Last weekend we had intentions of seeing The Help, but with theaters more than packed, our plans were diverted.
By default we finally saw a movie many times recommended, called Midnight in Paris.
It was a cute movie, with beautiful costumes, and some very funny lines, but what I enjoyed most was 'the golden age philosophy' idea that I had been thinking a lot about even prior to the movie (thanks to an interesting conversation with my friend Sterling).
For those who haven't seen the movie, it's the idea that no matter where you are in time, you always assume that a time before was better, more glamorous, more cultured, more refined, more artistic, more ideal for you, etc.
This is, indeed, a philosophy I had long since prescribed to.
I had always felt like an anochronisism, stuck in a time that was not my own. But when faced with the question "What era do you wish you grew up in?" I couldn't get myself to say, like I had always thought, "Oh, I should have been born in the 40s so I could have grown up in the 50s and really enjoyed the 1960s." For as much as I love the fashions and styles of those times and know that there were obviously good things about those times, I very much am grateful that I do not live in the social aspect of them.
(Courses I've taken have opened my eyes to the reality that it wasn't all as idealistic as 'Lucy' would have you believe...)
I'm so grateful for the changes and overall progression that has come about since then; and as much as many of the older generation might disagree, we live in a wonderful time, abounding in goodness, freedoms, opportunities, and forms of global communications that were never even dreamed of not too many years ago.
With the internet, blogging, Facebook and Twitter, the whole world is our 'town' and everyone our 'neighbor'. With that being a reality, we have a lot of opportunities to learn about other cultures and varying perspectives, and if we take those opportunities, and see the good in our times, we can continue to make each generation better and better. In the end, allowing people to be happy just where they are, not stuck wishing for days gone by.
The Breakdown:
White Shirt: Express 100 years ago
Retro Print Dress: Designed by me, made by my talented mother
Apron: vintage via Antique Plaza
Blue Suede Heels: Seychelles (old)
Purple and Blue Necklace: c/o Le Mode (20% off with code 'birthday' ends today!)
I had always felt like an anochronisism, stuck in a time that was not my own. But when faced with the question "What era do you wish you grew up in?" I couldn't get myself to say, like I had always thought, "Oh, I should have been born in the 40s so I could have grown up in the 50s and really enjoyed the 1960s." For as much as I love the fashions and styles of those times and know that there were obviously good things about those times, I very much am grateful that I do not live in the social aspect of them.
(Courses I've taken have opened my eyes to the reality that it wasn't all as idealistic as 'Lucy' would have you believe...)
I'm so grateful for the changes and overall progression that has come about since then; and as much as many of the older generation might disagree, we live in a wonderful time, abounding in goodness, freedoms, opportunities, and forms of global communications that were never even dreamed of not too many years ago.
With the internet, blogging, Facebook and Twitter, the whole world is our 'town' and everyone our 'neighbor'. With that being a reality, we have a lot of opportunities to learn about other cultures and varying perspectives, and if we take those opportunities, and see the good in our times, we can continue to make each generation better and better. In the end, allowing people to be happy just where they are, not stuck wishing for days gone by.
What do you think? Am I being too harsh on the past?
What's your 'Golden Age?"
White Shirt: Express 100 years ago
Retro Print Dress: Designed by me, made by my talented mother
Apron: vintage via Antique Plaza
Blue Suede Heels: Seychelles (old)
Purple and Blue Necklace: c/o Le Mode (20% off with code 'birthday' ends today!)
19 comments
Honestly this is like the cutest outfit ever!
www.urbanstarlings.blogspot.com
That outfit is too cute! :D Simply gorgeous! I think it'd be fun to visit other eras but I'm pretty glad I was born to live here and now. Ever era has its good and bad.
You look quite perfect with the vacuum and the apron.
First of all, that dress is adorable! And Second, I feel like you totally described everything I think and feel! Growing up I was (am) a huge American Girls/history nerd. I dream about living back in time with charters like Elizabeth Bennett or Scarlett O'Hara... but I know that in reality life was not as glamourous as I like to imagine it. :) I especially realized that when I moved to Georgia last year. How women survived this heat in those dresses is beyond my comprehension! Lol!
