Fashionable Forties: The Building of a 1940's Wardrobe

There are two types of vintage ladies, the first is a lady who dresses occasionally in vintage clothing, the other is a lady who immerses her life in the vintage mode, their home is filled with vintage furniture, their clothing (wardrobe) is vintage and every part of their life is geared toward a certain era.  Elisa is the latter, her entire life is immersed in the vintage mode as evident in the photos and her story below.

I have known Elisa via LiveJournal for years and admire her work. Pleas visit her vintage site, and as an added bonus check out her 18th costume recreation blog as well.

PostScript:  Elisa's Feature will run from August 25th to October 1st 2012.

In the last few years my wardrobe has slowly turned into a vintage wardrobe, even if I still have far to go, but what I hadn't realised was that my home had changed as well. Not so long ago  looked up and really looked around me and saw that apart from a few exceptions, every piece of furniture we have is is at least 50 years old. There is even a Regency sofa that has turned 200, but most of what we have is safely planted in the mid-20th century. It wasn't planned, it just turned out that way. Two years ago two households were merged into one, and some things had to go. Somehow it was the modern stuff that went, and left were the oldies. I would like to talk a little about my home, or rather a few parts of that has a special meaning to me.

Do you remember the first time you looked at a piece of art and felt something. Watching made you think and feel in a new way, you made a connection and forever after that piece of art holds a very special meaning for you. I remember and it was a  lithography  called "Fågelförsäljaren" (The Bird Seller) by Axel Olson. He was a member of "Halmstadsgruppen", a group of artist that were cubists in the 20's and introduced surrealism in Sweden in the 30's. "Fågelförsäljaren" is from the 50's and I remember very clearly how gripping I found the picture when I was just a few years old. I wondered about the people and why the birds were caged and  I was more than halfway convinced that it was possible to step into the picture for real. It then hung on the living room wall of my grandparent's and I when they passed away my Mum gave the picture to me.

My grandparents, especially my grandmother were always a very big part of my life and the lithography isn't the only thing I have that has once belonged to them. The bureau that now stands in our hallway, is about a hundred years old and was originally part of the furniture in a room at a boarding house that my grandmother's aunts ran. My grandmother spent many happy summers in just that room and when the aunts ceased to rent rooms, the furniture was given to her. There was also a small desk,  four chairs and a small cupboard meant for the washing basin to complete the set. The cupboard was given away long before I was born, but the rest of the furniture was given to me on my 16th birthday. They were much cherished by my teenage me as I felt it gave my room a very romantic feeling. What I didn't mind then, but regret today, is that the bureau, desk and one of the chairs had been painted white. The original colour are a pale green with gold details and though I don't want to touch the chairs that are still green, I'm very tempted to try to transform the rest into something more closely to their former glory. 

The phonograph, of a brand called Radiola, was bought new by my grandparents in 1955 and back then it was the very latest and most high tech of audio equipment they could find. As I child I always wanted to hear my Mum's kiddy records, finding it completely fascinating how you could stack records so they played one after another without any need for you to change them. After a move when I was six the phonograph broke and stood quiet and forgotten in a corner until I was around 20 and my grandmother casually mentioned that they had put it up for sale. I think it was rather rude of me, but I was taken a bit aback by the decision I blurted out that I wanted it. And my generous grandparents gave it to me at once, blatantly telling a number of hopeful buyers that they had already sold it. Still broken it stood silent, but ardently polished, in my room, until I got a friend who had a special interest for old technology. He restored it for me and it is now in working condition. 

The last picture is perhaps more about the general feel of our living room than a particular thing . It's a large room that has a whole upper floor to itself in our -54 apartment. The bookshelf is the newest you can find in our whole home, as we had it built especially for the room. Even if the ceiling is 4 meter in the middle of the room it slopes down to 180 cm and a custom fit shelf was the best conclusion. It runs the whole 8 meter of the room and I promise you, it is completely crammed with books. The sofa is actually not from my grandparents but something my husband found for just about nothing in an antique store. The style is 18th century, the actual date of its making, well that is probably the 1940's. It's more comfortable than it may look. The lamp, on the other hand, is not only from my grandparents, but made by my grandfather in 1942. The original lamp shade is gone though and the current one is just until we find a proper substitute. The dogs are not vintage at all, they are just five years old and just about impossible to not to get into a picture taken in our home.

I hope you have enjoyed this little peek into my home. The bed jacket I wear is from the 40's and was a birthday gift from my husband so I can lounge around in style. Very thoughtful of him, don't you think?

Comments

[D]

Thank you for asking me! It was great fun to write this post! / Isis

[Reynardo]

Fascinating! And I think the dogs fit in perfectly :-)

[Catherine]

What a lovely post!

[Rose Water]

@Catherine, thank you for the kind comment, Elisa helped create a lovely post. @Reynardo, the doggies are quite cute, aren't they~ @Elisa, thank you so much for participating you are so lovely, talented and kind.
E