A Night at the Oscars - Dresses worn by the Best Actresses 1929 - 1961

I didn't watch the Oscars... I used to when I was younger and had no children and a job in an office that allowed me to recover during work... I have too little sleep anyway currently, but when I saw this wonderful graph showing the dresses of the wonderful actresses that have won an Academy Awards since 1929, I was curious to find out how the gowns looked like on the photos, and how the ladies were styled...

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Douglas Fairbanks presenting the very first Oscar to Janet Gaynor in 1929. Quite simple outfit.

Mary Pickford 1930.

Marie Dressler 1931. I guess back then the award was a rather solemn event, without much publicity.

Helen Hayes 1932.

The top graph is not absolutely correct. In 1935, despite receiving an Academy Award nomination for her performance, Claudette Colbert decided not to attend the ceremony (feeling confident that she would not win) and instead planned to take a cross-country railroad trip. When she was unexpectedly named the winner, studio chief Harry Cohn sent someone to "drag her off" the train (which fortunately had not yet left the station) and take her to the ceremony. Colbert arrived wearing a two-piece traveling suit. The Oscar was given by lovely Shirley Temple.

Bette Davis 1936.

Austrian-born Luise Rainer 1937.

And 1938 Luise Rainer again. Very elegant and simply dress in a typical late 1930s style.

Luise Rinser, born 1910, is still living. She is the oldest still living Academy Award winner and was the first actress to win the Oscar consecutively.

Bette Davis 1939. The feathers forming the neckline of the dress are wonderful, dramatic and  breezy the same. Pictured with Spencer Tracy. 

Vivien Leigh, amazingly beautiful as ever, wore this lovely flowered dress in 1940:

To my surprise, it had cut-outs above the waist. And it was probably red, not grey as pictured in the scheme on top!

Ginger Rogers 1941: Swoon, I would have appreciated a kiss by Jimmy Stewart as well...

Joan Fontaine 1942.

Ah, a kiss by super-duper Mr. Cooper himself...

And she is wearing some kind of snood or fascinator, something that looks very much like a Spanish or Mexican mantilla. Quite fashionable those days.

Greer Garson 1943. Simple two-piece suit adorned with lacy ruffles.

Jennifer Jones 1944.

Wearing fur was not yet a gut issue...

Ingrid Bergmann 1945.

By this picture you can say she was rather tall. I guess she was, compared to other actresses, a rather impressive person.

I love her hair. (Here she is talking to Jennifer Jones. Look at the lovely fascinator hat!)

Wonderful photo - I think she was a very kind and natural person.

1946 winner Joan Crawford did not attend to the awards, due to sickness (as she said). But still she knew how to have her scene. Gorgeous robe and nightgown, perfect hairstyle. I wish I looked like this when I'm sick.

War was over, and the dresses became more elegant and fuller.

Olivia de Havilland 1947 (she was Joan Fontaine's sister and would win a second Oscar in 1950). I would die to find a fabric like this with flowers only on one part of the material. Are these printed, painted or embroidered?

Loretta Young 1948. What a gorgeous dress! The colour is outstanding, and the whole styling of Loretta is just glamorous...

There even was a matching bolero. Well, there usually must have been, but this one really looks great! Look at the coral flower detail - bold, but amazing

Jane Wyman 1949. Wonderful plain evening dress.

1950, there's Olivia de Havilland again.

And again Jimmy Stewart. (Life is not fair.)

Shirley Boothe 1953. I love that printed sheer fabric, even if there is no colour photograph of it.

Sometimes I wish there was a collection of all those dresses, so we vintage addicts could go to see them...

1954: Unforgettable Audrey Hepburn. What an outstandingly lovely person, inside and outside.

This was one of the few dresses in those times of an Oscar winning actress we know the designer of. The cream lace short dress was made by Audrey's favourite designer and friend Hubert Givenchy, and didn't she look amazing in this rather simple yet special little dress? But then, she always did, and I have to stop myself from getting too talkative about this subject... 

But to be honest: even all those "unknown" makers of the previous dresses had so much style and talent. Compared to some dresses that can be seen today...

Grace Kelly 1955.

Kissed by charming Marlon Brando. Swoon...

Silly woman. Why didn't she kiss Mr. Holden?

