Space Age, Baby

André Courrèges’ 1960s Space Age Fashion and clear plastic blow-up furniture by Emanuelle and Quasar Khan.

Vanity Fair’s Bifurcated Girls – ‘Gay Girls In Trousers,’ 1903

Vanity Fair special issue from 1903 dedicated to “bifurcated girls”, i.e. women in trousers. Note this isn’t the same Vanity Fair of current fame, but an earlier magazine with the same name, more of a Victorian version of FHM.   – The Public Domain Review

The Bifurcated Girls Rough House (Click to enlarge)

To read more check out the post at The Public Domain Review here.

These Collapsible Shades Are 1950s Funtastic

The seller of these way cool sunglasses (Vintage Luxury) doesn’t know who designed or manufactured them, and a fairly thorough web search yielded no results. All that is known for sure is that they’re from the 1950s and are very rare and unique.

Not only do they look like wow when worn, they also collapse/fold into rather artistic shapes making for a great conversation piece. These one-of-a-kinders are up for grabs at 1stdibs marketplace. If you have an extra $225 to spare, you can find them here.

They have a kind of retro-sci-fi super hero goggle look.

Apart from the design shape they might seem like any other kind of sunglasses. But…

When they are folded, they assume an oddly interesting appearance. Here the sunglasses take on an alien-like look.

Just imagine them on a transparent being from another dimension.

If you have any info about these please feel free to mention it in the comments.

(Photos via 1stdibs/Vintage Luxury)

Check Out The ‘Sexy Spectacle Trends’ Of The 1950s

Today women can wear glasses proudly thanks to the color and subtlety of modern design.

In some of today’s fashion circles vintage is in. 1950s-60s eye wear is particularly popular, either as wearables or simply as collectables. Images and advertising that feature the legendary ‘cat eye’ look are sometimes reposted and reblogged hundreds of times on sites like Pinterest and Tumblr.

This 1960 Ray Ban advert is particularly popular:

Ray Ban’s color and modern design, 1960

Below are two entertaining videos from the British Pathé vintage fashion collection that showcase some of the fantastic designs introduced during the 1950s. The first is a tutorial demonstrating ‘how glasses can be fashionable and glamourous, (with) tips on choosing the right pair of specs in terms of frame colour and shape for a woman’s face.’ The second takes the viewer into a class for models at the Lucy Clayton school where they are learning about the available styles and designs of glasses and how to wear them. It’s all great fun.

Cellophane And ‘Tighty Whities’ – The Introduction Of Jockey Y-Fronts In 1935

Models dressed in cellophane as bride and groom join in Chicago to introduce designer Arthur Kneibler’s ‘Y-Front’ Underwear for men produced by Coopers Inc. (Kenosha, WI) in 1935. (Photo from Man Magazine, July 1938)

On January 19, 1935, during a blizzard, Coopers Inc. sold the world’s first briefs at the Marshall Field’s State Street store in downtown Chicago. Designed by an apparel engineer named Arthur Kneibler, briefs dispensed with leg sections and had a Y-shaped overlapping fly. The company dubbed the design the Jockey, since it offered a degree of support that had previously only been available from the jockstrap. Jockey briefs proved so popular that over 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. Coopers, having renamed the company Jockey, sent its Mascul-liner plane to make special deliveries of masculine support briefs to retailers across the US. In 1938, when Jockeys were introduced in the UK, they sold at the rate of 3,000 a week.

– Wikipedia