Woman And Home Magazine: May 1965

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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…

May 1965 Bri Nylon advert of a lady in a blue matching trouser set with a headscarf

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 children's a floral bri nylon dress

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

This & That | May 8

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vintage the wind in the willows book illustration

Hello Dear Readers, and happy Friday! I hope your week has been a good one. Lately I have been…

Reading:

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. This story was written in 1909, and the edition I got from our local library was an anniversary edition printed in 1959- look how lovely it is! The illustrations are by Ernest H. Shepard (the same artist as Winnie the Pooh) and they are so sweet. The story was too. Toad was, of course, the best character.

the wind in the willows vintage book spine

Loving:

Tulip bulbs, crocuses and new leaves are bursting forth! I can’t wait for them to bloom.

tulip leaves poking up out of the dirt

spring leaves unfurling

Making:

I made a pressed flower magnet with another one of those rings I got from the thrift store.

pressed flower magnet and altering t-shirt sleeves

Working on:

Altering the sleeves on some t-shirts. They didn’t have any colours I liked in the short sleeve tees, so I bought some of the long sleeve ones (on clearance) and shortened the sleeves to the length I like, using a twin needle. Sometimes knowing how to sew is nice.

new sewing room setup

We’ve also got a new sewing room set-up. The sewing space used to be in what is now my office/craft room, but it got moved into the spare room a couple of years ago. We were “temporarily” using a writing desk for over a year. Recently this desk came up in our church’s free group, and while were weren’t originally going to use it in the sewing room, it fits perfectly into the space!

Eating:

This weekend for Mother’s Day, we’re going to do a hot pot and cheesecake. Yum!

shirtwaist style dress at winners

Finding: 

….and passing on the “perfect” dress at Winners last week, since it didn’t fit properly (the armholes were too low and gaped). I was so sad it didn’t fit, but it’s given me some inspiration to sew something similar. Again, it’s a good skill to be able to sew and not have to rely on the way off-the-rack clothing fits!

Watching:

I love Crows Eye Productions, and their latest historical dress video about the 1930’s was such a lovely watch.

Sharing:

This dress that Laura Mae of Lilacs & Lace recently made was such an advanced project and it turned out so beautifully! She followed up by turning some of the scraps into coordinating shoe clips and hair combs to create the perfect ensemble.

And that is all for now, Dear Readers. I hope you have a lovely weekend!

crocus leaves coming up out of the ground

From Winter to Summer

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standing in front of a metal shed wearing a neutral toned outfit

One day it was Winter, and then we skipped right over Spring into Summer…at least that is what it feels like! It’s that weird time of year when you’ll have a blizzard with 6″ of snow, like we did last Saturday, and then a few days later, the snow is gone and it’s +20 out. And just where did the month of April go? Did it zip past you too?

The weather swings do make it a bit difficult to plan outfits, as well as deciding what to keep out and what to pack away for the season. My closet is a little full at the moment with multiple seasons of clothing out.

a quilted purse with wooden handles

This outfit was a fairly good mix; a nod to the cooler temperatures with the sweater and oxford shoes, and then the flower ring and the quilted fabric bag have a more summer weather feel to them.

Every time I try to add “more colour” into my wardrobe, I always end up pairing it back to these more muted tones. This outfit is the perfect match to the colours of nature at the moment, though; brown trees with catkins, grass starting turn green and blue skies.

spring outfit of muted brown and green tones

This is a new thrifted ring I got, mentioned in this post. It is not comfortable in the slightest, but I absolutely love it, and it’s totally worth it for fashion.

pressed flower brass ring

spring outfit with muted green and brown tones

kraken necklace

spring outfit of neutral tones

The grass is starting to turn green, the sun is shining and the tulips and irises are starting to come up…and I am so ready for it! Happy May 1st!

Are you in Spring where you live, or did you jump right into Summer? Do you struggle with seasonal wardrobe transitions?

neutral green, brown and blue toned outfit

A Sneak Peek at My Latest Sewing Project

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smoke blue shirtwaist dress made out of eyelet hanging on a vintage padded hanger

Well, I had hoped to have a better post this week, but this sneak peek of my first completed garment sewing project for the year will have to do. Every time I think I might be able to go outside and do a photo shoot, it starts to snow again. Today it’s a blizzard out there with high winds, so no outdoor photography today!

I started sewing this smoke blue eyelet dress years ago (McCall’s 6696) to wear to the Ladies’ Garden Tea in 2018, but ran into some difficulties, as usually happens with garment construction. So I sat it aside, and then it no longer fit, and the years went by, but I tried the bodice on a couple of months ago and it fit pretty well, so, it was time to resurrect the project.

milanote inspiration board of my sewing project

This is the inspiration board I made on Milanote with my ideas. Originally I had been planning for floor length and sleeveless, but then it morphed into sleeveless and knee length like Skeeter’s dress on the top left, from the film “The Help” (That dress of hers is my favourite in the film!). Then I decided I didn’t really want sleeveless, so then I considered elbow length sleeves like the turquoise shirtwaist dress I’m wearing in the bottom left. But as you will see in the sneak peek above, I didn’t really end up doing any of those sleeve options! The dress ended up with short cap sleeves with a narrow cuff. I had plenty of other ideas, including a keyhole with a tie, but this is the one that won out as after playing around with the mock-up I realized that a simple sleeve suited the shirtwaist collar of the dress the best.

Even though the inspiration board didn’t really end up being reflected in the final garment, it was still so helpful to have a place to collect all those images and write down all the ideas to keep track of them.

And to see what the dress looks like on…well you’ll just have to wait until the snow melts and Spring decides that it’s time to come out, and I then I can finally wear it!

Have you had a project that passes through many ideas before settling on one that looks nothing like your inspiration board? 

Blue Roses Tea Party to Welcome Spring

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a blue roses teacup paired with lemons and blueberry cake for spring

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, my mom and sister and I had a little tea party with a lemon cake and blueberries. Paired with a lemon printed table cloth and my blue roses tea set from my Gramma, it was a lovely, special treat.

Of course, we’ve had a lot more snow since then, and in fact woke up to six more inches this morning, so I guess it will be a while before Spring is well and truly here. But it was nice to enjoy a special afternoon tea anyways!

lemon cake and a blue roses tea set place setting

lemon cake with whipped cream and blueberries on top

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