Hello Fashionistas,
How is everyone doing this lovely Monday? Well, actually almost Tuesday!
Today, we’re going to dive into some of the1920s fashion and I wanted to focus on one type of clothing. I thought dresses of this decade would be fun to look back at.
The 1920s was a memorable decade for fashion since there was more freedom in women’s fashion (especially after the war) and the clothes definitely reflected that. A notable designer of this era was the fabulous Coco Chanel. I know if you’re like me, you think of her perfume.
Sensual Elixir.
During this time, Coco Chanel also designed a two-piece dress out of stretchy jersey fabric that flowed against the body. Below is the actress Gloria Swanson, a silent movie star rocking Coco’s design.
By Bain New Service, via Wikimedia Commons.
Another popular dress in the 1920s was the signature flapper style dress. Shown below.
A traditional flapper outfit.
Below is another popular dress style, a dress with a dropped waist. This style of dress was more of an everyday dress.
In the early in the 1920s, formal wear dresses were extremely elaborate and some even had intricate beading.
Silent movie actress Norma Talmadge.
In 1926, there was the classic straight dress, one of my favorite type of dresses of this decade!
Actress Alice Joyce in a sheer beaded straight dress.
There you have it, a quick look at the history of the 1920s dresses worn during this fun decade! I hope you enjoyed it. Next Monday, there will be more fashion history. Let me know which decade you would like to see next or a particular piece of clothing you would like me to feature.
Hope everyone is enjoying their February. I’m excited that I will be rocking it this month with blogging three times a week. I’m also planning to feature small businesses that I really connect with. 🙂
Today, I’m featuring Tessa Shearer from the House of Wonderland who I found via on #TheGirlGang on Twitter. I’m so glad I found her and this group of amazing women to connect with. Below is our fashion interview. 🙂
Why is fashion important to you?
Fashion is so important to me as it’s what got me started in my job the first place! I was always inspired by designers, singers, and other famous icons. It made me work extra hard to pursue a career in fashion. My earliest memory is creating a pair of shoes made from paper! 😀 I drew around my foot, cut out a strip for the strap and scrunched up a bit of paper for the high heel! I think I looked completely daft but I was so proud of myself 😀
How does it make you feel?
One word… Freedom
Where do you go to buy your clothes or which websites do you buy from?I make some of my clothing as well as buying plain items from cheap stores (same to the latter :-D). I do however love investing in key designer pieces, but a big splurge like that only comes once or twice a year due to my poor bank funds (I hear that!) 🙂
What is the most important thing you consider when you are shopping?The thing I think about most is coordinating clothes! I hate to spend too long getting ready so I buy mostly plain black, white, and gray clothing so whatever I put on will match! *Style tip:Doing what Tessa does gives you a chance to show off your personality with your accessories whether it be a bold necklace, leggings, or other jewelry. It will help you stand out but not overdo it! 😉
If you could only wear clothing from one particular decade which one would it be and why?It has to be the 1950’s! I adore the silhouettes, styles, and class!
What are your favorite accessories to wear, i.e brands, homemade, local, Etsy etc. ?House Of Wonderland jewellery (I love her vintage-inspired pieces) of course! 😀 But I am a sucker for Tiffany & Co! I love long simple necklaces although I also love rockabilly necklaces too!
How does makeup play into how you dress? What is your favorite makeup looks and where do you buy your makeup products?I’m so boring! I wear the same stuff every day! I usually wear foundation-liquid, powder, bronzer, blusher, 2-3 eyeshadows, eyeliner, eyebrows, eyeliner, and mascara! I love 1960’s eye makeup though! I couldn’t go anywhere without my eyebrows though! Obsessed about eyebrows! I’m weird like that!
Please describe one of your favorite outfits and if possible the links to where you got the items and or descriptions.
Hmm… My favourite outfit is one I got agggggggeeeeesss ago! I think the shop actually closed down now! But it’s a 3/4 length sleeve black top and a wrap around asymmetric black wiggle skirt? I’ll try and find a picture and enclose it 😀
Well, that’s a wrap on today’s post! I can’t wait to chat with you guys in the comments, below.
