I’ve always been madly in love with Pre-Code movies and their sassy dames! I am channelling them right now, especially Barbara Stanwyck. These women were tough, innovative, creative, resourceful and sassy. The dialogue in these movies is magical and the stories intriguing and inspiring. They are a great distraction in a time where we need to take our minds off what is going on. Below are some of my favourite blogs and I’ve listed movies you can find on YouTube.
Hello! In light of the times we are living in and since we are unable to show our movies at See-Scape at the moment, Zed Dulac and I will be launching a YouTube Channel for Killer B Cinema soon! Please subscribe to our channel as well as please share this far and wide!
Thanks to all of the people who did panic shopping when this all went down a little over a week ago, many of us are struggling to find staples on the grocery shelves and are resorting to making meals with what ever is in our cupboard, fridge and freezer. This isn’t completely a bad thing, you finally get to use that can of heart of palm you bought a year ago. Why did I buy that again?
I’ve always had to be resourceful when it comes to cooking. I’ve been on my own since I was 18 and money has been hard to come by on many occasions, so I’ve had to be creative with food. I always managed and never went hungry thankfully. There have been a few times in our history where we were going through wars or The Great Depression and putting food in your cupboards was beyond desperate times. During those times, homemakers had to make due with what they could get their hands on. I’ve been researching some of these recipes and below is some of what I found.
If you have kids, this might be a fun thing to do with them!
Once upon a time, in days of the past, there was a woman who made her own clothing, made do and mended, was a thrift queen and lived a happy, not contributing to landfill life. Oh hold on! That’s not actually a fairytale… that’s me!
Imagine living in a world where you lived garbage free, everything was made from recycled materials and you never had to worry about your fast fashion ending up in landfill. Take a moment. Let that sink in. Ok. Ready? Open your eyes. Tada! It can happen. It has happened before and it wasn’t that long ago before it stopped happening. In the last few decades, we’ve gotten lazy, we stopped making our own clothing and rather than repair something, even with the tiniest repair needed, it would be tossed into the garbage and a new garment bought. Then off to the landfill, that pile of garbage that grows into mountains of clothing that could have been repaired and worn another day.
Before you start yelling at me, I know it’s not EVERYONE who does this. I grew up in a household that was all about creating your own garments, make do and mend and thrifting. My Mamasita is the thrift queen to this day. Between her and my Grandma Betty, I learned to knit and sew. Later in life, I taught myself to crochet (thank you Carlin for the encouragement and YouTube for the videos). I’ve never really been in a position to run out and buy myself a spanking never wardrobe, not that I would, so I’ve either depended on thrift shops or making my own clothing. The only things I actually buy brand new are undergarments, leggings, and stockings. At some point I’m going to learn how to make my own undergarments and leggings, so the only thing left is stockings and trust me, I wear those until they are literally falling apart. The 1930s/40s mentality of making do with what you have was taught to me at a very early age and I’m thankful for it. I’m also thankful to see a large number of others who do this or are beginning to do this. As a matter of fact there is a huge movement, which I am proud to be part of, of people who sew, knit, crochet, refashion, thrift, buy vintage and make do and mend. Let’s follow with their lead! We don’t need to buy fast fashion!
There is nothing more satisfying than creating your own garment or refashioning something you found in a thrift store. For those who think they can’t do it, you actually can. You don’t need a fancy sewing machine. You can find machines for a few hundred dollars that have the basic stitches, because basic is all you need! Don’t know how to sew, YouTube has a BAJILLION that’s right BAJILLION videos for beginners. All you need to be able to do is sew a basic stitch. I don’t own a serger or a fancy machine with embroidery stitches. I have a basic Kenmore sewing machine. It’s amazing the things you can make with a straight stitch! One of my favourite channels to watch is Evelyn Wood. She is a refashion genius!
If you don’t want to learn how to knit, sew or crochet, you can still help stop the contribution of adding to landfill. There is still make do and mend AND go clothing thrifting. Clothing thrifting is a lot of fun! You can make it an adventure either by doing it yourself or with friends. Do a show and tell together once you are done or take the items you found and refashion them! Anything you can do to help keep landfill from growing is a way to help Mother Nature out and trust me, she needs our help!
Today is going to be a sewing and writing day. I try to set aside one day a week to sew garments and I do my mending while watching a great classic movie or cooking shows on YouTube. I find it very therapeutic. If you do one of these things (sew, knit, crochet, mend, refashion, thrift) you are helping. Please stop buying fast fashion and let’s get back to the basics!
Day 24! I can’t believe I’m on day 24 already! I honestly look forward to waking up and doing yoga every day. They say it takes 28 days to break or start a new habit. I’m 4 days away from 28, but I already feel this is now a daily habit. A healthy habit.
I LOVE B MOVIES! All kinds, from all eras. It’s why Zed Dulac and I started Killer B Cinema. We both grew up watching them. Though I loved them then, I don’t think I really started to appreciate them until I was older. The plots, the costumes, the badly written scripts! One of my all-time favourites that I NEVER get bored watching is Plan 9 From Outer Space. I love Ed Wood Jr. for not just this movie, but for his motivation to live out his dream of making movies. He was a fascinating person with an inspiring drive. When I want to give up on a creative project I will say to myself, would Ed Wood have given up. NO! So I don’t either.
Do you have a favourite b movie? A favourite genre? Who is still doing the Yoga Challenge?
Day 21. Doing it even when I didn’t feel like it today.
