At Ease Soldier!

Yank, the Army Weekly was the most widely read magazine during WWII, achieving a worldwide circulation of 2.6 million. It was written only by enlisted soldiers and made available to soldiers, sailors, and airmen serving overseas. Published between June 1942 and December 1945, it featured articles and photography straight from the battlefield. And of course, every issue of Yank featured a morale-boosting pinup girl!

I collaborated on a series of photos with Doug Monce of Atomic Age Pictures that were inspired by Yank, as well as a photo of Veronica Lake in military garb. I'm wearing a WAC skirt that is dated 1943--since I found it I've been wanting to wear it for a shoot! The rest of my uniform is of course borrowed from a vintage man's uniform, but I think the overall look turned out well. I also recently picked up a sweetheart compact shaped like an officer's cap, and couldn't resist incorporating it. A girl has to keep her nose powdered, after all!

xoxo,
Amanda Lee









Y

Red Tails

Last Saturday we attended a CAF tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen. The CAF museum put on a fantastic event honoring the Airmen from Arizona, and the tribute included a showing on Lucasfilm's Double Victory. While at the show, we were approached by the owner of a movie theater in Surprise, who invited us to appear at a special screening of Red Tails on opening day. We were delighted to do so, of course! The real guests of the evening were three original Airmen and their families, along with two men who had flown bombing missions escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen. What an honor it was to shake each one's hand and thank them for all they had done. They are truly wonderful men and I am glad they are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

Here are photos from both events, taken by Ken Squiers and Atomic Age Pictures. I wore NudeeDudee's Lily of the Valley blouse and sage green pinafore skirt to the museum (stay tuned for a special post spotlighting NudeeDudee and a special discount code!) and a blue linen 40s dress trimmed in white beaded fringe from Matilda's Closet to the screening (paired with red linen shoes and a beaded purse, also from Matilda's.) I styled my friends in two 40s frocks from my collection--red gabardine with navy accessories and cream rayon with red accessories, also from Matilda's.

xoxo,
Amanda

Thursday Tunes -- This Is It!

In keeping with our Betty Grable theme this week, today's tune is from the 1944 film "Pin Up Girl", starring Betty in the role of Lorry Jones, aka Laura Lorraine. This particular scene didn't make the cut, but I'd say it's a keeper. That dress of hers sure is at any rate!

xoxo,
Amanda Lee

A Night in the 40s Big Band Dance

Doug Monce of Atomic Age Pictures just posted a number of photos from the Night in the 40s dance, and I thought I’d share them with you along with a mini recap of the event, plus a little plug for the amazing V Vintage!

I’ve been attending this USO-themed dance as Betty Grable for the past few years, as her famous "peek-a-boo" pose is the nose art on the CAF's B-17 “The Sentimental Journey”--the other guests always get a big kick out of Betty's appearance. The dance is always a fun event, with many people dressing in 40s-style (quite a few attendees are turned out in authentic uniforms and daywear, and there are a number of WWII vets who show up in their uniforms as well). A big band plays everyone's favorite standards, and there is a costume and dance contest as well--all in all it's a very fun event. This year, the museum decided to try something new—they offered a limited number of reserved seating tickets in the “O-Club” section, and the $100 price (regular tickets are $35) included your meal and a photo with Betty. I invited my dear friend Rose (of Matilda’s Closet) to be my guest, and the two of us got to sit right up front. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend much time with Rose, but she said she had a great time dancing and chatting with the other attendees.




Much of my evening was spent mingling with guests, and I met some lovely people this year (I meet so many interesting people at this show--this is one of the reasons I love going so much!) One cute gentleman, who served during WWII, was so excited to have his picture taken with me—he told me he was planning on sending it in to a Navy magazine. I met a group of people from SoCal who were members of the Skylark Flying Club, which has been around since the 1950s. I even met a gentleman who was visiting from the UK!

My dress was a custom design by V Vintage, based on these photos of Betty Grable on display at the CAF museum. I’d love to know the history behind the photos, as they’ve not turned up during any search for Betty. I suspect that a soldier at the base she visited took the photos, and a relative of this person found the photos and donated them to the museum—I’d love to hear more about their history! At any rate, doesn’t Betty look amazing? Her dress is so unusual and has a wonderful, effortless style; to me, such a design is the height of WWII style. Since the photo is black and white, I imagined her frock to be a buttercream yellow, accented with bright red tropical flower appliqués. After some searching, I found the perfect linen-look fabric, and settled on a Hawaiian-print linen fabric for the appliquéd flowers. V Vintage did an utterly amazing job of recreating this frock; I received many comments about it, and many people thought the flowers were hand painted. Now, V Vintage is planning on offering this style of dress for sale, so if you’d like one for your own please be sure to drop them a line! I can’t recommend her work enough—I’ve been thrilled with everything she’s created for me.

