Va Va Voom

A sassy broad, Eve Meyer:

Just a quickie

This was so cute and tacky I could barely stand it.

birthday suit

Oh, how I love naughty old photos...

the best hook-up

I spent a large portion of my childhood on crafts. My mother made sure that we had more at hand than your typical paint-by-numbers. One of my favorites was latch hook. It was easy enough for a kid to handle, with tangible results. Just follow the pattern and you have a sun/snoopy/white tiger of your very own! So satisfying...and so very tacky. No wonder I loved it. Here's a few great examples of latch hook that i've come across:

I am really tempted to buy this Jesus latch hook kit on overstock...

Hey! It's that white tiger I was talking about!

An awesome Princess Peach rug...but $750 for latch hook?!?

It's nice to see a modern use of the form.

 Latch hook as fine art.

Punky Power!

Oh, the 80's. As a kid in a small town, I wasn't exactly up on all the latest trends. But there were a few pop-culture aspects of the time that influenced me more than I would like to admit. One of the biggest:

Punky Brewster was my favorite. She was smart, creative, and devious without being malicious. And she made a lot of mistakes, which is what actually happens in childhood. She was a good person without being a goody-goody. She was friends with the weird kids. She was a weird kid. She lived in a crowded apartment, as opposed to the giant houses that every other TV kid seemed to live in (I'm looking at you, Silver Spoons). Also, Punky often dealt with real-life stuff, not just the convoluted high-jinks of many other shows. Some of the best episodes addressed runaways, the death of the Columbia astronauts, drugs, stealing, child abuse, training bras, childhood obesity, love, disability, and playing in abandoned refrigerators.

I even/especially loved the It's Punky Brewster cartoon:

I came across a few Punky related chotskies that grown-up me has been coveting:

I want this real bad.

But I want this more.

Can anything be better than vintage paper dolls?

Yes. An original animation cel from the cartoon series. Gimmie.

one for the road

Just one more amazing vintage cocktail illustration...

cocktail hour

The weather is warming up, which makes me think of nothing but cold drinks...

Jayne Mansfield knows that there's always time for one more martini...

A Sailor Jerry cutie.

Mmm...is that a Tom Collins?

Super cute modern take on the classic pin up by MissHollyLu

Drinks from flaming volcanos are always a good thing.

An Enoch Bolles illustration.

Cheers, y'all!

Early Pin ups

I recently came across a blog about Enoch Bolles (definitely check out the site), an early pinup illustrator. Here's a few of my favorites:

Going to the chapel

The trouble with looking up the phrase "vintage wedding," is that you get pictures of a bunch of 20-year-olds who strung up some lights in a barn, got a photo booth and put cute chalkboard signs on everything. So I had to look a bit harder to find photos of actual vintage weddings. The reason that I wanted to look at these is two-fold: one, for the obvious style inspiration; and two, to be reminded of what real weddings look like. These weddings are much more straight-forward than the themed extravaganzas that have become so popular today. Do I really need DIY table numbers and shoes that say "I do" on the bottom? Nope! Check out these (comparatively) simple yet chic brides from back in the day.

Married in 1957

Adorable 1950's couple.

Super cute!

Hooray for brides in glasses!

 

wedding bell blues

I'm fixin' to get married soon. The trouble is, it's hard to get the sort of wedding I want in a world of David's Bridals and unity candles (barf). What kind of wedding do I want, you ask? The brash tacky kind. I'm thinking Vegas. Here's a bit of my inspiration.

Elvis and Priscilla

They were married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas in a ceremony that was less than ten minutes long. Short, sweet, and to the point. Plus, they look amazing.

Speaking of Elvis looking amazing, here's the wedding scene from Blue Hawaii. This is the sort of wedding that can only be pulled off with a film crew, a giant budget, and a singing groom. Not really my style, but I love to look at it, all the same.

So, I'm thinking getting married in Vegas by Elvis is sounding pretty awesome.