1950's Style

     Recently I have become more and more interested with clothes inspired by the 1950's. The style is so polished and ladylike. It is irresistible! The 50's look is pretty easy to incorporate in your wardrobe because a lot of clothes that you wear today are inspired by the fifties.
     What  I like most about the fifties is that the hourglass shape is celebrated and accentuated. The 1950's is all about the curves and fitting a real woman's body. The way that they accentuated this shape was through exaggerated shapes and body hugging clothing. For example to draw attention to the waist, women would wear their dresses with fitted tops and very full skirts. These skirts were called swing skirts or more well known as poodle skirts.

sorry for the awkward quality but this is my example of my fifties look.

Shirt: Anthropologie sale room $24.99

Belt: Forever 21 $7.99

Skirt: Talbot's 

     In the fifties more and more women started to join the work force. This is when pencil skirts became popular. ( BTW a pencil skirt is an essential! EVERY woman needs at least one in her wardrobe!!) This would also accentuate the hourglass figure because it hugs the curves. Also a little tip on pencil skirts, they are meant to be fitted not tight. There is a difference and every one knows that difference, but refuse to choose the right one! If you cannot comfortably sit or breath, the skirt is too tight. Also pencil skirts should fall either right below or right above the knee. Those two places are the best for skirts to fall because those two places are the thinnest part of your leg. This will give you an overall slimmer look. Mid thigh and mid knee are the widest part of you leg, skirts and dresses that fall here make you appear wider and shorter than you really are.

this is just a quick little sketch to show the two most popular skirt styles.

Left: Swing skirt 

Right: Pencil skirt

     Women in  the fifties would also wear rolled up pants and rolled up sleeves. If you wear either of these styles you are taking inspiration from the fifties. Style from the fifties is seen a lot today in modern wardrobe. For example, pencil skirts, leopard print, gingham print, and halter neck lines. These were all trends in the fifties that are still prominent in clothing today.
     I also noticed that menswear from the fifties is making a come back as well. For work, men would usually wear the same thing that men wear today. They wore charcoal, navy blue, or dark brown suits with a wide lapel and tie. That look is timeless and will never go out of style. Another men's style is coming back too. This look is called preppy or ivy league. (Of course modern twists are being put on all of these looks.) The 'ivy league' look is when young men would wear a cardigan sweater or letter cardigans. In the fifties men would pair a button up shirt, dress trousers, and dress shoes with it. Toady I have seen men wear the cardigan sweaters with a tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Personally I think that looks really cool.
     The fun thing about fashion is that we get inspiration from decades before us. We are able to mix the classic vintage pieces with the latest and greatest trends of today.

Chain Mail

     First of all, I would like to introduce my younger sister Jacqui. She is very artistic and excels at everything she does. About a month ago she took on chain mail. She taught herself how to do this and in a short amount of time she managed to make me the most FANTASTIC jewelry set. She made a bracelet, necklace, ring, and two pairs of the most adorable earrings.

                        This is a photo of me with my lovely little sister! The girl can do anything!
   
      Here is a little history on the ancient art. The Celts are the ones believed to have created chain mail for armor in the late first millennium B.C. Some of the oldest pieces of surviving armor is over 2,700 years old. The word "chain mail" is also know as "chain maille" or even just "maille." The work maille comes from a french word that means mesh.

                                                       This is the Bracelet she made me!
      To make chain mail you open jump rings and link them around each other. This is an expensive hobby and chain mail sells for a lot of money in stores. I just wanted to share the ancient art with you and show off my sisters talent!!

The fantastic necklace she made!

The too cool ring!

Super cute earrings!

     As I said before this is kind of pricey, but if you are really interested in learning how to do this, go to Amazon. On that site you can find all of the materials needed and how too books for way cheaper than in stores!!!   

The other super cute earrings!