The Vintage Woman – Like A Boss | Issue 1

Like A Boss ISSUE 1

WHAT'S INSIDE FASHION ICONS • VINTAGE SWIMWEAR INSPIRATION • THE POWER OF RED PARIS: A GUIDE FOR THE VINTAGE ENTHUSIAST • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS T H E O N LY V I N TA G E S T Y L E B I B L E Y O U W I L L E V E R N E E D

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London & Los Angeles

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WHAT'S INSIDE On the Cover

MASTHEAD Like A Boss

Founder Jade Stavri-Ratcliffe

Assistant Founder Miss Lillian Love Features Editor Christine Cochrum Fashion Editor Lori-Jade Beauty Editor Vanessa Frankenstein Travel & Culture Editor Brandi Pomfret Home & Lifestyle Editor Wendi Malone A big thank you to all our Contributors

Marlene Dietrich, Josephine Baker, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Schiaparelli

Bathing Belles 86

Vintage Summer Swimwear Inspiration

Creative Director Leanna Lasso Editor Ria Carruthers

Fashion Icons 23

The Power of Red 69 Favourite Red Lipsticks

WHAT'S INSIDE FASHION ICONS •VINTAGE SWIMWEAR INSPIRATION • THE POWER OF RED PARIS: A GUIDE FOR THE VINTAGE ENTHUSIAST • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

Paris 101

A Guide for the Vintage Enthusiast

T H E O N LY V I N TA G E S T Y L E B I B L E Y O U W I L L E V E R N E E D

Exclusive Interviews Micheline Pitt 6

Creator of Vixen & La Femme en Noir

Dressed to Kill You 17

Beyond the Fashion

International Performer, Marie Devilreux

Editors Letter 5

Emily & Emma 40

Vintage Style in Leadership Roles 36

Severely Mame 58

1946 44

Nicol & Ford 64

Upcoming Vintage Social Events 54

You Can't Take Yourself too Seriously

& The Best Friends Club

Sydney-Based Design Duo

Adele Mildred 73

Art, Creation & Mother-Hood

Dem Foxie Femmes 83

San Francisco's Burlesque Powerhouse

Dixie Evans 97

Mid-Century Burlesque Star

What Does it Say About Us?

...Between War & Dior

Like a Boss 61 Why Pink? 78

Yesteryears Gender Neutral Hue

The Necia's Experience 105

Vintage Hairstyling Has Never Been This Modern

Hat Style 107

All About the Fashion A Walk Along the Promenade 11

Vintage Summer Inspiration Perfect for the Seaside

Viva Street Style 14

Fashion Spotting at Viva Las Vegas - Rockabilly Weekender

Full Bloom 49

Spring Into Summer with Bold & Bright Florals

Letter from the Publisher

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t had been a dream of mine to one day gather together a group of likeminded people and start a vintage magazine that really pushes forward in society and the scene that we call ‘vintage’.

Just before I was about to get married (like I didn’t have enough on my plate!) I decided to broach the subject with three inspirational women.

I told them I had a vision of this wonderful vintage lifestyle magazine with modern ideals, and that I thought they would be the most amazing people to make my vision a

reality - and here we are, May 2019. We have managed to build a team of editors and contributors that really are the most talented people I’ve ever met, either in person or ‘virtually’!

We have pushed boundaries, broken stereotypes and I’m proud of what my team has achieved. We’ve dealt with doubters. But The Vintage Woman magazine is here, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve managed to achieve in less then a year!! To the next issue onwards and upwards.

Jade Stavri-Ratcliffe

Publisher, The Vintage Woman Magazine

Letter from the Editor

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hen Jade invited me to be involved with The Vintage Woman, I couldn’t have signed myself up more quickly.

In my many years of collecting vintage clothing and being involved with the vintage scene, I’ve often felt, as many others have expressed, that there has been a gap in the market for a publication that takes a fresh, inclusive approach to ‘vintage’.

Here, at The Vintage Woman, it is our mission to fill that gap, and I have full trust in our talented and innovative editors and contributors to deliver on that mission. Our fledgling team has had to work with limited time and resources to launch the magazine, but nevertheless I hope we present a debut issue that we can be proud of, but also learn from and build on in the future.

We hope you enjoy it!

Ria Carruthers

Editor, The Vintage Woman Magazine

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MICHELINE

by Ria Carruthers

Micheline Pitt is a woman who needs no introduction. The very definition of a hardworking boss woman, Micheline has built up her fashion business from pennies into the successful brands Vixen by Micheline Pitt and La Femme en Noir, while keeping up many other creative interests and campaigning for people, who like her, are survivors of abuse. I was delighted to be able to ask Micheline a few questions about her background, passions and her business.

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hen you think of what encapsulates a ‘boss woman’, from your perspective, what comes to mind? Who are some of the boss women who have inspired you?

It’s funny that this #girlboss movement is so recent - it’s 2019 and I feel like we just started giving women the attention for roles they have always had or had the capability to have. In general, I have

always admired people who did great things in their life. I never thought of it as a ‘boss’ thing, but rather ‘make your mark in life’ thing, or ‘do something with your life’ thing. I have always been drawn to the underdog - people who come from little to no means who accomplished greatness.

Walt Disney has always been an inspiration of mine, as well as Milicent Patrick, Rick Baker, Bruce Timm, Betsey Johnson, Jim Henson, Stephen King,

Vivienne Westwood, and Poison Ivy of the Cramps.

I have always admired creative people, who took their abilities, passions, and talents into making something. Be it clothing, cartoons, monsters, or music, they created things that touched other people’s lives. When I stop and think about ‘bosses’ in general, I think about how many bad ones I have had, how many bad ones there are out there, and how I don’t want to fall into being a bad boss in my own business, that cycle of being a dick to get things done isn’t how I do things on my own.

Many of us will be familiar with your love of monsters. What is it about monsters that inspires you, and how have the creatures influenced you creatively?

I have always been the monster girl; even when I was younger, I had an affinity for creatures and the macabre. In many ways I am still that little girl, and since I held onto that passion for monsters throughout my life, people have always associated me with them. When anyone sees my collection at home, they eventually notice it isn’t any new horror or monster stuff, only the classics. I never understood the attraction of slasher films and exploitation-style horror cinema. For me, the true classic monster movies were sad dramas that play out forlorn creatures looking for understanding, love and/or companionship. For me monsters represent the other - the other we often feel about ourselves - and there is comfort there. I think you will always see some sort of monstrous imagery with a lot of the things I do because it is so heavily tied to my childhood, the nostalgia I have with watching those films, and it brings me a lot of joy. I try to create and make things that will evoke joy in myself and I think that translates to others feeling joy as well, even if it involves monsters.

The Vixen by Micheline Pitt brand launched about two and a half years ago now, and has gone from strength to strength, with an extensive core range today, plus several collaboration lines. What have been the highs and lows of opening your business, and how have you overcome the challenges?

I think the hardest point was quitting my day job.

I didn’t know honestly what the hell I was going to do - I was working on getting into Disney, or Warner Brothers in either consumer products or going back to animation when I quit, a field I worked in full time before working in fashion.

It wasn’t until waves of messages and phone calls from customers and friends that implored me to keep making clothes that I came up with Vixen. I scraped together what money I had left so I could and launched a line of sassy

t-shirts, the only thing I was able to afford at the time. I really had no idea how any of this was going to go. I just knew that I had enough money left from selling off a huge portion of my vintage clothing collection to pay my bills for 6 months.

I started Vixen out of my 1-bedroom apartment, packing and shipping it all, then to a bedroom in a 2-bedroom apartment, to then having my own store, to now our own building. The biggest contributor to our success is the fact I barely ever paid myself anything - still to this day, my bills are paid and that is it. I don’t go on lavish vacations or buy expensive designer clothing, neither of which interests me much, I find it to be garish and uninteresting. I kept EVERY PENNY in my brand and re-invested it all; I grew it over and over again until it got to the stage it is at now. The challenge is finding that happy balance for the Vixen or La Femme en Noir business and my other ventures.

Clothing is only one of many dreams I have, and the size our brand is now is super comfortable, so I am hoping to stay within those lines throughout the brand’s lifespan. I think the biggest challenge that any business faces is inventory - finding that happy space, that magical number, and maintaining it.

The lows are really others not wanting you to succeed - often when people don’t like you they act out in petty behaviour to dismantle you and your work. I think the biggest challenge is taking the higher road, while others dig their heels in trying to tear others down. With any sort of success any of us find, you will quickly learn how many people enjoy trying to ruin it for you.

The collaborations have all happened organically; I haven’t really gone after anyone or anything. I try and let things come naturally to me, and as much as I may wish I were bigger so other projects could be a possibility, I know that that my company size is at a comfortable level for me. There are definitely a few more dream projects I hope happen, but if they don’t, I am happy with what I have been able to create thus far.

Vixen designs are worn and loved by a diverse range of sizes, ethnic backgrounds, vintage and non-vintage dressers, and gender identities. What do you think unites/ defines the Vixen customer?

I think with any clothing we wear we want to not only love the clothing but also love ourselves. Many of us identify as a subculture, or alternative, which has always felt like we are outcasts looking for our core group of like-minded fellows. I think that we build and make communities amongst ourselves and in turn the brands that have a personal approach to their customers create stronger communities. I have tried since creating Vixen to

make it a place where everyone is welcome; I am an extremely hyper-femme line and there is no denying that, but we push home the message that you can sit with us and you are welcome. I don’t want to make anyone feel like they aren’t ‘cool’ enough to be a part of what we are doing and anyone can be a VIXEN, no matter their gender, race, religion, size or sexual preference, all are welcome.

Last year, you admirably spoke candidly and movingly about your experiences of abuse and sexual assault and launched the ‘Vixen not a Victim’ campaign. How did you find the response to the campaign, both from women who have been through similar experiences, and more generally?

It was something I battled with for over a year before I made the video and released the campaign. I had a lot of repressed memories come back and it put me in the hospital. My whole body shut down, and I was in the ER for a few days. It was a dark time and I had NO ONE, I was so miserable. I started confronting my past abuse, and talking to my husband, who has been so kind, so loving. When the #METOO movement exploded many of my friends started confiding in me about their past abuse

and assaults - some even coming forward with it publicly. I realised there has to be SO many more of us who can’t come forward and probably have no one to talk to. I discovered RAINN and came up with the whole campaign idea to raise money.

The response was amazing, but overwhelming, I wasn’t really prepared to process all the stories of trauma that came flooding in. My heart kept breaking, but I kept reading and replying to as many people as I could privately. There were so many women and young girls who came to me and yes, men too. There were wives and girlfriends who thanked me, when they showed their husbands or boyfriends the video and told them about their own abuse. It is shocking how many men were abused when they were younger, and it is even more shocking that we aren’t putting child abuse into the foreground of the #METOO movement.

It haunts me thinking how often a day a child is

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being abused somewhere. I hope to do another collection of designs in the future to raise more money for RAINN, and I will continue to advocate as best as I can for others. My film project has a massive amount to do with that, actually. I can say the only bad part in this #VIXENNOTAVICTIM campaign was a person privately starting the #BULLYNOTAVICTIM hashtag and using that to make fun of me and my abuse - not that I am surprised, but it was a reminder again of how disgusting humans can truly be.

Could you tell us a bit about your other line, La Femme en Noir, and the inspiration for these designs?

As much as I love Vixen, La Femme en Noir is quite possibly my favourite thing I have ever done. I partnered with a long-time friend of mine, Lynh Haaga, who is a seasoned designer and is extremely talented. She is so hard working and a pure joy to have as a partner. La Femme en Noir is like my other half; it is the duality of my interests - a physical representation of a gothic romance to me. Filled with laces, velvets, and faux leather (I sort of have a thing for leather) it embodies gothic glamour to me. I also get to play around with eras I never could before like, 1930s and 1970s, to create new looks that I haven’t done before. We even have recreated some of my most cherished vintage pieces for this line that are extremely rare.

We have a velvet skirt and bolero/cape with an embroidered gold lurex spider with rhinestone eyes that is based on one of my vintage pieces, and it is so amazing. We pull from a lot of darker elements, be it poetry, films, or animals (like an entire serpent line we have coming later this year) we have so many things up our sleeves.

Do you have a large authentic vintage collection?

Do you regularly incorporate authentic vintage into your personal style, or do you prefer to look to it to inspire your designs?

I had a HUGE vintage collection, however when I quit my last job it left me in a financial situation, so I sold a large portion of it. I sold to private collectors, dealers and even did Rose Bowl flea Market 2 months in a row. I kept several super rare special pieces, and I still collect a little here and there but mostly buy for actually wearing myself or just for inspiration. I like mixing modern, and all eras together to be honest - my new favourite is 80s. I don’t think that surprises anyone; I absolutely love futuristic 80s does 40s pieces. I have a few runway Thierry Mugler pieces that are absolutely my pride and joy; I put on one of his suits and I feel like WONDER WOMAN. I also collect anything with spiderwebs, and anything remotely spooky

looking. I love novelty prints, but I sold off most of mine, apart from a few crazy rare ones like a tarot card reading one I have. I get vintage pieces mostly to understand the structure and design of them, and how I could possibly incorporate the elements into modern design. These vintage designers were masters and their pieces were couture back then and couture now, so some things are impossible for me to do.

You are a designer, model, makeup artist, businesswoman, collaborator, campaigner and all-round boss lady - I feel exhausted just thinking how busy you must be! What keeps you motivated when things get crazy, and how do you like to relax and recharge?

I honestly look at someone like The Rock and I think, I GOT THIS. He literally does everything, while being kind, charming and amazing. I need him to do a TED talk, even just for myself. I don’t have kids for one, so that allows TONS more free time - I do have two fur babies but my lovely husband helps me take care of them. I never feel like I am doing enough, I am not painting enough, or sculpting, or writing or working. I think social media has a massive part in me feeling guilty about taking a night off or lying on the couch for the day. I have to take breaks because I have to remember I am one person doing 10 things, not 10 people doing one thing constantly. I just keep lighting the fire under my own ass every day. I take small breaks when I run myself like a machine, I try and take weekend getaways with my husband, or girl dates with friends to recharge and get that human connection I often miss out on when I am tied to my computer or art desk. I just try and keep telling myself I got to hustle hard so that I can reach a certain goal, and I am not going to stop until I do. As they say, I will sleep when I am dead.

What can we expect from the Vixen brand in the next 12-18 months - do you have any aspirations, goals or potential new collaborations you could tell us about?

I wish I could but sadly I have to keep everything we do under lock and key when it comes to designs and collaborations. My goals are to keep our momentum, while making people look and feel amazing in the things we create. I love seeing people happy, and if I make something that does that for them, then I feel like my life has a purpose.

The concept of sustainability is at the forefront of fashion right now – what are your thoughts on sustainable fashion? Do you think it’s realistic for a small fashion business to operate sustainably?

I think the core to this movement is to make clothing that will not fall apart. Fast fashion is not about quality, it is about a quick buck. We do our absolute best to make the highest quality items as we can that will withstand for the long run. I think the brands causing the most damage are much larger companies who are constantly turning out poor quality products. The amount of fashion waste created by this is awful, but there are also companies taking these items and shredding them and cutting them apart to make new items. We make as many textiles as we can locally in America and almost all of our fabrics are printed here.

The facilities we use to sew our goods are paid a living wage and our overseas facilities do the same. We hold everything in such high standards as we must be responsible. I think most indie brands actually operate like this, and work really hard to make really high-quality, well-made items.

Do you have any advice or tips for women wanting to start their own creative small business, but haven’t yet found the confidence to take the plunge?

Save all your pennies, because you won’t be able to pay yourself for a while, you may not be in the green for a year or two. If you have to have a full time or part time job to support your dream, DO IT! It will be worth it. Be prepared to work, a lot, and not have any days off. Life is about taking chances, so I feel like if you don’t try, not trying could haunt you for the rest of your life.

How can readers outside the US get their hands on Vixen by Micheline Pitt designs?

Well I have a few fabulous flagship shops like Deadly is the Female, Natasha Marie and Lana Rose who carry almost the entire line. We have a handful of other shops globally as well, like Top Vintage, and Rowena who also carry many of our classic pieces. We are always open to getting new accounts across the globe; we try and solely focus on having shops who have store fronts these days as we have so many strong amazing online shops like Unique Vintage, and of course our own site.

Follow your dreams, no matter the sacrifice, or hellfire because happiness could be waiting for you. ♦ @michelinepitt @vixen_by_micheline_pitt @la_femme_en_noir_ Main photo by: @susieq

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THEY’VE TAKEN HER FREEDOM THEY WON’T TAKE HER LOVE OF FASHION Elvira Slate

A 1940s detective for vintage lovers Read Jailbird Detective, Book One in this thrilling new crime series.

