The Results are In! - "Color Recipes for Spring" Photo Contest

First off, I want to thank everyone who participated in my "Color Recipes for Spring" photo contest!!! So many wonderful photos! :) This was the first time I've organized anything like this here on my blog, or anywhere else for that matter. I was afraid at first that no one would enter, that maybe my readers were not seeing my posts, but then the photo entries and wonderfully encouraging comments began coming in. I'm so pleased that this contest was successful. It seems that everyone really enjoyed it. I'm seriously thinking about hosting another photo contest in the future. What do you think? Something for the fall perhaps? I'll be looking for a new inspirational article!

A few house keeping notes

• What did you think of the criteria for this particular contest? i.e. read a historic newspaper article and create and outfit based on it? I know it was a little unusual but it seemed worth it to try.
• Did I give enough time for the contest? I announced the contest on April and the original deadline was April 30th. I moved it back to May 3rd.
• Any final thoughts or suggestion for a future contest?

I learned a lot in using the 1939 article to put together my own outfits and now have a list of certain colors and articles of clothing that I need to add to my vintage wardrobe. (I had so much fun taking photos, I even entered this one in the Vintage Life Miss June contest.) I don't know about anyone else but I’m going to refer back to this in the future when I’m trying to put together outfits. It was fascinating to read the way colors were combined. Most 1930s/1940s movies and photos are in black and white and are great in terms of details but sadly not colors. This article was a real eye opener in terms of color combinations!! The next time I watch a classic Hollywood movie you can bet I'll be watching it with new eyes.

So, on to the photo entries. THIS WAS HARD!!! There were ten entries total. You gals did an outstanding job with your ensembles, seriously!! Navy combos seemed to be the most popular but I was pleased to see some of the other color combinations described in the article as well. Black with splashes of bright colors, hyacinth blue and red, and different shades of lavender and mint! Yum!! Another nice surprise was the mother and daughter entries of Esther and Debbie. Esther blogs at Dolly Creates where her mom often appears in the most charming vintage ensembles.

After much thought I decided to pick one winner and two runners up. The winner is the photo that best represented the descriptions in the newspaper article. The runners up are photos I think best captured the overall feeling of the era and spirit of the contest. In no particular order, let's first look at all the entries and their outfit descriptions. (Some of you sent more then one photo. All photos were added to the Facebook album which can be viewed here. In order to keep this post as short as possible I'm only adding one photo each.)

Kelly of Seam Racer 
My submission is of an outfit - a year 1942 shirt dress and a velvet year 1940 hat.  This dress is made from a vintage McCall pattern, and the fabric is micro suede, with both the silky and plush sides used to contrast the panels and show off the design.  My dress is nicknamed “Winter Mint” to describe the pastel green/aqua color.The hat is from a vintage Simplicity pattern and made from 100% cotton plum velvet scraps leftover from a past project.  I bought tarlatan for the brim interfacing, like the pattern directs, and used a Bakelite button to close the headband-like crown.  I also made a belt to match the dress from some leftover vinyl.

Kelly's entry shows a great use of color and I love the outfit name, "Winter Mint." I would not have thought to pair a pastel green/aqua with purple or suede and velvet for that matter. I like how she used the fabric to make the contrast panels on the dress. I was really pleased to see this dress because I recently purchased the same pattern. You can read more about Kelly's outfit here and here.

Emily of Vintage Dreamer 

The cut of my dress would reflect the style of the late 1940's when Christian Dior's New Look was first making it's way into the fashion world. I used Butterick 6018, which is actually the reprint of a 1952 pattern. By omitting the unnecessary buttons on the front, (because I did not have the ones that I wanted, nor did I have the time to search for them) it reflects the practical opinion of post-war society. 

(4) Moss green full-length coat, print dress, apple blossom pink hat, pink gloves to match hat.

I have a full-length moss green coat, but, since the weather was in the lower eighties today, I left it out. I also have not had much luck in finding vintage or vintage-styled hats and gloves, but I have appropriate shoes!

I think Emily's outfit is really sweet. The bright pink of the flowers behind her really make the print of her dress pop! I can just image how divine she would look wearing this with her moss green coat in cooler weather. You can read more about Emily's dress here.

Jessica of  No Accounting for Taste 
I had a blast putting my outfits together. I tried four, and only three worked out, and two were really hard to choose between. I ended up going with this one because everything I had was so spot on:

 If you prefer the lipstick red, choose a narrow leather belt, a shoulder bouquet, and a ribbon band for your hat in the red. Wear it with a navy skirt, a navy jacket with a white chalk stripe, navy sailor, navy shoes, bag and white gloves.

"Spot on" is exactly what I thought when I saw Jessica's entry. The navy and red is so classic, she looks like she stepped out of the pages of a vintage magazine. I thought this image really captured the Dallas Morning News article in a visual form.

