Happy Halloween!

Wishing all my followers and fellow bloggers a safe and happy Halloween!

More great Halloween greeting cards and images here and here on Pinterest.

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Dennison's Bogie Book- Source

Halloween Countdown Continues - Cats

Paulette Goddard - Source

Only a few more days to go until Halloween! I went to a friend's costume party over the weekend and had a great time. I will try to share some photos later this week. Until then please enjoy a few more Halloween inspired pin ups.

Today's theme - cats, black cats of course!

Lillian Wells - Source

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Joyce Holden - Source

Ava Gardner as a glamorous sparkly witch. Source: Dr. Macro

Halloween Countdown Continues - Witches

Hi everyone. Still continuing the Halloween countdown with some fun vintage images. I hope you are all enjoying theses. Today's Halloween pin up post features several lovely ladies.

There's nothing wicked about these witches! 

Jane Adams and Patricia Alphin - Source

The lovely Nancy Carroll - Source

Martha Vickers - Source

Halloween Countdown Continues - "I Married A Witch"

Continuing the Halloween countdown.
Today's Halloween pin up post features Veronica Lake in a publicity photo for I Married A Witch. The 1942 film, directed by René Clair, stars Veronica Lake and Fredric March.
Enjoy!

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Did you know that Constance Ockelman, - a.k.a. Veronica Lake - was only 4 feet 11 inches tall? I had not idea! You can read more about Veronica Lake's career here - Veronica Lake: A Biography in Pictures

Veronica Lake -  Source

Here's great close up of Miss Lake.

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Halloween Pin Ups - Eeek, Bats!

Continuing the Halloween countdown. Today's Halloween pin up post features Lillian Bond and Clara Bow.
Enjoy!

Lillian Bond c. 1935 - Source

Clara Bow - Source

Halloween Pin Ups - June Knight

Continuing the Halloween countdown.
Today's Halloween pin up post features June Knight. Enjoy!

June Knight - Halloween 1938 - Source

Halloween Pin Ups - Dusty Anderson

Continuing the Halloween countdown.
Today's Halloween pin up post features Dusty Anderson. Enjoy!

Dusty Anderson - Halloween 1944 - Source

Dusty Anderson - Source

No Trash, Just Class - Halloween Pin Ups

I love Halloween, don't you? I'm still working out all the detail of my costume for this year. It took me a little while to figure out what I wanted to be and now I just have to figure out how to put it all together! No, I can't tell you what it is. ;)

One of the things that really frustrates me about Halloween are the many, shall we say 'trashy', costumes on the market. What happened to class and creativity? When did Halloween costumes suddenly become "sexy this" or "sassy that?" (Has anyone seen the movie Mean Girls? There is a great scene early on in the movie about Halloween costumes.) Anyway, I was looking through a costume catalog with a friend and was horrified - no really! - by some of the costumes available. Sassy Care Bears and Sexy Gizmo (from the movie Gremlins). Seriously! You can't make this stuff up! And what is worse, many of these costumes are marketed towards kids. Ugh ...

My personal feeling, if you're going to put on a short skirt and high heels for a costume, at least to it with some class. So with that in mind, in the days leading up to one of my favorite holidays, I'll be sharing some images of when short costumes still left something to the imagination.

Over the next week I'll be sharing some classic Halloween inspired pin ups. Sound good? :)

Today's featured Halloween beauty is non other than Betty Grable! 

Betty Grable - Halloween 1935 - Source

Betty Grable - Halloween 1935 Source

Ipswich Hosiery and Halloween

To help get you in the mood for Halloween, I thought I should share some vintage advertisements for Ipswich Hosiery. Also a few other Halloween related ads. Enjoy!

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Marie Antoinette's Silk Shoes and Other Bits of History in the News

Marie Antoinette's silk shoes sold at auction yesterday for €50,000! Holy cow! That was five times the expected amount. You can view the auction catalog here. There is also a video here of the shoes on the auction block and the reactions of a few people to the sale. The story is that the shoes given as a gift to the queen's manservant, Alexandre-Bernard Ju-Des-Retz who passed them on to his descendants.

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A nice close up view of these gorgeous little shoes. I love the little green and white silk ribbon bows, don't you?

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 Here's another look at that pretty pink dress fragment. This is the image provided in the auction catalog.

Marie Antoinette's silk dress fragment - Source

Other interesting bits of history related news.
Love classical music? What about vintage aircraft? If you answered yes then take at look at the follow news stories.
An unpublished Beethoven manuscript sold at auction recently for $331,000!
Dozens of rare British Spitfire fighter planes buried in Myanmar during World War II are going to be excavated soon.

Source - AFP

Source - AFP

Marie Antoinette Items up for Auction Today!

Exciting news for those who adore Marie Antoinette! Several items owned by the late Queen of France are going up for auction today in Paris. As you may well know, Marie Antoinette was convicted of treason during the French Revolution and was guillotined in the French capital on 16 October 1793. Today's auction takes place day after the anniversary of her death.