‘If like me you wanted Forties noir films to stop following the male gumshoe and follow the fascinating sassy dames and brassy broads then this book is for you.’ - KAY STONHAM, SCREENWRITER

WWW.SHEDUNNIT.COM @SHEDUNNITPRODUCTIONS

A WALK ALONG THE

promenade

CREATIVE DIRECTION & PHOTOGRAPHY | Jade Stavri-Ratcliffe CLOTHING | Scarlet Rage Vintage SHOES | Rocket Originals MODEL | Ria Carruthers

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VIVA STREET STYLE We were at Viva Las Vegas 2019 – the world's largest Rockabilly Weekender hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada! Between hopping from vintage car shows, jive classes, workshops and the like, we spotted some beautiful vintage fashion. Here are some of our favourites.

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1 . Marie Claire • @marieclairebozant

4 . Ella • @missvictoriaviolet

8 . Dafna • @dafna_barel

2. Angelique Noir • @theblackpinup

5 . Tasha • @bygumbygolly

9 . Stephanie • @ste_phanny

3. Left: Kitty • @frl_kitty

6. Erika • @texastimebomb

1 0. Luci • @luci_luxxe

Right: Andrea • @gildavonpalmer

7. Elizabeth Diaz • @original_raghead

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D RE S S E D T O

K I L L

by Jade Stavri-Ratcliffe

PHOTOGRAPHER | Spike Marble CLOTHING SUPPLIER | Scarlet Rage Vintage

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PHOTOGRAPHER | Mel Gabardo MAKEUP | Marie Devilreux CLOTHING SUPPLIER | Scarlet Rage Vintage LOCATION | The Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV, USA

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arie Devilreux represents the epitome of classic vintage beauty, meets horror movie starlet, meets fetish illustration. Her unique style, dazzling costumes, vintage pieces, her own handmade latex couture outfits and amazing performances leave her audience aroused and spellbound wherever she goes.

Brazilian born and raised, with Greek and Italian heritage, Marie moved to London 7 years ago to pursue a Master’s degree in costume design, to try to grow her career as a model and burlesque artist, and also make her name through her creations.

She now has her own brand, takes commissions for outfits and costumes from other performers and has created a vintage-inspired hat and headdress collection - all in rubber - in collaboration with the legendary Torture Garden Latex (yes – the one from the famous fetish party!). She has also graced numerous magazines in the last few years (from vintage lifestyle to horror, fetish and burlesque) and has travelled the world performing her burlesque numbers. Her most well-known shows are ‘Release the Bats’, which she bathes in blood in her bespoke glass coffin, and ‘Titty Twister’, in which she twirls fire tassels!

Marie’s interest in vintage clothing and the lifestyle came from the time she would spend with her Greek grandparents who were both clothing makers - they actually used to make her clothes and costumes. Her grandpa was a brilliant tailor and her

grandma a designer and seamstress, who used to say she made clothes for royalty in the 40s and 50s.

Marie’s grandmother used to make her own clothing, and Marie got her inspiration for dressing up and building up her own style and wardrobe from her old photos. Unfortunately, little was left from her beloved Nana’s stunning wardrobe after the war, her immigration to Brazil and her mom playing dress up with those precious pieces.

She does own a beautiful early 1950s black wool swing skirt, that her grandmother made and wore for some cute pinup photos - “which used to be too tight on my waist when I was about 6 years old! That’s how small my grandma’s waist was from waist training!”

Another passion she inherited from her grandmother was Golden Hollywood Era movies/ artists, and Elvis. Her Greek grandpa was in the army and was very religious - he made her become interested in uniforms and religious paintings. From her Italian Grandpa, she discovered her love for ‘old music’ and artists like Frank Sinatra. But the main influence on Marie’s hunger for an artistic life was, and still is, with no doubt her Brazilian grandma. “She used to support me and my creativity to the fullest! From drawing, to sewing and finally ‘performing’ little shows I would come up with on her kitchen table when I was about 5 years old!"

Devilreux collects mostly vintage showgirl costumes/ pieces and 1920s to late 50s clothing and accessories, but has a very soft spot for beaded 40s dresses and millinery.

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How long ago did you start performing?

That’s a very complicated question, as I have always ‘performed’ since a very young age. I have taken numerous dance classes, including ballet and tap dance.

If you mean burlesque and similar, I ‘unofficially’ started in my late teens back home, but only got ‘serious’ about it 5 years ago. I have done it as a fulltime job for the last 2!

Could you tell us a little bit about your brand, Marie Devilreux?

I have made my own outfits since the age of around 15, and always dreamed of having my own brand. After receiving my BA in Fashion and having countless issues trying to work for people/ brands I decided it was time to be my own boss.

I started the ‘Marie Devilreux brand’ around 2015, and decided to focus my brand on rubber headwear, especially after my collaboration with Torture Garden Latex in 2016, but I occasionally also take clothing commissions for non-rubbery outfits and accessories.

I design and make most of the rubber clothing I wear, as well as my burlesque costumes and props.

How long did it take for you learn to become a milliner?

There’s no such course in Brazil, so I used to just try and make hats and headdresses myself, in the way I thought it would work.

When I came to the UK I took classes at the London College of Fashion; it was the first proper ‘professional’ learning experience I had - after that it was just a matter of trials and experimenting.

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What has been your favourite latex couture piece you’ve made and why?

This is a difficult one! But I absolutely love the vintage-inspired Spiderweb capsule collection I have been developing for the last 2 years, and I guess it’s gonna be going for a while. As well as my John Willie Bondage Doll dress with an attached corset and bullet bra.

I also love the huge headdresses I have made and my vintage-inspired hats. I guess they have a special place in my heart because they are so unique and I feel I could never again create things as incredible as those!

If you could perform anywhere in the world and for whom where and who would it be?

I have no idea to be honest. I would love to have a nice glamorous residency somewhere at some point, or start my own night/ revue. I would also love to perform at the Ace Theatre in LA or in Tokyo. Another cool opportunity would be maybe being a guest performer at one of Dita’s tours…

What advice would you give anyone wanting to start an independent business?

Never give up. And value yourself a lot! ♦

You can find out more about Marie, her performances and her brand at: @dressedtokillyou @mariedevilreuxofficial Marie Devilreux Boutique

PHOTOGRAPHER | Mel Gabardo MAKEUP | Marie Devilreux CLOTHING SUPPLIER | Scarlet Rage Vintage LOCATION | The Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV, USA 27

Image: Metropolis

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Christine Cochrum christine@thevintagewoman.co.uk

Marlene Dietrich Her style was impeccable, perfectly crafted to represent both her industry (the Hollywood studio system) and her identity, making her a timeless icon who’s influence still resonates today. If a woman wears a tuxedo, Marlene did it first. If a woman wear a top-hat, Marlene did it first. If anyone gazes into the sky, over lit by a street lamp while smoking a cigarette... She is the ultimate in terms of the Golden age of Hollywood.

Model, Arran @arranshurvinton

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Style & Art director | lori-jade photographer & editor | Victoria chetley Hair & make up | Natasha, pretty me vintage Studio | sunset studios, Peckham CLOTHING SUPPLIED BY Scarlet rage vintage Greyhound vintage Amy’s vintage 31

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KATHERINE HEPBURN Trousers, pants or slacks, as my Nanna called them, were Hepburn’s favoured choice. I just love the way she achieved that effortlessly stylish look, androgyny at its best. I’ll always reach for the slacks above a dress any day of the week.

Model, Amy @amysvintage

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Personal tragedy can build one’s strength of character on a whole other level – which I think played a huge part in her sheer grit, determination, and strength both on and off screen.

She once said, “I didn’t know until recently that women were the lower sex.”

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Josephine baker Not only was Josephine baker the epitome of glamour in the jazz age, she was an incredible example of strength and living your truth - an allround wonderful roll model for women everywhere and especially for black girls to know they too can have a voice; be beautiful and powerful too.

Model, ZOE @thevintagegiraffe

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Elsa Schiaparelli Schiaparelli is an underrated feminist icon in that her clothes are joyous and beautiful, but are not even remotely for the male gaze, and weren’t designed to have women fade “tastefully” into the background. Even though she didn’t fit the conventional beauty ideals of her era, she used her creativity and wit to set her own impeccably glamours standards and proved you don’t have to look like a supermodel or a pin-up girl to be style queen.

Model, Sophia @SLINK_WRAY

Vintage Style in Leadership Roles: What Does It Say About Us?

by Jessica Parker

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n October of last year, I got a promotion at work. It meant a bit more money, sure, but mostly it meant a lot more responsibility and influence over the brand. A new team had come in and I would be joining them - a team of women who were smart, savvy and stylish. Women who managed to wear modern clothes in ways that felt timeless and completely chic. I, on the other hand, had worn almost exclusively vintage clothing from the 1940s-early 60s as a core part of my identity and hadn’t really considered the possibility that there was any other way to dress until now. Was my clothing inappropriate? Too costumey? Too formal? I felt my foundation weaken.

And yet, this foundation I’d crafted was almost a decade deep. The confidence I had felt when I wore vintage spoke of self-assurance and depth, of talent and of knowledge. I felt like an art exhibit, a historian, a teacher and a storyteller. This confidence derived from the voice I could give to the people who designed, made and sold these clothes. It came from being able to bring them back to life and tell their stories with enthusiasm. I decided to reach out to dozens of women in leadership roles around the world to get their takes on how and why they wear vintage to work, and many of them echoed this

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sentiment; “I’m keeping history alive, yet making it my own. Taking something from the past and bringing it into the future. Each piece is a treasure that tells a bit of my story, as well as someone else’s”, one woman said, when asked what it felt like to wear vintage in 2019. I feel this deeply.

But it’s not just the history that made wearing vintage in the workplace so appealing to me in the first place. Many women I heard from said that wearing vintage to work helps them to feel more confident, creative and commanding in their positions of leadership. “I think part of [the] reason people respect my opinion is because I put effort into my appearance and make creative and tasteful fashion choices”, said Lauren Isaacson @curio_research.

“Most people at work wear jeans and pullovers...

My style makes me stand out without ostracising me from the collective group I have to work with”.

This balance between an emphasis on creative individual style and standing out too much is a common theme throughout the history of women in the workplace. In 1997, researchers Patricia A. Kimle and Mary Lynn Damhorst studied how professional women dress for work and found that they could be placed on three continuums:

Conservatism/Fashion, Masculinity/Femininity, and Conformity/Creativity. In order to project the ‘Ideal Business Image for Women’, one needs to strike a balance between these dichotomies. Being too fashion-forward could mean you spend too much time focused on your appearance at the expense of your job, or constantly changing with trends could mean you lack your own point of view or you risk quickly becoming passé. Dress too feminine and you risk playing into traditional stereotypes about femininity, demonstrating weakness and a lack of authority. They believed that in order to achieve success in business, women must find their personal balance in their workplace between these extremes to avoid losing credibility (Figure 1). “A woman has a lot more barriers to breech. And fashion and beauty is one of them, because of our culture”, said one of their study participants. “You can’t look too sexy, but you’ve got to look good. You’ve got to attract just enough attention so that they know you’re there”.

in their careers when they're likely to be considered or a leadership role - just 4 years, from age 38-41-compared to a 17-year window for men. “The casual thing is not a leaderly thing for women”, she says. “In a world where there are few women leaders, you need to signal your gravitas and potential with a somewhat more elegant look, and being aggressively casual doesn't do it - it is not read as power”.

It might be tempting to dismiss this study as irrelevant 22 years later because so much has changed- as late as the mid-1990s, pants on women were still very much taboo, and today that seems unthinkable. Especially in the last decade, dress codes for many industries have relaxed, particularly in tech or creative fields and in urban or more progressive areas. But often the introduction of ‘casual’ into everyday work wear creates more confusion, particularly for women who are in or are seeking leadership roles. “It’s easy to look too young, and not ready for a big opportunity, or that you don’t have enough runway left”, says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, economist and author of Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success. According to Hewlett, women have a much shorter window

I agree with the sentiment behind this, but is it absolutely necessary to exude power in order to be a leader? In some industries, it might be.

But I would argue that it’s more important to convey individuality, authenticity, confidence and creativity. The research supports this idea. Kimle & Danhorst found that “creativity, expressed through and emerging from the aesthetic nature of dress, was very important to these women… [they] felt that creativity in dress was a positive indication of creative abilities and personality in general”. I heard this repeated many times in my survey, even among women who did not hold a position in a creative industry (though it was certainly more pronounced in those who do). One woman who works in government felt that her creative wardrobe 37

choices “are an external manifestation of our [team’s] alternative approach”. In other words, their fashion choices demonstrate an ability to solve problems in innovative ways. Another woman in the health insurance industry, where “creative clothing choices aren't expected or encouraged”, still felt empowered to make them because of the creative culture of her city at large.

Women in tech, academia and entertainment all cited the positive perception of their wardrobe as it related to their creative abilities. “I feel people see strength, boldness, integrity and creativity”, says Deanna. “It’s also a wonderful way for me to get my creative juices flowing every morning!

I feel stronger and more confident in something that looks as dynamic as I feel”. Some viewed their sartorial choices as a way to positively influence others. “Our workplace can be very casual, but I think others see the pride and creativity I put into my outfits, and it inspires others to embrace their own unique style”, said @vintage.ladybird.

Thus, dressing to emphasise one’s individuality is as old as clothing itself. Claire McCardell wrote in her 1956 book What Shall I Wear? aimed at women who were likely not climbing any career ladders, “Fashion does not demand a submissive spirit - in fact it asks for a certain independence… it [makes] you aware of certain obligations. Conforming is not one of them. The more of yourself in your clothes, the better. Your imagination, your thought, your time, your energy”. The relatively new part is how to emphasise one’s individuality, personal style, creativity and authority at work, particularly in leadership roles, when we have fewer rules and more choices than ever. I believe choosing vintage allows us to accomplish all of this and exist outside of trends. “How do you as a professional woman dress for business and, at the same time, not feel as though you’re living in 1955?” asked Paula Wagner, in an interview with Cathy Horyn for Vogue in 1993. At that time, she had just launched a production company with former CAA client Tom Cruise after working as one of the top talent agents in Hollywood for 15 years. Horyn noted, “Wagner’s solution is to mix current pieces - from Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, and Calvin Klein -with vintage suits from the forties”. (It’s gratifying to know that the style solution we arrived at organically was endorsed 25 years ago by a well-respected woman who worked her way to the top of her profession.)

On the continuums above, wearing vintage is a way 38

to be creatively fashion-forward while simultaneously being conservative. Generally, the women I spoke with described their typical workplace attire as either tailored 40s or 50s suits, ‘librarian chic’ with a nod to the 30s/70s or 50s/60s, or 50s casual, meaning skirts and blouses with smart accessories. The styles described were largely conservative in the sense that, by virtue of the styles popular in the middle of the last century, these clothes covered more skin and were more structured than some of the tent-like or clingy garments made from cheap fabrics in sub-ethical situations produced by fast fashion today. But they are not conforming. “I think dressing in those amazing 50s suits makes people take me seriously and gives me an individual identity, so I've maintained the same dress code. People remember me as a result”, wrote one woman I heard from. “As I've taken on a leadership position, people realise I have depth and I am highly competent and that my dress style is part of my personality”. As with all dress, it’s a way to communicate something about who you are without words: “I learned to cultivate a specific look to create an impression of who I am as soon as I walk into a room”, says Lauren. And @vintage.ladybird says, “I feel I am always presenting my authentic self. Strong, clever and classic”.

"Wearing vintage in a way that's not costume or obvious is a fun challenge" That's not to say that there are no potential pitfalls when wearing vintage as a boss, or in a professional environment in general. One of the things I struggled with when I was promoted is suddenly feeling like my clothing was a costume, serving to invalidate or obfuscate my expertise. A few of the women I spoke with brought up similar concerns, trying to articulate some boundary between vintage as style and vintage as costume. “Wearing vintage in a way that’s not costume or obvious is a fun challenge”, said Rose Jackson. “I could wear a petticoat and full skirt to the office if I wanted, but I feel it would be a distraction”. “I do sometimes wonder in times of leadership transitions, whether new leaders will be able to look at the work I do or if my clothing will be distracting”, says @carihomemakersews. “One thing I've been very conscious of as I've taken on responsibilities, is to be careful not to wear things that might be

construed as overly costumey on days that I have to have serious performance conversations with staff. If there's even a chance they might feel like my clothing doesn't reflect the seriousness of a situation, especially if it's a conversation about letting someone go, then I'd rather not insist on wearing that outfit that day, in deference to their feelings, real or imagined”. One respondent called it ‘stealth vintage’ when describing how she styles herself in timeless looks. Basically, if it feels like it represents you as an individual and how you intend to conduct yourself at work, it’s probably the right thing to wear.

So what does the future have in store for us vintage boss ladies? Though I’ve lately been incorporating more modern clothing into my wardrobe, a few things have become apparent. First, what has not changed, is my commitment - and a commitment by a number of the women in my survey - to avoiding fast fashion and shopping responsibly. A significant reason a lot of us went vintage in the first place is because so much of clothing produced today is made unethically and unsustainably.

