Waltzing through the fashions of the past with Vintagedancer.com

Debbie Sessions is a woman after my own heart. A problem solver (when she couldn't find the sort of website she was looking for, she created one herself in 2011), entrepreneur, vintage lover, writer and expert on yesteryear fashions, Debbie helms the website Vintage Dancer, which she created to to aid others, who like herself, were on the hunt for vintage fashions and styling advice from a certain era, yet couldn't find them such things in one handy, concise spot.



{Debbie Sessions (pictured here with her husband, Oscar), founder of Vintage Dancer, a vintage fashion agitator site, as well as author of vintage fashion e-books, blogger, mother, and all-around highly knowledgeable woman when it comes to old school style and where to find it.}


Vintage Dancer is not an shop itself, instead - rather innovatively - it is an online aggregator which collects some of the best vintage and vintage reproduction fashions from around the web that are for sale in various locations and presents them grouped by decade and/or garment type.

Pulling from sites such as ModCloth, ChicStar, Unique Vintage, Shabby Apple, and AmeriMark one finds a well curated selection of everything from 1940s dresses to 1920s shoes, retro swimwear to vintage style maternity clothes and a good many things in between (including 1950s kids clothing).

You can quickly and easily search the the site by time period, with the Victorian era kicking things off, followed by the 1900s straight on up to to the 1960s, each listed as separate category at the top of the every page, then further subcategorized by type of garment or accessory.

All of the decades featured include a broad assortment of garments (and/or accessories), as well as categories such as plus size and menswear. Another element that I really like is how, for each decade, Debbie provides a brief paragraph highlighting some of the key sartorial elements of that era for each (for example of the 1930s, she says, "Women’s fashion in the 1930s featured long gowns, modest heeled shoes, and the new two piece suit. Butterfly sleeves, floral prints, and ruffles shaped 1930s dresses into beautiful and feminine silhouettes"). For a vintage newcomers, this kind of information can be extremely useful in forming a working picture of what sort of elements helped to define the look of a certain decade.

In each category, one clicks on an image from amongst several presented on the same page to learn more about it and is then taken to that listing's respective website. Again, Vintage Dancer does not sell the items they list, but instead helps point you towards the kind of vintage fashions you're on the hunt for.



{A screenshot showing a lovely selection of 1940s style shoes selected for display on Vintage Dancer.}


Though aggregator sites are not new in the fashion world as a whole, they're fairly uncommon in the vintage sphere and Debbie offers a service that is sure to be of help to both vintage newbies (or those looking for a period costume for a party, wedding, prom, or other special event) and seasoned veterans alike. On the hunt for something specific that you just can't seem to find anywhere? Shot Debbie a message and she'll even try to personally help you find that elusive vintage or reproduction piece.

In addition to running Vintage Dancer, Debbie is also the author of multiple e-books devoted to vintage fashion. Including the excellent (I've read it and cannot recommend it highly enough to all those with an interest in the forties) 1940s Style Guide, 1920s Fashion for Your Body Type (which Debbie offers up entirely for free), and most recently The Great Gatsby in Fashion.





The latter is a unique and thoroughly enjoyable take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, in which Debbie guides readers through the (full) original text, injecting throughout the story, 33 insights into the exciting fashions (including styles from the summer of 1922 when this classic American novel was set) and captivating culture that made up this illustrious era, coupled with more than sixty illustrations of men's and women's clothing from that decade.

Vintage Dancer is one of Chronically Vintage's new sponsors this month, and I couldn't be happier to have Debbie and her wonderful vintage website and e-books as part of this blog.

A self professed "vintage history nerd", Debbie and I share a lot in common, including a passion for writing about the past, which really shines through in the blog, e-books, and the helpful snippets of informative knowledge she fills Vintage Dancer with.

As well as those spots, Vintage Dancer can also be found online on the following sites:

-Bloglovin'

-Facebook

-Google Plus

-Pinterest

-Twitter


If you haven't had a chance to do so before (or recently), take a moment and waltz on over Vintage Dancer to see more of the fabulously fun world of vintage fashion and history that Debbie has created with her innovative website, delightful blog, and fabulous e-books.

