Ruffled Bottoms

We love the little ruffled bottom on this piece advertised from Cesare Paciotti, unfortunately I can't find it on the website so I believe the shoes are actually what's supposed to be the focus. Anyone know anything about the suit and or lingerie?

Vintage Swimsuit Pattern Giveaway!!

Anna, who lives in Norway has a fun blog called A Few Threads, and she is giving away a copy of this wonderful 1940s swimsuit pattern. Now I don't know about you, but I've entered. Part of the fun is she creates these beauties in PDF format.

Let's head on over to her ETSY shop called Mrs Depew Vintage, you must see some of the wonderful patterns she has. This being one of them.

This was originally released in the summer of 1950.

The Pattern is drafted in a size 34" bust, but the instructions say that it is easily made into a 32" bust by subtracting an inch from the back pattern piece, or it can be expanded into a 36" bust by adding an inch in the same place.

And sorry, we went to show you more this morning but her shop is now on vacation for a week. Yikes, sorry gals, but really it's worth the wait.

Early Vintage HERMES Swimwear Advertisements

Hermes may not be a brand you typically associate with swimwear; you most likely conjure up beautiful luxurious handbags or silk scarves, or beautiful jewelry.



But as these ads show you, Hermes De Bain swimwear started to be available in the early 1930s. 1929 was the first exhibition of women's fashion by Hermes in Paris.

1933

2006 RTW Hermes

2007 RTW Hermes

2011 RTW Hermes

We're lovin the early 1930s pieces at Glamoursurf.

Trendwatch: Stripes from Les Copains

I picked up a copy of Bazaar magazine from March of this year and just got around to scanning this fabulous suit from Les Copains. ♥♥♥

And I'm still hoping to find a shot of the shoulders and back. Isn't it sweet though? I Love teh color palette and the stripes and the fit and the leg line to neckline. This could easily have a cute skirt or jeans paired with it for nighttime.

Above Images from Bazaar March 2011

So I go to check out more about this fabulous designer Italian suit and find a runway spread from NY magazine.

source

And then this STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS! Woah for days, really.

Oh yeah, and if that weren't enough fashionista fantasy, we have this look. Just pack my bags with one of each. PLEASE?

OK, there really are some other lovely suits and things in Les Copains collection. You'll just have to check them out your selves. And if you do head over there you can see a copy of the S/S 2011 in video format. Wait for the site to load and hover over menu, select video, s/s2011. YUM!

Looks like the company started in the 1950s, and cashmere is their first love. Made in Italy. Bravo!

It's a Cozzie in Australia

According to The Dictionary on Australian Slang the following slang is a term for Bathing Costume or swimming suit.

"cozzie bathing suit. I have only heard this British slang for bathing costume once since arriving in Perth, and that was from a New Zealand-born Brit. However, the Oxford Australian lists it as Australian slang. Aussie tj e-mailed to say that her New South Wales nieces and nephews use cozzie. Aussie Taryn East also finds cozzie (along with swimmers) the commonly used term in New South Wales (where Sydney is the capital city)."

OK, so let's look a bit further. Seems my Australian friends have quite a few terms for swim + suit plus a few other assorted beach/surfer terms...

This list of Aussie slang for beach terms should help you out:

Cossie/cozzie – swimming costume.
It helps to note that Australians call a swimsuit a swimming costume, thus the cossie is short for costume.

Bathers – swimsuit

Togs – swimming costume

Budgie smugglers – speedo-like swimming costume
Check out the slang post I wrote on budgie smugglers to get a longer explanation on this type of cossie. Although iron men and professional swimmers wear this type of garment, there is no better spokesman for budgie smugglers than Tony Abbott.

Sunnies – sunglasses
The Aussies really missed out on this one. Shades is a perfectly good word for sunglasses and it is actually shorter than “sunnies”.

Thongs – flip-flops
This one still gets me. I can’t help but associate thongs with underwear, so taking your thongs to the beach can have a very different meaning to some people.

Boardies – board shorts
These are the same as swimming trunks pretty much.

Grommet – someone new to surfing
I would really enjoy knowing where this term originated from. Anyone?

Shark biscuit – someone new to surfing
It’s kind of funny this term, but also a little terrifying.

Surfies – surfers
I’m going to ask the million dollar question: “Why?!” Surfers seems like a pretty adequate word on its own.

So there you go, got any other swimming related terms to add to the list?

Swimsuits of the 1960s

This fabulous photo is part of a wonderful book I picked up yesterday titled "California Fashion, from the Old West to New Hollywood". In the chapter called Swimwear: The first wave. I'm still looking through it and will show more in the coming weeks but I just had to share this lovely photo of bathing beauties from the 1960s with you.

From left to right:
Carol Christensen in slit front suit by Rudi Gernreich, $25.00.
Rita Lee in a green check cotton bikini by Rose Marie Reid.
Jill St John in Rose Marie Reid blue check button tank suit $24.
Stephanie Powers in Rudi Gernreich patchwork knit suit wit plastic belt, $24.
Joan Blackman in Catalina white rib.
Silo in Elizabeth Stewart two piece cotton print, $20.
Barbara Eden in Cole yellow knit bikini, $16.
Julie Payne in forefront, in Catalina black dotted bikini $13.

I love them all but that Rudi Gernreich patchwork piece I have never seen before. You can click on the image to enlarge it to see more details. Enjoy!

1970s Uppity Shoes

This article and images appeared in the September 1972 issue of Life Magazine.

Sure they look horrible, but that's the idea. As Dr. Seymour Fisher, author of "Body Consciousness" sadly observes, "There is a fundamental dissatisfaction with the body in our culture today." For this reason, or maybe not, thousands of otherwise normal people are tottering around these days as much as seven inches off the ground. Platform shoes in a splendidly flamboyant variety of styles and materials are selling as fast as stores can stock them.

