament sufficient to defend itself on daylight missions. 1942 Oct. I like her matching red snood. Look how her nails are painted and she's wearing a wedding band.  She is also looking very dapper in her blouse and jacket set. Seems a little out of place for this type of work don't you think? More like something one would wear to walk down to the butcher or grocery store. I have doubts that she wore this type of outfit every day to this job.

Women at work on C-47 Douglas cargo transport, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. 1942 Oct. Whether or not these women actually wore their hair so perfectly done to work and not just to this photoshoot I find it fasinating that they've chosen to show most of the women workers as feminine. "I'm doing a man's work, but I'm doing it with class and style" as opposed to the Rosie the Riveter look from the first image I showed you.  And for all those people who don't believe that woman wore slacks pre-1960s here's the proof. No fly. These girls do not have their hair covered, but I would guess that's more to do with the photoshoot. You wouldn't catch me working on one of those things with my hair flying every which way. Again no steel toed boots. This is pre-OSHA after all.

Carefully trained women inspectors check and inspect cargo transport innerwings before they are assembled on the fuselage, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. 1942 Oct. And here we come to the more white collar type jobs. These ladies are inspectors so they are wearing skirts as opposed to slacks. They probably have to do a lot of walking as both are wearing flat soled shoes. One lady has the cutest pair of saddle shoes. Love those.

Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies. 1942 June. Here we have another of the more white collar work ladies. She's an electrical inspector of some sort. Love the print on her blouse here. Wish I could find something like this for a frock of my own. I love how they put her oil stained gloves on her for this photo. As if that gorgous blouse would stay clean in this type of place. If she did wear this type of outfit to work regularly I can guarantee she had a smock of some sort that she wore over it. There are a lot of great smock patterns for work and home from the 1940s. I know there are some great ones like Advanced 4137 on the Vintage Pattern Wiki.

A noontime rest for a full-fledged assembly worker at the Long Beach, Calif., plant of Douglas Aircraft Company. Nacelle parts for a heavy bomber form the background. 1942 Oct. I saved this image for last since it's my favorite. I'm absolutely in love with her cute little loafers, her red vest, broach, snood and slacks. Not quite sure what her job is since it's not mentioned other than "assembly worker", but she is just darling. I don't really wear slacks, but if I did I would be making this outfit right now.