This morning, I woke up feeling depression creeping in paired with the beginnings of a headache. Yesterday once again showed me the awfulness of the human race. How vile and horrible they can be. During yoga today I tried to let it all go, but it’s hard. Every single day I wish that we could become a kinder and more compassionate society. I begin to see that happening and then the horridness of how humans can be, bulldozes its way back in again.
Through yoga, I’m learning to breathe again. With each breath out I am trying to release the negativity. I just wish people could take a moment to do the same before they speak or do.
Because of the way I am feeling, I wasn’t going to share a happy thing. Then I reminded myself, happy things are what keep me on this side of the darkness.
Spook Show, Midnight Spook Show, Spook Party, and Midnight Ghost Shows are a few names given to a popular form of entertainment from the 1930s. (another reason I love the 30s) What is a Spook Show you ask? “These mixed-media shows, held in movie theaters, utilized magic, special effects, and horror films to appeal to teenagers in the years before television.” (quote from The 13th Floor)
Oh, how I would love to get into a time machine and go back just so I could witness an original Spook Show. I know I have a few friends who would join me. In recent years a few artists I know have tried to revive the Spook Show and I have even considered putting one on myself (when I ran my cabaret), but nothing will ever compare to the original.
To learn more about Spook Shows, here are some links.
Day 19! I’m feeling stronger and stronger every day, but that last move… it wasn’t happening today. Instead, I sat and watched to see how to do it properly and one day, when my body is stronger, I will do it! Just not today. Yoga With Adriene’s mantra is “Do what you can. You will get there eventually.” And I will.
Film Noir! Another one of my favourite movie genres! I love watching them on a rainy afternoon, but heck, I’ll watch them anytime! I especially love those sassy ladies. Barbara Stanwyck, Gloria Grahame, Gene Tierney, Ida Lupino, Joan Bennett, Shelley Winters, Veronica Lake, Lizabeth Scott, Dolores del Rio and so many more. Writing this, I think I need to throw on some Film Noir and melt into the shadows with the leading ladies.
What is your favourite genre of movie? Who is doing the 30 day challenge with me still or have you finished it? If you have are you still doing yoga?
For the first time since starting the 30 Day Yoga Challenge, I did yoga in the evening. (I still prefer in the morning) and after walking those many steps today, it felt good to do yoga right afterward. My hips needed it. What I am likely going to do, going forward, is after walking a lot, I’m going to do 20 minutes of yoga. It made my tired hips, legs and feet feel better! I’m learning a lot about my body since starting yoga again. If you are looking for a beneficial thing to do for your body, you may want to do this as well.
I have two Betty’s in my life that I love. My Grandma Betty (who is no longer with us) and Betty Boop. Grandma Betty was a badass and someone who influenced who I am today. I think about her every single day and always will. Betty Boop is an iconic cartoon that has the personality of a kickass, sassy pre-code dame. (I prefer the pre-code Betty) Again, this is another thing I was allowed to watch as a kid and for those who have seen this cartoon… it’s not for kids. But hey… she also influenced me and many other young women. Especially, when it comes to being sassy!
Is there a woman both alive and fictional who inspired you?
Day 15! Halfway there! I plan to keep on with daily yoga after this. It’s good for me in so many ways! I will stop posting about it once I’m done day 30. One thing it did help with is getting back into the process of blogging again.
Now onto the picture and why I chose it.
Every single time I watch a classic movie, I am drooling over all of the clothing and dreaming about making them. Look at the gorgeous outfit Joan Crawford is wearing. Back on day 3, I mentioned that I make my own clothing. I wanted to talk a little bit more about that because making my own clothing and thrifting makes me happy. I also want to talk a little about bullying.
In High School, our Home Ec teacher was treated with a lot of disrespect and bullied by a group of girls. Many times they tormented her to the point of making her cry. Those girls still live in my small hometown and have literally done nothing with their lives. Being bullies got them nowhere. More about bullies in a moment.
There was also a small group of us who loved our Home Ec teacher. We benefited from that. She went off the lesson plan with us and taught us how to finish garments, fancy seams and how to self-draft. To this day I still self-draft many of my garments and when I do I remember that wonderful woman.
I find the process of making my own clothing therapeutic and rewarding. This year I am going to fully learn how to use drafting systems and I want to learn how to grade patterns by hand and on the computer.
Back to bullying. Yesterday I shared a post (in my feed) about walking away from people who make fun of or put you down over your successes. When someone belittles your hard work and makes fun of it trying to make you look foolish for being proud of your work, that is a type of bullying. If you work hard for something, and someone tries to diminish that success, tell them to go away. Never be afraid to stand up to bullies. Never be afraid to walk away from friends who do that to you because and here’s a little tidbit for you, those people aren’t friends. Be proud and celebrate your successes. Do not let anyone take that away from you!
Day 14! Almost halfway. I’m really learning where my body needs help. Though… my left side isn’t as tight as it was 14 days ago, it is still tighter than the right. I will see where I’m at for day 30.
Anyone recognize the photo? It’s from one of my favourite pre-code movies Three on a Match. Along with wanting to be a Flapper (and I still don’t know how I was able to get away with it) I grew up being allowed to watch pre-code movies along with horror movies. This also makes sense why I loved Clara Bow and Jean Harlow so much. Give me all of the precode movies! I want to see them all!
Both my father-in-law and friend Heather Babcock also have the same passion I do and we talk about them and often. Want to make me happy, give me movies and books about silent and precode movies!
Not sure what a precode movie is, here are a few articles.
We’re just inviting you to take a timeout into the rhythmic ambiance of our breakfast, brunch and/or coffee selections. We are happy whenever you stop by.
Lizzie Violet 