vintage fashion moments

all posts that feature vintage fashion magazines, books and other vintage fashion images

May 14, 2026

Woman And Home Magazine: May 1965

Nicole vintage fashion moments fashion history, fashion moment, vintage, woman and home 6 Comments

front cover of the May 1965 issue of Woman and Home magazine

Today let’s take step back 61 years into the past and browse through the May 1965 issue of Woman and Home magazine. Launched in 1926, this British lifestyle magazine is still being published today, but, of course, I am more interested in the vintage fashion and beauty! I’ve already shared in the past the article on “Terylene holiday fashions” in this post, but today I’ve got the adverts in the rest of the magazine.

So here is what subscribers got in their mailbox 61 years ago…

There are always several nylon advertisements. I do not like wearing synthetic fibres, so I couldn’t have lived happily through these decades, but the floral prints, like this girls’ dress below are superb!

May 1965 advert for Bri Nylon yarn to make a blue cardigan

Lovely purses. I used to have one very similar to the centre bottom one, but it wasn’t big enough to hold my phone and other essentials so I sold it. Modern day problems!

may 1965 handbag styles

This illustration is from a “complete story” by Phyllis Hambledon published that month. I love the coat and the 1960’s hair flip with heavy bangs!

fur coat illustration from the Woman and Home May 1965 magazine

Oh… and here is an ad showing how you can get that iconic 60’s hairstyle yourself.

May 1965 advert for Pin Up hair product

Another ad, this time for Melaware, also featuring that mid-60’s hair and makeup look.

Melaware ad from May 1965

max factor makeup ad from May 1965

1965 woman and home woolen outfit

May 1965 twin set out of yellow yarn

The secret to the smooth look, below.

1965 ads for girdles

And a couple of ads for housewares featuring ladies wearing some great loungewear and house dresses, such as this lace kaftan dress.

ad for 1965 carpet with a lady wearing a lace housedress

One chenille Vantona bedspread for me, please!

May 1965 chenille bedspread

And finally on the back cover, below, a peacock chair and a pretty shift dress.

Which was your favourite?

may 1965 back cover of Woman and Home magazine

January 22, 2026

A Fashion Moment With Rowan’s Designer Knitting Collection 1987

Nicole vintage fashion moments fashion history, fashion moment, knitting 0 Comments

a woman walking down a lane wearing a handknitted coat

Years ago I bought this 1987 Rowan’s Designer Collection Summer & Winter Knitting book at the thrift store because I wanted a book I could use as a base for scrapbooking. Well, I got the book home, took a closer look at it and realized that it would not be turned into a scrapbook because some of the knits in this book are actually really cool!

The 1980’s is one of my least favourite decades of fashion: big hair, giant shoulder pads, and an oversized silhouette. But of course, that is just the trends. As through all times in history, including today, the fashions don’t always suit every body, although that doesn’t stop people from wearing those items. Quite a few of my favourite clothing pieces are from the 1980’s and it all comes down to the way you style them. I mean, there were also ugly and unflattering things in the 1920’s and the 1950’s.

A lot of the pieces in this book definitely fall into the oversized everything category, and are not silhouettes or even styles I am drawn to, but they are also very “fashion forward”. So, even though I wouldn’t personally wear any of the knits in this book (absolutely none of them suit my body type, or my style) I think they showcase such incredible talent and design. As well as featuring some beautiful, atmospheric photography!

There is a bit of 1980’s resurgence going on right now among the “younger set”, so here’s some 1980’s designer knitting inspiration in case you are feeling drawn to that look yourself.

rowan's summer winter knitwear book

I really like this tunic and skirt combination, above.

I like the composition of this photograph, above.

Which one was your favourite?

October 8, 2024

Woman and Home Magazine November 1966: Beauty

Nicole vintage fashion moments fashion moment, makeup, vintage, woman and home 0 Comments

1966 image of a woman wearing bold eye makeup

Today I’ve got some more images from the November 1966 issue of Woman and Home magazine. These images are predominantly beauty focused, although some of them feature fashion as well. I shared some more fashion images from this magazine in this post. While some of these images feature 1960’s clothing as well, they have very distinctive makeup and hair trends!

The image above is an ad for writing paper, but the model is wearing such an iconic 60’s makeup and hair look. We often think of the “Twiggy” eyelashes when we think of the 60’s, but I think the makeup above evokes that feeling, while being much more wearable. It’s bold and still very “eyelashy”, but the eyelashes aren’t drawn on and, contrasted with the model’s dark hair, the heavy liner works really well.

1966 women wearing nylon tunic dresses and bold eye makeup

This one, above, is so good too. Definitely appealing to a younger audience (the ad refers to “girls”, not women) this one features the tunic dress silhouette, synthetic fabric, big earrings, bold eye makeup and one of the models also has a pixie cut. So many trends all in one ad!