Happy Sunday! I have been falling behind on my blog posts since I had been fighting a nasty virus and sore throat, boo! Anyway, today’s post is going to dive into bee awareness, what we can do to support this cause and natural beauty products you can buy. As always, I like to bring fashion into my posts, I will also show you how to rock the Sandra Dee look for the modern woman #retromodern.
First off, bees are very important to our ecosystem, it basically boils down to no bees no food! Bees help make our food by distributing pollen. Technically, we could live without bees to pollinate our food but there wouldn’t be as much variety. The problems that bees face today are single crop farming, removing what we call “weeds”, and the increased use of pesticides. This, unfortunately, causes bees to get diseases and pests. The good news is, there are things we can do to help the bees. You can plant meadows instead of grass. If this doesn’t work for you, you can plant a 3′ X 3′ area with flowers that bees can pollinate spring, summer, and fall. You can download the app Bee Smartto help you choose plants that are bee friendly! Another app you can use is Grow Smart to help you limit pests safely in your garden.
The people who made me aware of this cause was my local coffee shop NPCC. I just happened to go for their yummy lavender latte and the event happened to be going on. I love supporting local as much as a can. I really enjoyed this event and I enjoyed being a part of this important cause.
While I was there I got to meet a lot of inspiring people, James a local beekeeper, Patricia Newton a local artist/photographer, and the woman (I forgot her name) who put on the event.
Patricia Newton: Local Artist/Photographer
Patrica is a local artist and photographer who loves to create paintings that incorporate nature and whimsy. She goes to local art shows to sell her paintings. Patricia also takes beautiful pictures and has won photography contests. She has a travel companion Peaches who is her rescue service dog that helps her with her disability. I love that she doesn’t let her disability get in her way.
Patricia in her element painting flowers with faces! Notice her outfit, she designed it herself.
Happy Flowers by Patricia Newton
More happy flowers. A Patricia Newton original.
Post cards by Patricia. She also makes one of a kind homemade cards.
Local Beauty Products: Bee Friendly.
There were local products from LemonBuzzz(you can buy their products online) made with local honey or beeswax. They offer homemade soaps, baths bombs, and lip balm (my favorite). Their products are made with local raw honey without artificial dyes, fragrances, or chemicals. Lemonbuzzz boasts eco-friendly packaging as well. I highly recommend them!
Peppermint lip balm with local beeswax.
They gave out free samples with each purchase. Love the packaging!
James the Beekeeper
James is a local beekeeper that is passionate about raising bees and raising awareness of the problems bees are facing. He suggested that we buy local raw honey. He graciously handed out clover honey sticks, yum! He also handed out Burpee’s Bee Garden seed packets which encourage pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and birds. See above for more ways to encourage pollinators.
James talking about his honey bees.
A beautiful shot of one of James’ bees.
James’ bees honey! So good. 🙂
Fashion the “Grease” Way!
Interestingly enough, I happened to wear my vintage yellow Sandy dress to the bee event that day, which was an awesome coincidence. I don’t know about you, but I love the movie Grease. It’s a classic that everyone should watch. A year ago, after watching Grease for the 20th time, I wanted to find the dress like Frenchy wore during the beauty school dropout scene. I did find it here but it wasn’t my size, oh well.
Frenchy’s look alike Beauty School Dropout Dress.
Love her bubblegum pink hair!
Frenchy’s beauty school dropout scene.
Luckily, I did find a beautiful yellow cotton dress like the one Olivia Newton-John famously wore. I found both dresses on Esty from an awesome seller Karen. Below is my mini fashion shoot, enjoy. 🙂
My vintage cat pin from my childhood.
Get the look. To update “sweet” Sandy’s 1950s look, I found two yellow dresses. The first dress is a higher end vintage dress on Etsy, or for $35 a golden yellow dress on Modcloth, so cute!