“In this fast fashion hyper trend-driven world, wearing vintage feels like giving the middle finger to corporate consumerist culture”, said Rose. Similarly, Bri acknowledged, “I'm starting to allow my interest in modern fashion to come through more in my style again. I'd like to start incorporating some modern, ethical/ well-made pieces into my wardrobe, and continuing to sew my own garments. Sustainability is a huge reason I buy vintage and that won't change”. Now, we have more options than ever to be able to mix modern and vintage without compromising our values.

While we’re on the subject of values, it should also be addressed that I think one reason I started to feel uncomfortable wearing vintage in 2019 was the possible confusion between vintage clothing and vintage values. Most of us have seen some great hashtags and protest signs (#styleasresistance, Vintage Style Not Vintage Values, etc.) but for the uninitiated the immediate impression can be one of perceived nostalgia for a time before civil rights.

No one in my survey brought up this possibility specifically. Instead, as @vintage.ladybird says, “I choose to resemble the 1940s professional woman because of everything I think she represents: poise, determination, curiosity and resilience.

Ultimately, I hope our actions and attitudes carry more weight than our bullet bras and girdles.

All this brings me to my main takeaway from these conversations: even though I’ve aged and put on weight since I started wearing vintage daily, even though my job and my coworkers have changed, I still feel most confident taking the extra time to cultivate a vintage style. I love all the modern and custom pieces I’ve been lucky enough to acquire recently, but now I feel a renewed sense of purpose to weave modern and vintage together in a way that speaks to who I am and what I’m capable of accomplishing. It’s okay if I throw my hair in a bun one day and set it the next. It’s okay if I take the time for myself to care for my appearance in a way that doesn’t necessarily feel effortless or easy, because - not in spite of the fact that - being a leader can be stressful. It can feel, at times, that all that effort is wasted when your nights are late and your mornings are early. “I learned, however, that committing to taking the extra moments in the morning for my appearance meant the woman who stepped out of my front door would be the woman whom I admired. Each pin-curl, pencil skirt and t-strap shoe gives me the wings to conquer my day. On the days my world feels as though it is coming apart at the seams, I can look myself in the eye, throw on a red lip, and remind myself that today I showed up for me”, says @vintage. ladybird. “Above all else, I encourage everyone to find that unique style that sets your heart ablaze with confidence and authenticity and use that light to be the boss of your own life, everyday." ♦ 39

@workthatskirt

@zarifi_em

@zarifi_art

ma

@ehowardillustration

EMILY HOWARD & EMMA ZARIFI You can't take yourself too seriously.

by Ria Carruthers

E

mma Zarifi and Emily Howard are a creative, independent thinking and damn stylish couple, hailing from the North-East but now based in London.

I was in no doubt that they would be perfect for the first issue of The Vintage Woman, and they kindly invited me to their cosy London home for a chinwag…

Emily - you have very well defined ‘boss’ vintage look. Tell us about your style evolution - have you always dressed in vintage, and how did you arrive at the 1930s, Marlene Dietrichinspired look we see today?

When I was growing up we didn’t have a lot of money, so I was always used to second-hand clothes. When I was about 15, I really liked the punk look - I had bright red hair shaved at the sides and big boots. When I was in college, I wore big fur coats all the time. When I moved to London, I used to wear a lot of 60s with a beehive. My taste seems to be getting earlier and earlier - now I prefer 30s and 40s. I might end up in Victorian at this rate, haha! I love the 30s sleeves, the big shoulders, the silhouette.

I lost quite a bit of weight, and it suits the shape I am now. I’ve gone through lot of styles, but the common thing throughout it all is

that I’m always drawn to looks that are ‘theatrical’. I particularly love men’s tailoring in women’s wear - it’s so stylish and subversive. I get obsessed with the whole look - it needs all the elements to be right. Having said that, I don’t take my style too seriously!

Emma - what I have seen of your style is quite eclectic, a lot of 40s and 70s, but many creative looks too, perhaps inspired by your art?

Would you agree with that?

Yeah, I like to wear a lot of bright colour. I do think it’s reflective of the brooches I make, which are always very colourful and ‘in your face’. I like trousers a lot and I like to emphasise my shoulders - I try to look intimidating, scary even, haha! I quite like 60s and 70s, especially 70s printed blouses, and 40s jackets. My style is very dependent on my mood - I’m more laid back than Emily with my style! I don’t really see myself as a ‘serious’ vintage girl - I wear quirky, fun accessories with most of my outfits, and of course my own handmade brooches. I’m more obsessive about collecting unusual little objects for our flat, lamps and ornaments for example. I also have a passion for vintage furniture, but our flat is too small to fit it all! And I’m also obsessed with handbags…

Emily, how do you find working in a vintage store [in Hunky Dory on Brick Lane]? Is it difficult to resist buying all the stock?

Ian and Ian have run the shop for 30 years, and they’re really sweet - so I do get some good deals, you know! I do have a one in, one out policy with vintage; it can be hard though and doesn’t always go to plan. Everything at Hunky Dory is hand curated, we try and buy as early in era as possible until about the 70s. It’s 50/50 men’s and women’s wear, and it’s all about the design. We get a lot of Italian deadstock, French 40s and 50s jackets, and the stock is generally European rather than American. We’re on Brick Lane, and we try and keep things affordable. It’s great working there because we have people come in that I’d never have the opportunity to talk to usually, such as Kat from EastEnders, and a Japanese girl who told me that, apparently, I am famous in Japan!

You both have some rare and beautiful vintage pieces – I’m jealous! Could you describe some of your favourite vintage pieces?

Emily – I have an amazing 1930s leather trench that I found in Glencheck Vintage in Berlin. It was one of those that I didn’t want to try on because it was quite an investment, but of course I did, and I

knew I had to have it! I also have an incredible 1940s CC41 full tweed riding suit with serious shoulders – I’m not sure where I’ll wear it, but it is amazing!

“I think the way you dress reflects how you are responding to the world at the time.”

Emma – I have a 1940s pyjama two-piece that I only wear on special occasions – it's cream, with a brown stripe running through it. It was really cheap actually, because there was a big stain across it, but Emily managed to get it out. I’m really after another 40s pantsuit - I have an image in my mind of what it looks like, but I haven’t found it yet!!

The theme of this issue – is ‘like a boss’. Are there any particular ‘boss’ women who have inspired you?

Emily – I have a lot of a loud, domineering women in my family - but my nanna is the matriarch. And unlike a lot of my family, she’s quiet – but she doesn’t take any crap. She’s always worked hard, and she went to college at the age of 60. She has a zest for life, which is really important, and she loves

learning new things. That’s really inspiring. Style wise, definitely Marlene Dietrich – I just love her.

When I first saw her when I was about 16, she had a tuxedo on and was kissing a woman.

I just thought ‘she’s amazing’ - I didn’t know if I wanted to be her, or be the woman she was kissing! For me, she just had this magic ‘air’ about her, not masculine or feminine, but all things at the same time – an ‘other’. She was charming, charismatic, smart, crisp, and in her personal life she was a really strong woman.

Emma - I’d say just a lot of my friends in real life, who have come from nothing and are doing so well for themselves, standing for what they believe in – it’s so inspiring. Although Emily has been the biggest inspiration in my life!

Emily - I think women being nice to each other and supporting one another is one of the most ‘boss’ things we can do. When women call themselves ‘feminists’ but then bitch about other women or cut them down if they find them intimidating or competition – I hate that, it happens a lot.

You are both artists – Emma, a jewellery maker, and Emily, an illustrator. Where do both find the inspiration for your art?

Emma – I just love making things…I never really knew what I wanted to do, but since I’ve been making the brooches, I think I’d like to make wooden toys or puppets for a living. What I'm inspired by changes a lot, so I don’t know what will

up in Barcelona. I wouldn’t say they are ‘pretty’ – they are much more theatrical and characterful. I started to make them because I wanted to wear brooches but didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and I wanted something…well….not ugly, but not soft or pretty - it’s not me. They’re mostly faces, or occasionally eyes or other objects like swords. I always wear a brooch, and it really finishes off an outfit.

Emily – I’m an illustrator, and a lot of my work is influenced by the German artists Otto Dix and George Groz - I’m really interested in how things are organised in space, and the perspective.

I’ve done a lot of posters for events. I like to create scenes, and then fill those scenes with characters often people I’ve met. My illustrations are quite decadent, exaggerated and grotesque, and like Emma, I like things to look quite characterful - ugly but still glamorous.

I think that might be influenced by being from up North – there are a lot of characters up there.

They’re all very glamorous, but also quite grotesque.

Have your experiences with growing up and coming out as lesbian influenced your style choices?

Emma - When I was younger I wore a lot of dresses and heels, and then when I came out I tried to fit in more with ‘being gay’, by wearing jeans and a t-shirt, shaving my head and having piercings. I started getting into vintage because it fits better, and because I was becoming more mature and it’s a bit smarter.

And it helps with Emily working at Hunky Dory and getting discounts! In London, you meet a lot of different interesting people and I’m inspired by many of them. I think it’s quite important to change your style often.

come next. I think my brooches are often inspired by things I find – for example, a puppet I picked

42

Emily – I think the way you dress reflects how you are responding to the world at the time. When I came out at the age of 14, I did try and look a bit more like people on the scene to find my way, but then I realised it wasn’t me.

Emma, with being part Iranian, how has your cultural background influenced your outlook and style, if at all?

Emily - I think some can also take themselves very seriously, I mean, we’re all just wearing old clothes!

Iranian music, especially in the 70s, was so great.

I love Googoosh – who was an Iranian pop artist in the 1970s. She was definitely a boss lady, being a pop singer at a time when it wasn’t acceptable for women.

I’m also influenced by the classic Iranian makeup of the 60s and 70s - the sharp eyebrows and dark eyes. The old classic Iranian women were very beautiful.

Then there’s the culture and how people come together they’re quite positive people generally. Also, the food is amazing.

I’m definitely not so keen on the men! It has been really nice to meet some Iranian gay women in London – I hadn’t really ever met any before.

Emma – Yes, you do have to be able to laugh at yourself!

I think I’d be right in saying you two have quite an attachment to Berlin – what is it about the city that draws you in so much?

Emma – Everyone leaves you alone, ha! No, there’s so many great art galleries and museums there. And it’s very gay friendly.

Emily - my favourite period of time is Berlin in the 1920s and 30s - the Weimar period, which was characterised by art, culture, and decadence. That’s the most interesting period in history for me. I sort of had it in my head that I would to go to Berlin and it would be like that… haha, I of course knew it wouldn’t be. But it does have a real energy, a buzz - everything’s a bit underground and stuff. There is the Kinomuseum, which has a lot of Marlene Dietrich’s clothes and the banknotes from Metropolis, and a lot of the experimental film memorabilia.

Emily - A couple of years back we organised a Pre-revolution Persian night called Azizam (a term of endearment in Farsi) that ended with Emma draped in the Iranian flag cradling her wig that had just flew off into a candle. It was great.

Do you think the vintage community does enough to support the LGBTQI+ community?

Emily - I wouldn’t say we are part of the vintage community, but we’ve had some not so great experiences at vintage events, being made to feel quite uncomfortable at times. Some members of the vintage community can have traditional values, which is fine, but let’s leave the misogyny and homophobia to one side! Sometimes it feels like we’re from another world to them. I actually put on my own events in London – these combine the queer community and the vintage scene.

If you can’t find something for you, put it on yourself!

Emma – I think it’s more a people problem in general rather than a problem with the vintage scene, but I find that some vintage women can tend to be a bit unwelcoming.

The architecture in Berlin is great – the buildings are big and brutal - horrible looking, but brilliant.

Glencheck Berlin is an incredible vintage shop - Constance and Harald have been running it for about 30 years, and it’s mostly 30s, 40s and 50s. It’s immaculate, and the hats are insane.

Constance is great because if something doesn’t suit you - she’ll swipe it away, and she’ll ‘get’ your style quite quickly, I’ve noticed.

We’ll be going back to Berlin (again!) soon, I’m sure! ♦

43

1946 ...between War & Dior

by Jessica Parker

W

y favourite year for fashion has long been 1946, since as soon as I knew enough about fashion to have such a preference.

At that time, American sportswear had been on the upswing for several years, aided primarily by Lord & Taylor’s Dorothy Shaver and her colleagues in the press like publicist Eleanor Lambert and fashion editors Virginia Pope of the New York Times, Lois Long of the New Yorker and Sally Kirkland of Life. These women could see in American designers like Clare Potter, Claire McCardell and Tom Brigance a special knack for designing what American women wanted, even if they couldn’t specifically foresee the eventual occupation of Paris and the very real need for American designers to take their place on the world stage.

These influential women and their designers knew the needs of American women: that form, fit, function and practicality were interwoven in our very culture.

They helped make acceptable, even fashionable, the concept of women wearing slacks, of putting things in pockets, of wearing flat shoes, of wearing clothes for mobility. Clare Potter and Claire McCardell had in common a “tomboyish” childhood, one in which they were more likely to wear short pants than frilly dresses; a childhood that prepared them for designing clothing with a certain amount of practicality in mind. Potter, when interviewed by Beryl Williams for her book Fashion is Our Business in 1945, said that she “designs on the principle that American women are active and busy and want day-time clothes that will stand up under any conditions; and that when they have time to relax, they want to be gay and pretty as well as comfortable”. And McCardell, in the same book - “I’d always wondered why women’s clothes had to be so delicate - why they couldn’t be practical and sturdy as well as feminine”.

During the war, American designers responded to rationing and restrictions with ease bordering on enthusiasm. “Claire McCardell fastened clothing with brass tabs and hooks instead of buttons or zippers, made dresses out of surplus cotton balloon cloth, and designed evening clothes with matching aprons for hostesses who did their own cooking. The wholesale designer Joset Walker specialized in drawstring-waist dresses, which were easier than tailored ones for women to launder and iron. Vera Maxwell, known for her expertise with tweeds, designed a coat using only two and one-quarter yards of fabric, with no collar or revers, no overlap at the front, and absolutely straight lines”, wrote fashion historian Caroline Millbank Reynolds in her definitive treatise New York Fashion in 1989.

The list goes on ad infinitum, and not just in New York.

California was becoming a major fashion hub during World War II, on both ends of the fashion spectrum - on one hand, Adrian, Irene and Howard Greer cultivated couture and high-end ready-to-wear businesses after (or concurrent with) movie careers, but on the other were myriad sportswear businesses like Loomtogs,

Graff, Tabak, and Koret that were selling their own brand of California casual. Many of these businesses were run at least in part by women like Stephanie Koret or Lee Graff or designed by women like Irene Saltern or Clara Fentress. But whether in California or New York, women’s fashion in the 1940s was about pushing boundaries, contorting gender norms, meeting the realities of wartime restrictions and women in the workplace and, it seemed for a time, preparing women for a broader and more prominent place in the world.

And here we start to get at the heart of why 1946 is my favourite year for fashion: it seems to be the last time until the late 1960s that women would take themselves - and each other - seriously, and expect men to do the same. After all, Dior would in 1947 proclaim women ‘flowers’, and everyone knows that flowers can’t run businesses or hold public office.

There was a slow build to 1946, one that started when the need for women to go to work during World War II became a reality. The War Advertising Council worked closely with the Office of War Information in America to get women to work in all kinds of ways, from sympathetic advertisements for consumer goods like vacuum cleaners and Maxwell House coffee to editorials written

by J. Edgar Hoover. Publications (and their advertisers) like Ladies’ Home Journal, Woman’s Home Companion and Good Housekeeping were aimed at older women, certainly wives and mothers, who might have found the prospect of women entering the workforce unsettling.

They proposed volunteer positions and light duty jobs instead. “You needn’t pilot an airplane, nurse in the army or go into a munitions factory to be of help”, wrote Dorothy Dunbar Bromley for Woman’s Home Companion in December 1941. “There are any number of important though less dramatic things to be done. Volunteer as an air raid warden, drive soldiers and their families to and from camps, entertain at the service clubs and at home… Study nutrition at a Red Cross class and keep your family well, or study canteen work for larger-scale feeding”. At the very least, she wrote, “One of the pleasantest was to be patriotic is to go in for active sports or at least take setting-up exercises”. (Another reason for American sportswear.)

But these advertisements and publications were quick to position war work as temporary, a necessary evil that would quickly place women back in the home as soon as their boys came home. So, when the campaign to recruit women into war work ended in the spring of 1944, the tone of editorials and advertising changed.

Depending on what magazine you read, you were either encouraged to prepare for a life back in the home, fulfilling your true destiny as wife and mother, or if you were young, to prepare for a job even after the war had ended. “There are plenty of jobs for the 1944 graduates, more jobs than girls”, asserted Mademoiselle, August 1944. Most of the jobs, they admitted, would no longer exist once the war was won and it assumed you would only be working until

“you have your little lambs to care for,” but they still listed over a dozen fields in which they anticipated women could find employment well after V-Day, including city planning, architectural engineering, advertising, television and real estate. In contrast, those publications aimed at older women who already had their little lambs made working outside the home suddenly seem neglectful at best and dangerous at worst. “There must be no absenteeism among mothers”, wrote FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover for Women’s Home Companion in January 1944, accompanied in the issue by this assertion

from women’s college president James Madison Wood: “This absentee-mother problem already has produced the most critical juvenile delinquency situation in our entire history. The situation becomes more acute everyday as more and more American mothers swap their aprons for overalls and trade their homes for auto-trailers”.

