In honour of St. Patrick’s Day this coming Wednesday, I thought it would be oodles of fun to depart for a change from the usual weekend edition of “Saturday Snapshots” (which is geared towards featuring vintage photos of everyday people), and instead bring you a selection (ten to be exact, the same number of images I always include with Saturday Snapshots) of photos of famous Irish faces.
Some of these people were born on Irish soil, others carried Irish blood in their veins, but all are widely known to have (genealogical) ties to Éire.
To accompany each vintage photograph, I’ve paired an engaging quote said by the respective person in the picture, which I hope helps to provide a window into the minds of these well-known, and much loved, illustrious sons and daughters of Ireland.
{“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met.” ~ William Butler Yeats}
{“Above all else, deep in my soul, I'm a tough Irishwoman.” ~ Maureen O’Hara}
{“If the American family has seemed in danger of disintegration, I believe and hope it will survive, and I think America will return to old values.” ~ James Cagney}
{“Other women looked on me as a rival. And it pained me a great deal.” ~ Grace Kelly.}
{“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” ~ James Joyce}
{“It's nice to be immortal. Film has given us immortality. Now my children are going to appreciate Tarzan.” ~ Maureen O’Sullivan}
{“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw}
{“I feel there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore.” ~ Georgia O’Keeffe}
{“I got started dancing because I knew it was one way to meet girls.” ~ Gene Kelly.}
{“After all, tomorrow is another day.” ~ Margaret Mitchell}
{The images above are from are from Wikipedia and IMDB, please click on a specific photograph to be it to be taken to its respective page (and to learn more about each of these fascinating Irish figures).}
Though I am a complete and utter Heinz 57 of European nationalities, to date I have not yet found a drop Irish ancestry in my past. Nevertheless, I like to think I’ve made up for this in part by the two years (between 2004 and 2006) that my husband and I lived in the Emerald Aisle.
While there it was fascinating to see what famous names are held in the highest regard (and/or which garner the most notoriety). Though modern day celebs like Colin Farrell, Liam Nesson, Pierce Brosnan, Sinéad O'Connor, Bono, Enya, and Michael Flatley are certainly popular, I found that Ireland did a very good job of keeping past figures of note (such as Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, and Bram Stoker) squarely in the present day limelight, too.
The selection of photographs above includes a selection of my favourite Irish stars of stage, writers, and artists, each of whom has left an indelible mark on the world. As St. Paddy’s Day approaches, I would love to hear who some of your most beloved Irish celebrities (past or present) are – who knows, they may appear in a future post centered around celebrating March 17th! :)
A smidgen of sun burst forth between the mashed potato like mounds of pewter clouds for a couple of hours late this afternoon, giving me a welcome jolt of energy and spurring me onwards to put together a post I’ve been meaning to get to for ages: a new edition of the Pretty Link Roundup. I must admit, it’s been about a month since the last such post, if I’m not mistaken, so we’re long overdue for another one!
For those who may be new to Chronically Vintage (first off, a super warm welcome to you!), the Pretty Link Roundup is a frequently occurring post in which I gather an assortment of posts from various blogs (and other websites) that have caught my attention lately and which (generally) pertain to a vintage related topic. As well I post a weekly vintage themed video clip (usually from Youtube) and also extend the “Your Blog is an Inspiration” award to one blogger whose site never fails to fill my heart and mind with vintage inspiration.
So without further ado, let’s get the show on the road and jump right into today’s fantastic array of links!
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* Vintage Vanities and Old Hollywood Glamour: Bonnie of Love Your Place peers into the beautiful, often ornate boudoirs and dressing rooms of some of Hollywood’s most famous leading ladies of yesteryear.
* Mint Green for Fall: If you’ve resigned the wearing of mint green to the spring fashion season alone, it may be time to rethink this gentle shade as a fall hue, too. As the wonderful examples of colder weather wear in mint green here show, this hue can work wonders all year round.
* Elizabeth Taylor’s Beautiful Short Hair 1950s: Over the decades Elizabeth Taylor has sported many looks and numerous hairstyles, here the blog Diizdixo takes a gander at some of the ways Ms. Taylor wore her hair short (think pixie cut length).
