Thursday's Movie Review: The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The thing that I love about old movies is realizing that the pastoral, picturesque ideas that our grandparents paint of their day are completely fictional. Who knew The Seven Year Itch (1955) is actually a movie about infidelity, seduction, and fantasizing? Richard Sherman is a book editor whose wife and son goes to Maine for the summer while he stays in the city to work. A model moves in upstairs (played by Marilyn Monroe) and begins Richard's summer of unresolved sexual tension.  The comedy of the movie lies in Richard's absurd fantasies involving the girl upstairs, his wife, and multiple other women in his life. His mental condition spirals downwards throughout the movie until he becomes the personification of cognitive dissonance. The only thing keeping Richard's libido in check is the model's sweetness and innocence, in the end she proves that she has more character than Richard. The movie is best known for the white dress billowing over the subway grate scene, which never actually appears in the movie in all it's glory.

Get the look: The white dress defines not only the movie but Marilyn Monroe herself and is probably one of the most recognizable dresses in all of movie history. Every anachronistic fashionista needs one so head on over to  Trashy Diva's Dottie dress ($163) and pick one up. Wear it all summer.

Style Diary: Memorial Day Weekend Festivities

I spent memorial day weekend in Port Clinton lake-ing in style. Summertime is all about stripping down a wardrobe to the bare minimum. I always struggle every Ohio summer to dress utilitarian yet stylish but I believe I'm getting better year after year.

No trip to a lakeside resort is complete without a "healthy" amount of golf-cart riding. This is our personal golf cart, butter-yellow with a striped awning. I've discovered the joy of city shorts from WHBM so I buy them in every color. I always wear flats with shorts because of that old addage--a lady knows the higher the hem the lower the heels. My tank is a cheapie from Old Navy, the print is very pin-up vacationing in Hawaii. Sunglasses and untamed lake hair complete the outfit.

The  perfect way to start the day is a morning boat ride in the Boston Whaler. I prepared for an afternoon on the water with a messy bun corralled with a vintage green scarf. My new green swim top is a refreshing change from last years red Marilyn number. My kate spade's sunnies are back again and my lipstick is MAC Morange. The perfect boating companion is Sadie, a corgi-westie mix!

After the boat ride I slipped on this navy and white striped number to attend the Walleye festival. I wore my favorite mid-heel mules and wrapped my boating-bun in another vintage scarf. My lipstick is Lime Crime Retrofuturist. The day was so easy and carefree we walked around and ate our way through the fair. Here I am sitting down to enjoy fried pickles and raspberry lemonade shaved ice on the lawn.

There was a petting zoo for only a dollar! There were piglets, a baby coyote, strange-looking birds, a hedgehog, tortoises, kangaroos, goats, llamas, antelope and holy cows from the Himalayas. I was trying to pet the animals without getting licked.

The final treat of the day was a fried snicker bar. Honestly, I didn't need to know such a thing existed!

Hopefully we'll be heading back to the lake for Independence Day for a few more days of relaxation and recreation.

Summer in Style with L'Wren Scott

Now that I've got my new job, new apartment, new husband and new car situation ironed out (Whew!) I should be able to get back to my regular posting schedule. I'm in love with L'Wren Scott's first resort collection. Resort collections are my favorite since the clothes are always wearable. The cuts are 1940s style with cheeky prints and bright colors. I love the shoes and bags in the matching print but I would lose the strange military hats.

I've been devoting myself to my Pinterest account, hop on over for some inspiration!

The Great Gatsby brings back the 1920s

Is anyone else as excited about The Great Gatsby movie as I am? I can't wait until December to experience all the glamour and oppulence of the 1920s. I am anticipating a visual feast followed by a love affair with the 1920s in fashion and television. I can't wait for art deco to make a comeback!

Vogue Italia and Ellen Von Unwerth already did a fabulous photo shoot and accompanying video here that channels that 1920s glamour. Do look into it.

Katy Perry modeled some awesome cotton-candy pin curls for the October 2011 volume of In Style. I've always appreciated her style and what she is trying to accomplish so the article was interesting since she discussed her opinion on old-Hollywood glamor and mid-century style. I love that Marc Jacobs number with the "polka dots" especially!

If anyone has been wondering what I've been up to I've been wedding planning and pinning! After it's all over I plan on a blog overhaul.

Dita Von Teese: How She Became the Most Famous Stripper in America

LA Weekly did an amazing interview and photo-shoot of my favorite ambassador of glamour. Read the interview by Gendy Alimurung here! The fabulous technicolor photo set is by Star Foreman.

The interview gives us a peek into the very little-known parts of her career, when her persona was in it's infancy.

"There is a difference, Dita Von Teese has learned, between getting naked onstage and "in real life." Onstage she controls everything: From the lights illuminating her pale breasts, to the layers of body makeup smoothing over her thighs, to the Swarovski crystal and feathers, many "special tricks" go into creating the illusion of otherworldly perfection."

Do you know the one rule of burlesque? No pink. That's how you keep it classy.

"I'm probably overcoming my feelings of being very average-looking. Which made me want to create glamour and paint myself and do my makeup and hair well, and become something that I wasn't originally."

