elizabeth taylor in giant

Elizabeth Taylor in giant 1956
Born February 27, 1932 - March 23, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor one of my all time favorite actresses, passed away Thursday, March 23/11. She was a stylish glamourous women on and off the screen with a very big of heart. 
Not only was she a magnificent international film star but a great humanitarian. 
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London on Feb. 27, 1932, the daughter of Francis Taylor, an art dealer, and the former Sara Sothern, an American stage actress.
Movie career: Her more than 50 movies included unforgettable portraits of innocence and of decadence, from the children's classic "National Velvet" to the sentimental family comedy "Father of the Bride." She won Oscars for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8," and a special one for her humanitarian work.
One of my favorite movies, which she starred in, was Giant.  Elizabeth Taylor received top billing in Giant and plays an intelligent, compassionate, yet resolute woman who refuses to be a subordinate to men. This was the mid-1950s, and portrayals of independent women were extremely rare to come by in movies.  

Poster

paper dolls from the 50's

Elizabeth Taylor, 1950

Above and blow are some cutouts which I found on a web this morning reminding me of my youth.   Did you ever play with paper dolls?
 Not having the money to purchase store bought cutouts, I along with a friend, who also enjoyed drawing costume fashion would often draw a figure of a woman then design and draw the cloths for the paper dolls.  Our imaginations carried us from the 50's back to the days of knights, princesses and damsels in distress.  Later in life when my two little girls took an interest in paper doll cutouts I would make some for them. It wasn't long before they too took an interest in drawing and designing their own paper dolls. 
Now young girls play with Barbies. Interesting how the material things change but the concept of playing with dolls and using our imaginations has stayed the same throughout the passing of time.

Debbie Reynolds, 1953 

 

Betty Grable, 1953