* What is Broderie Anglaise: Adore Vintage delves into the difference between Broderie Anglaise (a classic type of white needlework/stitchery) and eyelet lace, in this lovely, example filled post.
* Winter Coats from the 1950s: This post is the stuff vintage coat dreams are made of! Teaming with glamorous, sophisticated, gorgeous examples of 1950s winter coats, it's sure to make everyone who reads it suddenly wish they had a vintage topper like these gems!
* Ruffled headband tutorial: Though headbands have been having a fashion moment as of late, this classic accessory has a long history and can make for a beautiful addition to any outfit regardless of if they’re in vogue presently or not. If you’re a fan of DIY and would like to whip up your own (easy to make) ruffled headband, swing by Heart of Light and check out her step-by-step tutorial on how to so do.
* The Everlasting New Look: Iconic, revolutionary, stunning, timeless, the Dior’s New Look turned high end fashion on its head when it debuted following WW2 and has left a lasting impression on fashion ever since. Here Yesterday’s Girl explores the classic, feminine silhouette that made the New Look so desirable. (And for more on this beautiful style, be sure to check out A Vintage Revival’s post, Christian Dior then and now.)
* The Glamorous Days of Flight: Once long ago in a world where dressing up for seemingly commonplace events was still the norm, men and women alike donned elegant clothes when they took to the skies for an airplane trip, and similarly the airline hostesses (flight attendants) of yore also sported much more elegant uniforms, as highlighted by the examples in this fun post by Some Like It Vintage.
* Cary Grant is the epitome of classic style: The title of this post says it all. Cary Grant was a superb actor and a fantastically nice dresser. His sense of suave, refined, dapper style will forever hold the bar up for men – of both the famous and every day legions – to strive for with their own wardrobes.
* Raise your glasses: A guide to vintage glassware: Knowing how to make a mean martini or a great G&T is only half the battle when it comes to ensuring you get the most out of your tipples, the right glassware is an essential ingredient in the cocktail for any great drink. Here Queens of Vintage stirs up some great advice that's bound to help make sure you always know which type of glassware will work best for your favourite drinks.
* Never before published photos of Marilyn Monroe: Few actress have ever, or are likely to ever be, as hounded by cameras as Marilyn Monroe was, a point that resulted in scores of photographs of her being taken over the span of her legendary career. Most of these images have surfaced before, but occasionally some are discovered that have yet to be seen, such as the never before published images of Marilyn in this Life magazine article.
* Vintage Cars, parts and oddities at the Hershey Fall Meet: If the sights (and sounds!) of a gorgeous vintage car are just the thing to get your motor running, cruise on over to this New York Times article and feast your eyes on the bevy of amazing vintage automobiles that were seen at the Hershey Fall Meet this past October. (Big thanks to my wonderful husband for bringing this link to my attention!)
* Sensible Shoes: Wartime Footwear 1942-45: While these days the words “sensible shoes” might call to mind rather clucky, matronly or unattractive footwear, there was once a time when shoes readily had the ability to be moth comfortable and pretty at the same time, as highlighted this is terrific image filled post by Miss Rayne of Vintage Chick.
* Autumn colours: Sublimely lovely hues in deep jewel, earth and forest shades swirl through the marvelous vintage fashion photos in this beautiful (and very seasonally inspirational!) post from A Red Lipstick.
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Bursting with a highly appealing mix of posts pertaining to vintage topics, fashion, stunning photography finds, and personal musings, the pages of Miss Lillibug’s blog are a whimsical, artistic, engaging source of beauty and interest.
It’s my pleasure to extend today’s Your Blog is an Inspiration award to the wonderful Miss Lillibug! Thank you, sweet dear, for the splendid array of posts you share with us all and for being a fantastic source of vintage inspiration!
