Happy Friday! As you may, or may not know, I live on a farm on a small acreage. I currently have 3 horses with another 2 arriving shortly. My horse, Carson, is a rescue from Circle F Horse Rescue. He is a gorgeous boy and quite the handful! He spent five successful years on the track, racing under the name Big Manila (yes, really) and is descended from Northern Dancer and Native Dancer. Following his career on the track, he was trained as a Hunter Jumper but was injured a number of years later and found himself at the horse rescue when his young owner could no longer show him and afford to pay for both his keep and her university tuition. To make a long story short, I fell in love with this gentle giant and adopted him. He's had a lazy year as I've been working a lot, but little does he know, he's going to be spending a good chunk of time getting back into shape this spring!
This is probably one of the most ridiculous faces I've ever managed to have caught on film (the phrase "ooooh...horsey...soft" is going through my head apparently...) Thanks for the pic Jess!
Charliehorse is my second horse. He was given to me by a friend who had bought him from the auction. Following a horsey acting stint in Doctor Dolittle 3, he was sent to auction by his trainer and was thankfully bought by Shawn who learned to ride on him and who passed him on to me when he found himself with three horses and no spare time. Charliehorse and Carson are the best of friends and spend their pasture time chasing each other around and generally causing a ruckus...and occasionally leaving a trail of superficial, bite related injuries, located primarily on Charliehorse's big head.
My sweet girl Angel is our third horse. She came to us as the result of a frantic email from a friend of mine. Apparently this little mare was due to be put down on the following Monday (it was Saturday when the email came) and my friend was asking if I had any room on the farm to keep her until a permanent home could be found. Needless to say, she arrived that day...and never left. We fell in love with her calm and gentle disposition and even though she's an old girl, I'm sure she's got a number of years left. I just adore this little horse! (Ignore the "Feb 83" on the photo - it was taken with a Hipstamatic filter that adds retro dates to the prints, although she was probably born only a few years after this date...sneaky Hipstamatic.)
The profiles of the other two horses who have yet to arrive will have to wait until a later date as I need to get to know them before I attempt to regale you with their antics, although they come with the unfortunate names Fila and Reebok, which should be a good indicator of future shenanigans, as I feel that one can't be boring when named after sneakers.
Anyhoo...you may be wondering what all of this horsiness has to do with Fifties Friday. Well, as I currently do most of my barn chores in non-vintage appropriate barn gear (read: yoga pants and hoodies) I started thinking about making myself a vintagey barn wardrobe as I do tend to spend a good chunk of my day doing barn and farm stuff.
As I searched around looking for images to inspire me, I fell in love with images of these gorgeous Fifties cowgirls, some are real cowgirls and some are actresses in cowgirl garb, but I think you'll agree that the inspiration they provide is wonderful!
Source
Red lips matching her hat, scarf and the stripes on her blouse? A perfect example of Fifties colour co-ordination.
I love the fabric this cowgirl's shirt is made of, it looks like it's a print of old ranch brands! Add the pearlized snaps on the cuffs and the embroidery and it's vintage farmgirl perfection.
Source: Unknown - please let me know if you're familiar with it
Riding in a western skirt and cowboy boots? I don't know if I'm up to the challenge, but I love the photo!
Actress Susan Hayward. I love this look and have already started thinking of patterns I own that could be used to recreate it. Absolutely gorgeous!
The green studded belt matching both the green bow in her hair and the green piping on her shirt provide endless inspiration. Now...what are my chances of finding such a belt?
Buttery yellow and warm red are one of my favourite colour combinations. I also love seeing blondes with Palomino horses...will my adoration of colour co-ordination know no bounds? It's not the reason that one of our new horses is a chestnut who matches my reddish hair...really it's not.
I hope you've enjoyed this journey into the Wild West, vintage style. I'd love to hear which of the photos is your favourite and I'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on the creation of my vintage farmgirl wardrobe.
Happy Trails!
xox Elle
