People tend to think of Marilyn Monroe as the ultimate blonde bombshell that changed the course of blonde history. However, she really wasn't the first absolutely stunning, peroxide lady to enthrall the cinema going mobs. Not by a long shot. Being a blonde, myself, and a complete addict of old glam Hollywood, I thought I should start off my Vintage page by paying homage to some of these blonde vixens who came before Marilyn.
 1. My all-time favourite would have to be Ginger Rogers. Simply because not only was she damn sassy and sexy, she was also a SUPERB dancer. Nobody could hold a candle to her on the dance floor. As she says: "I did everything Fred could do, but backwards and in heels." She was a prolific and very talented actress. She made a total of 73 films! Check out her hair in the above photo!! OMG to die for. Not to mention those dresses and that amazing dancer's body. |   |
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2. Second is Carole Lombard - an actress who is totally under-rated in my opinion.
She was gorgeous and funny and talented. And she also managed to marry the divine Rhett Butler.
Sadly she died in tragic circumstances, (in a plane crash at the height of her career)...leaving him and the world heartbroken.
She was gorgeous and funny and talented. And she also managed to marry the divine Rhett Butler.
Sadly she died in tragic circumstances, (in a plane crash at the height of her career)...leaving him and the world heartbroken.
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3. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We should really start with the magnificent, marvellous and wonderfully mad Marlene Dietrich.
Not only was she a great actress, but also a superb cabaret and stage performer.
She would often perform the first part of her show in one of her body-hugging dresses and a swansdown coat, and change to top hat and tails for the second half of the performance. She was openly bisexual, loved to cross dress, and only married once. Throughout her career Dietrich had an unending string of affairs, some short-lived, some lasting decades; they often overlapped and were almost all known to her husband, to whom she was in the habit of passing the love letters of her men, sometimes with biting comments!
Favourite quote: "if God exists, he needs to review his plans."
Not only was she a great actress, but also a superb cabaret and stage performer.
She would often perform the first part of her show in one of her body-hugging dresses and a swansdown coat, and change to top hat and tails for the second half of the performance. She was openly bisexual, loved to cross dress, and only married once. Throughout her career Dietrich had an unending string of affairs, some short-lived, some lasting decades; they often overlapped and were almost all known to her husband, to whom she was in the habit of passing the love letters of her men, sometimes with biting comments!
Favourite quote: "if God exists, he needs to review his plans."
 I mean, seriously, has there ever been a cooler woman on the planet? (Falling in love again, what am I to do...)  |   |
4. But, I guess the first true blonde bombshell who totally seduced the world with the raw power of peroxide, was Jean Harlow.
 Jean Harlow was the original blonde bombshell. |  She is not one of my favourites. I think it's mostly because her eyebrows are terrifying, but also she kind of always looks unwell. Which makes sense when you think she died of kidney failure at the tragically young age of 26. To give her her due, she really set a standard with that peroxide and created the classic bombshell look that still makes us all weak at the knees (think Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera). |
5. And then there is Betty Grable. Something very doll-like about her. She was renowned for having the best legs in Hollywood and was the number one pin up girl in WWII. Her life was relatively sane and demure compared with some of the others.
Check out how sweet and round (and not overly long) her legs actually were. Times sure have changed!
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6. Next up is Lana Turner. Extraordinary features and totally AMAZING skin. Hot, hot, hot.
 | But oh baby, Lana Turner had the most tumultuous life of all. She was well known inside Hollywood circles for dating often, changing partners often, and for never shying away from the topic of how many lovers she had in her lifetime. She described her life as a "series of emergencies". She married 7 times and endured a lot of scandal... including having her daughter stab one of her lovers to death ! |  |
7. And lastly, but not leastly, there is the Queen of sultry, Veronica Lake. Tall, blonde and with cheekbones that could cut you.
The public loved her, but she was apparently renowned for being extremely difficult to work with.
She only married four times, but struggled with mental illness and alcoholism all her life, the poor thing.
The public loved her, but she was apparently renowned for being extremely difficult to work with.
She only married four times, but struggled with mental illness and alcoholism all her life, the poor thing.
And then there is Veronica Lake. Probably the most sultry of the lot.
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 | Then came Marilyn. But she deserves a post all to herself. (To be continued...) |
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