Category: Books

Delineator magazines of the 20s and 30s

As always, moving house means that you must sort, pack, then un-pack all of your worldly goods. Sometimes you come across items that you haven’s seen for a while, as I did with my precious ‘Delineater’ magazines from the 20s and 30s. It was with glee that found a group of 4 many years ago in a tiny out of town antique store, and I love them to bits, but I had carefully stored them away and had almost forgotten I had them!

As a designer, I adore Delineator cover art in all it’s elegant art deco simplicity and the wonderful fashions portrayed, so I thought I’d go on a hunt for some more online. For those unfamiliar to the magazine, Delineator (A Journal of Fashion, Culture, and Fine Arts) was launched in 1873 by Ebenezer Butterick – yes, that Butterick.  In the early 20s, the magazine published the work of romance novelists  and many famous illustrators worked on staff. The magazine later merged with William Randolph Hearst’s Pictorial Review in 1937.

Delineator 1927-12          

The Delineator was originally a magazine of women’s fashion, with dressmakers patterns, as well as articles covering women’s issues, women in sport and in cultural life. In 1920, it hosted ‘more advertising than was ever inserted in any magazine published for women at any time, anywhere’, thanks to it’s 1 million readers and I believe it was published in many languages. Well, 4 of them found their way to a little store in country town Australia … so there you are!

I hope you enjoy these beautiful covers. I would never part with my copies.

 Delineator Cover January 1929 Giclee Print   The Delineator November 1927 Giclee Print

       

        

Delineator 1933-09         

Released today: Fashion Sourcebook 1930s

Released today, Charlotte Fiell’s Fashion Sourcebook 1930s… I need this in my bookshelf immediately! Here’s the blurb:

The 1930s are remembered largely as an era of economic insecurity and crisis in the US, political instability and heated rhetoric filling the airwaves in myriad corners of the globe. What better time than the present, then, to revisit and reassess the fashions and styles of that troubled era? Despite the tensions and perils of that long-ago decade, the fashions of the time were often achingly chic, with the insouciantly androgynous flapper styles of the 1920s replaced by sweeping bias-cut gowns with deep-cut backs, floral tea-dresses, tailored suits and draped furs for anybody who could afford them. The latest volume in a series of resources devoted to specific decades, Fashion Sourcebook 1930s collects the most unforgettable looks of the decade, documenting its season-by-season fashions and offering an extensive selection of original photographs, sketches and prints–some 600 images in all, the majority in color–that give a full sense of the opulence and elegance of the period. These images are given depth and context by an essay providing a summary of the major themes within the era’s fashion and presents its most notable designers. This is an essential handbook for fashion students as well as anyone interested in fashion or cultural history.

Oh my yes. I’m off to buy it at Amazon.com!

Style Me Vintage – Clothes…a new book

It occurred to me today that I had not posted about Naomi Thompson’s new book,“Style Me Vintage – Clothes”. The book is a very good basic guide to vintage clothing for those new to vintage collecting and wearing, covering decade by decade from the 1920s to 1980s. Great presentation and many of her own special tips included.

Inside you will find sections covering wearing, dating vintage clothing, caring for vintage, and where to shop for vintage. If you’re just beginning to get into vintage looks and need advice on styling etc then this is the book for you. Naomi has also listed all her favourite blogs, websites and online shops which is also very handy.

If you go to one of my favourite blogs Tuppence Ha’penny Vintage, you could win a copy of the book or you can purchase it at Vintage Secret.

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Hi all, just wanted to let all my vintage loving friends know about a new series coming to Aussie TV.  Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is a drama series of thirteen one-hour episodes, scheduled for airing on ABC1 on 24 February 2012. It is based on Australian author Kerry Greenwood’s series of Phryne Fisher detective novels. Kerry began writing essay  the Phryne Fisher books in 1989 and there are now 18 in the series. I have included some info from the website below:

Immerse yourself in the opulent, exciting world of Australia’s leading lady detective Phryne Fisher in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Phryne (pronounced Fry-nee) is a glamorous and thoroughly modern woman of the 1920s. Our lady sleuth sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of Melbourne, fighting injustice with her pearl handled pistol and her dagger sharp wit. Leaving a trail of admirers in her wake, our heroine makes sure she enjoys every moment of her lucky life. But behind the façade of elegance and charm are the scars of the past which drive Phryne to find justice for those who can’t help themselves and to pursue the truth of her own dark history.

Australian TV (like British) generally does historical drama very authentically wardrobe-wise, so I am keen to see how this turns out. Just have to wait and see I guess. I am pretty picky though, which is a curse…haha. Looks fun regardless and I dare say that a lot of Melbourne’s great Art Deco buildings and sites will have been used when filming. I shall report back!

Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) & Dr Mac (Tammy McIntosh)

DI Jack Robinson (Nathan Page) & Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis)

Book discount for Louise Brooks fans…

Well, I am rested and back from a camping and a trip and ready to start 2012! Here is a little something I stumbled across for all you admirers of Art Deco icon; Louise Brooks. The Louise Brooks Society is offering a 25% discount off the book, Diary of a Lost Girl. Go to this link to find all the info you need to get book the discounted price. The offer is only open til January 6th, 2012.

Book Description from Amazon

The 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, is based on a controversial and bestselling book first published in Germany in 1905. Though little known today, the book was a literary sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. Spirited debate and lawsuits followed its publication. By the end of the Twenties, it had sold more than 1,200,000 copies – ranking it among the bestselling books of its time.Was it – as many believed – the real-life diary of a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution? Or a sensational and clever fake, one of the first novels of its kind? This contested work - a work of unusual historical significance as well as literary sophistication – inspired a sequel, a play, a parody, a score of imitators, and two silent films. The best remembered of these is the often revived G.W. Pabst film starring Louise Brooks.This new edition of the original English language translation brings this important book back into print after more than 100 years. It includes an introduction by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society, detailing the book’s history and relationship to the 1929 film. This special “Louise Brooks Edition” also includes more than three dozen vintage illustrations.