From the perspective of the men responsible for this propaganda, women had entered into the workforce either because they were lured by money or because they believed it the only way to display their patriotism and love for their country. These men, who had never been conscripted into household service based solely on their physical characteristics, couldn’t conceive of another reason women might want to work on machines. But Elizabeth Hawes, who worked on one of those machines after a successful career as a couture designer, put it this way to hat designer John of John-Frederics: “When you work that machine that makes the bit that turns the motor that raises the plane that’s going to soar in the clouds - or a piece of the Frigidaire, for that matter, that’s going to keep the food from rotting - when you do that, you feel creative”. I believe it was this glimpse at creativity that

primed many women for wanting more from their work.

It was possibly this glimpse at creativity, at usefulness, that fueled the narrative in the more liberal or West Coast publications or those that spoke to a younger or more progressive crowd. In the spring of 1944, Mademoiselle magazine hosted a summit for college women of relatively diverse backgrounds and ethnicities to speak with each other and hear from civic and cultural leaders in government and academia, as well as the magazine’s editorial staff. They called it ‘Mademoiselle’s College Forum’, and its stated goal was to discuss “important political and social problems of the present and postwar world”. The energy must have been inspiring and new, after growing up during the Great Depression and feeling limited by economics as well as gender. When Betsy Moriarty, a junior at Smith college, walked into the room, the feeling of discussing politics and important social issues must have felt weighty indeed.

“Here were gathered students from sixteen colleges, four professors, two repres enta t i v es of democratic organizations, a congressman, an ex-governor, members of the Mademoiselle staff and reporters… It was brought home to me, as never before, that if I wanted America to work as a democracy, I had to help it work. I realized that the price I had to pay for a free life of opportunity was the taking of this responsibility; learning about my country and its relations with other countries and, after acquiring this knowledge, acting upon it”, she wrote after attending the forum. Not only had they been invited into factories, but young women were invited into learning, thinking, discussing and acting in matters of social importance.

The tone of women’s magazines like Mademoiselle and to some extent Vogue during the war assumed that the reader was working, in some way, for the war effort, and that a central part of the belief in that effort was the future of democracy and equality of opportunity, and that women would play a critical role in its success. “We are a part of the maelstrom of American life”, wrote Japanese-American Hallie Kawahara in the August 1944 Mademoiselle issue as a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke. “We have a definite

stake in the cause for which the war is being fought.

The Nisei believe in the democratic philosophy which stresses the dignity and the worth of every individual, regardless of colour, religion or nationality. We believe that the democratic ideal, which recognizes all individuals for what they are, is the cause not only of the Nisei but of all right-thinking Americans”. In a piece for Vogue in February 1945, Air Marshal William A Bishop wrote about the impending peacetime age of aviation, a shrinking world and women’s place in it: “Aviation itself will offer women career outlets in the laboratory, the executive office, on the production line, and in the air hitherto non-existent. Our hope for tomorrow, then, rests intrinsically on the point of view of our approach to the Air Age. Approach it through the eyes of outworn nationalism; approach it through the eyes of bigoted racism and we shall soon find ourselves plunging headlong towards new and more terrifying world cataclysms.

Approach [it] through the eyes of world citizenship, realizing that our free access to the world air opens new panoramas of peace and understanding, and the way lies clear before us to the golden age of which women and men the world over have always dreamed”.

When the war was finally declared over in September of 1945, all kinds of things must have felt different, and people wanted them to feel different. One woman who remembered being in air raid shelters as a girl told me, “Those green wool Army blankets we had in there were so itchy and uncomfortable that all we wanted to wear after the war was silk”. So many things must have felt uncomfortable during the war that when it was finally over, the desire for luxury and excess was bound to manifest itself. Fabric rationing and L-85 restrictions became massive, voluminous skirts. A relative relaxing of gender norms became hyper-feminised silhouettes and expectations.

But these things took a bit of time, and for at least a year, America (if not the entire world represented by the Allied forces) seemed poised to move in a progressive direction capitalising on the optimism of the attitudes that had become necessary and status quo for the success of the war effort as outlined by Mr. Bishop above. “We have learned how to conquer more than

the disease of fascism in this war”, wrote Susan B. Anthony, 2nd grandniece of the suffragette and women’s rights pioneer. “We are learning to conquer that contagious, age-old disease of subordinating women to an inferior place in the world”. Women like her and Elizabeth Hawes felt that fighting Hitler’s ideology was as much about denouncing the Nazi idea of women’s domain as exclusively children-kitchen-church as it was about denouncing genocide. Anthony wrote that women of America had, through their actions during the war, “laid to rest Hitler’s big lie - that women’s place is only in the home… Women’s equal competence in paid jobs is recognized by all but the most reactionary elements. These are not just temporary, wartime changes. They are lasting and permanent”. She goes on to describe a prototype of what we today call intersectional feminism: “Our post-war woman of World War II … is much wiser than her mother or aunt of 26 years ago. She recognizes that true freedom of her sex is not connected with surface changes in a small class. She sees that it is a freedom inseparably connected with that of all mankind, regardless of race, colour or nationality… She understands that the vital conflict in our society is not between men and women. It is between reaction and progress. She sees that her own standard of living depends upon decent standards of living for everyone in America”.

In particular, this paragraph from The Californian, July 1946, sums up why 1946 is my favourite year for fashion: “Women have come a long way from the rococo courtesans and Victorian prudes of yesteryear.

They are a symbol of a new period in economic and political development. They have struggled, fought for, and held fast to a new and finer place in society.

Will they now regress instead of striding ahead, fall back to the days of whalebone armour, of the anemic and delicate look, which once passed for beauty?

No. The modern woman has her strongest ally in the modern man. Not for nothing has she learned to do calculus and build battleships… to make speeches on the floors of congress. It was a tough fight, but she won - and in her fashions she will show it!”

And then… Dior. To be fair, it wasn’t all Mr. Dior’s fault. Plenty of American designers, even career women like Anne Fogarty and Claire McCardell, were anticipating and responding to the new silhouette. By 1948 even Mademoiselle was running articles entitled “Elect a Skirt” where just a few years earlier they had been seriously discussing young women’s participation in the democratic process. By 1950, articles about buying your own home as a single woman or advice on career advancement had largely been replaced by articles about child development and silverware patterns.

It’s hard to blame Dior for this eventuality, but it’s also hard not to see some correlation. As fashion historian Annemarie Strassel put it, “The feminist potential of American style faced significant opposition after World War II with the rise of Dior’s hyperfeminine New Look, but for a brief moment in time, the lasting success of American style seemed inevitable”. And that brief moment in time is why 1946 is my favourite year for fashion. ♦

Full Bloom

Spring into summer with bold & bright rayons, flattering on vintage lovers of all shapes and sizes

Dress | Cheshire Vintage; Hat | Scarlet Rage Vintage; Handbag | Hope & Harlequin; Accessories | Stylist's Own; Shoes | Miss L Fire.

PHOTOGRAPHY | Yulia Oliver Taylor STYLIST & MODEL | Lori-Jade MODEL | Elora MODEL |Marie MODEL |Rachel

Dress | Kikobells; Hat | Bygones Vintage; Handbag | Stylist's Own; Shoes | Miss L Fire.

Dress | Simply Vintage Co.; Hair Flowers | Shazam Pinup Hair Flowers; Plastiflex | eBay; Shoes | Rocket Originals.

Dress, Hat | Black Sheep Antiques; Shoes | Rocket Originals; Handbag | Adeline's Attic Vintage.

Dress | Youthstep Vintage; Hat, Bag, Shoes | Stylist's Own.

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Dress, Shoes | Scarlet Rage Vintage; Handbag | eBay; Hat | Golyester; Bangles | Splendette.

Dress | Black Sheep Antiques; Shoes | Miss L Fire; Corsage | Shazam Pinup Hair Flowers; Handbag | Stylist's Own.

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Dress, Hat | Scarlet Rage Vintage; Bag | Amanda's Attic; Hair Flowers | Alternate Normality; Shoes | Johnson

www.vecona-vintage.com

kleidsam es & s ti lvo ll es

Foto: Frauke Bönsch • www.fash.de. Make-Up: Melli Horn • www.melli-horn.de, Haare: Theresia Pistel • www.the-mup.com

Upcoming Vintage Social Events

Roaring 20's Lawn Party

by Michelle Coursey

In Ipswich, Massachusetts, about an hour from Boston, the Crane Estate sits, with its epic rolling lawn and gorgeous mansion. One weekend a year, in August, they open their gates to the vintage-loving throngs, who descend with their picnic baskets and vintage fashion for one of the most delightful vintage-inspired weekends on the East Coast.

The days are full of dancing, picnicking, shopping, walking along the Grand Allée to see gorgeous views of the bay, and maybe taking a ride in a vintage car or a tour of the Great House. This is a very family friendly event, and you’ll see lots of families picnicking, and children dancing to the music on the dance floor.

The venue is truly the best part of this event. You cannot beat dancing in the shadows of the stately Great House or taking a walk along the lushly manicured lawn (the Grand Allée) to see the spectacular views of the bay. There is also a side garden just a short walk from the main lawn that is truly spectacular, especially at sunset. Even though this event has become more popular over the years, and a bit more crowded, you never feel as if your movement is constricted.

There are two dance floors, so if you love to dance you’re in luck! The main dance floor will feature some of the favorite musicians of lindy hoppers on the East Coast: Tamar Korn, Gordon Webster, and the Baby Soda Jazz Band, who are all known for their dance-friendly music. The second dance floor will feature three other bands: Cassidy & the Orleans Kids, White Heat Traditional Jazz Trio, and The Four String Serenaders. If you’re new to dancing and want to learn, there are swing dance and Charleston lessons as well.

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And what vintage event would be complete without some shopping? If shopping is one of your favorite past times you won’t be disappointed. I’ve managed to find something fabulous here every year! There are about fifteen vendors who sell true vintage and reproduction clothing, shoes, accessories and ephemera. The price range is quite broad, and, depending on the vendor, you could spend anywhere from $50-$250 on a dress, taking in to account era, condition, etc. As an added bonus, there is good antiquing around the Ipswich area if you have time during the weekend to do some extra shopping!

In the last few years they’ve opened up the Great House to guided tours, which is a fabulous way to see how the wealthy used to live and soak up a bit of history. If you’d like to take a guided tour, be sure to sign up early as the slots fill up quickly! The same goes for the vintage car rides in the front driveway - sign up early!

Be sure to pack your 20s outfit (not mandatory but highly encouraged!), a picnic (although there are a few food trucks if you’d rather travel light), your dancing shoes, and a fan and/ or parasol and sunscreen, as it does get quite hot in August!

AUGUST 3 & 4, 2019 IPSWICH, MA, USA TICKETS:

www.roaringtwentieslawnparty.org

PHOTOGRAPHER | Pix by Pete PHOTOGRAPHER | Mark Greenmantle

PHOTOGRAPHER | Pix by Pete

Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival

by Lucy Luxe

Greazefest serves up a spread of cool cars, awesome art, rockin’ bands and pinup fashions, equating to a whole weekend of Kustom Kulture fun. This year, Greazefest celebrates its 20th anniversary. It was actually the first rockabilly event I ever attended, so it holds a very special spot in my heart.

Located in Brisbane, Queensland, Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival is Australia’s all-killer, no-filler Kustom Kulture Weekend and is certainly one of the biggest of its kind here in the land down under.

I know I’m one of many who look forward to it each year, it’s a great opportunity to catch up with all those in the local rockabilly and pinup community as well as to make new friends with those who travel to be a part of the fun.

Should you wish to stay and play for the whole weekend there are many choices for accommodations near-by.

As well as being jam-packed with vintage hot rods and bikes, the great line-up of rockabilly bands hitting the stage will have your toes tapping. There’s an opportunity to hit the dance floor and show off your best moves well into the evening. Bands kick off on the Friday

AUGUST 2–4, 2019

CLEAVELAND, QUEENSLAND

TICKETS:

www.greazefest.com

I always have to try and restrain myself but love visiting all the lovely vendors I’ve met over the years. My favourite find, would have to be a pair of ravishing, red vintage gloves I scored from Christine at Remember When Vintage!

The Pinup Parades on both Saturday and Sunday are always a joy to watch or partake in. I just adore seeing all the ladies and their unique and individual take on the pinup style.

A top tip would be to pack your parasol, pinups! Held in August, the event is in the cooler Queensland month of spring, but it still has a tendency to heat up and there is little shade when you’re scoping out the stalls.

evening and fill the schedule until the end of the event on Sunday afternoon.

Though the event rocks on into night, it’s got a great family-friendly vibe with lots of families attending to soak up the sun and fun during the day. Greazefest never disappoints: For me, it’s an event I’ve made it my goal There’s a great mix of market stalls selling to never miss, since attending my both reproduction and true vintage first, and I think that speaks for itself! items to fuel your shopping addiction.

Twinwood Festival

by Miss Lillian Love

I’ve always enjoyed attending the Twinwood Festival and have been going since it was the Glen Miller Festival years ago! Glen Miller took his last flight out of the Twinwood airfield before he disappeared and there is a lovely little museum in the control tower if, like me, you’re a bit of a history geek.

The festival has evolved over the years from a purely ‘40s event to a multi-era vintage event with ‘50s and ‘60s music too. In doing so, it sadly lost a lot of the ‘40s folk, but it still has a lot to offer.

PHOTOGRAPHER | Biddy Stanford

There are a lot of smaller venues in addition to the main stage, and I tend to flit about until I find something I like.

During the day you’ll find me shopping the amazing array of stalls.

There’s a fun atmosphere and a lot of people make the effort to dress beautifully, so I enjoy being able to compliment other ladies on their style.

I love to dance, so during the evening you’ll either find me dancing lindy hop and balboa by the control tower, or jive

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in the ‘50s dance tent. There’s also plenty going on between the main stage, smaller venues, electro swing in the glade, and often a good old cockney sing along with Tom Carradine and Co. in the Nag’s Head (it gets busy so get in there early if you want a seat!).

Most people camp, but as I live nearby I have the luxury of going home to my own bed and having a decent shower in the morning!

If camping puts you off, there are some very reasonable hotels and B&Bs nearby and local taxis aren’t expensive.

You can take food and drink into the venue, but there is also a good choice of food stalls, so there are plenty of options. My friends and I love to do a Prosecco picnic for lunch though, and organise who will bring what in

in advance and if it looks like it’s going to be wet, pack your wellies and a mac. There are indoor venues dotted about to shelter from the rain, but a wet Twinwood Festival can still be fun if you have good company and dry feet!

PHOTOGRAPHER | Biddy Stanford

advance so between us we have a feast!

My contribution is usually homemade scones with jam and clotted cream.

My must-pack items are my picnic goodies, comfortable flat shoes for walking around (the ground is a bit rough in places) and my dancing shoes.

If you are only into one era or style of dance you might find yourself walking about a bit to find what you want to listen or dance to, but if, like me, you like a range of dances and musical styles, it can be a great place to go and explore.

AUGUST 23–26, 2019 BEDFORD, UK

TICKETS:

www.twinwoodevents.com

Also, check the weather forecast

DAPPER DAY®

by Christine Cochrum

PHOTOGRAPHER | Caroline Unnewehr

Growing up in Southern California, visiting Disneyland was a regular occurrence for me, and Disneyland is indeed my happy place. As a child, I would visit the park with my Mom and my Grandparents several times a year. My Grandfather always insisted that we “dress well” for our visits to Disneyland.

Being raised by my Mom, the idea

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of dressing well wasn’t out of the ordinary. My mom was always put together and looked polished at all times. She was one of the biggest inspirations for my love of vintage style and glamour.

So when I first heard about this event called "Dapper Day" at Disneyland, it felt so right and made sense to me to “celebrate the refined style from

PHOTOGRAPHER | Caroline Unnewehr

yesterday and today,” by dressing up for a magical day at the Disneyland park. While not exactly a vintage attire event, the idea behind Dapper Day is to “celebrate the tradition of stepping out in style.” It’s meant to showcase you at your best, and there is no aim to recreate a specific era. All sophisticated attire is encouraged from vintage-inspired classics to chic, contemporary looks.

I had already moved to the East Coast when Dapper Day began in 2011, and it took me a few years to attend an event.

While I was visiting my hometown of San Diego, we made our way up to Anaheim for the 2014 Fall Soiree. And it was magical! To walk around such a beautiful amusement park with so many people who have made a unique effort to dress well and look their best is a lovely feeling.

Disneyland in Anaheim, California you can find the Dapper Day Expo, a shopping experience like no other. Held in the Disneyland Hotel Exhibit Hall, there are numerous stalls selling clothing, accessories, beauty products, and so much more.

