The mysterious laundry dress

First just a link. If you are interested in 1930’s fashion, then hop over to I read Isis’ Wardrobe. I have just made a post with photos on my grandmother from that decade. She was a very well-dressed young lady.

I have a little mystery for you. A very little mystery, I’m sure. On my list for the spring and summer clothes for years one a dress is listed that is called “tvättklänning” which would be laundry dress in English. Now I wonder, what is a laundry dress? I don’t know. My guess is that it is a white cotton dress that you could boil with your white laundry.

I have been nodding around the net and checked old encyclopedias for information. The encyclopedias give nothing. The net have provided a few things, all of them decades older than the 1940’s:

Billie Holiday

I “found” Billie Holiday in my early teens, quite by chance. It was not the kind of music I listened to back then. It probably ages me something dreadful, but I guess Depeche Mode sums it up quite well. And then, on the radio I heard a voice that just spoke to me and I scribbled down the name and hunted down a record. A really bad quality “Greatest hits”, but I listened to it again and again. “Lady Day” didn’t have the biggest voice, but she sang true. So when a lot of the music I loved then have faded away (no, not Depeche Mode, but most of the other band that was big then), I still listen to Billie. She’s classic.

The song I heard? Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do. A lyric that I suspect appeals to teenagers of any age.

Using historical movies as inspirations sources

This post started out to be about The Pirate from 1948, but it evolved so much into a discussion on how historical movies and contemporary looks that I save The Pirate for another occasion.

It may sound a bit odd when I say that even movies in a historical setting, may work well as an inspiration source. They are set in another time, with other fashions, right? Yes, they are, but historical accuracy has not always been particularly important, especially not during the golden era. Generally speaking the costumes had a more or less accurate look, hair had a somewhat right look and make-up was completely contemporary. There are reasons behind that, for example, even if the moviegoer expects something different s/he still needs to recognize things. If every single detail was to be historically correct, the final look would be something so alien to the modern eye that it would be rejected. Now, those expectations change too. Nowadays period movies usually strife for accuracy in costume and hair and even modify make-up to make it look at least somewhat different to our modern eyes. The modern moviegoer has learned to expect this. The moviegoer in the 1940’s did not and thought nothing when Lizzie in Pride and Prejudice, 1940 (played by Greer Garson) looked like this, false eyelashes and all.



(The movie was set in the 1830’s, not the Regency, but the hair has most to do with the 40’s.)

Even if you try, it is hard to completely remove all traces from the time we live in, even when that is the goal. Some things gets so ingrained as to be considered natural that a movie that is considered perfect when it is released may seem dated after a few years Let’s look at a modern actress, Elizabeth Mcgovern. In 1981 she had a part in Ragtime, a movie set in the early 20th century. It is a very good costume movie and it has dated well, but still… Brooke Shields eyebrows, anyone?

Midsummer's "Knight's" Dream

And with this rather corny ad for shampoo I bid you a festive Midsummer. See you all next week!

Hairstyling how-to's

Would you like to make this 1946 hairdo? Well, look no further than under the cut to get the instructions. I do love this kind of instructions that show both how to set the pin-curls and how to brush the hair. It really shows how much different sets had an impact on the final hairstyle. I’m not sure how easy this is to do on yourself, but it’s still very interesting.

Good and bad perfume surprises

A few scent surprises have come my way. First, I realized that the neat little offer from The Perfumed Court was a bit too neat- not all of the samples are perfume, but also EdT and EdP. Oh well, for that price, I shouldn’t complain, but I do wish I knew. Then I had a few surprises when it came to my assumption on which perfume that would suit me. I have always maintained that I’m not a flower girl, or for that matter very fond of cyphres, but I think I will have to modify that. I have always found them too harsh and have always assumed that is something that comes with the territory. Now I wonder if it isn’t just a modern fashion, because I find that I’m very drawn to some of the vintage florals and cyphres I have tried.

Blue hat, red sweater

In the bottom of a box filled with hat supplies I inherited from my grandmother I found a blue hat. At first glance it looked a complete wreck, badly smashed up and very dusty, which is no wonder as it has probably been there for 50 years or more. On closer examination I found that it was in pretty good shape, despite it looks, so I decided to try to renovate it.