Saturday, February 14, 2009

Today's Inspiration: The Wellesley Legendga

I totally realize this has turned into an out of print-Children's book illustration blog as of late - but I am happy to share something a little more fashion related! The Wellesley Legenda.
Inspiration from the ladies who made up Wellesley College in the good 'ol days (and we're talking pre-Mona Lisa Smile here)

In case anyone was wondering, I work for the Internet Archive and we've scanned so many Wellesley Legenda's that its too much to look at! I'm going to go through them slowly because there's too many awesome little bits and pieces to miss!

So, here's a little highlight from 1914 and 1916. I'm sure there will be more posts to come! (And hopefully some actual clothing posts too - I'm going to San Francisco for a long weekend next week and I'm really excited!!)

. . .


Out of all the years I've thumbed through, Eda has been my favorite. She's just so striking! Her fussy high neck collar is perfectly balanced out by her HUGE hair, and by huge I mean completely amazing.

onset


. . .


boston


. . .


fayetteville


. . .


winchendon


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Archery sort of scares me to pieces, but there's something about a nice cowl neck cardigan that makes it all better! Especially the girl on the far left bottom row! She looks so sweet and perfectly askew and careless - if I were at Wellesley in 1918 I think we'd be pals. I also think I'm going to star scouring the antique stores around Wellesley for one of these cardigans!

archery


. . .


The ladies of Harmony and Rythm are lookin' all too perfect for Spring. It's getting me excited for the upcoming months!

harmonyandrythm


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Goodness gracious, there's just too many lovely hairstyles and pretty lace blouses with bow ties to even shake a stick at - so you'll have to go flip through for yourselves!!!

24 comments:

amy merrick said...

These are the best valentines day presents of all. I can hardly believe that my great grandma was there nearly 35 years before all of these beautiful girls. Thank you so much for posting them!

anabela / fieldguided said...

I work right next to the Internet Archive outfit here in Toronto -- but I don't think they're scanning books as amazing as these!

Penny said...

these photographs are amazing!!! such a feast for the eyes

Anonymous said...

some of us love out of print children's book illustrations- and these photos are amazing:)

ryder said...

i want more!

Parapluie said...

beautiful!

Parapluie said...

beautiful!

Deborah said...

The hairstyles they had back then were so gorgeous! I wish I had the time to pin my hair up like that! I love lacey clothing and frills as well and this just make me want to go out and buy something girly :)

-Deborah-
http://nonrambfromdeb.blogspot.com

tara-lynn / good night, day said...

i'm so glad you shared these! love the second girl, sorry i can't make out her name...

Martini said...

I went to Wellesley and loved it. Thanks for sharing these pics. If you ever want to get a tour of the school, let me know.

Nicole's Vintage and Hippie Village said...

the hairtsyles are soo lovely!

Lo said...

I think it is appropriate that I tag you for having a wonderful blog! I love it, it got me interested in blogging. You have very inspirational posts!

{Tara} said...

These are just gorgeous! We have similar jobs, it seems. I work for the Modernist Journals Project Archive -- we digitally archive early twentieth-century magazines. Thanks for sharing!

sarah said...

dorothy from fayetteville is my favorite, i love her full chignon!!
thank you for posting these so pretty...
xo s

kimvee said...

I can only imagine how long it took to do their hair or what time they woke up in the morning to make it look perfect :) I would love to take an archery class one day. hehe*

tamerajane said...

So excellent!! I worked in the libraries of both women's colleges I went to - Moore in Philadelphia and Mills in Oakland. There were so many old old articles and yearbooks I would just pore over. Lovely!!

Maggie May said...

what a completely marvelous post. fantastic!!!!

sew nancy said...

these photos really make me nostalgic for the days when i worked at a historical photo agency.
love the fashions.

Punky said...

hey lady, I took a picture of this in case you missed it:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3298711644_16b3eeff0f.jpg

hope your well

Unknown said...

How beautiful! The lace back then was so delicate and pure. Not the scratchy chain store tat lace I subject myself too.

loveology said...

Just gorgeous!
I LOVE the hair and the blouses!!

How are you dear?
I hope you are doing great...

<3
Mila.

Sewon said...

Working for Internet Archives sounds so neat. I love these photos, too. You have a great blog here. I'm so glad I found it! I'll be visiting often!

Sanna Dyker said...

what beautiful photographs. The high necked collars were so beautifully feminine on their slender necks.
Amazing blog by the way, so interesting, and very much my cup of tea. x

Natalie said...

I have given you an award on my blog! Thanks for being an inspiration...

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