Every now and then in life you get a glimpse of what people really think of you when they slip up and make an assumption. Recently I was at a BBQ and a relative mentioned a fifties Cadillac that she spotted on a recent road trip. She then made a comment that people who drive those types of cars clearly enjoy being looked at. Now...

There are few examples in advertising or pop-culture which are the idealization of American youth, affluence and style, better than the Pepsi print campaigns of the 1950’s. These magazine illustrations clearly marked out a sophisticated lifestyle and the beautiful stylish people that practiced it. The artistic style was colorful and simple with a few important details to tell the story. The setting was clearly urban,...

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, American elements were added: minstrel show performances, stage magic, contemporary...

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” with captions describing each of the photos. The exhibit shows...

Film is escapism. Anyone who has seen “The Thomas Crowne Affair,” or a classic James Bond film knows that part of film fantasy is an exotic environment and all it contains. While that environment is not always true, in escapism people tend to look up at glamour rather than down at the real world. In film, fantastic environments are created by sets. Ironically, though, the...

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 to do so, but we can always live vicariously...

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 her look to fit in with Swinging London and everything...