Halloween Lovely: Yvonne De Carlo

I remember Yvonne De Carlo mostly from the tv show "The Munsters". I recall loving the way she looked, her long black hair with white streaks, her black nails, her pale pink vampire ankle length gown and most of all, her bat necklace. She was in her 40's when she started the show. Years later, I watched "The Ten Commandments" and was stunned to find out that the beautiful woman who played Moses's wife was the same Yvonne De Carlo from "The Munsters". Since then I've seen pictures of Yvonne De Carlo when she was much younger in her acting career and can't believe how gorgeous this woman was! I loved her in "The Munsters", but I would never have known how beautiful she truly was under all that "monster" makeup if I hadn't seen the "The Ten Commandments" or found her pictures on the internet.
Other movies she made include, "Salome Where She Danced", "Criss Cross", "Slave Girl", and "Sombrero" just to name a few.
Here are a couple of pictures of her as Lily Munster and a YouTube tutorial if you want to be Lily Munster for Halloween. The rest of the pictures are of her gorgeous self:

Dita Von Teese: Femme Totale

"I wanted it to be a perfume that smelled exactly how I imagined it. I doubt the perfumers in Paris imagined that I would be in their shop almost every day for an entire year,” says Dita Von Teese, describing the work she put into her first perfume. Very few international stars are as closely and passionately involved in the process of creating their own perfume as she was. “There were enough moments when I could have easily said ‘this is how the perfume should smell.’ But I wanted it to be perfect, and threw out many previous compositions and refined them. I gave samples to friends, and tested how others reacted to me and to my perfume. This process continued until I found the exact composition that was perfect both for me and for others,” she says, describing her perfume’s elaborate development process. The result is “Dita Von Teese” – an extremely sensual perfume, perfectly feminine, exciting, and mysterious. Dita Von Teese created a timeless scent which opens with a head note composed of fresh peonies, fizzy bergamot, and slightly spicy Bourbon pepper. The heart of the perfume beguiles the senses with a full and at the same time pure bouquet of Bulgarian rose, Tahitian Tiaré petals, and fresh jasmine. And in the base note, the mystical and warm scents of patchouli, musk, and smoky Gaiac wood and sandalwood captivate all who smell it. “A scent needs to reflect all the different facets of my personality. It had to be elegant, glamorous, sophisticated, sexy, dark, and mysterious,” says Dita Von Teese, characterizing her odeur.

Movie that I watched yesterday

Yesterday I watched "The Young Savages", on TCM. I have never seen this film before. It takes place in Spanish Harlem, NYC in 1961. Three Italian young men are members of a street gang named the Thunderbirds. They have an ongoing turf war with a Puerto Rican gang called the Horsemen. The three members of the Thunderbirds attack a blind young man from the Horsemen and stab him to death. The district attorney (played by a very handsome Burt Lancaster) is given the case despite the fact that it is discovered that one of the boys mother was his ex-girlfriend.
At first he seeks the death penalty for the boys, but as he gets deeper into the case he realizes what appears to be cut and dried on the surface, is really more complex. It's directed by John Frankenheimer, also stars Dina Merrill, Shelley Winters and Telly Savalas.
It was an interesting movie over all. I always love seeing old movies that were filmed in NYC (I still live here).





I got a kick out of seeing a young Telly Savalas in this film.

Dita Von Teese Nails

I guess I'm late in finding out about this but I'm so excited that I'll post about it anyway. Dita Von Teese has partnered with Kiss Nails to launch a line of easy to apply press on nails in her signature 1940's era half moon manicure. Dita says, "I wanted to offer a shortcut to obtaining the nail style that I have been wearing for the last 20 years, and Kiss has helped make it a reality,”. The set comes with 24 nails in 12 sizes. Gel glue is also include in the package. The nails are available now to purchase on her site and retail for $9.99.
This is great for a gal like me who has terrible nails and have no talent for manicuring. And I always use nails from Kiss, they're great!.

Dior J'adore

Love this new ad from Dior J'adore! As always, Charlize Theron looks amazing. In this commercial she's hurrying as if she's late for a fashion show. As she's rushing through backstage she glances at models getting ready. These models happen to be legendary beauties such as Grace Kelly, Malene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe.

1940's military inspiration

I know this movie has been out a couple of months already, and I haven't seen it yet, but I've seen the previews and pictures and I love the wardrobe and hair. It takes place in my favorite era, the 1940's, so of course I love it. I don't usually go for the whole military look, but I like to add pieces of it in my wardrobe and make my own look. A nice white long sleeved crisp chirt, or a military jacket for example. I'm aiming to get an affordable dark brown leather jacket (like the one in the picture below) for this fall. I made a little set on Polyvore for more ideas (see below)

1940's military inspired by cocobettie featuring long sleeve button down shirts

Sleeved dress
£90 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Pleated dress
£475 - suzannah.com

TopShop long sleeve button down shirt
$50 - topshop.com

Donna Karan vintage jacket
$4,485 - stylebop.com

Burberry Prorsum coat
$666 - theoutnet.com

Tongolele

Yolanda Ivonne Móntes Farrington, born January 3, 1932 is an exotic dancer and actress of Mexican films (from the late 40's-80's). She's artistically known as "Tongolele". I first saw a drawing of her that someone did on flickr and really liked it, so then I looked up her name and found a few pictures of her (there doesn't seem to be many pictures of her). I'm just amazed at her stunning beauty. Those eyes and hair and that body! Oh and I found a few videos of her on youtube.
She's alive and well today and still looks good!

High-Heeled Hopes

Happy Birthday Lucy!!!!

Happy 100th birthday Lucy!
They'll be celebrating all day with "I Love Lucy" episodes on the Hallmark Channel and with her movies onTCM!

Remembering Marilyn

Today marks the 49th death anniversary of Marilyn Monroe. As a fan of hers since I was 11, she's never far from my thoughts. I first saw her in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and I was blown away. She was my first inspiration of what beautiful, feminine, glamorous and sexy should be. She was my first vintage love. She's the reason I started wearing red lipstick at age 16 and I still do today (not telling my age though!) I thank her for all that she gave us.

Dita Thursdays!

Dita Thursdays!

Happy Birthday Judy Garland!

Happy Birthday Judy Garland! Celebrating by watching some Judy Garland movies today on TCM. Just watched "The Clock" (1945) and now "The Pirate" (1948). These are movies I've never seen before so I'm enjoying them today. She was such a good actress and singer (and surprisingly very funny!).







The Clock (1945)

New finds!

I know I haven't been posting here much, sorry for that. It's just that time of the year where you're busy with the ending of school, activities (as the weather gets warmer) and getting things ready for vacation. Today I thought I would post some more goodies that I purchased from Etsy.


CLUTCH PURSE WITH METAL COMPACT AND LIPSTICK "CHAMPAGNE MOOD" by Avon
(I just love the color of the clutch purse!)




CREAM COLORED STRAW HANDBAG W/BAMBOO HANDLES
(so cute for summer!)




3 ANIMAL PRINT SCARVES




Vintage Compact- Genuine Mother of Pearl

(always wanted one of these!)