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100 Years of What to Wear in 100 Seconds
A gem. Enjoy. (And then on September 13 head to London for the grand opening of Westfield Stratford City shopping center, if you're so inspired.)
[Via]
This settles it; my body type and soul were made for 1940s fashion.
the coolest thing i have seen today.
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. But then it reminded me of a terrible thing my mom said, a la yesterday's bracket:
"It's too late for that, you should have been taking classes for years by now." (After I told her I wanted to be a choreographer, at age 13.)
Also, when I told her I wanted to be a fashion designer, she told me it was "too competitive." And when I just wanted to be "an artist" she told me that's not a job. (Funny, I have lots of friends now who are artists.)
@punkahontas When I was a kid, I wanted to be a gymnast so bad. I could do all the crazy flips and whatnot. But my mom refused to pay for lessons because I was "going to be too tall."
Showed her. I'm barely over 5 ft tall. And still bitter.
@punkahontas My mom also told me that I was "never going to make it as an artist and that I really should be more realistic."
I'm working towards teacher certification, and she's still not happy ;D
and @totallyunoriginal I'm 4'7"!
That said, this vid is completely awesome! I think, except for the terrible economy and other calamities of that decade, the Roaring Twenties is the bees knees.
@Impybat & @totallyunoriginal It makes me feel a little better that I'm not the only one with totally un-supportive/anti-supportive mother. I have seriously been in a bad mood ever since those memories bubbled up! And it's such a happy video!
Everyone expected me to be really short since I was a microscopic child, and I'm 5'7". I didn't have any height-related aspirations for her to crush though.
@totallyunoriginal I wanted to be a Rockette, briefly, after we saw them at Radio City. But my mom promptly informed me I was too tall. She was actually being honest, not mean; Rockettes all have to be the same height, after adjusting for heels and hats.
@xx-xx-xx I saw Carol Burnett sing "Too Tall to be a Rockette" with the Rockette's at Radio City in the early 90s. CB feels your pain!
@xx-xx-xx They aren't all the same height! They just stand by height so it looks that way. They can be between 5'6" and 5'10 1/2", per Good Morning America. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Entertainment/story?id=1416454
@punkahontas The economy was great in the 20s! (Up until 29.) WWI was over, people were making money hand over fist, women finally had the right to vote and Victorian/Edwardian propriety were dead in the water. The were the Roaring Twenties for a reason!
The only real issue was that booze was illegal in the States. So sad!
@H.E. Ladypants Actually, I made the comment about the economy of the 20s. I stand corrected
@Lily Rowan Ah, I see. I thought it was a much smaller range and they accounted for differences by wearing different height heels and hats. But I suppose they're not always wearing hats, so the standing by height thing makes sense too.
Anyway, still (slightly) too tall. Also horribly uncoordinated and bad at dancing, but my mom probably thought I'd grow out of at least one of those things. (I showed her!)
And @allthepie (delicious name by the way) that sounds awesome. Wish I could find a recording, but no dice.
@xx-xx-xx (It's unclear why I knew this.)
@punkahontas it is never too late to be an artist, here is a good example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois
Okay people coming to the London Pin-up (Edith I emailed about it didyougetitdidyougetit?) have to pick one of these outfits and dance into the bar. FINE I WILL.
@rayray DO IT. AND THE '40S OUTFIT IS KIND OF THE BEST ONE.
@rayray YES did you get my email this morning??? Check your mail!
@Edith Zimmerman Oh MY GOD. I checked. Time for re-calibration!
@rayray Oo! When!? Where!?
@rayray London Pin-Up?! SIGN ME UP PLZ
@pufflehuff Ooh ooh MORE PEOPLE! There is some confusion cos two lots of 'Pinners simultaneously organized meet ups! But we're currently thinking this means we should all just have two, right, cos you can never meet internet strangers too many times. Except they won't be strangers the second time, so.
Anyway, details will be available shortly. I for one am excited.
@rayray Excellent, I'm super busy lately so that ups the likelihood I can make at least one. I shall start choreographing my dance now!
