What is more chic for Summer than the classic straw hat? With a rounded brim and soft golden colour, this piece is perfect for the season, no matter where you will be.
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So, it is already August 8th and I still never announced whether #myvintagecover is happening again this year. It is.
You can read here for more info (it’s exactly the same as last year: just insert 2018 instead of 2017). Oh and check out the instagram hashtag too- there are already lots of amazing posts. It’s been lovely seeing people join in! I was planning to only do one cover this year, because I wasn’t sure if I would have enough time to do another, but this one went together relatively quickly, so maybe I will get around to doing another one after all? Do you plan to join in and recreate a cover?
Happy New Years! Well, almost. In honour of the most glamorous time of the year, I thought it was a great opportunity to share these images from the McCall’s Treasury of Needlecraft, featuring some wonderful knitted and crocheted evening shawls and wraps.
Nowadays there seems to be a trend towards New Years parties where the guests are encouraged to wear pyjamas. This, Dear Readers is a tragedy. Not because pyjama parties aren’t loads of fun- they can be (although not my cup of tea), but because New Years is the most glitzy holiday of them all, and if you can’t wear a cocktail dress out on New Years, just really when are you going to wear it? So, I vote that this year, instead of continuing the trend towards casualness that our culture is embracing, if we are going out to celebrate, we instead don our most glamorous garments possible. Or, if you are staying in, your most glamorous housedress and robe 😉 To be honest, I am not going to be going anywhere on New Years Eve, so I’ll probably not be wearing anything very fancy that night. . .
Anyways, without further ado- some glamorous evening wear from the 1950’s!
I love the cape-like look to the one on the left.
This kind of looks like a table runner. . . but the rest of her outfit is glamorous, so I’ll forgive it. 🙂
Such a pretty zig zag pattern.
Which of the evening shawls and shrugs is your favourite? I personally really like the first picture, with the yellow dress and sparkly jewellery.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you have a Happy (and glamorous) New Year celebration however you spend it!
And just like that August is over, and with it the #myvintagecover 2017 too! But no challenge would be complete without a round up of participants, right? So today, I share with you the covers recreated by our lovely challenge participants. I was completely blown away by the creativity and attention to detail these ladies put into their cover reproductions. We had 11 participants, and I truly enjoyed seeing each of their reproductions. . . so I will quit rambling here, and let you see their covers!
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First up is Tanith, my co-host, and the mastermind of this entire challenge- without her, there wouldn’t have even been a challenge! She did three covers this month, and I truly enjoyed seeing each one. The first cover she did, with this yellow polka-dot turban (which she made especially to wear for this challenge) completely blew me away. I thought it was the original cover at first, when I saw it on her Instagram!
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Next up are two ladies who made vintage garments like the pattern envelopes. I thought that this was a fun way to take part, and still end up with something for your closet at the end!
Liza of @liza_made sewed a 1919 dress and turned it into a top. She has perfectly executed that original pattern illustration pose!
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Carmen of @vintagedreamblog and Vintage Dream Blog reproduced a 1940’s pattern, complete with a red rick-rack bow! You don’t often see someone sew a garment exactly like the pattern cover, so that is quite fun.
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Next is a cover that must have taken a lot of time to recreate. Robin of @auntieestablishment chose one of my favourite Vogue covers. I was hoping that someone would do this cover, but didn’t think anyone actually would. Her attention to detail with the pose, the makeup and even the ring, is quite amazing!
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One of the first covers to be tagged in the challenge is this lovely summery one from Margaret of @denisebrain_vintage (and Denise Brain Vintage Fashion). So many vintage magazine covers involve hats swathed in flowers, and I was really hoping that someone would do one! Her version, with that perfect winged liner, entirely lives up to the original!
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I love seeing reproductions of illustrations, because they can sometimes be very unrealistic and it can be difficult to achieve the same “look”. This vintage Cosmopolitan cover by @the_fondant_fancy (of Nought of Fifties Blog) is such a good recreation of an illustration. I don’t know how she did it, but it is so very similar to the original- she’s even got the expression down pat!
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Becca of @tobeadorned used one of her own lovely handmade flower crowns to recreate a Vogue wedding themed cover from 1956. I love that she did such a great job of imitating the original, right down to the pink lipstick and pearl earring. It’s the details that make the covers so fun to do!
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Another cover with a custom made piece of clothing is this one by @ruanne77. Back in July, she asked on Instagram which cover she should recreate, and shared two different covers she was choosing between. I was excited to see that she decided to do this fabulous colour block 1960’s dress; and she even shared a behind-the-scenes photo of the dress, which she did a wonderful job making. I was waiting with bated breath to see the final reveal, and we were not disappointed with it!
