Tuesday, April 27, 2010

All that's missing is a poodle skirt



I grew up adoring old movies and television shoes.  There were evenings you would have thought that we hadn't moved up to a color television yet, with all of the black and white Lucille Ball and Ginger Rogers and Bing Crosby all over the screen.  I loved the shows themselves, but what really drew me in were the clothes.  The women were so classy and gorgeous, even the comedians.  I longed for that hourglass figure - oh, just give me hips and boobs and please, dear god, a waist! ran through my little 10-year old brain.

My love for splendid clothes expanded - Fanny Brice's gorgeous clothes in Funny Girl, Jane Austen dresses, the bonnets of the Ingalls girls, the voluminous skirts of Deborah Kerr in the King and I, the cleaving bosom of Scarlett O'Hara - oh, how I longed for a cleaving bosom.

No matter what's in fashion at the time, I've always felt that they used to do it better.  When I tried out for The King and I my senior year of high school, I wanted to be on stage and sing, but what I really longed for was a good excuse to follow in Deborah Kerr's footsteps and wear one of those awesome dresses.  It turned out that I was better suited for the role of Lady Thiang (as well as a white 17-year old can be, I suppose), but no worries - the moment I stepped into the costume shop, I was done for.  I got to have 5 costume changes during that show.  I was in heaven.

So imagine my delight when I recently discovered some amazing vintage shops while procrastinating perusing Etsy. It's like these people were building shops just for me.

I should be clear - I'm fashion shy in the day to day. I wear the clothes that happen to be in style at the moment - nothing too fancy or interesting.   I'm not the sort of gal who can pull off a 1940s sailor dress while I'm out getting the groceries - hence, the draw of the theatre.

So, here's a request to anyone out there looking to direct a show and set it in the 1940s or 50s*, please cast me in it (preferably as the lead) and let me wear this:



Or this (it's a bathing suit!):



Or this:


Or please please please, for the love of god, this:




Am I wrong?  They just don't make clothes like this anymore, do they?


* In the alternative, someone could host a Halloween party where all of the girls are specifically commanded not to dress like hookers.  But that's a whole other post for another day.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I REALLY like the timeless vixen and the golden vintage dresses. Super cute! They would work for a wedding and you could probably get away with it at a lawyerly cocktail party, maybe.

Tree Hugging Attorney said...

OMG. I literally just *gasped* when I saw that purple dress. I'm sure a lot of the gasp has to do with a lack of sleep and persistent eye twitch - but I LOVE LOVE LOVE that dress. ;)

(In)Sanity Gal said...

lifeofalawstudent - yeah, i guess that fuller skirts are more popular now. i should jump on that - now if they just weren't hundreds of dollars...

TH 2L - It's not just the lack of sleep. It's gorgeous.

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