Pages

Sunday 7 April 2013

A 1950'S COMPACT

Good Morning to you,


If I were to ask you, which era you thought the most elegant for women, I wonder what your answer would be. For myself, it would have to be the 1940's and early 1950's. 


For me, the cut and style of the dresses, jackets and coats were beautiful.  I love the fitted designs which enhanced a woman's shape. 

How exciting it must have been, dressing-up on a Saturday night, to go dancing at the local ballroom. The first decision, would be choosing a dress to wear, then you would choose the stockings, after that, you would decide which pair of  shoes to wear and  which handbag went with the outfit.  In the 1940's and 1950's a woman would choose matching shoes and handbag. Then the fun would be adding the jewellery to  enhance the outfit......but there is something missing.

Think about the contents of your handbag, you would have a small purse, a handkerchief, a lipstick and can you think of anything else a women would need? Have, you guessed it, something just as important as a lipstick......a compact.



This compact I am going to show you is a vintage, early 1950's compact, and I know Pam from Pamluvspink is going to adore it.

Have you ever watched a 1940's film, to see a woman reach inside her handbag and bring out a beautiful compact to powder her nose.

Alas, the time of compacts has disappeared as face powder for women has radically changed.


This compact is beautiful. The compact has been made into a shell design, which is gorgeous, with the added bonus of the rhinestones decorating the centre of the lid of the compact.


This is the reverse side of the powder compact. I would have expected a plain back, but no it is as exquisite as the front.


Press the catch, to see the beautiful interior.


The mirror has a couple of slight marks, but this can be forgiven because of it's age and after all it was   used and loved.  


Again, look at the detail, this powder lid could have so easily been plain, but no, again the pattern is exquisite.




Press the little clip down and the compact opens to reveal,


a gauze sifter, which was used if loose powder was added to the compact.  


....and what does every woman need to go with her compact.....a beautiful lipstick of course. The lipstick is not a 1950's lipstick, but an Estee Lauder lipstick which I bought in the 1980's.  I do not use it, but I kept the lipstick because I loved the container and if I was ever to use powder, this is a lovely little duo.

I remember both Ivy and Phyllis using compacts and Phyllis said, you always had a beautiful compact, to take out of your handbag, when you were going somewhere special. 

Have you guessed who owned this compact.  No not Ivy, but Phyllis.  This compact was given to Phyllis when she was a young married women and she used it when she went out on a Saturday night.

.....and can you guess who gave Phyllis the gift? Yes you are right, it was Ivy and Gramps. Phyllis said it was a very generous gift to be given and one which she treasured.  She also said she loved taking the compact out of her handbag and using it to powder her nose on a Saturday night.

This week I shall be joining,

and
Take care and I will see you later in the week.


















23 comments:

  1. Oh Daphne, it is beautiful! No wonder she treasured it so much. It is a shame that women don't place too much importance on items like that anymore. Everything is disposable. Such a shame. Have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Daphne: Ever so elegant. I love feminine things like a compact in my purse, this is a particularly lovely one, too. Kid of art deco. Charming. I used to carry one all the time. Now it's just lipstick, which I can put on without a mirror. :) But I do collect lovely old monogramed hankies and always carry one.
    Have a wonderful week!
    (And P.S....you can't use fresh blueberries in this recipe. They would be too wet and mushy. The size of a dried blueberry is perfect, although you could cut up dried fruit of any kind as long as the pieces were small.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. hello Daphne
    I missed you, nice to have you back after your holiday. and what a lovely post to share with us. My favourite fashion years were definitely the 50's. i have a compact which was my mothers, I don't use it, but sometimes I bring it out and put it on a glass tray on my bedside table. It's nice to see and remember my dear mum who never wore make up & only ever powdered her nose on special occasions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh that compact is beautiful! I would have loved to have lived in a time when pretty compacts were the norm and everyone was so ladylike. And the detail of the compact is amazing. It doesn't seem as though small details are added to anything anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would love to own something like that. It's truly lovely and feminine. In those times, I think women really prided themselves on being ladylike and paying attention to detail...all the way down to their compacts. Now, anything goes. I kind of wish men all still wore hats and suits, even to ballgames, and women wore gloves. Of course, I say this, then I'd tire of it in a week, begging for my leggings. ;)

    XOXO,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello, Daphne

    The clothing from the era you wrote about is beautiful, as were the accessories, like the compact that has been in your family. It would be nice to pick and choose aspects of various time periods to roll into one's life.

