All Hallows' Eve

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Hallowe'en this past weekend.

This being the first year since I got too old to go trick or treating (or rather I didn't get too old, my brother got too tall) that I didn't have a paper to write, I thought that I simply must do something.

So, on Friday, I went out to the Halloween Special of the Taboo Revue, which is Vancouver's longest running burlesque show. It was beyond brilliant! So many great performances, a lot of them featuring zombies and voodoo, because zombies are just so much awesomer than sparkly vampires. Can't wait for next year's show.

As for Hallowe'en itself, I went to work and I did wear a costume. And by costume, I mean I went for a Land Girl look and wore my snood and new wool trousers from Heyday. And by costume, I mean I wore my normal clothes.

I then changed into my fabulous record skirt and biggest petticoat, which is the only day of the year where I don't get strange looks while wearing it, actually a lot of people wanted to have their picture taken with me as I was waiting in the train station downtown. I only wore it because it was warm enough to not wear a coat over top and I was refusing to spend any money on a costume this year. Why buy a costume when I can wear my normal clothes? I went with my friend Courtney on the Haunted Trolley Tour, which is a tour on a trolley that goes around downtown, through Stanley Park, then up to this cemetery and then back to downtown, finishing off at the Police Museum (which used to be the morgue and the coroner's court) and pointing out houses were hauntings and gruesome murders have taken place. Because hanging out in a graveyard and an old morgue on Hallowe'en night is what cool people do.

Apart from a couple of snaps for the Facebook, I don't have any pictures to share on the old blog. But I should probably go back during the day sometime and take some photos of the Police Museum with my proper camera, since it is my favourite museum in Vancouver.

What did you do for Hallowe'en?

The theme for this month's Cinema Tuesdays shall be An Affair to Remember. Expect the first movie pick shortly.

Cinema Tuesdays {White Christmas}

Can anyone imagine a year going by without hearing Bing Crosby sing that song?

Although I like Holiday Inn better (the first black and white film I ever saw, I had just turned two), I prefer the costumes in White Christmas, especially Vera-Ellen's.

The plot, in case you have never seen it, is: Hey kids! Let's put on a musical in the barn to cheer up the old General and reuse the sets from Holiday Inn.

I ended up taking about 300 screen shots. All of the clothes are fantastic and every single aspect of the film is photographed in order to be fully shown off in VistaVision and glorious Technicolor.

What I've remembered the most about the film is that in all of the dancing scenes, the men all wear suede shoes and socks that are dyed to match their trousers. The affect produced is that the legs are one clean line and I don't think that I've ever seen this done before or since in a movie.

I love the sequined costumes that the slutty chorus girls are wearing

Everything matches!

I love the pink dress. I think that my Barbie had a dress just like it, but I haven't found one for myself yet.

Is it just me, or is that a Christmas Tree on Rosemary Clooney's skirt?

Isn't that just the sweetest detailing on those pyjamas

Oh! French cuffs!

I love this outerwear scene and all of the suitcases that they carried off the train

Sweater over a turtleneck with a pop of a red belt! I must try that.

Don't you just love rehearsal scenes in backstage musicals?

Mary Wickes! One of my favourite character actors ever, especially in The Man Who Came to Dinner

I want that dressing gown!

And that sweater!

I really love how cute the General's granddaughter looked, but this dress is my favourite

The most awesome dress in the entire film! It's all in the detail on the neckline.

"Oh Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army"

The funniest scene in the film! Apparently it was written quickly and put in after the director saw Mr. Crosby and Mr. Kaye clowning around on set. And Danny Kaye deliberately cracked Bing Crosby up in every take.

Cinema Tuesdays {Christmas in Connecticut}

My dear, if you haven't seen this 1945 film yet then boy, are you missing out on one of the most delightful holiday comedies ever! Barbara Stanwyck is a single journalist who writes a popular column as the perfect cook and ideal housewife living on a farm in Connecticut with a husband and a baby. Sydney Greenstreet plays the publisher who decides that he wants to spend a traditional Christmas on the farm and to bring along a war hero with him. My favourite parts are Miss Stanwyck's costumes by Edith Head, S.K. Sakall saying "hunky-dunky" and running the plot and everyone referring to the borrowed babies as "it".

Notice how this casual outfit is immediately dressed up with a leopard print belt (now I want one!)

Does anyone else recall a delivery person in films looking this cool in a cape?

It really does make a difference buying a fur coat of one's own, rather than getting it as a gift. In this case, it became Miss Stanwyck's reason for maintaining a charade in order to get a raise to pay off the bill.

