Cinema Spotlight-Bringing Up Baby

Today marks the 109th birthday of  a women who epitomized style, class and elegance-Katherine Hepburn.

Hepburn's career spanned decades and she played spirited strong willed women in 43 films as well as on stage and on the television, but by far my favorite of her films is the 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby.

In the film Hepburn plays Susan a free spirited, scatterbrained, accident prone heiress with an  unbelievable wardrobe.  Susan runs into egg head paleontologist David, on a golf course, 

I love the big round buttons with black trim, black trimmed colar and loose sleeves on Hepburn's simple and elegant golfing frock.

and winds up interuppting his game, stealing his car, and thrawting his attempt to get a million dollars for his museum.

The two meet later that same evening at dinner.   In a scene where Susan wears the most amazing gold lame robe dress, and a matching veil hat.   

In my opinion this is one of most beautiful dresses in cinema history, and perfectly suited for Hepburn lanky physique, which is why its so sad when it gets ripped

even if it furthers the screwball plot.    


Susan winds up being the niece of the women who may donate a million dollars to David's museum, she also receives a leopard from her brother Mark, who is on safari.  Susan convinces David, on the eve of his wedding, to Connecticut where they plan to find a zoo to take the leopard and to ask Susan's Aunt to donate to the museum.   Hijinks ensue and there is fabulous clothing through out.

Like this simple striped day dress with a high neck and rectangular buttons worn with strappy shoes

Or this marvelous peaked cap:

Kathrine Hepburn was known for wearing pants and one of my favorite costumes in the film is the simple tunic and wide legged pants she pairs with loafers and a coolie hat while helping David locate the priceless dinosaur bone that George the dog has buried.  

George is pretty darn cute.  He's played by the same Wire Fox Terrier who played Asta in the Thin Man films, and he steals every scene he's in.

Another stand out outfit is this ruffled dress with black bow:

Bringing Up Baby is also one of those 1930s films with amazing lounge wear (as I mentioned in this post). 

The full sleeves and sheer dotted fabric on this robe are beyond words.   Cary Grant's character David even gets to wear a feathered robe in this famous scene 

I also adore Aunt Elizabeth's outfit here.  The lined cape, tweedy fabric, and frog closure buttons are so sporty and chic.  It's nice to see a stylish lady of more advanced years in a 1930s film.  

Today Bringing Up Baby is one of the most well known films of 1930s as is number 88 on the American Film Institutes List of Greatest  America Films of All Time , but when it premiered in 1938 it wasn't particularly successful and contributed to Hepburn's reputation as "box office poison."

Bringing Up Baby remains a favorite film at our house (Fry in particular seemed to enjoy recent screening)

 and it is also very special to us for another important reason

John and I named our first pet, our little cat Baby, after the film.  We got her a few months before we where married and 15 years later she is still with us and as sweet as ever.

If you haven't seen Bringing Up Baby you owe it to yourself to check it  out.

Happy Birthday Fred Astaire-Fred and Carlyle

Today is the 127th anniversary of the birth of my favorite film stare, the incomparable Fred Astaire.  I've written plenty about  Fred  on this blog.   Truly there has  never been a more elegant, graceful, charming and stylish man in the history American film.   Fred's elegance is on full display in these pictures from a 1962 edition of Life magazine showing him playing with his Siamese cat, Carlyle.   

The two definiely compliment each other.  Carlyle's elegant lines and the marking on his fur definitely remind one of Fred,  a case of pet looking like owner to be sure.

Apparently Carlyle was a gift from Kim Novak after Fred appeared with her in the film The Notorious Landlady.  Fred named his cat after the character Kim played in the film.

Happy 13th Birthday Ping

Over the weekend we celebrated Ping's 13 birthday 

In some ways Ping seems to me to be aging more rapidly then either of her now departed older brothers, Norbert and Tubby.  She has had liver disease for about five years now that we handle with supplements, her arthritis is bad, and she is deaf, but she's a tough old girl.

Ping was never into toys, even when she was a youngster, so her presents where all edible.   I couldn't order her a decorated cake on Etsy like I did for her brother's since those cakes tend to be hard and she has very few teeth.  So I used a puppy cake mix from  Amazon to make her cake.  It only costs seven dollars and is super easy to use and it comes with frosting mix too!

She definitely enjoyed it!

Happy birthday old girl.

Silent Film Sunday-Happy Mother's Day

I'm a pet mom and not a human baby mom but I've always had a soft spot for this early silent fllm by the pioneering Lumiere Brothers.  Filmed in 1895 Baby's Meal (french titel Repas de Bebe) shows a cheerful couple feeding their baby.  I love films like this showing every day occurences from over a century ago.  Things change, but the important things stay the same.

Don't Fear The Petticoat

When I first started wearing vintage four years ago there was one item I was fairly confident I'd never step into….a petticoat.

For one thing when I started my vintage journey I was mostly into  1920s, 30s and 40s looks and petticoats weren't worn during those decades.  I also thought that the petticoat was too costumey and too young for me.  However, this is a definite case of never say never.  These days as I get more into 1950s and 60s looks I've fallen in love with the petticoat.  As my friend the super talented vintage blogger, Jessica Cangiano, writes about in this great post, petticoats can make a look.  Full skirted 1950s style dresses will just never reach their mid century glory without a crinoline or petticoat underneath them.   I think this point is amply demonstrated in these photos of my Bernie Dexter dog print dress.  Bernie's 1950s repro dresses are just made for petticoats.  