 1958 Joanne Woodward. 

With Oscar and Paul Newman.

With Paul Newman.

And agin with Paul Newman. Some girls have all the luck...

Susan Hayward 1959. Simple yet elegant. Black is a classic that never goes out of fashion.

French actress Simone Signoret 1960. I like the swiss dotted tulle covering the whole dress and forming the shoulder "straps". A rather simple outfit, only little jewelry, but she looked so beautiful.

Elizabeth Taylor 1961. I like the dress, even though yellow is not my favourite color, but the hairstyle is definitely not my taste.

Does anybody know why Katherine Hepburn, one of the most remarkable women and actresses of the past century, never attended to any of the awards, even though she won 4 times? What a pity. I admire her style, and I'm sure she would have looked gorgeous.

You may wonder why I limit my choice only until the early 1960s... Well, to be homiest, I don't like the fashion that followed too much. There always nice designs from the 60s and later, but I definitely prefer the earlier decades. 

Just to show you why...

Diane Keaton, 1978. Wonderful actress, still today I love her, but - this "dress" is, well, a good example of what I do NOT like about the 70s...

Or Sissy Spacek 1981 (pictured with young Robert de Niro). Never in my life would I wear such a thing. 

Geraldine Page 1986. Was she wearing draperies?

I know, it's unfair to make such comments about those outfits today, as it must have been fashionable back then, but growing up in the 70s and 80s, I still have to shake my head when I look how we were dressed. 

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Goodbye, Shirley Temple

Yesterday, Shirley Temple passed away. She was 85.

I thought back to some movies starring her I saw when I was a child. I guess no other children I knew then watched such movies. I was so out-of-fashion. And maybe I still am. :)

She was famous even here in Switzerland. I have to admit, though, that I always have a strange feeling about all the non-Swiss Heidi movies out there. It's like if we Swiss people would make a Pocahontas movie... 

Nonetheless, she was a very cute Heidi, any maybe she influenced the image that many elderly persons have of that storybook character. I remember how older people looked at me or even caressed my very blond curls (hated it!) and called "Oh, she looks like a Heidi!" - strange enough that my sister's name is Heidi. Needless to say that I always felt a wee bit silly. 

Shirley was what we call one of the first, if not the first ever, child star in movie history. She had such a sweet face, a little bit cheeky sometimes, and blond curls. She could pose, sing and dance. Growing up, she became a pretty woman, the hair became darker. Blond little girls are always fascinating to adults. I was a very blond curly girl as well, so I know what I'm talking about. It's the same with kitties and puppies. They grow up to become dogs and cats and are not so super cute anymore to most people.

Having been "trained" to be a star it was probably not very easy to deal with a new situation, becoming less attractive to the audience, getting less offers as an actor. But still, as a young woman, she inspires me, mainly from a fashion and style point of view. I love these photos, I think she was a very handsome person.

 I don't have to point out that I'm in love with this hat...

Looking at these pictures, I realise that my interest for vintage clothing is not limited to women's outfits, but it's also wonderful to see all the gorgeous little girl's dresses of those times.

There's a lot of inspiration for any sewing mom like me.

Polka dots and hair bows....

Puffed sleeves and short skirts, buttons and trims.

Peter Pan collars.

And appliques.

And bows.

Look at the cherries, the cherries! Wonderful dress!

This romper is simply amazing.

Kind of a sailor collar combined with a peasant-style dress...

And then, of course, there's always a hat that catches my eye. I love this one particularly, as it's a Scottish inspired hat in a garrison style... Have to find a pattern and make one real soon!

Of course, when my daughter yesterday in the news saw Shirley with all the lovely dresses, she screamed with delight and said she wanted a dress like these. She was so amazed by this dancing little girl with her sweet poofy or long flowing dresses...

But I prefer to make her this one instead. Red polka dots, red trims, and a huge petticoat! 

There are a lot of nice ideas for the big girls too.... Checked shirt-dresses...

A skirt with her initials on it - amazing! Aw, and how much I would like to have the shoes....

This is what looks to me like one of those tropical inspired halter dresses that were "en vogue" then.

A wonderful late 1940s, early 1950s dress.

And a gorgeous 1940s two-piece suit. With hat. And purse. And gloves. Makes me happy just looking at this one.

And, after all, she was a mother too. 

