Transitional Tweed

So often am I used to throwing on an outfit and rushing out of the house to get my different jobs sorted, that I always forget to snap a quick picture of my outfit! Wearing vintage day to day can seem daunting to those who want to, but I intend to get snap happy with some of my outfits to show just how easy it is! A few staple pieces, such as a great skirt or Freddies, means that suddenly an old, discarded top can have a new lease of life!

 

Skirt: Vintage from Love Me Two Times in East Grinstead 

Top: Topshop

Cardigan: H&M

Shoes: Ebay

Bag: Mulberry

Headscarf: Boo Boo Kitty Couture

Brooch: A gorgeous find from my holiday to Suffolk (blog post coming soon!)

Hannah xxx

Quadrophenia Dreaming

I have a confession. Yes I love my 1940s and 1950s, but deep down I harbour a craving to be a  Sixties gal. The decade stood for change, monochrome and moving on. If my hips, legs and boobs would allow it, I would totally be a mod!

 

 

 

As the Bank Holiday weekend approaches, Brighton Rumble arrives in town and we celebrate the mod culture that made Brighton what it is today. Before it all gets going, I thought I would share some of the upcoming events with you!

 

Everything kicks off on Friday evening, with Komedia hosting the first of three Mod nights...

 

 

Head into the North Laines on Saturday and Sunday for Brighton Rumble on the Beach at the Prince Albert...

 

 

The Brighton Big Screen really gets things going on Sunday, from 7pm there is an exclusive preview of All Or Nothing- The Mod Musical which is quickly followed by one of my favourite films, Quadrophenia. General admission is free. Keep your Quadrophenia album in mind and move straight onto Concorde 2 for Stay Sick Mods vs Rockers. Admission is £3.

I will be sure to get some pictures taken ready to report once I have recovered!

Hannah xxx

 

 

The Pageboy Tutorial

Ever since I used curling tongs to create a lovely Pageboy hairstyle, I have been determined to teach myself how to do the same style but by setting, a much more hair friendly method. Like all vintage setting styles, practise makes perfect but I have found this quite an easy one to do as there are only six sections to set. I use rollers to set my hair, rather than pin curls as I must admit that I still have to master that technique! Rollers give a great heat free styling option that works every time once you know where to put the rollers to work for you.

I must also add that when I compare pictures of my Pageboy done by a set and curling tongs, the set picture looks much more authentic!

To begin the set, separate the hair into six sections. This can depend on how thick the hair is, but I do have very thick hair and this method works fine.

Part your hair as you would normally. I always begin with the smaller side which my fringe isn’t on as there is normally a little bit less hair.

1. Section One: Hair from just in front of the crown parted diagonally to the point at the tip of the ear.
2. Section Two:  I imagine a vertical line down from the point near the crown that I began section one from, to the hairline at the base of the neck.
3. Section Three:  A semi circle of hair around the crown that will mainly be backcombed
4. Section Four:  A rectangle underneath the hair in section three.
5. Section Five:  Take the hair out that will be in your fringe and part in a similar way to Section One.
6. Section Six: This should be the remaining hair just behind the ear on the fringe side.

 I use rollers that I recently bought from Boots for around £2 (these are them!). I add a large foam roller for the section at the crown as this gives a looser set to get the dramatic U shape of a Pageboy set. Don’t forget a spray or two (or three!) of setting lotion before putting the rollers in!
 

Now comes for the scary bit, adding the rollers. My top tip here is to really think about the end result when adding the rollers. Think of the classic U Shape of the pageboy and roll the hair to recreate this. To put the rollers in Sections One and Two, I roll the hair upwards with the plastic bit of the roller at the bottom.  I like to end up with the rollers fastened in place vertically to almost create a ringlet once taken out later. I use the same technique for Sections Five and Six except I find it easier to have the plastic securing bit of the roller at the top, because I am right handed it helps me to secure the roller in really tightly. For Section Four, I do sometimes add two rollers, to continue the U shape well for both sides of the head, however it does work fine with one. Put the roller in, rolling it up underneath. I sometimes slightly twist the roller so that the hair is slightly more set to the side which has least hair. If I do this, I then add the roller for Section Three slightly twisted in the opposite direction to that of Section Four. I hope this makes sense! My thinking is that the U shape will be a continuation along the hairline, rather than the hair parting down the back and falling to each side.

Add a quick blast of hairspray and a headscarf and get some beauty sleep!

The beauty of this set is that it is relatively quick and easy to style in the morning as the curls are quite large and loose. Remove all rollers very carefully and I generally encourage the hair back into ringlets once the rollers are out. You should look very old fashioned with a head of ringlets! I then take a large round bristle brush and gently brush underneath the hair to loosen the set. I use my other hand (that isn’t holding the brush) to smooth and shape the hair up and under into the pageboy style. If you get any fluff, don’t worry, just keep brushing out and smoothing around and underneath and you will be perfectly pageboyed! A little backcombing to Section Three and sorting the fringe, however you would like seals the deal and you are ready to go!

I hope you find this useful, and would love to hear how you get on!

Hannah xxx

Pride

Last weekend, the whole of Brighton turned into party central as it was the turn of Brighton Pride! I went out with the lovely Danielle of Daniella Christina fame, and we met up with fellow blogger Hayley of Vintage Vessel at The Black Dove at the top of St James Street where you can regularly find Hayley DJing every Saturday night. If you ever go here, I recommend you check out the extremely decadent and lavish downstairs, we certainly made the most of our surroundings with an impromptu few photos!

