My 1960s Paper Dress

What an incredible birthday gift I received recently from my husband....an original paper dress from the 1960s- 1966 to be exact! Part of the reason I've been absent lately is that I've been working on a series of articles I am contributing to a new volume of fashion textbooks. I wrote an entry on paper dress of the 1960s and thus when my husband located one of the original dresses produced by Scott Paper Company on eBay, he grabbed it for me!

Wondering what paper dresses are all about? I know I wrote the entry but I'm still slammed :) so check out here and here to learn more. I will say that the dresses are surprisingly sturdy. Please pardon the fold lines as its been folded up for almost 50 years!

"Paper Caper By SCOTT."  "Your Paper Caper is an all-paper dress and is intended for one time wear only. It is flame resistant but washing, dry cleaning, or soaking will make the dress dangerously flammable when dry."

 

Refashion Rescue: 60s Style Earrings

I loved the shape of these drop earrings when I scooped them up for $1 at a local flea market- however, I wasn't in love with the color so I just painted them! This is super simple and very similar to my vintage hand mirror refashion post. Now I love their 1960s look and they will be much more versatile!

Refashioning a Jewelry Piece:

1. Gather Supplies.
• Jewelry piece you want to change the color of (Could be anything! Jewelry with details that are semi-flat or flat are easier)
• Krylon silver foil metallic spray paint (or whatever color you prefer)
• Cosmetic wedge sponge
2. Spray your paint on the sponge and press onto the piece.
3. Repeat until you get the desired effect/ level of coverage.
4. Let it dry and enjoy your new jewelry piece! 

Do you have any other jewelry refashions or DIY's? I'd love to hear them!

Vintage Bride In the Neighborhood

I came across this photo that my husband Dylan took of me when I was still living in Mobile, Alabama last year. This was a fun vintage bridal look we did, featuring my dear friend Mary's dress that she wore for her wedding in 1965. This picture makes me miss the beautiful historic neighborhood I lived in- so quaint and quiet. I will be back to visit next weekend and I can't wait to catch up with my sidekick Mary and have a ball being silly putting together outfits and thrift shopping just like old times! You can see some of the other photos I shared previously here.

Tiki Cocktail

Here's how I styled a fun thrifted look that takes inspiration from different decades!

The Breakdown:
Square neckline and dress print =1940s Tiki
Flippy hair and bold graphic earrings= 1960s
Chunky platform sandals=1970s

Inspiration: Vintage Tiki Poster & Tiki Swimwear

The Details:
Dress- thrifted
Handmade bag- gift from my mom
Earrings- Gina's Beauty Supply 
Shoes- Nine West (gift)
Hat- thrifted

Interested in learning about Tiki fashion?  Click here to read a neat post from another blogger.
Image sources- vintage Tiki poster, Tiki swimsuit. Linking up at Ta-dah Tuesday &  Thrifters Anonymous. 

Sixties Swim Style

Hi Guys!
Here is a vintage swimsuit look I wore recently for a friend's pool party. It's completely thrifted- in fact, the swim separates I bought separately because I so didn't love the floral bottom they had- one of those super high 80s cuts. I much prefer the coverage and cut of these little bo peep high-waisted boyshorts and this way it recalls an earlier 1960s vintage look :) linking up at Not Dead Yet Style &  ta-dah Tuesday!

Outfit details:
Swim top- thrifted
Swim bottoms-thrifted
Vintage sandals- thrifted
Parasol- from an Asian Festival years ago
Patent tote- free (gift)
Do you have any vintage or vintage-inspired bathing suit looks? I'd love to hear about them!

Time Traveling & Print-Mixing

Here's an entirely thrifted vintage-inspired outfit I put together for some fun shots with this neighboring 1965 Ford Galaxie! I'm a big fan of mixing prints and colors so this was fun. Notice the size of the prints are different (larger print on dress versus smaller print on coat) so it works well together and doesn't conflict.

Outfit details
Dress- Lily Pulitzer @ Cherry Picked Consigments (gift from Therese)
1970s dress worn as a coat- thrifted
Silk head scarf- thrifted
Vintage necklace- thrifted
Vintage sandals- thrifted

Sixties Smoke Rings

Yesterday while antiquing, I came across this magazine ad from the 1960s demonstrating all the ways to wear a Smoke Ring.
In case your wondering, a Smoke Ring is a continuous piece of silk that can be worn around the neck and on the head in a variety of ways...


Wondering about the name?Consider if you will, how delicately smoke takes on various shapes- from rings to ribbons and so on...




