· Polka Dot Day! ·

Three years ago, Kathryn, Tara, Gretel, and I decided to start doing the "Decade Project"- an excuse to get the 4 of us dressed up in the same decade and make an occasion out of it with a photo shoot and ice cream. :-)

Our plan was to start at the 1950s and work back a decade each year.  Last year was the 1940s, however a few members *ahem* of the group are a little reluctant for the 1930s and our plans for a winter shoot never worked out.  But after looking at our 1950s pictures from 3 years ago, we felt like we could improve upon it in several ways. (of course, we feel like that with our 1940s pictures too, but I think that will happen with every shoot!)  We felt like we should just keep going with the original schedule, but when we all had 1950s polka-dot dresses and were already all in one place, it just begged to happen anyway. ;-)

The first stop of the day was Steak 'n' Shake, due to their period-inspired decor! :-)  We had quite the captive audience when we walked in, unsurprisingly. ;-)

After our burgers and fries we needed our traditional ice cream, so we ordered milkshakes up at the bar!  They were so good, and we all had a blast!

(Got to love that photo-bombing waiter!  He wanted to be in on the fun. ;-))

And then it was on to the next part of our outing, and the part we had been planning for a while!  When we do photo shoots, we typically can't think of poses so we decided to take our inspiration from period sources. ;-)

For the remainder of the Decade Project we had decided to go with more historically-accurate posing, so we looked up era-appropriate ads that featured 4 people from the 1950s.  It ended up being not too terribly difficult to find more than enough!  Yet another reason to love Pinterest.... ;-)

This picture was hilariously accurate of our personalities, so it was a must-recreate!  Tara has a dog, Gretel is OK with dogs, but Kathryn and I both have a marked disdain for all canines.  The fact that we were supposed to look unimpressed only required partial acting. ;-)

The downside to these photos was that it was just the 4 of us out there.  Consequently there was a lot of running back and forth (in heels....) to start the camera timer!  Lots of bloopers were the inevitable result. ;-)

We also only had a phone to look up the reference images, so if hands are slightly off or eyes are looking in the wrong direction, I blame that. ;-)

We just used whatever areas we could find around town that were out of the way, so this one was a bit of a challenge!  The staircase was a bit narrower than the original, so we really had to squeeze in!

All in all, it was a fun experiment and I look forward to doing it again and honing our technique. ;-)  Also, a photographer and a posing assistant would be most welcome additions!

When Gretel and I were up visiting Kathryn and Tara in June, we first noticed the Polka-Dot Dress Phenomenon that had struck us all.  Gretel's and Kathryn's were already complete, I had brought my navy dress to finish, and Tara had aqua fabric and red ricrac that were waiting for inspiration!  Coordinating 1950s polka-dot dresses positively beg for a photo shoot! ;-)

I think it's fun that we all ended up serendipitously having different colors AND different sized polka dots!

The best of friends. :-)  Thanks for doing such fun stuff with us!!!

Aaaand, if that wasn't enough fun for one day the local cruise night started up just as we were finishing our photos!  Naturally we stopped by and looked around.  And took photos next to our favorites. :-)

Loved the detailing on this one, and it was such a pretty creamy yellow color!

We had lots of car owners wanting to take our pictures with their cars, but sadly no one offered to give us their car as a present...  Maybe next time. ;-)

· Photos by Kathryn ·