Vintage Photos Return!

I am a big fan of both your blogs. I am Alexandra, french but living in Germany, Berlin since 2000.

It was quite difficult to make a decision on which photo I should send you because I have several which could be perfect for the contest.

The one enclosed is from my grand-parents. "Biarritz_1936" They lived normally in Reims, north-east from France.

This photo was taken just before the war in 1936 in Biarritz. They are on their honeymoon. I like this photo a lot because they just feel happy and they look incredibly elegant and stylish even if they are at the sea... it would never happen nowdays ! My grand-father was half english and until his death very elegant, a real gentlman. I also like the contrast of the perfect hair for my grand-father and the wind blowing through the hair of my grand-mother.

Until their death, they had 6 children and about 35 grandchildren... they were very important to me and my family, and were very implicated in helping others who needed it.

I could not resist sending you a photo of them both in Bandol on the same vacation because I find them so beautiful even though they are just wearing the minimum: a swinsuit. The photo reminds me a little bit of Man Ray photo.

Best,

Alexandra H.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember those great vintage photo posts we were doing back in the spring?

Let's start that up again!

Below are the details.

- The subject line of the email should read "Vintage Photo Contest"

- The photos will only be posted here on the blog, so the file size can be very small (no bigger than 700kb). I DO NOT need hi-res images, they take too long to download.

- Writing a little something about the image you send will make your entry much more interesting for all of us.

- Email your photos to: sartorialistvintagephotos@gmail.com

The Fellas, Vintage Photo Contest

The man to the second right is my great uncle Bernard - the one holding an old-fashioned megaphone. Our family photo album is full of photographs of him with his friends horsing around. He was evidently a popular and outgoing man in his youth. We estimate this picture was taken in the 1930s, before he joined the Air Force and fought in World War 2. He travelled widely and even on holiday his signature style was present: a striped polo shirt and blazer with pocket square, and baggy trousers tucked into socks. I especially love that Bernard and his friend are wearing mary-jane sandals since it is a typically feminine style, but looking at this photo I can imagine them coming back as a menswear trend.
The photo I´m sending is a family photo from the 1960´s, back when my grandparents lived in Venezuela (Caracas) and runned a hotel called "Hotel Portugal" (so much for originality :P)
The man on the further right corner is actually my late grandfather when he was about 30 years old! The other men are probably guests staying at his hotel, he loved to show them around town!
I find interesting their attire while riding their bikes and their overall look, which contains elements which are returning to mainstream fashion such as the pocket squares, hats and pins.

PS: I believe the 2nd man from the right is truly squint-eyed and not doing it for fun :
Recently i inherited around 50 albums full of photos from my grandparents, one of which had this photo.
On the far right of this photo is my great grandad, Frederick A Rowley, and some of his friends.
I never knew him, but i think this photo just sums up the kind of man i picture him as.
Sadly i have no idea what time era this photo comes from, i would guess around 20's, as he married my great grandmother in 1919.
I don't know if he had a sense of style, but i think this picture just sums up the time, and the fashion.
I love this photo, and all the others i have of him.
He was a working man, but had such grace.
I'm very attached to my past, and i think this just shows why.
I hope you love it as much as i do.

Celine Book Contest #1

Thanks for your input about the Celine inspiration book contest and for so many good ideas!

Luckily I picked up several books so at least 2 will be auctioned off for charity. The rest we can use for our contest winners.

Here is the first contest:

Remember when I posted those vintage photos that I bought at the flea market last January?

I think we all loved those images.

I want you to email me an old (nothing later than the 80's) original photo that you feel conveys an inspirational sense of style. It could be from your own family archive or one that you found somewhere like a flea market, garage sale or swap meet. If it is from your family I would love to hear a little about the people in it.

Garance and I will pick a few and post them and then we will collectively name a winner.

I love this idea because it does not cost a lot of money (flea market photos are relatively cheap and family photos are free) and I love looking at great old photos! I hope to see some amazing shots from the 20's, 30's 50's 70's or whatever period inspires you.

This part is IMPORTANT please read before sending me images!

- The subject line of the email should read "Vintage Photo Contest"

- The contest will run from March 24th to March 30th

- Only 1 image per email, please EDIT

- The photos will only be posted here on the blog, so the file size can be very small (no bigger than 700kb). I DO NOT need hi-res images. It takes too long to download them.