    Have a lovely week.

    -Karen

    ReplyDelete
  7. very, very pretty!! a beautiful duo for sure

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Daphne,

    Oh such beautiful memories, they certainly made these accessories with style. Lucky you to still have it.

    Happy days.
    Bev.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dearest Daphne,
    Ah, I just found out you had green eyes too... at Daniela's blog I read your reply. Beautiful and looking at all the detail of this compact makes you long for that time and era indeed. Not ALL is better nowadays. So many things are being produced that don't hold up the way we would expect. Look at this little item with all its lovely details; it is a gift that will be admired over and over again and it did give pleasure. You wrote a lovely story about it!
    Hugs to you and enjoy your April week.
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you so much for your visit. I do enjoy 'meeting' new friends.
    I still have two of my mother's beautiful 1930s compacts, and treasure them.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good morning dear Daphne!My mum use to have a powder compact!!And yours is so beautiful!!I love the details!!Hope you have a wonderful week!
    Dimi..

    ReplyDelete
  12. That is a beautiful compact. Some compacts only had mirrors, no powder. I have a mirror compact with a painted enamel top. I think the dresses of the 1940's were so glamorous. I wish they'd come back into fashion.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, how beautiful! Thanks for sharing this for Moonshine Monday. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You do have a little beauty here. So pretty.
    Since I am OLDEN....I remember compacts being used. My mother used them...and I still have one of her bigger ones. I must locate it and do a post...:))
    I'm over from Honeysuckle...and linking to follow you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Absolutely gorgeous! I think fancy compacts are overdue for a comeback. Lipstick cases, too. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh Daphne! You are beyond sweet! Twiggy, of course, you in England had her right there. Yes, white lipstick and I did, I did paint on my eyelashes. hahahaha. Isn't it funny what we do?

    This compact, I swear, my dear Aunt Essie (I mentioned her on my purple essie polish post) had a compact like that I swear. I swear she did. She was my makeup Aunt. My Mom never ever went without powder or lipstick but she never wore mascara or eyeliner. Aunt Essie wore the full face and that made more sense to me. Essie would give me her makeup she wanted to toss out and I was only ten so I could wear it at home during dress-up play time. hahahahaha.

    Thank you for your many comments on my pages, too! You are such a dear!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. What great memories! I remember when I was young, most women always had a compact in their purse so they could powder their nose.

    This one also looks brand new! They had so much style and class back then.

    ReplyDelete
  18. So pretty! It's the details that really make vintage items so unique.

    I so look forward to perusing your blog! Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. hi sweet kid! All of those postcards are tremendous, huh? Thanks for your comments. I hadn't thought of South Pacific but now I do. I love that Play/Movie! I love the music from it the most.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Daphne!!!!

    YES I DO!!!!

    That is a beautiful compact!!! For Phyllis to be given one as a young married woman, must have been so thrilling!! I, like you, just love that era!! To get ready to go to a dance was a skill, because everything went together.

    Not like today, where all a girl does is slip on a pair of tight jeans/pants and top then grabs her purse. I use a vintage compact in my purse just for the mirror. I had our initials put on it to make it personal.

    Thank you for mentioning me!!!

    Pam
    xox

    ReplyDelete
  21. I grew up in Elgin Illinois. We had a company there..."The Elgin Case Factory" Before WWII the company made watch cases. Then they started making women's compacts too. When the war began the company switched gears and made mortar shells for the war. When the war was over half the company made compacts. Then years went by and compacts were made of plastic and slowly went out of fashion. They made cigarette cases too. There were some beautiful compacts made in Elgin.
    Balisha

    ReplyDelete
  22. How beautiful Daphne! I love that it could still be used today, with the addition of some loose powder. I have a compact that I keep in my purse, but it's one of the cheap plastic ones with a "CG" on the front (CoverGirl). Not nearly as glamorous as the one you've shown us. What a special gift to have received, and lucky you to have such a treasure to pass on.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ah..I remember my Mother's compact, and also her lipstick case that also contained a small mirror. Sadly, I did not find theses items when she passed away and I emptied her house. You are fortunate to have your Mother's as a remembrance.
    I supposed my Mother disposed of hers sometime through the years. I do have many photographs of her as young woman in the early 40's and I agree that fashions and style were very elegant back then.

    ReplyDelete

Dear Friends,

It is so wonderful to know you enjoy reading Ivy, Phyllis and Me! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment. I really do appreciate it.

Best wishes to you.

Daphne

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...