Phew! I have been working my little tush off recently! Yesterday I completed my dissertation - all 9,562 words of it! That's not to say my toils are over, I still have two more massive assignments to complete, but come the 22nd May I will have completed my university life and will be out there in the big wide world.
Here it is, my finished baby...
Look at it all bound and looking official!
In other news, I tried out a new hair set this week and utterly fell in love with the results. It is much looser than the more 50s style I usually wear but is just as elegant. I think it has quite a late 30s early 40s vibe to it which is something I've never achieved before. I used bigger foam rollers (I'm going to guess they're about 1.5") and set them around the base of my head at the back, and then in two rows on the heavy side of my hair so I could structure in the wave the next day. It's the first time I've set a successful finger wave so I was pretty chuffed - the photos really don't do it justice!
Definitely trying this set again soon - I might even do a tutorial for it over on my Youtube channel!
Sunday for me is all about mellow music to help me recover from the hectic nature of the Saturday night before. Ever since I was little this soundtrack was usually brought in the form of some kind of jazz, and I've continued this onto my adult life. And, as it would be her 98th birthday today, this Sunday's soundtrack is brought to you by Billie Holiday. If I could sound like anyone when I sing, it would be this amazing lady...
Scrolling through my Tumblr dashboard this morning I came across one of my favourite posts ever. Now, I must admit, I do not know the source of this amazing information, or the photos that accompany it, but it was just too good not to share with you.
In 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Mme De Florian locked the doors of her Parisian apartment for the last time...and never came back. What she left behind her was a snap shot of time, portraying the life of a citizen of the Pigalle quarter just before a world changing event. The apartment was rediscovered after Mme De Florian's death some seventy years later, by her descendants, who described the discovery as if they were "stumbling into the castle of sleeping beauty".
The last photo is a painting of Mme De Florian's grandmother, the famous Parisian actress Marthe De Florian. Marthe was a lover of the artist, Giovanni Boldini, and their love letters were also found, tied with ribbon, in the apartment!
What a find! I can hardly imagine, if I left my house for seventy years, it would be this glamorous!
Ahh it's that time of year again. Along with New Year's Eve, I genuinely dread Valentine's Day. I try to make myself feel positive about it every year, but there is no escaping the loneliness. Sob sob. Yet again, I am single this year - I've just come to accept that - and so won't be receiving any cards, kisses or fine dining. Instead I'll have a nice hot shower, put on clean pj's and crack open a bottle of wine - I'll just love me instead.
Fully what I expect to look like tonight
That's enough of my Valentine's sob story - you've heard it all before anyway - so I thought I'd just share with you some stunning vintage Valentine's beauties instead.
And so we conclude this series with the third and final part to my Madonna/Vogue series. I've had to guess a few - I take it Madge meant Lauren Bacall, Katherine Herpburn and Lana Turner...I hope you've enjoyed it!
They had style, they had grace Rita Hayworth gave good face Lauren, Katherine, Lana too Bette Davis, we love you
Rita Hayworth (originally Margarita Cansino) is probably my favourite screen icon. I once got told I looked like her - I wish!
Hello! I'm back again with the second installment/verse of my Vogue series, covering my favourite photos of the stars of yesteryear as dictated by the one and only Madonna. Catch part one here
Grace Kelly; Harlow, Jean Picture of a beauty queen Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers, dance on air
Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco on the cover of the magazine itself!
I've always thought Jean Harlow looked forever cheeky - you know if you went on a night out with her it would be one to remember...or not! (Also...I think she looks a lot like my mum but that's another story!)
My, my Mr Kelly was a handsome man!
Oh to have danced with Fred Astaire!
I always have serious hair envy for Ginger Rogers. Even upside down it looks amazing!
During my absence from blogging (due to yet more technical issues) I spent a lot of time listening to my music collection - I managed to listen to every track on my iPod on shuffle, quite an achievement! One track led to the inspiration for this post, and the following ones of the theme. Madonna. I haven't done anything on this woman on this blog, and yet I love her. So, here it is, the Vogue rap, verse by verse, in my favourite pictures of the stars.
Greta Garbo, and Monroe Dietrich and DiMaggio Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean On the cover of a magazine
Greta Garbo - I love her simple 1930s style with the iconic thin eyebrows
Marilyn Monroe - Controversially I'm not a big fan of the classic Marilyn look, but I think she is one of the most natural beauties in her earlier photos
Marlene Dietrich - I was going to do the stereotypical Marlene-in-a-suit photo but then I came across this and just...wow. I want this on my wall!
Joe DiMaggio - apparently he's 'boning his bat'...no, that's not a euphemism
Marlon Brando - Words do not describe my love, love, for this man.
