What made you fall in love with retro beauty?

[Daisy Buchanan]

Some guy named Hemingway Jones dragged me to Long Beach California a while back to some strange get together of what I thought was going to be a bunch of people who liked hats and Indiana Jones. After a beautiful yet tiring 10 days driving down the coast from San Francisco to LA, we arrived on the Queen Mary. We checked in, dropped off our bags (or what Hem referred to as my gargantuan suitcase filled with clothes I'll never wear, hey I'm a girl, I might need those things!!) we made it to The Observation bar. We were the first to arrive, accept for some guy named MK, who I later learned was the host of the event. We had a lovely time talking hats, and soon met a wonderful man named Peter and his wife Pam, who were the creators of the infamous Indy jacket. Then, 2 beautiful ladies walked in. They were dressed as if they had just stepped off the set of one of my favorite old time movies. I honestly was mesmerized. Turns out these two beauties were Lauren and Vanessa. I have been watching old movies since I was a child. When I was little I'd love to wear my Granny's clothes and being she was a hairstylists she'd often do pin curls or set my hair for me in different vintage do's. But, I never knew that there was a community of people who actually had and wore vintage clothes. From that moment I was hooked. Thanks Lauren and Vanessa!! Oh, and ITG too!! You ladies filled me with enough info that weekend that the moment I arrived back in Boston I started buying clothes on ebay, and much to my check books chagrin I haven't stopped since!!

So, it's been a few years since that first encounter. I have always had that passion for the past, but never knew it could be expressed in such a way. I loved playing dress up as a kid!! So that probably has something to do with my need to dress up as an adult. Admittedly I don't do it every day, and lately due to surgery I haven't been doing it much at all, save for a few photo shoots with Hem. We had a few models over a few weeks ago for a 30's/40's glamour shoot. I needed to supply the gowns. I started going through the piles in my closet, by the time I was done I had pulled out over 40 evening gowns and cocktail dresses. I think that's probably my favorite thing about vintage, the elegance, the beauty of each individual piece of clothing, oh, and wondering about the life it lived before it made it into my closet, or I should say before it made it to one of the giant piles next to my closet!! Keep your eye out ladies, my store on ebay's gonna be over flowing with vintage in a few weeks ( or possibly months depending on how long it takes me to measure everything!!) I need spending money for an upcoming trip to Italy

 

[Charbeau]

My grandparents planted the seeds for me. Both my grandfathers served in WWII, one in the South Pacific with the Marines and the other in Washington D.C. where he chauffeured the generals who were in town to their meetings and engagements (even Eisenhower!). My maternal grandfather wrote his wartime memoirs, I read them as a teenager and I was hooked. The stories he has from his Army experiences in D.C. are fascinating. Once my interest in the history of the 40s and WWII began to grow I began to notice the clothing, hair, etc. and how much more feminine and glamourous the women were.

 

[Aorta]

Thinking about what made me fall in love with retro beauty, I figured out that my grandmother played an important role. She had an impeccable sense of fashion and style. As a kid I used to dress up in her clothes (completely with hats, clothes and jewelry) and pretended to be a model and her living-room was the catwalk. She died 1999 at the age of 86, I still miss her a lot today. In her bedroom was a big vanity table and I put on her rhinestone brooches, pressed the pompon (Is that the correct word for it?) of her perfume bottle and felt like a really luxurious lady lol.

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Without a doubt my Grandmother. She was born in 1914, so she grew up at what I think is the best possible moment in time. My mom was a nurse, so she worked strange hours. That being the case, I was practically raised by my Grandmother. She loved to take me on outings "Downtown", and never let me leave without looking immaculate- dress, coat, matching hat- the whole nine yards. I grew up in awe of this woman, who lived alone, took care of her mother, herself, and me, yet still managed to look beautiful every day. Some of my fondest memories are of her- getting dressed, doing her hair and makeup, dancing the Charleston to aggravate the downstairs neighbors who complained about me playing too loud- she was truly a Dame in the best sense of the word. I lost her when I was 15, so I never got to hear all of her great stories, but I heard enough to keep me entranced by the era that she experienced them in. I went through my rebellious phases, but it was the memory of her, and the desire to be half the Lady that she was, that always brought me back to this... (Even though I'm sure, wherever she is, she's cringing, Highball in hand, at my sorry attempts to create a flawless pincurl. )

 

[Joan]

I was born in the late 1950s, and somehow I was surrounded by retro people and things, and I loved having that palpable connection to history (no idea why). My father's sister lived in the house they grew up in and used her mother's wringer washer until the mid 1960s. My kindergarten teacher wore her hair in braids wrapped around her head and her stockings rolled, and when she played the piano, everything came out in ragtime. My mother's oldest brother's wife was like LizzieMaine's grandmother, always properly dressed, always doing things the old-fashioned way. When we went to dinner at her house, every place had a knife rest. I loved that. When my father's aunts gave me some old dresses (from the late '30s or early '40s, I think now), this second aunt sent me to a shop that sold old-fashioned stockings; I was at least 40 years younger than their average customer.

When I was first out of college and had no money, I used to see movies at a theater that had kept one of the big screens and showed double features of old movies ($2 evenings and weekends, $1 during business hours); one was The Third Man and The 39 Steps, one was two versions of Anna Karenina, one was Ninotchka and Silk Stockings. The 1930s movies and the TV shows set then -- especially Poirot and the two Lord Peter Wimsey series -- sealed my fate.

This really is a fun thread, retromom! Thank you for starting it.

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

one was The Third Man

Ooohh... I am pea green with envy! I would love to see that on a big screen...

 

[Folly]

I grew up with my grandparents, so old films were always a part of my life. It was entirely the norm for me, hence why my childhood crushes were Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant and Charlton Heston. Ladies I adored were Bette Davis and later Audrey Hepburn.

I must say though, that I then moved forward for a bit and my first tastes of retro beauty/fashion were those from the 1960's. I then started slipping backward.

 

[Spaugs]

I was born in love with retro. My favorite movies have always been the ones on TCM and I have always idolized the style in them. When I learned about flappers in school I was fascinated by these wild women. The more I learned about history the more I loved the style. Now I am this weird young woman who is trying her best to bring back flapper style while having a love for corsets and other gothic/victorian style. (I also love odd parts from the World Wars, like jackets and boots. I love paring some military boots with classy skirts!)

 

[Lillemor]

I think it's been a natural leaning all of my life with detours to boheme, whatever was trendy at the moment, goth which keeps re-appearing, I admit to being a bit dramatic and I've always seeked attention through what I wear. Less so now that I'm older and feel more confident. Now I don't care what others think.

When I was little I was fascinated by the 1920s-30s. Then it was the 50s during the 90s and recently I tried to learn to like 60s because it's so easy at the moment but it's just not right for me. At least not the styles from the latter part of that decade which I associate with everything I blame for what's wrong with society today. Incidentally my parents era if you can call it that.

I've also always loved history and old films. I've recently become obsessed with Claudette Colbert. If I were Caucasian I'd do anything to get as close to resembling her but alas; I was born Thai (I'm Danish through adoption) so I don't really have any vintage icons I can mirror myself in.

 

[Real Swell Gal]

You'll laugh but I honestly think there is a past life connection for me in the 1940's.