Fall Photo Contest - Our Inspirational Outfits

Hello everyone! I am so excited about today's post!! If you have been following along you will know all about my vintage fall photo contest. If you are just joining us, you can view this post will all the details on how to enter. There is still plenty of time! The contest, which is open to everyone worldwide, is open until October 18th.

Lauren of Wearing History and Jessica of Chronically Vintage have graciously agreed to help me judge the photos for this contest. Not only that, the three of us will be offering the winner and runner up each a fantastic prize package. Here is a look at what you could win!

THE PRIZES!!

Winner Will Receive the Following Prize Package
Vintage Related Goodies Bag Plus $30 in Store Credit from Emily's Vintage Visions
Beautiful Collection of Autumn Themed Accessories from Chronically Vintage
Vintage Sewing Goodies Bag Plus $30 in Store Credit from Wearing History

Runner Up Will Receive the Following Prize Package
Vintage Related Goodies Bag Plus $25 in Store Credit from Emily's Vintage Visions
$20 in Store Credit from Wearing History
$30 in Store Credit from Chronically Vintage

To help inspire you Lauren, Jessica, and I have put together our own vintage outfits inspired by the contest newspaper articles. (Read the articles here.)

Emily of Emily's Vintage Visions, Jessica of Chronically Vintage and Lauren of Wearing History

My Outfit
While I did not intend to recreate an exact outfit from the newspaper articles, I found that I was able to get really close. Brown was one of the colors mentioned over and over in the articles - brown suits and accessories such as hats, alligator bags and shoes. Brown can often be a blah color but happens to be a color I really like. It can be worn so many different ways and paired with an endless variety of other colors.

Brown appeared again and again in both accessories, suits and coats. One noteworthy ensemble included an imported tweed suit in a soft cinnamon brown shade worn with dark brown accessories and a nutria fur coat. - From the Dallas Morning News, July 25, 1940

I wore my brown 1940s wool suit, first blogged about here, and paired it with a variety of orange and pink accessories. The turban I made using a vintage sewing pattern and fabric from my stash. (I plan to post a turban tutorial soon!) I chose orange as it fits the fall theme so well. My pink leaf pin may seem a bit out place but I thought the color made an interesting contrast to the brown and orange. You can read more about my outfit here.

Jessica's Outfit
I really like the selection of colors and accessories that Jessica picked! Her blue jacket brings to mind the blue Schiaparelli jacket mentioned in one of the articles. You can read more about Jessica's outfit here, as well as view the prizes she will be providing here.

Here is what Jessica said about her outfit.
"I really didn't have a lot of pieces in the specific colours mentioned, so instead I focused more on the colours themselves and went with a look that struck me as someone that could have been worn to cheer on a football game or the like back in the day. The articles talked about brown, red, green, and blue, so I included all those along with a coat, which was another frequently discussed piece."

That all important question of what to wear while cheering on the favored eleven ...
all designed to take the attention away from the football field and put it on milady in the stands. Come football weather, the quarterbacks will have to look to their laurels to get the crowd looking their way. From the Dallas Morning News, September 18, 1940

Photography by Tony Cangiano

Photography by Tony Cangiano

Lauren's Outfit
Plaids and tweeds are mentioned several times in the newspaper articles. The color green was mentioned many times as well. I really enjoy plaids but somehow my vintage wardrobe is lacking, something I think I will need to remedy. Lauren's lovely plaid jacket and green knit dress - knitted items were very popular in the 30s and 40s! - fit the bill for this contest perfectly don't you think? The yellow hat and shoes are a nice complement to the green dress and plaid jacket! Lauren's hat, purse, jacket and pretty brooches are all vintage. Her earrings are from the lovely shop Dames a la Mode. Lauren's shoes are from Remix Vintage. You can read more about Lauren's outfit, the prizes she is providing here.

Green took a curtain call in a brighter shade ... Black and pale blue, black with benedictine brown and black with vivid greens were outstanding in the daytime ensembles both in suits and dresses. - From the Dallas Morning News, September 18, 1940

A striking coat for casual wear was made of imported tweed in huge plaids with fuchsia and red on a gray background ... A two-piece suit of hound's-tooth check in silver and gray ... green and electric blue check woolen cape. ... a three-peice affair, with swagger length coat over a trim two-piece suit, ... A striking coat for casual wear was made of imported tweed in huge plaids with fuchsia and red on a gray background. This was worn, too, with dark brown accessories, and the brown felt hat had a sweeping profile brim. From the Dallas Morning News, July 25, 1940  

Photos by Wearing History

Photos by Wearing History

I hope this post gives you some ideas of how to put together your own outfit inspired by the newspaper articles. As you can see we all used a mix of original vintage as well as reproduction and vintage style items. We certainly had fun with our outfits, I hope you do too!

Photos for the contest must be submitted by October 18th. Don't miss out!! Contest rules and how to enter here.