Top 5 Vintage Shops in York

This autumn I am planning a short trip to the UK. I will be going to York again and, naturally, I'm very excited to visit my old haunts. So I decided to post these lists of my favorite places to shop for vintage in York.

Bowler Vintage 
52 Fossgate

This is by far my favorite store of the lot. Not becasue it has the best wares, but becasue how stylish it is. Every time I'm there I just feel instantly glamorous. Even if I hadn't washed my hair and I'm wearing my lazy day jean, when I step over the threshold, I become Bette Davis or Norma Shearer. There are two floors to the store, first one is dedicated to men's fashions, and the second has a collection of modern repro clothing (they've got all the usual suspects with Hell Bunny, Collectif and Dancing Days by Banned) as well as vintage pieces. And the atmosphere is lovely - the store is bright, with a lovely old display that contains accessories, wooden chairs, low hanging lampshades and bag-scarf-hat combos decorating the shelves.

Dog & Bone Vintage 
28 Castlegate

While I love Bowler Vintage for the atmosphere, I love Dog & Bone for the stuff. And, boy, do they have some nice stuff! It's also two floors of shopping delight. The ground floor has men's clothes and lifestyle things - cards, games, cups and books. You need to go into the basement to see the women's clothes, and they have plenty. The lights are low and it's a lot more crammed, but they do have some of the best vintage dresses I have ever seen from blue chiffon prom dresses (perfect for cosplaying 1950s Cinderella) to delightful novelty prints cotton frocks that seem to be from the days of rationing.

The Flax & Twine 
20 Shambles

This is what I would call a bric-à-brac store. It has an assortment of the most wonderful things from old typewriters to parasols, from hats and purses to little brushes to remove crumbs from your dining table. I cannot recommend this place enough! You can spend your whole day there looking at little treasures and once you're tired of that, you can head to the second floor and take some tea with cake in their cafe. I am still very sad that I bough nothing there since the things were either too big or too brittle to transport them back home with me.

Expressions 
12 Walmgate

This store was on my regular to-visit list since it was right next to the bus stop that took me to the University. They mostly have the usual rockabilly stuff, which did not strike my fancy. I did, however, feel very drawn to an assortment of sweaters, which had been made by the owner's wife based on authentic 1940s patterns.
   
Sue Ryder Care 
28 Goodramgate

I loved this thrift store (or as they call it in the UK - a charity shop). Unlike most other thrift stores in town that had a pretty indifferent collection of old Marks & Spencer sweaters and ugly shows from the early 2000s, Sue Ryder had a vintage section on the second floor and some of the things there were divine. I have come across some really beautiful hairbrush and mirror sets that were in good condition and cost a fraction of what you would have paid for them in the vintage stores. I bought a pair of cream colored embroidered gloves there. I would have bought a hat, but I had no way of transporting it back home.    

Hope you liked this post. In my next one, I will list my favorite York cafes.

Retro Photo Session with Shipr

My aunt gave me a wonderful birthday present - a photo session with the retro studio "ШИПР" (Pronounced shipr). These guys are amazing. It's a studio in Moscow where they take pictures using equipment from the early 20th century.

There is no photoshopping involved. Instead, you have a very old camera and a makeshift dark room. They develop the photos right in front of you, in dishes full of chemicals. You can also see them at festivals doing street photography and you can hire them to do events.

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My sister took the pictures of the process. I had two outfits, one that was more 1950s and the other a very 1940s look.

Outfit notes:

Dress - Olivia Rogue 

Gloves - thrifted 

Shoes - Miss L Fire
Stockings - H&M

Outfit notes:
Blouse - Collectif
Trousers - Indiska, from a few years ago
Shoes - Keds

The photo record of the process by Maria K.

The results were delightful! I feel just like an actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

 

Great Superheroines of the Past

Image via Jason Ratliff

The other week I went to see the Wonder Woman. And boy-oh-boy, did I enjoy it! Growing up I mostly read the Batman family comics, Batgirl and Birds of Prey being my favorites, but Wonder Woman with her Greek mythology backstory (I admit to being a huge mythology nerd) and really fun powers (lasso of truth, anyone?) always had a special place in my heart.

