RETRO {AND RETRO INSPIRED} LINGERIE

LINGERIE:  Fashionable and possibly alluring undergarmets.

 I love lingerie , I know, I know, it's actually a french word which refers to ALL undergarments, but let's use the English meaning of "fashionable and possibly alluring", because it's so much more fun.

Luckily we live in a time when our undergarments don't so closely resemble torture devices.  Today's lingerie is meant to be seen, if only by our significant other, and therefore sexy on it's own.  The lingerie of yesteryear was meant to create curves where there were none, or mask curves where they were abundant, thus making women "fashionable and possibly alluring" when their clothes were on.  Big difference!

During the 1950's women and teens wore girdles and slips (or petticoats) everyday.  Curves were deemed mandatory for catching a man, who hopefully became a husband.  Girdles were rigid, although thanks to the use of plastics,  not as rigid as previous decades when they were still made with whale bones or steel.  Petticoats were horrible, itchy things that were "starched" with sugar and water and hung to dry.  Then there was the bullet bra.  Actually the bullet bra was an architectural marvel, made with sewn concentric circles making the cups cone shaped, which didn't require padding or wires.  The problem with the bullet bra was that is you didn't quite fill it out, you had to stuff the tips....not good.

Thankfully in the 1960's the girdle gave way to control top panty hose and the bullet bra was replaced with padded bras or underwire bras.  Yay!

"If God wanted us to be naked why did he invent sexy lingerie?"  Shanon Doherty

"You should spend your money on some nice lingerie.  You have to feel sexy."  Heidi Klum

"If you are wearing lingerie that makes you feel glamorous, you are half way there to turning heads."  Elle McPherson

                                                                 Modern interpretation.

"Lingerie has come out of the closet."  Monica Mitro

"Brevity is the soul of lingerie."  Dorothy Parker

"If you are a person who is classy, elegant, and modest, then the lingerie you wear is going to complement that."  Latoya Jones

What's your opinion of lingerie?  Do you think it would be fun to go back to girdles and bullet bras? Only occasionally?  

Have a beautiful weekend everybody...and join us next week for a new muse.

YANCEY

EVA ZEISEL - FAREWELL

Eva Zeisel  (Nov. 13, 1906 - Dec. 30, 2011)

 She called herself "a maker of useful things".  Eva Zeisel, Hungarian industrial designer/ceramist brought the clean, casual shapes of modernist design to the middle-class American table.  Her playfully geometric designs were influenced by modern architecture and the human form.

Originally a student of painting, her mother encouraged her to explore ceramics as a practical alternative to fine arts.  Eva apprenticed with the last pottery master in the medieval guild system in Hungary.
Like many artists before her, she eventually found her way to Russian, which at the time was a popular destination for artists and intellectuals.  While living in Moscow, Eva was arrested and falsely accused of participating in an assassination plot against Joseph Stalin, and was imprisoned for 16 months, mostly in solitary confinement. 
She eventually married, and in 1940 she and her husband came to America, where she taught at the Pratt Institute while continuing to work as an artist.  In 1946 Eva Zeisel had the first one-woman show at the MoMA.  She continued to work well into her 90's and in her later years her designs were featured in  Design Within Reach and Crate and Barrel.

 "It's easy to do something stunning that stays in a collector's cabinet.  But her designs reached people at the table, where they gather"  Paola Antonelli - curator of architecture and design at the MoMA.

"The clean lines of modern design can be successfully combined with sensuous, classic shape"  Eva Zeisel

 "Men have no concept of how to design things for the home.  Women should design the things they use"  Eva Zeisel

 "She's a conduit to pure things"  James Klein - ceramist.

If anyone in the New York area is interested (and why wouldn't you be?) Eva Zeisel's work is on permanent display at The Metropolitan Museum, New York Historical Society, MoMA, and the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum.

I am now officially obsessed!  Do you love her work, do you own any?

Have a beautiful day.
YANCEY

MID CENTURY STYLE: 40's, 50's, AND 60's

Let's talk fashion!  Mid century style of the 40's, 50's, and 60's.

 Today, I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking.  Let's begin with the 1940's.

                                                          Authentic

Attention to detail was important in 40's fashion, especially for collars and sleeves.

                                                                       

The two piece skirt suit reigned supreme.

Casual feminine day wear.

                                              1940' modern interpretation

I love everything about this.  Her hair style is classic 40's; long with looses curls, parted on the side.

Notice how manicured her eyebrows are....very 40's.

                                   Authentic 1950's
   

Skirts became much fuller in the 50's and hairstyles tended to be shorter.

                                           1950's modern interpretation        

Has anyone ever looked cuter in a 1950's inspired dress?

It's all there.

                                         1960's authentic

Do I even have to tell you how much I love this picture?  LOVE.

 In the 60's, skirts became shorter (sometimes much shorter) and tighter.  Shoes had lower heels and makeup was either extreme or barely there.

Every ones favorite 60's vixen.

Mary Tyler Moore with a classic 60's hairstyle.

Hot pants!  Oh, those rebellious 60's.

                                      1960's modern interpretation

 I'm not quite certain if the picture below is authentic or modern, but I would absolutely wear this outfit.  Would you?  What's your favorite mid century style?

Have a beautiful day.
YANCEY