Prettier Than Elizabeth Taylor: Part 2

There she was! Taking her victory walk.



Teasing long before Dita: Natalie as Gypsy.

So not Mary Anne.


I wanted to be a pretty little girl. I hoped to grow up to be a siren. It is with amusement and a pinch of shame that I reveal to you that my mom got me to take baths through playing up a rivalry (one-sided, needless to say) that I had with Elizabeth Taylor. I aspired to be the prettiest girl in the world. Mom would tell me that I was, except when I needed washing, then the title of the prettiest went to Elizabeth. So, I'd get myself clean and check with Mom, "Am I prettier than Elizabeth Taylor?" "Prettier than Elizabeth Taylor."

No wonder I'm such a wreck now.

I had a crush on, and wanted to be Ginger on Gilligan's Island played by the lovely Tina Louise. To heck with the wholesome Mary Anne, Ginger was a real glamour girl. She had the heavy lids, heavier makeup and slinky wardrobe that I wished to grow into. I cut her picture out of the TV guide and colored her hair red with my orange marker. I cherished the secret hope that my third grade teacher, Mrs. Y, also a redhead, was Tina Louise in disguise. In retrospect, she probably wasn't.

Career wise, I really thought that I would be a ballerina, but my ambitions also ran to both Miss America and Gypsy Rose Lee as played by Natalie Wood in Gypsy. I dressed up and practiced for both positions in front of my bedroom mirror. Rosebud printed flannel jammies were covered by my grandma's nylon nighties, lots of costume jewelry and an air of triumph, as I paraded down imaginary stages.

Who knew what adulthood really had in store? Can you imagine me telling Nellie that she would be a librarian someday?

Prettier than Elizabeth Taylor?

Clarice ensnared Rudolph with the bat of an eyelash.

Whoops! I dropped my water jug. Who will carry it for me?

The little lady.


Who made me the glamour girl at heart that I am today? In spite of whatever ways my family tried to steer me, look no further than this blog post to learn about the lovely femmes who showed me what being a girl was all about in the sixties and early seventies. I looked up to these ladies and tried to be like them, so don't mock ;)

I was the girliest of little girls, even though my parents gave me a sensible pixie haircut, and dressed me in things like jumpers, plaid skirts and turtlenecks. My favorite color was pink, I would only wear dresses, I wanted frills and curls and demanded to be allowed to grow out my hair once I hit first grade.

So naturally, I found a heroine in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer's girlfriend Clarice. She was a doe with a bow, big eyes, long eyelashes and she knew how to use them. Bat, bat, bat. Oh, yeah, I guess she was loyal, too.

The cute little village girl who appeared at the end of Disney's The Jungle Book taught me more body language. From her I learned the coy look back over the shoulder at your intended, combined with the head tilt and "shy" upward glance. Plus, she had that cute pink sari, more bows and a bindi. Mowgli was a besotted fool when she was around, and indeed, she did lead him out of the jungle, much to Balloo's disappointment.

I also loved Marie the kitten from Disney's The Aristocats. She had guess what color bows, a rich benefactoress and she was, after all, a cat. And she was very concerned with being a lady. Of course, I wanted to be her! She also gets a surrogate daddy, Mr. O'Malley, on whom I had a huge crush. So, there was an advantage to not being Marie after all. (Yes, it's true, I fell for a Disney cartoon Tom cat).

More on Monday.

Elizabeth Taylor - a legend in her lifetime
Originally uploaded by Doc Kazi

Elizabeth Taylor: Prettier than me

Farewell Beautiful Bettie

Vintage Bettie Page
Originally uploaded by Breath_Less'56

I was a latecomer to Bettie Page. I think that I found out about her in the mid 1990s. Now, it feels like I've always known about her. She was just so pretty and fun in her photos. Even doing naughty things, she looked sweet.

A friend of mine got me a video about vintage Hollywood strippers and Bettie was on it. I don't recall her taking anything off or being in any way bare, but she was dancing and winking and it looked like she was having a ball.

I think most of us ladies wish we could have one day when we looked as sexy and happy as she did.

Glamour in small packages

Louise Brooks from www.leninimports.com/louise_brooks.html

Looking at this post at: http://vintageclothinglove.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-do-vintage-starlets-measure-up.html, I was interested to find that I am the same height as Louise Brooks, Jean Harlow and Veronica Lake were. That's five foot two inches. Hello, vintage Hollywood! I'm off to be a star.

Day 25: Meeeow!

Yvonne De Carlo
Originally uploaded by Namey McNamerson

Yvonne De Carlo's a pretty kitty! I love the old pin ups.