Today I’m giving you a peek at two recent acquisitions. As we know, it’s very hard for film fanatics to resist collecting all sorts of memorabilia, and I’m no exception. I tend to amass movie books to build my own reference library, but my latest pieces are both items I can wear. I bought them from Californian repro vintage company Pinup Girl Clothing.
Do you recognize the woman portrayed by the pin? She’s Wanda Woodward, the desperate to be bad suburban girl from a loving and supportive home in John Waters‘ Cry-Baby (1990). Waters has written of how he admired the tough girls at school, and Wanda is a fifties embodiment of them–big hair, bright red lips, winged eyeliner, tight clothes, and fierce attitude. Twenty-six years from the movie’s release, she’s having a pop culture resurgence. There are t-shirt lines featuring at least her famous line, “Beat it, Creep!” One of the tops is even by her portrayer Traci Lords, so of course her visage is on those tees. I like this pin from bobbypinsco. It’s pretty and subtle. You’re either in the know about who the woman is or simply assume the wearer has vintage tastes.
I’ve written about Luso-Brazilian entertainer Carmen Miranda before, and now I get to sport a shirt showing my fondness for her and my love of retro design. This tee is by Miss Ladybug California. I suspect they use found graphics. Doesn’t Carmen look like she was drawn in the late thirties to early forties? The fabric is a slightly yellowish off-white, and like a lot of pinup lines the top runs small. It has a straight up and down slim cut. Anyone interested in getting her own, I’d advise the shirt has some stretch, but not a lot, and the fabric is thin. Buy by your chest size, and size up if you’re in between sizes. I’m going to be hand-washing and line drying my shirt to make it last!
Disclosure: I bought these items, and I am not receiving affiliate program compensation for my post.
