Thursday, September 17, 2009

Copacabana Style !



The heydey of the glamorous nightclub scene was the 30s through the 50s....
and Sanford and Son Antiques here on Broadway is hosting a costume prom on Saturday the 19th of September....got your tickets Tacoma?

the Copacabana was a famous New York City nightclub where many great entertainers got their start. It's a world-famous beach in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
And, it's one of my favorite films, the 1947, Copacabana,....with one of the Marx Brothers, The Sexy Sexy Sexy Sexy Groucho Marx, and fruitaliscious Carmen Miranda!





The glam styles of the 30s were a movie-goer antidote to the depressing Depression....gee, a lot like today!
Movies of the 30s featured lavish sets, exotic locales, and lots of gangsters and dames! Snow White, and Bringing Up Baby, and 42nd Street and all the fantastic Ziegfeld Follies movies with stunning aerial shots of limber dancers...by Busby Berkeley.
And of course, A Night At The Opera, with the sexy sexy sexy sexy Groucho, and his brothers.





The 30s were known for big puffy sleeves, slinky bias cuts that hug the body like a second skin....fitted bodices and full skirts. For the men, well, peaked lapels, pinstripes and brocade smoking jackets were the rage for fancy wear.






In my shop I have a few 30s and 40s dresses, an 80s gold gown that is a retro 40s style (a favorite theme of the 70s and 80s), and a modern peaked lapel dinner jacket.
And don't forget your Pencil Thin Mustache....



In the 40s we saw long luscious gowns of lace and satin...with a fitted bodice and a long slim skirt or a full skirt.....




This red lace 40s/50s gown is a 38" bust/ 28" waist, and is in my shop by appointment.
Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, and Lauren Bacall are a few of the glam and sexy 40s ladies whose style we can emulate today.



Don't forget about the military influence too....Sweetheart pins, sailor hats, nautical style, and bold shoulders that echoed an officers uniform, and the Katherine Hepburn wide full slacks are all icons of 40s design...





In the 50s men's fashion was a nice easy fit jacket and pleated slacks. A Linen suit or just a cream or white dinner jacket is always appropriate. Pair a rayon hot color Hawaiian shirt with a pair of creamy linen slacks, a pair of huraches and a straw hat and you got the luxurious tropical Rio beach rich playboy look...going on!





Tux shirts and a tux jacket are superb also. Top it with a fedora and you are stylin' !! Don't forget a fat period tie...the 30s through the 50s sported some wild geometrics, brocades and deep weird colors. Here's some in my shop...




Wanna go all out for a 30s/40s look? Add a fur coat ! Real or fake... Here's a full length paired with a 40s style 80s satin dress....and a white 40s style fake fur!