Sunny Hartnett

My favorite model of the 1950s is Sunny Hartnett.   As a blonde in a sea of dark-haired models, she really stood out.  I think she was an absolutely gorgeous woman.  Her name is so fitting for the lightness she radiated in her photos.  Here are a few of my favorites from my etsy shop:

 Vogue USA 

January 1, 1956

Listing # 70392128 

 Vogue USA

January 1, 1956

Listing # 70388559

 

Vogue USA

March 1, 1956

Etsy Listing # 69439071

She was born in New York in 1924, and given the name of Annemarie Margot Harnett. She had a very successful modeling career throughout the 1950s and upon retiring, became an assistant to Eileen Ford of Ford Models.  This photograph of her wearing a Madame Gres gown was taken by Richard Avedon in 1954 and is an absolute icon:

1930s girl with a big red hat and sunglasses

Girl with Big Red Hat and Sunglasses

Harpers Bazaar 

June 1935

Etsy Listing #64225470

 A hat big as a parasol of very rough straw, with a white tassle dripping over one side and white cords to tie securely under your chin or under your wavy locks.  Marvelous for the beach because it shades even the tip of your nose and (because of an efficient cord) can't possibly manage to blow off. 

Pierre Cardin Pale Pink Wool Coat with Matching Hat

Pierre Cardin
Pink Wool Coat with Matching Hat
L'Officiel de La Couture et de la Mode de Paris
 March 1961
Etsy Listing #69668574

Cardin was known for his avant garde style and his Space Age designs. He prefers geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex  fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.

Cardin moved to Paris in 1945. There, he studied architecture and worked with Jeanne Paquin after the war. He worked with Elsa Schiaparelli until he became head of Christian Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at Balenciaga.

Cardin founded his own house in 1950. His career was launched when he designed about 30 of the costumes for "the party of the century", a masquerade ball at Palazzo Labia in Venice on 3 September 1951, hosted by the palazzo's owner, Carlos de Beistegui. He began with haute couture in 1953.