i spy: a tin lady, Paul Poiret's dining room, a folkloric 1930s dress

A lovely if haunting winter scene and a spring green interior . . . some inspiration from the last month.  See more by following me on Pinterest and Tumblr.

clockwise, from upper left:

* The dining room in the Paris apartment of Paul Poiret, 1913.  Those leafy/fern-like designs (painted?) on the walls are so gorgeous. | University of Heidelberg

* I love Charles Burchfield's paintings; this one really captures the end of winter snowmelt period.  Street Vista in Winter, by Charles E. Burchfield, 1957-1960. | Burchfield Penney Art Center

* The tin lady?  This funny little cabinet card is circa 1870-1890, and advertises a hardware store in Cadillac, Michigan. (And it sold for over $500.00!) | Cowan's Auctions

* A very pretty folkloric wool dress, by Luelle Ballerino, 1938. | FIDM Museum

* A page from Floriated Ornament: a series of thirty-one designs, by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, 1849. | Clark | Mary Ann Beinecke Collection

xo

K

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: 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: sparkling dresses and lights, autumn landscapes, and romantic train travel

As the days get shorter, I get more obsessed with beautiful lights and chandeliers--and sparkling dresses!  And one year after our trip to Europe, I am still obsessed with Germany and Austria, and thus, with half timber houses and a bygone era of romantic train travel.

I have to admit, I've gone my entire life with zero interest in weddings and bridal wear, until I saw these amazing photos of Norwegian brides in their gorgeous, folkloric dresses and elaborate crowns.  Amazing!

For more of this kind of stuff, you can follow me on Tumblr and/or Pinterest.

clockwise, starting upper left:

*French actress Mistinguett, photographed at home in Paris with her hundreds of shoes (and pet monkey!), 1923. | The Lively Morgue

*dress by Madeleine Vionnet, fall/winter 1930-31. | Metropolitan Museum of Art

*1932 poster for the Flying Scotsman express train connecting London and Edinburgh. | History in Posters

*Erich Kettelhut, design for Metropolis set Day break, Morgendämmerung, 1920s. Oil painting. | La città nuova

*Lamp designed by Gaspar Homar in the Casa Navàs (designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner Reus, 1901-1908) in Reus, Catalonia, Spain. | Wikimedia Commons

clockwise, starting at upper left:

*photos of fabulously attired Norwegian brides, 1870-1920. | via

*László Paál, In the Forest, ca. 1875. | Wikimedia Commons

*dress by House of Patou, 1927. | Metropolitan Museum of Art

*a beautiful half timber frame house in Mainz, Germany. | Photo by Pedro Szekely

*Charles Burchfield, Old House and Spruce Trees, 1951. | via

xo

K

i spy: dark forests, fairy tales, and a young beauty queen

Lots of drama and darkness catching my eye this last month (as always, really).  I can totally picture someone running through the forest in that Dior dress, pursued by something frightening!  I guess I'm getting in the mood for autumn.

See more by following me on Tumblr and Pinterest.

clockwise from top left:

*Actor Rudolf Rittner in costume for Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, Part II, 1924.  The set and costume design were inspired by Carl Otto Czeschka's Die Nibelungen book illustrations. | Truus, Bob & Jan too! on Flickr

*Beautiful stormy photograph of San Francisco's Cliff House, ca. 1900. | Wikipedia (and more incredible Cliff House photographs here)

*A lovely found photo of Geneva, who went to the World's Fair as a beauty competition contestant, ca 1933. | The Wayfaring Dreamer on Flickr

*Dress by Mme. Eta Hentz, spring/summer 1944. | Metropolitan Museam of Art

*Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers and Plums by Rachel Ruysch, 1704. | Wikipedia

*Cocktail dress by Yves St. Laurent for House of Dior, spring/summer 1958. | Metropolitan Museum of Art

*Caspar David Friedrich, Tagenszeitenzyklus: Der Abend (Times of Day: The Evening), 1821-22. | Wikimedia Commons

*Cover of Uilen Geluk (The Happy Owls), illustrated by Theodorus van Hoytema, 1895. | My Owl Barn on Flickr

*Eugen Krüger, Stag. | via

*Heinrich Lefler illustration of Schneewittchen (Snow White) for a 1905 fairy tale calendar. | via