Meanwhile, a staff nurse in the emergency ward of New York's Bellvue Hospital notes a distinct increase in foot injuries caused by twisted ankles and falls, "especially to the little bones of the foot." But some patients are incorrigible. "There they go," says the nurse, "clomping away with one foot in a cast and the other one in a clog."
Already 5' 9" in her bare feet, Shelly Smith becomes 6' 2" in plastic clogs from Pelican, $45.00

From Monique Shoes, a sharp pair of two-tones costs $40.00

Zigzag popular clogs from Goody Two Shoes cost $40.00

For back to-school, $40.00 from the 34th Street Bootery shop

Palm trees are hand painted, $45.00 from Goody Two Shoes

Lydia Roaches red leather platforms from Monique have heels six inches high $40.00

Vintage Swimwear Patterns n Such

This week I got a request for some early bathing suit patterns. I have a few at Glamoursurf but the request was for a pattern from the 1910-1920 era. I did manage to find some lovely vintage swimwear patterns on line at Ageless Patterns. Complete with little things like this linen bathing shoe pattern. And it's only $2.00. I think I need to make some. Not sure where to get the cork and twine sole though. Cute right?


Ok, and she also has this lovely beach pyjama pattern in sizes 6-20. Again, wouldn't this be beautiful? Oh my oh my. I may just have to break out the machine.

Vintage Swimwear Videos by GlamourDaze

A lovely Vintage Swimwear video from GlamourDaze. I could watch this again and again.



By the way she has produced quite a few vintage video selections. Here's another jem, 1930s Swimwear, in color no less!

Vintage Swimwear Store Display

Paris 1900 is a vintage shop in Santa Monica which opened in 1976 and sells vintage clothing - mostly bridal and Edwardian whites. Susan, who owns the shop sent me this picture of her window display showing a wonderful set of mannequins in vintage swimwear. She puts up similar displays each summer as she has a small personal collection of vintage bathing suits. They aren't for sale, just fun. Sweet right? Her shop looks like such fun, if you go, say hi for us! Paris 1900 is located at:

Paris 1900
2703 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405

More Marilyn

A few more pics of Marilyn Monroe continued from our post yesterday.

Her health was fragile, she was shaky on camera and her career was ebbing when she made her last movie, The Misfits, in 1960. But the Nevada weather was fair and for a moment, as she emerged from a swim between takes, her smile contained a flash of the young Norma Jean. I think this has to be one of my favorite candids of Marilyn.





Bo bo be doop, that's all today. Do you have a favorite?

Marilyn Monday

This weekend I picked up an old issue of Life Magazine from September, 1972. The cover has this fabulous picture of Marilyn and it's titled "Remember Marilyn", A photographic exhibit recalls the allure of a tragic star. We just had to share these images with you.

Marilyn was a shy person but the camera gave her confidence and possibly no one knew her better than the men who photographed her. One of them, Larry Schiller, assembled an exhibit of 185 pictures by 15 photographers called Marilyn Monroe: The Legend and the Truth.


The exhibit opened in Los Angeles's David Stuart Galleries before touring 30 U.S. cities.

Many of these small ones we show, were early publicity shots which displayed the young starlets son -to-be-famous figure. She was proudest however, or her flawless teeth.

She peered straight into the camera with absolute trust, the perfect pin-up. looking proud and architectural in her bathing suit and high heels.

More coming tomorrow....

1965 Margit Fellegi 'Scandal Suit' Swimsuit

The Scandal Swimsuit by Margit Fellegi for Cole of California

1965 Margit Felligi Scandal Swimsuit 1965

Cole of California began working with it's first designer Margit Fellegi in 1936. Margit was a costume design student from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago but had already built a reputation for herself as a Hollywood costumer. She went on to work with Cole producing glamorous swimwear for the stars for the next 36 years. Fellegi’s combination of distinct patterns, vibrant colors, and unusual design lines caught the eye of both film stars and the average women.

A couple of Fellegi's better known designs were the Scandal Suit and the Swoon Suit. Today we focus on the Scandal Suit. (If you have an interest in the Swoon Suit you can read about it in our post here.)

Fellegi designed the “scandal suit” collection by Cole of California in 1964. The Scandal Suit collection contained different styles combining mesh and fabric to create peek-a-boo styled swimwear.




The swimsuits had selectively exposed certain areas of the body with cutouts of elastic mesh. Fellegi’s new elastic mesh provided shaping and support while, at the same time, creating a transparent, sexy look. To promote the new suit line, Cole launched an advertising campaign with a provocative photograph of actress Joan MacGowan with supporting text, “Isn’t it time somebody created an absolutely wild scandal for nice girls?”

The Scandal Suit was released to the press in 1964, with runway presentation of models holding mock front page headlines screaming "scandal" in bold print. They dropped the papers on cue, revealing what was, at the time, one of the most overtly sexy and daring swimsuits ever marketed. According to Fellegi, even nice girls would become a bit scandalous once they donned the sliced-up suit.

Source

This was another version of the suit. There were also animal prints as part of this collection.

And to further it's popularity, Little Edie Bouvier Beale wore this as one of her swimsuits as well. You may remember her from the movie Grey Gardens.

Women of Fashion Through The Ages - Hats, Separates and Spring Dresses

As requested and continued from our post yesterday on Women of Fashion through the Ages, Swimwear and Lingerie, today we continue with Hats, Separates and Spring Dresses.

These three images are from a 1977 collectors calendar showing authentic fashions of the Great Eras drawn from the Vogue/Butterick Pattern Archives.

I'm loving the spring dresses watercolor. Or perhaps it's gauche or pen and ink, but I really love how the drawings were taken from patterns and transferred into beautiful artwork.

Which is your favorite?