You can be the most . . . → Read More: 1950s Charm School: Model Posture]]>

This post is part of a series examining 1950s era charm, poise, and beauty using  Secrets of Poise, Personality, and Model Beauty written by modeling agency and schools icon John Robert Powers and published by Prentiss-Hall in 1960.

Posture can make or break a beauty ~ John Robert Powers

You can be the most beautiful woman on earth but poor posture can destroy your appearance.  Our mid-century beauty mentor, Mr. Powers, dedicates an entire chapter to the importance of good posture.  But before we examine his lessons, let’s take a few minutes to discuss the impact of poor posture on our health.  The truth of the matter is that our posture is indicative of our body’s core strength.

Without proper alignment and strength in our core, our diaphragm is unable to do its job and our lungs are unable to fully expand so that our bodies and brains get the oxygen they need to fully function.  If you’re feeling foggy-brained, your posture may be the culprit.

If our upper back isn’t strong to counteract the constant forward motion of our arms (we don’t type or chop food behind us, after all), our shoulders slump forward and our chin starts to jut out.  Our breasts sag and hang down by our waists instead of our chest where they belong.  Sometimes it isn’t the bra but rather the posture that needs adjusting…

A swayback (my own nemesis), encouraged by weak abdominal muscles, gives the illusion of a poochy stomach while also causing all sorts of low back problems.  “Lose” five pounds instantly by tilting the hips under where they belong.

My favorite description for proper posture and body alignment is to imagine that there is a string that is pulling through the top of your head.  There should be a straight line going from your ears through the shoulders, down to the center of the hips, through the center of your knees and ending at the center of your foot.  This gives us effortless posture…after all, we don’t want the exaggerated posture of a Marine who just finished Basic Training!  You know you have it right if your hips are “tucked under,” your chin is parallel to the floor, and you will be able to wiggle your toes around.

Many readers have joined me in the “Only Own Beautiful Clothes in 2012 Challenge” (see the calendar for the date of the next virtual retreat so that you can join in, too).  But owning clothes that reflect our own personal styles can only go “so far.”  If we have poor posture, we are going to look and be unhealthy.  Even a $10,000 dress can’t counteract that!

A few of us were having a conversation about how portion sizes have gotten larger throughout the years over on the Facebook page.  I pointed out that American food is heavily . . . → Read More: Wise Words of the Day: Cause and Effect]]>

Many of us deal with effects instead of the cause. ~ Unknown

Image courtesy of Fidgetrainbowtree on Flickr.com

A few of us were having a conversation about how portion sizes have gotten larger throughout the years over on the Facebook page.  I pointed out that American food is heavily subsidized and so food is, as a proportion of our monthly income, quite cheap.  I remember reading somewhere that if Americans had to really pay for the cost of food production, obesity would greatly decline because people would naturally eat less food.

Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take personal responsibility for our own health.  Because I think we should.  But knowing some of these cultural dynamics makes it a bit easier to be mindful of the causes of ill-health so that we can make healthier choices.

The Mister always wanted the Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots game but never got it.  Frankly, I don’t recall if there was every any toy I really wanted.

Anyway, onto the main event:

American Poultry Advocate 1913; Image courtesy of Lisanne! on Flickr.com; Talk about counting your eggs before they're laid!

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Never cackle till your egg is laid. ~Unknown

American Poultry Advocate 1913; Image courtesy of Lisanne! on Flickr.com; Talk about counting your eggs before they're laid!

Since I’m a child of the 1960s, my fondest childhood Christmas memories evoke images of mid-century decorations.  So it would make sense as I began perusing Flickr.com for vintage Christmas decorating ideas, images from that era would jump out at me.

Enjoy these decorating ideas!

Princess Leia's Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother shows off the . . . → Read More: Mid-Century Christmas Decorating Ideas]]>

Dear Friends,

Since I’m a child of the 1960s, my fondest childhood Christmas memories evoke images of mid-century decorations.  So it would make sense as I began perusing Flickr.com for vintage Christmas decorating ideas, images from that era would jump out at me.

Enjoy these decorating ideas!

Princess Leia's Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother shows off the rather formal white flocked tree decorated with red bows and birds, 1970; Image courtesy of Jordan Smith on Flickr.com

I'm thinking this needs to be atop an aluminum tree with a rotating color wheel; Image courtesy of AtomicMidCentury on Flickr.com

You can't go wrong with an aluminum tree that tells you that it has a "true taper!" Image courtesy of AtomicMidCentury on Flickr.com

Drum hospitality table (cardboard covered with felt and deocorated with drapery cording and tassles and seals; From The American Home, December 1962; Image courtesy of Sugarpie Honeybunch on Flickr.com

Real garland always looks so much nicer than the plastic faux greenery. I really like the popcorn garland swags; From The American Home, December 1962; Image courtesy of Sugarpie Honeybunch on Flickr.com

How would you describe your holiday decor?

Shortly after I commented to The Mister about how much I hate the Santa Ana winds because of all of the memories wildfires in the hills surrounding our neighborhood growing up, the winds . . . → Read More: A Bit More Retro Than I Was Prepared to Be]]>

As readers who also are part of the Facebook Modern Retro Woman community already know, Wednesday was quite a day for me!

