How To Make Chrome Shine With Coke and Aluminum! Restoring Chrome Mid-Century to its Finest

I just love Chrome! And if your into the Mid-Century Modern aesthetic, you'll find that it was used everywhere from cars to kitchens and baths and even in clothing and accessories.

More often than not, the chrome pieces I find are covered in rust. Here's a cheap, effect, and fun way to remove the rust and polish vintage chrome.

The cola & aluminum foil method - used on a freshly picked 1930s Sunbeam Model T-9 Toaster:

1. Wad up a larger piece of foil. 

2. Dip the aluminum in coke (water does the trick too) and rub the aluminum in a circular motion.  A fine 'paste' will form. 

3. Once the surface feels nice and smooth and you've wiped the gunk off, you can use a new piece of foil to get as much shine as you like. 

Don't waste your time with a severely pitted pieces as the rust has likely eaten down through the chrome to the bare metal. Smooth it down as much as you can with steel wool then use the aluminum foil method to remove as much rust as possible.

The aluminum foil method also works pretty well on steel.

How it works: Aluminum oxide is harder than steel, and the microscopic grains of aluminum oxide produced during the cleaning process creates a fine metal polishing compound which, mixed with the coke you added, a mild acid, creates a paste that smoothes and polishes the chrome surface. This gets rid of surface rust very quickly and is a trick that's been used by vintage bicycle and motorbike enthusiasts for years. Also tested and proven effective on Mythbusters. 

More Coke and aluminum restorations....

before

  

after 

MCM Chrome Scissor Lamp

before 

after

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/Merletto?ref=si_shop

Channeling the Tropics from Vintage Hawaiian Shaheens and the Mexican Circle Skirt to the Retro Tropical Playsuit or Sarong Repro: There is a Perfect Tropical Look for Everyone!

alfred shaheen, alfred shaheen, alfred shaheen, alfred shaheen, alfred shaheen, 1940s dress, 1950s dress, tiki party

With the weather getting warmer every day, it’s time to start channeling the tropics into your wardrobe. Whether you’re throwing a Tiki Party, having a picnic at the beach, or going out for cocktails, vintage garb with an equatorial feel is sure to be king again this summer.  This season designers from Dior, Versace, Marc Jacobs, and Stella McCartney are going bold with tropical patterns, colors, and shapes to capture the summery island feel.  

Crystal Renn covers the May issue of Vogue Mexico in true pin-up style, wearing a tropical print dress from Salvatore Ferragamo’s spring collection.

 

      Tropical trends for 2012.

202112 on the runways

I am not recommending that women start donning the classic collared short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt, which is difficult to wear unless you’re Elvis.  Same goes for the layers of pattern seen on the catwalk this season suitable only for the editorial world.  So how, you many ask, does one realize this tricky trend with ease, evading the fresh-off-the-jet tourist look? 

 

Late 1940s Pocket Wiggle Skirt Bolero Set from Merletto Vintage  

Model: Mariah Kuykendall 

First and foremost with any vintage or retro ensemble, fit is key. Whether you’re looking for a piece to make you look like a bombshell or more of a Mod Barbie, finding a flattering vintage or retro silhouette for your body type is not as difficult as it seems. Tropical styles from the 1930’s, 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s rank high on my list of tropical must-haves as the classic cuts that come from these decades make it easy to find the perfect look for any body type as well as make an eye-catching, graphic, and deliberate statement. 

 

Shaheen

On finding the tropical vintage or retro piece for your body: For a curvy vixen, the Sarong style dress is my hands-down favorite. This cut and Hawaiian dress incarnation in itself first entered popular culture with Dorothy Lamour's films in the 1930s. Often made of luscious rayons in the 1930’s and 1940’s and in light and airy cottons in the 1950’s, the Sarong cuts as well as the full skirt and nipped waist dress often came in strapless, halter, and spaghetti strap versions. The Sarong and full-skirted tropical dresses are the perfect shape for bombshell pinups as they accommodate a full bust with elastic backing and room for full hips. For those looking to amp their curves, 1940’s tropical prints dresses with pockets, 1950’s wiggle skirts, and dresses featuring mermaid hems are sure to make traffic stop. If you’ve got legs for miles, show them off with a fun short playsuit.  Other classic tropical favorites are the Pake Mu'u and Cheongsam, but be careful girls:  these style dresses often run on the small side. The Mod baby doll shapes from the 1960’s and 1970s’ can do wonders for the long and lean among us.

 Models: Mariah Kuykendall and Katy Starr


Have fun with separates!  Transport yourself to Baja California or Cancun Mexico with the vivid prints on fabulous cotton of 1940’s or 1950's Mexican circle skirts paired with a simple cotton top, a look that is flattering on all body types. Or pair a vintage top such as this 1940’s Cha Cha Mexican souvenir sun top with amazing cut-outs and sequin details with your favorite skinny jean or cropped pant for a look that can be worn day or night. 