Without a petticoat my dog print dress is for me, at least, pretty understated, not really a full on vintage look and work appropriate for my teaching job.

The dress had so much dog stuff going on I had to add my mink cat brooch, because after all I'm a cat mom too.

Add a petticoat and the dress steps right over the line into 1950s fabulousness.

50's women really new what they were doing with this silhouette, its fun and flattering, a wide skirt can have a slimming effect on the waist.  Bernie's dresses are great because they work with and without petticoats and everyone loves options. Personally, I prefer the petticoat.

Petticoats are also great for adding a touch of color to an outfit.  I have a red one that I love wearing with my Trashy Diva rocket dress

It really takes the dress to the next level.  Jessica is a petticoat expert and lists plenty of sources for the fab garment here.  Personally I have three petticoats. My back and white ones are from amazon and my red one is from mod cloth. I love them all, but the Mod Cloth one is better quality.  

One caveat pay attention to your height when ordering, I always get a short petticoat since I'm only 5'1 a regular length petticoat would be ankle length on me.  

Petticoats are just so much fun its hard not to smile while wearing one.   

Outfit Details

Dog Print Dress-Bernie Dexter 
Rocket Dress-Trashy Diva
Red Shoes-Miss L Fire
Black Flats-Amazon
Black Petticoat-Amazon
Red Petticoat-Mod Cloth
Black Sequin Cardigan-Thrifted
Mink Cat Brooch-Thrifted

Riff Trax

Decades ago my late dad used to spend his Saturday afternoons watching a fun show with a truly unique premise.  A man and his robot palls are stuck in space and forced to watch bad movies

Teenage me watched the show and laughed and I saw the movie, with my dad, in the theatre, twice (he was a nerd, like me).

 I was a fan, but not a huge fan.  

Then about six years ago I rediscovered the show on netflix and became a massive fan, a MSTie. 

 I watched episodes repeatedly, bought boxed sets, and quoted lines back and forth with my husband.  After Star Trek, it is my favorite show.  

There is so much to love about MST3K.  The kitschy old films

the hosts

the robots

the mad scientists

Especially Frank

the songs

the Star Trek references

the educational shorts

the home made low tech sets

its all perfect.  There are plenty of articles about MST3Ks influence on pop culture, but  the bottom line is that its just a great show!  Which is why it is so sad that it was canceled and so great that its coming back.

However, its never really left, because we have Riff Trax.

Starring three MST3K alumns, Riff Trax offers hilarious streaming commentary on mainstream films like the Twilight Saga

b movie riffs

"educational shorts"

and live shows

The live shows are my favorite.   They are streamed from Nashville to theaters all over the US and are always fun. Usually John and I go to a theatre in NJ and its empty, but once we went in Manhattan and it was packed.  I prefer the empty theatre.  This Thursday they are riffing Time Chasers a hilariously bad 1994 film.  

I already have my tickets and can't wait.  If  you like MST3K, kitsch, or cheesy movies you owe it to yourself to check out Riff Trax.

Vintage Outfit Post-1940s Casual All Over Overalls

As I wrote in this post there are plenty of options for vintage style casual looks. One of my absolute wardrobe staples is a good pair of overalls. 

 Overalls where frequently worn by women working in the war effort during the 1940s.  Women working in factories and on farms needed comfort and function.   Which overalls provided in abundance.  

What worked for comfort then, works today as well.  You might not be welding weapons in a factory or growing food for the troops but overalls are perfect for any number of modern day pursuits.   I've had my 1940s style overalls from Nudee Dudee for several years now and I wear them frequently to walk my dogs, bike, garden, and loaf around the house.  Since my job allows for causal clothing, I've worn them to work too.   

Since I sport then so routinely I'm sure I've worn them in photos on the blog before, but I've never done a post devoted to them, and it seems overdue.  

This past Saturday I wore my overalls to bike out to Brooklyn for a visit with my father in law a trip to my favorite restaurant,  Brooklyn Pharmacy.

I paired my overalls with a 1940s style blouse from the Black Pinafore, my Remix 1940s style canvas wedges, a 1940s novelty doll purse, and a big knit turban from Arthelia's Attic.

The Nudee Dudee overalls have a really nice silhouette with comfy wide legs and an era appropriate high waist.  Since I'm a big believer in freedom of fashion expression, I try not to ever comment negatively on anyone's wardrobe choices , but I do not understand the trendy for skinny legged pants.  They look so uncomfortable and are not very flattering unless your a twig.  My overalls are a bit wrinkled here, but then they are overalls and not meant to be pristine.  

The knit Turban hat fro Arthelia's Attic is pretty amazing too.   When I first got it I was afraid I wouldn't have the guts to wear it but now I absolutely love it.   I'm sure it will be appearing on here again.    

Saturday's springy weather was perfect for bike riding and getting to a Brooklyn  was a breeze.

I couldn't resist taking a photo on the Farmacy's adorable pink benches.

I had an Almond Joy Sundae which was insanely good.

Fun fashion for a fun day!

Outfit Details

1940s Style Overalls-Nudee Dudee
1940s Style Blouse-The Black Pinafore
1940s Style Knit Turban-Arthelia's Attic
1940s Style Canvas Wedges-Remix Vintage Shoes
1940s Doll Purse-WKay Vintage
Bakelite Bangles-Brighter Bakelite
1960s Novelty Puzzle Piece Brooch-The now defunct easy shop Wacky Tuna