The next year I moved to Germany and quickly realized how close I was going to be to Disneyland Paris, and my heart leapt with joy. Paris is where my heart is so, to be able to regularly visit Disneyland IN Paris makes me a pretty happy gal.

I attended my first Dapper Day event at Disneyland Paris in the spring of 2016.

Admittedly the Paris event is much smaller in attendance than the California or Florida events. But they are making strides to build it up, and by the Dapper Day Spring Outing 2018, I had noticed a significant increase in the number of people attending.

They are also starting to add additional outings and social events around Paris that follow the same “stepping out in style” theme.

During Dapper Day, you are of course free to wander around the park yourself just looking fabulous, or if you are so inclined, there are a few scheduled “meet-ups” throughout the day so you can gather and meet other like-minded and sartorially savvy people. I was able to meet in person some amazing people that I’ve only “known” through social media and make new friends from across Europe and the UK. There are two events each year for all three parks - the Spring Outings and the Fall Soirées. At

having these events at the parks are they have lockers so you can store extra jackets, sweaters, and shoes if needed.

The last two times I attended the Disneyland Paris event I wore a hat, and that prevented me from being able to ride some of the rides. Since we are annual pass holders, it was ok for me as I knew we’d be coming back to the park in a few months anyway. So that is something to keep in mind for your visit. If you want to ride some of the bigger and faster rides, make sure your attire is appropriate for that.

I highly recommend joining the multi-lingual Dapper Day Europe Facebook group if you are planning to attend the Paris event. You can chat with people who are attending, find out where the scheduled meet-ups are, and get recommendations for your outfit or where to stay.

If you are reading this I know you are a fan of dressing well, so if you are also a fan of Disneyland, I encourage you to attend a Dapper Day Event, meet some new people, and have a beautiful day stepping out in style.

They offer style workshops, and you can dance to your heart's content to one of my favorite performers, Dandy Wellington. I genuinely hope that someday soon, Disneyland Paris will have its own Dapper Day Expo.

Some tips I have for attending Dapper Day. Plan Ahead! As they are all held at Disneyland Resorts, unless you live nearby, you’ll most likely be traveling and needing accommodations, so book your hotel as soon as possible.

If you are attending the event in Paris, the weather can be a bit unpredictable.

I’m a fan of layering, in the spring it can be quite chilly in the mornings and evenings. The great thing about

Upcoming Dapper Day Fall Outings: • Sat, Sept 28, 2019, DAPPER DAY Fall Outing, Disneyland Paris • Sun, Nov 3, 2019, DAPPER DAY Fall outing, Disneyland California • Sat & Sun, Nov 2-3, 2019 DAPPER DAY EXPO at The Disneyland Hotel •Sat & Sun, Nov 16-17, 2019, DAPPER DAY Fall Outing at Walt Disney World, Florida ♦

DAPPER DAY PARIS, CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA

INFORMATION:

www.dapperday.com 57

SEVERELY MAME & THE BEST FRIENDS CLUB

by Helen Norman

F

ROM HER raven-haired nights haunting the New York drag scene to packing up her broom and heading west to make a new life in Arizona, I’ve followed her (and her infinite costumes changes) vicariously on Instagram for years. So the pleasure really was all mine when The Vintage Woman Magazine asked me to interview the ultimate playghoul, Severely Mame...

So you went from “hex in the city” to a “desert rose”, what’s the story behind your big move from New York City to Arizona?

When the Best Friends Club first met, it was at Drag Con NYC, the four of us all fell in love that weekend and when the weekend ended 58

we couldn’t wait to see each other again!

Chianne, being the smart and organized one, she planned out a trip for Renee and I to come out for Lauren’s birthday as a surprise! I loved it, and visited two more times and by the third time I came to visit I was sold on living in Phoenix! I had been looking to get out of

New York City so everything kind of fell into place!

In the U.K. there’s a bit of backlash about the possibility of a U.K. Drag Race in the pipeline as fans consider U.K. drag to be very different. Does the drag scene in Arizona differ to New York City?

Both yes and no! The drag scenes in every city run the same way for the most part. In NYC it felt like the city was over saturated with drag queens, in my last couple years living in NYC I rarely performed! In Phoenix there is a lot of queer spaces and shows, like NYC, but here the scene is a little more intimate. I’ve been able to work more regularly and produce a show again!

You have such a unique, honed style.

Where do you take your inspiration?

Like so many other people, so many of my inspirations come from old movies!

Or vintage fashion magazines and pattern sleeves! I love sewing as many of my looks as I can! I love taking on tedious projects like beading and knitting projects! I’m currently working on reproducing a knit that Michael Banks wore in Mary Poppins Returns! I also take a lot of inspiration from Disney movies and Disneyland too! I was raised on the movies so they’re ingrained in me!

Tell us a little bit more about the “Best Friends Club” (BFC), and how that came about?

The Best Friends Club is just four gals who love being friends and wearing matching outfits!

We try and meet up as often as possible! The Best Friends Club name started when Renee took Lauren and Chianne’s phone numbers at Drag Con and saved them as ‘Lauren Best Friend’ and ‘Chianne Best Friend’ I followed suit and then the group chat started. The four of us named the group chat ‘Best Friends Club’ and we pretty much keep it up every day! We went through a really big period of audio texting each other 24/7. Other people in our lives fully hated us during this phase.

Can anyone join the Best Friends Club?

Or is it strictly the four horsewomen of the apocalypse?

The Best Friends Club is officially just the four of us, but we do have honorary best friends, like Meatball the Los Angeles based drag queen! When she dons her orange wigs she is considered one of us! She brought a wig to Disneyland in her backpack and was questioned by security why she had it! It was to take this photo!

How do you plan the BFC outfits? Do you take it in turns or does it just happen organically?

Chianne does the planning for our matchies almost exclusively! Sometimes I will help in the planning or production but it all started with these star and moon skirts and capes, and then hand sequined bows Chianne was making for all of us along with matching skirts and for Disney we did shirts! We have a lot of fun with it, but Chianne puts a lot of work into our handmade matchies! Overall everyone has a hand in it, sometimes bigger or smaller depending on the look, Lauren is in charge of our hair when we’re together, Renee works for Alexis Bittar and will pick out matchie jewelry for all of us!

A personal favourite of mine was the pastel nylon baby dolls you all wore at Disney. What’s been your favourite group ensemble?

For our first Disneyland trip together Chianne made us green plaid skirts and bows, that is a favorite tied with one of our Provencetown matchies. They were matching skirt/bows/ scarves out of the same print in different colors!

Apart from world domination, what’s next on the cards for the BFC?

I’m all for a stage show, or action figures! We just missed our local try-outs for Family Feud, which I think we would be very entertaining on!

I’m pinning all my hopes on a BFC lunchbox and matching thermos, is the Best Friends

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Club going to be doing any merch?

Maybe once the stage show happens, the merch will follow!

Does Chianne really make all those clothes for you all single-handed? Is there a secret sweatshop in her basement?

Chianne really does make all of them! Sometimes I help! But when we have a vacation all together, Chianne really has her work cut out for her!

When we’re together for days we usually all will look in our closets to figure out what things we already have and can start with! Like color matching or patterns!

You’re such a prolific creative yourself, how do you find the time to juggle it all and still manage to turn out so many bombshell banshee looks?

Well I am very lucky; Lauren and Chianne do so much to help me in person! Chianne always helps with outfits if I need something cut with her Cricut or help sewing something! Lauren takes care of my hair, which is pretty much a full time job! And though Renee isn’t in Phoenix, she keeps me in the finest jewels for all of my/our outfits!

HELLFIRE QUESTIONS QUICK HELlFIRE Vampira or Elvira?

Vampira

Open casket or closed?

Open, not to waste this beauty!

I'm curious where we are going to find a casket fit for four!

If you could go back in time to any place or period where/when would it be and why?

I’m good in the here and now. Being a trans person, I’m disgusted by having to watch the mistreatment of women, POC and the LGBTQIA community now. I don’t think I could stand to be in another time frame to see how bad it was back then! But if it was a quick stop in and back out, 60

I’d love to spend a night queer bar hopping in 30s Berlin, and then stop by some NYC department stores for a shopping day in the 1940s!

Top 3 favourite witches?

The Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Queen from Snow White Gillian Holryod from Bell, Book and Candle, though I would never choose a man over my magic!

Baby Jane or Blanche?

I think I’m a true 50/50 split of them both.

Who would play you and the rest of the Best Friends Club in the Severely Mame biopic?

I hope it would be animated and voiced by every famous living redhead. I’d like Geena Davis to voice me and Angela Lansbury to have some sort of cameo. ♦

@severelymame www.severelymame.com @bestfriendsclubofficial

LIKE A BOSS

by Brandi Pomfret

T

he term“like a boss” may have been coined by books, music and television, but it has been adopted by women worldwide - bypassing race, age, and socio-economic barriers. In fact, the comedian Tina Fey even titled her autobiography ‘bossypants’. It’s become a way to define oneself before others can, and a battle cry for those who refuse to live underneath a glass ceiling.

We may now live in a world where women CEOs and heads of state are more common, but women of the past fought for their place in the world, and their successes help define who we have become, and hope to be. Throughout the years cultural icons have formed - women who broke the mould and pushed boundaries and gave us something to aspire to. Sometimes a single person, while not necessarily living a perfect life, turns a spotlight on what we think we’re missing in ourselves or shows us what we can do.

The actress Katherine Hepburn fought back against those who would call her ‘box office poison’ by

breaking free of her studio contract, procuring the rights to the Philadelphia Story and demanding she be the star (to this day, it’s still one of her most well-known roles). She also famously shunned the glamour expected of a star of the period by consistently wearing what she considered casual clothes – mainly blouses and trousers – and we recognise that visual of her instantly today.

The model Bettie Page has become another icon with an image most people immediately recognise.

With her jet-black hair and fringe she starred in fetish films and pictorials, rebelling against the idea of how women should behave. While at the time her path was fraught with difficulties, her lasting impact means she’s still one of the top 15 highest earning deceased celebrities, following shortly behind other cultural icons such as Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.

While we know the faces and stories of a variety of boss women, there are also those who remain nameless to us, like ‘Rosie the Riveter’. Most people can tell you exactly what she looked like in the 61

famous advertisement - hair in a scarf, flexing her muscles - but can’t tell you who or what she stood for. During World War II, while men were off fighting in the war, women were called in from countries around the world to fill the roles they had left behind, including ones that would have been near impossible for them to be considered for previously.

Recruitment posters could be seen everywhere calling for women to fill ‘male’ professions. ‘Rosie’ was the image of the women in the munition’s factories, wearing her scarf so her hair wouldn’t catch on machinery and lead to a horrific accident.

It’s easy to see her and forget all the women she stood

for - those that entered the workforce and proved that women could do more than be housewives, should they so choose. The UK’s Land Girls and US Land Army had women on the ground, doing the work men thought women were unable to do. You also had women military sectors (air force, army, bomb teams), Calutron girls and women of NASA entering the workforce at an alarming rate - and making their place in the world. All these strong women took charge and proved their worth in a male-dominated world, and we’re left with their lasting legacy.

The actress Hedy Lamarr starred in her first films in the 1930s at the start of World War II. Her beauty 62

is renowned and, unfortunately, what most people associated her with during that time. What they didn’t know was that she was a great inventor and developed the frequency-hopping technology used in missile systems and used in Wi-Fi today.

This strong powerful woman earned her overdue recognition late in life, but did, nonetheless, and we can see her now, ascending the stairs in Ziegfeld Girl in her iconic crown of stars and know she’s more than just that image.

In the middle of the century, women were looking around at what others were doing, at the cultural legacies being created, and how to be

their own boss in life. Joan Rhodes was a strong woman in the most literal sense of the word. She ran off and joined the circus in England when she was only 14 years old, and rebelled against the strongman telling her that as a woman, all she could do was sell tickets and collect money. She taught herself to bend iron bars around her legs and neck, and tear phone books in half. During the 50s she would perform for the troops and on television in sparkly ball gowns and bodysuits designed to emphasise her 22” waist. She used her appearance to force men to question their assumptions about women, and rethink them. She performed her feats of strength - sometimes even pulling cars or lifting men from

an audience above her head - well into her 60s, proving being a ‘boss’ is a feat unhindered by age.

If there’s one female cultural icon though who showed that you are not simply your body, it was the artist Frida Kahlo. She suffered from polio at a young age and went into life wearing shoes designed to fit her uneven leg lengths. Then, in her teens she survived a terrible bus accident which put her into a body cast and left her unable to have children – which, at the time, was thought to be a female’s raison d’être. While bed-ridden in recovery she set up a mirror on the top of her bed, so she could paint while in her incapacitated state. She did have

success in her life, though nothing quite like what she experiences now. Her paintings are championed as examples of feminine struggle and womanhood, and her self-portraits are immediately recognisable worldwide. For a period, she was known simply as ‘Diego Rivera’s wife’ but her tenacity, strength, and talent helped her easily surpass him in skill and fame.

Exhibitions of her paintings, as well as her clothes and accessories, continue to be amazing successes around the world and allow us to experience the life of someone who wouldn’t be told how to act.

It’s probably no surprise that when we look back at a number of strong women - some who don’t even

require surnames for us to know them like Marilyn, Hedy, Judy, Frida - we see lives fraught with struggle, and often a long-standing desire for love.

Many in the early to mid-19th Century went through a string of husbands, testing out the life they thought they had to live, and finding it unfulfilling. These incredible icons, from film stars and artists to writers and scientists, spent much of their life fighting against what they thought they were supposed to do, and instead tried to live the life they were born to do.

The art collector Gertrude Stein was one of the first collectors of artists like Picasso and Matisse, and also wrote one of the first lesbian coming out stories in

1950. She cultivated a life of culture and arts and lived it as she saw fit, including having an open relationship with a woman in a time when no one would think a successful, powerful woman could be a lesbian.

These women and more are written about in books and articles and featured in TV shows, films, and art exhibitions to this day. They challenged feminine stereotypes and were the ultimate boss babes of their time.

Even those we know by sight rather than by name have changed our cultural fabric, exactly as it should be - like a boss. ♦ 63

Nicol & ford

by Ria Carruthers

I have long admired and have been inspired by the personal style and creative work of KatieLouise and Tim Nicol-Ford. I was delighted to have the opportunity to ask the Sydney-based design duo a few questions about their clothing line, Nicol & Ford, as well as their personal style.

Nicol & Ford has been up and running since 2014 - what motivated you to set up the brand initially, and how has it evolved over the past 5 years?

The brand grew organically from Katie’s former eponymous brand. We decided to build the business together as our shared interests and passions began to fuse into a concept of what we could create together.

The impetus for starting was simply to make clothing for us to wear over the following summer. Once the ball was rolling, we took time to explore the drive behind our business and ways in which we could engage with our community across the world.

How would you describe the brand?

Nicol & Ford is a small-scale ethical demi couture label which aims to empower femininity through a focus on silhouette and texture. The brand works with a broad brush stroke to explore the feminine, including a complex range of feminine experiences and enabling individuality through bespoke clothing.

What have been the high points and the challenges you

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have experienced with the brand so far?

Nicol & Ford was initially set up as a passion project, and as it grew we were not realistically prepared for the challenges which accompany running a small business.

We are so grateful for the growth but had quite a few steep learning curves in the process. The high points have definitely been the conclusion of each collection translating onto the bodies of friends and models who bring the clothing to life, only topped by the excitement of celebrity endorsement for the brand, where organic relationships have resulted in an icon such as Dita Von Teese embodying the femininity we wish to explore.

What are the pros and cons of being a married design duo? Does the dynamic change between your working and personal relationship?

We have been together for 6 years and now married for 2, providing both a complexity and a confidence to our work together. The brand was launched following only 8 months of our relationship, and in a way it is a product of our relationship. Whilst our work of course has stress points, it is ultimately a very romantic focus to share.

Working relationships can often face challenges with communication barriers which we fortunately don’t face. When you live and work together, a raw honestly becomes the norm and strengthens the process by which we develop and produce each collection.

times can create a unique and often times contemporary aesthetic. We have revived many a shattered garment of the past to incorporate design ideas for our collections, working to mirror hand-finished details which are often overlooked or lost in contemporary design.

What are your respective roles within the brand - do you both get involved in everything, or do you each specialise in certain aspects?

What are the inspirations and the story behind your latest

We have very separate roles in the business, which most likely assists with the harmonious relationship described above! Katie-Louise focuses on the pattern making and construction to ensure that the product is of the highest calibre possible.

This follows 11 years working across fashion and costume to hone her skills in dressmaking.

Together with web development, social media and marketing, Tim is able to focus on the bigger picture, leading design and vision over the coming collections, work on the creative output of the brand and collaborating with external artists to develop a coherent vision for the brand.

You describe Nicol & Ford as ‘demi-couture’. Could you describe the customer experience for someone ordering a Nicol & Ford piece?

Demi-couture is a term used to describe customised and hand finished garments, drawing on the concept of true couture as realised in a smaller in-house setting.

