Washington, 1942

I first discovered the Library of Congress colour photo sets from the 1930s-1940s way back when, on the blogs that inspired me to start my own. They're all so amazing, especially as colour photos of everyday life in that era (in particular the photos of rural america during the depression)are not often seen. This little set is one of my favourites.

Beauties of the '20s

Just watched the season finale of Americas Next Top Model (guilty pleasure!) and the insane ruffle/streamer/samba things flowing off their arms on the runway, we're seasons behind in NZ by the way, reminded me somewhat of this last photo. I love old pageant and modelling photos like these, a lot of the comments underneath were commenting not just on how the perception of beauty has changed over time, but also on how un-pretty all these gals are. Personally I think they're gorgeous, not to mention their clothes! They seem very real, and I love how in the second photo, Miss Atlanta's hem needs fixing. A nice little touch of imperfection.

- images from shorpy.com