The Opening for Pueblo Modern

  Friday night was the opening of the art exhibition that I co-curated, called Pueblo Modern.  It was all about mid-century fashion, art, architecture, and lifestyle.  I spent hours sitting in archives at the CF&I steel museum and the library, picking out images to share.  There was a theater room in the basement that played propaganda films, strange commercials, and educational cartoons from the 1950's.  We played iconic school instructional films about what do to in case of a nuclear attack, absurd drug PSAs, and instructional movies about how to spot commies hiding among us.  The second basement room was set up like an atomic bomb shelter.  I partnered with some local antique stores; Hooda Thunk, The Nest, and Colorado Ave. Antiques and Collectibles who loaned accessories and furnishings, and we even wallpapered with authentic deadstock 1950's wallpaper from Fred's Decorating Center .  I took items from my personal collection to fill in the gaps.  A fellow collector friend, Mark Mihelich, also lent some gorgeous pieces. The Starlite Classic Campground brought one of their campers and a station wagon, where they parked outside and roasted marshmallows on the sidewalk.  A caterer provided some authentic mid-century staples, like pigs in a blanket, cucumber sandwiches, and jello.  We also created a fashion show, highlighting clothing from the 40's, 50's, and 60's.  Two vintage shops; Vintage Treasures and Robot Exchange each styled models for the event. After walking down a spiral staircase, models went into the windows and acted as live mannequins! We had a great turnout, and everything came together perfectly.  A big thanks to Kadoya Gallery owner Gregory Howell, for believing in my vision and pulling all the pieces together so seamlessly. 
The show will be going until December 12th.  Our next big event will be on First Friday Art Walk (Dec 6th), when we'll be having a mid-century casserole and Jell-o bake off.
        Images by Bill Belden

Images by Wade Broadhead

Images by Bill Belden

theater room

Images by Wade Broadhead

Images by Kellie Cason O'Connor

Models dressed by Vintage Treasures in Trinidad.  Hair by Rockstar + Lambs Salon & Jodi Shannon @ Infinity Salon

Models dressed by Robot Exchange.  Hair and makeup by Wicked Scissors Salon.  Image by Fred Greenwood.

Image by Kellie Cason O'Connor

Many of the items in the bomb shelter are for sale, as well as some beautiful photographic prints of mid-century locations, handmade vintage style aprons, and also a limited run of Solar Roast Coffee.  It's my own blend, called "Hyper Housewife"!

Happy Sunday!

Picking Mid-Century photo locations

Way back when I started doing vintage outfit posts, we would snap shots just about anywhere.  The earliest posts are in my driveway, living room, etc without a whole lot of forethought.   As the outfit posts started to become a regular weekly phenomenon, we sought out better locations.  Alleyways became an easy solution, but the funnest "shoots" were those that we planned in advance and mirrored the era of the dress.  Finding mid-century backdrops for our photos became a fun little challenge as we drove around our city, lattes in hand, trying to drum up some quirky little gem to use for snapping photos.  Our drives were a bit like historical neighborhood surveys.  Not only did we start to understand how many of our post-war neighborhoods were laid out, we started to view every building in a different light.  We started to notice storefronts with curved glass block, aluminum awnings, or fabulous neon signs interspersed  with our historic downtown.  We get excited when we see Art Deco letters on an apartment building, or cinder block breezeways near a courtyard.  We are learning the hallmarks of each decade and figuring out how older neighborhoods infilled a century later.  Enthusiasm in contagious!  Our friends and family have started to notice different locations too.  Buildings that remained in anonymity are now being recognized as "that weird 40s one with the race lines" or "that cool pink 50's Motor Inn."  I have some helpful steps to help you figure out your best mid-century locations.  I guarantee you will start to see these buildings in a whole new light.
1.  Seek out your post-war developments.  Chances are, your town or city has a neighborhood that started going up in the late 40's or early 50's.   When our troops returned from WWII, the government realized that if they didn't do something quickly about the housing shortage, there was going to be political unrest.  Whole neighborhoods were built in the span of a month in some places.  Others developed over the course of a couple of decades to accommodate the baby boom.  1950's neighborhoods are usually characterized as being sprawling, with little thought to amenities being walkable.  However,  many of these neighborhoods have little pockets that surrounds schools, churches, and maybe even a tiny fire station.  These are great photo resources, many of them popped up and have never been changed.  Also, be sure to check for a neighborhood shopping center.  