All Nicol & Ford garments are created to order, often customised, and fitted over a toiling process to ensure that the silhouettes which we strive to perfect are perfectly tailored to our customer’s figure.

There is a strong vintage influence in almost all your designs. How do you go about incorporating vintage influences into your designs, and which eras and cultures are you most inspired by?

Katie-Louise is a huge film fan, and Tim a history nerd, so looking to the past for references came very naturally to our design process. Our personal style journeys prior to Nicol & Ford both came via the vintage path (through which we met) and it was a natural touchstone for the formation of the brand. We find that mashing up or hybridising influences from different places and

collection, The Goblin’s Cry, and how did you decide on the name?

The Goblin’s Cry is inspired by the life and work of Christina Rossetti, the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a primary figure in the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood of the 19th Century. Each of our collections is based on historical figures who have faced historical erasure as a result of their queer lives spent in the shadows.

Christina is remembered as the largest contribution to female voices in poetry during her life but much of her personal life goes unexplored. Revisionist historians have explored Christina’s multitude of failed relationships and tumultuous relationship with the Church, suggesting that Rossetti’s life in the shadows was directly linked to a feeling of displacement in a highly conservative society. The Goblin Market is Rossetti’s bestknown work which, despite being written for children, includes codified allusion to a passionate relationship between two ‘sisters’. We used this text to explore a female voice in the often male dominated queer space.

What is your favourite piece from all the collections you have produced so far?

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This question is too hard! We both have favourites from each collection! Katie loves the strawberry gilt lamé Romieuxii gown (worn by Dita Von Teese) of our 2017 Peach Narcissus collection, the green bamboo silk evening Haverdrils Gown from the same collection (worn by the gorgeous Gia Genevieve), the classic Chevron afternoon gown from the first collection (2014) and most recently the purple silk velvet Bound In Tender Lives gown which we recently shot on the incomparable Violet Chachki.

Tim really loves the Thayaht jumpsuit in liquid steel from Peach Narcissus and the Goblin Men suit from The Goblin’s Cry, which he won’t stop wearing!

I admire that you describe some of your designs as ‘unisex’, and that gender fluidity is represented in your editorials.

Would you say this is a key value of the brand?

In our quest to explore and visualise femininity and queer spaces, key pieces from all our collections are designed to be worn by either gender and those who

identify outside the binary. We believe that the construction of glamour should be accessible for all people and are delighted that this resonates with a group of our loyal clients. Being close with people who identify as such in Sydney has given us awareness that empowering clothing should extend beyond its conventional place and be

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accessible to a wider community. A key outcome for our brand is to provide visibility for queer voices, and what better way than through glamour!

Do you both work on Nicol & Ford full time, or do you have other ventures going on?

Since April 2018 Katie-Louise has been running Nicol & Ford full time from our Glebe-based Atelier. This is juggled with a range of freelance jobs and external creative ventures (life model, vintage seller, costumier and stylist) which support our work on Nicol & Ford.

Tim works for a not-for-profit foundation in Sydney called the Sherman Centre for Culture & Ideas (SCCI) as the Fashion Programme Manager, assisting one of Sydney’s pre eminent philanthropists and cultural leafers, Dr Gene Sherman AM, in promoting cultural conversation around Fashion and Architecture.

Whilst this is a full-time job it facilities wonderful relationships and opportunities for our brand.

How did you both develop the skills to design and produce such intricate and delicate garments - are you both formally trained?

Katie-Louise formally trained in design and construction under intensive Diplomas in both Fashion and Costume Design. This 5 years of education equipped Katie to launch her previous eponymous label KatieLouise Ford (launched 2010). Inter-state and International travel gave Katie opportunities to work in both the Fashion and Costume industries, including machining for the Boston Ballet whilst living in New York City (2012). This broad training gave Katie an interest in historic costume and subsequently a drive to maintain traditional techniques and hand finishing details that have been lost to time. Katie’s love of vintage style and clothing lead to her own construction research of garments, details of which

can now been seen influencing our designs for Nicol & Ford. Tim formally studied Art History & Theory and Archaeology at University before moving into decorative arts and textiles research. Following a number of years’ experience in handling precious objects in as a cataloguer and researcher in auction houses, Tim began freelance work with private textile collections in researching and cataloguing a broad range of garments. Tim’s current work at the SCCI facilitates ongoing research in social and cultural engagement with Fashion, continuously shaping our process and conceptual development as Nicol & Ford grows.

What can you tell us about your plans for the brand in the coming year?

Watch this space! We have just booked our first holiday in 2 years and are excited to be coming to the Northern Hemisphere to shoot our forthcoming resort collection in Italy. The collection will be available online in May in preparation for production when we return to Australia at the beginning of June.

We will then begin working on our September/ October evening collection - there’s a lot in the works!

The design process takes at least 2-3 months’ lead time and more development than is perhaps visible from the outside, but we enjoy chipping away to perfect our product before sharing it with the world.

On to your personal style - I’m a huge fan of how you have both cultivated such creative and individual styles over the years. How would each of you describe your personal style, and how do you find inspiration for your looks?

Firstly, thank you so much! We have split our answers below as we are quite individual in this one!

Katie: My personal style can most easily be described as 100% hyper-constructed glamour, which I explore through makeup, hairstyles and clothing. Few believe it, but I’ve always felt quite masculine and therefore enjoy exploring my feminine side through producing and controlling an over-constructed image. My style is constantly fluctuating between French Rococo and 1930s starlet glamour - including the way in which it was re-contextualised in the 1990s (via Drew Barrymore, Gwen Stefani and Madonna). I love looking purposeful, as though no part of my image happened into place.

Tim: Many years ago I began wearing original

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vintage clothing as a means to explore my identity and self-expression. In a highly visual culture where many choices can be made for us, I revelled in crafting individuality through a constructed identity. This has developed over the years as we now make most of our clothing for ourselves, allowing a “blank canvas” approach to style through which anything is possible. I am now interested in textile and construction, amassing a decent collection of 19th and early 20th century Japanese and Chinese textiles which are some of my most treasured possessions. I now enjoy exploring the grey area which lies between binary dressing, embracing feminine and masculine aspects of my core and challenging myself to express this to the outside world through the dynamic visual medium of dress.

You look like you have some pretty amazing nights out (and in!) - if we were lucky enough to join you for an evening, what would we be letting ourselves in for?

We love that we get asked this so much! We live in an unusual time in Sydney, where State Government regulations require bars and venues to close by midnight, bottle stores by 10:00pm (not ideal for the largest and most cosmopolitan city in Australia). As a result our social lives have evolved and now we host in our home often. There is something so special about welcoming people into your world and a home setting can often facilitate a more intimate conversation. That being said, we love a weekend session at the pub and can often been found in Sydney’s best queer venues dancing to trashy 90s music which takes us back to awkward teen years. The construction of glamour ends at clothing, and we are not above a rough and ready “sparkling wine” to get the juices flowing.

What’s Sydney like as a base for creatives? How do locals generally respond to your style?

As per the above, Sydney has gone through a seismic shift over the past 5 years with the introduction of strict regulations. Further to the re-shaped nights out, many creatives have chosen to leave Sydney for overseas or our beautiful rival Melbourne. That being said, it has created exciting opportunities for young creatives who find the industry less saturated and competitive, allowing the entire community to rise together and facilitate creative collaborations. People's

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response to our style varies greatly depending on which bus route you’re on… but we know that at the end of the day we dress for ourselves. Other people’s reactions should have such little impact on the empowerment which we enjoy through the art of dress.

What would you say is the biggest issue in the fashion industry right now?

Over the past 5 years spent building our business and profile, the most common and destructive issue we have found definitely lies in the consumer’s misunderstanding of how clothing is manufactured. The generation now wielding capitalist cash and commerce has grown up with fast fashion at their fingertips.

Home sewing has most commonly been a conversation provincialised through the lens of our grandmothers.

As attitudes to sustainability, craftsmanship and ethics shape changes in our society, people are gaining an

understanding of why an evening gown should not be $60. This can challenge our business in making a viable profit and keeping true to our core values, but we see an opportunity to educate our friends, families and supporters on the process realistically involved in making unique and special garments. The customer base and community which has supported in us doing so, investing in our garments and therefore the future of Nicol & Ford, give us hope that the slow and meticulous process of fashion might one day return.

Thank you, Katie-Louise and Tim for a fascinating insight into Nicol & Ford! You can view current and past collections (as well as some amazing editorial shoots) at www.nicolandford.com ♦ @nicolandford @timothyhughnicol

@katielouiseford

The power of

RED

by Vanessa Frankenstein

Blood, Love, Danger, Fire Desire, Rage, Passion, Power.

Red is without any doubt the most exciting colour.

It is intense and highly visible.

Red is not a question.

Painting your lips red for the very first time is like playing truth or dare. Maybe you can’t put it in words but you can certainly feel it.

It’s not just a colour, it’s a statement.

A woman’s lips are highly sexual and female sexuality is still facing a tremendous amount of taboo. Highlighting this sensual part of the body is a way of proclaiming an indifference to this liability. It clashes with the belief system that men ought to be dominant while women are supposed to be submissive. A woman who wears red lipstick asserts herself of that system to make her own choices. Free and independent.

Times up to stop worrying if red lipstick is inappropriate, intimidating, too confident, too aggressive or simply too much. It might be for some members of society who think that a woman should present herself in the ‘proper’ manner. Well, you can’t please everyone.

Wearing red lipstick is a proclamation that a woman’s sexuality is hers and hers alone. It’s courage and it’s power over herself. And by the way, it looks so good.

We asked four self-made power women about their relationship with red lipstick.

Ava Elderwood, Ashlyn Coco, Angelique Noire and Tiah Eckhardt.

Ava Elderwood PHOTOGRAPHER, MODEL, DESIGNER

Red Lipstick... "gives me a sophisticated attitude, it's like passion on your lips without saying a word. And you can never have enough shades..."

Favourite Red: Bésame Velvet Red

Bésame 'Velvet Red' Buy Now:

Ashlyn Coco OWNER OF ASH-LASH!

Red Lipstick... "is like the cherry to my Cola. Of course Cola is great on its own, but the cherry is the pop that I crave, much like red lipstick when I'm painting my face.

Wearing red lipstick, I can always exude themes of dreamy nostalgia - and as one of my favourite Lana Del Rey lyrics say: 'I keep my lips red, they seem like cherries in the spring.'"

Favourite Red: Currently Kat Von D's "Underage Red," which I feel is a total nod to Lolita. I love a liquid matte lipstick that doesn't budge, and this not only is the perfect consistency, but the perfect cool red shade. Just a perfect, American Dream, red! <3 99% Match

Kat Von D 'Outlaw' Buy Now:

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Angelique Noire PROFESSIONAL MODEL & MOTHER OF TWO TEENAGERS

Red Lipstick...

"I adore wearing bold colours in general, but I tend to keep my makeup simple most of the time. Wearing red lipstick instantly gives my face the added kick to make the simplest makeup application, come to life. " Favourite Red: I don't have a favourite red lipstick. I use whatever is available (I have a lot from various companies). So, like a boss I just choose any RED and make it work for me. ;)

Tiah Eckhardt MODEL, MOM & LINGERIE WRITER

Red Lipstick... "has been my signature since I was 16. I’ve always loved fairy tales, as well as being pale. When I was a high school goth, I dyed my hair black and initially started wearing lipstick because I wanted to look like Snow White. My style and inspirations have changed over the years, but the one constant is always red lipstick. It conjures love, passion, romance, fire, blood, emphatic expression, and eternal femininity. All things I feel define me as a person. " Favourite Red: I have a few. My most commonly worn is Lip Ink in ‘Red’. It’s a perfect, pure red stain, and it does NOT come off. Eating, drinking, kissing, sleeping, sex- it does not budge through any of it. MAC ‘Lady Danger’ and Tom Ford ‘Rafael’ are my favourite orange reds, Huda Beauty’s ‘Sweetheart’ is my newest fave.

Immorally Yours by Bobbi De Carlo in ‘Solicitation’ is my favourite texture and pigment, and has the added bonus of coming in a set with a matching nail polish. ♦ 72

MAC 'Lady Danger' Buy Now:

ADELE MILDRED ART, CREATION & MOTHER–HOOD

by Nora Finds

W

hen London-based artist Adele Mildred isn't running a successful millinery business or creating beautiful illustrations, she’s a busy mother of two. This boss lady is a prolific creator who has produced a multitude of works, has collaborated with other creative minds, and has also recently relaunched her millinery business Hood London. A dedicated lover of vintage fashion, Adele was a natural choice for the first issue of The Vintage Woman.

I invited her for coffee in between her busy schedule to ask her about her life, her friendships with Dita Von Teese and Kat Von D, as well as about her concerns regarding the fashion industry.

The theme of this first issue of The Vintage Woman is 'Like a Boss', and we are so excited to interview you - a strong woman who has managed to juggle hectic professional and personal lives. You make it seems quite effortless, but what is life really like day-to-day?

I honestly do it one day at a time. I have a nanny that comes 2 hours a day to help out with my youngest that frees up a little chunk of my morning and gives me some time to work. On a good day I get a 6-hour work day with the nanny and the baby's nap time, but without an assistant I do feel like nowadays it takes me twice as long to achieve any result. I’m not the best when it comes to time management, but I know it’s

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important to make personal time even when you’re juggling various things. For me, my morning routine of putting makeup on feels even more important - it’s like meditating! I am also very fortunate that I have a separate physical space in my home that I use as an office and that gives me a structure to my work-life balance.

Do you consider yourself a feminist? How do you contribute to the feminist movement?

I absolutely am. I support women’s businesses, I love women’s literature, but I think my greatest contribution to the feminist movement is raising my children, both my son and daughter, as feminists. For my girl to grow up to be a strong woman and my boy to be a man who respects women.

As someone who is so versatile - I know you've been a dressmaker, milliner, and illustrator how do you juggle all of these different crafts and prioritise your work?

I tend to switch between different crafts - I will finish a painting while making a hat in the same week, or work on an illustration and design sunglasses.

I find it works best to spark my creativity and keeps me interested in the crafts. When I was younger I thought it was necessary for me to focus on one craft at a time, but as I got older I realised that all these different crafts have become a tree, and the tree has strong roots that way. It probably would've been different if I had found one strong passion I excelled at. But I guess I felt like I could always improve and could always branch out.

I see someone doing something and I often think “How do I do that? Can I do that?” and of course there are crafts I’m not interested in, but more than often I find my curiosity takes me into a new creative outlet.

It's easy for people to assume that you're just naturally talented, but how do hard work, training, and other life skills contribute to your success?

Anything you do, it takes time to improve and to nourish. I genuinely believe if you want to be good at something, you need to invest time and hard work into it. Illustrating comes quite naturally to me; I guess I’ve been drawing since I was about 4. In a way, I wish I had gone to university to study it - I think I would have enjoyed that! There are things that I probably could’ve learned quickly through university but I think I made up for it with the many years I have worked in the industry.

I know you spent a decade in California doing various jobs, but did you attend professional courses? How did you start getting into the creative industry?

I was trained professionally as a fashion designer and that’s how I started, and my first job in university was actually assisting a woman who made costumes for exotic dancers. I would go to the clubs and set up backstage to show the dancers what I’d created. I then spent a lot of time working on film and TV sets and ended up doing a bit of celebrity tailoring. I was also a professional graphic designer and did that for years. It was a time where the industry was a lot of networking and meeting people and just showing what you are capable of doing. I think I was at the right place at the right time and was fortunate to have met many wonderful talents and worked with them.

As an illustrator, you've collaborated with some big names including Dita von Teese - how was that experience? Had you worked with Dita previously in a different capacity?

I was already a friend of Dita’s, and in 2012 I was staying with her in Paris while I was working for Stephen Jones. She mentioned she needed illustrations for her upcoming book, and I said “You know I do illustrations, right?”. I was a showing artist in LA but Dita was part of my fashion world and she wasn’t aware of it. This was the time before Instagram, before people use it as an online portfolio, and it wasn’t always easy to show people all the different things I could do. Sometimes worlds collide, and I guess that’s when my design and fashion worlds collided.

Back in May 2018, Kat Von D selected you as one of her muses. Did you have a personal relationship with Kat Von D before the campaign? How did you find out that you were selected and what did you feel about it? How do you feel about it now, a year later?

Kat and I became friends after she actually bought some hats from Hood, and when I saw the name on the order I was so excited. She’s such a lovely person inside and out and we just have a mutual appreciation towards each other. It was actually during a holiday in Italy when Kat texted me in the middle of the night to tell me about this idea and asked me to be her muse. I was very flattered - when I was growing up, there was a very narrow beauty standard and I feel like now we are more aware and more proud of different body types, different self expressions, and different styles. This campaign is so empowering and inspiring and I’m really proud to be a part of it.

Has becoming a mother changed your style? How has it changed your passion for creating?

