Vintage Style Icon-Theda Bara The Original Vamp

Today marks the 130th birthday of one of early cinema's most enduring figures, Theda Bara the original vamp. 

While her name is largely forgotten today, her iconic image all dark hair, piercing eyes, and poisonous lips remains.   During the teens and early 20s she was one of films biggest stars and earliest sex symbols, earning 4,000 dollars a week and appearing on the covers of numerous film mags.

Throughout her career Bara usually played a definite type, the vamp.   The opposite of sweet, girlish Mary Pickford, the vamp was conniving, sexual, and used her charms to enslave men, draining them of their power as a vampire drains blood.   

In A Fool There Was, 1915, Bara cemented her image as the vamp when she played the "vampire women." A beautiful creature who meets a business and family man on a ship and seduces him. The vampire women degrades and enslaves men, causing them to abandon their moral codes and become devoted only to her.

The film is the origin of the famous line "kiss me, you fool" though the actual title card reads: "kiss me, my fool."

Eager to capitalize on Bara's exotic image in the film the studio created a glamorous false history for her.  Though in actuality she was born in Ohio to Polish and Swiss immigrant parents, Fox Studios claimed she was the Egyptian born  daughter of a French actress and had grown up in the Saharan desert under the Shadow of the Shinx.  Her new image fit perfectly with her biggest role in 1917's Cleopatra, no copies of which survive.

Many of Bara's films where filmed at Fox Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey before  cinema made the move to Hollywood.  A street in the town is now named after her

Sadly all but 6 of Bara's films are lost.  Most were destroyed in 1937 in a storage vault fire.  She left behind few films, but an enduring legacy.  

Thank You Pug Possessed (Or at Least Mom Says Thanks)

How many dogs have their own couturier?  Well we do and that may be a mixed blessing.  Mom's friend Deb, who she met through blogging, and who has the Etsy shop Pug Possessed and is an amazing pug mom makes all kinds of outfits for us.   Here we are modeling some of our latest outfits, Bob is spared because mom thinks clothing is more suited to small dogs.   At least we got some treats for our modeling session:

New Sweater

Tuvok here: 

Like my brothers Weasley 

Named after Harry Potter's Ron Weasley. 

Fry 

Named after Phillip J Fry from Futurama 

And Spot 

Named after Data on Star Trek the Next Generations cat 

I too have a fictional namesake:

Commander Tuvok from Star Trek Voyager

He is mom's favorite character on Voyager.   He's a lot like me too: smart, brave, kind and like me pretty easy on the eyes.  But shockingly I was lacking a Tuvok style shirt now thanks to Auntie Melissa from pug notes I have a new Tuvok style sweater vest. 

Mom can't get over how handsome I look! 

Just like the real Tuvok. Thank you Aunt Melissa!

Vintage Outfit Post-Play Suit Summer Fun

No matter how old you are summer should be all about fun!

And what could be better fun time wear then a play suit?  Nothing!  In the 1950s and 60s women and girls wore play suits for summer time activities and looked mighty cute doing it.   From beaches

to barbecues 

Many play suits had removable overskirts so they could be made more modest when worn off the beach.

There are tons of patterns available so if you are a sewer this is a great vintage project for you.  However, as I can't sew even a  button I had to find another source for my play suit.  I went to Etsy Seller Vintage Rags and Digs.  She makes a wide variety of summer play suits in great fun fabrics and was a pleasure to work with.   My play suit was made up very quickly and fits very well. I apologize in advance because Ive shown some of these pictures before but as this play suit has been my go to weekend outfit this summer I figured it deserved a post of its own.  

I really love how the shorts make it practical for biking.  I also love that while its a play suit it isn't two revealing.   

Its really easy and fun to wear and pairs perfectly with the sort of fun, kitschy mid century accessories I love to wear, like bamboo and bakelite bangles, sea shell purses, and novelty brooches.

My brooch is a 1960s puzzle piece, the state of Minnesota, I was born there but moved to New York by the time I was 2.  I got the brooch from Wacky Tuna on Etsy for just a few dollars during their flash sale.  I've had the purse since high school.  

The hat is probably my favorite part of the outfit.  Its so cool a 1960s folding beach hat!  Sadly, Ive been wearing it a lot this summer and it now has cracks on the side, sob!  Thats the problem with vintage if you wear it you risk ruining it, but if you don't wear it whats the point! It was actually a set of two hats.  The green one is still in perfect condition but I like the natural straw one better, sigh...

Summer fades so quickly so have fun and savor every moment:

Wordless Wednesday-Checking Out the Neighbors

Tasty Tuesday-Trying a Sample

On Saturday we took Tuvok to the Jersey Eats Festival, it was just too hot for the pugs and Bob.  Tuvok was a bit freaked out by the crowds but he enjoyed his taste of a fried cheese curd from the cow and the curd. 

Flapper Friday-Joan The Flapper

Joan Crawford had a film career that spanned over 40 years and included dramas like Mildred Pierce and camp classics like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, but her look, with the dramatic brows and large shoulder pads, remains in most people's minds firmly entrenched in the 1940s. It certainly suited her strong angular features

So you may be surprised to learn that Joan started her career as a flapper.  In Our Dancing Daughters she was a jazz baby dancing on tables, quaffing champagne, and sporting one of the best flapper bobs I've ever seen. A short curly version that looks incredibly modern even today.