Sweet Sandy : Yellow vintage dress on Etsy. $294.
Sweet Sandy: Golden yellow dress by Modcloth. $35.
Sunglasses: I found some cute navy cat eye sunglasses on sale on Topshop for $12. I love a good bargain.
Leggings: I wore black leggings with a lace pattern to modernized the look. You can wear different patterns and colors. Here are my top choices!
Jewelry: Again I couldn’t find my exact jewelry, but I did find a beautiful silver cameo locket on Etsy to recreate my sweet Sandy look. I also found a similar wooden bangle in a pack via Newlook.
Silver Cameo Necklace. $22.
Wooden Bangle Pack-$11.
Pinup Hair Style: I decided not to follow Sandy’s ponytail hairstyle but opted for a quick pinup hairstyle via Vintagious on Youtube. I don’t know about you but I’m always pressed for time when I’m getting ready.
Hope you enjoyed this post! I love being able to find cute #retromodern outfits. Remember to tag me on Instagram, and Twitter your favorite outfits. Don’t forget to like me on Facebook or join my professional network on Linkedin.
Keep smiling, 🙂
~Ruth
P.S. Stay in the fashion know on my Bloglovin’ page.
It’s almost the end of summer, where did July go? Anyway, today we are going to explore my retro style with a twist of modern! I love to mix patterns and I even like mixing the different decades of fashion. Below I’m rocking a 1920s makeup with my clothes having a 1980s vibe with a pinch of modern thrown in. I was told when I wore this outfit it reminded them of the actress Molly Ringwald from the iconic 80s movie the Breakfast club! 🙂
One of my favorite 80’s movies. The Breakfast Club.
Molly Ringwald (R) in the classic 80s movie Pretty in Pink! Photo credit: Maegan Tintari on Flicker.com
First off, let’s start with the makeup, I was told to check out the awesome YouTuber and fierce body painter-Madeyewlook who creates amazing characters using body paint. I immediately loved her videos especially her makeup tutorial about ketones, which are substances that are made when the body breaks down fat for energy when carbohydrates are low. She is a diabetic and I love how she is getting out awareness through her makeup.
Body Painter: Madeyewlook’s ketone tutorial.
My 1920s Makeup:
Moving onto my 1920s makeup, I recreated Madeyewlook’s flapper-inspired makeup.
My 1920s makeup with a 1980s Molly Ringwald inspired look!
This makeup took a lot of blending, it took me multiple tries to get the eyes just right. The pics with my hair down are my 1st attempt with this look. I modernized this makeup by adding some sparkly pink eyeliner on the bottom of my lower lashes to give it a modern twist, plus I love glitter!
Makeup Details: For the eyes, I used Hard Candy’s sparkly pink eyeliner on my lower lash line (I think this color is discontinued). My black eyeshadow is from the Balm’s face palette: Balmbini Volume 2, but you can use any black eyeshadow. My eyeliner is Mary Kay’s black gel liner. For my eyebrows, I used the black shadow from Balmbini with an angled brush. For my lipstick, I used Rimmel’s Red Diva lip liner all over. You can also use NYX‘s lip pencil as well. I made sure to blot my lips and then reapply to get more payoff. Next, I used Revlon’s bold red lipstick. To add a hint of shine I dusted NYC’s sparkly pink eye dust on my lower lip. For my base, I used e.l.f.’sConcealer to touch up any imperfections after filling in my eyebrows with black eyeshadow. I don’t use foundation so I skipped that part and went straight to powder, again I used e.l.f.’s pressed powder with a fluffy brush! For blush, I used Mary Kay’s duo mineral cheek blush in Juicy Guava to finish the look.
1920s makeup inspired by Madeyewlook.
1920s Makeup Take 1!
1920s Flapper Makeup. Take 1! Gold Bracelets, Forever 21.
Below is my 1920s makeup version 2!
L: are my purple DIY Duct Tape Feather earrings from Brit+Co!
