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.
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.
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!”
Anyway, I am excited to share to share my first collaboration with Feed Your Head Vintage. They are 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 naughty 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 