What made you fall in love with retro beauty?

[Brinybay]

For me it was almost by accident. I've always thought the way the "greatest generation" dressed was classy, but never really gave it much thought. I've also always loved cars of the 20s-40s. When I saw pictures of my Dad when he was in his 20s, I was shocked! How did such a classy looking guy become the geek that I remember?



About a year ago, I was surfing the web and stumbled across the 1920s Radio Network internet stream. They happened to be playing an Artie Shaw song, My Heart Stood Still. I loved the music and ordered a 10-CD collection of Artie Shaw from Amazon. I also discovered many other great artists and music from listening to that network.

I don't have any vintage clothing from the 20s-40s. My budget is limited and so are opportunities to wear them.

 

[Snookie]

Brinybay, Seattle's got a great swing dance scene. It's pretty cheap to go dancing, usually around $8 for a dj'd night w/free lesson beforehand, and most people dress casually. Thought you might be interested, since you're so excited about the music.

 

[Darhling]

I have for a long time been in love with the whole feminin look; full skirts and dresses and pretty shoes, but not neccessarily thought about 40s or 50s fashion. I started trying retro makeup out gently in december when I walked in at MAC to get my very first red lipstick. Before that I had allways been a nude lippie kinda gal, but I finally plucked up the courage and went in. MAC is in a big department storem in the middle of cenral Copenhagen in a busy, christmas shopping, december afternoon.

The MAC girl took out Russian Red after I asked for a 'classic pinup look' and asked if I wanted it put on and I agreed nervously (how would people react to a pair of bright, red lips with me attatched to them?! I thought).

She lined them, put on russian red and topped of with SpringBean lipglass and I looked in the mirror - I was amazed and cought the eyes of women AND men looking at me - smiling! I decided to get Russian red, to keep the lipstick on and continue with my christmas shopping. I got not 1, not 2, but 3 winks from men on the street!! I couldn't stop smiling!

Since then I have tried to put on more or less a retro 'face' on every day. Red lips on special occasions though, I don't think it 'fits' to my workplace ..

My inspirations are Dita von Teese and she was the reason I I feel in love with Retro beauty to start with..

 

[Brinybay]

Brinybay, Seattle's got a great swing dance scene. It's pretty cheap to go dancing, usually around $8 for a dj'd night w/free lesson beforehand, and most people dress casually. Thought you might be interested, since you're so excited about the music.

Thanks, I think I remember seeing that, but unfortunately the events were on nights I worked. I work swing hours (no pun) and weekends. That was a while back, I'll go back and look it up again to see if maybe they've changed the nights they hold dances.

 

[Matt Deckard]

A retro beauty made me fall in love with retro beauty

 

[gluegungeisha]

I've considered the retro beauty to be the epitome of loveliness for as long as I can remember. My father always used to watch TCM early in the morning when I stayed with him during the weekends when I was very young, and I liked sneaking into the living room to watch them.

I went through a really cute 50's phase in third grade! It was more Grease-ish than anything, but I felt spectacular. Then, starting in middle school, I started mixing in vintage pieces into my wardrobe. I started creating complete vintage ensembles in 8th and 9th grade, and have been wearing them more and more since then. I do vintage-inspired makeup everyday.

 

[melbournian]

My love for 40s and 50s style really only started a couple of years ago but I've always liked vintage fashion...I guess I've worked my way back through the decades. In high school I was something of a social misfit and 'alternative dresser' (we only had a couple of 'casual clothes' days a term, most of our time was spent in the stuffy school uniform) and started out wearing 70s punk looks, with kilts and smudgy black eyeliner and punk hair, before moving back to 60s hippie looks, but when that became fashionable I turned to the mod look. Then mod became the next big trend so I decided to move further back, and realised the clothes of the 40s and 50s suit me so much better than anything else...I actually have hips, so it's nice to wear clothing cut for real women's bodies, not those skinny hipless childs bodies that models seem to have! Retro style is so classic too...I have haircuts from two years ago that make me cringe now, but don't think I'll ever regret eyeliner and red lipstick with pincurls.

 

[Miss 1940's]

these to women

the beauitful Rosalind Russell and THE BEAUTIFUL

Lois Coltzau my Grandmother or as I call her " grammie" She would tell me about the Good Old days during the war, when she worked at Douglas Aircraft Plant

 

[Amber DeCadence]

I'd say it was my grandparents, whenever I visited in the holidays i would always watch old movies with my grandad while my sister was out shopping with my nan and I'm slowly getting to see old family pics from that era too (and hearing some funny stories) As for the clothes, I've always liked more feminine styles and these suit my figure

 

[kerry]

When I was a little girl I wanted to be Margaret Lockwood after seeing her in A wicked Lady, I thought she was beautiful.
However, It was a bad haircut that made me try out a vintage hairstyle and realise I had found a style that really suited me and opened up a whole new life for me, spending too much money on shoes and lipstick lol.

 

[Smuterella]

My love for 40s and 50s style really only started a couple of years ago but I've always liked vintage fashion...I guess I've worked my way back through the decades. In high school I was something of a social misfit and 'alternative dresser' (we only had a couple of 'casual clothes' days a term, most of our time was spent in the stuffy school uniform) and started out wearing 70s punk looks, with kilts and smudgy black eyeliner and punk hair, before moving back to 60s hippie looks, but when that became fashionable I turned to the mod look. Then mod became the next big trend so I decided to move further back, and realised the clothes of the 40s and 50s suit me so much better than anything else...I actually have hips, so it's nice to wear clothing cut for real women's bodies, not those skinny hipless childs bodies that models seem to have! Retro style is so classic too...I have haircuts from two years ago that make me cringe now, but don't think I'll ever regret eyeliner and red lipstick with pincurls.

thats me exactly

 

[Miss Cicero]

So interesting to hear everyone’s personal ‘epiphanies’!