I love the masculine decoration on the suit combined with the feminine bow on the hat

Now that's a Christmas tree!

I'd never thought to wear two scarves with a robe before

I love how, in films, whenever the maid is storming out in the middle of the night, she always has an old fur wrapped around her neck

Gingham jumper!!!

How to flip flapjacks if you are a terrible cook:

I just love her giant bow tie

Look at the stripey detail on this extra's dress

What to wear when negotiating with the boss before storming out of the house: plain dark suit with a little ruffled blouse

Dig the nurse's Betty Grable-style curls

Christmas in Connecticut is playing on TCM this Thursday (17 Dec.) at 5pm Pacific.

It's that time of year

It's that time of year again when the beloved holiday specials of childhood's past get aired out for a new generation to wonder at and for us to revive our own memories of when we first saw the Grinch, Charlie Brown and Fred Astaire as the Postman. But every year it seems that fewer of the classic specials are aired, instead replaced by new ones of a lesser quality and no Boris Karloff narrating.
I have two favourite specials, neither of which have been repeated since their original broadcast in the early 1990's. First, there's Lamb Chop's Chanukah Special. I've watched it so many times that the tape is badly stretched and I can only chance to watch it every couple of years. I loved how it told the story of the Miracle, mixed in with the modern shenanigans of Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and Lamb Chop, a recipe for latkes and Chanukah songs that don't involve Adam Sandler or a clay dreidel (they're made of wood or plastic). But, alas, I could not find any clips online.
My other favourite special is Candles, Snow and Mistletoe which I have a vivid memory of having just turned 5 and being allowed to stay up late to watch it air on the CBC. If you were growing up in the mid-'80's/early '90's and watched the CBC, then you must have watched Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show (Skinnamarikydinkydink, Skinnamarikydinkydoo) which I seem to recall was on after Mr. Dressup. I loved watching it over and over again because of the musical numbers and the fantastic coats on Sharon and Lois and now I watch it to bring back memories of growing up in Canada. Here it is in six parts from YouTube, however the powers that be at YouTube have unsynced the audio and video, but it's still watchable.








Do you have any favourite holiday specials that you watch every year? Or any traditional holiday viewings in your country that are different than the ones shown in North America?

Perfect Vintage Christmas

Here's my entry for the super cute Super Kawaii Mama and her vintage Christmas Competition to win many fabulous prizes. Entries are to be sent in by 4 Dec. and the winner will be announced on 7 Dec. (Hey, that's my birthday).

I know that the entry was supposed to be under 200 words and is now 437 words, but I'm still in end of term paper writing mode (1200 words=easy, 200 words=really hard).

The perfect vintage Christmas would be at dusk, curled up on the chesterfield with a mug of hot cocoa watching Mr. Astaire dance or Mr. Stewart romance Miss Sullavan, whilst Mr. Crosby and Miss Kitt's emanate from the gramophone as the snow softly drifts past the window. There will be a real fire popping and crackling in all it's majesty and slowly warming the empty stockings hanging from the mantel, waiting to be filled with mandarins, candy and wooden blocks.

The tree in the centre of the room will be real and will have just come from the forest, so that it's sappy, spicy, woodsy smell will disperse through out the house and one's home will retain that uniquely Christmas-y smell long after the last present has been unwrapped and the carpet vacuumed. The tree will be decorated with lights, baubles, tinsel and ornaments until it sparkles just right. The ornaments wont be valuable antiques but will be sentimental ones that have been carefully passed on from one generation to the next, from that little fibreglass bird bought by the grandparents for their first Christmas together to the popsicle stick reindeer made by the youngest child last year. And beneath the tree on Christmas Eve there will be a small pile of presents wrapped up in brightly coloured paper and bows. There wont be as many presents as what the neighbours have, but instead each one will be handmade or selected with such care and devotion to what the receiver would love and no one from the house will be standing in the returns queue next to the neighbours come Boxing Day.

The house will be filled with the sounds of loved one rushing to-and-fro in a happy frenzy of last minute baking, wrapping and sewing as the beloved pets peek out from beneath the furniture waiting for the opportunity to sneak a bite of dinner. And once the bird has been eaten and the paper hats have fallen off the adults' heads then the family will retire to the living room to play a board game or perhaps a round of charades or else to go for a stroll in the newly fallen snow and admire the lights around the neighbourhood and the snowmen dotting every garden.

For the perfect vintage Christmas is the Christmas that should be celebrated by everyone. One that isn't about the latest gadget or decorating scheme or going to every party; it is about spending time with one's family, friends and indoor animals, exchanging thoughtful gifts, recipes and traditions and creating wonderful memories that will last longer than any present.