 

Cha Cha 1950s Mexican Souvenir Sun Top from Merletto Vintage 

Model: Mariah Kuykendall 

Paying attention to complimentary colors for your skin and hair color is a big factor in making a vintage or retro piece shine for you. Pairing bold prints with complementary colors is also essential. Be bold in classic Hawaiian floral, atomic abstracts, Mexican novelty prints and make it your single statement piece. One is all you need! Play with neutrals and complimentary single tones to highlight and accent your statement piece. Pairing your bold piece with something subtle and chic, from a simple vintage, retro, or repro piece is always an easy means to looking classy.  

Preferring to spend your currency on a tangible holiday to the tropics rather than a vintage collector’s piece is no obstacle to tropical fashion success. Look for tropical styles from the late 1950’s into the 1980’s, sure to be abound this season in vintage stores around the globe. Pay particular attention to those that mimic the classic tropical silhouettes discussed above. Support one of the many etsy vintage style garment makers or craft your own piece with a vintage tropical print fabric and pattern. 

Vintage 80's Rayon Romper from sabrosavintage 

1950s circle skirt from GeronimoVintage

 

 

1950s Raffia Hat and Purse Set

Model: Katy Starr

 

Late 1950s Mermaid Hem Dress - Steal of a deal from Merletto Vintage 

Model: Mariah Kuykendall 

Pinups for Paws

Check out some of the first shots with a new non-profit Merletto Vintage is working with.

Pinups for Paws, helping save paws one pinup at a time! This pinup inspired calendar sports volunteer pinups in 1940's and 1950's outfits and successful rescue animals. All procedes go to local Austin dog rescues.

1950's Little Back Dress

  1950's Fogarty

40's and 50's outfits in the next shoot...

  All dresses can be found in the shop...merletto vintage

Women's Work-wear Fashions of World War II

in up pin-up rockabilly swing WWII style 1940s dress 1940s hair styles

When the United States entered World War II, unprecedented numbers of women entered the ranks of factory workers, helping American industry meet the wartime production demands for planes, tanks, ships, and weapons, as well as filling non war related positions. It was here that the most famous image of female patriotism in World War II emerged, Rosie the Riveter. In 1944, 37 percent of all adult women were employed and comprised 35.4 percent of the civilian labor force.

Rosie the Riveters were largely responsible for keeping the American economy moving forward, and often, these women did it with style. Working male-dominated jobs, many with a labor component, required that many working women don pants, denim, hats, and boots for the first time. 

Many women's work wear outfits consisted of altered civilian clothing. Most women found a way to incorporate their personal, often feminine identity into their work-wear. Some women wore latest hair style, accessory, and often heels. Others preferred to adopt the styles of their male counterparts or sometimes wearing their husbands clothing. 

These working women changed the norms of fashion forever. The masqulization of feminine styles and feminize-ation of traditional male clothing created classics that can be found in every woman's wardrobe today. For the first time, women working in factories and doing other forms of "men's work" wore trousers when the work demanded it. Most importantly, these working women shifted the trajectory of women into the workforce forever. 

While skilled female workers made an average weekly wage of $31.21, skilled male workers earned $54.65 weekly. Regardless of obvious wage divide, between 1943 and 1945 polls indicated that 61 to 85 percent of women workers wanted to keep their jobs after the war (see Hartmann, The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s, 1982). 

Photographs courtesy of The Libraby of Congress Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs -  Compiled photos from for the Office of War Information (OWI) between 1939 and 1944.
 

"Women are trained to do precise and vital engine installation detail in Douglas Aircraft Company plants, Long Beach, Calif."

 

 

"Agnes Cliemka, age 23, married and husband may be going into the service any day."

"American mothers and sisters, like these women at the Douglas Aircraft Company, give important help in producing dependable planes for their men at the front..."

 "...Publicizing salvage campaign in yard of Douglas Aircraft Company."

 

 

 

"Lunchtime brings Sand bags for protection against air raid form the background."

 

"One of the girls of Vilter [Manufacturing] Co. filing small gun parts."

 

 "Mrs. Dorothy Lucke, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa."

 

"Women wipers of the Chicago and North Western Railroad cleaning one of the giant locomotives..."

 This compilation included some snap shots of women that did not get the chance to work for their country. "Japanese-American camp, war emergency evacuation, [Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, Calif."

Get the look...

Make your own 1940s Jumpsuit

 

Vintage 1940s White Perforated Oxford 

 

1940's navy blue deep pocketed dress 

 

WWII Era Brown and Charcoal 49er Jacket  

Vintage Retro Pinup Hair Snood Crocheted from 1940's Design 

 

Handmade dress by Brightest Star Sea Foam Blue Green Stripes Wrap around dress S/M French ticking Cotton 

 

 1940's Dark Indigo Denim High Waisted Wide Leg Side Zip Jeans

 1940s Jumpsuit

 

Vintage Pinup Plaid Blouse 

 

Vintage 1940's WWII Era Gingham Dress