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This week’s video clip was uploaded recently by Glamourdaze and features a terrifically lovely group of women throwing one of their friends a bridal shower. I feel that this video is relevant to my life because my wedding anniversary took place on the 14th last month, and though it’s been over five years since I tied the knot, I still adore looking at and daydreaming over gorgeous matrimonial related images, magazines and videos – especially vintage ones! :)
Yesterday I posted four images of myself from Halloween night. I was admittedly tremendously shy to do so, but if there’s any place I feel I can be myself online, it’s amongst you, my fellow vintage lovers, so I mustered the courage to share some photos here. The flood of staggeringly kind comments that poured in over those shots has shown me a valuable lesson: I really shouldn’t worry so much about silly hang-ups surrounding my appearance and that my shyness is entirely uncalled for when amongst good friends.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much, everybody, for your incredibly beautiful comments. Your words have bolstered my confidence and touched me to my core. I promise that I will be way more inclined to share snaps of myself and my outfits from now on!
Wishing you each a gorgeous, relaxing evening and fantastic Wednesday tomorrow!
Happy Saturday greetings, my sweet dears! How are you each on this sizzling August weekend? Things are pretty much peachy-keen on this end. The fuse box woes I’d mentioned last weekend have been fixed, the weather hasn’t been too cruel this week, and I’m still bubbling with celebratory feelings from my husband’s birthday on Thursday.
While sweet hubby’s foot isn’t quite up to a night out, he treated himself to some take-away sushi on his birthday and last night I set the weekend off on the right foot with homemade thin crust pizza (zucchini, orange bell pepper, and sweet onion for me, prosciutto for the Mr.), which got me thinking about the fact that pizza, one of the absolute most widely available foods these days, was an absolute novelty (outside of Italy, that is!) to most people before the 1940s.
Reflecting about the fact that pizza soared to popularity so quickly has got me itching to ask both of my grandmothers how old they were when they first remember trying pizza, and when, in their respective opinions, it become a commonplace culinary staple.
{Click on the image to see a larger version and get the 1959 recipes for “baby pizza” and “American style pizza pie”. Vintage cookbook page from Eudaemonius’ Flickr stream.}
Just as pizza is a true modern day classic, so too are great blogs, and this week’s gathering of links is teaming with fantastic stories from some of the coolest vintage sites around. With posts spanning topics from lovely black and white photos of people relaxing at the beach to a handy tutorial for refilling a vintage powder compact, there’s plenty of yummy old school goodness for everyone to enjoy!
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* Vintage Life Magazine: The lovely MaryDeluxe brings breaking news for vintage fans everywhere in this recent Deluxeville post. Turns out that a new magazine devoted to the vintage lifestyle in on the cusp of releasing its first edition (scheduled for October ’09). “Vintage Life” as the publication is known, is a UK based glossy spanning the decades of the 1920s through to the 80s, that will be published six times a year. Subscriptions can already be placed and are available to people worldwide. Here’s wishing this fledgling magazine tons of success!
* Hosiery History – 1940s Fashion: A thoroughly pretty array of vintage ads (some colour, some black and white) for ladies hosiery fill this post from Glamour Daze.
* 40s hair accessories: This week Casey highlights an interesting topic that appeals to me a lot: what beyond flowers, were used as hair accessories during the 1940s. Full of beautiful images and inspiration, this post is a must read for anyone who loves to adorn their locks.
* Pretty Dress and Thoughts on Vintage and Retro Fashion: Blogger Angel shares a pretty dress she’s recently acquired and writes about some of her thoughts on what drives her love of wearing vintage styles (many of which I’m sure the majority of us echo as our own reasons).
* How to refill a vintage powder compact: If you yearn for the days when I lady was often heard to say “I just need to powder my nose”, than you may be a fan of old school powder compacts. Fortunately for vintage fans these charming containers can still be found from a myriad of sources (online sites, estate sales, vintage shops, etc). If you’d like to refill one that you’ve unearthed with fresh powder, follow the five easy steps in this post to ensure your powder compact functions as well today as the first day it was ever used. (*1:30AM, August 9th. Please note, by sheer coincidence I just happened to discover that a very similar post to this one that appeared in November of last year on Vixen Vintage, and thus I feel that Solanah deserves to be mentioned here as well.*)
* Tom Sawyer Champs: A series of absolutely adorable, well taken photos of some of The Snail and The Cyclops’ blogger’s favourite vintage toy finds. From an abacus to a precious brown teddy bear, there is certainly something to make everyone nostalgic for their own childhood playthings in this post.