Brown Elementary School, built in Denver, 1952

image from Coloradopreservation.org

Christ Congregational Church United Church of Christ, built in Pueblo, 1958 by notable architect Elizabeth Wright Ingram (Frank Lloyd Wright's granddaughter)

image from the Pueblo Modern study

2.  Think car culture.  During wartime, there were not a lot of material goods to purchase, and many women entered the workforce with factory jobs.  This meant that when the war was over, many people had built up big savings and car ownership hit an all time high.  Many American families became two car households, which meant a whole new lifestyle that centered around the automobile.  Many car dealerships popped up, as well as drive-up style restaurants (think car hops), Motor Inns along the highway, retro gas stations, and if you are very lucky, a Drive-In movie theater.

East Drive-In, circa Denver 1960s

image from Denver Post archive

Long Holiday Motel, Gunnison, CO

3. Figure out where the old timers hang out.  Chances are there are some great local businesses that opened up and are still serving the same crowd.  Restaurants, ice cream shops, neighborhood grocery/meat markets, bakeries, and of course bars.  We find a lot of bars that look like someone preserved their memory under glass.  I guess it's more fun to be nostalgic while drinking a beer.

Eiler's Place, Pueblo, CO ,

built in 1893, it operated as a "grocery store" during prohibition (wink wink) and then opened officially as a tavern in 1933

City Diner, built in Pueblo, CO, 1955

4.  Find amazing houses in neighborhoods.  This one requires a certain brashness, as it's best to ask permission before you begin posing in front of a stranger's house.  Don't let your eagerness scare them away.  For instance, refrain from saying, "Oh my, your portholes are amazing!! Could I take some pictures with them?"  Seriously, this will have them running for their pepper spray. ;)

This is my friend's house, and she is okay with me liking her portholes...she's cool like that.

1950s Aberdeen rancher, Pueblo, CO

Lopped house in Eiler's neighborhood, Pueblo, CO, possibly late 1940's

5. Do some research.  There a lot of passionate groups and organizations that put buildings on local or national historic registers, seek to preserve, or catalog architectural history. For a good starting point you can check out these links:

http://recentpast.org/

RPPN

http://www.preservationnation.org/information-center/saving-a-place/modernism-recent-past/

 National Trust

http://www.landmarks.org/resources_1.htm

Landmarks Illinois

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/index.htm

National register for Historic Places

  

If you are here in Colorado, check out: 

Coloradopreservation.org &  HistoryColorado.org 

 or for Pueblo, check out the Pueblo Modern report which can be found here: http://www.pueblo.us/

then go to departments, planning, and historic preservation

Colorado Springs: here

Maytag Aircraft building, downtown Colorado Springs, CO, built 1957

This is by no means a definitive list, but hopefully it will get you started.

Happy hunting!!

xox, Hannah

Pumpkin Spice (outfit #63)

I am absolutely in love with Autumn.  The cooler weather, changing leaves, and my favorite holiday, Halloween, make this my favorite time of year.  The kids and I get really into decorating the house.  We make spooky pumpkin lanterns, hang paper bats, and bake every different pumpkin flavored treat.  I've always had a love of the macabre, so it's the perfect excuse to hang up glitter skeletons and break out the cardboard Dracula theater. Of course, this also meant an excuse to take photos at a cemetery!  

  I unearthed this 1950s, hand-painted skirt with an acorn and fall leaf pattern at a thrift store.  I immediately started a search for some sort of acorn themed brooch.  I ended up finding this 40s celluloid dangle brooch, with branches, leaves, and actual acorns.  The green sweater is one of my favorite pieces.  My mother-in-law knitted it for my birthday from a 1951 pattern. It's my favorite shade of green, and made from the softest yarn. 