(Alice in Wonderland caterpillar)

I think my favorite way to wear a Smoke Ring is the suit filler idea shown above. I've done this type of look before with a regular silk scarf the same color as my outfit (I just placed it inside the top of my maxi dress that was too low cut). Comes in pretty handy to cover up a bit when wearing a very low cut top!
My Aunt Sandy remembers my grandmother wearing one of these in the 60's- she always liked to wear hers as a head scarf like in the image above. In fact, I have a beautiful ombre yellow smoke ring that was my grandmothers. This one below was also hers and belongs to my sister.



To update, try wrapping it around and around, to hide the elastic band of your ponytail. It can also easily become a headband if you twist the excess around a bun.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to adding jewels and jewelry... from brooches to clip-ons...and beyond!
What's your favorite way pictured here to wear it?
-Jenn

Satin Ribbon Lash Luxury

So I was feeling experimental one night recently and got this idea of cutting a satin ribbon to create faux false lashes!

All I did was take a razor blade and start shredding the ribbon. The pieces came out looking like false lash strips which is where I got the notion to do this look. I applied the strips with lash adhesive- not incredibly effective for long wear but I think works fine for photos.

I kind of like the Twiggy-esque look of this for dramatic bottom lashes.... kind of a neat (and frugal) alternative to using up lots of false lashes if you want to have fun with 60s makeup looks for photos.

This was really just a thrown together look.... I touched up my eyes with shadow to finish it off.

So what had me playing with ribbon in the first place is a tip I found in this book:

 
That being- in the 1950s, Elizabeth Arden recommended "velvety lashes"- a look to be achieved by scraping a velvet ribbon with a razor blade and then apply by rolling your mascara wand into it and then onto the lashes.

When I read this I didn't have a velvet ribbon on hand so I haven't tried it yet but as you see I got another idea from the satin ribbon.

Retro Makeup by Lauren Rennells is honestly a must-have book for anyone who wants step by step instructions for recreating a vintage makeup look. It's filled with TONS of images and I love that there are lots of examples and interesting tid-bits that are lesser known. Even if you know a bit about vintage makeup already, you will find this book useful. To date it's really the best vintage makeup guide book I've found. (Emphasis on guide here because unlike lots of others out there this book will show you how to achieve the looks and give you the context).

More info available on the book here.

Also, Lauren has an awesome vintage beauty blog that I follow that you will want to check out if you love vintage makeup and hair- Bobby Pin Blog.

If anyone tries this with velvet ribbon let me know how it turns out!

Easter Eye Candy

Images sources:
1950s harp playing ladies

Victorian postcard with lamb
1930s purse pattern
  Victorian lady postcard

1961 Easter dress pattern
Pink satin and black parasol

Vintage Bride

Hi everyone! For my first entry I wanted to share a vintage-inspired bridal portrait shoot that my husband Dylan of Dylan Wilson Weddings so kindly agreed to do for me prior to our wedding this past January of 2012. The shoot was in Mobile Alabama where I was living and working at the time before my new life here in Savannah. The inspiration for the shoot all started with the dress...

About the time I was on the hunt for the perfect wedding dress, my dear friend Mary of Mary Parker Antiques shared with me hers she wore in 1965. I swooned over the dress and she agreed to let me try it on. Actually we both tried it on and it fit us both like a glove! Can you believe she is still as tiny? Anyhow, the shoot was all about letting this beautiful dress be worn again and capturing the beauty of the Oakleigh Garden Historic District where we lived as sort of a farewell to the city! The vibe we were going for was sort of a 50s/60s look with the headpiece (sadly the original veil was missing) and makeup being more 50s (arched brows, cat eye liner, bright lips, blue and pink makeup colors, etc).

The details: 
Dress- vintage 1965, borrowed from Mary Parker Antiques
Muff- vintage, gift from Mom
Headpiece- Davids Bridal (with applied fabric flower pins I had)
Earrings- vintage art deco 30s/40s clips, gift from Mary Parker
Parasol- new, gift from husband
Victorian settee- Mary Parker Antiques
Makeup- all Lancome

Here are some patterns from 1965 showing similar styles... the first two show the nipped waist, full-skirted silhouette that was a continuation of 1950s styles. (Many wedding dresses of the 60s were longer, less frivolous versions of the 50s frothy styles). The last image is different in that it shows the  60s A-line silhouette (and empire waist) that came to be so popular.

 I forgot to mention that Mary's wedding dress came with a detachable train that hooked on at the top of the back. It's most similar to the one shown here in the last image. One of the hooks and eyes needed to be restitched so I didn't wear it but I wish I had gotten a photo now!

Images borrowed from:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-Wedding-Dress-Formal-Evening-Dress-Pattern-Size-20-/320861703489
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88997580/uncut-simplicity-5343-grace-kelly-style
http://www.etsy.com/listing/53748546/1965-simplicity-pattern-6352-juniors-and