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: smartly dressed women, mid century graphics and a glowing opera house

What's inspiring me lately?  Smartly-dressed women of the past and present, mid century graphic design, gorgeous old opera houses, and the evolution of Don and Peggy.  (And yes, I'm still pining to return to Germany and Austria!)  See more on my Tumblr and Pinterest.

clockwise, l-r:

*found photo "mit Trudel in Hildenbrandseck" dated September 6, 1936.  I'm loving their collars and the belt on the black dress. | Back Then Photographed

*Young woman in Vienna wearing a Reform dress, 1923. (© Beatrice Eipeldauer) | Vintage Vienna

*Markgräfliches Opernhaus Bayreuth - Logenränge, photo by Pierre Schoberth | Wikimedia

*Detail of an Elizabethan embroidered tunic, from English Embroidery by A.F. Kendrick, 1913. | archive.org

*Scenic French wall panel, ca. 1930-1940. | Cooper-Hewitt

*Spring Evening During the Ice Break, Hugo Simberg, 1897. | WikiArt

*On the street...Piazza del Duomo, Milan.  I feel like I could wear this outfit every day of my life and be perfectly happy. | The Sartorialist

*Hungarian-English tourist dictionary, 1964. | Jell-O Biafra Says

*Fiona, Helsinki Street Style.  A neo film noir vamp! | Hel-Looks

*Two beautiful screenshots from one of the last episodes of the first half of the last season (ugh) of Mad Men.  I just started re-watching the series from the beginning, something I highly recommend to fellow fans of the show.  A lot has happened to these two characters, and it's been easy to forget all the crap that Peggy had to put up with as a young secretary in 1960.  (Seriously.  Go back and watch the first few episodes if nothing else.)  It's been nice to see these two working together again, and to see Don full of both pride and admiration for her. | source appears to have removed her original post, but it was the Tumblr Omiero

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

i spy: a grand hotel and an alpine Gasthaus, women in amazing coats, and a dreamboat in a hamster suit

Thanks to the release of Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, I was in an even more mitteleuropäisch state of mind than usual last month.  (I really loved the film, needless to say.  It's probably my favorite Wes Anderson film to date, and I'm a big fan of his.)  So Alpine scenes, grand hotels, and certain actors have been popping up frequently on my Pinterest and Tumblr.  But I realize this is a vintage blog, so you'll be happy to know I also spotted some great fashion and fashion-related images last month, possibly rekindled my interest in The Sartorialist, and discovered a great new online collection at the Cooper-Hewitt.

Prost! 

clockwise, starting at upper left:

*Mendl's Bakery in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel 

*Sertiweg by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1926 | WikiPaintings

*Christoph Waltz playing the hamster equivalent of Salieri in the sublimely silly Jimmy Kimmel mini-film, Ameowadeus | watch it here

*Hungarian actor S.Z. Sakall on the set of Casablanca (1942). | A Certain Cinema

*Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli, a restaurant and hotel tucked into the side of the Swiss Alps. | photo by Rowena Waack

*a woman in Paris wearing a coat that looks like it's made from couch upholstery...but I love it! | Street Style Aesthetic

*woman wearing Prada in Paris. | The Sartorialist (I'd stopped looking at The Sartorialist awhile back because I just wasn't much inspired by the fashions he photographed.  This photo has me reconsidering that!)

*Christian Berard illustration on the cover of the November 1936 French Vogue | via

*18th century sales sample book of buttons | Cooper-Hewitt (check out their online collections...I could get lost there for hours)

*"Fitting shoes" photo by Lisa Larsen taken at Capezio Theatrical Shoes, New York, ca 1947, for Liberty Magazine. | Picture of the Year International archive

xo

K

Elsa Peretti's Tuscan tower, and the right-click

I like pretty pictures.  Who doesn't?  Sites like Pinterest and Tumblr (and I'm a fairly avid user of both) cater to this, inundating (overwhelming?) the user with thousands of beautiful images.  However, I also love information.  How frustrating it is to see a photo of a delicious-looking cocktail or meal on Pinterest, only to click the image and have it not lead to a recipe.  (Some people, apparently, are really just into beautiful pictures of food, and not the food itself.)  As much as I like pictures of beautiful things, most of the time I find that my appreciation of the image is much enhanced by having some information about it.