Shortly after I commented to The Mister about how much I hate the Santa Ana winds because of all of the memories wildfires in the hills surrounding our neighborhood growing up, the winds began.

I'm not a roofing expert, but I'm pretty sure that having A LOT of your shingles blown off of your roof is NOT a good thing. This is one of those times I'm glad we lease and don't have to deal with the problem.

And they got stronger.

And stronger.

We lost power but quickly regained it.

And the winds got even stronger.

We lost power again but it was restored a few minutes later.

And the winds became ferocious.

Objects were being blown down the street as if shot out of a cannon.

Things were hitting the house at full force.

The trees were moaning and I was praying that the old tree in the front yard wouldn’t give up on living and crash through the roof.

We lost power and phone service around midnight.

No sleep.  The howling was eerie and just as I’d doze off, something else would crash in the wind or against the house.

Still no power/phone the next morning.

Image courtesy of Bret Hartman/AP via MSNBC.com; This is NOT my particular neighborhood.

It wasn’t until I was driving The Mister to the studio (and I was heading to the east to teach my final class of the semester) that we found out on the car radio the extent of the damage caused by hurricane force winds.  The Mister’s school was closed and he wouldn’t be teaching.  I call my sister to check the website of my university to see if it was closed.  No, they were still open.  Being 40 miles away, they didn’t suffer the full force like we did.

One estimate had a half of a million people in five communities without power.  Pasadena had called a state of emergency to deal with damage.

As I drove to school, the main arteries were blocked off by downed trees and power lines.  Of course, no signals were working, either, because of the power outage.  It took me an hour to get to the freeway.  Normally it would take me about 10 minutes.

A tree fell on our credit union’s building and they were without power.  They sent The Mister to a different credit union two towns away that still was operational and was handling transactions for our credit union.

After I taught, I picked up The Mister from the studio and we were able to get home by 4:30.  Still no power or Internet but we had phone service and still had gas service.

I sat by the kitchen window working on the recipe newsletter until the last of the sun disappeared and then used two candles to try to provide enough light to work by.  The Mister had curled up in bed with a flashlight and National Geographic.

Five hours after the power company had indicated they’d have power back on, the lights flickered and stayed on and the heater started warming up the house.

I consider myself very lucky.  There are still people and businesses waiting to have their power and other services restored.  But our adventure of trying navigate around town and not having any power really reminded me how dependent we’ve become on electricity and the Internet.  I kept wanting to look something up and remembering that I couldn’t (I don’t have a smart phone but my cell ran out of juice yesterday afternoon anyway).

We have an earthquake preparedness backpack filled with supplies in case of an emergency.  The only thing we pulled from it was the little battery operated radio and the flashlight.  No need to eat the “protein source” unless we absolutely have to do so.  But, I need to get a lantern of some sort to provide a bit more light than the candles and flashlight.  And a cell phone charger for the car.

Being without power was a bit more retro (wayyyyy retro) than I wanted to be. When the power came back on, there were cheers heard throughout the neighborhood.  And I was cheering right along with my neighbors.

Ah! The glamor of air travel!  The stewardesses! The gourmet meals!  The relaxing in-flight lounge!

Excuse me, what did you say?  It isn’t like that anymore?  It is more like a cattle car hurtling through the sky?

The first time I ever flew was a 50 minute Pacific Southwest . . . → Read More: Friday Find: When Pan Am Ruled The Skies]]>

1963 Pan Am Flight Attendant

Ah! The glamor of air travel!  The stewardesses! The gourmet meals!  The relaxing in-flight lounge!

Excuse me, what did you say?  It isn’t like that anymore?  It is more like a cattle car hurtling through the sky?

The first time I ever flew was a 50 minute Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1979.  A few hours later, I was on an overnight flight on Laker Airways to London for a student group tour of Greece and Europe.  It wasn’t the heyday of air travel, but it was still exciting and I was enthralled with how glamorous the stewardesses (they were still called that) were.  I didn’t want to be one.  I just wanted to be glamorous like one.

So, like many others, I decided to watch ABC’s new show Pan Am.  I enjoy the show although it isn’t as attuned to time-period accuracy as Mad Men.  Nevertheless, it is a visually stunning show.

If we want historical accuracy, though, we can’t go wrong with a primary source.  And look what came across my desk this week: 6 1/2 Magic Hours, a 12-minute movie produced in 1958 by Pan Am about the inauguration of their jet Clipper service.  It is well worth the watch if for no other reason than to remember what air travel used to be like.

6 1/2 Magic Hours by Pan American World Airways (1958)

Click here if the player does not work for you.

I believe my great-grandmother flew from Los Angeles to Africa to visit her missionary daughter in the 1960s on Pan Am.  Imagine, a woman who had traveled by covered wagon, twice, so she and her husband and children could follow a dream, eventually traveled by jet.  It must have been quite an adventure for an adventurous woman!

Did you ever have the good fortune of flying Pan Am?

I won’t be around much this week.  I have family business I have to handle this week…culminating in a very important meeting/appointment Friday morning.  I can’t tell you much about it but please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that things will go well.

Thanks!