Posts Tagged ‘thirties’

This is the Mercedes-Benz SSK, built between 1928 and 1932. With a top speed of 120 mph (190 km/hr) it was the fastest car of the late 1920s, and most of the forty or so that were produced (yes, so few!), were used as racing cars and destroyed that way. Now there are only four or five remaining with totally original parts, and around 100 replicas with parts from original vehicles. Wiki informs me a 1929 model auctioned at Bonhams in 2004 sold for 4.17 million GBP (around US$7.4 million). That makes it the second most expensive motor vehicle ever sold in history.

Ralph Lauren has in his private collection a 1930 model known as the Trossi Roadster, which he had meticulously restored and flaunts a pretty dramatic body. It’s a Batmobile if ever I saw one. Read about this wild car here.

I’ve posted this on SwingFashionista.com already, but I just keep coming back to it, so I wanted to post it up here as well. Just such a dramatic collection, futuristic yet nostalgic…

This photo is so beautifully evocative… wow!

I’m in Buenos Aires right now, a beautiful city that feels like Barcelona, Milan and Paris rolled into one, but with a good layer of dust. The city had its heyday in the 1920s and 30s, and photographer Horacio Coppola captured this glamorous period in Argentina’s eventful history. Here are a few beauties…

Some of you might know I have a thing for kitties (like most gals). This find on Flickr made my day. From Circus Krone in the 1930s.

Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse is a historical consultant living in Amsterdam, and she’s what us swing dancers call a “lifestyler.” She lives and breathes the 1930s and 40s everyday, dressing in authentic clothing, living in an historically decorated home, the whole shebang!

Photos from her Flickr Stream, via Lark About

I just read about a survey conducted in 2008, that placed Keira Knightley’s green silk gown in Atonement  as the best film costume EVER. I’m not sure that I agree with that, but I did adore that gown and have been thinking about buying a reproduction.

From the Press Association: ‘The emerald green dress worn by Keira Knightley in Atonement has been voted the best film costume of all time. The bias-cut, backless silk gown had fashion editors raving when it first appeared on screen last year.
Knightley’s character, Cecilia Tallis, wore it during a pivotal scene in Joe Wright’s period drama, which is tipped for Oscar nominations. The survey was done for Sky Movies and British InStyle. Following Knightley’s dress were:

• white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe, in The Seven Year Itch;
• little black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s;
• skin-tight pants worn by Olivia Newton-John, in Grease;
• blue gown worn by Kate Winslet, in Titanic;
• tie and waistcoat combination worn by Diane Keaton, in Annie Hall;
• satin corset worn by Nicole Kidman, in Moulin Rouge;
• stockings and bowler hat worn by Liza Minnelli, in Cabaret;
• gown worn by Cate Blanchett, in Elizabeth;
• dresses worn by Vivien Leigh, in Gone with the Wind.

Ian Lewis, director of Sky Movies, said, ‘There’s no doubt that Keira Knightley’s dress in Atonement created a massive stir this year, so it will be interesting to see whether it attains this stand-along iconic status in years to come.”

Read the whole article here.

You can buy a reproduction of the gown from eDressIt.com for about US $150.00, in whatever color you want: