forties – Megan Monroes

5th May 2015

Favourite Fillms Of The Forties.

As promised, here is the next post in my, “Favourite Films” series and this time it is my second most loved decade of movies; the 1940s.

This was the decade of Bogey and Bacall, Lake and Ladd, Femme Fatales, Glamorous Technicolor Musicals and Film Noir. Movies such as, Cover Girl (1944) and The Dolly Sisters (1945) are forever linked to the Old Hollywood Allure, whilst films such as Double Indemnity (1944) and Gilda (1946) are classic Film Noir; filled with suspense, mystery and thrills.

I will choose my best loved movies, place them into genres and pick some of my favourite stars and their films from the 1940s, I hope you enjoy my recommendations! Top favourites will be put in bold.

*Vivien Leigh in Waterloo Bridge (1940)*

Veronica Lake

I Wanted Wings (1941)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
This Gun for Hire (1942)
The Glass Key (1942)
I Married a Witch (1942)
So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
The Hour Before the Dawn (1944)
Bring on the Girls (1945)
Out of This World (1945)
Hold That Blonde! (1945)
Miss Susie Slagle’s (1946)
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Ramrod (1947)
Saigon (1948)
The Sainted Sisters (1948)
Isn’t It Romantic? (1948)
Slattery’s Hurricane (1949)

Rita Hayworth

The Lady in Question (1940)
You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Cover Girl (1944)
Gilda (1946)
The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
The Loves of Carmen (1948)

Alfred Hitchcock

Rebecca (1940)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
Suspicion (1941)
Spellbound (1945)
Notorious (1946)
Rope (1948)

*Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)*

Musicals/Comedies

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Pin Up Girl (1944)
Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)
The Dolly Sisters (1945)
Ladies of the Chorus (1948)

Drama

Waterloo Bridge (1940)
That Hamilton Woman! (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
The Outlaw (1943)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Forever Amber (1947)
Anna Karenina (1948)

Film Noir

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Laura (1944)
Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
The Killers (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Dead Reckoning (1947)
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in Dark Passage (1947)

So, there you have it, these are all of the best films I’ve seen from the 1940s. Still, there are so many that I’ve yet to view, so there’s a lot that I look forward to watching. My next post will be on 1960s films, so stay tuned for that!

Here’s a few 1940s films I have on DVD, but have yet to watch;

Sundown (1941)
A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Salome, Where She Danced (1945)
The Razor’s Edge (1946)
Mother Wore Tights (1947)
Dark Passage (1947)
Key Largo (1948)
Outpost In Morocco (1949)

Follow me at;

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!

Follow me at;

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!

Follow me at;