Hourglass Curves.



Marilyn Monroe.

 Marilyn Monroe was and still is the ultimate sex bomb. She is the 1950's ICON that every woman wanted to be and every man wanted. Over and over she is named as the woman whose body every other woman wants to copy. Even though, and get this girls, she was voluptuous !! I know!! It just gets better and better for all us hour glass figured ladies out there........Marilyn was a voluptuous size 12 - 16. Wow!!



Marilyn with husband Arthur Miller.

 I have been an hour glass figure since I developed curves as a young teenager, and as I saw it then they were all in the wrong places. I spent as much time through school hiding those curves as best I could. I was not like the models splayed across fashion magazines. I just couldn't relate to them and the clothes they wore. Not only were, in my humble opinion , the eighties fashions hideous and unfeminine I didn't have any hope in hell of attaining a boyish lean figure that suited them, even when I dropped down to six and a half stone, my curves were still there as prominent as ever. I wasn't tall and I sure as hell wasn't flat chested or minus a waist, and no matter how much weight I lost that fact never changed one jot. Having curves can be a curse until you learn how to use them to your own advantage.

So it was a massive revelation to me when I discovered that Ms Marilyn Monroe was only 5ft 51/2" and ranged in her career it is speculated from a healthy sized 14 -16 to size 10 and to boot she was curvy, and I mean swit swoo (wolf whistle) curvy.......and men loved her, not only men but women too!

When I saw her in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blonde's with Jane Russell - who I also discovered was a buxom babe with a booty, I studied every stitch they wore and how they wore it avidly. Here was the key to me ditching the over sized jumpers and baggy Tees. These two lovely ladies held the answers to how to dress for a much fuller in and out figure and damn it did they look good doing it. How did they manage it?

Firstly they learned to love their body shape and identify what shape they were. It sounds so simple and easy when it's written in a small black and white sentence. Which is why I now have my own Ten Commandments and one of those golden rules is to  "Know thy body shape and love it"  . Time and time again I meet women who dislike who they are and hide their body shape because it's not what their head says it should be. That's the fashion magazines, movie stars and catwalk models talking honey - it ain't real life, that's the first thing you've got to realize. The next thing to do is - find out who you are and what shape you are. Then go from there.

Marilyn is one of the most beautiful, most photographed and most desirable women in the whole world over. You can't get much more fit looking than her! Having curves and being voluptuous is one of women's biggest assets, why would we want to look like a boy? It's crazy when you really think about it. Personally I think the modelling industry and movie world needs to see a lot more real women with real curves.

If a woman has curves these days she's placed instantly in the plus size department. Hello, I'm not over weight,  I have curve issues. And for those of us who do carry a little extra we don't want you labelling us as PLUS SIZED. How rude is that!? THE CURVACEOUS DEPARTMENT sounds much better and describes us more accurately I feel. Curves come in all shapes and sizes. We have curves and we know how to use them. x

One of my favourite stories about Marilyn Monroe is when she was walking along the road with actor Eli Wallach, who noted that no one was taking any notice of her. He said to her , "My God don't these people know who you are?!" Marilyn grinned at him and replied "I'm only recognized when I want to be. Watch this" . She began to swing her hips and walk in a way that was familiar to movie goers and was eventually mobbed by adoring fans.

I know that the average U.K female dress size and body shape is not represented by the catwalks and model shoots in fashion magazines - so why are they still trying to make us believe it is? It leads to women being unhappy about their bodies and wishing they were something they can never be. Some bodies are just not built that way. We are after all each of us unique, it's time we started to dress that way. As Mud Boy tells me constantly "Men like something to squeeze". I rest my case. x

They do say that a vintage size 16 is a modern 10. Remember girls they had some serious girdles and corseting going on back then. Although there is still a massive debate raging about the actual size of Marilyn Monroe's famous hourglass figure. Was she averagee size or was she bigger? First we have the Continental size difference to bridge, a British size 16 is an American size 12.  The thing is like all Hollywood stars of the time her clothes would have been hand made and designed to fit her perfectly. To be honest, I really don't care what size she was - she was damn hot that's what I know and women the world over would love to have her body confidence. Perhaps the most telling is when English actress Elizabeth Hurley spoke to Allure magazine saying "I've always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous, but I'd kill myself if I was that fat.....I went to see her clothes in the exhibition, and I wanted to take a tape measure and measure what her hips were (laughs). She was very big". Really I think that statement says more about Liz Hurley than it does Marilyn, but I'll leave you to decide why.