- Send your photos to: sartorialistcontest@gmail.com

- Writing a little something about the image you send will make your entry much more interesting for all of us.

Big Man Walking, Vintage Photo Contest

Here's a photo of my boyfriend's grandfather Papa Joe, who just had his 80th birthday last month. Papa Joe is such a generous, open-minded, and most humorous person. I've known him for many years and look up to him as my second dad. Papa Joe loves golfing everyday and stays very healthy. My favorite thing he does is when he twists his huge oversized vintage red diamond ring on his finger (which he won from a poker game when he was young) when he tells us a story; and he always ends the story in an unexpected humorous way. He used to sew and he still has his sewing machine in his room. Last month I stumbled across some photos on his sewing/computer table and was surprised to see this side of him. I totally fell in love with this photo and I am so glad I could share this with my favorite fashion blog. I love how he layered simple elegant clothes with a pop of funky polka dots scarf and tie. And most of all, I love the style of the photography (I am a photographer myself!). Hope you enjoy this photo too!

This is one of my favorite, he's my fiance's grandfather, Dr.Vittorio Melò.
He was born in 1921, and in this picture he was only sixteen year old.
He was one of the youngest pharmacist of his hometown, Bologna, Northern Italy.He was truly a charming person, a doctor with an artistic soul. A real gentleman with an etiquette under any circumstances and always impeccable manners and style.

Swimwear, Vintage Photo Contest

I have sent you some pics of my Dad who simply embodies the essence of Southern California style. Being a 5th generation Californian, I have always been in entranced the beautiful beach boy and girl myth and I love this picture. The West Coast really does have the sunshine and a certain style of it's own, No?

To me, my grandmother, Françoise Gerondeau, is the most elegant and the funniest woman in the world.

In fact, that photo was taken during the Algerian War, in the late fifties. My Grandfather, who is French, had been mobilized. And just before his departure, he told my grandmother (they were dating for a year) that he didn’t love her and that he would never marry her.
But she’s very stubborn, and she asked her brother to take photos of her during their vacations, so that she could send them to my grandfather, and he would fall in love again.
The photo you see can testify.
Isn’t it childish? To me that story defines exactly my grandmother.
That photo must have a great power, since when my grandfather came back, they got married.
I wish I had a picture of my grandfather, he was very alluring and elegant too. I think that my aesthetic taste comes from the observation of my grandparents. Both of them really represent a model to me.

All in the Family, Vintage Photo Contest

(click on image to enlarge)
I have always loved this picture of my mother and father (Ann and Herman) enjoying a night out at Grossinger's Resort in the Catskill Mountains in New York. (It was the inspiration for Kellerman's Mt. Resort in Dirty Dancing). This was taken sometime in the early 1950's. My father, who is now 90 years old, told me this was some kind of mystery themed event. What I love so much about this photo, besides that it always makes me laugh, is that it shows what a cute couple they were and that they loved having a fun time together. They were happily married for 65 years and were madly in love.

Growing up poor in Philadelphia did not stop my mother from expressing herself through fashion. She had such a wonderful and carefree style - she loved wearing bright colors and patterns, and never left the house without looking perfectly put together. In this picture I love her plaid skirt and how it matches my dads plaid jacket. Also her lace up shoes are just fabulous.

My daughter Hannah Dilworth was on your site in September '09 (attached is the photo you took of her) and she always says that her Bubby is one of her biggest fashion inspirations, and someone who influenced her towards a career in fashion.

Cool Girls on Motorcycles, Vintage Photo Contest

This is a photo of my Great-uncle Frank's former girlfriend taken in the early 1930s on my Great grandfather's ranch in Sun Valley, CA. I "borrowed" this photo from my Grandpa about 5 years ago so I could take it to my hair stylist for inspiration for a new haircut. I don't know anything about this woman other than she dated a family member and she liked to ride motorcycles, my Grandpa was only about 7 around this time so he doesn't remember much about her. Still I love this picture and everything the girl on the bike embodies.
I’m used to walk in the small markets of antique dealers and I found this pictures.
I paid attention to it as I liked the woman personality, riding the bike in an unusual or not so femenin way for the times it was done, but at the same time because she appears kind of “daring” style.