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This wonderful cover was created by Casey of @noirgirl39 (and Casey Koester blog). She chose this dramatic Harpers Bazaar cover, and at first glance, you would think it was the original cover! She’s got the pose, the makeup and hair, the scarf- and those killer sunglasses!
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This cover was done by my sister Sarah, of @therougedgirl. Since she loves makeup, (her Instagram is dedicated to it!) she decided to choose a cover with a distinctive makeup look to recreate. This 1970’s cover was a very good choice. Not only did she do an excellent job on the makeup- even getting the shimmer and shine in the same place- but her curly hair worked out perfectly too!
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And the last cover, but certainly not the least, is this one by Kelly of @seamracer (and Seam Racer blog). It is rather perfect that it was Kelly who recreated this one, because it is a 1955 McCall’s pattern book featuring none other than Grace Kelly! She shared in her post, that the dress in this image is the one Grace wore when she met Prince Rainier. The outfit is definitely princess worthy, and not only does she now have a gorgeous new dress; she also was able to recreate a cover at the same time!
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Edited to add Kate’s (of @thelonghairedflapper) cover recreation! For some reason this cover, which she did early in the month, is not showing up under the tag on Instagram, and so it got missed when I published this post. But it is too great to be missed, and so I am adding it now. As for the recreation, I love her idea of dressing up her cat. And, strangely enough this lady in this cover actually looks like a cat! 🙂
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Well, this was certainly a very fun month! I truly enjoyed seeing all of these cover recreations. Back in July, when Tanith and I announced the challenge, I didn’t know if anyone would join in with us, and I am so glad we had so many wonderful participants! Not only did I get to see their magazine covers; I also got to discover some new lovely vintage ladies to follow 🙂
So what do you think; should My Vintage Cover become an annual thing now?
A Fall fashion forecast: Camel is the colour of choice for the season, and a simple palette of soft earthy browns suits the approaching cool days of Autumn. Don’t eschew style in favour of practicality though; dress for the season in a classic fur collar and cashmere coat. Fur is always chic, and always in style.
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This, my last cover for the month of August and for #myvintagecover, might just be my favourite cover so far! I saw this Vogue October 1960 cover a while ago, and thought that it would be relatively simple to execute, since it mainly consists of a large fur collar. I do happen to have a fur collar, though it is not as luscious as hers is, and the rest of the look relied mainly on the makeup. The makeup for this cover was actually quite quick, since I only did one side of my face. 😉 But, I think the main reason that I like this one so much, is because as terrible as the original picture looked (in need of colour correction and with makeup on only one side!), it is the cover that has turned out most like the original image.
Well, it’s been fun to do so many covers this past month; I wasn’t sure how many I would end up being able to finish. There are only three days left to August (where did the time go!?) so I was glad to squeeze this one in before the end of the challenge. I still plan on continuing with covers here occasionally, as they are just so much fun to do. I also came across so many covers this month that I want to try and recreate, but ran out of time for, so I’ll be trying them out in the future.
If you want to take part in the challenge, there are still a few days left to post your images. And, if you want to post to the instagram tag after August, we won’t stop you 😉
If you add only one accessory this season, let it be the turban. Hearkening eras past, yet undeniably of-the-minute, the turban is the piece for easy and elegant simplicity.
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And today we have my second Vogue cover for the month of August, and the My Vintage Cover challenge! I am feeling ambitious and might get another one finished this week (or I might not). This Vogue April 1968 cover was an interesting one to do, because the look relied so much on the makeup and the expression on her face; and I don’t know if I succeeded very well on either of those fronts! Because the image is so very desaturated and extremely contrasted, the colours made it difficult to see exactly what is going on with the makeup. Does she actually have a double eyeliner, or is that a shadow? Also, apparently my mouth is incapable of moving in the way she has opened hers (lots of laughter and outtakes while trying to mimic her expression!)
But, despite the challenges, I am happy with the result! It’s all supposed to be in fun, not an exact replica. While it’s great to sometimes put a lot of time into recreating something exactly like the original, sometimes it is also nice to do a more relaxed imitation.
If you have been hesitating to join in with our challenge, I would encourage you to jump in! We’ve had several people use the hashtag on Instagram, and I would love it if you would also join in the fun! If you are stuck for ideas on what to recreate, you can see my post here, with some “easier to recreate” covers, or check out my co-host Tanith’s post here. There’s still time before the end of August- I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
