Tuesday 24 May 2011

How long do you take?

Now look into my eyes!
Look into my eyes and tell me how long do YOU take to get ready?


But seriously - this is a question every vintage gal is propably asked a zillion times at least. I certainly get it very often and the questions vary of course! It ranges from unbelieving exclaims like "It must take you hours to get ready!" to ruder comments like "Bloody hell how much time have you got on your hands!". My favourite ever was - "You clearly don't spend only 5 minutes in front of the mirror!".
No I don't, I never did and I certainly hope I never look like it.
But that doesn't mean that I spend hours of my day getting ready.

For absolute donkeys years I have always given myself an hour to get ready. This hour includes breakfast, shower, getting dressed, daytime make-up and hair. And this "rule" is still applied ever since I went into vintage mode on a daily basis. Of course I have days where I faff around for ages and I also have days where I am much much quicker. I also have a stropping toddler to dress - that sometimes takes way longer!

I still haven't quite gotten used to people now seeing me as "elegant" (that's a word I would have never linked with me when I was younger, it makes me very proud now), "glam" and "perfectly groomed". I am not always but I try and a few tricks of the trade help tricking people in thinking so!

Faux bangs and a ponytail are propably my favourite hairdo and also one of the quickest of my repertoire. How I do them I told already HERE! A pretty bow tied around my ponytail and a matching flower near the bangs and my hair is done in 10 minutes good to go!

 Even quicker is this quiff-roll. I shall do a  how-to tutorial very soon! This do takes me under 10 minutes!

Victory rolls of course take a tad longer but with some practice they just need double the time of the do shown above - but with the back shoved into a snood I don't even need to pre-set my hair!



And that brings me to the most tedious and lengthy part of vintage hair. The set! I like to wet-set my hair the previous night when my child is already asleep - so again not much time is taken out of my precious daytime. I do admit I am not great at setting my hair but here again - practice will make me perfect and more important: quicker!
Brushing it out in the morning takes no time at all - so actually pre-setting hair on a sunday night is good for rushed monday mornings! But with all that wind going on currently I prefer my barnet in rock solid faux bangs or victory rolls. Ah what would I do sans my hair spray!

 And quite contrary to popular believe I don't wear a lot of make-up. I love make-up and I enjoy applying it but ever since I had my son I use it very sparingly!
Tinted moisturizer, concealer, a dab of powder, brow pencil (why that one so obviously you can read HERE), blusher and lot's of mascara. Lippy I don't wear every day, some days I also use eye shadow and at night an eye liner. But that's it!  I've been putting my face on for a good 16-17 years - I have so much practice it only takes me a few minutes!

The end result does look well groomed but that is because vintage styling is perceived as very ladylike and elegant.
And I say thank you!

Which brings me to this mental leap!
Stepping out in vintage gear causes a lot of attention. No denying that and it would be a lie to deny that I enjoy the attention. I get a comment a day and nearly all of them are kind and nice. People at check-out tills or market tenders comment the most. But the other day I got stopped in the street by a random woman who actually made me blush because she was so sincere and nice in what she said. And all I was wearing was this measly unexciting outfit:


When I went to Austria a few months ago I was astounded by the hostility of people. I was so show stopping that I even caused a little accident on the road. But it was really striking how openly rude people stared, one woman even gaped with a kind of disgusted look in her eyes. Given that she herself was sporting a 80s short hair permed head and an upper-lip moustache it wasn't that offending but it still showed me how much different the polite English are. Here in sleepy little Bedford Vintage seems to be quite widely spread and as mentioned I get a nice comment a day.


I didn't take many pictures back home in Austria but above were all taken at my parents flat.

So tell me fellow bloggers - how long do you take and how does your envoirement perceive you?
The very beautiful Lindsay of Vintage Rose has asked a similar question HERE!

8 comments:

Zombie said...

since I'm a guy it takes about 5 or so minutes. :D

LittleMissBossy said...

That doesn't count :-))

Unknown said...

My make up and hair take about twenty minutes on a regular day. On my day off I will take longer, because I love experimenting with new looks and styles. People are usually very positive about my appearance and I get a lot of friendly remarks and compliments Especially from elderly men...haha.

Brittany_Va-VoomVintage said...

Honestly, I take forever to get ready! I have to pick out my outfit, which usually means tearing my entire closet apart. Then, I sit around thinking about accessories. Looking for my missing shoe, digging through the car to find a clip-on earring I took off a few days before and so on. If I set my hair the night before, hair usually takes 5-10 minutes but if I didn't set it, I have to deal with the hot rollers. I like to put them in before I do makeup and by the time I'm in the car, they're cool and I can remove them. Makeup takes about 5 minutes unless my daughter gets into my lipstick or mascara, then another 15 minutes cleaning her up! :P Luckily, my husband is a saint and he gets the kids dressed and the diaper bag packed before I even have my shoes on! If I set my hair and pick out an outfit ahead of time, I can be glam and out the door in about 20 minutes...but that's pretty rare!

Ex said...

It depends.
If I've got a serious appointment, where I need to look more ähm grown up, I need to straighten my hair.
That would take about 20 minutes.
With all the rest 45 minutes.

But normally I'll be ready in less than 15 minutes (shower, hair, make up, dressing)

Kim said...

Start to finish, it takes me 45 minutes to get ready from shower to walking out the door. Add 5 minutes if I wear a girdle and stockings.

I have people assume I take a long time, and often ask me about my false eyelashes and doesn't it take a long time to put them on. Truth is, I have been wearing them so long, it is a lot quicker than if I wore mascara. When you have a routine, it becomes quite easy to do it quickly.

I never want to look like I spent 5 minutes in front of the mirror.

LittleMissBossy said...

Thank you for all your input! Goes to show it's the same for everyone - people actually think it takes forever to do the hair but it just doesn't. But like Brittany I also have a tendency to not find things and I also take the longest if I change again and so on. But certainly not make-up and hair :-)

Isis said...

If I get up at 4.30, then it takes me 45 minutes, including breakfast and shower, but then I do simple hair. Otherwise 1 hour, but either way I always pick out my clothes the evening before. If I'm dressing up, the hour strecth out, though...

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