style idol: nancy drew

Nancy Drew in the 1950s

Meet 1950s Nancy.  There were lots of flouncy dresses, cardigans, and sensible heels.  Nancy's terrier Togo also played a role in many of her adventures, and here he's played by Ditto (who's a Jack Russel Terrier up for adoption in Maryland, if you're interested!).  Although Nancy was primarily portrayed as a blond in the early editions (her hair is described as "titian"), by the 50s and 60s, she was fully a redhead.

By the end of the 1940s, Nancy's blue "roadster" had become a convertible (like this 1958 Buick), and would remain as such in every book I read, anyway.

Sources:
Soda Fountain Dress in Ginger by Modcloth, $45
From-The-Green Cardi by Anthropologie, $130
Suite: Judy Black Shoes by Mod Cloth, $35
Windsor Palace Metallic Gwendolyn by Kate Spade, $595
Perri's Flat Leather Dog Leash by Big Dog Boutique, $10
Carson 5" BigEye Magnifyer, $8.90 
Nancy Drew book cover from here

*this is second in a series on Nancy Drew's fashion through the decades. Browse full series: 1930s-1950s-1970s-1990s-Now

style idol: nancy drew

Nancy in the 1930s

 

In the early days, Nancy was perpetually in heels, regardless of the situation. She also understood the value of a put-together ensemble, and often included a jaunty scarf.  Oh, and her hats!  I couldn't include it in the polyvore above, but here's a hat Nancy would most certainly have had in her closet.

From book one, Nancy was never far from her blue "roadster."

Sources:

Slate Stripes Shift - Anthropologie, $130
No-Fault Cobalt Coat-Mod Cloth, $165
Foil-Wrapped Heels, $360
Pulsing Paisley Scarf - Anthropologie, $38
SE Necklace Magnifier on a Gold Chain, $3.23
Royal Wiht Cloche with Vintage Pearl Buttons, $350 (handmade by Behida Dolic)
Car is a 1930 Gardner Coupe

*this is first in a series on Nancy Drew's fashion through the decades. Browse full series: 1930s-1950s-1970s-1990s-Now

shelf love

Nancy, from My Parents Were Awesome.  Check out those shelves!  I love love love them.  And the butterflies and seashells just make it perfect.  Also, I kind of adore her dress.

curiosities

Maybe it was seeing Sherlock Holmes four times, or perhaps the influence of visiting The Pink Palace, but I've had cabinets of curiosity on the brain lately, specifically bell jars.  All of a sudden, I can't get enough of them.

I love the idea that they're protecting something precious, but also enjoy the traditional use with flora and fauna (I'm not big on taxidermy, but don't mind fake animals--how wonderful is that little bird?).  I can definitely see myself filling a room with bell jars, big and small.  If only I had the room.  Coming by bell jars on the cheap is not terribly easy, although ebay has a fairly large selection.  You also see them in high-end garden shops (anthro has one that's designed to be a terrarium).

photo credits (from top: James Merrell (1 & 2), AT, AT, d*s, dsbrennan

polish books

I would very much like to know why they don't make 'em like this anymore.  In Poland or otherwise.

from a journey round my skull.  see his post for sources.

harry dubin

My friend Autumn shared a post about this earlier this week and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.  Harry Dubin was a grocer in New York in the 1940s.  On the weekends, he would take his teenaged son out and about to get photos of the working people of NYC...sort of.  Actually, they were photos of Harry switching places with the working people of NYC.

"Dad would say, 'Let's do a fireman this week or a street sweeper.' But a plan was one thing; inducing the target to remove his clothes in a nearby alley and hand them over to a total stranger was another."

Jeff Kisseloff came across a 1947 New Yorker article profiling Dubin and decided to take a chance that he was still around.  Lo and behold, not only was Dubin alive, he was still in possession of some of the original photographs and willing to be interviewed.  Kisseloff persuaded Dubin to let him take scans of the photos, and he's been posting them on his blog.  They make for a lovingly eccentric look at New York in the 1940s.  I hope you'll be as captivated as I am.

days of heaven

A couple years back I dated a guy who was a total cinemaphile, and when the Criterion edition of Days of Heaven came out, let me tell you, we were at the nearest Best Buy to pick it up, hoo-boy.  We headed straight back to my house to watch it, and when it was over, he asked me what I thought of it.  My reply was, "The interiors were incredible!" which probably wasn't the response he was going for, but I think he was just glad I wasn't traumatized, like I was after we watched Punch-Drunk Love.

