girly, glamorous, vintage goodness

When I was a senior in high school, we were required to choose a "dream career", find a mentor in that field and spend a week shadowing them.

While my fellow classmates were off working in their dad's law firms or their veterinarian's office, I had loftier goals. Goals that included glamour, art and fashion {and ,yes, I'm sure a lot of navel gazing}. The choice was easy: I'll be a fashion illustrator

And so I spent a week, in the art department of Wolf Brothers department store. I was allowed to do a little pen and ink work, given some pointers, but mostly I'm not sure they knew what to do with me.

So I sat at my little table in the corner, worked on sketches, tried not to be pesty and at the end of the week, had a nice little portfolio to show for my presentation.

I did end up studying illustration in college, but even in those days, the art of fashion illustration was becoming a lost art. Lost to clip art and computer generated image. Already, a vintage art form.

these days, vintage fashion illustration is a great, affordable art form.

En masse, on a wall, in a dressing room, a bedroom or over an ornate console in a living room.

Beautiful, spare, broad strokes made with a spartan color palette, efficiently conveying the fluid movement of fabric over the strength of a body.

girly, glamorous, vintage goodness.

I'm particularly smitten with the art of bay area artist Marjorie Ullberg. Ulberg, illustrated fashions for San Francisco bay area, department stores such as H. Liebes and Neiman Marcus from 1946-1954. Her work was published in local papers as well as national.

original Ulbergs can be purchased, at the Lost Art Salon in San Francisco.

all images by Marjorie Ulberg from

Lost Art Salon245

245 Van Ness, Ste303

San Francisco, ca

415-861-1530