Vintage On The Web – March 2016

Well, March has been quite a month! Not only did I do three giveaways but I also managed to seriously step up my volume of blog posts with two a week. Then I had a whole 10 days off work and everything ground to a halt. I was so busy during my break that I barely had time to breathe and only managed to have one afternoon of lounging on the sofa watching movies, so many apologies for the radio silence! Anyway, I’m back and have a wonderful selection for this month’s Vintage on the Web.

Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde – 13 Things You May Not Know About This America’s Most Infamous Outlaw Couple

I’m completely fascinated by Bonnie and Clyde and will read or watch anything to find out a little bit more about them. I love the Warren Beatty / Faye Dunaway film and absolutely adore the more recent History Channel mini series starring Holliday Grainger and Emile Hirsch. If you love 1930s fashion you’ll be lapping up the costumes in that one. I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t want to wear this ensemble?

So, when I spotted Vintage Everyday’s post I knew I had to read it. Now some of the points I already knew but some were a complete surprise to me and it really was a fascinating read. Did you know Bonnie didn’t actually smoke cigars, despite the infamous photos of her leaning on their car puffing away on rather a large one?

The Internet Archive

Internet Archive

I cannot tell you how I stumbled across the Internet Archive but somehow I ended up there! This is a fantastic place to find all sorts of vintage based info, photos and movies but don’t expect to find Gone With The Wind or Breakfast at Tiffany’s, this site is about undiscovered treasures.

How about the British Government’s The Protection of Your Home Against Air Raids booklet from 1938 or 170 songs sung by Eartha Kitt? I didn’t even know she’d done that many! My favourite though has to be the wealth of silent movies on offer, just enter subject:”silent” into the search box to discover more.

Tammy Twinkle Toes

Tammy Twinkletoes Blog

I love discovering new blogs to read, especially ones written by people who are passionate about sewing or absolutely love the 1920s and 30s, so when I discovered the brand new Tammy Twinkletoes blog I was super excited because it had both!

Tammy (I think that’s her real name!) is a regular visitor to the Art Deco Festival held every year at Napier on the east coast of New Zealand (what I wouldn’t give to go to this festival!) and makes the absolutely gorgeous ensembles she wears whilst there. The incredibly stunning dress in the photo above is hand beaded with strands of silver, gold and black beads to create really amazing fringing around the bottom section. Go check out the rest of her fabulous wardrobe!

How To Make A Bra From Two Handkerchiefs, 1921

The epitome of Make Do and Mend is shown in this gorgeous little video from the 1920s! What an ingenious idea making a simple bralet from two handkerchiefs, although I’m not sure it would hold up my boobs! I think I’d need a little bit more support, but hey, if you want a rather different bra or even a bikini top (don’t wear it in the water!) this would be such a cute idea.

How to do fashion 1930s sewing pattern

How To Do Fashion Sewing Patterns

I discovered How To Do Fashion and their gorgeous sewing patterns on We Sew Retro and instantly fell in love. Created by the wonderfully named, Nanna, who resides in Denmark, these perfectly vintage style patterns are simple enough for most seamstresses but also have that lovely quality we all adore in original pieces.

You can choose from a small selection of multi-sized dresses, separates and outerwear in eras from the 1930s to the 1950s. My favourite has to be the 1930s draped blouse and wide leg trousers above. How To Do Fashion patterns are available direct from Nanna or you can purchase them from We Sew Retro in the US or Sew Box in the UK.

A film about Vincent Van Gogh made with oil paintings

Vincent Van Gogh is one of my most favourite artists. I adore the way he looked at the world, he saw it in a way that no one else did and we’re so lucky to still have many of his visions left to enjoy today. So imagine my excitement when one of my friends shared this video on Facebook!

Painter and director Dorota Kobiela, along with producer Hugh Welchman, are bringing together artists from around the world to produce the world’s first fully painted feature film. Wonderful actors such as Douglas Booth and Jerome Flynn are depicted within the paintings as sitters from two of Van Gogh’s famous paintings. The project is still looking for painters to turn this into reality and I personally cannot wait for it to happen.

Cate

Just a vintage gal suffering from the Golden Age syndrome. A lover of all things old, especially the 1930s, seamstress, crocheter, maker of hats and enjoys rummaging at flea markets.

13 Comments

  1. Oh Oh going doing this rabbit hole of the Internet Archive Search you just posted 🙂 Thanks for sharing! This is super cool.

    Liz

    • Hahaha! You’ll be lost forever! It’s so addictive and you suddenly see something else and you’ll think ‘oh I must go and search for that!’. We’ll see you in a fortnight when you come up for air 🙂

  2. Woah, that beaded dress must have taken weeks! It’s a real work of art.

    I am *not* going to fall down the Internet Archive rabbit hole, oh no, no no…

    • It’s stunning, isn’t it? I always dream of doing something like this but then I think about how long it would actually take me and I decide against it. x

    • Doesn’t she just? She makes some really incredible pieces and I’m taking a lot of notes for future projects! x

  3. Well this is the perfect vintagey mini-magazine! Thank you for all of this, particularly the archive thing, I think I will get lost in there for days… I hope you’ve had a marvellous weekend xx

    • It’s easily done! I’ve spent many an hours coming across things I’ve never even thought to look for before. xx

  4. Some wonderful finds here! I’ve spent many hours fascinated by treasures on Internet Archive..

    Speaking of Bonnie and Clyde, have you seen the 2013 interpretation? I haven’t yet (somehow.. ugh) but I’ve drooled over photos of the costumes! SO fabulous!

    • Yes, that’s the History Channel’s mini series. It’s well worth watching, the costumes are absolutely incredible. I much prefer it to the Warren Beatty version because that was very much 70s does 30s! xx

  5. I’m going to be busy checking out all these links and the Bonnie and Clyde costumes look amazing!

  6. thank you for the wonderful round up, so many new things to go and explore!! I found the Internet Archive a few years back when looking for Andrew Sisters music, I love that there is tons of free music to listen to all with lots of original crackle!! Oh and you have just reminded me that I have had the DVD of the new Bonnie and Clyde on my shelf for a while and haven’t gotten around to watching it yet, I think because I love the 70’s version soo much, thats my afternoon viewing sorted! xx

    • Oh hooray! I’m so glad you’re going to watch it. Do let me know what you think because I think it has such a different feel to the 1970s version. xx

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