i spy: Bette in ski gear, a brilliant spy film, a winter queen

February, you are so short!  But still filled with good things.  Here are a few things that I enjoyed looking at in February.  You can see much more on my Tumblr and Pinterest.

clockwise, starting upper left:

* Montmarte, a watercolor by Frans Masereel, 1925. | Ketterer Kunst

* Don and Peggy in Mad Men, Season 4, Episode 7, The Suitcase.  I've been rewatching the series--something I very rarely do--in anticipation of it ending next month, and have been really enjoying it all over again.  Actually, I'm enjoying it much more than my first viewing.  In a show filled with interesting relationships, Don and Peggy's remains my favorite and the one most intriguing to me.  The Suitcase is rightly considered one of the best episodes of the series. | my screencap

* 1936 photo of Michigan governor Frank D. Fitzgerald crowning Shirley Squier Snow Queen at the Winter Festival in Petoskey.  I'm loving the (Hudson's Bay?) coats they're wearing. | The Lively Morgue (the New York Time's Tumblr)

* An undated photos (early 1940s?) of Bette Davis in winter gear at her Butternut Cottage home in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire.  There is always something lovely about seeing a classic film star like Davis in "regular" clothing, unstyled and still looking so lovely.  Also, how great is that pair of slippers next to her?  | NHmagazine.com

* Photo of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and author John le Carré during the filming of A Most Wanted Man, the most underrated film of last year (that I saw).  Hoffman and the rest of the cast is incredible in it.  Boy, are we ever going to miss Hoffman. | New York Times

xo

K

i spy: pretty ladies staying warm stylishly

For many of us in the northern hemisphere, the weather--despite it not yet being officially winter--has been making a clear statement:  winter is here.  Now.  We've had snow since Thanksgiving, and freezing temperatures.  So it's not surprising that so many of the images that inspired me in November were lovely ladies keeping warm in high style.

See more by following me on Tumblr and Pinterest.

(clockwise, starting at upper left corner)

*Fur coat by designer Jacques Kaplan, painted by artist Richard Anuszkiewcz, 1963.  Photo by Meyer Liebowitz for the New York Times. / NYT The Lively Morgue

*Svetlana, by Igor Grabar, 1933 / via

*Helsinki street style / Hel-Looks

*Polish film poster for The Glass Mountain, 1960 / Movie Poster of the Day

*Helsinki street style / Hel-Looks

*Mademoiselle Vaughan, by Paul Helleu / Wikimedia Commons

*Sophie Victor, by Berenice Abbott, 1926-1930 / Amon Carter Museum

xo

K

i spy: Scottish knits, ladies' legs, a German composer, and a chicken hat

German composers, Weimar era films, gingerbread-y German houses...and ladies' legs?!?  Yes, there may be more than a couple themes running through this post.  There's also a gal with a chicken on her head.

These monthly posts (maybe I should do them more frequently) are a pretty good glimpse of what's going on inside my head.  I have been thinking and reading a lot about Germany lately, and that includes listening to German music, and putting Weimar era films into my Netflix queue.  And I continue to be in love with Chanel's Paris-Édimbourg collection.  If you click through the link to Style Bubble next to the photo credit, you'll find a great post by Susie Lau about the small Scottish knitwear company--now owned by Chanel--that is producing the knits.

I would like to be that lady on a train in Edward Hopper's painting.  (Maybe wearing those daisy applique tights!)  In fact, I've been thinking about travel even more than usual lately...expect to see many more things of an Austrian nature (beyond that certain favorite actor of mine) showing up here!  (See more on my Tumblr and Pinterest.)

1 / portrait by Bassano of French actress and singer Alice Delysia in a chicken hat, 1918. / National Portrait Gallery

2 / Ronald Colman and May McAvoy in Ernst Lubitsch's Lady Windermere's Fan, 1925 / via

3 / actress Rose Leslie wearing Chanel's Paris-Édimbourg collection / Style Bubble

4 / German composer Richard Wagner / via

5 / detail from William Morris' Bullerswood carpet / via

1 / still from Gold Diggers of 1933 / via

2 / women's accessories, 1969 / via

3 / Compartment C, Car 293 by Edward Hopper, 1938 / via

4 / designer Adrian showing his work to Greta Garbo on the set of Wild Orchids, 1929 / via

5 / Wernigerode, Germany / allthingseurope

xo

K

i spy: stormy seas, neo mods, a stag in the moonlight, and Tilda

It's April, but where I live, things still look and feel quite wintry.  Which might explain the dark, stormy, moody nature of my first collection of images below.  (Of course, I like dark and stormy year-round, so perhaps not...)  I love that feathery-looking sepia brown Balenciaga outfit--especially against the gray background.  But I also love the soft pastels in that photo of Tilda Swinton in the second collage.  That Tilda sure keeps busy, doesn't she?  I enjoyed seeing her alongside Bowie in his "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" video (though I like the moody first single, "Where Are We Now?" more).