However Marilyn's dress maker had her sizes down as bust 36D (35-37 inches), waist 22-23 inches (whether this was before or after the fitting of a corset - who knows?), Hips (35-36 inches) and her weight like most women and her measurements fluctuated. We do know from studio records that they had to get a special mold made for her corset and swimwear because she was such an extreme hourglass shape, that they had no off the peg dummies for seamstresses to model on. All that says to me is lucky lady for having someone take so much care and attention in dressing her to perfection! Wish that it were me. x .

The first thing a woman needs to help her keep her curves under control is the right undergarments. How can you lift, tuck , nip and boost if you haven't got support to do so with? Cue the bra.


Marilyn and Jane working it!



Marilyn may have had an hourglass figure that made her a sizzling sensation, but she had a ton of help to make them work for her and not against her. Rule number one: Don't battle against your own body.

Little Ms Monroe wore the 1950's equivalent of the Wonderbra. It lifted and enhanced her cup size and gave her more than an inch. In 2009 Marilyn 1950's wonderbra went up for auction. This magic bra was able to perform it's duty because it was constructed to hold her breasts in with an inside cup and to lift with an outside cup. The ol' lift and squeeze baby, lift an' squeeze. Nowadays us busty girls have the wonderful Bravissimo and Figleaves to shop in. I never shop anywhere else for my undergarments as they know how to treat a bustier girls figure, they have my custom for life. x

Sultry Jane Russell.

Jane Russell wasn't lacking in the curve department either and happily showed all her assets refusing to cover them up. At 5ft 7 " tall she reportedly measured at a 38D-27-37 and while her actual dress size isn't known we do know that she was more volumptious than Marilyn, whose average film career size was a 12.

I'll let you into a little secret I'm a 30 FF in bra size and I know that I can wear either a size 12 or 14 up top depending on the cut, shape and style of the outfit, 10 if it's a very stretchy material. If it has buttons in a 12 forget it - unless I am sewn in. If it's a 14 with buttons it will fit up top but I will have to take the waist in to a 12. There is always a compromise somewhere, which is why for us bustier girls off the rail shopping is so difficult.

 Pepperberry though as their honest slogan says have 'clothes designed with your boobs in mind'. It's true they are one of the only shops I know of that actually take your bust measurment into account on the fitting of a dress, blouse, jumper or coat. It's about time too.



Marilyn looking divine.

 

 Jane Russell became a popular sexpot 1940's second World War pinup along with the curvy Betty Grable.

Here's a girl who certainly didn't let her curves hold her back. Jane was fiesty and fierce, she displayed all she got with a confident stride and wiggle when she meant it. Knowing just when to hold back and when to blow a hot blooded fuse.

How do we define an hourglass figure? Well the official definition is that your bust and hips are about the same proportion and you have a tiny waist. So put that into real and life and there is a wide range of sizes encompassed into the hourglass or figure of eight body shape. Remember no one body type is any better than another. It's all about loving you, for you.

Luckily for me the 1940's and 1950's are all about the hourglass figure. It was for me, as if the clothes had been designed just for moi. They got that my waist needed to be nipped in if I didn't want to look like a sack of lumpy potatoes. They understood that I needed my bust lifted, supported and separated if I didn't want monoboob syndrome and they certainly knew that the best skirts and dresses lengths for me was just below my knees in two oppoiste forms, whether in the full circle skirt or the tight wiggle. Clothes today just don't seem to fit me as well as they do from the past.

The thing we are perhaps yearning for is that these gorgeous girls of the past are at their most womanly, curvaceous and full on sex appeal. The thing that we can't quantify is not weight or body size - it's sheer sex appeal and sexiness. That doesn't come with diets or pills , it comes with loving your own body shape for what and who it is. Love you and the sexiness will ooze from every pore. Gauranteed. That little bit of je ne ce que - that no one can quite put their finger on.

