Frida Kahlo Meets Eddie Munster
Category: Fashion
Football Stadium Barely Large Enough To Contain This Level Of Fabulous
The fabulous Martha Cartwright, 1949’s Sweetheart of the University of Texas, chats with poor-man’s Gregory Peck, clearly not ready for this jelly. Woman at right seems to concur. So not ready for that jelly.
Any beauty queen worth her mettle knows you have to bring in spring with some drama. Martha liked to walk the rock wall in her kelly green frock. Supermodel, work.
Thankfully, she still had time to clown around at the SMU game with Ace, Phyllis, and John. What a ham!
Ladies Of Horn Hall 1952
Are two of these grown women holding a fake poodle and a fake dachshund in their laps? Note their reactions to having “a record” explained to them by Bossypants McGee.
“Don’t nobody touch my Coke.”
Okay. I’m concerned now. I don’t think those dogs are legit. Is she petting the poodle?
Unicorn Fabulous
Too Much Powdering Your Nose
I love this image. The little collars and cardigans, skirts and mod flips, the coiled phone cord, the more mature, white-nosed woman whose fingers cover the “ic” so that it reads just Panhellen. I like to think that’s her name. Panhellen. Brilliant!
Sun-Dried Tomatoes As Accessory
Life Goes For The Jugular
Not only does this 1949 Life article on model Brynn Noring (aka Brynhild Andrea Johnson) dis her “simple outfit” as too pedestrian to help her would-be movie career, but offers a double dis to the diminutive, sphere-shaped fellow waddling in the background.
And who could argue the point? Heels, gloves, long skirt, necklace–it reeks of laziness. Like she threw it on just to go pick up skim milk at Wal-Mart.
And as to the patron of the Fat Men’s Shop, my mind immediately went to Oliver Hardy, pictured here with Stan Laurel.
And hey, you guys, did y’all know that Hardy lost quite a bit of weight at the end of his life? Yup. He went on a crash diet and died of a stroke the following year. Check out this last pic of the twosome.
Freshmen Beanies
You Bet I’ll Hang The Housework
You can bet Dad takes coffee breaks at his office job, so why not Mom? After all, nothing tastes or smells as good as coffee. Before happy hour, that is. And Mom works super hard.
“Such a mellow, bracing drink.” Yes, that’s exactly how I feel about it. Just like invigorating sea air.
You know, before there was texting or internet or TV after 10pm, America had a lot of time on its hands. Time to read 500-word ads on products they already used. And they appreciated informational tidbits that didn’t require an encyclopedia.
Yep, that’s exactly how happy blonde senoritas dressed as they picked coffee beans, in off-the-shoulder frocks and matching handkerchiefs. Apple-pickers set the precedent back in the 1940s. See for yourself how put-together this lady is. Why, even her roots look good!
I better start accessorizing when I go rip figs off our tree out back. I’ve really dropped the ball on that one.
Homecoming Mum On Freckle-Faced Football Fan
Wearing mums to homecoming football games is huge tradition in Texas. Mums are expensive and heavy and attention-getting, and I recall hearing ones adorned with tiny metal footballs jangling on tassles as various nifty mum-recipients made their ways down the halls. Like these feathered-hair, Jean Nate-smelling girls in the mid 80s, brimming with prosperity and popularity.
And what if you didn’t have a mum to tote around from class to class ALL DAY LONG on that relentlessly endless Friday of the homecoming game? Well, look in the mirror. That absence of three feet of ribbon on your chest spells L-O-S-E-R. It’s how they separate the wheat from the chaff.
And don’t forget about the male accompaniment. This fellow is sporting the matching homecoming “garter,” just for boys. He’s pepper to her salt. Maybe that “M” is for mum?
And it’s still a big deal now, my friend, as you can see down below. What you CAN’T see is what they’re wearing underneath all that mumminess!
In the words of Men At Work, I’d have to say these silvery white mums are “overkill.” Ten dollars says they’ll have nacho cheese on them by the third quarter.
Weird Way To Hail A Cab
Dolly Parton Tilted Conehead
Despite the Rocky Horror Magenta lookalike, this wasn’t even Halloween; just another day in 1972.
I Don't Get It 