Category: Fashion

Jill In ’87

By the fall of 1987, I was well-acquainted with the new supermodel faces across my fashion magazines: Cindy, Linda, Naomi, etc. As I had curly hair at the time, I could relate to Jill Goodacre, whose mane poured down her neck with all of the high-volume tousles that a headbanging 1987 demanded. I think you will understand why Harry Connick Jr married her.

And this next one, well … I can’t even explain it. And that’s why this blog is called “I Don’t Get It.”

Nowadays, the 55-year-old has her straightened (as most of us do) for a more polished, less unruly look. She and Harry have been married for 25 years.

Hot Summer Trend: Sealskin Trouser Thigh Panel

Nat Geo, 10/49

This 70-year-old National Geographic states that the thigh panel on tight sealskin trousers are “a fashion must in Greenland.” Composed of bits of brightly-dyed leather in mosaic patterns, they add pop to any thighs, and compliment the two pounds of beaded collar forcing their shoulders down.

These Eskimo women are cited as Angmagssalik in the article. That’s a rough word, folks. You know how it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople nowadays? Well, in this case, it’s Tasiilaq, not the antiquated term Angmagssalik. So Tasiilaq it is!! If that’s too much for your brain on a Tuesday, I feel you.

 

 

More 1935 Goodness From West Texas

Today we continue with more amazing pics from West Texas Teachers College. I may not be a fan of West Texas, but I sure like their yearbooks.

The first image was captioned, “The Ruff Nex in Edmund.” Well, I tell you what, if I had been born during the first world war, I gladly would have joined one of these fellows for a ride in his Packard and a Clark Gable movie. And if it were the one second from the right, we might even go get a gin fizz afterwards.

The next foursome of gals were called “Four inmates of Randall Hall.” Did you ever see a group of folks more comfortable in their own skin? Again, remember to click to enlarge.

George and Rena

Willy and Dizzy
“Nonchalant Faulkner”

Return To 1935

Yesterday, we visited West Texas State Teachers College for a glimpse of campus life. As you can imagine, with images ranging in size from a stamp to a business card, the resolution can be sketchy. But amazingly, some images are crisp as a kettle chip. Feel free to click to enlarge.

 

So Maybe 1935 Wasn’t Entirely Unpleasant

Prohibition was over, yes. But the Depression was still in full swing, with 20% unemployment, compared to today’s 3.8%. Not being able to support a family might be a justifiable reason to drink, which probably contributed to the formation of a group called Alcoholics Anonymous that year. In addition, The Social Security Act was signed. Wikipedia fun facts include these bits of trivia:

  • Airplanes were banned from flying over the White House.
  • Porky Pig made his debut in Looney Tunes’s I Haven’t Got a Hat.
  • The world’s first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City. Really? OKC?
  • Humorist Will Rogers was killed when his plane crashed shortly after takeoff near Barrow, Alaska.
  • The China Clipper took off from Alameda, California to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean; the aircraft reached its destination, Manila, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail.

Meanwhile, fortunate young Americans still attended college, like these students at West Texas State Teachers College. As you know, my favorite parts of my many yearbooks are the candid shots. Many of them are only two inches high in brittle paper collages, but with the power of zoom, we can get a great sense of the campus culture.

Come back soon for more 1935 pics; this yearbook is a treasure trove!

When Your Skirt Is In Serious Need Of Ventilation

1939

Ladies, we’ve all had those moments when the air gets stale beneath our petticoats and we could go for a good “Seven Year Itch” subway grate moment. Get the air moving about a bit. But this is too much. Maybe model Lisa Fonssagrives was having a good braided hair day, a good make-up day, and wanted to get out and show her dress off. That, I get. Sometimes your hair is so on point that it demands social activity.

But hit the pubs, the restaurants, the gardens, perhaps the part of the Eiffel Tower that touches the ground. Maybe that was her intention. But then photographer Erwin Blumenfeld arrived on the scene.

And he said, “Just hear me out here, but I was thinking … What if you scaled the girders of the tower in your billowy Lucian Lelong dress–which is totally not a hazard in any way–sans harness, and just sort of hung on by one hand? Sound good?”

And she was all, “Why not?”

Badda-bing, badda-boom, the precursor to our current dangerous, extreme selfie culture.

Somehow, Lisa lived to the age of 80, not falling off a Parisian tower. She described herself as a “good clothes hanger.”

There’s A Heartbreak Beat, Playing All Night Long

Okay, y’all, there’s a lot to deal with here. First off, it says Motilde to me. That’s what my eyes see. But her name was Clotilde von Derp, an expressionist dancer who married another dancer but refused to take his name of Sakharoff. I would have taken that over Derp any day, but this was before derp was a thing.

If you ask anyone under 40 what a derp is, they’ll most likely think of this, which is a word for foolishness or stupidity.

But von Derp it was. And really, that’s just her pretend stage name. Her legit name was Clotilde Margarete Anna Edle von der Planitz. That’s a lot to embroider. Photographer Rudolph Duhrkoop took the pic in 1913.

Couldn’t you just fall into the heart patterns of her dress?

Here she is all pretzel with her man.

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