America’s First Planetarium is Hoarding the Ultimate Cabinet of Curiosities

I’ve caught the collector’s bug again. What is it this time? Antique astronomy tools. And I’m blaming it on the Adler Planetarium, the first in America and home to one of the world’s largest collections of historic scientific instruments. It all began when I stumbled upon their online collections, a dangerous rabbit hole for those of us…

A Brief Compendium of Fascinating Archives to Explore

If there’s one thing we love, it’s sticking our nose where it doesn’t belong. Or at least, where others seldom dare to tread. Our jewel box of a planet is overflowing with secrets, stories, and forgotten treasures, and we like to try and keep a finger on the pulse of the best archives, vaults, and…

Lost Films: Hitchcock, Gatsby and Oscar-winning Movies that Vanished

Who made the better Gatsby? Did DiCaprio pull off a pink suit as well as Robert Redford did in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 adaptation? There is another version of The Great Gatsby, although we won’t be making any comparisons with it because the 1926 silent film by Paramount Pictures has simply ceased to exist. Very few are even…

Wish You Were Here: Saugatuck Art Colony, 1949

I‘m currently yearning for the itching of grass on my bare legs, for that awful predicament of having nothing to do but lounge around in the sun all day until I think to myself: “maybe I could take up painting for the summer”. This photostory I found buried in the LIFE Archives, labelled “Saugatuck Art…

The First Monokini: Trying to make the Topless Swimsuit happen in 1964

When we think of the monokini today, we picture those fiddly one-piece swimsuits that give you awkward tan lines, popularised by the Kardashian and Hilton sisters. But the first monokini was in fact originally a topless swimsuit that exposed the female breasts, conceived in 1964 by avant-garde designer Rudi Gernreich, who predicted (rather accurately) that…

Ladies’ Smoker Night, 1941

I think I need to step up my ladies’ night game– these gals I found filed away in the Life archives are putting us to shame! In June 1941, Life magazine’s photographer Nina Leen attended a women’s “smoker”, the term usually reserved for a men-only social gathering. The concept flabbergasted local menfolk in Milford, Connecticut, who were strictly uninvited. The…

The Dapper Daredevil Who Documented America’s Skyline in the Making

Where do I start with this photograph? The dapper shoes? The Gene Kelly stance? The delicate ease with which he’s holding that enormous camera? Or the fact that all of this is happening at some unthinkable height above the streets of New York? This handsome fellow is American photographer, Charles C. Ebbets, the very same Charles C. Ebbets who captured one…

Inside Look: The New York Times Archives

The New York Times have been doing some great things on their website and Tumblr recently, and coming across videos like this is a real treat for me. I would pay good money to spend the day sifting through the newspaper’s old print archives, a department that used to be the heart of most publications…

New York, is that You?

American-born Berenice Abbott’s work was exhibited alongside that of Man Ray, André Kertész, and others in Paris. Man Ray introduced Abbott to Eugène Atget, a pioneer of documentary photography, noted for his determination to capture all of the architecture and street scenes of Paris before their disappearance to modernization. Abbot was very taken with the work of…

The Met Museum is Hoarding some Seriously Good Holiday Party Dresses

Still haven’t found a fabulous frock or the dress of the year to ring in the New Year? It’s probably because the Met Museum is hoarding all of the most incredible vintage dresses in their archives. From unknown designers of the early 1900s to the house of Dior, here are some of my favourites… (You…