I think my passion for 20s/30s style began with all the musicals I watched as a kid – I tap-danced a lot back then too but I can’t remember which came first, the hoofing or the musicals! My favourite, to this day, is ‘Golddiggers of 1933’ – the whole thing captivated me, from the costumes to the sets to the songs to the sassy dialogue. As a teenager, I became fascinated with Josephine Baker; more recently, Clara Bow has really inspired me on a beauty/sartorial level. It’s difficult to explain exactly why that period feels so familiar and ‘right’, but the fact is that no other era inspires me in the same way. I just love the way the Art Deco aesthetic lets you look glamorous and no-nonsense at the same time: the graphic hairstyles and dramatic make-up, as well as the smart, sumptuous clothes. Love it!

 

[dollydaydream]

Ladies & Chivalry

I've always loved loking at old pictures of my family, especially my grandmother because I look just like her (the young one may I add). There is one particular picture of her I love, which is a picture of her in her WAF uniform. Her hair is done in neat rolls, and she looks fabulous. I can only dream of looking as wonderful as any of the ladies I see in old pictures.

I love that fact that ladies were just that, ladies. I'm pretty old fashioned when it comes to things like this lol

My ideal job is being a housewife, and possibly having a part time job in a typing pool.

I just adore the fact that women made an effort in ye olde tymes!!!! I also love the fact that a gentleman would hold a door open for you! Too much has changed [huh]

 

[MegamiOrchard]

Firstly it was seeing photos of my grandmother from the 1950s - she was so stylish and beautiful. (Due to family dramas photos are now with an uncle who won't release them:eusa_doh: )

Then it developed further with my love for fashion. The fashion of the early fifties is something I adore, mainly the couture end of the spectrum.

I have also always had a love of tasteful, classic looking glamourous erotica. With the burlesque revival/Dita von Teese phenomenon, that plays into it.

My husband is a fantastic photographer, and is drawn to a lot of the classic work of the 1950s (much of it fashion photography) so there is inspiration there as well.

 

[Butterfield 8]

My earliest memories are of sneeking out of bed when my parents went to sleep to watch the late late local TV line-up: The Honeymooners, You Bet Your Life, and I love Lucy.

I guess Lucy was my first taste of classic beauty!

 

[PS]

I graduated HS early and worked for my mother in her flower shop before for college, I went in with her in the AM but finished a few hours before she did in the afternoon, I'd love visit all the antique shops in the little town and kill time thumbing through the discarded photographs. I loved vintage beauty before but this really helped me appreciate at it.

 

[cherry lips]

Gosh, I don't know when I got the retro bug. It's been growing on me gradually ever since I was a kid, I guess. Now I'm blindly in love and can hardly see the beginning. Did it start when I was having a spell of depression in Paris, and saw Marilyn movies that made me feel like dancing in the street? No, earlier. When I was ten I loved to listen to the golden oldies radio station and fell in love with such 50's hits as the Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace and Barry Mann's Who put the Bomp?. Maybe it bit me back when my mom and I used to watch Bette Davis flics, I'd just started school, and mom said I looked like Bette. (You'll see if she was right when I change avatars.) Whenever it started, it gets better year by year, and finding Fedora Lounge was no exception.

 

[cherry lips]

My mother is very much into classic movies and I grew up watching everything from Shirley Temple to Audrey Hepburn.She definitely passed the torch to me.
I think the movie that really solidified my obsession was The Wizard of Oz.I wanted to grow up to be Dorothy.In fact,my daily makeup look is still inspired by Judy Garland's look in the film.

Also,I have a slight obsession with ruby red anything.Hmmmm...do you think there might be a connection?lol

Gee, this description fits me as well. Spent my whole life searching for Dorothy's dress, ruby red slippers, and home. Now I've found all three. I also enjoyed Rebecca at Sunnybrook Farm when I was little, 'cause my name's Rebecca. And have you ever tasted the drink called Shirley Temple? I loved that too.

 

[JazzBaby]

I used to watch old movies at my grans house as a child (for some reason, Easter Parade seemed to be on every Sunday!) But it never really occured to me to dress vintage, or try a vintage style makeup until I reached my late teens and developed a strange attraction to all things Monroe. It happened just before the whole 'let's put Marilyn's face on everything' phase hit, so I was a bit peeved to be honest, thinking I was all original and stuff...

I still wear the cats-eye liner and curl my hair like hers, and from time to time I do get told I look like her (I wish!) I try other vintage looks sometimes too, such as copying Grace Kelly's makeup when I want a more natural look or going a bit flapper sometimes. But I love my Marilyn makeup...

 

[CassD]

I grew up watching the old Black and Whites with my mom. I've always adored Katherine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn because they had such grace and class. I never really thought about dressing like them, though, because I'm just built wrong for that, but when swing and the swing era became "vogue" and hip, I noticed that a lot of the dresses were actually made for women with a lot of curves. It's a style I can fit into nicely and it looks a little classier than the modern styles. Even the wiggle dresses are built for women with curves. I just love that I can look good and feel good. I also appreciate the longer hemlines.