Photo by Fritz von der Schulenburg

That's when I find the right-click useful.  When you right-click a photo (using Google Chrome anyway), one of the options you get is "Search Google for this image."  (You can also search using the Google Image Search, here...but it's a lot quicker to just right click.)  When I saw the above photo in my Tumblr feed, it had no caption, and led nowhere.  I right-clicked and, voila!  I found a post on an interior design blog with a host of information.  This photo was taken in La Torre, the Tuscan holiday retreat of jewelry designer Elsa Peretti.  La Torre is a 16th century watchtower, and rather than whitewash the walls and keep the interiors (historically accurately) bare, Peretti and her architect, Renzo Mongiardino, decided to go full-on fantasy, creating a fairy tale-like atmosphere with trompe l'oeil effects like the incredible fireplace you see here. 

Spiral stairs that lead to a rooftop terrace.  |  Photo by Fritz von der Schulenburg.

The right click doesn't always work.  Often, it leads only to thousands of Pinterest or Tumblr "sources" which have no further information about the photo.  But I've found it's always worth the couple of seconds it takes to click and look.

A collection of paintings hanging on a wall painted with stripes in Peretti's bedroom.  |  Photo by Fritz von der Schulenburg.

The bathroom has both real terracotta tiles, and trompe l'oeil stenciled ones.  |  Photo by Fritz von der Schulenburg.

The guest room, with its beautifully stenciled walls.  |  Photo by Fritz von der Schulenburg.

 You can see and read more about La Torre at The Art of the Room.

xo

K

i spy: luxurious train travel, a fern print dress, a Berlin chanteuse, and dogs!

What's inspiring me lately?  Springy green fern prints, dreams of luxurious train travel, a Berlin cabaret performer...and dogs.

See more by following me on Pinterest and Tumblr.

clockwise, l-r:

*wool skirt suit by Victor Stiebel, autumn 1942 / V&A Museum

*bar car on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express / Poppytalk

*German cabaret performer, Katie Kühl, 1933 / Cabaret Berlin

*model in a fern-shadowed dress by Herbert Sondheim, photo by Herbert Matter, 1948 / Pleasure Photo

*autumn in Bucharest by yony_ro / yony_ro on Flickr

clockwise, l-r:

*hungover pups / WonderfullyStrange on Flickr

*Nora, a terrier mix / The Dogist

*Vienna, a dachshund at the NY Pet Fashion Show / The Dogist

*photo of a girl and her dog, early 1860s / KaufmaNelson Vintage Photographs

*a World War I German mascot dog with his own jacket, hat and Iron Cross Second Class.  Oh, and pipe. / Wooway1 on Flickr

xo

K

i spy: snow (duh), neon signs, a cozy fire, and architects in costume

January.  Snow, ice, fireplaces, neon lights, and the best costumes for a ball ever!  Take a look and see if you agree.  (For more of this, follow me on Tumblr or Pinterest.)

clockwise, from upper left:

*a beautiful stone fireplace in a found photo / sctatepdx Flickr

*leaf from an 1896 Dutch Art Nouveau calender by Theodor Willem Nieuwenhuis / Wolfsonian FIU Library blog

*Karlavägen street in central Stockholm in snow, January 1922, photo by Berit Wallenberg / Swedish National Heritage Board on Flickr

*Ice Glare by Charles Burchfield, 1933 / Whitney Museum of American Art

*Après-ski photo by Robert Capa of a woman at an ice bar in Zürs, Austria.  (© Robert Capa and International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos) / Vanity Fair

clockwise, from upper left:

*The Abandoned City, pastel and crayon drawing by Fernand Khnopff, 1904 / Wikipedia

*Painted glass window fragment, England, 15th century / V&A

*a 1970 nighttime shot of Kärntner Straße in Vienna (© KommR Helmut Prem private archive) / Vintage Vienna

*screenshot I took of a GIF showing architect William Van Alen dressed in costume as his Chrysler Building for the 1931 Beaux-Arts Ball in NYC. / Smithsonian Archives of American Art

*a photo of the beautiful Richmond Stamp sign in downtown Grand Rapids, by Conspectus / Conspectus

