MOVIE STAR STYLE : Liz Taylor

Ooh la la! If you've been reading for a while, you will already know that I think Ms. Taylor was the bee's knees. Her movies rank among the top of my all-time favorites list, and last December, I even decided to get a hair chop and perm, partially inspired by the movie star siren.

I found these images of Elizabeth Taylor from a 1952 Esquire magazine, and my affection for her almost-pixie-cut had returned. And as some of you have so keenly pointed out, my hairs are growing fast! So now, what do I do? Do I grow out my impulsively chopped locks? Or go all-out for the real Liz? Decisions decisions. Oh, but isn't she lovely? And isn't that little doll in the top photos creeeepy?!

INSPIRED BY: Earthy Colors in Vintage Homes

Finding the perfect color scheme for a vintage home is so tricky! You don't want your pad to look like a time capsule (Or do you? I don't. But I can see the appeal, I suppose.), but you definitely want to honor the style of the house. I've been rounding up color inspiration from vintage magazines and ads to get some ideas for our home, because we have quite a bit of tacky color to cover up! This time I'm thinking about some earthy color schemes. I think any of these would work well in our modern age, don't you? Which one's your favorite? I think I like the sunny one best (two images down), but just don't know if I have the guts to go that bright in our house. Ah, decisions, decisions!

For some extra color scheme inspiration, check out past featured vintage homes here. Thes images from this post were found via Flickr and are linked back to their Flickr source.

Tom & Bev | a love story

He was from the city, she was from the country. He was a lady's man, and she was a tom-boy. He had a nice car, and she needed a ride. I used to love listening to my grandparents giggle while telling both sides of the story of how they met and fell in love almost 70 years ago.

They met in their senior year of high school, and Bev wasn't exactly in Tom's plans. He had dates lined up for every night he had off work, and she didn't go steady with boys who dated around. Much to her surprise, he actually cancelled his dates in hopes of going out with the pig-tailed, Levi's wearing girl from Navarre. As stubborn as she was, she still said no to him and chose to sit at home and listen to the radio, while he called into the station with a series of romantic songs dedicated to her. Well alright, she thought maybe it might be fun to go for a ride in his snazzy new convertible after all. And so with throngs of broken-hearted ladies behind her, Grandma got a ring on her finger by '48, and Grandpa left for military duties, but I found the stacks and stacks of letters he wrote to her while they were separated.

The yellowed letters are held together with rotting rubber bands, and the painfully neat handwriting of my grandfather is starting to fade away. But tonight I'm going to look through those letters and remember what a great example they were to me of true love and commitment. Miss you, Grandma.

Inspired By: The Hard Rock Cafe in 1971

As someone who does a lot (or perhaps far too much) thrifting, I'm always looking for new ways to put together outfits with my finds from the '60s and '70s. It's pretty easily to just figure out what works, and go back to that same sort of look time and again. But lately, I've been considering new ways to stretch my wardrobe- especially since I'm getting ready to downgrade my closet space.

Well, imagine my surprise when I stumbled on these images from 1971's Petticoat magazine, full of primary(ish) colors... and actually thought, Woah! What fun! I'd love to try some of these combinations! Primary colors! Who knew.  This '70s editorial features some punk does prep styles, with a little class, and a touch of tacky. It's rare to see that combination expertly executed, and definitely inspiring!

What are your favorite looks here? I'm loving the athletic socks over tights (image 2) and the jumper dress over wide-leg trousers (image 4).

images: 1 2 3 4 5 all from emmapeelpants on Flickr