So there we have it, like all normal women out there they wasn't just one size in any one place. We girls know that we can go from one store to another and either gain or loose one sometimes even two dress sizes. Yes it can be either depressing or exhilarating, but remember it's only a label. You can cut it out and no one will ever need to know - all they will see is that you feel and look fabulous in the dress - and that girlfriend is the be all and end all, there is no more that needs to be said.

Tyrone Power - My Smooth Moustachio Hero.

In honour of the month and movement of Movember I thought I would write about one of the only men I feel can carry off a decent stubble and dashing or rugged 'tash, my ultimate screen God, Tyrone Power.
In fact he could do anything in my books and still come out smelling of roses.....it's those long eye lashes, smouldering dark looks and lips of his, that smile, he could make anything seem ok, if he just smiles. Swoon.

I have long had a crush on Mr Power, since I was a small girl. It never bothered me that he died long before I was conceived, or even before my parents could tie their own shoe laces in fact. He will always and forever be immortal on the silver screen.
Born Tyrone Edmund Power Jnr, to Theatrical acting parents and often referred to just as Ty, he was born on 5th May 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio, America and sadly aged just 44 he passed away on November 15th 1958 from a heart attack. That's nearly 53 years ago this year, almost to the day. His own father Tyrone Power snr died in his sons arms in 1931, also from a heart attack, whilst waiting to go on stage.
Tyrone Power Jnr, was a  versatile actor and in 1936 he starred in his first Hollywood film, the lead role in Lloyd's of London. He had walked into that movie premiere an unknown actor, he left a movie star, a role he remained for the rest of his life. Throughout his full career he played strong character roles from film noir to light romantic comedies, each with his own rougish charm.

I love Tyrone Power's films, I'm drawn to his strength and romantic portrayals. I am an optimistic romantic soul at heart. The first film, and one of my favourites, that I saw Tyrone in was 'The Black Swan', based on the novel of the same name by Rafael Sabatini. He played the lead role as swashbuckling Captain Jamie Waring, a pirate and Buccaneer with Maureen O'Hara in 1942 in glorious Technicolour.
Set in the Caribbean around the life of the infamous pirate Captain Henry Morgan. It was the first film that stirred my young romantic heart in the school summer holidays and turned pirates, previously seen by my young self as smelly dirty and ragged, into dashing, courageous hero's with a cheeky tongue and a heart that knew when he had found his one true love. To me, it was a romantic fairytale on the historic high seas, a place I was very unlikely to ever visit and therefore this helped it make all the more impressionable imprint on my tender immature heart.

Tierney and Powers in Son Of Fury. 1942.

Later on I discovered that he played alongside on the screen with one of my favourite female actresses, Gene Tierney, in three films and typically for Hollywood they had a love affair whilst filming their first film together, being Son Of Fury: The Story Of Benjamin Blake (1942). Another period swashbuckler, based on the novel Benjamin Blake by author Edison Marshall.
There is something so intense about this movie that it literally makes my heart skip a beat. Gene Tierney has long been a screen Goddess of style, grace and glamour to me. Her sultry exotic looks made her the perfect choice to play Eve, Benjamin Blake's islander wife and love interest as a marooned sailor. I personally, think this photo of them together with it's deep intensity is enough reason alone to make any red blooded gal wanna watch it! 



Tierney and Powers in The Razor's Edge.

The Razor's Edge, (1946), another film based on a novel of the same name, came along next as their starring roles together. It was on this film that it is rumour 'got out' about their love affair together. It is a tale about salvation and trying to find life's answers.



In 1948 they filmed a comedy together That Wonderful Urge. A love rivalry with lots of innuendos. A rich Heiress and a newspaper reporter are thrown together by circumstances.
 I will not bore you with the writing of  the synopsis of these films in too much depth, in case I spoil them for you. They need to be watched to be fully appreciated as the plot unfolds before you. I dislike watching trailers of movies lest they spoil it all for me. I'd much rather watch the movie for the movies sake not for a part I am imagining will happen on screen, on that pathway leads disappointment. Much better to settle down and watch with an open mind I say. The only thing I have done for you, is to allow the films and actors to talk for themselves with a brief clip for those of you who do like to take a sneek peek, thus leaving the choice entirely up to you, the viewer.

Over the years since his death there has been much written about Tyrone Powers love affairs and sexuality, albeit he was married several times, and even though there is no proof many have claimed that he was bisexual. Do you know what, I don't care either way, to me he will always be my silver screen hero. x

Fur - The BIG Debate.

