i spy: laughing ladies, Lanvin polka dots, more delicious Hamm, and summer lushness from Klimt

In this edition of I Spy: laughing ladies in the 1930s, superb Helsinki street style, more Hamm, and a bar that never changes.

See more inspiration on my Tumblr and Pinterest.

* In tribute to what would have been Orson Welles' 100th birthday this year, one of my all-time favorite films, The Third Man, has been restored.  This is a German poster for the movie by Heinrich Stengel.  You can see many more beautiful examples of posters for this film at the following link. | MUBI Notebook blog

* Photo of Woody Guthrie performing at McSorley's Ale House in NYC in 1943. (Photo by Eric Schaal-The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images.)  What I love about this is McSorley's looks almost exactly like this to this day--down to the sawdust on the floor.  And Woody's outfit is terrific. | LIFE magazine on Tumblr

* A wonderful photo, dated 1939, of two ladies laughing, apparently at something in Esquire magazine.  I wish I knew what it was! | roni greenwood on Flickr

* If, like me, you're missing Mad Men and Jon Hamm's handsome (and sometimes ridiculous) face, you have options.  You can re-watch Mad Men, and/or you can enjoy him along with Daniel Radcliffe as a 1930s Russian morphine addict in the funny and dark A Young Doctor's Notebook and Other Stories, based on the stories by Mikhail Bulgakov.  Both series of the show are now available on Netflix.  (You can also see Hamm in A Wet Hot American Summer First Day of Camp on Netflix now.)  And that's your Hamm News for the day. | my screenshot; more on my Tumblr

* Ilka Chase modeling a fantastic polka dot dress by Lanvin in May 1925, photo by Edward Steichen. | Corbis

* Gustav Klimt's The Park, 1910 or earlier. | Wikimedia Commons

* Great street style, Victoria in Helsinki!  Love those pants and the pop of color from her scarf.  I'm so glad that Hel-Looks appears to be back in Helsinki and posting street style. | Hel-Looks

* A circa 1920s vasculum.  Isn't it beautiful?  These were used by botanists to safely collect and store plants without crushing them when in the field. | Live Auctioneers

* A door handle in the Bremen City Hall, designed by Franz von Stuck.  This makes me really bummed that I never got to visit the Museum Villa Stuck when we were in Munich.  Next trip! | Culture Design blog

xo

K

i spy: 1930s embroidery, Burchfield showers, and a book village

Just a small selection of beautiful images from April.  I don't know anything about the artist Marie Montard, but isn't that book village charming and clever?  And if anyone has seen a photograph of the gorgeous Georges Doeuillet dress in the illustration, please let me know.  It's incredible.

You can see more on my Tumblr and Pinterest.

* 1930s embroidered wool dress | millstreetvintage

* Lull in Summer Rain, by Charles Burchfield, 1916 | Avery Galleries

* Village de livres, book art by Marie Montard | mariemontard.com

* A woman named Zola Campbell, rowing a boat on Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada, ca. 1910-1913. | Glenbow Museum Archives on Flickr

* 1920 fashion illustration for couturier Georges Doeuillet, by André-Edouard Marty. | NYPL Digital Collections

xo

K

i spy: a glamorous witch, sparkly Schiaparelli, a pipe-smoking dog

An intimidating yet rather glamorous witch, a post-war ball, sparkly Schiaparelli, and a dog with a pipe!  These are just a few of the beautiful and inspiring images I collected last month.  (You can see more of this by following me on Tumblr or Pinterest.)

clockwise, starting at upper left:

* A 1938 dress from the Nordic Museum in Stockholm. | Digitalt Museum

* Maria Germanova as The Witch in the Moscow Art Theatre's 1908 production of The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck. | Wikimedia Commons

* Evening blouse by Elsa Schiaparelli, winter 1938-39. | Metropolitan Museum of Art

