I shot these photos of my friend Anita, modeling a 1920s wedding dress and veil that were borrowed from the Carondelet Historic Society. This is an ongoing project to visually, digitally,...
Zizi V. totally owned the WWII WAC uniform. She was my third and last model to wear it. My first retro shoot with Anita had all the awkwardness of a first-time (everything), which made for very authentic emotions. With this third shoot in the WAC uniform, I was more confident and explored beyond the studio to the front room and outdoors (where the natural light was perfect). We played more with the set, even in the studio, and the pictures just turned out different. I think that the outdoor and natural light photos turned out looking like 1940s era snapshots and candids.
It’s interesting to see how many ways the WAC Uniform was modeled by the models I shot in 2011! Besides the WAC uniform, I also photographed Jaslene wearing a feathered hat from the 1960s, and in a traditional costume that she’d brought along to our shoot. It was fun and good times. I really like the 1960s hat best, her expressions totally made it sparkle.
Back in 2011, I got to borrow this World War II Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC and later WAC) uniform with matching garrison cap from a local historical society.
This was my first shoot for the Carondelet Historical Society, and the first picture from this first shoot is my favorite.
I imagine this 1940s couple getting this car as a gift, or the husband giving it to his wife before he leaves back to fighting overseas. She looks so proud and you can see them posed together, with him in his military uniform. What cute WWII-era Kodachrome slides!
In World War I, Mary Pickford became the favorite pinup of soldiers when she dressed in uniform and toured the nation selling Liberty Bonds. In World War II, “demand for it [pictures of Betty Grable”] ran as high as 20,000 per week…”. “Able Grable”‘s legs appear in Army topographic maps designed to teach recruits how to hit their mark.
This is a very interesting article in the 1950s pinup magazine about the history of how politics and politicians shaped women’s fashions during the first half of the 20th century. The early feminist movement asked for many changes, among them suffrage, easy divorce, property laws, and equal education. This resulted in a fashion trends that were mannish, including the no-curves, flat chested, flapper girl of the 1920s. This article goes on to call Victoria Claflin Woodhull a “political freak” (who ran for presidency in 1872), and pacifist Jeanette Rankin whose only winning two terms in congress corresponded with declarations of war (1917 and 1941). The caption under Woodhull says that she ran on a free love ticket.
This was the most amazing 1950s magazine to photograph! Is this Marilyn Monroe on the cover? I wish I could have bought this vintage pinup magazine for myself! It’s dated 1953.