I am a vegetarian. I love animals. Goes without saying. I did not choose however to become a vegetarian, I was born this way and then raised as one. I am allergic to the fats and protein in meat. They make me sick, literally.
Now, I don't like touching meat full stop, which I think those who you who know me will I'm sure of heard me mention before. Can't stand it. Reminds me a a corpse on a slab and I don't like it. Yet I still cook and prepare meat for those I love every week. It is their choice to eat meat not mine.

Simone D'alliencourt. Loius Vuitton pic by Henry Clarke 1930's.

Okay.........fur. It is the bi-product of the meat production, both for animals (cat and dog food) and humans. Leather is a bi-product of the beef dishes and burgers fast food joints and rabbit fur is the bi-product of all the tins of pet food consummed in their billions every week. An where do you think the fleece of the lamb or mutton goes after it's been killed? Into any kind of wool product industry they can sell it to of course.
There are some furs that I won't wear though, I absolutely don't agree with killing an animal for it's fur coat alone, like cute baby seals, foxes, minks, leopards, bear, tigers etc - but I do wear leather and wool. I love leather coats, bags and shoes. I love knitted dresses and scarves. However I don't agree with using animal skins either just for the sake of it, I'm thinking crocodile skin bags here and the such like.
I don't agree with killing an animal just for it's skin or fur alone is what I am trying to say, but if it is a bi-product of the meat eating industry then it I've come round to the conclusion that it's okay for me to wear it. Use all of the animal, don't waste it's life......Or.......... and here is where some real controversy may kick in -  if it is vintage. And I mean at least fifty years old. Where the animal has died long ago and it seems a sin to just destroy the fur, otherwise the animal really did die in vain. Of course these are my own personal opinions and everyone else is entitled to their own. To some it may seem like I am muddled in my ethics but to me they make absolutely perfect sense.
I already own faux fur coats, boleros and wraps and I did own two adorable full length fur coats when I was a teenager. Vintage 1920's white mink and a 1930's brown rabbit, but I was a teenage kid, I looked too frumpy in them, I hadn't quite matured into them yet. Then when we got stuck for money as a young loved up married couple, I sold them to a vinatge clothes dealer for good money. Hurrah, we could pay the mortgage that month!
Only, I really regret selling them now, because I want another fur coat. I have always missed them, always thought rather fondly off them, and now I wish I had them. So along with my other three coats I desire, I am adding a fourth to the list - a vintage fur. Or it could be a faux fur - I don't mind - it would be much easier to look after.
Oh yes, a real fur needs constant care - I learnt that as a small child from elderly relative's wardrobes and their  furs, they were like Narnian Wardrobes of delight for me as a tiny nipper. You have to keep them at a constant low temperature, (to avoid moulting and moths......yes really, it will moult but not grow back!), never store them in a plastic bag - as they need the air to circulate around them, try not to wear shoulder strap bags as this can wear and rub on a vintage fur shoulder, if it gets wet in the rain - just shake it off and let it dry naturally - never use heat to dry it, place cedar moth balls in the pockets and hang some in a bag on the hanger to keep them safe from moths, gently smooth it and love them as you would almost real human hair otherwise you will end up with a patchy bald fur coat - not very attractive.

The big craze this winter in all the stores is the fur. They are everywhere. Topshop have some beautiful faux fur coats at the moment and they also have some amazing faux fur capes , faux fur stoles glam rockette style, and their fur wrap tie collars. Other stores such as the divine  Oasis 60's style Peggy coat  both stores are filled with extremely stylish and reasonably in priced stroke-able items. I just wish I didn't have to choose one, because I could easily purchase them all. Oasis has a whole heap of faux furs in store and online. I will definitely be checking them out come the January sales!!!
Meanwhile I am on the hunt for vintage 1940's furs. It's my pre-Christmas Winter gift and I will know the coat and wrap when I see them. It will be my special, special - I can wear a slinky little Summer number underneath, even in the cold heart of Winter, coat. My, have to look after it for life coat.

Beautiful GiveAway from HeyDay.

