spring fling ♡

Some dresses I'm excited to wear this April ♥

With Easter around the corner, I've been reaping inspiration for Springtime fashions!!

This Spring I am particularly inspired by the early 1960s, when Dior's romantic New Look silhouettes still prevailed, only brighter and more playful, with wonderfully exuberant hair and makeup to match. I especially adore the contrast between ethereal, innocent frocks and the harsh haughty make-up of 1950s fashion models; the sugary wardrobe of a princess, but the regal bearing of a queen!

honky tonk angels

Turn that jukebox way up high and fill my glass up while I cry. 

Actually, there's nothing to cry about when you're a honky-tonk girl!  Here are some gals who roam the range (or the barroom) and look pretty nifty. 

♥

 

  

Always remember, buckaroos n buckarettes: 
The higher the hair, the closer to God 
✞

southern belle dressing

I wish it was socially acceptable to wear ruffled gowns and hoop skirts every day. It's not like I waste too much time fretting over my outfits being socially acceptable or not, haha, but it'd kind of be pearls before swine, and getting in and out of doorways might pose a challenge. Anyway, I've had Southern Belle style on the brain lately (what else is new?)... specifically through the lens of Hollywood's Golden Era. Original 1860s dixie dames are swell and all, but their severe center parts and make-up free faces (oh, and slave ownership!) are not something I feel compelled to emulate. No, let's hear it for Old Hollywood's totally anachronistic interpretations of Antebellum style, with flaming red lips and piled up pincurls! I've been wearing my fullest-skirted '50s frocks, fluffiest crinolines, daintiest shoes, and lace galore lately to pay homage to these fiery gals.

Bette Davis in Jezebel:
(I omitted any pictures of her infamous red dress; I thought it was hideous!)

Elizabeth Taylor in Raintree County:

Now, I doubt you have heard of this next one, so I'll not bother with the details; it was a pretty low-budget production, I hear, and the actress some unknown!

Now these are interesting... dresses inspired by Vivien's get-ups that are contemporaneous to the film! How I'd love to stumble upon one of these lovelies someday... 

PS: Latest breaking news in Dakotaville... I can now drive a tractor. A rusty red 1940s Massey-Ferguson at that! My neighbor owns it (she's a real farmer, unlike poseur me) and she let me drive it all around one of her pastures, and it was the most fun ever, and I'm welcome to drive it anytime, she said, so one day I'll get pictures. I feel so badass chuggin' down the hill on a giant old tractor, hehe! All I need now is a corncob pipe. Also, it turns out tractors are just like dresses... the older they are, the better quality! This neighbor of mine bought this behemoth '40s beast used back in the '60s, and it's still going strong, and she uses it for [whatever one does with a tractor] to this day. Amazing!

cowboy's sweetheart

It's tacky, it's kitschy, it's pure Americana, and it's awfully wonderful; it's the classic cowboy suit! From embroidery to sequins, Rockmount to Nudie Cohn, gabardine to wool, all I can think about is how much I want a vintage cowgirl suit of my own. I have quite a stack of 1940s and 50s Western shirts and squaw dresses, but there's something so charming about the full suit, with matching pants or a fringed skirt. Of course, I'm no Wanda Jackson, and I really don't need one, so unless a very cheap one turns up (a girl can dream!) I'm resigned to looking at eye candy, and thinking up ways to mix and match the vintage Western wear separates I do have to approximate their greatness.

Say, if anyone has, oh, $300 lying around that they don't really need, you just feel free to buy me this gorgeous 1930s wool cowgirl outfit:

... ; )

The king of the Nudie suit, Porter Wagoner:

And the prince, Gram Parsons:

And some more classic western wear inspiration:

Of course, I don't think anyone can work a fringed rodeo queen getup quite like Patsy Cline:

So, what say you to my suit? Garish or gorgeous?

Happy Thursday! This week just flew right by; the weekend's almost here again, yikes!

louisiana woman

What do you get when you combine Karen Elson, Dixieland jazz, an elegantly decaying New Orleans mansion, and some dazzling clothes?

This.

These are a few years old, but I just recently stumbled upon them and wanted to share. I often find music, places, and atmospheres to be my greatest style influences, as opposed to an actual fashion editorial or celebrity. These films by Bruce Weber for W Magazine blur the line between atmospheric vignettes and fashion shoots in the best way possible. Plus who doesn't love a little Karen Elson? God I want her hair...