I really need that bar/record station set-up you see in the second collage.  And how cute and stylish is that pair in the lower right corner?  I will always love the sharp styling of mod scooter culture.

1 / Balenciaga ensemble in October 1950 issue of L'Officiel / via

2 / Stag, oil painting by Eugen Krüger (1832-1876) / via

3 / illustration from a 1918 issue of Jugend magazine / via

4 / Elise and Monique, hats by Schiaparelli, Café Flore, Paris, 1948, photo by Richard Avedon / via

5 / Storm in the Skerries. "The Flying Dutchman," painting by August Strindberg, 1892 / via

1 / love this image of Tilda Swinton from the video for David Bowie's "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)," directed by Floria Sigismondi / via

2 / 1922 textile print by Leon Bakst / via

3 / Kashtanka by Anton Chekov, illustrated by William Stobbs / via

4 / I need this. / via

5 / Neo mods fashion shoot for Vanity Fair Italia, #47, photo by Sergi Pons / via

xo

K

i spy: october

October was quite a lovely month.  Despite 75% of my brain being taken up with election year obsession, I managed to find quite a few lovely and inspiring images on the internets.  Here's a wee taste!

1 / 1933 French street style / giantpantsofthe30s

2 / Siouxsie.  Makes me want to wear lace cuffs and a big lace jabot over plaid. / via

3 / Dorette's Sister by Gerald Leslie Brockhurst / BBC

4 / Jane Austen's writing table at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire / The Guardian

5 / "Old watermill house" in Donzy, Burgundy, by Éole Wind / via

6 / A Russian prison tattoo; the wearer was convicted of "hooliganism." / via

xo

k

i spy

Game of Thrones-inspired fashion, 1930s delinquents, and Helen Mirren wrapped in the flag--just a few of the images that grabbed me last month.  I think I need to get a copy of W to see the rest of these "Dame of Thrones" photos.  I also cannot believe I've never seen Intermezzo, and must remedy that soon.  I adore both Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard, and the image of the two of them on the poster is so lovely.

1. William Morris Blackthorn wallpaper, 1892 / Metropolitan Museum of Art

2. 1922 dress by Madeleine Vionnet / Worn Through

3. "Dame of Thrones": Kristen McMenamy by Tim Walker for W, September 2012 / bienenkiste

4. Golden Grotto lipstick and perfume presentation by Lucien Lelong, ca 1935-1940 / FIDM Museum

5. Autumn Interlude by Charles Robinson, ca early 1900s / my delineated life

1. Two models in plaid skirts, photo by Sante Forlano, ca 1958 / Corbis

2. Intermezzo film poster / lesliehowardforever

3. 1930s teen delinquents / tothecabaret

4. French fashion photo, 1938 / Past to Present

5. I just love Helen Mirren; there's a series of these--click the source to see them all / vivarad

xo

k

i spy: july!

A look at the beautiful and inspiring things that caught my eye on the internets last month.  Enjoy!

1. painted barkcloth background for Diaghliev's The Firebird ballet, painted by Natalia Goncharove, ca. 1926 / V&A

2. Forget me not sentiment card / American Antiquarian Society

3. The merlin by John Faed, 1888 / Bonhams

4. The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse, Garth Williams, 1954 / Dark Silence in Suburbia

5. Julie Andrews / She's Like a Rainbow

1. Found by Kyle B. Jorgensen / kylebenjaminjorgensen.com

2. Germaine Krull, Bal musette, Paris, France, 1928 / The Mafu Cage

3. Coco Chanel, ca. 1929 / Styleist

4. The hedgehog seen from several views from Albertus Seba’s 1734 natural history, Locupletissimi rerum naturalium thesauri accurata descriptio / Linda Hall Library

5. Peebles, Scotland / daylong

xo

k

i spy

I keep tryng to come up with a snappy title for this.  Maybe "i spy" is it.  Last month's inspirational images include great mid century graphics, nautical style on the street, the stars in the sky, and a patriotic Ella.  (Click collage to see it bigger.)

1. illustrated plate from An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe by Thomas Wright, 1750 / seabois

2. adorable, slightly nautical, London street style / The Style Scout

3. really fun graphic on this Seagram's Texas map / Calsidyrose

4. wonderful 1940 portrait of Ella Fitzgerald by Carl Van Vechten / Fuck Yeah Ella Fitzgerald

5. All About the Sea, 1953 / Martin Klasch

6. 1956 Galey & Lord ad featuring a plaid Claire McCardell dress / My Vintage Vogue

xo

K

pilgrims...

...are what May flowers bring.  Ha.  May inspiration brings a black-and-white versus color showdown!  Which do you prefer?  I kinda love both.

1. London at Night, a Sketch Book by Frederick Carter, 1914 / The Victorianist

2. branches and buds from a 1925 book on the trees of Ontario / sandmarg

3. ca 1920s photo of singing group The Boswell Sisters / Back to the Five & Dime

4. According to the Tumblr I first saw this photo on, this is a "Nina Leen, 1952" photo.  A Google image search didn't provided much more info, but this blog claims the model is wearing replicas of ancient Sumerian jewelry offered for sale by New York's "Metropolitan Museum" (of Art?).  Seems plausible.  I'd love to know more about this photo/photo shoot.  And send me the jewelry, too.