Retro Education: How to put on fully fashioned stockings

Thanks to the people at Secrets in Lace here's a great tutorial on how to wear a garter belt and stockings.

Margarita Bloom Review!

A few months ago I featured Margarita Bloom's fantastic website for browsing retro beauty products. Never content with just browsing I had to place an order, which I also mentioned later on the blog. The packaging is simply divine but how does what's inside measure up? I've had a chance to sample all the lovelies so here's a quick product review!

The Fairy Tales & Folklore luxury bath soak ($22) is a treat. As a bath soak don't expect it to froth or bubble up, it scents the water and creates a softening bath experience. There are large chunks of cocoa butter to moisturize the skin. I ordered sweet dreams which smells like snickerdoodle and buttercream, the scent is strong in the jar but dissipates in the water, in fact my only complaint is that the scent is not strong once it hits the water. I use two tablespoons per bath and I've gotten a dozen baths out of one jar. I would order this again.

The Joie de Vivre beauty potions treat bag ($15) was soooo worth the money. The samples were sizable and diverse, I was able to try a bunch of products and figure out what I want to buy full size. I already purchased another bag and I can say now that each bag is different, I actually liked my second bag MORE and I loved this one! I would recommend buying a sample bag with every purchase! Let's go through my samples for a mini-review:

Wanderlust Hibiscus & Ginseng Shampoo & Conditioner ($25 each) - I received these in the Roses scent and I think this is my favorite thing EVER. I had no idea I would love the rose scent so much and it stays on your hair for several days. I'm afraid to use it too much because I don't want to get too used to the scent! The shampoo is a very gentle cleanse so if you are super oily like me use a clarifier first then the shampoo for superbly scented tresses for the next two days. I will order this!
Splendor Wild Rose Violet milk+butter bath soak ($22) is pretty much like the bath soak reviewed above but the one difference is the floral scent lingered longer in the tub. Since the bath soaks have bits of potpourri this makes sense (and if you don't want the potpourri bobbing around the tub scoop the soak into a nylon knee-hi and knot the end.) I will order again.
Oh, Lolita! Bubble Gum lip balm must be discontinued or yet-to-be-released because it is not available to order on the site. Which is a shame because I LOVE IT! The bubble gum scent is perfectly pretty, the sheer pink color is heavenly, and this moisturizes like nothing else (I love Jack Black lip balms and this is on par with those!) I would order a full size if it was available!

Black Rose whipped butter scrub is another item that is discontinued or yet-unreleased, which is a shame since I really enjoyed the black rose scent. This is wonderfully scrubby and leaves the skin moisturized with oils and butters. The scent was strong on the skin all day and the softness! I will be ordering more scrubs as long as they are as good as this one!
Colleens Mixed Martini cooling cucumber toner mist is also not available on the site. This toner smelled amazing (noticing a pattern here?) and was wonderfully cooling on the skin. I experienced a bit of redness with this toner and it did not help control oil for me at all (I use a tea tree toner daily.) If you have normal and non-sensitive skin I would recommend this if it was available on the site, as it is I will be sticking to my normal toner.
Pinktini raspberry lime sea salt soak ($10) was the item I was most disappointed with. The scent was delicate in the package but disappeared once it hit the bath water. The water felt like I hadn't used anything in my bath at all. There were no flecks of cocoa butter or potpourri in this one so it completely disappeared. The scent was too delicate. I would not purchase this again.

The good news is that my second sample bag had all current products so maybe I just received an older bag. Ms. Bloom also mixes up customer requested scents and potions, which is very tempting with that bubble gum lip balm. This review was unsolicited and the products were purchased with my own money.

Must-haves: Joie de vivre treat bag, hibiscus & ginseng shampoo in roses, and Oh! Lolita bubble gum lip balm
Nice-to-haves: Fairy Tales & Folklore Luxury bath soak, wild rose and violet milk+butter bath soak, black rose whipped butter scrub, cooling cucumber toner mist for non-oily/acneic skin
Skip-completely: Pinktini sea salt soak

The perfect travel companion!

The perfect retro vacation is a road trip down Route 66 and what better companion than this old-school trailer? Travel in style like The Fancy Farmgirl and customize your own little piece of retro-refinery. Tie your hair up in a scarf, put on your Franca sunglasses, and grab your luggage for the ultimate glamorous road trip! With a trailer this cute I might be able to forgo indoor plumbing. Maybe.

Valley of the Dolls or Betty Draper?

I decided to post this feature in celebration of the season premier of Mad Men this past Sunday. Betty was conspiciously absent from the first episode as Don settles down with his new wife. What's in store for the former Mrs. Draper this season? I think this editorial shows a Betty a few years later, twice divorced and downing dolls and alcohol while the kids are at school and greeting the mailman in a Miu Miu coat. The character reference is obvious and the use of shadows are a reflection of Betty's eventual decline from the fresh pastel-loving girl from season one. Brilliant. This "Valley of the Dolls" editorial was shot by Rosie Huntington for Harpers Bazaar UK.