1966 beauty ad from woman and home magazine

1966 woman and home beauty ad

Some more with the iconic 60’s eyelashes, but the one above is toned down quite a bit, and looks as though it’s achieved with just mascara. The sculptural hair in this ad is crazy too!

1966 ad for stockings and wool clothes

The ad on the left is really going for that Sophia Loren style with the pointy cat eyeliner shape! The one below also has that same winged eyeliner look. The 1960’s really was all about the eyes.

overnight cream ad from 1966 featuring a woman wearing bold 1960's makeup

1966 woman and home fashion and beauty ads

And finally, this ad, below, is not for beauty products, but features the place where it all happens. I love the pretty floral fabric!

Which 60’s makeup look do you prefer? The “mod” Twiggy look or the Sophia Loren winged shape? Or neither?

1966 ad for a dressing room with a woman sitting in front of a vanity mirror

October 4, 2024

Woman and Home Magazine November 1966: Fashion

Nicole vintage fashion moments 1960's, fashion moment, vintage, woman and home 0 Comments

Woman and Home magazine from November 1966 featuring an image of a woman wearing a knitted pink dress

The air is decidedly crisp and the leaves are falling to the ground, so I think it’s time to share some seasonally appropriate vintage 1966 fashions from the Woman and Home magazine. This issue is from November 1966 and features quite a few images, so I’ve divided them into two categories: today I’m sharing fashion and then I’ll share the beauty images in another post. So, read on for some vintage cold weather style!

woman and home magazine spread showing precut suits for fall in a variety of colours

First up, these pre-cut suits! This is such a neat trend that went out when fast fashion came in: the pre-cut garment. You used to be able to buy these in catalogues such as Sears too, and was a great way to get a perfect fit if you had the skills to finish it yourself. In this issue of Woman and Home, there are six colours of suits to choose from and surprisingly, only a couple of them are what we’d consider “Fall” colours. Unlike today when it’s hard to find colours outside the trending colours of the moment!

1966 image of a lady wearing a pink knitted dress with a belt tie

The cover image of a pink sweater dress is featured here again and looks quite lovely. Compare the silhouette of this dress to the next two…

1966 wool ad for a sweater dress tunic

sarille ad from 1966 with a handdrawn illustration of a woman in a red tunic dress

You can definitely see they are trying to appeal to a younger, trendier demographic in these ads! You can see how by the mid 1960’s there was definitely a transition away from the more mature and proper fashions of the 1950’s to the looser “mod” style.

two images of women wearing 1960's dresses

And here we are back at the more “mature” styles. The one on the left is a carpet ad, but since she’s dressed to the nines to sit on it, I had to share it!

1966 mother and child wearing matching mod winter coats

The children’s and adults dresses look the same in this era.

audrey hepburn outfits in 1966

And finally, an article about Audrey Hepburn featuring some very stylish Givenchy garments. I love that Givenchy clothed Audrey Hepburn in most of her movies because she made the clothes look so good. Interestingly, four of them were available in sewing patterns, so you could get the look for yourself! Here is a blog post I found which showcases them all. Very cool! Though I don’t wear it very much myself, I absolutely love this era of fashion.

That’s all for this post and next time I will share the beauty related images from this magazine, which feature some very recognizable 60’s makeup trends.

Which outfit is your favourite? Do you prefer the “mature” 1960’s silhouette or the “mod” 1960’s look?

Audrey Hepburn 1966 clothes by givenchy

January 23, 2024

A Fashion Moment With Woman And Home: April 1965

Nicole vintage fashion moments advertisement, fashion history, fashion moment, vintage 0 Comments

woman and home april 1965 issue cover with a woman in a knit pink sweater and skirt

Years ago I found a stack of these vintage UK Woman and Home magazines at the thrift store. I only bought a few of them and I’ve always kind of wished that I’d gotten some more. Anyway- there are lots of great vintage advertisements in them. (I’ve shared some other Woman and Home pages in the past here and here) The best and worst thing about vintage magazines are the ads: they are simultaneously great and hilarious…. and depressing. In this issue, for example, there was an ad for Walpamur Emulsion paint with insecticide in it that boasts “No fly can settle on this paint and live”. Despite their claims to the contrary, I think that no child could touch that paint and live either. But I digress.

This April 1965 edition featured a 20 page pullout with knitting patterns, an article about Terylene dresses available to purchase, several hairdressing ads with great 60’s hairstyles, and quite a few Bri Nylon advertisements. Ah yes, the introduction of synthetic materials- too bad we never came out on the other side of that trend.

vintage 1965 knitwear of an olive green dress and sweater set and a yellow skirt and white top