Check out my fun nails. 🙂 My floralnail art is Revlon’s 3D Jewel Appliques-Wildflowers, Vintage Vibe. I love this product because you get 18 nail stickers including a nail file, buffer, and cuticle stick. My red nails are from Sally’s Red Fire! Fire! nail polish.
My scent: I like mixing scents, so I sprayed on my signature scent:Davidoff’sCool Water in the air and walked into the mist. I then dabbed on MaryKay’s scent Belara on my pulse points. In the morning, I used Bath & Body Works Wild Honeysuckle body lotion.
My Molly Ringwald Inspired Outfit.
My grey lace top is from Kohls that I scored last fall. I found a similar one from H&M and a higher end version from Dillards on Shopstyle.
My skirt is from Forever 21. I love their clothing and accessories. The quality isn’t the best but I love that you can rock current or flashback looks inexpensively! I couldn’t find my exact skirt but I found a similar one on H&M. This skirt comes in purple or black. I personally like the purple version. 🙂 After digging, I found a cute black lace skirt from Forever 21. If you truly want to go vintage I found an awesome blue lace skirt on Etsy.
H&M’s Purple lace skirt: This skirt also comes in black!
Blue Lace Vintage Skirt sold by jeansdavenport on Etsy.
My Tights:
I scored mine at Target, which is one of my favorite stores. I found some similar ones on Amazon from Hue.
My Earrings:
My duct tape purple earrings are my DIY from the inspirational Brit from Brit+Co. Brit is an original DoitGurl contributor. She now runs the DIY site that shows you how to decorate your house, teaches you fashion and beauty hacks, as well as style inspiration. You can buy kits on Brit+Co if you don’t have the time to spend shopping for DIY supplies. I highly recommend them! Below is the how-to video on how to make your own duct tape feather earrings.
My brown feather earrings I found at Fuego ages ago. This is one of my favorite stores. 🙂 I couldn’t find them online but I found MySoulAfire‘s Etsy shop. She handcrafts them and I love supporting artists this way.
Handmade brown feather earrings. Made by MySoulAfire on Etsy.
Rocking my DIY earrings, brown feather earrings, & H&M’s braided bracelet.
My Bracelets:
I found my braided bracelet on clearance from H&M. Again, I couldn’t find the exact one but I found some other cool bracelets that would work to recreate my outfit! First, I wanted to shout out Forever Tied Together on Etsy. This shop is run by a young lady named Ana, she is currently on a mission to Honduras. Ana makes one of a kind friendship bracelets. Please visit her shop. 🙂 I also found another cool place for handmade bracelets on Facebook.
Shot by Gillian Stephanie: Braids and Bonds Bracelets.
Forever Tied Together handmade bracelets.
I hope you enjoyed this retro fashion post with a twist of modern as much as I did. I will be posting more of my eclectic style…stay tuned!
Before I leave you, I found an awesome female artist called AmbivalentlyYours, who you can find on Instagram. She also sells her art on Society 6!
Please remember to be yourself and not to “look at yourself through their eyes”!
Anyway, I am excited to share to share my first collaboration with Feed Your Head Vintage. They are an online retailer based out of Leeds Yorkshire. They specialize in one of a kind quality vintage Bohemian, festival wear, from the 60s, 70s, 80s, some 40s and 50s, and even the Bangin 90s! Below is their exclusive SS15 fashion shoot.
According to Mags from Feed Your Head Vintage, “The scenes in Leeds are about festival culture, which is why there’s a focus on friendship. Festivals there are about having fun, letting your hair down and being with your closest friends.” The outfits featured here include:
The second model is wearing a 90s vintage Wallis floral Maxi dress with the model’s own vintage headscarf. 🙂
Look #2: Leeds Vibes
Mags says, “this is very much a local look which is shot in our local area of Leeds City in the UK. Here we have a great music scene of house/techno, indie, and rock, and the look is very much based on our love for good music and how to score these summer looks!”
That Retro Ruth 
