Introducing.....

my newest blog, Musings of a Vintage Girl: Old Hollywood Movie Reviews. I have been having so much fun writing reviews for movies I've seen, that I decided to have a blog dedicated to all my reviews. =) Not only will I post movie reviews, but I will post things related to old Hollywood. Hope to see you there!

Oh! Don't forget that tomorrow our fall fashion week starts!

~Ashley

"Strike Up The Band" {1940}

Strike Up The Band {1940} is one delightful, charming, feel good movie. I saw it for the first time this past Friday with Gabrielle and Hanne-col - we loved it! In fact, it was our first Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney film we ever saw. For that matter, it was our first Judy Garland movie we ever saw. =) Needless to say, she is a darling.

Judy was lovely. Mickey was hilarious. They made us laugh and feel oh, so happy. It had great songs and some fun dance routines. Plus, Judy's wardrobe was one I wouldn't mind owning myself. Her wardrobe is great for some 1940s teenage sewing inspiration. ;-)







Some of my favorite songs from the movie were, Our Love Affair, Drummer Boy, and Nobody.




For more information about the film check out these links.

http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/S/Strike%20Up%20the%20Band.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033110/

What are your favorite Judy & Mickey films? Or, Judy Garland films in general? =)


~Ashley

California Trip 2010 - All the days in one post.

To make this go faster, I decided to just post the rest of my pictures on flickr. I have provided information about each day and links to the pictures below.  =)

Day  6 (Hollywood) - On day six we visited the Warner Brothers Studio. We took a tour of their studio - which was so much fun! I saw costumes from Casablanca and the piano that Sam plays! This was the highlight of the whole WB costume museum, that I don't remember much else of what was there. Plus, you couldn't take any pictures of the costumes. =(

After the WB tour we visited Hollywood and saw the footprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theater.

You can see pictures from day six here.

Day 7 (Shopping Day) - On day seven we first visited FIDM and saw some lovely costumes on display- including costumes from Return to Cranford and the new Alice in Wonderland movie. =) What bliss. As you can not take pictures of the costumes, you will have to look at FIDM's flickr page. =) And don't worry, they have pictures of all the costumes on display.  Alice in Wonderland pictures here. And Costumes from TV Shows here. 

After FIDM we headed over to the Fashion District to shop at Michael Levine Fabric. They had some amazing knits for only $3 yard! I only bought some brown knit, 3 yards, and now I wished I had bought more in different colors and patterns. As it is so easy to work with. =) Next time I'm in LA I will be buying tons of knit fabric. Well, maybe not tons, but you get the idea. =)

Next we headed over to The Way We Wore a vintage clothing store. This is were I bought my first vintage dress! Oh happy me.

We ended the day by walking on Rodeo Drive and window shopping at all the designer stores. =)






Day 8 (Costume College Day 1) - See this post.

Day 9 (Costume College Day 2) - Post coming up. =)

Day 10 (Costume College Day 3) - Post coming up. =)  You can see pictures from Costume College 2010 here. 

Day 11 (Highway 1 & San Francisco) - We drove up the coast on highway 1 to San Francisco. Saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, while we were in San Fran, we froze as it was so cold! I felt like winter was coming! Oh my!


Pictures are here.



















Day 12 (Yosemite)  - Walked and drove all around Yosemite. Pictures here.













Day 14 (Grand Canyon) - On our way back home we stopped at the Grand Canyon again. =) This time the weather was perfect. We even got to walked down a little bit on the Bright Angel Trail. Pictures from today are here.

~Ashley

Who Inspires Me (Fashion Wise) - Grace Kelly

“Who Inspires Me” (Fashion Wise) will be a new series that I will try to do once every 2-3 weeks, or even once a month. =) My first post will be on Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly, a lady whose style matches her name - Graceful. Though I have never seen a film with Grace Kelly I love her style.

Her wedding dress is one of my favorite weddings dresses ever! She is also the only actress I have a book on; which I recommend picking up. It is called, Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride and it has lovely pictures and even has a section on her wedding dress. :)

Some of my favorite outfits/pictures of Grace Kelly are the following:

 This look can easily be worn today. It is only a simple button down shirt, cardigan, skirt, and belt; very simple, yet stylish.

One of my favorite causal looks. Jeans (rolled up slightly), button down shirt, and penny loafers.

I LOVE this dress from High Society!

This lovely  dress is from Rear Window.

A lovely party dress! Very modest too.

So far I have recreated only one of her dresses. And it is her fancy dress seen in Rear Window (1954) with Jimmy Stewart. 

My version has two changes from hers, I raised my necklines (in front and back), and my over-skirt has no embroidery, instead it sparkles. =)

 


::My version::

I know you all are going to ask, 'what pattern did you use?' Yes? Well, I drafted it. Meaning I made my own pattern. =) And this was my first try, back in 2008.

_______________________________________

What is your favorite Grace Kelly outfit or movie?

~Ashley

WIFD - Day 7

Hello ladies! It is the last day of WIFD and I'm sad to see it end, but it was fun! :) Today I wore my Old Hollywood inspired jeans. You can read on how I made them here.

 

~What I'm Wearing~

Red button down shirt - Eddie Bauer Outlet

Old Hollywood inspired jeans - Made by me

Tan Wedges - Target

Layer Necklace - Kohl's 

  

 

Ingrid Bergman - Casablanca (1942)

What can I say? I came down sick over Thanksgiving week-end. So, I decided to watch Casablanca for the first time. And I fell in love with Ingrid Bergman's clothes! :D And Ingrid looks just gorgeous in this film with her long hair! I have only seen her in two other films, Bells of St. Mary's and The Inn of Six Happiness, both of which she has short hair. Though, I must say, she has looked lovely in each film.

I also put together a Casablanca inspired set on Polyvore, right after I finished watching the movie. :P  What can I say? I was inspired! :) And I really like the song, As Time Goes By right now.

"As Time Goes By" by Bramblewood Fashion featuring Ralph Lauren

What about you? What is your favorite Ingrid Bergman film? Or, Humphrey Bogart, for that mater? :) 

 

Old Hollywood Inspired Jeans

I struggle with finding jeans that fit and are not too tight, nor too loose. I had told myself several times that I should try sewing my own jeans, but got scared! :p Then a couple weeks ago, I decided that I wasn't going to be afraid anymore.

I knew that I wanted jeans that had a Old Hollywood feel to them. Like my inspiration below: 

Ginger Rogers Hollywood Pattern

Off to Jo-Ann's I went looking for the perfect pattern, or at least one I could adapt. And lo, and behold, I found the perfect one! With no adaption, Simplicity 3686 would work like a charm for my brand new jeans, which would have that Old Hollywood feel.

                               Pattern Description: Misses pants with slim & wide leg.

Pattern Sizing: I cut a size 10 (used it as is)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes!

Were the instructions easy to follow? When I was doing the mock-up I ran into trouble! I COULD NOT sew the pant legs correctly! It took five tries and a week before I got it right! But, once I was working with the jean it went together like a dream!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I love this pattern, super cute and stylish! It has that 1930s/1940s Old Hollywood feel to it!

Fabric Used: A nice denim from Joann's.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: Nope. Next time I would shorten the length just a tad, as the legs are a little long. :-)

Would you sew it again? Yes!

Would you recommend it to others? Sure, they are so cute!

 

 

 ____________________________________________________

::Sneak Peak::

Here's a sneak peak to my Maid Marian inspired dress!

Can you guess which one I copied? :-)

~Ashley