This past weekend I attended the LA County Fair in Pomono, CA. It was bloody hot and within half an hour my vintage dress was sticking to me. Not exactly the prettiest of pictures, but it was still quite fun and one of the nicest (and cleanest) fairs I've ever been to.


A couple of months ago I watched State Fair with Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews. It was such a sweet and nostalgic movie and this weekend's past visit to the county fair inspired me to do a vintage photo post about it.

These vintage photographs were shot by Alfred Eisenstaedt at the Batavia, New York County Fair in 1941. I love these candid photos of the dancers and performers of the fair. I especially love the photo of the women ironing what appears to be a costume bolero and I absolutely LOVE the photo of the acrobat on the man's head while he drinks coffee and reads his paper. SO RAD!

I wonder what conversations these women had... what love interests there might have been, what secret rivalries there were... vintage photographs tell so many, many stories.


img sources: LIFE Magazine Photo Archives

I love these vintage photographs from the 1940s and the 1950s... they give off such a wonderful feeling of nostalgia. Happy times spent under the warmth of the summer sunshine. These photographs just make me so happy!


I am absolutely swooning over the gal's bathing suit (two pictures up) and her beau has great style too! I am totally digging their whole look! I need to buy more hot pants! I love vintage short shorts, mostly because they flatter my figure better. I'm definitely "vintage shaped" which I'm happy about, no complaints here, but it does make finding modern day clothing that fits my more retro sensibilities a bit difficult.

sources // les femmes vintage | q's daydream

You have to wonder, what was she thinking when this moment was captured on film? A woman of obvious beauty and wealth posed inside a car in the 1920s. Where is she going? What is her name? Why did she choose to wear what she's wearing?

These are the thoughts that run through my mind when perousing vintage photographs. Every one of them has a story to tell.




I've been on a bit 1920s/1930s kick lately (Boardwalk Empire...slowly getting through all the episodes during break). I hope you enjoy these lovely photos! Click on them for credit and larger versions!

These vintage photographs were selected specifically because the clothes the women are wearing don't appear too costume-y or out of reach. Sometimes I see many beautiful gorgeous vintage 30s and 40s dresses at online vintage shops or even at vintage fashion expos, but I always wonder when would I wear these? They will only gather dust in my closet. So, I always tend to gravitate towards casual daywear vintage clothing as opposed to formal wear.

And even though these lovely vintage gals are in their casual clothes, don't they look so dapper anyway? They would frown upon my casual "going for a bike ride" outfit of leggings, t-shirt, and sneakers!


Image Credits: Magnolia Blossoms (c) 1940, Three Lovely Ladies, Two Girls on a Bicycle (c) 1936, Bette & Midge, Showing some leg (c) 1942, Lounging in the Park, Borghese Bologna anni 30, Ladies in Stripes, On The Fence

I cannot express enough how looking through vintage photographs can be the best source for learning more about vintage clothing and styles from the past! And old photographs are just super fun to look at anyway ^_^. Here are a few of my favorites from the "Original 1930s Photos" Flickr Group.


I LOVE ♥ ♥ ♥ 1930s style. I always feel like the 30s has too much of the 20s and too much of the 40s so that sometimes the 30s are a little hard to define. But as far as my personal style goes, I find the 30s to be my main source of inspiration. Loose trousers (belted), feminine blouses that aren't too broad across the shoulders always with a pretty detail (collars, ties, bows, etc), and I love little floral prints and soft flowing fabrics. Also, the length of most of the items are pretty close to the length of everything I wear, but then again, that probably has a lot to do with me being a smidgen over 5 feet tall. *hehe* So everything is below the knee...

Mmmm... I would wear every single outfit depicted in each of these photographs, even the little girls' blouses. So darn cute!

For more about Vintage Fashion from the 1930s, check out our 1930s category!