Vintage Black Weddings - 1960

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The first Vintage Black Weddings post of the 1960s! I've been looking forward to breaking into this decade, as the gown styles become more fashion forward seemingly overnight. The line of demarcation is so pronounced it seems there was no time to transition.

In this post, featuring gowns, weddings, and brides from the year 1960, you can whet your appetites with a brief taste of the styles to come. I remember hearing during a Making Of Mad Men special that they chose to set the first season of the show in 1960 because the last year of any decade is the culmination of the culture of the one it proceeds (for example: the year that best sums up 1980s style and culture was 1990).

This post can be added to the anecdotal evidence column in proof of that theory.

As you can see, the prevalent 1950s trend of longsleeved gowns with scalloped or diaphanous necklines is still dominant in 1960.

What I love most about this photo is that the affection is so clearly evident! Looking at so many wedding photos has desensitized me to the occasion a bit, but images like the one above remind me of what it's all about.

In the image above, from a 1960 Ebony Fashion Fair editorial, you can see the gown styles shifting from the traditional silhouettes of the 1950s to more mod, architectural designs of the 1960s. In the next installment of Vintage Black Weddings, this shift becomes even more apparent. Because the photo above is from a pictorial and straight from the runway, it's a few years before this style trickles down to every day brides. But when it finally does, it revolutionizes bridal fashion.

A wedding fountain! A thing like that!

Trans-World Airlines' first Black hostess - reminds me of this post.

Eartha Kitt's 1960 wedding to John "Bill" McDonald must have been stunning. Her contoured illusion neckline is really beautiful in satin.

The next Vintage Black Weddings post, featuring images from 1961, is quite the departure from previous installments. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all.

Thanks for reading.

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Vintage Black Weddings: 1959

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More vintage African American weddings and brides! This time from 1959. The 1960s are up next and the gown styles shift DRAMATICALLY over the course of a year.

This dress is a bit busy for my taste, but as you may remember, I'm a sucker for long sleeves and a diaphanous illusion neckline! Which was apparently, a very popular style in the mid to late 1950s.
I like the bridesmaid's dress more than I like the bride's. Though the bride is stunning. And look at those tiny waists!

This wedding was a star-studded affair. Love the bride's hair.

Cute picture. And a great coquettish veil.

Great looking couple!

I remember her from a wedding editorial I posted from 1958. Harlean Harris must have been the go-to wedding model of the late 1950s.

Though, it's not odd for me to run into the same models over and over again. I've come across Helen Williams in over 50 ads and pictorials. Come to think of it.... she's getting her own post! She deserves it! If my research is any indication, Helen Williams was one of, if not the sole, most hardworking model in the 1950s and 1960s.

This isn't the first time I've seen the dress/pants combo look! This look from a December issue of Ebony Magazine, also from 1959:

Trend Alert!

Below are photos from a 1959 Ebony Magazine story about a couple of color wedding to great pomp in Russia.

Enjoy!




Thanks for reading. Up next will be part one of the Vintage Black Voters series and more Black films from the 1930s and 1940s.

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Vintage Black Weddings: 1958

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One more post and we're out of the 1950s and into the 60s!

I almost wish I'd done the posts in reverse chronological order because the 1960s gowns are AMAZING.

Love the long sleeves and diaphanous scoop neckline!

Yes, that is Sammy Davis Jr., his first wife Loray, and his younger sister Suzette. This picture is beautiful - and doesn't betray a hint of the turmoil beneath the surface. Months before this was taken, Sammy was engaged to Caucasian woman but terminated the impending nuptials due to the high volume of racial and death threats he was receiving. Loray and Sammy Davis Jr.'s marriage lasted only a year.

I'd rejoice in the knowledge that things are wholly different now and that something so reviling would never happen to day, but then there's this horrific Louisiana story... from last month!

Though the day was ill-fated, Loray's collar and headdress are stunning.

Deep, scalloped necklines seemed to have been popular in 1958. This scoop-necked incarnation with sheer, embroidered sleeves is gorgeous.

The model photographed above isn't a bride, but the dress she's wearing is amazing! I just couldn't leave this out. The scalloped neckline makes another appearance.

Great looking couple! Another showing from the scalloped neckline. This time in a square neck.

St. Alselm in Chicago? I went there for kindergarten!

Son of a socialite's nuptials documented in society section of national publication; this is still happening, right? Except now, the children of socialites generally aren't teachers!

These two look great together. I actually like the layered texture of the groom's get up more than the bride's this time around.

Another scalloped neckline! Off the shoulder and demi-sweetheart.

Up next: Vintage Black cast movie posters from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, more vintage Pepsi ads, and stills/clips from Sparkle and Why Do Fools Fall in Love?.

The next installment of "Vintage Natural" will also go up on BGLHonline.com this week! Be sure to check it out.

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Vintage Black Weddings: 1955 & 1957

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The second installment in the Vintage Black Weddings series!

That baby face! I've been grumbling lately about what seemed to have been an alarming number of my peers' impending nuptials, especially those involving friends under 25, but this picture of the Harlem 'Boy' Preacher, married at 20 to Mary Wilson, only 19, sort of puts that in perspective. I wonder if they're together now. What they look like. What they're children and grandchildren are like. If I've met any of their relatives! It's impossible not to ponder these things.

Being immersed in photos of decades past for the last month or two has had that effect. Every photograph I see from mid-century Chicago reminds me of someone I now know... though, I'm sure my mind is making connections where there are none.

I love this gown! Long sleeves? Check! Diaphanous illusion neckline? Check? Collar??? Not so much a fan of the Peter Pan collar... She is stunning, though.

More long sleeves! And I love the silhouette of the skirt.

I featured this photo earlier, in the Kiddie Weddings (???) post, and the response was shocking. I had no idea Tom Thumb weddings existed a week ago. Christella Moody, whose blog you should all definitely read ("A blog of memories and thoughts after living over 70 years"), writes: "These were very popular in their time. Sometimes they were even used as fundraisers. People loved them." Who knew?

There's nothing like combining two occasions! Or marrying two families (and estates!). This sounds like a novel waiting to happen.

Her hair is amazing! Reminds me of a Bettie Page cut. Or Beyonce in Videophone. (I had to go there... and bring this blog to the 21st century!)

I actually like the groom's hair more than the bride's here! And a white suit too.

The sleeve detail here is impeccable.

I debated whether or not to include the many photos of wedding anniversaries and vow renewals I came across, and decided that it would be crazy not to! Marriage doesn't begin and end once the ceremony is complete, and it's heartening to see couples like the Claytons above having celebrated 25 years together.

This is the first of many military weddings to be featured in this series. The bride and groom exiting the threshold and entering their new life together flanked by the bridegroom's fellow servicemen is a powerful image, especially in the case of these photographs, with couples of color attended by brave members of the military of every race.

The volume of interracial marriages featured will probably shock a lot of people. They shocked me! Loving v. Virginia took place in 1967, and these photos predate that case by 12 years. Just goes to show that love knows no color, no era, and abides no man's unjust law.

Up next: Vintage 1960s ads from Pepsi, three new dresses on sale from b.vikki vintage, and vintage black wedding photos from the late 1950s. After that we'll be out of the 1950s and into the 1960s... meaning more color photos. And you can really see a shift in the gown styles.

Thanks for reading!

=)

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