Tailored Outerwear, Vintage Photo Contest

This photo is of my Grandpa, Richard Waltham (on the left) and his work friends taken in the late 1930s. My Grandpa was a banker and in his spare time he was an artist and photographer. I am a fan of the tailored look, not only do they have a very interesting sense of style, but it gives you an idea of what it was like back then, there is a lot of depth to it, from the water on the road, the advertisement to the left of them and the crowd of people behind them. My Grandpas story.

Hope this is of some help.

Peggy-Sue

With the Boys, Vintage Photo Contest

This is a photo of my beloved grandmother, Audrey. It was taken in 1939, when she was 17, the same age I am now. On her right is her younger sister, Amba. On the way to the Tan at the Botanical Gardens for a horse ride, the two were captured walking down Swanson St, Melbourne by a street photographer. It was taken days before she enlisted in the Air Force for World War II. Personally I find it incredible that these places, that are frequented by thousands of people every day, including myself and my sister, were once travelled by my own Granny Audie. I can only imagine what kind of mischief she got up to with her own sister. As much as I loved her in her later years, I would have longed to know her when she was that age.

-Maddy

A Single Man, Vintage Photo Contest

Sartorialist note - notice the button placement on his DB jacket

We don't know much about the gentleman on this picture, despite the fact that he always wore something in his breast pocket.

The photo reads something in the back in a mix of french for the title "Le Leme "(North of France, near Paris), and Italian for month "Aprile".
1922 - it was bought at a flea market in Florence.

The Family Portraits, Vintage Photo Contest

The date is January 3, 1954. Pictured in the center is my grandfather Yukio (known to me as Ji-chan, Japanese for Grandpa). My dad (pictured on left) is 9 here, his brother a couple years older. The three of them are getting ready to leave Japan for the first time and emigrate to California. My Japanese-American grandmother (born/raised in Calif.) had earlier left her family in Japan in order to find a job, a place to live, and get settled here. Then she sent over for her husband and kids to come and join her in the States.

This photo of Ji-chan reminds me of a Japanese Indiana Jones with the leather jacket and fedora, ready to go on an adventure in a far-off land. He always looked sharp when he went out.

Ji-chan was always a bit of a mystery to me as there was a language barrier (he spoke only Japanese) and he was a quiet man. But I really loved him. He would sneak behind my grandmother's back and smoke cigarettes in the garage or in the car. I'd always laugh at him becuase it was so obvious. He would awe me with his yo-yo tricks. When I was little I'd hold his hands and he would let me step on his toes while he'd walk around the house. And he was a highly regarded gardener in the Japanese community and won awards for his amazing bonsai plants. He was in his backyard garden, sitting at a chair next to a little table tending to one of his mini-tress when he passed away when I was 14. When my grandmother discovered him she thought that he was simply taking a nap because he looked so peaceful.

When I saw the pictures of my graceful compatriot on your site, I felt the urge to send some of my most cherished family photos too, those of my paternal grandmother Theresa Moreira Reis. She was born in 1903 in Recife, Northern Brazil, daughter to the city's most sought-after tailor. Politicians and other affluent people were part of his clientele, and her father's work influenced her sense of style throughout her life. Grandma Theresa was congenitally chic, and unpretentiously glamorous before fashion was in fashion. Her European taste in dressing must have made her stand out there and then.

The Jeans, Vintage Photo Contest

In the picture is captured my father, it dates 1978. The shot was done in St. Petersburg (Russia). A few years ago, while looking through
family photo albums i found this picture of my father and asked him to tell me something about it. He told me a little story about the jeans
he is pictured in. As it was a Soviet Union (USSR) times a lot of things were banned and jeans were not an exception. My father told me
that jeans were shipped from outside the USSR countries by marines and sold on the ‘Black Market’. The price of the jeans my father is
wearing in the picture was $250, when his salary, during that period, was $280 a month. I always feel excited listening to my parent's
memories about this non-repeatable period of time, and it really amazes me how people with such a modest resources managed to be
stylish.

The Friends, Vintage Photo Contest

Please find attached a photo of my grandfather and a friend from 1939. My grandfather, Sidney Foulkes, is in the dark polo neck on the left.
He sent this image to my grandmother just after they had begun courting and they had to wait till the end of the war till they were married
Here you can find my grandfather and some friends. He was born in 1908 ! in Valencia, Spain and later come to live in Barcelona.

He was from a country family but he always had a special sense to dress. I remember he looking himself at the mirror always before get out of home to have a walking with my brother and me. We think that these pictures are from around 1930 or before, because after that the things changed a lot in Spain because the civil war, etc..

