MessyNessy

Vintage Spanx! Before & After

Before Spanx, there was the girdle (not to be confused with the corset). The buttock, stomach, thigh and torso-slimming garment was worn by just about every woman until the 1960s and was cleverly advertised  using all types of tactics including before & afters photographs and peer pressure. The trickeries of the before & after format […]

Florence Nightingale’s Rival was a Fearless Transgender Man the World Forgot

The secret life of Dr. James Miranda Barry would make one hell of a movie. This remarkable character would spend decades working as a pioneering military surgeon for the British Army, travelling the world, reforming entire healthcare systems and fighting the corner of society’s undesirables. In Africa, Barry performed one of the first successful C-sections

Interview with a Parisian Burlesque Dancer

Pssst! You’ve stumbled across content that is exclusive to Nessy’s Keyholders. There’s a new way to access the really special stuff from Messy Nessy Chic … Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration,  collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and

Sophia vs Jayne: The OTHER Photos Behind That Sideways Glare

I had always thought Sophia’s disapproving look in this iconic photograph taken by Delmar Watson was a perfectly captured moment of female jealousy. Mansfield to me was the carefree blonde and Loren, the feisty brunette. But of course, most of us have only seen this moment from one angle. There were other photographs taken that night

1970s Fashion: London Reacts to the Platform Shoe

More evidence of the fashion apocalypse that was the 1970s! “I don’t know what they do to your feet but the manufacturers and the fashion editors say, ‘Not to worry, they look great‘”. (This must be how the brainwashing started). A vintage documentary from the archives of British Pathé, rounded up some Londoners for a

Paradise Lost: The Hippie Refugee Camp

Let me tell you about a place called Taylor Camp, a tropical ocean-front utopia without rules, politics or bills to pay. Anti-establishment all the way, clothing was optional and decisions were made according to the “vibes”. It was the ultimate hippie fantasy. Taylor Camp began in the Spring of 1969, with thirteen hippies seeking refuge

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 663)

1. This penthouse by Le Corbusier in 1920s Paris During the Parisian annèes folles, he [Carlos de Beistegui] selected Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret to design a machine à amuser, a penthouse on the Champs-Élysées dedicated entirely to entertaining and hosting crazy Parisian parties typical of those years, characterized by a brilliant and festive atmosphere of

The Ghost Trains sent to an Underwater Grave

“Seeing these massive mechanisms being tossed into the ocean like a toy in the bathtub is a ping in my heart.” Award-winning photographer Stephen Mallon captured these incredible pictures over three years as he documented the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s recycling program retire the remains of obsolete New York subway cars into the Atlantic ocean. Over

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