Great Gatsby Inspiration

Great Gatsby inspiration from the fantastic Locket Studios.  The 1920’s- 1930’s fashion was feminine and elegant coupled with a vibrant spunky attitude.  This essence shows through so beautifully in these images.  Whether you want to have a Gatsby-inspired wedding, event or just-for-fun dress up day, these photos will give you some great ideas.  Don’t you just hear a big brass jazz band when you look at these wonderful shots?!?  I do.  (wink)

Rent this umbrella for your soiree from Bella Umbrella

Though we don’t have this exact umbrella in our collection anymore you can:

Rent a similar umbrella for your soiree from Bella Umbrella

Rent this umbrella for your soiree from Bella Umbrella

Rent this umbrella for your soiree from Bella Umbrella

Rent this umbrella for your soiree from Bella Umbrella

 

Though we don’t have this exact umbrella in our collection anymore you can:

Rent a similar umbrella for your soiree from Bella Umbrella

 Rent a Bella Umbrella

for your next event!

Image Credits: Locket Studios

Snap! Snap! Photo Booths

There is something about a prop that makes a seemingly shy person just a little more adventurous and apt to strike a pose in front of the camera.  We see it daily in our Bella Umbrella brick and mortar shop on 1st and Pine in Seattle and in photos submitted to us by those who rent our vintage umbrellas.   Giving someone a scene to play with or a prop to use gets them out of their ordinary and into their extraordinary imagination.  That is when moments are captured and the best pictures seem to occur.  From a birthday party to weddings to baby showers, a photo booth is always fun! 

Image Credit: via weddingbycolor.com

 

Image Credit: Heather Ann Design & Photography via Style Me Pretty

 Image Credit: Alante Photography at the Bella Umbrella 1st & Pine  Location Launch Party

 Have FUN with it! 

When you show YOUR personality, the camera will LOVE you!

Image Credit: Laurel McConnell Photography at HopeBrew

 

Image Credit: Vogue via Wedding Inspirasi

Image Credit: sashasouzaevents.com via WeddingWindow.com

 Image Credit: Jenny Jimenez via Style Me Pretty

 Looking to accesorize your photo booth?  Rent some vintage umbrellas from us!

For more Photo Booth ideas visit the Bella Umbrella Photo Booths & Backdrops Pinterest Board!

Mad About Mod

What do you think of when you hear the word mod? I think of a-line dresses, Edie Sedgwick, Twiggy, Bond girls, white patent leather go go boots, and cool, clear bubble umbrellas. For starters.

Trimfit Hosiery | Edie Sedgwick for Vogue | Yves Saint Laurent, 1966 | Twiggy

You don’t need a time machine or even a vintage shop to take cues from the stylish ladies of the 60s. You can build your mod uniform around one of our clear bubble umbrellas, then visit ModCloth for a vintage-inspired dress.

The Fabulous Peggy MoffittLinda Morand for Conde Nast | 1965, Harper’s Bazaar. Photographer: Richard Avedon. Model: Jean ShrimptonWe even have cool mod umbrellas for young fashionistas. 

What a great look. Who’s your favorite 60s mod fashion icon? Are you on Pinterest? If so, be sure to tag us so we can add your pins to our Mad About Mod board. 

Wedding Wednesday: A History of Bakelite and Vintage Umbrellas

You might be asking yourself what a synthetic plastic invented in 1907 has to do with weddings. Well, a lot, if you’re planning to decorate or accessorize with some of our vintage umbrellas. 

Bakelite was discovered by Dr. Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist that came upon the compound that was created by a chemical reaction between phenol and formaldehyde. I promise I won’t go into too much science here, so let’s just skip ahead to the part where Dr. Baekeland secured a patent and started the Bakelite Corporation around 1910. At first Bakelite was used to make electrical, automobile, and industrial products. Later, jewelry makers got into the game. That’s when it gets really interesting for people like us. 

Products containing Bakelite were often found in homes during the 1930s and 1940s, incorporated into everyday items like flatware handles and napkin holders. People loved it because it was colorful and affordable. In 1927 Bakelite was acquired by the Catalin Corporation, which created nearly 70% of this material that exists today. During the Depression Bakelite was used to create affordable jewelry for stylish women, and acknowledged and appreciated by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland and designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who often used the substance for buttons on her dresses.

Bakelite and Catalin stopped selling to jewelry makers in 1942 and shifted their focus to products for soldiers at war. Production of Bakelite and Catalin eventually stopped after newer plastics like lucite, fiberglass, vinyl, and acrylic took over, but lucky flea market and vintage shop frequenters can still find pieces. Andy Warhol was a big fan of Bakelite and Martha Sleeper pins and had a huge collection that was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in 1988, a year after his death.

Who says you can’t learn something on Wedding Wednesday?

Reference: Bakelite: A Revolutionary Early Plastic by Lloyd Fadem and Stephen Z. Fadem, M.D.

Additional sources: Glamour Kitten, Church Boutique, Kaufmann Mercantile

Wedding Wednesday: Vintage Inspiration

Last week was our first Wedding Wednesday post. We love participating in this weekly celebration of all things wedding! This week we’d like to take a look at the amazing vintage-inspired wedding of Seattle wedding photographer Amber French and her husband Michael Sessa. The couple used our vintage umbrellas in their celebration. We couldn’t be happier to be part of such a cool event!

For more information and gorgeous photographs see the feature in Seattle Met Bride & Groom.

Photographer: August Giaccaglia, all of these except the shot of the bridal party with their umbrellas which was taken by Kevin Fry