Mrs. Tyron's exceedingly glamorous day

You know those times when you're squarely in the mood for glamour even though you don't have anything more exciting than a day, say, of the usual 9-5 grind, or housework, or running errands around town to do? Oui?

Well, today (as I continue to battle my through the flu that struck me last week) just happens to be one of those for days for me. It's the kind of morning when I wake up and I wish I had an opera, movie premier, grand ball, or other wildly elegant, upscale event to attend.

As there isn't an opera house around these parts of hundreds of miles, I'm not an actress, grand balls are few and far between, and I haven't received any gilded invitations in the mail lately, I doubt I'll be dusting off my fanciest gown before the sun sets tonight.

No worries though, when moods like this strike, I find that one of the best thing to do is flip through some of my favourite vintage images of enchantingly glamorous women and live vicariously through their chic adventures.

By far one of the most entertaining groups of vintage glamour shots I've ever encountered is that which (well known Vogue) photographer John Rawlings took for the February 1947 edition of Harper's Bazaar magazine .

Through a series of four dozen images we see a very (just check out some of the prices mentioned - they'd be steep by today's standards!) well-to-do woman named Mrs. Tyron arrive home from a long day of shopping and then proceed to go through the many steps required to get ready for a gorgeous and very glamorous evening out with her husband.

These photos and their accompanying captions really speak for themselves and what an interesting, stylish tale they tell!

{All images above are from Flickr. Please click on an image to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}

The old adage that looking beautiful is hard work certainly seems to ring true for our harried Mrs. Tyron! In the end though, despite nearly – gasp! - wearing a similar dress as her friend, she (even though we know everything she just went) makes it all look so easy and natural – as though she just rolled out of bed looking like a million dollars.

And after all, isn't that the exact perception that glamour is supposed to give off, no matter if one is just popping out to the market or if they’ve been invited to an evening spent at the President's Ball?

15 elegantly beautiful 1940s autumn looks

From between the slats in the Venetian blinds in our living room, I can see delicate little goldenrod hued leaves fluttering about like wind chimes in the breeze - their rich, Midas approved shade symbolic of so much of what I adore about late September through early December.

From my earlier childhood memories right up until today, there has never been a time when I didn't love fall, and over the years the reasons why the second-to-last season of the year gets pride-of-place in my heart have only continued to mount.

One of my favourite elements of autumn always been the evocative, captivating colour palette it brings with it, like the best dressed lady in the world arriving at a hotel and opening her grand trucks, sensual velvets, nubby tweeds, diaphanous silks, hearty wools, and versatile thick cottons spilling forth from every angle.

While summer can sometimes seem a touch manic, autumn is calm and collected, yet by no means devoid of pep and spirit. More brazen then winter, yet less innocent than spring, it is the sophisticate of the year and surely knows it, for fall has no qualms with painting her palette of style and beauty across the land - if only for a few brief weeks.

Chalk it up to the 1980s classic Colour Me Beautiful (my mother's copy of which I actually read so many times as a youngster that pages started to fall out of it) if you will, but I've long known that autumn time colours often work well on me, and indeed a scan of my closet would quickly reveal a penchant for burgundy, teal, rust, brown, grey, muted green, copper, and burnished gold.

I'm certainly not alone in this regard, as fall's wardrobe (or at least certain shades from it) looks wonderful on a great many people, and there are few amongst us who can't avail of at least a couple of this season's sublimely lovely, subtly dramatic colours.

With that thought planted firmly in mind, may I present a selection of classy, timeless, dizzyingly beautiful 1940s fashions, each one of which conjures up a sense of the autumn and all that is enchanting about this resplendent season.

{All images via the incomparably terrific stream of dovima_is_devine_II on Flickr.}

Like the rainbow of earthy hues in a harvest time cornucopia, these vintage fashions are both visually appealing and thought provoking – not to mention more than a little bit inspiring. They celebrate much of what is marvelous about fall, while also serving as a sartorial jumping off point for other times of the year, especially if this is a palette that suits you well.