These little beauties could sell for up to 10,000 euros! - Source

Among the 80 lots up for sale at the auction house Paris Druout are portraits, a candelabra, and dinner sets that belonged to King Louis XVI. A few of the more personal items include a pink silk dress fragment, green silk slippers, and the sleeve of a garment, possibly a shift, worn by Marie Antoinette when she was imprisoned in the Temple in Paris.

You can watch a video clip here on the auction.

Oh the shoes!! - Source

Part of a garment worn by the Queen in prison - Source

Dress fragment - Source

Another pair of shoes owned by Marie Antoinette sold earlier this year for a staggering $57,000! Now that's an expensive pair of shoes! And a different dress fragment sold for $76,000! A purse embroidered by Marie-Antoinette was expected to sell in 2009 for between $16,000 and  $20,000.

Marie Antoinette's shoes which sold in March of this year. - Source

I found this portrait of Marie Antoinette today which is one I had not seen before.

Martin van Meytens (Swedish/Austrian, 1695-1770), Portrait of Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria (Maria Antoinette) at age 12. Collection of Schonbrunn Palace - Source

Museum Find of the Day - One Dress, Two Brides

While searching around online today I came across this beautiful gown in the collections of the New York Historical Society.

What struck me first about this gown was the amazing gold fabric. I've been keeping a list of 18th century gold/yellow gowns in museum collections and in period portraits. It's always exciting to come across something new!

New York Historical Society 1949.115a

 The second thing that struck me was the odd looking front. Where was the traditional stomacher? And what was up with the white "modesty piece?" Upon reading the museum's description, my questions were answered. Sort of. 

New York Historical Society 1949.115a

"Medium - Silk brocade, needlepoint lace; silk chiffon
Dimensions - Overall: 55 x 70 in. ( 139.7 x 177.8 cm ) Part (waist ): 31 1/2 in. (80 cm)
Description - Yellow and cream silk brocade dress a` l' Anglaise of English "lace" period textile design, possibly Anna Maria Garthwaite; fitted bodice cut separately from skirt with pleat from back of shoulder continuing down front (originally it would have been a robe and been known as "robe a`l'Anglaise"; originally worn pinned to sides of matching stomacher (no longer extant, but possibly made into front waist fitting); yellow brocade piece turned to cross grain and made into front waist fitting attached below a silk chiffon modesty piece creating a low square neckline (all alteration - sub index letter e); three-quarter length fitted sleeves with large turned-back cuff and needlepoint lace ruffles with a floral pattern at the edge; full round skirt and matching petticoat with pleats at sides; needlepoint net and lace engageantes not original to dress."

Ah yes! The gown had in fact been altered and was worn by Mrs. Arthur T. Sutcliffe for her wedding on April 30, 1908. This is often the case when a garment is worn again by a later generation. For some reason, the large embroidered silks of the early/mid 18th century became extremely popular in the 1830s. (see this example) And we all know those later Victorians like to remake things.

Here's what I find a bit confusing with the museum's description. The date for this gown is listed as "1730-50 with several alterations into the 20th century." However, is also says that the gown was originally worn by Cornelia de Peyster for her wedding on October 12, 1712. How can that be? I think there may be a typo. Either way it's a beautiful gown that has survived the ages!

What I Wore for the Apple Festival

The Apple Festival went well on Saturday and I had a chance to chat with a lot of great people.

With the Springfield Art and Historical Society student interns and volunteers at the Apple Festival. The "Wall of Honor" is a list of men and women from Springfield who served in WWII.

Thank you to everyone for your input on what to wear. As you can see I went with a "Rosie the Riveter" look, in part because of the weather and also because most of my other outfits were on loan. I decided not to wear the WAVE uniform until I can either make or find some of the missing parts. I wore a pair of zipper front Navy issue pants, vintage cardigan sweater, and my rhinestone "V" for victory pin. A red and white silk scarf completed the "Rosie" look.

Cori looking dashing in his new Seabees uniform. He is working on an awesome set of "mutton chops" for an 1812 event next weekend. :)

My friend Liz and I being silly- "You can do it!"

I have to take a moment to brag. I work with an awesome bunch of kids. There are a total of 8 high school students that I work at the Springfield Art and Historical Society. That may seem like a big group but there are 3 intern coordinators and 2 volunteers that help with the program. The interns help with the planning and set up of historical exhibits and other special events. They also learn how to carefully handle and catalog museum artifacts and conduct interviews.

Cori is wearing one of his uniforms and the girls are wearing a good portion of my 1940s collection! The dark blue dress is the one I made for the Scenic Train Ride.

In addition to an amazing experience, the interns receive committee service hours (now a graduation requirement) and a letter of recommendation. We work hard but also have a lot of fun. As you can see.

If you are interested in learning more about the intern program or the historical society check out the blog, Facebook page, or the new website! (The website is still under construction.)

We had to take some pictures at the playground! I love these two pictures of all us in the jeep.

More Rosie silliness

Tire swing!

Hey sailors!

For more photos from the Apple Festival click here.