1957

Growing out of a childhood as a movie star, I think this is the most amazing "role" she could get. People may remember her as the little girl who was a star, but to her family she was mother, wife, grandmother, great-grandmother.

Need more info about Shirley temple? Read here.

Treasures from the Past - Vintage 1950s Sewing Magazines

Being a vintage collector makes your live sometimes very difficult. I see so many patterns and vintage sewing magazines I would like to save!


Recently, I was very heroic and brave and saved some treasures. Vintage sewing magazines from the early 1950s. They are all from Germany. So far, so good.

The best thing:

They all still have their pattern sheets.

One magazine was mainly a "good housekeeping magazine". Lots of interesting and sometimes funny adds. (Breast enhancing pills seemed to be quite "en vogue" then... Made me smile, as some things maybe never will change.) Some adds were for products that still exist or used to exist when I was a little girl. Still remember some slogans from the TV spots.

Prym is still a very renowned maker of haberdashery products in Europe. They probably were most famous for their sew-on pressing buttons.

Look at the dresses. There are so many I would like to sew right away!

Sometimes there are patterns for the fuller-figured women. They are so nice, really!

Look at the darling children's patterns!

I'm in love in this blouse. made of organdy or voile, it would look amazing - even without the embroidery.

And this particular Burda sewing magazine is just the cherry on top. I grew up and learned sewing with  the Burda magazine. My mom still has loads of those from the late 1960s to the 1990s. I really had to have this one! It's amazing, and I will write about it later in a separate post.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I do.

Children's Carnival Costumes

I know, this is mainly a blog about vintage sewing and all related things, but I am also a "modern" sewer for my children and for those of my customers. There is one thing I have never really done before: costume sewing. I made a kilt for my little son and a Scottish inspired medieval skirt for my daughter and me last summer for the Highland Games. But I had not so much opportunities, as the examples for those garments didn't allow too much room for my own imagination and fantasy.

So when my husband told me it would be nice to attend at the annual masquerade parade for carnival this year, it was quite a challenge, as carnival in my region is very early. OMG, it's so soon after Christmas! I had to hurry to chose the costumes and order the materials. My daughter, as usual recently, wanted to be a princess or an elf, and as my little son has not yet an opinion of his own (not to mention that he still doesn't talk), I decided to make toadstool costumes for both. For my daughter a kind of toadstool princess, and my son would be a sweet little toadstool boy.

I had no pattern, so I took some inspiration from the internet and created some simple base garments which could be "upgraded" into mushrooms.
I used mainly fleece to make the costumes warm and cozy. First I made an overall for my son with some appliques on the lower part, so it looked like grass growing up his legs. There is even a lucky shamrock on his bottom. Both, the toadstool and the shamrock, are symbols for good luck in my country, and my son's name is Irish, so it's perfect. The overall was large enough to wear several layers of underwear, as temperatures are still very cold here, and we even had some snowfalls during the night.

My daughter absolutely wanted a skirt. She's very girly currently, and she likes ballet, so I decided to make her a tutu. I cut strips of white and red tulle and knotted them on an elastic band. It looked really poofy in the end, and she was totally in love with her new skirt from the first moment on...

The biggest challenge was the hats. My son's hat had to be smaller, so it would not disturb him while sitting in the pram, but her's should be large to keep the proportions of a real mushroom. I didn't use a finished polka dot fleece, as I wanted to look the pattern more natural and irregular, so I had to cut lots of white "dots" and sew them on the red fabric. After stuffing my daughter's hat, I tried it myself on and realised it was too heavy. My husband had a brilliant idea, and we used an inflatable swimming ring as stuffing.

The parade should be held on Sunday shortly after midday, but on Saturday afternoon I realised I had forgotten  two important things: the crown for the princess and the bags for the confetti. For the bags I used a red fleece with withe polka-dots which I sew to a base of very thick crafting felt. I cut the crown from the same material in yellow to create a crown. I added a velcro closure, so the crown could be stored flat while not in use. As I am a very crafty person, I also had some nice rhinestones in different shapes and colours at home which I sewed on the crown.

We had a lot of fun during the parade and afterwards at the children's carnival party. There was even a contest for the best costume, and my children won the first place, but unfortunately we had left earlier as the little ones were too tired, so we didn't win the award.