Girls Be Like Stylin’! (Part II)

Last August, when I posted the first part of this theme,  I knew it would require at least several installments.  It was quite clear that just once would not be enough.  As a matter of fact, as I peer into the distant future I don’t see even a hint of when it will end.

Think of it as an homage to the imagination, creativity, and downright passion with which women throw themselves into their wardrobes.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you will come away from this post inspired to achieve even more than you have already.

(God save us).

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound so let’s raise the curtains and open up the runway!

The Basket of Roses, by Cristobal de Antonio, ca. 1900.

Oh, my!

Would you like to dress up like this?  Wouldn’t it be fun?  Every day?  This is an eye catching glimpse of another time and another world and I’m thinking of adding it our already amazing note card line-up.

Besides, I think the one on the right likes me.

Now let us take a quantum leap across the vast social divide to something a little more homespun:

My how things change

What can one say?  Well, actually one can say a lot but I’m holding my tongue, or at least restraining my fingers.  I did make this into a note card but haven’t yet offered it to the public.  Even I haven’t even found anyone I could send it to yet, but I’m not giving up.

By the way, the one on the right is June Wilkinson, a real “blonde bombshell” of the ’50s and ’60s. She was born in England and made it to the stage at the infamous Windmill Theare in London.  At age 15 she was the theatre’s youngest topless dancer.  When she toured the U.S. she was snapped up by Hugh Heffner and was subsequently featured many times in Playboy.  She did fairly well in Hollywood too, appearing in at least a half dozen films, including the must-see “Macumba Love“.“.

“Love Goddess” indeed.

OK, from here on it’s all downhill so you can call the kids back into the room; you’ll all enjoy what’s coming up next!

Club Costume, ca 1920

She looks like someone made her do this.

We recommend this card be used as an invitation to go clubbing.  I can’t think of much else it’s good for except a laugh.  Do you have friends who really like to play cards?  The esteem in which they hold you will soar when you send them this card.  Go ahead, show them  you care!  (You can order vast quantities, or just one, by clicking on the image.)

Owl Girl by E. Rousselet

I haven’t found much biographical information on E. Rousselet even though he did seem to have achieved a certain amount of success in the early 1900s with his pastel portraits and illustrations.  This young lady appears to be perfectly serious and confident in her stylish owl mask.  Perhaps it’s just the thing for your next job interview.

I think she’s on to something here!  But wait, I don’t remember ever seeing anything like this before or since so maybe she’s not.  She could be though, if just enough of you joined the fashion parade until the need for this hat reaches critical mass.  She kind of reminds me of the dimes I used to have in my pocket as a kid:

Edith “La Sylphe” in her S-Bend Corset

Edith Langerfeld was born in New York in 1873 of a German father and an Irish Mother, a combination that was sure to produce some interesting results.  She became a ballerina and eventually a huge Vaudevillian dance attraction, particularly practiced in the Eastern dance style popularly known as the “Houchee Couchee“.  Here she’s wearing a type of corset that was actually thought to be more healthy than the regular straight kind but of course was not.  I would have paid a silver dollar to see her dance!

[Pause to get my breath back.]

Zelda Boden (Photo by Frederick W. Glasier}

As long we’re touching on show biz, let’s take a look at Zelda, a girl who really knew how to put on the Ritz.  Zelda was a big attraction with Barnum and Bailey’s circus back in the teens and twenties of the last century.  The girl had flair, no doubt about it, and I know she’d be a great dinner guest.

Just what is this girl doing?

I have had her note card up and for sale for some time, identifying  her as a roller derby  player.  I’ve since changed my mind and believe the original information I received was in error.  Deanna over at the Kitschslapped blog thinks she may have been a supporter of an English soccer team nicknamed the “Black Cats” and just happens to be wearing skates.  Her reasoning makes more sense than the roller derby guess so I think I’m going to have to do some revising of my captions.  In any case, the sartorial splendor of this young lady is commendable and she has certainly earned her spot in this post.

Cover of Theatre Magazine, June, 1925

Theatre Magazine had some of the most gorgeous covers of the ’20s and this one is a great example.  This Spanish lady is taking a break from her soulful strumming to pose for the artist in a most colorful and sumptuous way.  I must confess that at times my choices are driven by such use of color as this.  I would have loved to been a photographer in the artist’s studio!

Poster for Parfum Luzy

Now this is a simple yet exceedingly dramatic use of a sheet of red silk!  Luzy’s perfume, “Crimson Antique” could hardly be illustrated in a more fashionable way than with this poster done by Leonetto Capiello, one of the most innovative graphic artists of the early 20th century.

– – – – –

Well, it seems I have once again over-indulged my fancy here .  I hope you can share at least a bit of enthusiasm and fascination with me for this antique imagery.  Although there must be a finite number of such images, “new” ones don’t ever seem to stop showing up on my screen, so stick with me, I promise you and your eyes will have a good time!

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Mamá!

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. ~William Makepeace Thackeray

And in the lips and hearts of big children too.

“Brunnhilde” by Arthur Rackam, 1910

Here at GFOW we’re preparing for that most hallowed of days by providing the best Mothers’ Day cards we can come up with, and we think you’ll have so much fun with them that you’ll wish you had more than one mother!

But wait, let’s think about this.  If you’re very lucky you’ll have at least two grandmothers won’t you?  Heaven knows they have paid their mommy dues.  And if you’re as wise as you apparently are (having demonstrated it by landing here) you know darn well that mothers-in-law count too.  As do step-mothers, of course.  How many of  you actually have great grandmothers too?  So you can see how you’re going to need a handful of cards, not just one, and we’ve got them!

You know, of course, that your Mom is the Queen of Everything.  But  you won’t be reminding her of that obvious fact, just recognizing it, right?

Sheet music of a popular song in 1899, by Charles Coleman

And mothers are strong!   They may not start out that way but we sons and daughters certainly do our best to make them so.

When you were a tot did you think your mom could do everything?

Mother’s Bread

A 1906 photo by Edward Steichen, one of the great photographers of the 20th century

Our celebration of Motherhood is trans-species, right?

Currier and Ives print of 1866

A Norman Rockwell cover for Leslie’s Weekly, 1917.

Did your mom ever ask you to thread a needle for her?  Mine did.

Absaroke mother and papoose, by Edward S. Curtis, 1915

This young mother and her baby are dressed in their finest for their sitting with Edward Curtis.  Although it’s hard for many of us to imagine, our mothers very well could have been this young when we popped onto the scene.  Nothing like the first papoose to change a girl into a woman!

Back in 1846, a couple of gentlemen named Sarony and Major published this lithograph extolling the ideal mother.  (I think they had you in mind when they drew the little girl in the yellow dress, don’t you?)

“The Happy Mother”

Now you have no excuse!  Click on any of the images above to be taken to that card on our Etsy site and do it soon.  Mother’s day is May 10 so for once, get her taken care of early and for sure.  And don’t skimp – include a card with your gift to her; it will make her so happy she may even forget all the times you haven’t exactly been the way she taught you!

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“Life doesn’t come with a manual – it comes with a mother.”