Vintage hair journey

Vintage styled hair is the first thing a passerby notices - I think only the fashion trained eye can pinpoint eras of clothing or even recognise vintage or vintage inspired outfits. But the hair and make-up is so obvious. It's also a great way to achieve a full time vintage look if the wardrobe is very limited. As I am only starting my vintage journey I don't have a lot of outfits to offer - I try to put together what can pass as vintage inspired. With the right hair I do look vintage even if I'm not really.

(click to enlarge pictures)




My 31st birthday back in October - an absolutely atrocious very 1st try on vintage hair. 10 minutes and not enough research is most certainly not giving you the right look. But never mind it was only a start.

 


A few days later and another try - I think it was not that bad considering I have dead straight hair and I did not curl it beforehand.



In preparation for Christmas I did a hell of a lot of research, I made a lovely snood (pattern to be found HERE), I got myself a nice little book (THIS one), I followed the advice of trusted vintage blogs and got a setting lotion (LOTTABODY as recommended by many) and did some pin curls the night before Christmas. Indeed this was very fiddly but I felt sort of glamorous sleeping on pin curls with a silk scarf around my head :-)

And et voilà:



Christmas Day: when I took out the pins I had an incredible full head of tight curls, after I brushed them out it was literally an afro. Incredible. My hair was so unruly it was quite tricky to smooth it down for the victory rolls. But I was still quite pleased with the outcome.




Boxing Day: the next day my hair had the most perfect beautiful soft curls, the victory rolls put themselves into place and looked lovely and smooth. I indeed loved my hair that day.




Day 3: there was still quite a curl to the hair though I did the updo in a rush - and that's how it looks. I should have taken more time. The back rolled up nice and easy and at first I thought - who needs a rat! Well until I saw the picture :-) It is quite droopy - I suppose a rat would make it nice and even. I shall whip one up for myself in the very near future!



Alright. I love vintage hair, I think I have quite established that. But do I want to pin curl my hair from now on every few days? Because let's face it - with my dead straight hair a vintage look is not done in a jiffy. It needs curls.

The easiest way is a Rosie Riveter style. I've been wearing a scarf in my hair since October 1-2x per week. A nice pompadour at the front and straight hair has a vintage make-over. But today I wanted to try this:



Most of my hair is pinned to my head, just washed and straight as it is. I left out a few sections at the front which I curled quite tightly with a curling iron. I then divided it in 2 sections and rolled them into victory rolls - the rest of my head is covered by a small scarf/bandana. I had to pin it down quite strongly as it was so far at the back. But I was really pleased with the outcome!
Still quite time consuming though....


I always enjoyed playing around with my hair. From age 20-25 I had fire engine red (and I mean fire engine red) hair that reached down to my waist - I loved all kinds of elaborate hairstyles. At 26 I chopped my hair off and ever since then I had midlength cuts, Liza cuts and even an Edie Sedgwick cut - I really enjoy having longer hair again - for now I'm actually letting grow out my trusted fringe (bangs)! Let's see how long it takes me until I go back to my Bettie bangs. Haven't had u-shaped ones in years, just plain old straight!

Vintage and me

I always had a strong affection towards vintage. I just never knew.

When I was little I would watch "High Society" over and over again - I just loved Grace Kellys hair and how her beautiful frocks swished when she moved. I've also always been fond of Elvis movies and old German/Austrian films from the 50s (Peter Alexander, Roy Black and the likes ♥).



Grace Kelly (in my favourite dress of the film) and Frank Sinatra in High Society.

Later on as a teenager I adored American diners and Grease - though I think the first has a lot to do with my strong affinity to the colour red and the latter with my little passion for John Travoltas blue eyes :-)

In my late teens and early 20s I admired and emulated mostly the 60s - Bardot was a great idol for me - big hair, smoky eyes and pale lips - to this day I think this is the sexiest and prettiest look ever.

My first flat at 19 was plastered with Vargas and Ramos (though those are 60s pin-ups) prints - I adored them. I also always felt quite partial towards Lucille Ball as I sometimes got told I look like her (my mimics and facial expressions).

Alberto Vargas Pin-Up





In my 20s then I had a revival of my love for swishy skirts, Carrie Bradshaw and Marc Jacobs are partly to blame for this. I think circle skirts are the most beautiful garment ever made for a woman. The epitomy of feminine clothing. Slowly I realised that I just LOVE the 50s, the dresses, the cardis, the make-up. Women were women and the tailoring actually fits and flatters me. They had boobs and bums in those days :-)

In the last few years I aquired quite a few 50s inspired items and I would dress up on special occassions.