And to see her for the very first time on the big screen was exciting. I'm not going to lie, I did bounce up and down in my seat when I saw the Amazons riding out on to the beach (that's as spoiler-y as this post is going to get, I swear). But it got me thinking, there are so many wonderful comic book superheroines of yesteryear that are all but forgotten. So I thought I'd put together a list of my favorite vintage ladies who kick butt. This is not a an exhaustive list by any means, but I thought I'd pick the ones I think would make for great movies or TV shows. And though not all of them have super powers, they are all pretty super.

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Black Cat
Possibly my absolute favorite of the vintage comic book crime fighting gals. Black Cat aka Linda Turner is a stunt woman who becomes a Hollywood actress. But she is bored with the glamorous life of a starlet and when on a picture she encounters possible Nazi spies, she puts on a costume and uses her stunt woman training to bring evil doers to justice. With Old Hollywood setting and a lot of stunts, this would make for a great movie. 

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Zaza the Mystic
Before there was the Mentalist, there was Zaza the Mystic. Zaza is a fortune teller and a psychic. Or is she? Her friend and admirer Lt. Bob Nelson cannot quite tell. Zaza seems to be able to predict the future and she uses this gift to help Bob solve crimes. Perhaps the source of this gift is just a keen eye and intuition, but maybe there's more to it. This would make a great TV show à la the Mentalist.

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Girl Commandos
I'm cheating a bit here, because the Girl Commandos are not one  but five brave ladies. But no list of this kind can be complete without them. This title is unique even by today's standard because of its incredible diversity. The team consists of Pat Parker, the leader of the group, Ellen Billings, her second in command, Tanya, a photographer from the Soviet Union, Penny Kirk, an American radio reporter, and  Mei-Ling from China who joins the group to avenger her family who had been killed by the Japanese. Though there is some stereotyping in how the characters are portrayed,they are still shown with respect, their opinions are valued by other members of the group and there are no cruel jokes at their expense. I would love to see this group in a movie or a TV show, going behind enemy lines on daring rescue missions or foiling the plans of saboteurs.

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Phantom Lady 
Sandra Knight, daughter of the Senator Henry Knight, is dissatisfied with a life of a socialite. And so she starts fighting crime as Phantom Lady using her martial arts skills and a blacklight ray that can blind her opponents or make her invisible. She must have had some other magic to go with the ray since even though she did not usually wear a mask no one seemed to recognize her. She also had some of the best named foes - Subway Slayer, anyone? I would love to see her in a TV show fight crime and corruption in Washington.     

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Senorita Rio
She shares some similarities with the Black Cat: Rita Farrar is also a Hollywood star and a former stunt double. She is a spy and uses her acting abilities, fighting skills and extensive knowledge of languages to infiltrate enemy cells in Central and South America. I honestly do not know why there isn't a TV show about her. It would be perfect - glamour, action and adventures.  

There are more, so many more unstoppable heroines. If you want to learn about the super ladies of the pasts I can recommend Mike Madrid's Divas, Dames & Daredevils: Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics (if you want to find out about vintage female villainy, there's also Vixens, Vamps & Vipers: Lost Villainesses of Golden Age Comics) or Hope Nicholson's The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History. Do you have a favorite vintage female heroine that you would want to see in a film or a TV show? Let me know.    

Summer Wardrobe Inspiration from 1946

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely ready for the summer. Yes, I know it's July. But around here it's about 15 degrees. Which means that all I can do is fantasize about the perfect summer wardrobe, while wrapping myself up in three layers of wool. Fortunately, here is Alexis Smith, star of Gentleman Jim (1942) and Here Comes the Groom (1951), to give us her fashion advice. The photos and descriptions are from Screenland magazine from July 1946.

Clothes for fun in the sun should be gay, says Alexis. She lives up to her convictions in this off-white print frock with bands of brilliant red edging the front closing and skirt, which is slashed at either side.   

Black and white stripes make a gay summer frock, topped with huge cartwheel accessories with dotted veiling. From Saks Beverly Hills. 