Bakelite bangles: from Ebay 

seemed stockings: Ebay

1940s hat with rhinestones: thrifted

1940s style shoes: Spring Step

The pattern is called, "Lacy Jumper" and if you'd like to make one for yourself there is a free pattern!

Happy Sunday!

Bombs and Bow (outfit #62)

I'm having one of those months, where it seems like I'm constantly busy.  I'm trying to prepare for 20 different things, and I can't seem to pin down any one of them.  The Pueblo Modern event is taking place on November 15th, which I am helping co-curate.  Our hope is to create a cool community event, highlighting mid-century fashion, architecture, and home decor.  I'm trying to organize so many people and events and no one seems to want to call me back.  I'm appearing in an unrelated fashion show tomorrow for the Robot Exchange at the Collector Con.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get some cool pictures of my outfit.  My theme is from the movie Fido, about a 1950's housewife and her pet zombie.  If you haven't seen the movie, you can view the trailer here.  My husband is trying to convince me to speak with him at a conference in February, about engaging people with mid-century preservation, And we are co-writing an article for a preservation magazine.  Add to that, the fact that my kids have a random two week break in the middle of the month, we've had two appliances break, and my car started shaking...I'm starting to get stressed.  What do you do when you're feeling stressed?   Apparently, I buy shoes! :) These outfit shots were from a couple of weeks ago, back before the weather really embraced  Autumn.  Yay for fall!

40s Pinafore dress: Ebay 

Bakelite bangles: Ebay

shoes: Poetic Licence 

Strawberry clip-ons: Estate sale

In other, very exciting news:  My daughter's room was picked up by the incredibly stylish and amazing Apartment Therapy!  I'm completely thrilled.  You can check it out here.

XOX, Hannah

Breastfeeding in vintage (outfit #61)

  When I first started wearing vintage on a regular basis, I had a really hard time finding clothing that was practical for my lifestyle.  Most of the things I fell in love with, and purchased in the early days, were dresses.  This wouldn't have been an issue for most people, but I happened to have a new baby whom I was nursing.  I found myself wearing a darling new dress to meet up for a coffee date with my husband, and then immediately having to change my clothes when I got home to feed my daughter.  Short of pulling a dress over my head in public, this new lifestyle choice wasn't conducive with being the kind of mother I wanted to be.  I had to reevaluate what I was buying so that I could be stylish and practical.  I suppose every mother goes through some sort of style crisis after they have a baby.  Between your changing shape, your lack of time to get ready in the morning, and the need for your wardrobe to be practical, sometimes you can feel like you have to sacrifice a little of your identity to meet the challenges of motherhood. Personally, I've found that taking extra steps to look presentable and put together really increase my self-confidence.  I fight against the "mom uniform" of yoga pants and t-shirts, because frankly even though my life isn't all about me these days, I still want to look like the stylish girl I used to be before having children.  Here are some of the tricks I use to be able to breastfeed my baby in vintage clothing:
1. Housedresses- these can be a postpartum girls best friend!  These dresses are meant to be comfy and roomy, and generally have zippers that run down the front.  You can wear a nursing tank underneath if you are looking for a little more modesty.
1960s housedress: Etsy  
Bakelite googly eyed pony brooch: Etsy  
assorted Bakelite bangles: Ebay

2. Shirtwaist dresses:  Pretty much anything that buttons or zips in the front for easy access is key.  If you happen to like babywearing (if you've never tried, you should give it a go...it's amazing!) you can easily open the front of the dress and then use the sling to give yourself a little more privacy.

3. Separates: this is insanely obvious, but it took me awhile to gather enough individual pieces to piece together some cute different outfits.  Skirts coupled with blouses loose enough to pull up comfortably or that have some stretch, are my go-to nursing staples.

4. Wrap dresses and blouses: just loosen the tie on the side and you'll be nursing in no time!

5. Peasant, gypsy, or Seniorita type blouses are meant to be a little more billowy which is perfect, because you can use the extra fabric to cover up.

Happy nursing toddler and even happier mama.

XOX, Hannah