* A tintype of a dog with a pipe, ca. 1875. | Minnesota Historical Society

* Couples dancing in the Grand Foyer of the Paris Opera House at a Grand Victory Ball.  Paris, France, May, 1946.  Photo by David E. Scherman. | Life Magazine

xo

K

i spy: hearts on frocks, dark glamour and serious moonlight

Inspiring me now: gals wearing their hearts on their frocks, light interiors and dark exteriors, louche glamour, a great writer trying on wooden eyeglasses, and a perfect summer "street style" shot (I want to be wearing that outfit and on that beach in the Sartorialist photo!).  You can see more of this on my Pinterest and Tumblr. 

clockwise, starting in upper left corner:

*La Morphinomane, Vittorio Matteo Corcos, 1899 | Wikimedia Commons

*Schiaparelli Haute Couture, Fall 2014-15 | via

*Boris Lipnitzki, Jeune femme sortant d’une voiture, Paris, 1934 | via

*Lesser Ury, Nelken in grüner Glasvase, 1906 | Wikimedia

*Charles Baudelaire, Les fleurs du mal, Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1868–69 | Christie's

*Maeve Brennan of Harper's Bazaar trying on a pair of wooden frame glasses, 1945.  Photo by Nina Leen.  This month I read Brennan's book of city stories that she wrote for The New Yorker, The Long-Winded Lady.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever lived in or just plain loves New York City. | via

*Apertivo Before Dinner at Rimini Grand Hotel Rimini.  Great outfit, beautiful photo, gorgeous setting! | The Sartorialist

*Martin Lewis, Winter Moon, 1918 | Indianapolis Museum of Art

*circa 1940s German found photo of a young girl in fancy dress | Raymondx1 on Flickr

*artist unknown, Süddeutsches Interieur, 19th century | Auktionshaus Bergmann

xo

K

i spy: striped flappers, dapper artists and an anxious puppy

Striped flappers, deco dancers, geometric book covers, dapper artists, an anxious puppy, and an English library in which I would like to live.  These are some of the images that caught my eye last month.  To see more, check out my Tumblr and Pinterest.

(clockwise, starting at upper left:)

*cover of Paul Klee's Handzeichnungen, published by Insel-Bücherei / Front Free Endpaper

*illustration by Eduardo García Benito from La dernière lettre Persane (ca. 1920) / Doctor Ojiplático

*maquette of Alvin Lustig’s rejected cover art for Dylan Thomas’ Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog (ca. 1953) / Cooper-Hewitt

*dance performance in the Himmelssaal (Sky Hall) of Haus Atlantis, an art deco house in the historic Böttcherstraße of Bremen, Germany (photo ca. 1932) / Böttcherstraße

*poster by the Stenberg Brothers for the German Film Six Girls Seeking Shelter (ca. 1927) / Mubi

*Max Ernst at the home of Peggy Guggenheim, New York, 1942, photo by Hermann Landshoff / Münchner Stadtmuseum

*dapper Scottish designer and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (ca. 1900).  Sadly, his Glasgow School of Art building was recently badly damaged by fire; funds are being raised to repair the damage. / Wikipedia

*The library at Lyme Park in Disley, Cheshire, England, as illustrated in The Ladies' Field, 1901. / National Trust

*anxious puppy / The Libby Hall Collection

*a wonderful photo from the Spitzer family papers at Brandeis University (photo ca. 1920s?). / Brandeis Special Collections

xo

K

i spy: dark florals, ladies of mystery, and glowing nighttime scenes

Spring is in full swing here, and the flowers are blooming . . . but I prefer my flowers against a dark background.  Just like I love a small glowing light illuminating a darkened room.  And mystery!

See more by following me on Pinterest and Tumblr.

clockwise, l-r:

*After Van Dongen, photo by Norman Parkinson of Adele Collins wearing an Otto Lucas toque.  Photo was inspired by the 1919 painting "The Corn Poppy" by Dutch artist Kees Van Dongen. | normanparkinson.com

*Polaroid, 2003, Berlin-Mitte, Germany, photo by Sibylle Bergemann | Ostkreuz

*1946 Mallinson Fabrics ad | My Vintage Vogue

*decorated farmhouses of Hälsingland, Sweden (swoon!) | Hälsingegårdar

*Großer Blumenstrauss in einem Holzgefäß (Big floral bouquet in a wooden vessel), by Jan Brueghel, ca 1606-1607 | Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

clockwise, l-r:

