It‘s a fair question. For starters, my name is Deirdre and it’s a blog filled with food and mid century inspired style. I see why you might be confused if you’re new here.
Let's start at the last part: Bettie. Again, if you’re new here, I love pretty much all things vintage/retro, but that span of time between WWII and the pop art Mod style that took hold in the mid 1960s is by far my favorite. I love everything about it; the music, the movies, the tv shows, the clothes, the furniture, the décor, even the cheesy advertisements. I can’t put into words why I love the Atomic Age so much, its kind of like trying to explain why puppies are cute, I just know it when I see it.
I know, I know, my love of that era still doesn’t totally explain why “Bettie.”
There were a lot of icons in the post war era that we still love today, people like Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn were very chic women that were the very essence of class, but I am definitely not an Audrey or a Grace.
I have a framed print of Marilyn Monroe that hangs on the wall across from my bed, so she greets me every morning. But despite her being someone I have loved (and found occasional style inspiration in) I am not a Marilyn either.
Lucille Ball is one of my favorite women EVER (and I really love badass women, which she definitely was) and I consider her one of my major inspirations in life itself, but, despite my red hair, I am unfortunately not a Lucy either.
Nope, I am none of those women. I am definitely a Bettie Page. Bettie Page was fun loving, always has a smile, sometimes naïve, knows how to be downright sexy (or dirty, don't judge me) when she needs to be, and never taking anything too seriously. You could say I am a "scrape" (if you haven't seen Crybaby, the John Waters movie, go watch it, then we can talk, and you'll know what a "scrape" is.) Bettie Page is an icon of the rockabilly culture, which is just where I feel comfortable, girly but not too prissy, never to be overlooked, a little edgy and again, always having fun. Oh, and yes, she is the reason for my bangs, because she wore them best.
I would guess it may be obvious, but lets talk about the "Modern" part, because I think it's important.
I will never be that girl that says "I was born in the wrong era" because I wasn't. If anything, I was just born with an eccentric choice of style, and I like it that way. That being said, as beautiful as things looked in the Atomic Era, I absolutely don't want to have lived there, it looks nice but I know not everything was as shiny and pretty as it might seem when we look back on it.
Lets be brutally honest here, bigotry was rampant. America was run by straight white men, and they liked keeping it that way. Every woman, person of color and LGBTQ person were marginalized. Yes, today has it's problems, but it is leaps and bounds beyond those of the 1950's.
I have no desire to live in a world that is less tolerant than ours today. I am not a person of color nor do I identify as LGBTQ, but I do firmly believe in their rights, and the hippie in me believes we should love and respect everyone, regardless of their DNA. (Look, I just said I was a hippie in a post about loving the Atomic Age, see, I really do love all vintage eras!)
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I like technology! I like air conditioning being standard, and I like modern medicine, I like watching a movie whenever I want and I like power seats in my car. Most of all, I like the internet. Who doesn't? We can connect with old friends, learn new things and shop from wherever we want, they didn't have that in the Atomic Age!
So, there you have it, I'm Modern because I like life in the 21st century, but I am totally a Bettie because I love the aesthetic and entertainment of mid-century America.
Which mid-century/post war/Atomic Age icon do you identify with? Leave me a comment or come see me on Facebook and Twitter!
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