James Dean - I used to have this as a poster on my wall from the age of 11. Most kids had Blue/McFly/Busted...I had Jimmy Dean.
I confess I stole this post (gasp!) from the lovely chap over at Eclectic Ephemera, but as a Southamptonian and a complete history freak I couldn't resist sharing this with my readers:
Let's take a seven minute tour through pre-Blitz'd Southampton...
I would have loved to have seen a pre-1940s Southampton town! I do love Southampton (most of the time...) but isn't the old town much more beautiful? I did hear once that the city's High Street is actually a pre-fab one built after the war as a temporary measure. Well, sixty years later it's still there! Time for a revamp I think!
In the video I spotted a complete Holy Rood church, a Bargate that was still attached to the High Street, the old floating bridge, and even the end of my dad's old road in Bitterne Park! What did you lads and lasses spot?
Remember a while back when I said the 1930s would be the decade for 2011? Well it looks like my predictions came true with the BBC's latest mini-series Young James Herriot coming to our Christmas viewing, as a prequel to All Creatures Great and Small - it even stars Ciaran McMenamin who was also in 32 Brinkburn Street. Set in Glasgow in (I can only guess) around 1933/1934, the three-part series follows James (Iain de Caestecker) in his first term as a veterinary student with his friends the suave and money-hungry Rob McAloon (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) and Emma 'Whirly' Tyson (played by one of my favourite actresses who is far too overlooked, Amy Manson), and the trials they overcome both animal-wise and life-wise.
Naturally, as she is marvellous, Whirly is my favourite character. She's feisty and headstrong with her battles against the masochistic Professor Gunnell and his refusal to provide a women's WC, providing a stark contrast to Jenny Muirhead, the naive wet blanket daddy's girl who is the only other female student in the institution. Whirly's aunt, Mrs Munro, is also high up there on my favourite character list, if only for her wardrobe!
Whirly Tyson
Mrs Munro
Although televised at 9pm I couldn't see much more than a flash of a (poorly accented) German man's bottom to warrant the post-watershed viewing. It's lighthearted to watch with little drama to warrant braincell action and characters that aren't too extreme or too boring. It is available on iPlayer until 27th December.
Over the last three and a half months the BBC has treated it's audience to not one, not two, but three dramas set in the 1930s. I had originally wanted to publish this post after the last episode of South Riding but I never got around to it (oops!) but when the latest 1930s based drama, 32 Brinkburn Street, came to an end it was the perfect excuse! Personally, I've loved that this often overlooked decade has been shown to the public, portraying all different areas of Britain and different social statuses too.
At Christmas the long awaited Upstairs, Downstairs was televised - cue online battles between Upstairs, Downstairs fans and Downton Abbey - and I loved it! The cast was glamourous, the script entertaining and the storylines covered serious issues of the time - like the chauffeur Harry Spargo (played by the delicious Neil Jackson) and Lady Persie's (Claire Foy) involvement with the British Union of Fascists - whilst making them relevant to today. I'm so glad it was recommissioned for a full series after the three part taster, and I can't wait to see what's to come for the Holland's and their troupe of servants!
Next came the dramatisation of Winifred Holtby's 1936 novel South Riding. Set in a backwards South Yorkshire town, it sees the transformation of the inhabitants with the arrival of the heroine, Sarah Burton, played by Anna Maxwell Martin. I must admit I've never read the book (although it is now on my very long, ever growing list) but the BBC's portrayal was very interesting. However I felt it was a little rushed, especially in the third, and final, episode, and left me feeling "Oh, was that the end?". Perhaps if it had been divided into more episodes it would have been better? Still, it was an interesting drama, showing the hardships of the decade in reflection to the still rather lavish life lived by those Upstairs in Upstairs Downstairs.
Finally we have the afternoon drama shown this week entitled 32 Brinkburn Street. The show is split between 1931 and 2011, and follows the lives of Frank Ogilvie and his family in both eras. The storyline in 1931 is a little far fetched - so perfect for an afternoon viewing with a cuppa tea and slice of cake! - and include a bricked up corpse of a murder victim (but who is it!?) and an Irish man on the run who has an affair with his landlady. The writers cleverly connected the two eras with similar characters, like elderly relatives that feel unwelcome, teenagers growing up, and fathers struggling with various addictions. The show was strangely addictive, if a little cheesy, but it was a nice depiction of everyday 1930s life - although I don't think my family ever had as much drama in their lives as the Ogilvie's!
So, with the award winning King's Speech and the BBC's influx of 1930s shows, can it be said that the 30s is the decade for 2011? I hope so! I truly hope so!
