Monday, August 29, 2011

Vintage Fashion Magazines...

My madness about vintage 40's and 50's clothes began about 10 years ago when I bought some vintage 50's magazines at a local flea market.
I have never dreamed to be a sexy 50's pin-up but more a Haute Couture model like in these amazing magazines.

The first vintage magazines I ever bought were some 1955 "ELLE" french edition.


ELLE were not glossy magazines in the 40's-50's, the quality of the paper was really bad and only the front page was in full colors but it was a weekly magazine. At the beginning in 1945, there were only 40 or 50 pages due to the after war paper restriction in France. Somes pages about Haute Couture and everyday fashion, some about decoration, a cooking recipe, a novel published in several parts and the readers' mail.
I'm collecting ELLE from 1945 to 1960 and have almost all the issues.

Another amazing french magazine is "L'Officiel de la Mode". Unfortunatly they are really hard to find and most of the times expensive, I only own about 10 issues. This magazine can be compare to VOGUE in the USA. The first one was published in 1921 and these magazines only deal with HAUTE COUTURE with amazing pictures mainly in the 40's-50's. They really were high quality magazines.



Please check this folling link, you will see all "L'Officiel de la Mode" from the 20's till now: all pages scanned and textes written (sorry just in french...).

http://patrimoine.jalougallery.com/lofficiel-de-la-mode-archivesp-13-1920.html

I really love Haute Couture but everyday fashion is most of the time what I prefer. I like to hunt at flea market vintage magazines with sewing paterns (even if I'm really bad at sewing...), german magazines are really the best for exemple BURDA.



I discoved some weeks ago this russian site with a lot of scan of my favorites magazines:

http://www.ms77.ru/articles/burdahistory/15088/

So all these magazines are my precious treasures that I keep as references to dress myself as close as possible to these so elegant after war ladies!!!


Picture of me in PARIS in front of the Galliera Palace a wonderful fashion museum. It can be one of those magazines pictures, isn't it?

And you, do you love vintage magazines, do you collect them, which are your favorites?

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