From Towel to Beach Coat in Five Easy Steps.

Two large striped bath towels, four buttons and two yards of cotton cord - and your beach coat is nearly ready to be worn. Here's all you have to do to make the two towels into an attractive cover-up for the beach this summer.

1. Turn up a nine inch fold at the bottom of the first towel (you can turn up more if you are short, less if you are tall). Stitch selvage edges of each fold together, and stitch up center of fold to form two pockets. (See diagram) Do the same for the second towel.

2. Turn down a three and a half inch fold on top of each towel to make a cuffed collar. Stitch at sides to hold in place.

3. Sew two large buttons spaced two inches apart on each shoulder of front towel for shoulder fastener.

4. Sew cotton loops on shoulders of back towel to loop around each button. make loops for four inch lengths of cotton cord.

5. Knot and fringe ends of the cotton cord and attach center of cord firmly to center waist of back towel to make attached belt.


You can get creative with the color of the towels (and or fabric you choose) and cording and even the buttons to create a look that's all your own. You could even make one to match each swimsuit you have. Soft, absorbent and totally easy! Enjoy!

Chanel Cruise Collection 2010

Karl Lagerfeld launched his Chanel Cruise collection for 2010 at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Lido Resort in Venice in mid May. The models walk the catwalk, that is made to look like a boardwalk, complete with canvas beach chairs in the front row. The event took place at sunset. I am particularly enamoured with the swimsuits and beach style jumpsuits and coverups.

images Chanel

Lagerfeld hinted that the clothes would be reminiscent of Peggy Guggenheim, the patron whose palazzo now houses Italy’s most important collection of twentieth-century art, and inspired by Venetian high-society of the '30s, with fabrics sourced from "the rich reds of the Renaissance, Fortuny's prints, and the chiaroscuro technique of the great Italian masters."

Chanel Cruise 2010; Photos by Davide Maestri

Happy Birthday to Me!!

GlamourSavvy is having a one year anniversary sale. Wow, our first year has gone by so incredibly fast, we mark our first year of having our own vintage clothing website this July. July also marks our own personal birthday month so it's time to eat some cake and go shopping!

To celebrate we're offering you the following discount for the month of July towards any purchase on Glamoursavvy.com

35% off all vintage clothing, shoes, accessories, patterns, hats, purses for men & women.

Shop our store GlamourSavvy, and enter discount code Celebrate at checkout and the 35% discount will automatically apply.

Images are just a small sampling of a wide selection of vintage fashion currently available.

The Fine Art of Body Painting and Swimsuits

The year is 1967. Wide open space suits have cut outs for body painting. Body painting came into Vogue for mod gals wanting to spruce up their beach look and help to show off bronzed bodies. Swimsuits had strategically placed cutouts and body paint began being applied to the skin to accentuate the summer tan. These images from Look in 1967 have models sporting cut out swimsuits.
Cut outs give new exposure to the two piece abbreviated swimsuit, as in the orange and plum crisscross maillot and the lime diagonally cut kind, designed by Bill Blass for Roxanne. Two triangles linked by a plastic ring swimsuit along with a neckline of plastic rings. I especially love the wild colored wigs that complete the look. The model in the lime suit reminds us of Debby Harry.

Another approach in the 60's was to have floral appliques layered against a nude mesh creating a body paint look. This image from the year 2000 features model Laetitia Casta wearing a swimsuit from 1967 by Sinz-Euro Swim.


Sports Illustrated has been featuring body painted swimsuit models in it's Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue for now the eleventh consecutive year. This clip features 2008 model Jessica Gomes. Pretty cool wouldn't you say?

SI Swimsuit: Body painting Jessica Gomes
by sportsillustrated

Sum Sum Summertime

I took a segway and spent some time yesterday harvesting apricots from our tree out back. The yield was plentiful and I feel like I haven't even made a dent. These are really flavorful Blenheim apricots, an I managed to pick three bushels full, all within reach, before the birds and squirrels get to the bounty or they fall to the ground.
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We don't use spray, so these are organic, and oh so yummy! All we do is prune every year and the harvest is always worth the wait. This old tree came with the house and I haven't let DH near it. He has a way of wanting to get rid of the old. We also have a lovely Meyer lemon tree out back which he gets to prune every now and again. It produces fruit year round and I'm never in need of lemons for lemonade, dressings, recipes or just to squirt some in my water glass.


If you haven't tried Blenheim apricots, I urge you to do so. Firm, yet somewhat soft and packed with summer sweet flavor.

And here's my output, 30 jars of sweet homemade apricot jam. I spent the afternoon over the stove and a couple of trips to the store for more jars. Canning is making a comeback with the economy and the cost savings. This isn't the first year I've made jam, and it won't be the last. There's nothing quite like canning a bit of summertime flavor to enjoy year round. These have a way of disappearing around here. I give them as gifts and or bribes and the extended family and friends always seems to take home a jar or two.

I wasn't even able to use all that I picked for making jam. There is still another whole bowl full which I'll probably use to make a pie or tart tomorrow. Yum, yum, yum. The process is fairly simple. I use a recipe similar to this one for creating my batches each year. The only change I make is to put the apricot seeds in some cheesecloth, smash, and add while cooking. I then pull out the cheesecloth bag before canning. It adds a lovely nutty flavor. Oh and I add some pectin too.

I'm going to ship off a few jars tomorrow to some unsuspecting on-line friends who have given my little corner of the world a smile lately. Want to be included and win a jar of some fantastic home made organic jam? Leave us a comment and tell me why you deserve one. What have you done to bring some joy into the life of someone you know, via the Internet, lately?

Exposed - The Story of Swimwear

Peggy Moffitt modelling Rudi Gernreich topless swimsuit 1964
Photograph by William Claxton/Courtesy Demont Photo Management

The Australian National Maritime Museum is hosting an exhibition titled 'Exposed! the story of swimwear' which highlights the designs and designers, past and present, at the forefront of Australian swimwear fashion. The exhibition will be held from July 2 through October 25, 2009 at the museum before it begins to travel to other museums around Australia.

As part of this, 2nd year fashion design students from the Queensland University of Technology, have the opportunity to reinterpret the one-piece bathing suit for the 21st century using a technologically advanced wool/lycra textile in classic black. Looking to the past and designing for the future, the swimsuit designs will embody a contemporary aesthetic and glamour inspired by the original mermaid, Annette Kellerman; a key figure from the story of swimwear. You can view some of the students fabulous design work here.

The exhibition is FREE! I would love to be able to attend, hopefully if anyone is going, report back and let us know how it is.

The Vanities Girls

Vanity Fair has published The Vanities Girls. Since 1992, the magazine’s Vanities section has opened with a full-page portrait of a promising young star. In September 2006, they tweaked the format to feature an up-and-coming actress in a 50s-style pinup shot. These shapely ingénues are on the cusp of fame or have just hit it big; they have names you need to know and faces you won’t have trouble remembering. Here’s a look at some of the bombshells who’ve struck a playful pose in the retro style. These are somewhat reminiscent of the Varga girls or pin up drawings by Gil Elvgren. Aren't they the sweet? You can view the whole collection here.