And then I turned 31 and gave yours truly a little present - I told myself I don't need occassions to dress up and I also don't need to go vintage full time. I allow me at least one retro day a week, one day I dress up or wear at least partly vintage (or inspired) accessories. And that's how I discovered the 40s for myself. In my 20s when I had flaming red hair I would have made a BRILLIANT psychobilly but now it's the elegance that's luring me towards it. I feel grown up and demure in a very good way when I dress up in a 40s outfit. The hairstyles are so elaborate and so much fun to do. In a 50s outfit I feel more playful but equally beautiful. I recently started collecting actual vintage - I now own 2 genuine vintage dresses and quite a bit of jewllery. That's just the start!

So even though red lips on a daily basis are an impossible thing to achieve for me (not so kissable with a little toddler around) I am really looking forward to a new vintage year ahead!

Round two!

Nearly a year has passed and I have let my blog die down. Why? Well I don't know why exactly.

It became a bit of a chore, posting wasn't as much fun anymore. What started off as a pregnancy diary for my friends and family back home in Austria soon turned into quite a crafting blog with a pinch of baking in it. After a while I just couldn't keep up with other blogs I had the urge to compete with. Silly I know.

So what now? Now I will just go back to the original intention - my little self needs a vehicle for showcasing my vanity. Those of you who know me know I am an exhibitionist at heart and the blog is just the ideal tool for this, isn't it?
Here's my dilemma - do I post in English or German or both again? I tell you what I'll stick to English for now, you all understand and frankly I don't care much about writing everything twice again.

So what will it be about now? Didn't I make myself clear? Moi, it will be about moi! About the things I love, the things I do, the things I make and this time round I will incorporate much more vintage and fashion.

So on that note I'll promise you lot's of pictures and less waffling in the next post!

Valentins-Bäckerei/Valentine's baking

Wie bereits erzählt, hat bei uns die diesjährige Valentins-Bäckerei ein paar Tage verspätet stattgefunden. "Traditionellerweise" färbe ich meine Kuchen sonst immer rot ein, da wir aber ab jetzt einen Kuchen-Mitesser haben, blieb ich der roten Farbe (die ja angeblich die schlimmste von allen sein soll) fern und somit ist auch der rosa Zuckerguss sehr spärlich eingesetzt!

R. hat sich trotzdem gefreut :-)

As I already mentioned I did my yearly baking for Valentine's day a few days later. "Traditionally" I dye my cakes red - but as we now have another cake hungry mouth I steered clear of the red food dye (which is apparently the worst of all) and that also means a scarce use of the pink sugar writing.

Ryan still loved it :-)

Bin wieder da!/Back again!

Ich lebe noch..... Bin aber derzeit so unmotiviert.... Nix mit bloggen, häkeln, fotografieren.... nichtmal meine E-Mail Korrespondenzen halte ich aufrecht.

Schluss damit!

Ich wünsche euch allen einen schönen Valetinstag! Wir haben unseren aus diversen Gründen auf nächste Woche verschoben!

I am still alive... I am terribly non-motivated at the moment... no blogging, crocheting, taking pictures, I don't even keep up with my e-mail correspondences.

Enough of this!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! We will celebrate ours due to a different reasons next week!

Ein bisschen gehäkelt hatte ich aber schon vor Weihnachten, aber nur ein bisschen:

A little bit I did crochet before Christmas but just a little bit:

Ein paar Weihnachtsbaum-Anhänger für unsere Kirchengruppe und eine kleine Amigurumi-Kugel als Weihnachtsgeschenk verschickt.

A few tree ornaments for our church group and an amigurumi bauble that I sent as a christmas gift.

Um diesen Frosch tut es mir besonders leid.... Er war meine erste Auftragsarbeit, das erste Häkeln gegen Geld - und er ist in der Post verloren gegangen!!! Ich hoffe er hat ein schoenes neues Leben gefunden und muss nicht als Paket für immer versauern....

I am really sad about this frog - he was my first custom order, the first thing I ever crocheted for money - and it got lost in the post!!! I hope he has found a good new life and does not have to be a crunched up parcel forever....

Und eine besonders süsse Muffin-Brosche - ein Weihnachtsgeschenk.

Ebenso ein Teaser was hoffentlich bald in meinem zukünftigen Etsy/Dawanda Shop zu finden sein wird....

And a very sweet cupcake pin - a christmas gift.

Also a teaser what you will find in my upcoming Etsy/Dawanda shop - hopefully soon...