We decided to dress up in our vintage finery and celebrate in our style, vintage glam! I turned to my trusty wardrobe staples, a Collectif Dress and Vivienne Westwood Melissa shoes. It had been a hot day so I decided against the seamed stockings; however I was regretting my choice a few hours later as my feet were killing! Seamed stockings always save the day in the old Viv’s!

I embraced my inner Carmen Miranda/Betty Grable with my hair, creating a range of victory rolls on top of my head for an updated poodle style. This not only covered my outrageous roots but was a really easy style with the help of my latest purchase, 1940's Hairstyles. I took on a slight bit of the rainbow theme with an assortment of flowers pinned in my hair. I bought these one early morning at Brighton Marina Boot Sale where there was a stall selling a range of beautiful haberdashery. These were cards of 12 flowers for a pound each, so I snapped up two cards of Pink and Yellow flowers. They come with flexible metal legs which slide easily into your hair then can be securely attached with a Kirby grip or two. It was a great style for a warm evening as it was lovely to have all my hair out of the way for a change; normally I am worrying about my set dropping! I have also been wearing this non stop in the warm, sunny days that we have been having.

 

There is another great look in my new book, which incorporates a French twist with flowers hiding the join. I think I shall be trying that one out next!

Have a lovely weekend,

Hannah xxx

1940's Hairstyles- A Book Review

A rare decision to tidy up a box of ''important things'' lead to me making a great discovery...some Amazon vouchers! I decided to treat myself to a few things that I have wanted for a while, in particular this book, 1940's Hairstyles by Daniela Turudich. With beautiful Gene Tierney on the cover, how could I ever resist?!

 

The book begins by covering the basics, from the different styles that hair was cut into to create the best set, to pin curl tutorials to form the perfect rolls, poodles or pompadours. It details how the forties hairstyles focused on detail at the front of the head, and has beautiful pictures to demonstrate some of the amazing looks of the day. It describes the different methods in which you can get perfectly coiffed, from exactly how to 'fluff' your hair or how to set it to create a reverse roll. I think I will have to give some techniques slightly more practise yet though!

 

 

 

I think this page below features the hair of my dreams, look at the pageboy on the top right!

 

 

Of course when I reached the page with Gene Tierney AND Lauren Bacall on, I was completely sold

 

 

It even reveals some of best tips of the day used by Hollywood studios to conceal and camouflage any imperfections. I definitely studied this page for a while and was amazed with how the most subtle alterations can seriously conceal a range of flaws!

 

 

At the end of the book, there are a few pages explaining how to authentically accessorise a hairstyle, with flowers, bows, ribbons and much more. Another favourite section gives a few ideas for 'Career Girls'. As a vintage girl through and through, I dress 'vintage' all of the time, and really enjoyed getting a few more ideas of how to create an authentic but professional vintage hairstyle for every day.

 

 I have found it to be incredibly inspiring! It is more than a simple tutorial book, reading more like a reference guide. Modern day methods are acknowledged, such as curling tongs, but it also suggests techniques that have worked since the forties to emulate the same styles. I am potentially being a vintage snob, but I love learning the 'proper' way to style my hair as I really do believe that the old techniques work best. Great quality pictures of forties models provide much better inspiration than Google Images or Pinterest (dare I say?!) and so I am very happy with my purchase.

 

Have you got this book? It is a bargain on Amazon too so I would definitely recommend you picking one up!

 

Hannah xxx

One For The Weekend

As much as I love living in Brighton and having such a wonderful amount of vintage right on my doorstep (as lethal to my purse as brilliant to my wardrobe), every now and again it is amazing to see what the areas just outside of the city have to offer.

Step forward Lewes. A beautiful town nestled amongst the Downs, it is steeped in heritage and makes for wonderful viewing through the Charity Shops and Boutiques. A short bus or train ride away, it is so worth a visit to get some country air and change of scenery. At the top of the hill (it is worth the short but steep walk) is Lewes Flea Market, on Market Street. Open 7 days a week, there are stalls a plenty full of trinkets, homewares and affordable furniture. Unbelievably, the only day it is closed is Christmas Day!

Generally, furniture is located upstairs or in the back room. I recommend you take a look at the stalls upstairs as their latest stall holder is my boyfriend! Over the past few months we have hunted around the South to collect the cream of the crop in terms of contemporary and classic mid century design perfect for filling your home with. I have found it very difficult to resist the temptation to force him to keep it all and could very easily and quickly end up on one of those hoarder programmes.

 

Have you been to Lewes Flea Market yet? I would love to hear what your favourite finds have been, or what you would love to find!

 

Hannah xxx

 

 

Headscarves and Beehives

Another addition to the vintage hairstyling posts of late is another easier style to pull together. This is a very frequent look that I wear. It is really easy to do, hides a multitude of grease/freshly washed hair sins and maintains a great fifties look. 

 

 

 

The key to mastering this look is the right amount of beehive, with a small French twist at the back. I scoop my hair into a roll with my right hand, and use my left hand to pin it in place. I tend to do this style in freshly washed hair, as you can just shove as many pins in to hold everything in place and get a days wear ready for a good set. The fringe requires slightly more modern day styling; those faithful curling tongs and plenty of backcombing and hairspray! I then roll the longer fringe bits into a small kiss curl and off I go!

 

I seem to be collecting a lot of headscarves, and buy most from Boo Boo Kitty Couture. They are quite honestly the perfect size, colours and material to get a great look very easily!

 

I recently bought a 1940's hairstyle book and am trying a few of those looks out, keep your eyes peeled for another hair post coming soon!

 

Hannah xxx