This image comes from a collection of old photographs that belonged to my great-grandmother. It was taken sometime in the 1920s in a small country town in Australia. The subjects were family friends, most likely farmers or labourers with very little money. I particularly enjoy the individuality in the way they wear their hats.

Belle, Vintage Photo Contest

this photo is of my grandma when she was twentyeight, in 1937. She was walking through the streets of Ostia, a little town by the sea near Rome. I was amazed discovering her simple, perfect and sophisticated style. She had a great class in style as well as in manners. Loook at the shoes!!! And the way she carried her bag. I was deeply moved by this image because I remember her having great difficulties in walking in her last years. So this is my omage to nonna Rosina who could have been a fashion icon
This is my beautiful mother, Valeria Perojo Frias, born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba on March 23, 1926. This photograph was taken sometime in the mid to late 1940's. I believe she was at a christening of a friend's child in Havana. She was an amazing and inspirational woman - making her way to the US with my father by way of Miami in late 1959, and ending up in New York City two years later, where I was born and raised. She was always a fashionista and had that amazing aura that exuded beauty, charm and grace. And boy could she pose for a picture, eh? She always will be my very own personal style icon

The Shot, Vintage Photo Contest

May I introduce you to my Texas Grandma, Charlene Beck, I liken her in my mind to a cross between Rosie the Riveter and Bonnie Parker. This image of her was taken in the 1950's on a road trip from Texas to Tennessee by my Papa, Henry Beck, whom you can see in the reflection of the mirror. What is so inspirational about this image goes beyond the fabulous sense of style my grandmother had (and has still very much to this day). I mean, how cute does she look in her cuffed pants and rolled up sleeves with the scarf sweeping her shoulder?! If you look deeper you'll realize she is a woman in the 50's wearing men's jeans, something women did not do in small town USA back then. She was a style trailblazer, not letting the fact she is a woman stop her from wearing what she wants, when she wants. The outfit in present day is not shocking but I think we can still appreciate her sense of style and take inspiration in that freedom she so boldly stood for back then with what we choose to wear today. Just a side note on this photograph — if you ask my Grandma about it she likes to point out the fact that she's at least drinking milk so no one gets the impression she's as bad as she looks... I think anyone can see why she is my hero.

I found this image packed away in my grandfather's army trunk along with old valentines, pictures of Europe, his family on the farm and mementos from his life after he passed away in the 90's.


ps keep the photos comong. Almost 800 enteries now.
All weekend I will be posting more images from the contest.

Rosie, Vintage Photo Contest

Recently I ask my grandmother to send me some old pictures of herself and our family, as my girlfriend and I started decorated the apartment. This is one of those photos. She was 14, a freshman in high school and apparently on Belle Isle in Michigan. She looks beautiful. Also, she said at that time, 1949, she made her own clothes, which is pretty neat.

Milano (?) , Vintage Photo Contest

Floppy Hat with a Tailored Coat, Vintage Photo Contest

The lady on the right looks like something out of a Yohji fashion show.

Majorca, Vintage Photo Contest

I don´t know her, I just now that this picture has taken in my favourite hotel in Majorca, the Formentor. It was first opened in 1929, and about five years later this pic was taken.

I find it most inspiring, not only because of her outfit, but because of the shape her body draws against the background. Like you´ve showed us in your shots, most of the times it´s not about the clothes, but of the attitude, and I think this is a clear example of it.

Best regards,

María José
Madrid, Spain

The Hunters, Vintage Photo Contest

Here is my grandfather, Harry Walters. It was 1928 after a few months out in the mountains of Southern California on a hunting/mining trip.

-Carol

I am delighted to send in photos of my great grandmother Alta Phillips. Before she married, she moved to Hollywood and sewed the sleeves for the silent film star Lillian Gish. She was an amazing seamstress and sewed all her clothes and my grandmother's. My great grandfather was a chemist for a silver mine in Arizona and despite living out in the middle of nowhere, my great grandmother never let that stop her from being as fashionable as ever. Her husband would have her get all dressed up and then pose with his guns or a brace of pheasants. For me, she is truly a style inspiration. She didn't have to live in any major city, but she had such true class. She also passed on her love of sewing to my grandmother who then passed it on to my mother. I only hope I can continue the tradition!

-Chloe