Crazy4Me - The Modern Bombshell Lifestyle by: Yasmina Greco

Vintage Fashion, Mid-Century Modern, Collectibles, and Everything in Between

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Have Yourself a Mid-Mod Christmas

December 23, 2020 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco Mid-Century Modern Christmas Philco Predicta Television
Yasmina Greco Mid-Century Modern Christmas Philco Predicta Television

Holiday wishes and mistletoe kisses, Merry Christmas everyone!! Hope you all are staying safe and healthy. It’s Christmas time once again!!

I can’t believe the weeks have flown by; I tell my hubby Gary that ever since Thanksgiving it has all been a blur to me and it’s gone by so fast. So I really can’t believe that this is post five in our  six-part Vintage Christmas Collecting Series and, I think one of my favorite posts because not only are we talking about the key elements of a mid-century modern Christmas but also sharing holiday fashions from the 1950s-1960s with me as your festive model.

Retro Aluminum Christmas Trees:

Yasmina Greco Retro Christmas Aluminum Tree
Yasmina Greco Retro Christmas Aluminum Tree

You really can’t have a mid-mod Christmas without an aluminum tree. These are artificial trees that were made in the late 1950s to the mid 1960s and came in a variety of sizes with aluminum branches and needles. Some trees even have pom poms on the ends of their branches like my darling little aluminum tree in these photos. True vintage aluminum trees from the 50s-60s are a very hot collectible (and seem to be getting hotter every year) so prices are up there and you can pick up a vintage aluminum tree run from around $175 to over a thousand dollars, especially if they are colored aluminum like teal or green trees. There are companies today making reproduction aluminum trees in multi colors as well as kitschy pink trees at reasonable prices if a true vintage tree is out of reach. 

Vintage Color Wheels:

Yasmina Greco Mid-Century Modern Christmas
Yasmina Greco Mid-Century Modern Christmas

Retro aluminum trees are lighted up by a color wheel. I have one sitting on the floor right behind me in the above photo. The color wheel turns and shines colored light onto the tree and it really is lovely with the way the colors reflect off of the tinsel branches. You can find true vintage color wheels at antique shops and on Etsy and eBay for around $50-$300 with their original boxes and in working condition. Sometimes the cords/plugs need to be rewired for today’s standards so proceed with caution when you plugin a true vintage color wheel. 

Vintage Shiny Brite Ornaments:

Yasmina Greco Shiny Brite Ornaments
Yasmina Greco Shiny Brite Ornaments

Now that our Mid-Century Modern Christmas tree is up and has lights, we need to decorate it. Ornaments made by Shiny Brite are my personal favorite and were made in the 40s-60s by ornament maker Max Eckardt who also started the Shiny Brite company in the late 1930s. Shiny Brite ornaments are a little different than the glass ornaments made during this time frame in that they are made of glass that has a special coating of silver nitrate and that makes them stay shiny much longer than the other ornaments from the era. True vintage Shiny Brite ornaments can have stenciling with Christmas scenes and words, the ornaments are usually brightly colored and can have sparkly mica flakes for embellishment and, they have a gold topper (can darker over the years) that is stamped “Shiny Brite Made in USA”.

Shiny Brite ornaments were made in a variety of sizes and box designs. Today, many vintage enthusiasts collect the boxes as the shapes and graphics make for wonderful additions to holiday decor and displays and add a sense of nostalgia. You can find vintage Shiny Brite ornaments in antique shops and online, an original box full ornaments in great condition can cost approx. $100 but you can find these ornaments regularly, especially during the holidays and right after (antique shops tend to have amazing bargain sales right after Christmas) and it is a great time to buy them. Single ornaments can cost $10-$25 depending on the decoration. Store your Shiny Brites with care as they are still made of glass and not shatter proof. 

Vintage Shiny Brite Christmas Ornaments
Vintage Shiny Brite Christmas Ornaments

Mid-Century Modern Fashions:

Yasmina Greco Vintage Bombshell
Yasmina Greco Vintage Bombshell

Novelty prints were incredibly popular in the 1950s-1960s and nothing screams Mid-Mod Christmas more than holiday novelty prints on dresses, tops and skirts. I adore fashions from the 50s-60s, the Pinup Girl era because they are incredibly flattering, especially on a curvy girl. I love how they nip in your waist and have full circle skirts. You can add a petticoat for additional fluffiness. The outfits I am wearing in these photographs are not true vintage but reproductions as today we are fortunate to have a handful of companies making these styles from true vintage patterns and they are size inclusive (not tiny sizes like like they were in the era) The harlequin diamond pattern (pictures above) was widely seen on clothing in the 50s-60s and I absolutely love my red and green harlequin top and matching circle skirt. 

Also, the fun holiday prints on these dresses features in this post are so colorful and I just love getting dolled up in them. 

Yasmina Greco Retro Christmas Fashion
Yasmina Greco Retro Christmas Fashion

This novelty print ornament skirt is one of absolute favorites!! I adore the bright emerald green color and how all the ornaments are done in jeweled tones. My top is a very bombshell style from the 1950s and pairs perfectly with this skirt for one fabulous holiday outfit. 

Yasmina Greco Vintage Bombshell Pinup GIrl
Yasmina Greco Vintage Bombshell Pinup Girl

Here’s a fun party dress that is very on point with the Pinup look. It is my denim blue dress with metallic flourishes, three quarter sleeves and a skirt that makes me want to twirl and twirl. I love the feminine details of the dress with the dainty and slim neckline and nipped wait. 