* Let’s go to the beach: With temperatures breaking record highs in some parts of the world this past week (such as Washington State), it’s clear that autumn is still just a distant dream for most, which is all the more reason to head to the beach for some respite from the heat. If that’s not possible for you however (goodness knows I won’t be able to dig my toes into the sand this year), you can still imagine visiting the beach with the help of these wonderful vintage photos from Life magazine.
* 50s Italian Summer: This week The Cupcake Diary channels the crisp, clean looks of late 1950s Italian tourists and locals alike through images from movie The Talented Mr. Ripley.
* Golden Hollywood Glam | Jeremiah Goodman: Some of the absolute most gorgeous watercolour paintings of 1940s home interiors I’ve ever seen are posted in this beauty-filled entry from the terrific blog, Nest Party. I wish I could have prints of these glamorous rooms to put on my walls for endless daydreaming inspiration.
Vanity Fair’s “Ain’t we got style”: Karen highlights pages straight from the August issue of Vanity Fair in which modern day stars replicate looks from classic movies such as It Happened One Night and My Man Godfrey. These spreads have been expertly styled and shot, and really do a marvelous job of paying homage some of Hollywood’s most timeless films – and actors.
Unparalleled elegance flows through this week’s Youtube feature, a true gem of a compilation video with clips from various 1950s fashion shows, magazine photo shoots, and Hollywood movies. Not only are the women and the gorgeous looks they spot breath-taking, but the video’s poster has done a superb job of pairing background music with these images to create a soulful film-like atmosphere that further adds to the undeniable allure of 1950s ladies wear feaatured within.
I always love putting together the weekly link list. It’s a way to share with you some of my favourite recent blog posts and also for me to draw inspiration a second time around the things that are catching the eyes of my fellow vintage lovers this week. I hope that the links above captivate you, too! Please feel free to share any articles or images that have filling your heart with bliss or your mind with inspiration lately with me, too.
Wishing you each a joyful, serene, beautiful weekend!
The temps here are climbing (24°C already!) and it’s shaping up to be a lovely day, well aside from the fact that assuming I can drag darling hubby away from work related tasks, we simply must go file our (2008) income taxes. I’ve never left it so close to the must-file-before date before (and leaving it for so long goes against every fiber in my punctual, generally on "top of things the moment they need to be done" body), but hubby was waiting for some documents that took their sweet time to arrive in the mail. As they've shown up, we can now proceed with the cross-you-fingers-and-pray task of filing one’s taxes and hoping to the moon and back that we don’t owe anything.
I’ve got everything sorted, paper clipped (with pink clips) and ready to head out the door for when we hoof it over to the tax ma. Still even being as prepared than a Girl Scout doesn’t make the task of doing your taxes any more glamorous.
And glamorous is how one should feel on a Saturday afternoon, if you ask me. It’s a day for relaxing and pampering, painting your nails (perhaps in any one of the beautiful shades from OPI’s La Collection De France), setting, curling or blowing out your hair (as per your own look), reading glossy magazines or a really good book, and perhaps dressing up for a smashing night out on the town. If I was headed to just such an event, one that called for panache and grace, I would try my darnedest to emulate the insatiable style and jaw-dropping beauty of one of my favourite silver screen actresses, the timeless, auburn haired Susan Hayward.
{Image found via myvintagevogue's sublime Flickr stream - which I hugely recommended bookmarking.}
I'm not sure what film that photo is from (if anyone does, please let me know, I'd love to watch it!), but my stars, just look at her, that plunging yet still classier-than-can be neckline, those layers of organza draped nonchalantly over her arm, that head of superbly well coiffed hair, it all adds up to pure vintage elegance. I fear though that I would look just a wee bit over-dressed if I sauntered into the tax man's office decked out to the nines like that - than again, it might not hurt ;)