And speaking of cornucopias, tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in Canada, and I'm elated about that fact that Tony and I will be sharing it together with some of my relatives for the first time ever (prior to this year we always lived thousands of miles away from them). Thus adding yet another point to the lengthy list of reasons why, now and forever, autumn - and the timelessly stylish fashions it brings with it - will always be my most beloved time of the year.

WW2 Factory Fashion poster blends style and history together

✯ Day 232 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Often times as I look lovingly through vintage images, particularly those hailing from either World War, I'm struck by the fact that what seems merely charming and beautiful to us today, once served a very important social purpose.

Signs, cookbooks and pamphlets about Victory gardens, making doing or going without, and staying calm are swept up by the present day public with great gusto, enjoyed (by many of those outside of our vintage loving circle) more so for their artistic appeal than their historical significance.

It is the later point which ultimately draws me to many vintage images and items however. I'm fascinated by days gone by and what kind of things people saw, wore and were surrounded by as they went about their lives.

On the informative - and highly enjoyable - site Exploring 20th Century London, a striking three colour 1940s poster showcasing which types of fashions were and were not acceptable for WW2 factory workers really caught my eye.

 

There's a sweetness to the illustration (which was done by Grace Golden) that belies the fact that it was intended to be a very serious, informative piece. At first glance one could easily be forgiven for thinking this cute drawing hailed from the pages of a fashion magazine or clothing ad. Instead its purpose was to show female factory workers what styles were best suited to the demanding jobs they were to preform.

Of course, I like to think, there was a degree of common sense to the message (hmmm, I'm going to work in a factory, should I don an evening gown or a pair of overalls? ), but regardless it never hurts to be reminded of things that are good for one's personal safety, including the best garments to wear to a new job.

Today many of us who enjoy 1940s clothes would happily sport either (or both!) of these looks, one utilitarian, the other date night worthy. Fashion inspiration can indeed be drawn from this wonderful Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents poster, but so too, I think, can a great little history lesson.

It's the merging of these two points - style with fact, history with beauty - that perpetually endears me to the past and happily keeps me on the lookout for engaging vintage images like this beautiful British Factory Fashion Notes poster.

The marvellously black and white and pink all over 1940s bedroom

✯ Day 78 of Vintage 365 ✯

Vintage home decor is one of those siren song topics that calls to me routinely, especially when I'm spending time seeking inspiration online. My current abode, while relatively classically furnished (minus, one might point out, the rather modern appearance of a flat screen TV), could certainly do with more vintage touches (oh how I envy those lucky guys and gals who's whole homes are devoted to, and decked out with, marvelous vintage pieces!).

Given that we rent our apartment, certainly don't plan on living here forever (entertaining, as many couples do, steadfast dreams of owning our own home one day), and have next-to-no wiggle room in the current budget for decorating our pad, most of my decor fantasies are lived out vicariously through images of vintage (and modern day vintage inspired) rooms, such as the immensely beautiful white, pink and black bedroom below.

 

{Gorgeous 1940s bedroom image via RetroPlantet.com}

Teaming with more feminine charm and timelessly allure than you can shake a tube of lipstick at, this 1940s bedroom seems at once deeply classic and yet incredibly of-the-moment. From the engagingly delightful trompe d'oeil bow print rug to the chic black and white damask fabric used judiciously throughout, this natty, beautiful room is the sort of bedchamber I could so easily imagine adorning my home with.

What helps place this wonderful room more squarely in the vintage category though (as it rightly should be, given it’s from the 40s) are the some of the touches - like the pair of tall lamps on the vanity and the alcoved shelving above the bed - that few professional or DIY decorators (aside from us vintage loving folks!) would dare to use nowadays.

They're special, ageless elements that are rich in style and grace, and which definitely provide boundless vintage decor inspiration whether one is planning on redoing their bedroom today, in half a year, or when they finally get a pad all their own.