Westfield Stratford City shopping center, were I in London I would totally shop at you because of this fantastic commercial.
@chirdia Sadly it is giant and hideous.
The only way this could be cuter is if Matthew Gray Gubler was in it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyC7_8ak_R4).
this is awesome, but i think the fashions are slightly off base as it gets later in time.
@Rubyinthedust YES! a (fairly) steady decline….
@LGS808 I think that might be because we (you/I…) lived during those years, whereas if the fashion for the 20s say was off, I don't have any real way to know it. I had the same sensation too, though.
@Rubyinthedust I would also say so with the dancing.
@Rubyinthedust @Megan Patterson@facebook I'm going to attribute the off-ness of both the fashion and the dancing to two things: (a) they're in London (oh those Europeans and their style); and (b) they're in London. (Also, is there even really a "dance craze" of today? Maybe this just became a comment for a different post altogether.)
@mizadventure Today's dance crazes: The Wobble? Cupid Shuffle? Something flash mob-related?
@Rubyinthedust Everyday I'm shufflin. except Sundays when I'm planking and yearning for a better dance era (see Midnight in Paris)
@closetalker11 They could have dougied, damn it.
@KatnotCat: Maybe dougying (dougie-ing? It all looks wrong) hasn't made it to the UK yet…
The models in this video are totally going to own Raquel Zimmerman and Karen Elson at the 2011 Dancing Models Online Video Awards (DMOVA's)
@jenjen I would so watch that! Let's make it happen.
AAAAAAAAAHH! The Hairpin is so full of lovely dance videos this week! It thrills my little heart.
This is just stellar. The editing, the dance moves, the fashions (agreed on the 1940s – sahwoon), even the boppy, glitchy soundtrack. I'm mesmerized.
I loved this! Just think, someone's job involved picking out these outfits, dressing them, etc. And then the actual dancers, they were at work! Clearly I am ruing by career decisions as I 'work' from home. And the lady has a seriously covetous head of hair.
What's the name of that dance move they do in the 40s section where you waggle your index finger really quickly while swivelling your legs and feet? I want to incorporate it into my usual repertoire.
@Decca I believe it's called the Dorothy Zbornak
@Decca I Googled "Charleston" and "Lindy Hop" as the two olde timiest dance moves that I knew. No dice, sorry.
@Decca
Late to the game, I know, but I'm pretty sure it's a swing/Lindy Hop move. That's what that whole section is. Also, I highly encourage the working in of old timey dances into repertoires. Busting out the Charleston in the clubs is way fun (and more often than not leads to an impromptu Charleston lesson).
@Dancersize
That's a jitterbug move. One I actually learned in ballroom dancing school (shout out, Connecticut!). Also learned the cha-cha and the hustle.
@HoliandIvy
Cool! Thanks! I'm a ballroom dancer, too, but I do more of the waltz/tango/foxtrot dancing and less swing/Lindy. Hustle is one of my favorites, though.
I am very much so inspired. Yet my bank account remains stubbornly less so. Alas!
I must say: It was a bit horrifying to see the turn that the fashions took around the 1970s. I lived through the 1980s as young, borderline-fashionable adult — and fashion was, indeed, that awful. 70s and 90s weren't great, but man. Those 80s!
@Emily L. Hauser@twitter
Oooh! The 80s were SO good to me! I was a teenager and then an art student. I was punk rock, bought (and wore) an ~amazing~ amount of vintage for next to nothing, snuck in underage to great clubs, and saw a LOT of bands that everyone in my age group now wishes they saw up close in tiny tiny rooms. But yeah, the mainstream bopper 80s stuff was BAD.
Why did hats ever stop being a required female accessory? Why??!!
WHHHHYYYYYYY?????!!!
@Hyperbolic Heather THIS. I just ignore the fact I was born waaaaay to late for hats and wear them anyway. And feel glamourous.
@Hyperbolic Heather I agree with your views and wish to subscribe to your hat.
Ugh, this was the best palate cleanser after that stupid Lumix commercial I watched.