tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13780561774840251752024-03-19T10:22:01.102+00:00Last-Year GirlLast-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13874476850659793403noreply@blogger.comBlogger329125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-45205033204419781642018-04-15T16:30:00.000+01:002018-04-15T16:30:59.750+01:00Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
In the spring issue of Oh Comely, four writers shared the books that inspired change in their life. I wrote about Virginia Nicholson's Singled Out: How Two Million Women
Survived Without Men after the First
World War.
It’s something of a cliché that history gives
lessons for the future. But I never thought I’d
find mine in a social history book, especially
in one about a generationLast-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-39178552166394201222017-10-21T12:11:00.000+01:002017-10-21T12:11:12.305+01:00Louise Dahl-Wolfe: a style of her own at Fashion and Textile Museum, London
Twins at the Beach, Nassau, 1949. Photograph by
Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Collection Staley Wise Galley.
©1989 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona
Board of Regents.
Just after I’d seen the Louise Dahl-Wolfe: a style of her own exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, I tweeted:
Louise Dahl-Wolfe @FashionTextile is basically all I want from life: bangles, turbans, leopard printLast-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-35917498313313967752017-10-08T22:17:00.002+01:002017-10-08T22:22:39.720+01:00Burberry's Here We Are exhibition
Autumn is always a good time to be in London: it’s London Fashion Week, London Design Festival, Open House, not to mention the opening of a new round of exhibitions. As part of this cultural madness, this year Burberry hosted Here We Are, an installation in the 18th-century Old Sessions House with claims to document the “many and varied tribes and clans and classes that make up this island Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-64080630124686719972017-03-16T21:40:00.001+00:002017-03-21T21:57:19.596+00:00Meet Sumurun: the supermodel of the 1920s
via
I first came across Sumurun in Brigid Keenan’s 1978 The Women we wanted to look like. Here was a model, a household name according to Keenan, but I’d never heard of her before. She also appears in Charles Castle’s Model Girl described in breathless language as: "enchantress of the desert, the word’s most feted mannequin, courted and feted by many men, proposed to by at least a score."
Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-92142089168342892642016-06-02T19:30:00.000+01:002016-06-02T19:36:54.885+01:00The Imitation Game: Lucie Clayton and the World of Modelling“A top model is an infinitely valuable commercial asset, more photographed than any film star
and more imitated than any woman in history”, wrote Lucie Clayton in her book, The World of Modelling and how to get the
London model-girl look. Throughout history, the profession of modelling and the act of imitation have been closely intertwined, exemplified by no one more ably than Lucie Clayton Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-9903533017938899172016-02-13T20:43:00.000+00:002016-02-14T18:13:21.388+00:00Dodie Smith’s The Town in Bloom and all the single ladies
Despite the title, this isn’t a Valentine’s-themed post –
but if you happen to be single, it’ll probably make you grateful for some of
the advantages of 21st-century life. Last weekend, I went to a study
day at City Lit that was inspired by Virginia Nicolson’s Singled Out, a book
telling some of the stories of the “surplus women” after the First World War.
Although this was a period when Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-70963768117202078262016-01-23T22:25:00.001+00:002016-01-24T15:23:50.567+00:00Dude ranches and the women in denim
Women pose at a Wyoming ranch, c. 1930. From Fine Art of the West, via
In January, when we're seemingly encouraged to beat ourselves up for various life failings, I try to promote a bit of being nice to yourself. With that in mind, for the 'Looking Back' slot in that month's issue of The Simple Things, I suggested a feature on the history of denim - after all, what's easier than pulling on a Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-67910008702457739282016-01-03T19:30:00.000+00:002016-01-03T19:30:02.099+00:0051 books in 2015 – how did I do?
At the start of 2014, I resolved to read 50 books over the course of the year. It was such a successful resolution (more so than never
biting my nails again, perhaps unsurprisingly) that I decided to do it all
again the following year, with the added challenge of trying to read one more
book.
So, how did I do? You can see a list of the books I read during 2015 here. I’m pleased that I Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-3968404125987914682015-11-08T19:38:00.003+00:002015-11-08T19:38:50.134+00:001950s bohemian London in Here Be Dragons by Stella Gibbons
Image source
“Nell studied Davina’s long and voluminous black skirt,
dusty black sweater with a high neck, and the various huge pieces of metal
hanging from her wrists, ears and throat, and remembered seeing Gardis
similarly festooned. Evidently this was Fashion.”
