Captivatingly gorgeous 1950s winter evening look

✯ Day 331 of Vintage 365 ✯

Winter's colour palette is a fascinating one. At first glance it often seems washed out, soft, even pallid - which, certainly, when looking outside, it sometimes is. However, indoors - perhaps to help compensate for the lack of vibrancy in Mother Nature's realm - we often fill our homes and wardrobes with an abundance of splashy, bright, vivacious colours.

This juxtaposition of hot and cold hues is striking. It telegraphs a sense of opulence and elegance, vitality and energy. Naturally enough (given the season it falls in), winter's full palette is one that lends itself particularly well to holidays parties - and the luminous garb we so often sport to such fetes.

Calling to mind the Color Me Beautiful personal "color seasons" theory that was all the rage in the 1980s, winter's sharp, bold, attention-getting hues often work extremely well on fair skinned lasses with dark raven tresses, such as the stunning gal in this chic Revlon ad for their Fire and Ice make-up line from 1952.

{Magnificently pretty vintage Revlon make-up ad featuring American model Dorian Leigh. Image via Van Michelle on Flickr.}

 

Much like the twinkling dress she's wearing, this woman radiates a sense of bedazzling allure. From her sharply wavy coif to her perfectly tomato red lips and nails, this is the sort of look (no matter a lady’s skin and hair colouring) that would own a room. It would be impossible for your eyes not to gravitate towards someone sporting a shimmering, figure hugging silver dress and amazing, voluminous crimson evening coat like.

This holiday season, as you dress for the many events that come part and parcel with December, draw inspiration from both the icy cold and fiery warm colours of winter to create vintage looks, like this one, that are nothing short of ravishing.