British street style: Mod

The ultimate Sixties youth movement, Mods were a quintessentially British phenomenon, despite their Italian Vespas and love for US soul and Jamaican ska. Christopher Raymond Brocklebank takes a look at one of our favourite vintage subcultures.
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Forget the talkies – why silent film must live on

While most of us watch vintage films and Hollywood classics we seldomly seem to venture back to the very beginning of cinema and watch the silent films of the 1910s and Twenties. QueensOfVintage.com has met up with silent film enthusiast Hala Pickford whose mission it is to introduce a new generation to silent film and its stars. Here, Hala tells us how she got into silent film, what makes the era so special, and which films are a must to watch.
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Common people: we get inspired by everyday vintage styles

We love to swoon over the beautiful pictures of the silver screens stars of past eras and gasp at their perfectly coiffed hair and immaculate make-up. It’s all too easy to forget that, like today’s celebrities, they don’t represent a realistic image of the fashion or beauty of their times. That’s why QueensOfVintage.com has compiled a photo gallery of vintage pictures all depicting normal women. Let the common people of the Thirties, Forties and Fifties, the housewives, secretaries and teachers of the past, be our real style inspiration.
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Clara Bow: career and style

Think of the name Clara Bow and the description the ‘It Girl’ probably springs to mind. So-called after the title of one of her most famous films, the star is still associated with an indefinable sex appeal. Bow’s moment in the spotlight coincided with the brief era of the flapper in the mid Twenties and the silent movie actress became a fashion and beauty trendsetter of her era, coming to epitomize the good, and in the eyes of many, the bad of the flapper lifestyle. Frances Ambler takes a look at a genuine vintage fashion icon.

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Vintage swimwear and the Hollywood connection

Throughout the historical timeline of the swimwear industry there have been some groundbreaking designers who played a huge part in its evolution. Hollywood also had a starring role by greatly influencing public perceptions of style and ideals of glamour in swimwear. Vintage swimwear expert, Pam from Glamoursurf.com explains.

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Vintage style icons: The simple style of Claire Bloom

Loved by the likes of Laurence Olivier, Yul Brynner and Richard Burton, London-born actress Claire Bloom is a true style icon. Now aged 78, but still looking as stylish as ever, Bloom, who was married to both Hollywood legend Rod Steiger and British author Philip Roth, in addition to a long affair with Burton, is still remembered for her roles in classic Fifties and Sixties films. Nell Darby reports.
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Vintage style icon: Dovima – The Fifties fashion model

A supermodel long before the term was coined in the Eighties, Dovima was the highest paid mannequin of her time. Few knew that her fragile, slender frame, which was to perfectly show off Dior’s New Look, was the result of illness and came at the price of a sad, lonely childhood.
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TV series we love: Miss Marple

Sleuthing has never been so in fashion with more and more stylish celebs lining up for cameos in the new and fabulously nostalgic TV version of Miss Marple. Laura Terry takes a closer look.
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Vintage style icon: Mae West

Even if you know nothing about her life or career, you’ve probably spoken a line or two of hers. The lady in question is Mae West, possibly one of the most quotable actresses of all time.  ” Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?” she purred to an LA police officer in 1936, as he escorted her home from a railway station. “When I’m good I’m very good. When I’m bad I’m better” she wisecracked in I’m No Angel (1933).

Mae West was a dynamic performer, ever so slightly ahead of her time, keeping the censors busy and leaving the easily offended with plenty to shudder about throughout her days in the spotlight. Liz Kenny has this story.

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My grandmother – my style icon

As a vintage lover you can get your style inspiration from many places – books, films, paintings. Yet nothing beats chatting to the people who pioneered the styles we are trying to emulate. Vintage fashion blogger Mia Lane, who writes Used and Abused Vintage, caught up with her style icon and grandmother, Gloria Lane.
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