Oh, absolutely. It’s also changed the way I dress, I used to wear more conforming or binding clothes and now since I’m breastfeeding and my body’s changed a bit I am trying to dress Photography | David Edwards more comfortably. I will Hair | Sarah Necia probably get back to it eventually, but right now I’m adjusting to a new lifestyle.

I even wear trainers occasionally now, thanks to Charlotte Olympia, haha. Being a mom I actually came up with a new theory - I have many artist friends who don’t have children and I know they feel content about it because they’re making things and leaving their marks in the world. A mother creates a piece of art through her body, but an artist has other ways to create. They make little babies every day when they make their arts.

So in a way I feel even more fulfilled because I’ve had many babies in this world!

Have you ever thought about going into the baby clothes/ hats industry?

I actually made a pact with myself not to go into it. I don’t

want to be pigeonholed, but it sure is tempting. Mostly I want to make things for my children because I can’t find them in the shops. Also, kids don’t want to keep their hats on! It’s not something I have time for, and I am more devoted to making pieces for grown women.

How do you personally measure success - both personally and professionally?

There’s a difference between being an artist and being a maker. An artist might be very talented but not earning a great amount of money (and I know a lot of talented people who are poor!), but a maker might measure their success by the number of sales they make. I find myself a bit of both - I get immense satisfaction when people appreciate and wear my crafts.

I don’t need to sell a million hats, I’m just happy to find that others love what I’ve made. So for me success is being able to live and create and getting the appreciation, whatever form it is in.

How would you describe your latest collection of hats for Hood London?

Ooooh… there are some old favourites, but I also had a lot of requests regarding hats that I’ve made for myself so I brought them into the new season. The summer collection is quite witchy and vintage inspired.

The collection is timeless, sharp, and versatile. I think it’s really important to create pieces that you can wear all the time and not just for special occasions. I personally used hats back in the days as a conversation starter and to express myself. I’m an introvert and it’s not always easy to go into a party or a new place, but I find that my hats always helped me make friends. I want to create hats that you can keep wearing again and again - after all, it is the first thing you see on a person so it’s important to wear the right piece. These hats are to be worn and they need to be functional and beautiful at the same time.

As a lover of vintage fashion, I know you are really passionate about 1920s-1940s fashion.

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If you could time travel and collaborate with a vintage icon, who would it be and what would you like to create for them?

This is such a difficult one; there are so many women I’d love to work with. Peggy Guggenheim is the first one that popped to mind, or Vali Myers... but hmm I think it has to be Marchesa Luisa Casati. She’s my all time… the pinnacle... the high-goddess supreme!

And I’d probably create a whole outfit, anything she’d wear! Maybe I’ll start with the sunglasses but definitely would do a hat for her. And a dress....

Is there anyone on Instagram at the moment who really inspires you?

Franz Szony @franzszony who is a photographer who has done work with Dita and Violet Chachki he’s inspired by many different genres and styles. I am inspired by the individuals who are creative and talented, who are unique. I also love @documenting_ fashion, @designfortoday, @stephenellcock, @ingaaaah, @williamcult, @lolitalamont and @thewrongwoman - so inspiring!

What do you think is the biggest current problem in the fashion industry?

Sustainability is definitely my main concern. I try to consider sustainability in creating the new line for Hood, from the materials I source and the packaging I use. It’s not always easy considering there are limited factories that source my materials, but I try to avoid companies that aren’t ethical and prefer local or European companies to reduce my carbon footprint. I try to be sustainable in my personal life as well, using products that are recyclable and reusable and continuously educate myself about these issues.

How do you feel about the concept of cultural appropriation?

I am a bit apprehensive commenting on cultural appropriation. I would like to believe that everyone takes inspiration from other cultures with good intention, not trying to take advantage of anyone or to mock anyone. There is this reference book that I have and I know is used by a lot of other milliners and there are many images of tribal headdresses in there that are really beautiful. Ideally I’d love to go and personally consult the tribes but that’s not always plausible. How do I go about it to make sure it is appreciation and not appropriation? It’s important to try to source from the original culture, but for me that also goes back to being sustainable. It’s very important

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to support cultural identities, but how does that prevent other people from enjoying or admiring the culture?

Creating arts is about pushing boundaries, but I don’t try to be controversial. I believe there are no hard and fast rules on this issue but it’s important to be open-minded and be willing to discuss these issues.

One last question: as a woman who has collaborated with other great women in the industry and as a business owner, what do you think we women can do to support each other?

Let’s simply cut all the negativity surrounding each other. We need to support each other and not be jealous of each other. Stop thinking “I want that” or “Why do I not have that?” and remember that everyone has worked hard to get to where they are and it’s really important to appreciate that everybody has different things to offer. Self-check and have a dialogue with yourself and be happy with yourself.

That’s the only way you can really be content and you can find ways to support other women. ♦

Thank you, Adele! You can find out more about Adele, her creations and Hood London at: www.adelemildred.com www.hoodlondon.com

Pin Up Hair Flowers www.pinuphairflowers.com

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www.honeykinsvintage.com honeykinsvintage

HoneykinsVintage

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Why P My mother enjoys telling an anecdote about my childhood. I would demand from a young age to visit the powder room anywhere we went because I was curious about the tile work and how they were decorated. Apparently, I was prone to making quite a scene if I was not allowed to pop my head in to take a gander at the ceramic wonder world. I cannot say with any honesty that I can recollect any part of her story, but I do believe that she is telling a full truth about me and my fascination with design. As an adult this inquisitiveness has not subsided, though perhaps sans outbursts, I find myself often electing to go to certain locations because I am intrigued about their dĂŠcor selections and, more often than not, this has to do with rumors of a special or different water closet.

What I do remember vividly is sitting in my grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s butter yellow bathroom and my great grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s green bathroom as a child and tracing the grout lines around the tiles with my finger; there was something about that action that put me utterly at ease. I once went so far as to try to count all the tiles - giving up

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Pink?

Author & Photographer: Wendi Malone

after my eyes couldn’t keep track of where I had and had not counted.

Ultimately, I loved the bright colors and the aesthetic of the tiles, which were so small they could fit into a child’s small palm and be completely eclipsed - they felt tangible.

I suppose in retrospect what is unusual, given my strong childhood memories, is that I cannot remember that singular epiphanic moment when I realised that my true design love was pink – and specifically, pink bathrooms and kitchens. I have never been one to shy away from bold colors or patterns when decorating, so falling for such a polarising color seemed natural. I’ve always tended to gravitate towards what would be considered edgy or unfashionable in the mainstream.

Pink may be considered exceedingly feminine today, but this soft red had previously been a gender-neutral color which exhibited a sense of youth and the association with the feminine wasn’t made until after World War II. Sure, there had been pink bathrooms as early as the 1930s, but they were not considered effeminate nor were they wildly popular.

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However, a Denver, Colorado-raised woman would change that and incite the iconic pink movement. That woman was none other than Mamie Eisenhower.

The reputedly saucy and headstrong Mamie made a big splash in pink when she famously wore a pastel peau de soie gown covered in more than 2,000 rhinestones to the 1953 inaugural ball. Mamie had known for years that her power color was pink, a color in which she looked great and felt comfortable. She would carry her love of pink with her to the White House where she redecorated the private quarters so extensively that the press corps and staff gave it the colloquial name â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Pink Palaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Her adoration for pink was also aided in part by President Eisenhower who would send pink flowers to his wife each day.

What Mamie probably did not anticipate was that her personal proclivity for pink would change the history of American interior design. It is estimated that five million Mamie Pink, First Lady Pink, and pastel pink bathrooms were built during the 1950s with American Standard, Koehler, Crane, and other manufactures supplying different hues of pink fixtures to match the varying shades of pink attributed to the First Lady.

Other companies, particularly from 1953 to 1957, would seize upon pinkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popularity, producing pink toilet

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paper, paper towels, and even cotton balls.

Today, pink toiletries are nearly impossible to find but bathrooms are purportedly back in favor - suppliers are unable to keep up with demand for pink toilets, sinks, tubs, and tiles.

A few years ago, I became one of the lucky inheritors of a home with not only a Mamie-inspired kitchen, but matching bathroom decked out with the original pink Crane bathtub and sink. I can remember clearly the day that I found the listing for my little midcentury residence. I gasped because it was my kitsch dream realised in near totality: pink and seafoam green tiles, knotty pine cabinets, hardwood floors throughout, cedar lined closets, and built-in flower terrarium.

I truly believe I got lucky that my own pink palace stood the test of time, enabled by the fact that original pre1970s ceramic tile work was typically very high quality, laid in real mortar and unlikely prone to cracking.

So why the love for pink? I suppose there are a multitude of reasons for a modern woman to love pink, among them being a champion for an underdog that most people would like to see torn out and forgotten. I like to think that my predilection for pink is a nod to a strong, fierce woman who was wildly successful on her own terms and unapologetic about who she was and what she enjoyed. â&#x2122;Ś

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DEM FOXIE FEMMES SAN FRANCISCO’S BURLESQUE POWERHOUSE

by Angela Morales

How was Dem Foxie Femmes founded? It seems like such a fresh concept in modern-world burlesque We are three friends who share the same love for burlesque. We celebrate our diversity through understanding and sharing each other’s different cultures and life experiences. Initially we weren't planning on being an official ‘burlesque troupe’ - we just all loved dancing together! After performing shows all over people started asking us what our troupe was called. That's when we came up with ‘Dem Foxie Femmes’.

opportunity to work with and learn from the Asian burlesque legends from San Francisco's historic Forbidden City Nightclub.

"The male and female body is not taboo, it's beautiful!"

Pixie Vanille strutted her way into the burlesque scene with a style all her own and a knack for musicality.

She has been gracing stages across California and beyond. She has performed solos and as part of troupes in festivals all over the country including Nashville, Arizona, Humbolt and the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

Who is the founding member? And how did you get together?

The founding member is Frankie Fictitious - she had the dream of a Wild West act that needed three ladies! On a long car ride home from Vegas with King Sweet Belize, the creative juices starting flowing. We listened to the music on repeat the whole car ride back to San Francisco. We exchanged ideas and visions - all we needed was one more beauty. There was no question in our head that the third Foxie Femme should be dancing sensation, Pixie Vanille!

Sweet Belize is a Belizean power house who has been teasing and pleasing audiences since 2012.

She breaks the mould of traditional burlesque by flawlessly fusing her culture with classic burlesque.

She has performed all over the West Coast and is a regular cast member of the World Famous Hubba Hubba Revue, as well as the Bay Area's notorious Black Arts Matter.

Who are the current members of the troupe, and can you tell us a little bit about each member?

Frankie Fictitious is a burlesque star - you can find her headlining festivals and shows around the globe! She is Miss Viva Las Vegas 2017, and has performed and won titles at the coveted Burlesque Hall of Fame. She was crowned the queen of the Arizona Burlesque Festival in 2017 too. She also has been voted into the Top 50 and Top 100 Burlesque performers worldwide! She has had the amazing

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How do you decide what routines you will be performing?

We all have our own concepts we pitch to the group, then we all work as a team to make that vision come to life.

What is your inspiration behind your costumes?

You all seem to pick a different colourway, rather than matching - what's your inspiration behind this?

We do all have our own colours, but we also have acts where we all match! It just depends on what that specific act calls for! We are heavily inspired by looks from the 1930s-1950s.

Does someone in the group design and make or do you get an outside source to make them?

We design and rhinestone all our costumes. If we need technical sewing help our go-to gal is Sophie Rose Bisou.

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Do you offer classes to teach burlesque?

Yes! Frankie teaches costuming, fan dancing and floor work classes. And Pixie teaches classes on choreography and dancing in heels.

Where can we see more of your performances?

You can find us performing all over the San Francisco Bay Area as well as all over the States!

What direction would you like to see the troupe go in professionally for 2019?

We are always looking to push boundaries and bring things to the stage that are classic with a twist! We just want to keep creating!

Any exciting new projects you can tell us about?

Dem Foxie Femmes always have something up their sleeves! You'll have to come to the show and see ;)

What can we expect to see from you this year?

Expect to see us BIGGER and SPARKLIER! You all had very good burlesque careers before the trio, has the trio affected your individual careers in a positive light?

Yes! The trio has definitely affected our careers in a positive light! Not only has it helped us promote our own solo careers, but our individual strengths have rubbed off on one another by working together as a team.

What have been the highs and lows of forming and being in the group?

The high is definitely being able to share the feeling of accomplishment when you exit the stage together, realising all the hours of rehearsal and costuming we put in for the past several months/ years has paid off.

We wouldn't say there are any lows, it's all a process of growing and learning how to work together.

Do you feel there is still a stigma behind burlesque?

Some people still see a stigma behind burlesque because it is seen as a risquĂŠ and erotic form of entertainment. But it's not about just about dancing naked on stage; it's about the art and the passion we put into it. We are taking you on a journey through our imagination - telling you a story through dance and tease. The male and female body is not taboo, it's beautiful!

If you could perform anywhere in the world on any stage for any person who would it be and why?

Anywhere and everywhere! An amazing part of burlesque is that it allows you to see the world and experience different places!

Thank you Dem Foxie Femmes for a sparkling interview! â&#x2122;Ś

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Dixie Evans 1926-2013

MID-CENTURY BURLESQUE STAR

by Neil Kendall

• Burlesque Hall of Fame

Neil Kendall is a vintage and burlesque photographer, burlesque historian, and board member of the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. If there is anything you want to know about the history of burlesque, he’s your guy.

Neil first met Dixie Evans in 1990. After seeing a documentary on retired burlesque performers featuring Dixie, he made his way to the Mojave Desert where she lived to talk to her. They became firm friends, and their friendship lasted until her death five years ago. Dixie ran the Burlesque Hall of Fame and was like a godmother to a lot of performers supporting their careers.

Neil carried out this interview in 2008, and it gives a fascinating insight into what it was really like as a performer during her heyday in the 50s and 60s.

H

ow did burlesque evolve?

Lydia Thompson and her British blondes brought burlesque to America in the 1860s, it wasn’t striptease though, it was cabaret and Vaudeville. However, it was the striptease, which the Americans caught on to - the Americans exploited Burlesque and it caught on like wildfire. Every town had a Burlesque theatre, which changed headliners every week with full orchestras and bands. Cleveland alone had five burlesque shows.

The striptease happened by accident in 1920s New York and it grew steadily from there. In the States Burlesque really grew during world war two to what we know it as today: the theatrical striptease.

How was the world of Burlesque in the 1940s when you started out?

We had live bands, orchestras, comics, big sets, sketches and of course, the strippers. The shows were professionally produced fullscale theatrical reviews. Historically, the Burlesque reviews did not have a lot of strippers in them.

Maybe a few chorus or parade girls

and one headliner, a well-known name like Gypsy Rose Lee to close the show. But it was the advertising and publicity men that really centred on the girls. They became massively popular and theatres had press agents willing to tap into the sexier side of the shows to sell more tickets. Eventually the striptease element overshadowed the singers and comedians.

Take me through a typical 50s burlesque show....

At Minsky’s where I first headlined the shows were all structured the same. There would be an overture and the curtain would open up to reveal a chorus line. Then you may see a belly dancer or a contortionist, some form of speciality act and then you would have a comic.

The show rolled really fast so the minute you got that ticket... you were totally entertained. You had several exotic dancers and a big production number. The sketches were always very, very clever. Then there was a big finale where you got to see your star. That could be a Blaze Starr or a Tempest Storm, we had girls who were tall, well-built, beautiful and they could strut on

that stage throw their hair around and flirt with the audiences so it was really something.

What was life like in the Burlesque theatre?

It was always hot and frantic, it was a crazy world. There were comics, hula girls, chorus girls, of course the stage hands. All the theatres on the east coast followed the same pattern between shows, you wait your turn to go on, sewing costumes, repairing props, keeping up with the news and gossip.

Perhaps after two years you make a name for yourself and you’re not scrambling for costumes. You’re booked two years in advance so then you would go to New York and get a real costume made. But in the beginning it’s tough and you could always find what you needed from some enterprising girl backstage.

What about the burlesque houses, were they bawdy places?

A burlesque theatre would house maybe 500 and it was packed at the weekends. Mid-week shows were quieter and it was there that

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you would get the guys with newspapers on their laps! I would run around doing my act, it made no difference to me [laughs] the lights were bright so you couldn’t really see into the audience. Which could be just as well... but you sure heard the applause.

What was an average week like?

If you were working a Burlesque theatre it’s a 9am start on Monday for rehearsal, then your first show was a matinee at 1pm and then maybe a late afternoon show.

You would work five shows a day sometimes. In clubs it was only three in the evenings and then you hook up with other girls or musicians who send you to a local café. Unfortunately I always found my way into the bar, which wasn't good [laughs]. So, you would find a showbiz bar with all the photographs of the performers, like me, on the walls that you signed for the bar owners. The local cafés and bars were very friendly with the burlesque girls.

And life on the road?

We’d all stay in broken down thirdrate family-run hotels. We burlesque girls were treated kindly by people. They were run well and they catered to burlesque travelling folk.

It was like a travelling family. You got to know the people travelling in other shows too. In the contracts promoters gave you tips where to

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stay, you were protected and people watched out for each other.

