The 1960s were famous for some spectacular and dramatic epic drama films one of which was the film version of Cleopatra made in 1963 and starring, amongst others, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.
It really was a film of epic proportions well worth seeing a second (or a first) time but this article is about the eye make-up used by Elizabeth Taylor which bought in the ‘Cleopatra look for eyes’.
Posted in Fashion
Tagged Cleopatra, Egyptian, Elizabeth Taylor, eye makeup, eyes, Fashion, makeup, style
Combining vintage with modern is a great way to wear the best of vintage and at the same time use the best of modern as well.
In the last article I talked about finding the right accessories to go with your vintage clothes and suggested a choice of bracelets. You might want to just refresh your memory of the article by clicking here (it opens in a new window).
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A luscious full dress fitted tight at the waist is today’s most flattering and up-to-the-minute silhouette and every girl should have at one in her collection. The problem is, and it’s often a big problem, what accessories do you wear to complete that vintage look and stop the whole thing looking naff?
Well, the worst thing you can do is pile on the accessories simply because you don’t know what else to do; in fact, it’s usually better to choose just one or two pieces that subtlety say ‘vintage’ without going too far. Looking around the blogs I found some great ideas and one of them was to use a stylish and very vintage looking bracelet and combine that with a vintage style handbag and smart fashionable shoes. Continue reading
This article is about the TD21, TE21 and finally, the TF21 models produced during the 1960s.
Alvis were a top class manufacturer of prestigious and expensive luxury cars and had been making vehicles since just after the end of the First World War in 1919.
Initially, the cars were aimed more at the well off sporting motorist and, after the war, Alvis tried to resume this tradition with the TA 14 and TB 14 although the design was very much based on the pre-war styles. The engine used in these models was a development of the engine of pre-war days and was a straight 4 design of 2 litre capacity.
Designed to ‘move’ as the wearer moves, Swing coats were worn extensively in the 1950s and 60s and with good reason.
Introduced before the war, they were designed to be long and bigger at the top so that they ‘swung’, that is ‘moved’, as the wearer walked in the manner of the cape, hence the name. For this reason they covered within them all the voluminous skirts being worn at the time.
After the war in the 50s they made a come back because skirts were still full and a Swing coat complements this look. They were also prized for their ability to flatter the figure by drawing attention away from the upper body and hiding all manner of, perhaps, not so desirable body shapes.
Skirts continued to be full as the 50s gave way to our decade, the 1960s, but, as fashions progressed, the Swing coat began to disappear by the middle of the decade. Today, however, Swing coats are back but they are shorter and not so full.
The example shown above is an excellent one from the USA and made by Lilli Ann. This was a high class clothing business begun in 1934 by Adolph Schuman in San Francisco and well known for producing quality garments. It was named, incidentally, after this wife, and the company was a very successful one until Mr Schuman passed away in the mid 1980s.
Long skirts, so popular in the 60s, are set to be big (and long) for Springtime 2011! This is my prediction and it’s also the prediction of a good friend of Sixties Britain called Chasing Secrets.
To help you get ready for what’s in store, she has produced two very watchable videos on Chasing Secrets YouTube and they are, believe me, vital viewing.
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Until the 1960s most jobs around the house were done by tradesmen and most furnishing were purchased ready made. The concept of actually putting something together yourself would, not just have raised eyebrows, you’d have been laughed out of the house. So what changed?
The 1960s ushered in the idea that people could, themselves, change the style of their house. The reason for this was the sudden and dramatic change in styles that was taking place where new designs were, literally, introduced one each day.
To keep up, people wanted the ability to make the changes themselves and articles and magazines appeared to enable this to be done and so DIY was born.
Posted in Lifestyle
Tagged 1960s, 60s, design, diy, do it yourself, flat packed, furnishings, furniture, history, home, house, sixties, style
I am not, in all honesty I have to say this, a fan of capes but they were a very important fashion item in the late 1960s and then through into the early years of the 1970s.
Why don’t I like them? I think they make women look ‘chunky’ and seem to ‘split them up’ into odd shaped bits and they end up looking like yachts in full sail. However, they were certainly popular in that decade of try-anything-once fashion and I see that now they are making something of a comeback. For my part, I hope it is short lived.
For the record, capes are (generally) long garments wrapped around the body and often with holes for arms. A shorter version will often be called a poncho. They have a long history having been in use by both the clergy and ordinary people since the middle ages.