Yasmina Greco Vintage Christmas Old Hollywood Pinup
Yasmina Greco Vintage Christmas Old Hollywood Pinup

As I mentioned, there are a few companies making these reproduction outfits in a wide range of sizes along with shoes and accessories so let me know if you’d be interested in a post and, you can pop over to my Instagram @crazy4me and see many more outfits of mine and how I style them.

Mid-Century Modern Television

As we wrap up our post, we need a Christmas movie to watch on our Philco Predicta Television set. 

Yasmina Greco Mid-Century Modern Christmas Philco Predicta Television
Yasmina Greco Mid-Century Modern Christmas Philco Predicta Television

The Philco Predicta television is a dynamite looking mid-century marvel that was produced for a short time from 1958-1960 and boy-oh boy were we excited when we wandered into a local antique mall and bam, there it stood, and in working condition too. Our Philco swivel-screen consolette is just amazing and it sits right in our living room. The Predicta originally came in five colors and ours is the vermillion red color and it is complete with a shelf and brass legs. I really love the style of the Predicta as there is really nothing like it today. The picture quality is exactly what you might expect from a late 1950s television but the fact that it is still working is incredible. During the holidays we really enjoy turning it on and watching Christmas movies from yesteryear and it fills us with plenty of good cheer. There are a few folks around the country that actually do restoration work on these tvs and can get them back up and running for you so do an internet search to locate them. Restored working models can run $1,200+.

Upcoming Vintage Christmas Collecting Series:

  • Collecting vintage NOEL Christmas candleholders, figurines, and bells – November 27, 2020
  • Vintage Holt-Howard Christmas collectibles
  • Pretty Ladies – Vintage Christmas Head Vases and Planters
  • Collecting vintage Christmas angels
  • Have yourself a Mid-Mod Christmas
  • Collecting vintage Christmas year-round – January 2, 2021

Join our Vintage Kitschy Christmas Facebook Group and show off your favorite vintage Christmas collections, displays, thrifting and junking scores. 

Merry Christmas everyone!!

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Collecting 1950s Vintage Spaghetti Poodle Figurines

July 7, 2020 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco Spaghetti Poodle Collection 1950s

Today I am sharing one of my passions with you all and it has to do with collecting vintage spaghetti Poodles. The poodles in these pictures are all part of my personal collection and I adore their kitschy cuteness and how they make me smile. These vintage poodles also fit my Pinup and Mid-Century Modern vibe perfectly. My favorite spaghetti poodles are the three on the tray that have glasses and bows and are made by Norcrest in Japan in the 1950s and the little Christmas poodles that spell out ‘NOEL’ made by Lipper & Mann in the 50s. My collection includes poodle lipstick holders, poodle planters and vases.

UPDATE: You can ready about my collections on a recently published piece in the Antique Trader

Norcrest Napco Lefton Spaghetti Poodle Collection 1950s

This post is all about going back to the 1950s of yesteryear when kitschy cute Poodles were all the rage. Poodle motifs came in a variety of items from poodle skirts and sweaters to table linens and decorative collectible figurines like the spaghetti poodle. Ceramic artists in the late 40s-50s came up with a new technique to mimic the poodle’s fur known as “spaghetti art ware” and it ignited a frenzy for spaghetti poodles.

Spaghetti art wear is made from clay, porcelain, and ceramic which is applied as “fur” to form various textures of a poodle’s hairdo. To accomplish the spaghetti look, ceramicists and designers would have different techniques like using tea strainers to push the material through to form strands that were then attached to the poodle giving it a pom-pom look or they would swirl it onto to the poodle for a curly look. The spaghetti is very fragile and tends to break or chip over the years.

Norcrest Napco Lefton Spaghetti Poodle Collection 1950s Yasmina Greco

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5 Tips for Collecting Lefton Vintage Bluebirds

May 20, 2020 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco Lefton Bluebirds Topline Import Bluebirds
Yasmina Greco Lefton Bluebirds and Topline Import Bluebirds

Today on the blog I am sharing some of my very favorite vintage bluebird collectibles with you all. Back when eBay and Etsy were all the rage for antiques and collectibles I was a PowerSeller (a rating eBay had for their PowerSeller program where sellers needed to consistently sell a significant volume of items and provide a high level of service to their buyers to achieve this rating) and I sold many vintage bluebirds to collectors all over the world. It wasn’t until I came across a bluebird sugar jar from the Topline Imports company that I actually had an emotional reaction. I had listed the sugar jar and it sold within minutes and after a few days I found that I could not stop looking at the pictures I had of the item and that lil’ birdies cute face. I was so sad I sold her. I didn’t start collecting these adorable blue birds till years later and now they are the pride and joy of my collection.

NOTE: You can read about my collections here at Antique Trader Magazine

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Under the Sea: Collecting Vintage 1950s Mermaids and Fish

May 18, 2019 By: Fan

Yasmina Greco Vintage Mermaid Collection Crazy4Me
Yasmina Greco Vintage Mermaid Collection Crazy4Me

I am having a grand time enjoying my vintage mermaid and fish collection. These pictures are some of my collection I wanted to share with you. 1950s mermaids are so fabulously retro and kitschy that I am completely obsessed with them and have spent years scouring antique shops, flea markets, estate sales and online market places for the hopes of finding one of these rare sirens of the sea.

Yasmina Greco Vintage Mermaid Collection Crazy4Me
Yasmina Greco Vintage Mermaid Collection Lefton Norcrest

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