Josephine the Spy

Wow, I am intrigued to learn that Josephine Baker, that iconic '20s Charleston queen, worked as an Allied spy in France during WWII. Fascinating! Here's a bit of info on how she strategically used her fame.

'40s Military Dress

This past weekend I attended Swingfest and swing danced surrounded by tanks and planes! This is the WWII inspired dress I tweaked and wore for the event. I found the original dress in the summer for mere cents at the local thrift haunt. I love its military green cotton searsucker fabric with the bit of stretch. The original dress was basically sleeveless so I spent months keeping an eye out for similar coloured fabric whenever I was thrifting, so as to have some material to make sleeves out of. Nothing turned up. Then one day I was trying it on again, and while taking it off it flipped inside out and I realized it had a slip! Glorious discovery! So I promptly ripped that slip out and started chopping it up to make the sleeves and lapels you see here. I also swapped out the buttons for these brassy ones. Lesson: always look under the dress' skirt for extra fabric!

100 Years

I find it fascinating how WWI launched the world out of the poise of the Edwardian Era, and caused the reaction of the Roaring Twenties. WWI is the pivotal point of vast societal change, which influenced everything stylistic as well--design, décor, architecture, fashion, and so on--read any history of design book and you'll catch on to that trend pretty quick. Here's to those who sacrificed their lives and lifestyles, creatively adapted to new ways of life (I would love to hear more of their experiences), and helped give us the freedom we enjoy today! 

Culottes Forever

I'm working on my outfit for going to a 1940s swing dance this weekend! The past weeks have been filled with tucking and hemming and dancing in trial outfits. Special mention is deserved for these culottes--not only do these culottes have pockets, they have secret pockets, as well as the best care tag I have ever seen:

"Give 'em hell!"

Remember

"We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields."

--Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD

Parisian Wartime Postcard

 I found this 1940s postcard at an ephemera sale. The elegant building pictured is now known as Le Musée d'Orsay, which holds the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art. Monet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh...joy of joys!! But wait--its history is equally fascinating. It was built around 1900 as La Gare d'Orsay, a train station. Then during WWII it was used as a post headquarters for sending packages to prisoners of war, as well as a place that welcomed those soldiers after Liberation. 

The writing scribbled on the back of this postcard says, "This building is at present the home of Canadian boys on leave in Paris. The ballroom is magnificent. River 'Seine'." Just incredible!

Audrey: The Life of Audrey Hepburn

I got this book for next to nothing at a book sale and was pleasantly surprised when I cracked it open and read it. As a biography, I was expecting a dry sequence of dates, names, and places, but Charles Higham did Audrey more justice than that. It is factually yet descriptively written, actually quite beautifully written at times. 

The book covers Audrey's childhood to the end of her career in film. In particular, I enjoyed learning about what led her to entering the film industry, as well as the shocking situations she was in as a child working with the Dutch resistance during WWII. It's a captivating read!