Vintage Miscellany – July 29, 2018

There are times when I run across on old photo and I just wish the people could actually speak to me. This picture was probably taken around 1915 on the occasion of a school or church play. And while none of the girls looks particularly enthusiastic about her budding acting career, the girl in the middle front seems to be a bit more annoyed than most. Did she resent being a bee, when some girls were picked to be flowers? Did labeling her thus lead to issues of self esteem? We can only wonder.

And now for the news…

•   Here’s a nice article about the clothing of Marie Curie , even though the title is a bit misleading.
•    Some of Marie-Antoinette’s jewelry will be coming up at auction.
•    Jonathan Walford has written a nice history of the Breton shirt.
•    Burberry burned millions of dollars of merchandise in order to keep the brand from being “devalued”. My favorite part of this article is their claim that the items were burned in an environmentally safe manner.
•    An article claiming Queen Elizabeth was trolling her guest Trump with the wearing of her pins was, unfortunately, quickly debunked.
•    When Lilly Pulitzer closed shop in 1984, it was thought that her entire archive had been destroyed.  But the fabrics were designed by Suzie Zuzek at Key West Fabrics, whose archive was preserved.
•    It appears that the poor sales of the made-in-China Ivanka Trump clothing line was not limited to Canada. The brand has now been shelved.
•   When was the last time you read or heard an historian being credited in a news story?
•   The history and science behind the stiletto heel, revealed.
•    You can buy a tacky souvenir New York tote bag all over the city for less than $20, but if you want the $2000 Balenciaga version, hurry before the law suit forces them off the shelves.