On Vacation!

I'm off! I'm outta here! 

It's time for a vacation and a break from the city! Follow me on Instagram or Twitter for updates. I will share on the blog when I return!

Mid-Week Inspiration: Summer Is Here!

What are your summertime plans? I'm looking forward to picnics and relaxing in the park. 

For more inspiration, anytime of the week, follow me on Pinterest. 

Mid-Week Inspiration: Freckles

Katharine Hepburn had them.

So did Marilyn Monroe.

But in most glamour shots and photo stills from the golden age of Hollywood and fashion at the time, you never saw them. 

It wasn't until Patti Hansen broke through the modeling scene in the 1970's that freckles stopped being hidden behind makeup and careful lighting. It was a big deal when she landed on a magazine cover with her freckles showing. It was shocking! But it led to a sun kissed decade and made me feel, as a child in the 70's kind of special to have them. 

Now a days I find that there are a lot of beauty products coming out to lighten your brown spots and in essence make you feel insecure about your freckles. How would Lucy Liu feel about that? She is freckle inspiration!

As are the two modern beauties above!

Here I am with my freckles. Some I have always had since I was a kid, some are newer, and I am sure I will get even more as I age. I hate to wear foundation. Moisturizer, sun block, and creme blush are it for me. I don't want to feel masked or like I can't be who I truly am. 

What do you think? Love freckles? Hate them? Wish you didn't have them? Wish you had more? 

Mid-Week Inspiration: The Beret

I love berets! They are classic, French, and have been stylish through the years! I need to wear them more often.

 Clara Bow looking adorable! 

Classic 1940's. So French and pretty. 

Marilyn Monroe ready for work. 

Jean Harlow makes the beret glamorous!

The stunning Faye Dunaway as Bonnie in Bonnie & Clyde

Madonna looking Frenchie tough.

One of my favorite pics of Christy Turlington. So pretty! 

Do you wear berets? Which look is your favorite? 

For inspiration any day of the week follow me on Pinterest. 

Retro Looks In The Modern World: Charlize as Marilyn

As much as the modern fashion world looks forward it also continually looks back in time. Here we explore Retro Looks in the Modern World.

Charlize Theron looks absolutely stunning acting it up as Marilyn Monroe in Madame Figaro, 1993. 

Just gorgeous! 

via: we heart vintage

Fashionable History: The Bullet Bra

Did I ever tell you that I got the What Katie Did Bullet Bra that was On My Wish List? Well, I did plus a whole lot more! I got the Harlow Bra in Vintage Peach and I love it. It's pictured above with the complete set. I did get the padding too as recommended for my 32B's. This cone is a real cone so I need all of the help that I can get! I love it with my vintage dresses that were, quite frankly designed with this type of lingerie in mind. 

All of this fun, got me wondering about the history of the bullet bra so I did a little research: 

The Bullet Bra originated in the 40's. Since it was Wartime, the name makes sense. Brassiere makers were experimenting with different kind of stitching  and insets to give us girls a lift. Underwires won't be used for a couple decades later. 

A great example of creative stitching and shapes used to give an uplifted cone shape. My Harlow Bra is a near replica! 

Marilyn made the Bullet Bra popular in the 50's. Pin-ups and girl next door types a like loved the shape it gave them under sweaters. They were called "Sweater Girls". 

In the 60's the popularity wained as underwires were used and a more natural and smaller shape was desired. Madonna and Jean Paul Gaultier brought it back in the early 90's where she wore the extreme cones as outerwear. 

If you're like me, you may have a hard time finding an authentic vintage one in your size. The modern manufacturer What Katie Did makes new ones as well as other retro inspired lingerie and swimwear to ease your hunt! I love this two tone one called the Marlene. It's next on my list! 

Mid Week Inspiration: Marilyn Playing Ball

Wear heels and look lovely no matter what you're doing! 

For more inspiration any day of the week, follow me on Pinterest. 

