http://www.ultraswank.net Retro Living and Design from the 50s, 60s and 70s Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:56:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/burlesque-poster-design/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/burlesque-poster-design/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:49:41 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3431 Gypsy Rose Lee. Tempest Storm. Lily St. Cyr. If there’s one word associated with these famous women, it’s “burlesque.” In the modern sense of the word, burlesque was a popular form of theatrical variety show featuring risqué comedy, parody, and pastiche. When it was exported from Victorian England to the United States in the 1840s, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/burlesque-poster-design/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/television/the-playboy-club/ http://www.ultraswank.net/television/the-playboy-club/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:00:24 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3426 With Mad Men out of the game this year and not expected to make a return until spring 2012, television networks are going head to head to see who can fill its gap. ABC is joining the mile high club with their upcoming Pan Am series, while NBC are heading to Chicago and the opening [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/television/the-playboy-club/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/the-selling-of-the-jackie-kennedy-lifestyle-in-the-movie-magazines/ http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/the-selling-of-the-jackie-kennedy-lifestyle-in-the-movie-magazines/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:14:45 +0000 Oline Eaton http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3406 As long as they have been in public life, the Kennedys have been associated with the press, making their first fan movie magazine appearance in the September 1927 issue of Photoplay. By the early 1960s, there were upwards of forty fan magazines, including Photoplay, Motion Picture, Modern Screen, and TV Radio Screen. The forerunners of the modern “celebrity magazines” [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/the-selling-of-the-jackie-kennedy-lifestyle-in-the-movie-magazines/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/style-in-the-aisle/ http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/style-in-the-aisle/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 05:51:06 +0000 Steven Padal http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3287 The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington is nearing the end of a temporary exhibit called “Style in the Aisle: Flight Attendant Fashion.” The exhibit first began in 2008 and has become so popular that the museum has added new uniforms to the exhibit. Travel Channel has a great photo compilation of “Style in the Aisle” [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/style-in-the-aisle/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/mad-men-diet-cola-and-the-female-form/ http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/mad-men-diet-cola-and-the-female-form/#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:14:59 +0000 Katharine Miller http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3134 Since the turn of the 20th century, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been fighting to capture the hearts and taste buds of America’s youth. Fifty years into the great carbonation beverage battle, cola companies decided to look for new opportunities and target demographics. In an attempt to lure in diabetics, the cola companies began developing and [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/mad-men-diet-cola-and-the-female-form/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/mans-favorite-sport/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/mans-favorite-sport/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:45:38 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3044 Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss star in Howard Hawks’ film Man’s Favorite Sport? (1964). This screwball comedy is a loose remake of Hawks’ earlier film hit Bringing Up Baby (1938), which starred Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. The plot for this film is relatively complicated for a comedy. Rock stars as Roger Willoughby, a salesman [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/mans-favorite-sport/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/mad-men-and-ponds-question-whether-a-clean-face-leads-to-matrimony/ http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/mad-men-and-ponds-question-whether-a-clean-face-leads-to-matrimony/#comments Sat, 13 Nov 2010 11:29:59 +0000 Katharine Miller http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2803 As of 1965, women’s liberation has not yet pervaded mainstream culture. In season four of Mad Men, we get a taste of what’s to come as women become more independent and empowered. Despite the increase in seemingly independent women, including budding feminist, copywriter Peggy Olsen, most of the ladies inhabiting fictional 1960s NYC are marriage-minded [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/mad-men-and-ponds-question-whether-a-clean-face-leads-to-matrimony/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/50-years-of-the-playboy-bunny/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/50-years-of-the-playboy-bunny/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 06:56:06 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2780 In the mid-20th century, lounges and nightclubs served up large doses of fantasy to American adults weary of the recent realities of World War II. Primarily, this was done in two ways: One way appealed to exoticism and escape from modern society while the other reveled in modernity and urban sophistication. If one wanted exoticism, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/50-years-of-the-playboy-bunny/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/music/a-retro-retro-tribute/ http://www.ultraswank.net/music/a-retro-retro-tribute/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:52:34 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2636 I love seeing modern music videos that carry a retro twist. The artists always seem to have so much fun and introducing new audiences to retro fashion and culture is never a bad thing.Those of us interested in dressing up in retro fashions might find it too expensive or too difficult to locate the items [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/music/a-retro-retro-tribute/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-8-women/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-8-women/#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:03:13 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2533 If you have been craving a well-written period murder mystery, then look no further than Radley Metzger’s The Cat and the Canary. However, if your tastes tend toward lush murder mystery musicals, then take a look at 8 Women. 