Lately, I have been fascinated by the 1940s. If only because I am taking inspiration from the 40s “make do and mend” philosophy & war-time styles for my DT project. It is an era which intrigues me, because style, did not disappear despite the hardship.

Anyway, one icon of the era was Ava Gardner. Admittedly, I knew nothing about her until I did research for this post (other than her name & the fact that she was a hollywood all-time-great actress – yes, I am incredibly uncultured when it comes to films… and most things really.) but here we are anyway.

A very very mini bio…

Ava Gardner was born in North Carolina, America, in 1921. Her film career began in 1941 after her brother-in-law (who was a photographer) hung her portrait in his studio where it apparently gained a fair bit of attention (she was a green-eyed stunning brunette according to wiki). Eventually, he sent it off to MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Further reading: Miss Vintage, Wikipedia, IMDB.

Photos…

A few favourites and classic photographs of Ava Gardner! I’m rather lacking in comments to make today. Probably because I feel a bit ill-informed! Instead, feast your eyes on the pictures and feel free ignore what little I do write. (All photographs from Google, Flickr or this site)

I just love this shirt/tie combo. The large collar is a bonus in my books! // Inspiration for folks in the southern hemisphere. I do really like this outfit and maybe if it wasn’t so cold here in England, I’d like it more.

Another shirt. Or it could be a day-dress I suppose. Either way, stripes are good. // My guess is that this photo is from the latter end of the 40s, simply because the “sweetheart” neckline became more fashionable towards 1947ish (if that is correct, doing research definitely serves it’s purpose!)

A photo from Ava’s younger years. I just love the detailing on the bodice of the dress // I think this is one of the more iconic images of Ava. Again, I really like the dress and she looks rather elegant, especially with that lighting!

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My apologies if you are bored by the more well-known “icons” I keep featuring. Eventually I will move onto lesser known “icons” but seeing as I haven’t the first clue about the more well-known, it’s probably best to start there. Any suggestions for the next “icon” are more than welcomed! Now, I am off to make a list of old films to watch.