Stella Gibbons’ Here Be Dragons was published in 1956 and,
like all my favourite books, offers a visual snapshot of the time Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-34972465475342510922015-10-17T20:00:00.000+01:002015-10-17T20:00:02.660+01:00Louis Vuitton Series 3 exhibition
How can fashion brands compete in a global marketplace and capture the interest of potential new, loyal customers? The answer, from Louis Vuitton at least, seems to be to stage a lavish exhibition. London was recently host to the "Series 3" exhibition, following in the footsteps of Shanghai and Los Angeles, an elaborate installation devoted to the Louis Vuitton's Autumn/Winter 15 collection.
Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-14713406707031293582015-07-08T10:30:00.000+01:002015-07-08T17:19:52.562+01:00Noel Streatfeild and fashion modelling in the 1920s
via
One of my favourite posts I've written is this one, about how Noel
Streatfeild used her experience of modelling in the 1920s to create an
accurate - albeit romanticised - picture of life inside a fashion house for her
book Clothes-Pegs. I’ve been revisiting Noel recently (as evident from my 51 books in 2015 list) and one of the most noticeable things about her books
is how she Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-3003869524971508692015-06-03T17:00:00.000+01:002015-07-12T23:33:51.208+01:00To Bed With Grand Music and the Second World War Home Front in women's hats
Vogue, 1 August 1940, via
I've recently finished Marghanita Laski's To Bed With Grand Music, a dark, witty tale charting the 'fall' of a woman, set on the British home front of the Second World War. Originally published in 1946, it's obvious why this book was shocking at the time - it still is. There is no keeping the home fires burning, no scrimping or saving, making do and mending. We're Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-77077353782424819042015-05-03T13:24:00.001+01:002015-05-03T13:24:19.343+01:00Last-Year Reads: Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes by Virginia Nicholson
When I read Virginia Nicholson's Singled Out a few years ago, the story of the 'surplus women' of the interwar period, it not shifted the way I thought about that time, but also about the associations that come with the word 'spinster'. I know a lot more about the 1950s than I did the interwar years, but I was certain that Nicholson would find enough stories to make reading Perfect Wives in Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-68732121397027500732015-04-03T11:50:00.000+01:002015-04-03T11:56:23.904+01:00Last-Week Links: 3 April 2015
I love the Easter weekend: the pleasure of leisure without the hysteria of Christmas. If the holiday has you running to the coast (I write while looking out at the greyest sky imaginable), may I suggest you pick up a copy of Amber Jane Butchart's newly released Nautical Chic book? It covers stripes, yes, and bell-bottoms but every other permutation of seaside style you could think of, from Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-83328137042956136952015-04-02T11:30:00.000+01:002015-04-02T11:30:02.035+01:00Last-Year Reads: Style Me Vintage 1940s
Following on from Fashion on the Ration, here's another new book release on 1940s fashion. This one is a completely different proposal however, being one of Pavilion's hugely popular 'Style Me Vintage' series. It's a series I associate more with a 'vintage' lifestyle look, rather than proper fashion history (which they do really well - Style Me Vintage Hair finally helped me master the 1950s Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-68620363653432567302015-03-20T10:30:00.000+00:002015-03-28T10:56:56.792+00:00Last-Week Links: 20 March 2015
via
It really feels like the year has begun now. At almost a quarter a way through, it really should! But there's something about blue skies that helps with plan making, and something about deadlines that speeds things up, and I've been enjoying both recently.
I've also been doing lots of reading. Aside from Fashion on the Ration, I really enjoyed Tracey Thorn's Bedsit Queen, a gentle, Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-61208664052678161082015-03-16T14:34:00.002+00:002015-03-16T14:34:12.809+00:00Fashion on the Ration at the Imperial War Museum, London
Within the space of a couple of weeks, five different people contacted me to tell me about the Fashion on the Ration exhibition at London's Imperial War Museum. I’m obviously entirely predictable when it comes to 1940s fashions! I was already eagerly prepped, having been racing through the excellent accompanying book to the show by Julie Summers, ahead of seeing the show.