*Beim Sekt, photograph by YVA (Else Simon-Neuländer), 1936. | source

*Saint Christopher decorates an archway over a cobblestone street in Bavaria, Germany, March 1974.  Photograph by George F. Mobley, National Geographic | NatGeoFound

*Nächtliches Bankett (“Nocturnal Banquet”) by Wolfgang Heimbach, dated 1640. | Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

*Patricia Highsmith, author of the Ripley books, which I recently read and loved.  I need to read more Highsmith! | Vintage & Anchor Books Tumblr

*Setting for a Fairy Tale, box construction by Joseph Cornell, 1942. | Guggenheim

xo

K

shop preview: a folk dance-ready dirndl, polka dots, flowers, and better photos!

This shop preview represents not just a pretty collection of clothing (really, there's some super stuff here--that dirndl!), but a change in the way things are done here at Small Earth Vintage.  Likely, you won't even notice the change, which is just as well.  For years I've been photographing in our basement, using studio lights.  This has been convenient with plenty of space for taking pictures and an independence from Michigan's fickle sunshine.  (This was a vast improvement from where I started out taking photos--on our deck, in all weather.)  Shooting in the basement often worked just fine, but the photos frequently had an annoying blue cast.  I spent a lot of time editing the photos later to get the colors correct. 

I finally got tired enough of the situation to do something about it.  We get lots of natural light in our living room, even on days that aren't sunny, and there's plenty of space there to shoot clothing photos.  So I set up a backdrop in our living room, hauled up my mannequin and dress form, and the  results are below.  Even though the day was not as sunny as promised, I am pleased with the results.  The photos turned out really nicely, with true colors, and barely any post-photography tweaking needed.

After the preview there's a little collage showing the evolution of my photography for SEV since 2008.  Hopefully, things are much improved! 

All these pretties are arriving in the shop starting today.

1940s Lanz embroidered FOLKLORETANZ dirndl.

1950s polka dot sleeveless blouse.

1940s embroidered lilac linen dress with lacy bustle (!), a Barbara Field Original.

1950s tulip heads print polished cotton blouse.

1950s floral print voile dress.

1960s red polka dot pleated skirt, by Majestic.

1950s pink peonies print party dress, by Semiteen.

1960s silver wicker pattern top, by Betty Lane, deadstock with tags.

1950s Sudden Squall watercolor print dress, by Mardene.

1950s Arts & Crafts floral print blouse with Peter Pan collar.

Small Earth Vintage photos, through the years.

xo

K

i spy: wintry scenes, a cityscape dress, and a fancy canine

I don't mind the sepia and gray palette that is winter in Michigan; in fact, I rather like it...and it was sepia and gray images that caught my eye last month.  I particularly love that amazing 1920s cityscape print dress, and the idea of making Carte de Visite cards for a dog.  (See more on my Tumblr and Pinterest.)

(clockwise, from upper left)

*Paris street style. / Street Style Aesthetic

*a Carte de Visite portrait of a dog named Dellie, ca. 1860-80, which has me convinced I need to get CdV cards for Pickles. / Cowan's Auctions

*Ice skaters at Vienna's Heumarkt, ca. 1910. / news.at

*German postcard. / source

*December by Theodor Kittelsen / source

*model wearing an incredible cityscape print dress from Stehli Silks Americana print collection, 1925. / Metropolitan Museum of Art

xo

K

claire aho

I just "discovered" Finnish photographer Claire Aho for the first time on the internets the other day, and I had to share her fun, bold photographs with you.  Ms. Aho is a pioneer of color photography, who worked out of her own studio in Helsinki in the 1950s and 1960s, at a time when photography and advertising were dominated by men.  I love the color in these photos and the cheeky wit she brings to them, particularly in the first four photos below, which were taken for a textile catalog.

CLAIRE AHO © JB

CLAIRE AHO © JB

CLAIRE AHO © JB

CLAIRE AHO © JB

Can I have this dress, please?

CLAIRE AHO © JB

In additional to fashion and celebrity photography, Aho did product photography as well.

