As a bit of a change from all those girly florals, I’ve been looking at old photographs of aviator Amelia Earhart. To me, AE is a true style icon, for so many more reasons than simply clothes and image.
It is stylish that she worked so hard to achieve she wanted
It is stylish that she had the courage to take on a masculine career, in a conservative world
It is stylish that after her own success, she worked to encourage other women into the field
It is stylish that she had the integrity to stand by her unconventional beliefs on love and marriage
It is super stylish that it always looks as though she was having a blast doing it all
Of course the clothes were pretty sassy too. Wide legged trousers, beaten up leather jackets (she slept in her first leather jacket for three nights to make sure it had the requisite worn in look), white shirts and loosely tied scarves. Very casual, very practical, very stylish.
Later on, she even had her own line of easy-wear clothes sold in Macy’s – there is an article about this on The Recessionista.
Her clothing line incorporated her love of flying. Her special touches included “parachute” silk raincoats with buttons shaped like propellers. In an interview she noted that her styles always included “something characteristic of aviation, a parachute cord or tie or belt, a ball bearing belt buckle, wing bolts and nuts for buttons.”
A dress from the Macy’s line, image source The Recessionista
There was an Amelia biopic released last year starring Hilary Swank; by most accounts it was a total fizzer (and I didn’t notice that there was any UK release), so I think I’ll be sticking with my trusty black and white photos instead. There was also an AE post last August on Sally Jane Vintage.
Check out the images below for more vintage Amelia style!
Beaten up leather bomber jackets
Amazing leather trench coat and knee boots
All in white studio portrait
Pearls and goggles in a studio portrait
Slouchy suede jacket, cropped hair and loose scarf (and big grin, most important)
You can just see this overshirt is held together with a safety pin. Pre-punk style.
Belted khaki jumpsuit. This look could easily have come from any store this season.
Scarf, shirt, and knife-edge pleated trousers
Bomber jacket, shirt, man’s tie and brogues. Annie Hall take note.
A more feminine look from the 20s, with cloche hat and pleated skirt
1930s evening dress; draped with pearls and pinned with an aviator badge
What a woman huh – anyone else a fan? Now to hunt for the perfect vintage tan leather jacket!
1970s flower and lace dressing gown 
Oversized jumper with slash details by Karl Lagerfeld 
1970s blue devore chiffon cocktail dress 
1970s silver lurex sarong wiggle dress 
1970s purple velvet dressing gown by St Michael 
>Lovely post – I recently listened to a series of history-themed podcasts about Amelia Earhart so this was a lot of fun to read and look at (love the images).
xoxo ~ Courtney
http://sartorialsidelines.blogspot.com
Massive stush! (style-crush). I feel in awe of and thankful to women who look so fab without a million layers of makeup, unattainable figures (skinny yet curvy? what the hell even is that??) and doing marathons in 6-inch heels. Always makes me think “Yep, I could do that too. Even I can be stylish”.