 Star of Warners' "One More Tomorrow" selects her favorite play suit to model for us. The long-sleeved blouse of aquamarine and white striped rayon may be combined with a white shark-skin shorts or the nicely cut skirt.  

Brown and white print, styled with an unusual flange drape, fashions this becoming tow-piece dress which Alexis enhances with a long brown jersey gloves and saucy burnt-straw sailor.   

Black and white for the beach is always dramatic and daring and especially smart with white pique edging as carried out in this suit from Catalina. The shorts have an apron front and back. 

Lounge pajamas of black jersey trousers have a have a deep U-necked bare midriff top, which is reversible, showing white and black stripes on one side, and green and white on reverse.     

I love all the outfits, but the my personal favorites are the black and white stripe dress - check out the buttons on that one; the play suit with the white and aquamarine striped blouse - that would look so pretty on the beach; and the lounge pajamas - I really love the reversible top, you get two tops in one.

 Which is your favorite?     

Vintage Market Finds and a Few Extras

I went to wonderful event the other week - York Does Vintage. It's a great vintage fair in a beautiful Merchant Adventurers' Hall. The medieval guildhall itself is worth a visit, and during the fair you can get a pretty good look around and the entrance fee is reduced.

The fair itself has a lot of great vendors. There's usually tea and cakes being served by one of York's many outstanding cafes. And there's some live music and possibly some workshop - last time it was decoupage.

I've been to a few of them, and I always come back with something pretty. I want to share a few of my finds from the fair and then a couple of things I got from here and there.

I am absolutely in love with this red silk Laura Ashley blouse (I apologize for the quality of the photos, I don't have a proper camera ATM). It's not a true vintage, but it can be styled in a few ways to give it a distinct 1940s look. I can see it with a pencil skirt for a glamorous seductive look or with a a pair of high-waisted trousers for a more day-to-day style.

This beaded belt with a thistle is gorgeous. I was quite surprised that none of the beads were missing. I think I would wear it with something light and flow-y.

I also got this lovely Stratton compact with tiny black birds. I started collecting compacts recently, and since I love everything bird related, I could not pass it by. I could not date it, but I found it on Etsy and the seller there suggests that it was made between 1960-68.

Finally, from Sue Ryder I got a pair of lovely soft cream colored gloves. I think they are divine with the little flower embroidery. And from an antique book store I picked up this book on how to be the perfect 1930s host or hostess. It's an eye opener and I will share many of the delightful tidbits of information from it really soon.

That's all for now. Until my next shopping spree.            

Beauty Tips from the 1940s

I found these wonderful beauty tips in Teen-Age Diary Secrets comic book from 1949. I love old comic books, and I will be posting a lot more of them here in the future. Romance comics were a particularly popular genre after WWII. Some of the earlier stuff can be pretty racy. Those oriented towards a female readership often carry articles about beauty, personal daintiness and social graces. Some are interesting, some are entertaining, and some are unintentionally hilarious. This post is about tips that are actually some what useful today. 

The advice on nails is pretty good. My nails are a little on the boxy side and I have used this technique to slim them down and give them an illusion of length (sorry, no pictures at present. I haven't got any nail polish right now).     

Most of us have used a hair band at least at some point in our life, but it seems that in the 40s this was something of a novelty. Though, I would not recommend using an actual rubber band. It can damage your hair. Also, I have never been a "barber at heart" and so cannot say much about this hair cutting technique. Please let me know if you have used a razor and what were the results.    

These days it seems more common to pick out a lipstick based on your skin tone. But next time I'm buying one, I will definitely think more about the lighting. As per this tip, something like this would be appropriate for evening wear:

NARS semi matte fuchsia

While this would be more suitable for daytime ware:

Yves Saint Laurent Orange Indie

Film Review: Stage Door (1937)

I've been sick for the better part of the week. And when I'm sick, I like to watch a lot of movies. It was then very fortunate that I came across the delightful 1937 Stage Door on BBC iPlayer. Starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, the film tells the story of trials and successes of aspiring actresses who all live in a boarding house in New York City. It has it all - sparkling humor, biting wit, Ginger Rogers dancing, the glamour of the stage, the tragedy and poverty backstage, and, of course, the delectable late 1930s fashions.