I kind of thought I was the only one to have noticed the interiors (keep in mind that I was the only person of my acquaintance who'd even seen the film), but apparently I am not.  It's no secret that I love Amy Merrick's Living In series for Design*Sponge, and, as usual, she is spot-on.

I really wanted to move into that house, and her picks totally reinforce that desire.

vintage home movies

San Francisco 1958 from Jeff Altman on Vimeo.

I love these films Jeff Altman makes using "inherited tens of thousands of feet of 16mm" film his grandparents recorded.  In this footage of San Francisco in 1958, the combination of truly fantastic editing and the music make for a gorgeous, dreamy video.  Makes me long to throw on a dress and some red lipstick and just step into the past.


via beach bungalow 8

waving off

This week has seemed interminably long, but in 15 minutes I will be closing up shop and heading for the taco stand with dinner on my mind. My lovely mum has come for a visit, so here's hoping tomorrow shall find us as grinningly happy as these ladies. Have a phenom weekend, all!

Photo from here, via Jo.

kitchen envy

I could happily live out the remainder of my life in this kitchen.
Also this:
from here.

gatsby

I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby for a class--for the first time, can you believe it?? I have to write a semi-long paper about it, so my head's been full of Gatsby for a few days and these save-the-dates seemed to have waltzed (Charlstoned?) right out of my thoughts. Truly beautiful cards!

via Jo

sultry

Having worked in a bookstore for one mind-numbing year, the blog Judge a Book by its Cover is a personal favourite. The minds behind the blog are a few, but I just adore Rex Parker's "Sultry Sunday," a weekly crossover with his blog Pop Sensation. I love that he focuses on both the art and the text, including snippets from the book itself.

Today's book is one Kill Now, Pay Later and his description is fantastic.

"Best things about this cover:

Nearly everything. It's quintessential. It expresses everything I love about this era - a sense of cool combined with a sense of something fading, something ending ... a kind of twilight. These two look like their best days are behind them, just behind them, and it is only beginning to dawn on them. Look, she's already forgotten how to hold a martini glass. And he seems bemused by his gun. Poor, poor, hot people."

he can't, he musn't, he shan't!

Do you watch the Colbert Report? No? If not, then you missed this fantastic homage to Jane Austen in the form of...a baseball metaphor. If you love Jane Austen, if you hate her, if you've seen any of the film interpretations of her books, then I assure you: you will find this clip hilarious.



My hat's off to you, Mr. Colbert. Keep you promise!

changeling

So I've got a confession to make: I sort of have a really big girl-crush on Angelina Jolie. I think she's quietly beautiful and love that she's continued adopting children despite having biological ones, as well, something that I've always dreamed of doing. So this crush, combined with my love of the 1920s aesthetics (likely compounded by the loads of reading I've been doing about Al Capone and the Lindbergh case at work), means that I'm really excited about The Changeling. Seriously y'all, please check out these gorgeous costumes:Really makes me wish I could rock the cloche hat look. Or that I didn't have hips. Check out the trailer here.

silver lining

Here's a fun way to embrace the economic crisis: host a Depression-era party! Check out more photos from the shindig over at Jo's blog.

hey you kids

Ah, a Saturday night spent making flashcards to the sweet background music of a Law and Order marathon. I knew there was a reason I came back to school. By the time I'm done, I might be in the market for:
via Douglas Wilson

jazzy

Lucky girl Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo attended the Jazz-Age Lawn Party on Governors Island, NY this weekend. The next one won't be until next summer, but what do you want to bet June 2009 will find me in New York? In the meantime, you can enjoy Jo's fabulous photos with me.The last one is not a party shot, but Miss Goddard bicycling around Governors Island looking like a photo from an old family album. So jealous!!