~ Raleigh Vintage ~: 2012.02

1920s in Color: The photography of Maynard Owens Williams

There are few things more stunning and rare than a 1920s/1930s photograph. Luckily National Geographic has an extensive collection that is available online. I stumbled upon this archive one evening while doing some research a recently acquired 1920s dress...and 4 hours later at 2am, Isaac had to pull me away from the computer to get some sleep. I was totally engrossed. The autochrome process used to create these images retains brilliant jewel tones that have not faded over time and give a three-dimensional feel that is lost in most modern photography.

All of the following images were captured by Maynard Owen Williams, National Geographic's first foreign correspondent. He was even their correspondent at the opening of King Tutankhamen in 1923. His images come from around the world, including Eastern Europe and the Middle East. My favorites (not surprisingly) are those depicting fabulous fashions.

A woman sits on a bench by a pond in Tete d'Or Park, Lyons, France

Two women walk through Lord Brougham's garden, Cannes, France

French woman sitting on a park bench in early evening, Tete d'Or Park, Lyons, Rhone, France

Uniformed ice cream salesmen sell a million bars annually, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1930s.

A woman wears a kimono with designs identical to that of a palace, Crete

Maynard Owen Williams, Self-Portrait

Don't worry if you didn't get your fill of these stunning images...there are more on the way!

The REAL Land Girls - 1940s Women's Land Army

For some strange reason, I came out of school (including grad school!) knowing about Bomb girls and Rosie the Riveter (the women who worked the factory and industrial jobs during the war), but never hearing the story of the women who replaced the male agricultural and forestry workers called up for war. My first introduction to these women came just about a week ago via the BBC series Land Girls. Since then, I've spent many hours combing the internet to learn the real story of these amazing women.

The Women's Land Army actually started during World War I in Britain. As another war loomed, the Women's Land Army was resurrected in 1939 to ensure Britain had an ample food supply during. Initially, the young women were mostly volunteers from the countryside, but were quickly joined by women from London and northern industrial towns (making up about 1/3 of the WLA). By 1941, women were being conscripted into service in the WLA.

Work on the farms was hard, dirty, tiring and demanded a lot of sustained physical strength. The WLA were expected to harvest the crops, pitch wheat sheaves, feed the animals, milk cows, saw timber, sow seeds, dig ditches, hedging, and even mending tractors. "Over a thousand women were employed as rat-catchers, a very useful job given that each rat could eat about 50kg of food in a year.*" Most of the WLA girls worked and lived on small farms, but some stayed in camps and were directed to Forestry Commission and War Agriculture land, working on larger farms or for the forestry service.

The WLA was also service in the US from 1943 - 47. It continued in Britain until 1950 to help ease food shortages and rationing in the lean years just after the war. Despite the often arduous work and sometimes unpleasant living conditions, it appears that many women enjoyed their work and made lasting friendships.


A US-WLA ID card. The story behind this card along with many wonderful letters can be found Letters from Land Army Camp. What amazing stories these women have; they inspire me to do more and be more!

The making of a T-shirt

Why I love being surrounded by creative friends...

Just a few days ago, my friends Liz, Molly, Jen and I were inspired to create a T-shirt for our upcoming Tap into TWEED party. Within hours, Molly and Liz (from Revolver Consignment) had the design and Jen (also from Revolver) had our screen-printing friend Adam (from Ahpeele) on the phone. Two days later Adam had our screen ready and he and Isaac (Raleigh Vintage) did the printing.

We now have a most lovely t-shirt that will be for sale at the party!

Step one: create the screen (essentially a sophisticated screen cut-out)

Step Two: choose your color

Step three: choose your squidgy

Step Four: apply the paint over screen (which is over your t-shirt) with your squidgy (done here by Adam from Ahpeele)

Here's a great shot of the contraption that holds the screen and the t-shirt.

The finished t-shirt on the machine.

Step Five: drying. The screen-printed garment goes onto a conveyor belt into an intrared "oven" (here a screen-printed vest is ready to be transferred to the oven)

The designers: Molly and Liz from Revolver Consignment

The finished product (MINE!)

We hope to see you all at the Triangle Tweed Ride 2012!

Land Girls - my latest BBC obsession

While desperately searching Netflix a few days ago (no TV in our house), I ran across the most lovely surprise...the BBC series Land Girls. If you haven't seen it, you must. Set in the 1940s, the show centers around women who are working on a rural farm to replace the male farmhands away because of the war. Their interactions with each other and the locals are touching and humorous...there is scandal, romance, drama, and comedy. And, best of all....the clothes!

I'm still working on season 1 and am so excited that there are at least 2 more seasons ahead of me (don't spoil any plot for me)!

Look for more to follow on the REAL land girls!

Ralph Lauren Fall 2012 - Tweed!

Many of you know how much I love a good tweed, so you can imagine how excited I was to see Ralph Lauren's Fall 2012 collection...tweed, argyle, and herringbone abound.
Mixing plaids, tweeds, and fair isle intarsias keeps the looks from being stale, while ocelot prints update the classic silhouettes.

The influence of the British country gentleman is strong!

The evening wear collection is coming up next.
If you don't see the Downton Abby influence here, you'll definitely see it there!

Love is on my mind!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We fall in love...

Never to say goodbye...

To be as one...

Forever after...

1920s Souvenirs from Egypt

There are a few things in life that seem to represent a tangible manifestation of my life's passions (vintage clothing, history, travel, and archaeology) - this amazing coat is one of those. It is a 1920s silk cocoon-style coat with lavish embroidery and shisha-style inset mirrors. While the coat in and of itself is utterly stunning, it is the history of the coat that truly endears it to my heart. It was purchased in Luxor, Egypt as a tourist's souvenir. In the late 19th century, the Pohoomull Bros. (originally from India) set up shops in major tourist sites around the Mediterranean. From these shops, they'd sell their wares imported from India. Although the items they sold had a distinctly Indian style, they still satisfied the western tourists' desire for "Oriental" mementos from their world tours.

Does it get any better? Why yes it does! The coat also came with a matching drawstring bag.

The Old Winter Palace
The Luxor Winter Palace, where this coat and purse were purchased, was luxury hotel built in 1886 on the banks on the Nile, near the Luxor Temple. The 5-star hotel catered to western tourists and was the perfect location for the Prohoomull Bros. shop.

Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 fueled the already thriving tourist business in Egypt. I love imagining a young woman traveling the Mediterranean and, while touring the ancient Egyptian sites, stopped to buy herself an exotic new coat and purse (that eventually made its way to me).

1920s tourists on the Giza Plateau

This is me doing my own tour of Egypt (ignore the squishy face; the sun is very bright there).

Tweed Ride via Etsy

I have less than a month to plan my outfit for Triangle Tweed Ride - YIKES!
So far, this classic late 1960s blue and tan plaid vest is my only definite piece. I'm turning to my friends on Etsy for help.