5. 1938 photo of English actress Gertrude Lawrence powdering her pup's nose, by Peter Stackpole / dovima_is_devine_II

6. Bill Brandt, The Adelphi, September 1939 / Facie Populi

1. vintage floral wallpaper in Elisabeth Dunker's Swedish home / Design Sponge

2. Russian Fairy Tales, illustrated by Henry R. Martin / skinny laminx

3. great look from Rabia Lockwood's Ginny & Jude collection / Honey Kennedy

4. Camera Obscura--obsessed with their songs and style / Under the Radar

5. detail of an embroidered linen tablecloth by Ann Macbeth, ca 1900 / V&A

6. Elsa Schiaparelli brooch, ca 1938 / 1stdibs

xo

K

april showers...

...bring May inspiration!  A peek at the pretty, cute, and sometimes odd things that caught my eye last month on the internets.

1. The cutest baby animal ever? A wild boar piglet.  Painting by Hans Hoffmann from 1578. /// Wikimedia Commons

2. The decoupaged walls of the Print Room in County Kildare, Ireland's Castleton House. /// via

3. Katharine Hepburn and her sisters, ca 1939--gorgeous ladies, great style, and Kate's pants! /// vintagegal

4. Serge Gainsbourg dishes out not just sexy French pop, but worldly wisdom. /// via

5. Pink pixie + vintage dress + amazing coat = inspiring London street style. /// Street Style Aesthetic

6. Amazing paper light sculpture by Nicholas Wright. /// via

1. The Lantern Parade by Thomas Cooper Gotch, 1918 /// We Love Paintings

2. Project for an art nouveau apartment house facade by architect Hans Schlechta, 1901 /// booknbuildings

3. Incredible bee-embroidered gown by Jacques Doucet, ca 1900-1905 /// Les Arts Decortifs

4. 1978 McCall's Embroidery Book /// Girl of 100 Lists

5. 1963 Penguin Books edition of The Fall by Albert Camus /// scatterkeir

6. Stylish Lucille Baldwin Brown, the first black public county librarian in Tallahassee, Florida. /// Of Another Fashion

xo

K

strange beauty

The internets were very beautiful--and sometimes a little bit strange--in March.

1. I wish I could find a better source than the Tumblr I reblogged it from, but I had to share this beautiful 1930s photo of a young girl--it looks like she walked straight off the set of of Paper Moon. / ...like a girl

2. Wiener Werkstätten "Waldidyll fabric" by Carl Otto Czeschka, 1910 / Crashingly Beautiful

3. Meditation, William Merritt Chase, 1885 / Wikimedia Commons

4. The Glowmar, a Crafstman era English style home / babyfella2007

5. embroidered cushion cover, Ann Macbeth, 1906 / The Textile Blog

6. Les Amours de l’au-Delà by Jacques Germinal / Regard Intemporal

1. circa 1960 living room from a Better Homes & Gardens Decorating Ideas book--that looks a lot like our own living room / The Red Jet

2. I'm not sure why this tot was photographed next to a big ole sharp saw, but I love the outfit / fuckyeahvictorians

3. Scottish brooch made from the talon of a falcon, 1860s / via

4. 1920s actress Olive Thomas / Bodie Bailey

5. cover of At the Back of the North Wind by George Macdonald / balderdashery

6. Girl in Grey, Louis le Brocquy, 1939 / via

xo

K

february inspiration

Insect love, turn of the century skyscrapers, Julian Fellowes appreciation, black-and-white photography, Tilda...February may be a short month, but it was chock full of inspiring stuff.

1. The Life and Love of the Insect by J.H. Fabre / awonderfultreat

2. period drama crushes Brendan Coyle and Richard Armitage in a scene from North and South. / The Artist in Me

3. Atlantic City photobooth portrait.  She reminds me of Kirsten Dunst. / AtypicalArt

4. Demilly vu par lui-même, Théodore Blanc et Antoine Demilly, ca. 1920 / RegardIntemporel

5. Life magazine's 1909 "Real Estate Number" cover / ArchiTakes

6. Tilda Swinton.  The hair, the glasses, the sweater.  Love. / KafkaDreams

1. 3 pretty cushions on 3 cool chairs. / unthrifted

2. 1960 Bouquet Garni linen towel by Lucienne Day / V&A

3. plaid eye for the straight guy? / zoomar

4. street scene during a heavy snowstorm in Astoria, NY, 1940, by Frank Navara / wonderfulambiguity

5. Emily Watson in Gosford Park, which was written by Julian Fellowes.  I'll be re-watching this and reading Fellowes' novel Snobs to help me make it through until the next season of Downton Abbey--Fellowes' most recent creation. / intellectualpromiscuity

xo

K