8 Women has plot twists galore, and since I’m not one to spoil, this review will [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-8-women/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/fashion-icon-twiggy-modelling-and-dancing/ http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/fashion-icon-twiggy-modelling-and-dancing/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:07:06 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2528 Twiggy, born Lesley Hornby, is without a doubt one of the biggest fashion icons to emerge from the 1960′s. Her thin frame and big blue eyes became the envy of fashionistas everywhere. The look of drawn on lashes (anything to make the eyes look bigger) and pale lips became a Twiggy staple as girls copied [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/fashion-icon-twiggy-modelling-and-dancing/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/1950s-skincare-for-women/ http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/1950s-skincare-for-women/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:41:03 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2137 Dishwashing liquid commercials vary in their subject matter. Either they take an eco-friendly approach, tug at your heartstrings by demonstrating how they save animals affected by an oil spill, or they show the product’s grease-cutting power. The Palmolive brand has come a long way from its origins as a beauty product. The above ad from [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/1950s-skincare-for-women/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/interview/gentry-de-paris-brings-back-the-glamour-to-burlesque/ http://www.ultraswank.net/interview/gentry-de-paris-brings-back-the-glamour-to-burlesque/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:18:50 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1971 For some people, the term Burlesque is something that is associated with a exciting, stylish and perhaps also a little more innocent time. But as many things from the past it is being revived and has for the past years made a grand return with lush sets, glamorous costumes, swinging music, cool lighting and of [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/interview/gentry-de-paris-brings-back-the-glamour-to-burlesque/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/retro-offices/ http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/retro-offices/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:34:24 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1803 Here is something for all you office / gadget geeks. Corporate environments used to be stylish, fun and zany a couple of decades ago, pre cubicle-land, Lumberghs and Hawaiian shirt day. Look at those big machines and the women who knows how to operate them, pretty sassy huh? There are a bunch of more retro [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/retro-offices/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/fashion-from-the-1950s-and-1960s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/fashion-from-the-1950s-and-1960s/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:19:49 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1796 The latest haute couture from Paris, Milan, Rome, London and New York for the ladies out there. If you like the videos, be sure to stop by French sexy lounge girl thejackieo1966 on YouTube.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/fashion-from-the-1950s-and-1960s/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/how-to-become-a-stewardess-in-the-1950s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/how-to-become-a-stewardess-in-the-1950s/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:58:42 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1570 It was most likely much tougher than it seemed – with charm and grace training, evacuation exercises, disgruntled passengers and endless hair and makeup sessions. Guess all the excitement and grandeur is a thing of the past. Does anyone even consider becoming a flight attendant today? Photos taken from the wonderful Life archive at Google.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/how-to-become-a-stewardess-in-the-1950s/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/event/happy-birthday-lesley-hornby/ http://www.ultraswank.net/event/happy-birthday-lesley-hornby/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:51:57 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1320 Don’t know who i am referring to? Well you might know her better under her nickname “Twiggy” (from twig – tree). Twiggy was born September 19, 1949 in Neasden, London. She became famous in the swingin’ 60s as a model icon and revolutionized the fashion world with her slim and boyish figure, short hair and [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/event/happy-birthday-lesley-hornby/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/sexist-vintage-ads/ http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/sexist-vintage-ads/#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:12:45 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1186 Not that Ultra Swank condones being sexist, it just sometimes amazes me what kind of stuff advertising agencies were able to pull off around the 1950s. Here are some fine examples of American ads of the times that takes a punch at women only being good for being secretaries, housewives and objects of beauty. Even [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/sexist-vintage-ads/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/american-women-the-boomer-household/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/american-women-the-boomer-household/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:59:18 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1176 Cute, kitschy and a bit sexist in a innocent mid-century way, this 25 minute long film tributes the American woman in the American family household. Through the course of it we get to experience her wifely responsibilities, such as planning the family budget, finding time to be social and shopping for daily necessities. Pay attention [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/american-women-the-boomer-household/feed/ 7 http://www.ultraswank.net/daydreaming/european-space-age-fashion/ http://www.ultraswank.net/daydreaming/european-space-age-fashion/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:07:15 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1142 More space age fashion from Germany with beautiful models moving in slow motion and the dreamy moog music of Jean Jacques Perrey. Anyone know from which arena this was filmed? Let us know. (Via)]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/daydreaming/european-space-age-fashion/feed/ 6