At the Hudson theatre I rented from a Rabbi who lived in this little house with a long wooden rickety staircase and he was lovely, he would wait for me to come home from the theatre. I learnt how to drink tea, hold the sugar cube Kosher style and I was very near the theatre... so I loved it.

Was it lonely?

Oh god, yes, The first time you’re on the road and its Christmas you’re thinking ‘got to get back home’ but you can’t do that because you’re booked and you just pull the covers over your head in some hotel room and sleep it off. Then you get to the club where there’s some people and it’s, ‘hi, Merry Christmas’. They are on their own too, so you try to be cheerful with the audience and the people you’re working with.

Was it glamorous or was there a harsher reality?

It wasn’t glamorous. No, usually the theatre closes at 11:30pm and you had to get a bus or plane out of town and pack, I seemed to be packing all the time, and you are on the road travelling and living out of a suitcase.

I once spent the night travelling to some club that was boarded up. I rang my agent Dave shouting, ‘oh my god the club is closed.’ He said, ‘when you were on the Greyhound a hurricane went through, and it’s shut,’ ... ‘but I have no money, well ....50 cents’ and he said ‘have you ever read your contract, it’s an act of God and they are under no obligation to pay for you... you’ll get back to New York somehow.’

So, I learnt that you better read your contract, and you get on a bus and plane and just go. I got back of course [laughs].

Tell me about the publicity Well the press, together with good publicity, made you a class act.

To become a burlesque girl you needed a good name, like Tempest Storm. You would just look at a picture of her and my god you would say ‘I got to see that girl’.

Tempest Storm could back that name up with the act, her looks, the costumes, everything.

I was billed as the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, naturally people would see her name on the marquee and come in the theatres. We were real, attainable, unlike the movie stars, but still we looked a million dollars.

Every girl had a strap line like Jennie Lee ‘The Bazoom Girl’, Virginia ‘Ding Dong’ Bell, Sonia ‘The Sultry Sophisticate’ or La Savona ‘A Touch Of Space Magic.’

Press agent dreamt them up. In San

Francisco I was the, ‘anatomy award winner’ or the ‘Frisco Flash’. I was once placed in a goldfish bowl at Bimbos Night club, so it looked like I was swimming in it. There were lots of stunts by the strippers to get headlines. Bubbles Darlene walked nude down a street in Havana, Blaze Starr trained a Black Panther to take her clothes off. Anything to get your name out there.

like her. A week later huge posters were placed outside the theatre, ‘Showing here Marilyn Monroe’ and in tiny letters of Burlesque beneath!! I really lived up to it, this was in 1953. That gimmick gave me a tremendous boost and made me a headliner.

Minsky really launched me.

And as your confidence grew you had a very bold, flirtatious relationship with your audience...

It seems competition was fierce to have an original gimmick and it seemed to intensify as burlesque battled against the arrival of TV...

Yes, that’s true. Theatres were packed during the 1940s and 50s and the shows got bigger, bolder, better. A lot of the girls went for fantastic props: Giant Aladdin Lamps, Bathtubs, Statues…big production numbers with chorus girls. We had great acts during the 1950s.

But then television came in and theatres began to close. No one could compete with television, no theatre, no headliner, nothing.

Was there competition between the women?

OH!! The stories.... you wouldn't believe!!! A couple of time you would stumble out of the cab and it would be [mock horror] ‘oh god, look who’s here.... oh, oh’. It was a world full of characters it was all ‘oh I am a Polish countess’ so it could get catty!!! Fights broke out over music and the poor piano player would have to break them up. My god they fought over everything. But music, if you stole music or worse copied music or steps, there was mortal combat backstage [laughs.]

50s and the club owner said, ‘Dixie I am sorry but when you have a true international star she can play forever and you will sell out each show,’ she had a name and audiences were captivated by her. Most of the icons and big names had true professionalism, a gimmick, a look and star charisma.

The bigger the name, the more press obviously and these girls were legends in their own lifetimes.

Burlesque wasn't always about obvious beauty then...

D: It’s all about talent. In burlesque girls can have flaws but the can overcome them with their personality and talents. You can be older or heavier in burlesque and it doesn't matter. You win an audience over and they come back year after year.

Jennie Lee was known for tassel twirling and they came to see her tassel twirl right into her fifties.

Did you meet the legends of burlesque like Gypsy Rose Lee or Sally Rand?

How did you come to be billed as the Marilyn Monroe of burlesque?

Sally Rand was a big international star. We were booked in to the same hotel in Las Vegas in the late

When I went to open for Harold Minsky, I did a Hollywood Starlet number and Minsky said I looked

D: Well, of course. You are recognised and it’s a wonderful feeling. They would shout and holler and eventually I grew to love an audience.

You should always blow kisses to the band and audience. I always came back take a bow and take in the audience and they notice you more... stay for an encore and really appreciate the audience, it increases your status and gives you more respect.

You’ve got to get a gimmick was a popular burlesque adage...

The Marilyn gimmick created me.

Naturally, you are impersonating someone, it was that billing, as a ‘star’ that forced me to be bigger, better and more dramatic. When she had a new movie I was the first in line and I would write a new act around the film. There were always streams of publicity, they said I sent shock waves through New York when I performed there and of course you could see me do things Marilyn never could on screen [laughs]. You see your ad in the paper, opening some theatre or other and you have a reputation to live up to. Wherever I went it was ‘hey Marilyn.’ So I did my Marilyn impression to the butcher, the baker, in the supermarket everywhere. It was the perfect gimmick!

What makes a great stripper?

It’s a calling... and you have to be an exhibitionist. ♦ 99

Paris

A GUIDE FOR THE VINTAGE ENTHUSIAST

by Brandi Pomfret

T

ravel for many is a luxury, and for some, a way of life. The way we spend our hard-earned time and money is rooted in our preferences and predilections; some people choose beaches, some choose historical ruins, and for some of us it’s about experiencing the past in as many ways as a city can offer.

Though there are countless historical cities in the world with all you could wish for in the way of food, sights, and shopping, the ultimate (for good reason) has always been Paris. Simply the word "Paris" conjures up a myriad of visuals even for those who haven’t ever visited - from croissants and berets to the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. If you’ve visited Paris once before you’ve likely experienced the main attractions, but underneath the icons recommended by tourist guides there is another world to be experienced. This isn’t your standard Paris to-do list, but one for the vintage-minded; a way to seek out the lesser known and specialised places that can’t be found anywhere else, and usually spread via word of mouth through those of us looking for something more.

When it comes to the arts, one automatically thinks of Paris.

For centuries artists, writers, dancers, musicians and others have flocked to the city of lights in search of a creative spark. In the early 1900s, many chose to live in Montmartre to be part of the vibrant nightlife of the cafés and bars, and especially the nearby cabaret - the Moulin Rouge.

The birthplace of the can-can had its heyday in late 1800s until it burnt down in 1915; what we see now was rebuilt in 1921 as faithfully to the original as possible, and then refurbished in the 1950s with new décor and painted murals by famed designer Henri Mahé. Should you prefer live action to the movies and posters, the Moulin Rouge still puts on their famed revue nightly. Then, if all that dancing inspires you to cut a rug yourself, pop down to Le Balajo. The club, which opened in 1936, still retains its original décor and often utilises their big dance floor for 50s rockabilly and jive evenings.

If you’re in the mood for something a bit tamer, though equally nostalgic and exciting, head east to the village of Bercy where you’ll find the Musée des Arts Forains (translation: Museum of Fairground Arts). Bercy had a rejuvenation in the 1990s following a call for architects to find a way to repurpose the 1800s wine vaults into shops and cafés, but it remains a quiet area, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of tourist activity.

The museum, founded in 1996, is open via reservation only and when you get inside, you’ll see why. The space is filled with carnival rides, games, and ephemera dating from 18501950 and your tour guide not only describes what you’re seeing, but facilitates visitor use of the contraptions – fair warning: the bicycle carousel from 1897 is incredibly fast!

Tours last approximately one hour, and the guides do begin by checking for speakers of other languages, so they can explain the objects to you in a language you can understand.

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When you’ve experienced a bit of vintage mechanics, head back into central Paris for a visit to the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) and a deeper dive into the history of innovation. Don’t let the name fool you because the museum - founded in 1794 and displaying over 2,400 objects broken down into 7 categories - Scientific instruments, Materials, Energy, Mechanics, Construction, Communication and Transport – has a bit of something for every history buff. There are 1800s planes suspended from the ceiling, displays on the mechanics of the Victrola and original radios, early cars and bicycles, and even one of the first sewing machines. Don’t miss the section on vintage automatons – the self-operating figures that used to adorn bourgeois salons and shop displays.

reservations for tours must be made in advance.

After your full culture fix, you’ll likely need a bite to eat and possibly a tipple or two. It’s difficult to find a bad onion soup, poulet roti, or steak tartare, even at the most touristy or obscure places, but should you be after a bit of ambiance to go with your meal look no further than La Fermette Marbeuf. Their food is on the pricey side, but for a decadent treat it’s worth every cent. Sit in the 1900s room under the stained-glass ceiling and chandeliers for a real feeling of what it was like to dine 100 years ago. They’re temporarily closed

For a glimpse of the fine arts head to the Musée d’Orsay, housed in the old Gare d’Orsay train station.

Though it only opened in the 1980s, it is currently one of the largest art museums in the world, displaying paintings, decorative arts, and furnishings from the 1800s and early 1900s. While the collection itself is worth an extended visit, don’t forget to look around at the building itself. By the 1930s the station was little used as the short platforms couldn’t accommodate the long trains servicing the area. It had a short life as an outgoing parcel facility, and then was used to house liberated prisoners from WWII, before sitting empty until its transformation into the museum we see today.

Its partner museum – the Musée de l'Orangerie - is an equal beauty and worth a visit, especially with the discounted combined ticket you can purchase at either museum (pro tip: go to L’Orangerie first and get your ticket there as the lines are generally non-existent, and then you can bypass the long queues at d’Orsay!).

L’Orangerie’s claim to fame is the Monet Water Lilies murals. Created specifically for the museum, they are inset into the curved walls of the building, creating a 360° viewing experience which can’t be explained.

During WWII, many museums in Paris were moving their collections into hiding (the Mona Lisa famously had a secret life during this time), but the Monet works were built into the walls and so couldn’t be removed.

The museum sustained bomb damage, including one whole roof caving in, but thankfully the works survived unscathed and remain on view to this day.

Should you have the time and strength for one final arts adventure, head to Maxim’s restaurant in the 8th arrondissement. Maxim’s was founded in 1893 and is renowned for its Art Nouveau interior and exceptional chocolates, but what few people know is that the fashion designer Pierre Cardin started a museum “Collection 1900” in an apartment spanning three levels above the restaurant.

The spaces feature an outstanding collection of furnishings and clothing from the Belle Époque and can make you completely forget what time period it is outside the walls.

Note: the space is small and visitor numbers limited, so

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for a bit of an interior refresh (some of us do start to show our age eventually!) so don’t rush right there! But rest assured it will return, and in the meantime, you can get your taste of glam Art Nouveau at Le Train Bleu. Similar in grandeur to Maxim’s and La Fermette Marbeuf, you’ll feel like you're dining in Versailles under their painted and gold gilded ceiling, but be mere steps from the action in Gare de Lyon station.

For a less exorbitant meal, but still in fantastic surroundings, make your way to the Pigalle area and Pink Mamma. Climb the stairs featuring an amalgamation of paintings reminiscent

of any great junk shop and enter what appears to be a sun room from the early 1900s. Their mid-century modern bar features mirrors, gilding, and light fixtures to wow anyone, and the pasta and pizzas at this restaurant are out of this world. If you’re feeling lucky, head downstairs and through the corridor adjacent to their cold room and find your way into “No Entry” – their secret (and very pink!) lush speakeasy bar.

Should your love for all things vintage combine with a thirst for interesting cocktails then you must visit Lone Palm. The mid-century modern décor is reminiscent of the Palms Springs

While Paris is famed for designers like Dior, Chanel, and Gaultier, and unfortunately, a never-ending supply of kilo shops claiming to sell true vintage, there is still plenty of great affordable vintage to be found if you know where to look.

In the Marais and nearby 11th arrondissement you’ll find two of the best vintage shops in town – Mamz’Elle Swing and Chez PouPoule. Both are run by incredible people who are always friendly to chat with while you’re ogling the wares, and they don’t stock anything beyond 1960 so you know you’re getting quality clothing and accessories. Also, slightly further north in Montmartre is Mamie & Mamie Blue. Adjacent shops are both huge, and stock a variety of clothes, jewellery and other accessories from the 1920s to 1970s.

Of course, if you only have time for one thing, one must visit Les Puces (the fleas). Officially “Marché aux Puces”, or the “Puces de Clignancourt” or “Puces de Saint-Ouen”, Les Puces was the first antique market in the world. The rag-and-bone men of the 1800s used to pull bric-a-brac out of discarded trash and sell it at the local markets and, when faced with the idea of taxes within Paris city limits, they banded together just outside of the Clignancourt fortification and created the market. In the late 1800s the area was cleaned up to encourage visitors, and in the 1920s a covered stalls area with electricity was even added. The market continued to grow and today features more than 2500 dealers spread over 17 acres of land. Unfortunately, you must wade through the new markets of t-shirts and cheap electronics to get to the vintage heart of the market, which is mostly centred around Rue des Rosiers.

visited by Elvis Presley, but with much better cocktails! Grab a flaming tiki drink and if you’re lucky you’ll be there on a night when they have a DJ spinning the best vintage tunes.

If you’re in need of a final nightcap, then look no further than Maison Souquet. A turn of the century brothel-come-hotel (also handy if you want to treat yourself to a beautiful place to stay!) houses a secret bar with cocktails named for courtesans.

Once you’ve eaten, drank, and culturally imbibed all that Paris has to offer, the last thing for you to do is go shopping.

Marché Vernsaison is the most eclectic with your traditional selection of flea market finds, and usually the first one people encounter when arriving via the subway system. Take a snapshot of the large map outside the entrance (you’ll need it!) and head on in for adventure. Additionally, two shops just outside of the main markets worth seeking out are Chez Sarah off Rue Jules Vallès and Les Merveilles de Babellou on Rue Paul Bert, but if you only have time for one shop, head straight to the 1st floor of Marché Dauphine to Falbalas Aux Puces. Covering two stores and the adjacent walkways between them, the clothing and accessories they have span from the 1800s through to the 1960s and the quality is second to none in the city. The prices are incredibly affordable, and you’ll be amazed by the range of items on offer.

There will never be a conclusive, all-encompassing guide to a city like Paris. Each visit brings new experiences and surprises (this writer is still determined to find the unmarked deadstock vintage shoe store she stumbled upon once as it was an absolute dream!) and that’s what is ultimately so great about Paris. She’s the old friend you can always go back to, but just like any great city, she’ll never cease to have a few tricks up her sleeve. Bon voyage! ♦

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The Necia's Experience

by Ria Carruthers

I have been fortunate to know Sarah of Necia’s Hairstyling for a good few years now, and it is testament to her talent and character (and maybe her two doggies too!) that when my hair finds itself in the sorriest of states, I think nothing of making the 4-hour round trip from Oxford to her home in Derby, from where she runs her hairstyling and wig-making empire.

will be new to Sarah’s work. Over the past few years she has evolved from styling the hair of patients with dementia, with whom she used to work at Derby General Hospital, to being a session hairstylist for major fashion shows, hairdresser to Dita von Teese and Tess Holliday, and wig-maker to the stars. However, she does still make time to coiffure her former patients’ hair when she can!

I’m sure that only the smallest number of readers

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Sarah’s knowledge of and passion for original 1930s and 1940s hairstyles, shapes and techniques, along with her cutting and styling, is absolutely second to none. She is 100% faithful to the eras - there’s no exaggeration or ‘pinup-ising’ of her styles. Her mantra is that ‘it’s all about the brushout’ - and that’s certainly evident as you watch her work - quickly shaping what appears to be a fairly standard set into styles none of us mere mortals could hope to achieve! The photo series here shows the cut and set she did for me when I visited recently. While I usually opt for a 40s style, I fancied a 30s do this time, and she created this perfect style in less than an hour. With a hairnet, the set lasted at least 4 days!

The experience is made all the better by her stylish original orange vintage hairdressing chair,

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adorable and excitable dachshunds Humphrey and Chilli, and the colourful array of wigs-inprogress placed all around the room.

Her wigs, in contrast to her hairstyling work, are a full flight of fantasy. Inspired by the likes of Dolly Parton, Marie Antoinette and your mum in the 80s, in every colour you could imagine - and of course there is lots of 30s and 40s-inspired gorgeousness too. Clients include Bebe Rexha and Jinx Monsoon, as well as many, many others in the vintage, drag and fashion communities.

Make sure you are following Sarah’s Instagram for her hairstyling and wig work, along with plenty of incredible vintage inspiration! ♦ @neciashairstyling

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Style

by Olivia Jol

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