Well, that's the recap for this year's dance--hope to see you next year!

xoxo,
Amanda Lee

Thursday Tunes - Swing Fever

In keeping with our WWII theme, this week's tune is a clip from the 1944 film "Swing Fever". The song is called "One Girl and Two Boys" and is sung by Marilyn Maxwell, backed by Kay Kyser's band. I've always loved the dancing in this scene, and Jean Veloz is just too cute--isn't her nautical look wonderful? I don't know about you, but I would have had a tough time choosing between those two dashing gentlemen as well--both handsome and oh so smooth on the dance floor!

xoxo,
Amanda Lee

The G.I. Jive

Doug of Atomic Age Pictures put together this video--didn't he do a fabulous job?

xoxo,
Amanda Lee

Ahoy There!

I apologize for the cheesy blog title, but I couldn't resist ;-)

The military vehicle show turned out to be great fun--I had a fab time hanging out with Brenda Lee and Melissa Moxie. Both ladies were lots of fun to chat with, and I think our booth was quite a hit! Brenda Lee was representing the Pinup Angels, a group of pinups that puts together care packages for the troops. Melissa and I were both selling our 2011 calendars, which proved to be quite popular (everyone should have a pinup on their wall every day of the year, don't you think?) Doug Monce of Atomic Age Pictures photographed and filmed us (video clip to follow soon, so stay tuned!)--I wore my cheesecake Marine uniform (a custom design by V Vintage) on Saturday, and a pinup sailor outfit (borrowed from the Brenda Lee) on Sunday. Melissa and Brenda Lee also dressed in pinup military attire--and let me tell you, a lot guys asked us where they needed to go to enlist! We also met a gentleman who enlisted in 1945 at the age of 13 (he had some great stories) and a spitfire named Helen who was a WAVE--as you can see in the photos, her uniform still fit! All in all it was an enjoyable event, and I hope to be back next year.

xoxo,
Amanda Lee

Hawaiian Honey

Doug Monce of Atomic Age Pictures and I worked on a series of Hawaiian-themed shots--as you can see, we were very much influenced by Varga's Hawaiian girls! In this set, I am wearing a WWII-era hula skirt made from parachute cord, which came from the museum collection of Matilda's Closet. A couple of well-placed leis, 1940s wooden hibiscus earrings, and a pink and yellow tropical flower in my hair complete the look (I'm wearing LipSense in Blu-Red too). This is the first in our new series of cheesecake images--I hope you like these as much as we do :-)

xoxo,
Amanda Lee

One of the pinups that inspired us

We Can Do It!

A few months ago I worked with Hardwood Pinups on this iconic Rosie the Riveter image--he was doing a series of Rosies and asked if I wanted to be one of the models. Of course I said yes, as the "We Can Do It" illustration is one of the most enduring images of WWII, and I had never done a shoot with this theme. And of course, Mr. Hardwood is a fantastic and fun photographer to work with, so I was more than happy to work with him again! Last week he sent me the finished image, and ironically, it turns out the woman who was the face of the original Rosie had just passed away. I am sharing this picture as a tribute to her and all of the other Rosies who served our country.

xoxo,

Amanda Lee

Beautiful Bombers

I'm wearing Able Grable's "For the Boys" frock
with my red linen 40s platforms, a red patent purse, and red celluloid jewelry

Two Sundays ago, three Commemorative Air Force planes landed at the Deer Valley Airport--B-17 The Sentimental Journey, B-25 Maid in the Shade, and the only flying B-29, FiFi. I stopped by to check them out for a bit before heading to my cigarette girl gig later that evening. I was glad I made it to the event--there was a wonderful turnout to see these amazing bombers! I even got to meet two gentlemen who trained B-29 pilots, which was quite a treat! I also got to meet one of my blog followers, Brittany, who was a real sweetie. I have to say that I love how blogging connects us--I've really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people both in person and online!

xoxo,

Amanda Lee

This is one of the gentlemen who trained B-29 pilots.
He told me he works at the Pima Air Museum
and to stop in and say hello the next time I visit :-)

Posing with another WWII vet--he came to the show with his daughter, who is taking the picture

Heading to Georgia For the Boys--the WWII Victory Gala

Photo by Atomic Age Pictures

I'm wearing Able Grable's "For the Boys" frock in this photo

This Saturday, I'll be attending the WWII Victory Gala, hosted by the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, GA. This black tie affair is being held in honor of the 65th anniversary of V-J Day; the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra will be playing, and yours truly will be attending as Betty Grable! I'm really looking forward to this event, and I can't wait to share all the details when I arrive back home!

xoxo,
Amanda Lee