Plot: Hepburn plays Terry Randall, a rich girl, who wants to see if she has what it takes to become an actress. She is determined, pragmatic and maybe just a little too entitled. All this doesn't sit too well with the other aspiring actresses at the Footlights Club boardinghouse where Terry lodges. She and her new roommate Jean Maitland (Rogers) develop an amusing love/hate relationship that leads to a lot of comedic moments. The other inhabitants of the boardinghouse are the shrewd Linda Shaw (Gail Patrick), the fragile and tragic Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds), and the endearingly goofy Judy Canfield (Lucille Ball). Terry gets a part in a new play, but acting turns out to be harder than she had thought. It takes a real tragedy to make her into an actress.

There is a lot of humor in the film, but there's also a lingering sense of doom over the young women in the house. Like All About Eve, one of my all-time favorite films, Stage Door may be glitzy and glamorous, but underneath all this there are some hard questions - will Terry's success last or will she be forgotten by the next season? Are the other girls going to find their big break or will they have to give up and marry? Will they live out the rest of their lives in obscurity and relative poverty?

One of the things I especially love about this film is that it centers on women, their lives and their goals. Unlike other movies about women that are really about men (yes, I'm looking at you The Women 1939), Stage Door does not try to hammer in the point that a woman's best role is that of wife and mother. In fact, marriage seems to be treated as failure and near tragedy, while men are obstacles, rather than heroic saviors. One of the more prominent male parts in the film is the smarmy producer Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou). He is as close as this film gets to a villain. Even though he is rather pompous and silly, his predatory behavior shows clearly what the women have to put up with to succeed in the theatrical world.  

Hepburn is delightful as Terry. She bring the dry wit and sophistication that this part really needs. Terry does come off as rather entitled and too posh at times. The scenes where she quarrels with the director and the writer of the play she had been cast in are truly cringe-worthy. But she learns her lesson in the end.

Rogers as Jean is fresh, bright and sparkling (sometimes literally). Her comedic timing is impeccable and she delivers some of the funniest lines in the film. But she also has her moments of gravitas as she contemplates her future and the future of the other girls in the boardinghouse.

Miss Luther (Constance Collier) is one of my favorite characters. She is played for laughs as an aging actress who is trying to become an acting coach and insists that the girls need theatrical training. The audience is meant to laugh at her, but she's not wrong. Terry's main problem is that she assumes that acting is somehow innate. The film makes a broader point that the tragedy of show business is that it's more about being liked by powerful men like Anthony Powell rather than having talent. But I'm still with Miss Luther on this one, those girls should at least know a little bit of Shakespeare.

Needless to say, the outfits in the film are wonderful. The costume designer was Muriel King.

The Battle of the Mink Coats. Jean and Linda are deliciously antagonistic.

I just love this polka dot romper. I really need to make this for myself.

This hat gets a lot of hate from the girls at the Footlights Club boardinghouse. But I think the outfit just screams chic Doctor Zhivago.

Oh, that hat! That purse! That coat! That...dress?  Oh, Jean, no!

A lot of the outfits in the film are more stylish day-to-day stuff rather than glamorous gowns. I love Jean's blouse and high waisted trousers combo, but Linda's dress with the half-turban and the sash are delightful in their pretentious sophistication.  

Judy's suit is really fun, but Jean, once again, wins me over with the blouse and high waisted skirt with suspenders. Also, ukulele.   

I'm just really partial to pajamas. Maybe it's becasue I live in a cold climate and therefore find pretty, impractical PJs to be the pinnacle of fashion. I really love Terry's dress, too.    

Here's a better picture of Terry's lovely dress. It's very no-nonsense, just like her, with just a touch of see-through chiffon to show that she has a soft, vulnerable side, too.

In the end, Stage Door is a wonderful movie that you can watch again and again. The acting is great and the dialogue feels authentic and honest. And it's all about girls doing it on their own.