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

i spy: Romanian folk costume, plywood dresses, tweedy coats and perfumes

I missed a month of I Spy, since I was gone for much of October, but it's back now, with lots of beautiful things:  vivid autumnal Gruau artwork, haunting found photos, Romanian folk clothing on a postcard, and incredible trompe l'oeil dresses made of plywood!  But my favorite thing here might be that Franz Marc painting of Russi.  We saw a lot of Marc's work at the Lenbachhaus and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, and I particularly loved his animal paintings.  Yes, dogs have been on my mind a lot lately.  (When I went to type the title of this post, my fingers tapped out "i spay" initially.  No joke.)  Hopefully there will be a new canine addition to our little family soon.

Speaking of Franz Marc and Munich, have you all been following the story of 1400 pieces of art looted by the Nazis that have been discovered in a Munich apartment?  It's incredible.

clockwise starting from upper left:

*vintage Romanian postcard / source

*Dresden, 1938 found photograph / signs and wonders on Flickr

*Evening by William Brymner, 1907 / Wikimedia Commons

*Wallflower by Ron Isaacs / Tory Folliard Gallery

*"Russi" Lying by Franz Marc, 1910-1911 / The Athenaeum

*Vogue, August 15, 1935 / source

*René Gruau Crescendo ad, 1963 / via

*Tweed fragrance ad, December 1964 Seventeen magazine / source

*Sonia Delaunay fabric and coat / via

*Cattedrale by Piero Pizzi Cannella, 1955 / via

If you want to see more, follow me on Tumblr and Pinterest.

xo

K

i spy: dreamy skies, French film, and pre-punk fashion from the 1920s

August was half enjoying the dreamy end of summer, and half looking forward the bustle and fun of autumn.  Andy and I went on a little Truffaut kick, watching The 400 Blows and Stolen Kisses.  And we did a little trip prep by reacquainting ourselves with Mozart via Amadeus--what fun it was to watch that film again (the last time I saw it was probably its release 30 years ago)!

I hope your August was--and your September will be--beautiful and inspiring!  (More of what you see here can be found on my Tumblr and Pinterest accounts.)  

1 / Cloudscape by Paul Nash, 1939 / via

2 / photograph of Kate Steinitz in a newspaper print blouse at the Cinnabar Festival, Hannover, Germany, 1928, by Jos. Link / Archives of American Art

3 / Boy in a Striped Sweater by Amedeo Modigliani, 1918 / Metropolitan Museum of Art

4 / the sheep man / unexpectedtales on Flickr

5 / View of Dresden by Moonlight by Johan Christian Dahl, 1839 / Wikipedia

6 / Pat Premo striped sundress in the July 1946 issue of The Californian / archive.org

1 / Vienna on Foot  / ZienPhotography on Flickr

2 / Hungarian poster for François Truffaut's Baisers volés (Stolen Kisses) / via

3 / Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus / via

4 / This is Munich, written and illustrated by M. Sasek, 1969 / via

5 / Honduras rug, by Lotta / via

xo

K

i spy: modern interiors, ancient exteriors, and gals with guns and books

I have to laugh every time I look at that New Era ad, below.  The non-models in coats in the found photo above the New Era ad are really selling their chic looks better, I think.

Also, can I have Anita Loos' dress, shoes, and haircut, please?  

More inspiration can be seen on my Tumblr and Pinterest.

1 / Alfred Hendrickx S3 chairs, Sabena Airlines first class lounge, Brussels, 1958 / via

2 / Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinberg), interior lobby of the Palace of Youth / via

3 / Found photo of three chic ladies in amazing coat / lonny58 on Flickr

4 / hilarious 1954 New Era blouse ad / My Vintage Vogue

5 / vintage night shot of Canal Street in New Orleans / NatGeoFound

1 / Self-portrait, ca 1947, embroidery on linen by Mariska Karasz / mariskakarasz.com

2 / Edinburgh view by Wil Freeborn / Wil Freeborn on Flickr

3 / Anita Loos in a great plaid dress, shoes, (and haircut!), 1926 / via

4 / Neuer Markt am Abend by Ferdinand Kruis, 1914 / via

5 / Hungarian art nouveau doors / elinor04 on Flickr

xo

K