thirties – Page 13 – Swing Fashionista

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!

Joolz “Third Time’s the Charm” Collection

Joolz is an Australian handmade jewelery company, and their ‘Third Time’s The Charm’ collection has a vintage twist. I’m not in love with all the pieces, but the photo shoot is gorgeous (well done to stylist Monica Buch), and I love the idea of jewelery made from vintage playing cards and antique umbrella silk. From the website:

“An anthology of accessories for style success in bold black and white, with a dash of cream and a splash of red.Â Theres a Charleston good-time girls’ influence, with tomorrow’s twist. Gleaming pearls are teamed with glossy obsidian and onyx, or contrasted prettily with hand-crafted vintage playing card butterflies that appear to have fluttered down to perch perfectly on the neck & wrist in a display of delicate symmetry. Beautiful black recycled umbrella silk teamed with pearls becomes a stylish bowtie choker, and the Lady Luck necklace of vintage dice is perfect with obsidian cubes. Eye-catching elegance is the key, allowing the wearer to be effortless in making her style statement.”