I thought today's post should be done in honor of Barbara Billingsley, who I'm sure you all remember for her role as repressed housewife June Cleaver on the 1950's-'60s tv show Leave it to Beaver. R.I.P, Miss B. We'll miss you!
Barbara's fashion style on Leave it to Beaver was upper middle class, but not flashy or too "money" (she was "just" a housewife and mom, after all). She rocked smart, matching shirtdress and cardigan sets and the ubiquitous (and now cliche) pearls like nobody's business!
It wasn't an easy feat to find a classic shirtdress with a novelty print that wasn't *too* nutty or over the top for today's post, as her character never would've worn anything too bold, but I think I found just the thing (and how much it resembles her dress in the pic above is kinda cool), this Vintage 50's Butterfly and Pocket Watch Novelty Print Dress, available on Etsy from seller Our Tea Party, for a mere 40 bucks!:
I admit I never knew too much about Miss B and her acting career outside of Leave it to Beaver, though I recall her small but WAY sassy bit part on an episode of the tv show Roseanne in the '90s. But my favorite is, of course, her *ingenious* role as the jive talkin' old white broad on Airplane! ("Stewardess, I speak jive."). She was ahead of her time in those unexpected comedic roles, long before Betty White became, well, Betty White. And so I leave you with these final thoughts, immortalised by Miss Jive Talker herself: "Chump don' wan' no help, chump don' GET da help!"
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Great dress, and what a bargain!
ReplyDeleteLovely Fall dress!
ReplyDeleteOh, I had missed the news that Barbara Billingsley passed away...very sad. June Cleaver would have looked so lovely in the dress you picked out...
ReplyDeleteThat Airpline jive talking clip is so funny. I hadn't seen it in years! Thanks for sharing.
Oh no, I somehow missed that Barbara Billingley passed away! :(
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post you've written in her honor! And amazing that you found just the right dress too! Thank you for sharing. :)