Sharon

The Blue Devils in crisp linen suits

thebluedevilssaxophonesection1932withlesteryounginthemiddle

The Blue Devils were a Kansas city jazz band in the 1920s and 30s, and above we have a photograph from 1932 of the saxophone section (Theo Ross and Buster Smith) welcoming their newest member, Lester Young, in the middle. For jazz fans, other big names that were in the band included Hot Lips Page, Bill ‘Count’ Basie and Jimmy Rushing. If you don’t know who any of those guys are, no problem – just look at how fine those 1930s suits are! Freshly pressed three-piece linen suits, and look at the details! Jazz orchestras knew how to dress. Perfectly matching down to the ties, the shoes, even the pocket handkerchiefs. And look closely, Lester is even holding a pipe.

Photo from ‘Jazz: A History of America’s Music’ by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns.

Helen ‘Curl’ Harris

This lovely lady is Helen ‘Curl’ Harris – an original Swing Fashionista! She was an entrepreneur at a time when women (let alone African-American women) were a rarity in business. A self-made graduate of the Skidmore Vocational School and the Philadelphia Charm and Model School, she ran and operated numerous beauty businesses in Philadelphia (Curl’s Beautyrama, Curl’s Beauty Salon and Charm Service, and Curl’s Moderne Beautyrama) as well as created her own line of make-up and hair products. Ella Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker were among her clients.

Source: Emory University Library via Omega418’s Flickr Stream

1939 Jitterbugs in Color

I just posted this video up on my personal blog, where I was geeking out about the 1939 New York World’s Fair. But I thought the Swing Fashionistas might be interested in it also, because it’s color footage of everyday girls dancing in 1939. Enjoy!

Source: Prelinger Archives, archive.org

Steven Meisel for Vogue September 2007, Grace Coddington, and the new Vogue documentary The September Issue

This beautiful shoot entitled Paris Je T’aime from the 2007 Vogue September issue was photographed by Steven Meisel, and styled by Grace Coddington. The models are Coco Rocha, Guinevere Van Seenus, Caroline Trentini, Sasha Pivovarova, Gemma Ward and Agyness Deyn.

Grace Coddington is in fact Vogue’s Creative Director, and is in charge of most of the fashion shoots. If you’re interested in her (and the almighty Anna Wintour) and Vogue in general, then you might want to check out the new documentary, The September Issue:

I haven’t seen it yet, but reviews are good, and it sounds like Grace Coddington is as much the star as Anna Wintour herself. In the New York Times, the director R.J. Cutler said, “[Anna] is cool, [Grace] is warm and languid,” he said. “Anna is all about â€˜next,’ and Grace is most interested in a historical perspective on art and fashion.” Sounds like our kind of lady!

Here’s a fun article on the subject over at Gawker: How Grace Coddington Stole The September Issue From Anna Wintour

Drop a comment if you’ve seen the documentary!

Yves Saint Laurent did not invent the tuxedo for women!

We’ve been enjoying a fashion comeback of tuxedo styles for women over the past few seasons, bolstered by the passing in June 2008 of famed designer Yves Saint Laurent. It’s true, in the 1960s and 70s, YSL was responsible forÂ re-popularizing suit and tuxedo styles for women, in particular his 1966 creation, “Le Smoking”, a tailored tuxedo suit with a long, slender 1960s silhouette. But, with all respect, it’s ridiculous to say he was the style’s inventor!

I caught Elle Magazine with this little diddy from last year: “Itâ€™s no coincidence that in the week when fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, the man who designed Le Smoking (the first tuxedo for women) passed away, the A-list are paying their respects in a way he would have loved- by wearing tuxedo jackets at every opportunity.”Â And even my beloved Wikipedia has this to say: “the Le Smoking tuxedo suit for women was the first of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture.“Â What’s going on here? Yves Saint Laurent did NOT invent the tuxedo for women, and the 1960s was not the first time women fashionably wore suits and tuxedos. Every swing girl knows this!

Above and below, we have Marlene Dietrich, who wore this tuxedo in the film Morocco in 1928. In the scene she sings and even kisses a girl…

And here we have Josephine Baker, Gloria Swanson, Anna May Wong and Katharine Hepburn in the 1920s, 30s and 40s…

Rant aside, it’s brilliant that the look has been having a fashion comeback (even with mistaken origins). Here are a few celebrities, mostly care of Fashionising.com, who have been toying with the trend. We have Ashley Olsen, Diane Kruger, Naomi Watts, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Blake Liveley and Dita Von Teese.

If the Fall 2009 and Resort 2010 collections are anything to go by, it seems as if the trend will be with us for a while longer. Viva Le Tuxedo!