Loving your hair! Cute little pin curls!
Didn't you love Midnight in Paris?? I totally agree...it made me re-think my flapper-era envy. It was chalk-full of inspiration though. Marion Cotillard? Gorgeous. P.S. You look lovely! That dress+apron is a killer combination!
Cute dress. I was goig to ask where I could get it...guess I need to ask aunt Elaine for one :). Or break out my sewing machine an get creative.
Absolutely love your dress.
I think the 30s and 40s would be my golden era, but then I look at my Granny and I change my mind. She had to leave school at 14 to work in a shop whilst her brother got to go to university. She's had to work lots of different jobs in her life with barely any money whilst her brother became a successful music teacher. They were golden ages, but things were a lot tougher for women.
Also, a little fact for you- midnight in Paris was written especially for Rachel McAdams. Woody Allen built the film around her because he loves her so much :)
I love this post! As much as I like previous eras (I'd like to live in - or visit - the Beatles-era..) I don't think it would be that delightful. I would like to live in the future. When I hear predictions about the coming centuries I feel so sad I won't be there to see it (I heard the other day the men and women could be completely equal here in Sweden in 60-70 years. Crazy long time!). Or miss out when the world evolve. (Except when the predictions are about Earth dying from our abusive life-style...) I guess time travel would be ideal.
Your mom seriously needs to go into business. And wow! You are so right! I've never thought about it before! When I was little I was SOOO into 50s music it wasn't even funny. I was a 6 year old obsessed with oldies and poodle skirts. But I think if I was born back then, I'd look forward (if that were possible) and think how AMAZING our time is now! Seriously, what we have is incredible! :) Oh, about themovie situation, I don't know where in Mesa you live, but the cinemark is almost always empty. Or at least has room. We actually saw the help there last weekend! As I'm sure you've heard, it was FABULOUS! :)
for the baby unicorn, ya know? http://www.nordickids.co.uk/detail.asp/d=2/sku=ML231/unicorn-evette-top-molo
I feel the exact same way! I would have my teens-twenties be in the forties and fifties, just because the culture of that time was something I find SO interesting! The music and fashion are such inspirations for me now, but looking back, I could not have lived with such widespread segregation, Marxism, etc- even the whole "Feminine Mystique" as Betty Friedan calls it. The ideal housewife seems so quaint and admirable to us now, but (forgive me as I get heated, I wrote a 10 page essay on this a few years back) women were SERIOUSLY socially stunted in the 50s and we're still attempting to recover from the view that women are the homebodies and are incapable of being where men are! GAH. And here I was, commenting just to say that I liked pretty dresses and fun music, ha!
amen. we should be grateful of the good times we are living, even with all the bad things it has. speacially for women, i would have never studied or traveled as mush as i have if i had been born not a century ago, but just at the time of my mother, whe we still lived in a dictatorship.
i tend to dream about the 19th century or the 60's. but there was not internet at the time and i don't like that =) i'm happy about the "neighbors" i have!
I'm totally dying to see midnight in Paris! Shame it only comes out in Australia in October..:(
Great post! I loved that movie as well and I really needed the "lesson" it taught. I definitely wish I lived in a different era but one can never have it all. I love the Jane Austen era but it would only be good if you were an upper-classmen and had a husband that loved you and you loved back (i.e. Not likely to happen to you). Or live through the 20's but then have to live through the depression. Plus the roarin' 20's doesn't exactly fit my standards today. hahaha!
Anywho, I do feel more appreciative of living now, though the pessimist in me can list a whole slew of worries that weren't here even a couple decades ago. Yeah, Still working on my positive attitude.
Love your dress! Your momma is very talented.
I love the whole housewife look it is so cute!!
Your dress is darling and while I love old movies and books, I'm happy living now. I don't think I'd trade my iPhone for any age, no matter how golden.
LOVE LOVE LOVE your dress. Great colors. Great print!
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