The Lovely blog In the HeyDay have a fabulous dress giveaway in honour of racking up 400 followers! Whoo Hoo!! To celebrate they are giving readers the chance to win this beautiful black Fleur dress with sweet white daisy's. Just follow the link to enter. In The Heyday giveaway  Good Luck! x

Blogging Game.

I have been nominated in a blogging game by http://thegallivanters.blogspot.com/. Seems I am to tell you seven things about myself....................and then pass the game onto my favourite newly discovered blogger.

Seven Things About Me:

1. I tend to animorph all the time! Drives Mud Boy absolutely mental.

2. I am never alone......ever.

3. I am a real softie for animals. I grew up with a menagerie of animals and now our house is like a mini Zoo.

4. I'm a Vegetarian and have been since I was a toddler.

5. I dislike driving, I do it merely from necessity.

6. I am a complete technophobe and take ages to get to grips with anything remotely 21st century.

7. I adore the colour red.

I pass the game and nominate ..........  http://sniffandsnort.wordpress.com/

What is Vintage?

'Vintage'.......what a marvellous word. It forms the mouth so sexily on the 'cha' ending sound as it passes through one's teeth. It can encompass such a wide range of things. Vintage wine, vintage cars, vintage antiques.....but to me it instantly means vintage clothing. Outfits and items from a bygone era that I feel at ease in.
They may be older than my Nan, true, but they carry with them an energy that is so delicious that I could be sampling a vintage wine, in short they are in a class all of their own.
The word vintage has become a generic term for all second hand clothing - discarded and unwanted they have been given a new lease of life by those who can see their true hidden potential. It's a much nicer, politer term than 'second hand' clothes or 'used items', which of course they are. They have lived their life with one owner, perhaps several before you find them, claim them and give them a new and loving home. Like adopting a wayward pet from a shelter. We clean them, even repair them and set about bringing out the very best in them. Allowing their fibres to once more feel the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze of air waft through them as they hang off our bodies. We have resuscitated them back into life from the forgotten century from whence they came. I make it sound all rather dramatic, but in essence that is exactly what we are doing. They had a life before us. A woman saw them in a shop, fell in love with and bought 'them'. Perhaps wearing 'them' for a romantic anniversary dinner, a late night show, the theatre, an exotic holiday or perhaps her first date....the possibilities are endless. They are like sharing a past love. I shudder to think how many beautiful vintage clothes went to the shredder or rubbish tip because they're old and used or their 'fashion' era had come to an end.

Vintage clothing for me isn't just about the label. I will never buy something for a label alone. I have to love the piece to buy it and more importantly it has to suit my figure and shape. There's no point in wearing a beautiful garment if it does nothing for you and you for it. It's like a wrongly matched love affair - it will always be doomed from the start.
Those of us who hold tightly to the past do so for our own deep rooted feelings. Perhaps they remind us of a cherished loved one, maybe we inherited a wardrobe, or our bodies are simply suited for a shape cut only in the past? For me, I've never felt that I truly belong in this era. I've always claimed since I was three to my parents that - "I was born too late" and didn't belong here with them. Make of that what you will, but I firmly believe that I don't fit in, nor do I belong in this time frame - as much as I dearly love my husband and children in the here and now, and I DO more than anything in life itself,  I just cannot shake the deep feeling that I feel at odds with the twenty first century in more ways than one. Perhaps subconsciously I still cling to a life past and therefore am in explicitly drawn back to the eras I loved and previously felt alive in. Hence my desire to clothe and surround myself with vintage items.
It is only recently that fashion has been seen as vintage. Clothing in a wearable art form.

Fashion and Textiles Museum, London.

A visionary who also believes this is the legendary iconic fashion designer Zandra Rhodes. Founded by her and located in Bermondsey, London, is the Fashion and Textiles Museum is an iconic place to visit if you want to know about the history of fashion and textiles or you wish to be inspired. We are constantly looking to the past for inspiration, what better place to start than here.
Over time Zandra has collected iconic pieces from British designers to memorialize them both in fashion and textiles for her exhibitions. At the moment they've just had an exhibition on Tommy Nutter : Rebel On The Row and are currently closed until the 18th November when their new exhibition Catwalk To Cover will be showing until the 25th of February 2012. Personally I can't wait for their exhibition on POP! Culture and Fashion 1955 - 1976 which starts the 6th July 2012. It's something I am definitely hoping to go up and see.