I am pleased to announce that I have finally found a new job that will give me more time to dedicate to this blog. I’m not sure who has missed it more: me, my fans or my mother.

Nonetheless, once the weather returns to the double digits, my trusty camera and I will make our way around this fair city to get some new shots of old things. Keep checking back! I’ve got a list of amazing places to photograph for you.

On a more selfish note…

My love for mid-century modern extends much further than this blog. It is my life. My house is a time capsule. My dishes are 40 years old. I listen to vinyl on the Silvertone. And my favorite clothing store is Halcyon Vintage.

Recently, it was brought to my attention that my favorite TV show, “Mad Men,” was holding a casting call for a walk-on role on the show. After the urging of many friends, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. In order to be considered to be part of the show, I have receive enough votes to be in the top 10 women.

Here’s where the shameless promotion comes in….I am asking everyone and their grandfather to vote for me and help spread the word. I promise if I get in I won’t let Richmond down!

You don’t have to sign up for anything to vote. Just simply click this link.

Here’s my photo of me lounging on my MCM couch! And thanks in advance!

Last month, I posted about the allure of the femme fatale and mentioned the upcoming Twilight Images film noir shoot.

Well, the shoot was last weekend and it was AMAZING! As requested by Retro Richmond reader Declan, here’s a sneak peak of one of the girls from this shoot — with hair and make-up provided by yours truly!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

This photo is inspired by this Greta Garbo photo.

When most people think about the women of the 1940s and 1950s, they think about the Betty Grable pin-up girl or the Marilyn Monroe sex symbol. While I love both of those ladies (especially Marilyn) and the genres they represent, I want to take a moment to pay homage to the mysterious, seductive and deadly women — the femmes fatales.

These are the ladies who will capture your heart and poison your drink! They’re beautiful, sexy and alluring, and bad girls through and through.

In the early 1920s, the femme fatale was portrayed more as a vampiress. Theda Bara was perhaps the most famous vamp of them all. But with the increase in popularity of film noir in the 1940s and 1950s came a growing interest in the femmes fatales. Unlike the femmes of the 1920s, this new breed of heroines were cunning and curvaceous and played by stars such as Carole Landis, Rita Hayworth, Gene Tierney, Veronica Lake, Hedy Lamarr, Joan Crawford, Lauren Bacall and, one of my favorites, Jane Russell.

Recently, I’ve been working a lot with Melody Smith of Twilight Images, a photography studio in Hopewell, to create some modern-day femmes fatales. Melody’s work is amazing and it has been a privilege to work with her. For those who are interested, you can check out some of our work together in my portfolio.

As a hair and make-up artist, I’m always behind-the-scenes. But yesterday I moved from behind the camera to in front of it, to become a modern-day femme fatale!

Here are a few images from our shoot together:

(My Joan Crawford face)

On a side note, Twilight Images will be doing its first-ever themed group photo session Saturday, Aug. 16. It will be a film noir theme. Contact Melody at twilightimages@gmail.com for more information and price.