fifties – Megan Monroes

27th April 2015

Favourite Films Of The Fifties.

Although I adore all the decades of Old Hollywood, I think the 1950s will always have a special place in my heart. Obviously, with Marilyn being my favourite she first brought my attention to Old Hollywood and the 1950s and is one of the main reasons I know so much about the films from that iconic decade. To me, there is something so special about The Golden Age Of Cinema; the luminous Technicolor, the beautiful faces, iconic moments and incredible talents on film.

Therefore, I decided to make a list of my favourite films from this decade and I shall bold my ultimate must watch movies. I’m often asked this question on my tumblr and thought it was an important post to be made as Old Hollywood Movies are such a huge passion of mine. My other two favourite decades are the 1940s and the 1960s and I will probably do a post on my favourite films from there also.

*The Seven Year Itch showing in New York City in 1955.*

I have a lot of Old Hollywood books in my collection and think these books are great for fellow enthusiasts of the 40s/50s/60s too! Please note, this is in no particular order, it’s simply which comes into my head first. Also, I will separate the films into catergories.

Marilyn Monroe

Monkey Business (1952)
Don’t Bother To Knock (1952)
Niagara (1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
How To Marry A Millionaire (1953)
River Of No Return (1954)
There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Bus Stop (1956)
The Prince and The Showgirl (1957)
Some Like It Hot (1959)

*Marilyn by Milton Greene for Look Magazine in September 1953.*

Brigitte Bardot

And God Created Woman (1956)
Une Parisienne (1957)
The Night Heaven Fell (1958)
Come Dance With Me! (1959)

Alfred Hitchcock

Dial M For Murder (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
To Catch A Thief (1955)
Vertigo (1958)
North By Northwest (1959)

Billy Wilder

Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Sabrina (1954)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Some Like It Hot (1959)

Musicals/Comedies

Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Roman Holiday (1953)
White Christmas (1954)
The Girl Can’t Help It! (1956)
High Society (1956)
Pal Joey (1957)
Funny Face (1957)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
An Affair To Remember (1957)
Bell Book And Candle (1958)

Singin' In The Rain (1952) — *Singin’ In The Rain (1952)*

Dramas

In A Lonely Place (1950)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
The African Queen (1951)
His Kind Of Woman (1951)
A Place In The Sun (1951)
Macao (1952)
Affair In Trinidad (1952)
Mogambo (1953)
From Here To Eternity (1953)
Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
On The Waterfront (1954)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
The Night Of The Hunter (1955)
Picnic (1955)
Fire Down Below (1957)
Peyton Place (1957)
Imitation Of Life (1959)
On The Beach (1959)

This is only a fraction of the amount of films that were released in the 1950s and I still have so many to see, but these are definitely worth watching! I will definitely do a 1940s and 1960s post similar to this style and if you have any film recommendations, please share!

Here’s a few 1950s films I have on DVD, but have yet to watch;

Bride Of Gorilla (1951)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Oklahoma! (1955)
The Big Country (1956)
The King and I (1956)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Sayonara (1957)
The Young Lions (1958)
South Pacific (1958)
The Nun’s Story (1959)

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21st April 2015

Vintage Fair.

Hi everyone!

So on Saturday I went to a Vintage Fair in my hometown, I’ve been to a couple over the past year and none have really compared to the first one I attended. However, it’s often down to luck on finding things and they always have such a nice retro vibe that I always like to go and have a look anyway. After the last one I went to, I wasn’t expecting to find much. Although it had some beautiful things, it was mostly vintage clothes, whereas I like to find vintage magazines, things related to my favourite stars or modern vintage style clothes, as they tend to fit better.

Here’s a photo of my look for the Fair, I tried to create a classic 1950s make up vibe with a 1940s pin up roll with a pony tail. On this day, my hair was very straight, so it was incredibly hard to create the roll, I must have tried about ten times! Tip – pin up rolls are a lot easier to roll when your hair is curled or slightly wavy.

So when I went on Saturday, at a first quick look I felt slightly disappointed again. I saw some lovely vintage clothes but the material was not suitable for hot weather and I really hate looking through racks and racks of clothes, I’m just not patient enough! However, I came across a lovely stall of modern vintage style clothing. I saw a couple of lovely dresses, but the material once again wasn’t suitable for summer weather. I also saw a lovely floral halter dress, but sadly they didn’t have my size. However, I continued looking through and came across a lovely yellow floral dress and thought to myself, that looks pretty cute! Although I thought the dress was really pretty and a bit different to my other clothes, any of your fair haired ladies will know that it’s almost an unwritten rule that blondes don’t wear yellow. Therefore, I was pretty hesitant to try the dress on! I didn’t want a major clash, to look washed out or even like a big lemon, but I took my chances and went for it.

The dress is so comfy and fitted at the same time, which is always the best! The back of the dress is elastic so it fits to your body. It also nips you in at the waist for the 1950s hourglass look and has such beautiful detail, it’s a real sunshine dress! I only realized when taking the photos today that this dress is from Collectif this gorgeous brand specializes in 1940s and 1950s style and I’m so happy to finally have a dress of theirs!

I absolutely adore the heart-shaped buttons, I think they could be my favourite part of the dress! The little details always make the dresses!

I also bought a lovely red floral bow for my hair, surprisingly I haven’t got a red bow and as it’s one of my favourite colours and for only £2.50, I had to buy it. Although red can sometimes be a hard colour to match, I decided as I wear red lipstick so often, I could probably get away with not always co-coordinating the clothes.

I also wore my lovely daisy earrings from River Island that I bought last year, I thought they went with my floral fifties theme and of course added even more yellow!