CLAIRE AHO © JB

CLAIRE AHO

Aho also did a series of black and white photos of everyday life in Helsinki in 1968.  I love this one.

You can read more about Claire Aho and see much more of her work at ClaireAho.com.  And if you're lucky enough to be in London, you can go see an exhibit of her work now through July 21 at The Photographers' Gallery.

xo

K

National Geographic Found

* girl wearing a novelty braided Texas straw hat, October 1939 / photo by Luis Marden
* London motorcycle club members, June 1966 / photo by James P. Blair
* ballet dancers practice The Nutcracker in San Diego, July 1969 / photo by James L. Amos

As a child, one of my favorite things to do was dig through my parents' collection of old National Geographic magazines.  There were tons of them--I think they may have inherited some from their own parents--and I could spend hours poring over them.  They were one of my first windows on the world outside my own mid-American suburban life.

Those magazines are one of the things that my parents have shed--no doubt at some garage sale along the way--that I wish I'd made them keep so I could have them now.  But the good news is that I can still get my daily fix of National Geographic!  In honor of their 125th anniversary, they have started a Tumblr blog, called Found, and it is full of gorgeous photos, many of which have never before been published.  I shared a taste of Found here, but do go check it out for yourself to see much, much more! 

* coal miner in Omar, West Virginia, 1938 / photo by B. Anthony Stewart
* dog on a seesaw with children in Scotland, March 1919 / photo by William Reid
* Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel (in a tetrahedal kite) kissing, October 1903 / photograph courtesy Library of Congress
* portrait of a Sudanese women, 1920 / photo by Kodak Ltd.

xo

K

i spy: a painted flapper, art deco architecture, a handsome absurdist

I glean the images for these posts from my Tumblr blog, alwaysalwaysalwaysthesea, which is basically what the inside of my brain looks like at any given moment.  February may be a short month, but to look at my Tumblr, it was a busy one.  Yes, let's face it, a huge portion of my Tumblr right now is Christoph Waltz.  I don't apologize for this.  (And, as an aside:  hey bloggers?  Stop apologizing for what you do or don't post.  You don't have to do this.  Really.)  It's my blog, my brain, and Waltz to me is what I imagine a shot of serotonin would feel like to someone who has Seasonal Affective Disorder.  So there!  But even aside from all the Waltz goodness, there were an awful lot of other things that were inspiring me last month.  

Have a look.

1 / still from one of my very favorite films, The Third Man / via

2 / a great photo of Katharine Hepburn / via

3 / art deco building drawing by architect Hugh Ferriss / via

4 / postcard by Wiener Werkstätte artist Koloman Moser, ca 1898 / via

5 / handsome writer Albert Camus, photographed by Cecil Beaton, 1946 / via

1 / Flapper, painting by Margaret Preston, 1925 / via

2 / West Flanders, Belgium, photo by Mathijs Delvia / via

3 / Louis Vuitton travel library / via

4 / won his second Oscar and was the best-dressed man there while doing so / via 

5 / I was and am fascinated by the story of the discovery of Richard III's remains beaneath a Leicester parking lot / via

xo

K

a new look

Hey, check it out! Been blogging three whole weeks and the blog already has a new look! Well, it's fitting, because Andy painted me a pretty new backdrop, so my photos will have a new look now, too. As much as I loved having our well-weathered deck and the beautiful maple as a background, I think the plainer backdrop shows off the clothes better. What do you think?

Here is part two of this week's Etsy shop preview. The first photo was taken "old style", for reference.

Mod black-and-white dress in a waffle weave.



1960s batik print roll collar wiggle dress.



1940s chevron stripe and lace blouse.



1940s print shirtwaist dress.



Teal cotton sateen party dress.



Cherry red blouse with pintuck front and embroidered collar.



1940s navy day dress.



1960s paisley day dress.



1950s purple blouse with interesting button placket.



Abstract print tiered skirt party dress.



Golden brown plaid wiggle dress.



1960s harvest print blouse.



And it just wouldn't be an update without Jonathan Logan! Blue/green floral print Jonathan Logan party dress.



Please let me know what you think of the new photos.

xo
k