Mid-Week Inspiration: Marilyn's Pin Curls

I'm going to start curling my hair again. Here is Marilyn setting her own pin curls! 

ps. I'm on Pinterest! This photo and more inspirations are there! 

Mid-Week Inspiration: Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall

So adorable! Love their glasses! 

ps. Have you entered my Shabby Apple Giveaway?

image via: weheartvintage.com

On My Wish List: What Katie Did Bullet Bra

This lovely Bullet Bra from What Katie Did won't stay on my wish list for long. In a two weeks I will be on vacation in sunny LA. Once there I am making a bee line to the What Katie Did boutique to get myself this bra. I've been wanting one for a while and now that this UK brand is stateside it makes it easier to try on. I love this look and it's time to take the plunge. Do you have one? Do you wear it on a daily basis or only with vintage? What do you think?

You don't think she got this look naturally do you? 

Mid-Week Inspiration: Marilyn Perfection

This gorgeous photo of Marilyn Monroe is blowing up on my Pinterest Old Hollywood board. She is absolutely stunning in this shot. I love how it captures her post Norma Jean but before she became "Marilyn". 

Mid-Week Inspiration: Marilyn With White Veil

Marilyn Monroe looking so pretty! I love this wide netting! 

Mid-Week Inspiration: Marilyn Monroe in the Subway

After several years of being able to walk to work in Brooklyn, I am now once again commuting into Manhattan. This photo of Marilyn waiting for the subway train is great inspiration. May I please look half this glamorous no matter how hot or annoyed I may get!

Fashionable History: Marilyn Parties

LIFE.com has published a fantastic slideshow of unpublished photos of a then 25 year old Marilyn Monroe. The year is 1952 and she has just won the "Henrietta" Award for Best Young
Box Office Personality at a party thrown by the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood (an event that will become the Golden Globes). A few months after winning this award Marilyn will land her first cover on LIFE Magazine. Marilyn is wearing a gorgeous red velvet gown and a fur stole. Oh how I wish these photos were in color but they are beautiful in black and white and show a very glam Marilyn!
Shot by Loomis Dean.
Visit TIME.com to see the entire slideshow.

Fashionable History: Red Lipstick

I love red lipstick! Now that the season is changing into fall, I am ready to exchange my lip gloss for the fuller look of bright red lips. Wearing red lipstick can signify many different kinds of pouts. Depending on your attitude red lips can portray strength or demure femininity; Old Hollywood Glamour or punk rock; smokin' hot bombshell or dolly clown. In today's market there are so many choices and shades but applying color to one's lips is nothing new. Women have been altering their lip color to be more feminine and sexy since Egyptian times. Egyptian Queens carried lip staining kits around with them with color made from henna and crushed beetles. Elizabethan ladies wore pale faces with lips painted red from a poisonous mercuric sulfide. And Victorian women used red crepe paper to stain their modest lips. It took the make-up company Guerlain to introduce the first wax based lipstick in a refillable tube in 1870 that catapulted lipstick as we know it, into the mainstream.

The first Guerlain bullet lipstick; Ne M'Oubliez Pas (Forget Me Not)

Rita Hayworth in a 1940's Max Factor red lipstick ad.

Marilyn Monroe in matching red lips and nails. Classic!

Even funny ladies wear red. Lucille Ball also in matching lips and nails.

Madonna's favorite red shade in the 80's was MAC Russian Red. Still a top seller.

Gwen Stefani mixes punk rock with Old Hollywood Glamour and is hardly ever seen without her red lips.

The return to Old Hollywood Glamour. Dita Von Teese wears red lipstick impeccably.

Mid-Week Inspiration: Marilyn and Summer Activities

Summer starts to go by really fast after the 4th of July. Every year I panic that it will go by before I can do any "summer" activities! I stumbled upon these photos of Marilyn Monroe that have inspired me to not let time go by with out taking a little break.

I need to get to the beach!

I need to get hooked in a good summer read and sit in the park!