Early 1940s Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-40113512383859318332015-03-08T18:58:00.002+00:002015-03-08T18:58:52.856+00:00Talking Vintage with Nzinga Russell
After my chat with vintage collector Nicky Albrechtsen, I thought it would be interesting to talk to more people who make their living through vintage clothing. Nzinga Russell is the entrepreneur behind a subscription service with a difference - signing-up to Style by Portobello, means you'll receive a box filled with vintage accessories picked by Russell directly from London's Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-35451206696879623352015-02-27T19:32:00.001+00:002015-02-27T19:38:01.832+00:00Last-Week Links: 27 February 2015
I was lucky enough to head up to Tyneside this week for the 6Music festival. Singing along, dancing, a bit of getting over emotional: it was magnificent. Just as magnificent, in fact, as the gorgeous river front. Full credit also to the women (and men) of Newcastle who do brave the February air without their coats. It really isn't a myth.
As you may know, I'm now working as contributing Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-54768726145701062292015-02-20T08:30:00.000+00:002015-02-20T08:30:03.295+00:00Last Week Links: 20 February 2015Yeah, haven't done one of these for a while...
First things first, I'm now on Instagram. Finally.
I've also been all over weekend trips recently - Margate, Newcastle and, this weekend, Oxford. We saw Love is Enough: the Jeremy Deller-curated William Morris and Andy Warhol exhibition. The Museum of Modern Art is a great space, and the exhibition really tried to make the most of it, the Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-72205051141305055962015-02-14T10:30:00.000+00:002015-02-14T10:30:01.314+00:00Live Alone and Like It: Marjorie Hillis' 1936 advice to single women
via
After the horror of that was the advice offered on how to dress to find a husband, here are some vintage words that might actually bring comfort. They come from Live Alone and Like It, a book intended to be "a guide for extra women", offering tips for solo dwelling. Written by US Vogue journalist Marjorie Hillis, the book became a bestseller on its original release in 1936 – and I think Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-74207331377942318412015-02-11T08:30:00.000+00:002015-02-12T14:31:37.743+00:00Vintage advice on dressing to find a husband
“You have to take an enormous amount of trouble to catch a
man permanently”
Poppy Richard, in The Intelligent Women's Guide to Good Taste, 1958
Wedding dress, photographed by John French, 1960s. Via
The dreaded day is approaching – that’s Valentine’s Day, of course – when, if you’re single like me, it can feel like a forced examination as to where you’ve managed to get your life so wrong. Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-30485385950237085062015-01-12T15:30:00.000+00:002015-01-12T15:30:10.963+00:00Horst: Photographer of Style at the V&A Museum, London
Carmen Dell’Orefice, age 16, and photographer Horst P. Horst, who are both being photographed by Leonard McCombe for Life Magazine, 1947, via
Long before I started paying attention to the names of fashion photographers, I knew the work of Horst. For me, his playful, colourful shots epitomise the charm and desirability of a 1940s or a 1950s Vogue, whether Muriel Maxwell putting on her lipstickLast-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-79507383602624696432015-01-02T21:12:00.001+00:002015-01-02T21:59:04.745+00:0050 books in 2014: How Did I Do? Happy 2015!
I love making lists and planning and looking forward so, hardly surprisingly, I'm also a big lover of making new year resolutions. But, while I'm great at looking forward, I'm not so good at looking back and celebrating (i.e. remembering) what I've achieved (i.e. done) over the course of a year.
Although it wasn't my biggest achievement of 2014, I'm very pleased I completed my Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1378056177484025175.post-26862345967872108262014-11-21T16:16:00.001+00:002014-11-21T19:47:10.695+00:00Silent Partners: Artist & Mannequin from Function to Fetish at the Fitzwilliam Museum
Paul Huot (French, active 1790s to 1820s), Female Mannequin, c. 1816
Wood, metal, horsehair, wax, silk, cotton and painted papier-mâché head, c. 163 x 65 cm, © bpk - Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte / Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
I've written many times about mannequins on this blog and the mannequins I've always been referring to have been real-life women working as fashion Last-Year Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339517973272134452noreply@blogger.com0