1916 | Wearing History

>It’s not often when working on images for the blog that something makes my heart truly sing, but I can honestly say these images did! All at once I was transported to my childhood fantasies of the romanticised past. Color illustrations from the earlier part of the last century always do that to me- like the images of Harrison Fisher or even in black and white by Charles Dana Gibson (which, of course, bridged the 19th and 20th century with the Gibson Girl).
I love the fashion of the “teens”. These hats are no exception! Here’s a couple of color images from a 1916 catalog. I hope you enjoy!

Oh yes- and speaking of hats- did you see Casey’s version of one of the hats from the Sporty Toppers pattern? It’s so cute!

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I know this post has nothing to do with fashion, but it still is something I really think is absolutely charming. I love kits of things- especially outdoory kits of things. The old picnic baskets with the silverware placed “just so”, all matching, makes my heart sing. Tents and things that convert or add-on to other things (like the automobile tent at the bottom of the image) bring out the kid in me and I want to take over the fortress and “hide out”. How much fun would it be to do a vintage automobile picnic, as pictured on this page? There’s only one thing I see missing- a portable phonograph.
*Edit- I just found out from Ann of A Sudden View that portables generally weren’t around until a few years later, as they were used by servicemen in WWI. The picnic models weren’t around until the early 20s. (I’ve got a much beloved Victor 50, and I knew it was an early one and after many years of wanting one I finally saved up and bought one a few years back, but I didn’t realize it was one of the first! Neat!). For a history of portable phonographs here’s an article online.