Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Design • advertising • interior • architecture

Retro Future from Motorola
Written by Christopher in Advertising

Retro Future from Motorola

I always found the Motorola ads from Taschen’s book All-American Ads of the 60s very pleasing to look at. They have an obvious feeling of nostalgia and times gone by but also portray a futuristic look at things to come at the same time. Something that was only possible in mid-century America. The illustrations were drawn by Mr Charles Schridde and the advertisements were often seen in Life...

Video

Interesting trailer from the upcoming documentary entitled Coast Modern which takes you on a trip back in time to look for the origins of Modernism architecture and how its style and look became associated with the west coast of the US. The release date for the documentary is set for autumn this year, meanwhile you can read their blog. Filmmakers Michael Bernard and Gavin Froome...

The World’s Creamiest Lipstick

For all you ladies out there, here are a few scans of retro Revlon advertisements for lipstick and makeup. Revlon was started back in 1932 and are most famous for their Dorian Leigh and Suzy Parker advertisements in the 1950s. ” Not a prissy pink… not a sissy pink” and “Fire and ice” are two of many memorable ads....

Atomic Age Wallpaper
Written by Christopher in Design

Atomic Age Wallpaper

Whether you are redecorating your living room, planing on buying a mid-century modern flavored house or want to make your kitchen look more groovy, Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpaper has what you need. Their series of Atomic Age and Mod Generation wallpaper range from 1950s styled Googie patterns to exotic tropical Tiki to the revolutionary and psychedelic flower power look – perfect for any bachelor...

A Mid-Century Gem Exposed in Los Angeles

Located in Los Feliz, in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, this stylish 1953 house going under the name “The Chew House” was built by architect Eugene Kinn Choy and is now up for sale if you got a cool $1,850,000 to spend. What fascinates me about this property is that there are so many original elements still intact, from the the tiles to...

Classic Designer Chair Prints for Your Walls

For those of you who have massive amounts of empty white wall space (something that wouldn’t be a problem if you are into the clean Danish modern look) and have yet to find something worthy to put up there, designer Mario Freese has what you need. It all began some time ago when he didn’t have any room his new studio to place his designer...

Eichler numbers marks the spot
Written by Christopher in Design

Eichler numbers marks the spot

If you are a lucky owner of one of the 11 000 mid-century Eichler homes located in northern and southern California, chances are you are also a design and architecture savvy person who appreciates fine details. Proud Eichler home owner Carmen realized this and are therefore offering authentic Eichler house numbers for sale through her website eichlernumbers.com. You can buy any digit combination from two...

Get all the goods straight to your inbox