Kristen of  Verity Vintage Studio
I went with the Navy & Wheat combo, suggested in the 3rd option. I already had the “natural color straw hat with spring flowers and a navy veil” and the “two-piece navy suit, navy shoes and bag", but had no blouse the color of wheat so as a substitute I wore my white-and-blue blouse with wing collar and dramatic sleeves. I paired it first with the wheat gloves and navy bag as suggested, then switched it up a bit with navy gloves sporting a woven straw cuff, and a wheat clutch. I loved some of the other suggested combos but this was the only one actually in my closet and I had no time to sew another, though now some of those outfit descriptions are on my list to make! It was highly enjoyable!  

I really enjoyed Kristen's entry which you can read more about here. It was so charming and perfectly planned and put together.  I love her blouse! Navy and wheat colored accessories are not something I see much in the vintage and living history community. I also enjoyed the "discovery" of Kristen's blog which I have now added to my blog roll.

Pam - Antipodean Stitcher  
This is my entry for your vintage visions photo comp. I was trying to do the hyacinth blue dress and red shoes, but my dress is a bit lighter in shade. 

I was so pleased to see someone try the hyacinth blue with red accessories! Pam's outfit is wonderful and very much is the spirit of the Dallas article.

Esther of Dolly Creates 
I am afraid I don't have many solid colors in my wardrobe - only one, in fact (black), so my entry is a patterned blue floral. I was inspired by one of the ladies who was wearing a summery straw hat in a picture from your first inspiration post. May I present my outfit, Springtime Periwinkle! :) Thank you for hosting this contest! I hope you will do it again, at which time I hope to have added solid colors to my wardrobe!

"Springtime Periwinkle," you can't get more delightfully spring then that! I like that Esther's hat ribbon matches her dress, something you often see in true vintage ensembles. You can read more about Esther's dress here.

Debbie - Debbie is Esther's mom who is often appears on Dolly Creates.
Here is my entry for the 1940s Photo Contest! It is called "Lavender in Spring." Thank you for hosting this lovely contest! I can't wait to see all the other entries.

One of the nicest surprises of this contest was Debbie's entry. Debbie is Esther's mom and the two are often featured sided by side on Esther's blog Dolly Creates. "Perfect for spring" was what came to mind when I saw Debbie's outfit. I love the ricrak trim on the pockets. You can see more of Debbie's dress here.

Bonita - Lavender and Twill
My 1940's outfit is inspired by navy, red and wheat {cream}. Navy blue is such an elegant color, and I have really enjoyed the chance to work with it more in my wardrobe.  I have been inspired by the wonderful vintage advertorials {such as the one you posted} to pair it with classic colors such as red and cream.  I have a lot of red in my wardrobe, and although navy, red and white can fall a little on the side of patriotic, I find the creamy wheat color draws it back a little and takes the outfit more to the realm of complimentary tones rather than Australia Day {or 4th of July for my state side friends!}. 

What more can I say about Bonit's outfit other then I love it?! Inspired by the navy, red and wheat combos in the article, she paired navy with cream. It's very true that when pairing certain colors with navy you run the risk of creating a "patriotic" outfit. I love that Bonita went with navy and cream. Her printed blouse breaks up the navy and create a very soft looking spring ensemble. Read more here.

Brigid of Boyer Family Singers
A Beach-y spring ensemble of Navy and Red, inspired by the sea-side fashions of the 1930s. All of the pieces are modern, excepting the hat and necklace-turned-bracelet (the blouse is Banana Republic, and the pants are made by me from a soon-to-be-released pattern) but they work so perfectly for the 30s era, making for a believable, yet comfortable outfit that I don’t have to be worried about. I would totally wear this for a trip to Florida in the Spring, complete with a Ukulele to strum as I lounge on the beach. 

(2) If you prefer the bright red, wear a navy .... a straw hat with a white and bright red ribbon crown. 

 Brigid's outfit is so playful and fun! What more can I say? I want to go to the beach right now don't you? Her pants are made from her newly released Linden Lady pattern. Go check it out!

Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments 
I have this wonderful scarf that I thought would be great for the theme of color.  ...  I didn't quite have the color combinations accessible in the article but I must say they are quite inspiring.  I'll have to remember these for the future.  I think I wanted to capture the idea of fashion of the period.  I love the late 30s in fashion and putting this outfit together kind of refreshed my love of this period.  I've been spending quite a bit of time in the 50s so it is really nice to back and reflect on the 30s again.  I think what I got out of the article was to look at color accents so I tried to do this with the outfit I put together.

Colorful, eye-catching, and classic. That's what comes to mind when I see Joanna's entry. The bright colored scarf really pops and I really love the yellow flowers against the black. And how great is that purse!?

See, I told you this was hard! So without further ado, the winner of the "Color Recipes for Spring" photo contest is ....

Jessica!! Congratulations!!

The runners up are Joanna and Kristen! Congratulations ladies! I will be in contact with you all shortly about your prizes. Thank you again to everyone who participated. You are all winners in my book!