Lastly, when browsing the Vintage Fair, I came across a clearance section of.. HEART SHAPED GLASSES! I absolutely adore this style, made famous by Sue Lyon in Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial classic, Lolita. I already have lovely cat-eye 1950s style sunglasses from last year that are red, so as soon as I saw the pink heart-shaped ones, I went for them instead.

Until next time lovelies!

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20th April 2015

Pastel, Pink and Purple.

Hi guys!

So today was such a lovely spring day that I decided to wear one of my dresses from River Island that I got last year. I was pretty indecisive about this dress when I first saw it, mostly because the colours together seemed a bit unusual to me and not something I’d tried before. However, when I put it on I decided to go for it, it’s very feminine and something I wanted to add to my wardrobe. I’d only worn it one time before and I thought the pastel colours would go well with the sunshine and my 1940s/1950s style. After having my hair straight for about a week, I decided to change it up and do one of my favourite styles – pin curls! It’s key to my Old Hollywood inspired look and if the weathers good, can last for quite a while. I tend to leave it nice and tight the first day and then the next couple of days brush it out and recurl it around my fingers.

As it’s still quite cool, I decide to wear a purple cardigan with my dress, I thought it would add to the 1950s style and keep me warm at the same time. I really love this cardigan but I find it hard to match with a lot of my clothes, so as soon as I knew I was wearing this I took the opportunity to wear it. I also wore my trench coat, I adore this style, it’s ultra Old Hollywood, comfy and fitting. I have another one in navy blue.

Here are some close ups of my hair, makeup and dress. I added flower clips to my hair as they look so lovely in the summer weather and once again, are great for a 1950s pin up girl vibe. I then chose to wear my Rimmel Lipstick in Tantrum, a strong deep red to complete the vintage look, it stays on all day. However, just to give it an extra hold I wore Revlon Colour Stay Lip Liner in a deep red.

As you can see, when I first take my curls out the top curls are a bit crazy and I have to comb them out slightly and tease them up to create that 1940s/1950s wave. It’s probably the most important part of the signature pin curl look as without that, it doesn’t look all that good lol. Although hairspray is a great idea, I don’t like the feel or the smell so I make the unusual decision of not using it. Obviously, if the weathers bad my hair will often drop, but I just turn it into a 1940s Veronica Lake style and make the best of the situation. However, if I have time I will pin curl the hair again and leave it in for the curls to reform.

This is what my hair looks like before I take the pin curls out. After I’ve washed my hair I let it try naturally and then after a few hours begin rolling sections of my hair up and clip it in with a bobby pin. I then sleep in them overnight for long lasting effect, it’s not the most comfortable style but it’s a lot better than rollers. I also tease the front sections of my hair slightly, so the wave is easier to form in the morning.

Here’s some close ups of my lovely flowers, I chose ones that would compliment my dress, I do like to match! I buy the majority of mine from Accessorize, you should check them out!

I hope you enjoyed my new post, I try to bring the vintage era with a modern twist and embrace my style, hopefully this will inspire you to do the same!

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17th April 2015

Niagara.

Hi guys!

So I bought a lovely floral 1950s style dress from Hollister the other week and straight away it reminded me of one of my favourite outfits Marilyn wore in her 1953 film, Niagara. The film was a huge success on it’s first release, made over $6,000,000 at the US Box Office and established Marilyn as the leading lady of 1950s cinema.

Although initially you may be wondering why I think the dress is similar due to the length and colour being different, the style is pretty much the same and a great way to follow Marilyn’s style without splurging too much.

Marilyn’s dress was designed by Dorothy Jenkins, who also worked with her again on the costumes for her 1960 film, Let’s Make Love. I’ve been very fortunate to have seen quite a few of Marilyn’s dresses at exhibitions, but I have no idea where this one is today. Sadly, in the old days the studios didn’t know the value of their stars costumes and would often reuse them to make others. However, I still hope it will turn up some day!

The dress is worn in the film’s most famous scene. Marilyn’s character, Rose comes out of her lodge dressed in this incredible dress, which was pretty shocking for it’s time and shocks fellow visitors. She then requests a song, “Kiss” which is hers and her lovers favourite and sings it sensually, whilst her husband watches.

In a very witty scene following her entrance, onlooker Ray Cutler says to his wife, Polly, “Why don’t you ever get a dress like that?” and she replies, “Listen. For a dress like that, you’ve got to start laying plans when you’re about thirteen.”

The dress is definitely key to creating her only Femme Fatale role on screen. It establishes her as the, “tantalizing temptress who lures men on to their eternal destruction.” As Niagara was filmed in Technicolor, it appears before us as a shocking hot pink, but, pictures off film have showed it as a vibrant red. Either way, it’s one of her iconic costumes for sure and a firm favourite amongst fans.

Marilyn also wore the dress on numerous occasions after the film finished filming in 1952 and with the way it looks on her, who can be surprised?! I would love the real colour of the dress to be the colour on screen, but I think that’s wishful thinking. Pink or red? You’ll have to decide for yourself.

As I am a huge fan of Marilyn’s, you can understand my excitement when I found the similar styled dress from Hollister. I was a bit worried to try it on at first, as it’s quite revealing and I’m a pretty self conscious person, but it was too beautiful not to be brave and wear it. I also pin curled my hair to complete the Marilyn inspired look and my 1950s style.

I couldn’t have chosen a better place to take the close up photo, my girl was right behind me and in the dress! I can’t wait to wear this in the summer.

I hope this post helps you to be inspired by your favourites and to watch Niagara (1953), it’s Marilyn’s only Film Noir and just a must see for lovers of Old Hollywood and Marilynettes.

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