Just Starting Out

It can be intimidating when you try something different like changing your style.

I should know as thats how I felt when I first decided to give up on the hopeless fashions of today and dress the way I admired other women for dressing.

Vintage.

I was worried people wouldn't appreciate the way I had decided to dressed and that I would get odd looks from passers by in the street. But as it turns out people generally like to see someone all dressed up in pin curls and a swing dress and apart from the one off jealous glares off some females it gets a lot of good attention and so will you.

I've written up a helpful little guide to start you on your new style adventure.

When I first started dressing vintage I needed all the help I could get, I didn't ever think I'd be able to successfully pin curl my hair or achieve the prefect eyeliner flick but thanks to the help of makeup/hair tutorials and vintage blogs I did.

Before you do anything you need to decide your era. Are you a 1920s flapper? A 1930s film star? A 1940s

    Land Girl? A 1950s Pin up? Or something completely beyond?

I'm a 1950s girl through and through and always will be, I have tampered with other styles but I always come back to the circle skirts and swing dresses of that era.

Once you have decided your era things become a bit easier, you know what you are looking for in terms of tutorials and what to copy.

Clothes:

Try experimenting with the clothes you have first. Turn them from modern day into vintage with a few adjustment or by adding a few accessories to see what works for you.

Reproduction clothing is great, there are a lot of sites online that sell repo/rockabilly/pinup clothing all depending on what you want. You'll feel beautiful and confident  in what you are wearing instead of worrying if you've paired the right vintage skirt with the right top and so on.

I didn't start wearing true vintage until I was confident in my style. You may be the same or you may feel confident enough to go straight into it. Either way its cool, all that matters is that you feel comfortable and beautiful in what you are wearing.

Makeup:

It can be a tricky thing to perfect but practice makes perfect.

You don't have to spend a fortune on products either, I don't.

In fact I find that most times high street products work just as well (and some times better) as high priced designer ones.

I found that tutorials on youtube and blogs the best way to practice my makeup and technique but once I was confident in what I was doing I started adding my own little bits and bobs into the mix.

                                      Hair:

There are so many different vintage hairstyles it's hard to choose which one to try first.

I want to say

try something simple first but, if you've never done them before, non of them are really that simple.

Don't let that deter you though. As with the makeup practice makes perfect! There are so many tutorials and blog posts available on the internet so make full use of them and get practicing.

Here is a list of links that helped me when I first started out and if you want more go to my links

page. 

Pin Curl tutorial part 1

 Pin Curl tutorial part 2

Victory Roll tutorial

Brows

Hair and Makeup 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, I'll be as helpful as I can (email on contact page)

Also sorry about the awful formatting, can't seam to fix it :/

         I hope this has been a help to you ladies.

Till next time,

Laura Lou x

Round Up

Well as I haven't blogged in about a week I'll tell you all what I've been up to.
I've mainly been making meatballs and pin curling my hair see...

 

Uncooked

 

Cooked... somehow I think they look better uncooked :s

My 'Secret sauce'

 I could eat these bad boys all day long.

Well that was the meatballs, now for the pin curls!

 

 Upon seeing this photo my little sister remarked 'urgh you look bald!' Why thank you Charlotte.

The night that these were taken it was Hannah Potter's Birthday Night out which of course meant us all gathering together to get sloshed.

Black Lindy Bop dress

We're so in love!

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

'No Makeup' Makeup

I've been trying for a while to find a way of doing my makeup that makes me look 'naturally' beautiful and on Wednesday I think I achieved that goal!
I call it my 'No Makeup' Makeup look.
It's very easily done and with very few products, I'd be happy to do a video tutorial on it if anyone wants to know how I did it (just let me know).

 

I really liked this makeup because it wasn't heavy to wear, it was light coverage and it looked pretty natural. Plus it can be done with any old thing you have lying in your makeup bag.

It also works for a Gibson Girl look, which I have also been trying to perfect for a while.

 

I didn't use any products on my eyes. No eyeshadow, no eyeliner and no mascara which is why I'm surprised I'm even putting these photos online because normally you do not want to see be makeup free. It is not pretty *shudders*

 

I wore it with my favourite hairdo of the moment, the 1940s updo, I think it looked pretty cute.

 

And just look at how flawless my skin looks in black and white!

Till next time folks,

Laura Lou x

'Sexy Bumblebee Eyes'

I sometimes go through fases where I wear outrageously bright eyeshadow, last year for instace where I think I wore down a whole colour palette in a few months. Well I think I may be once again entering that fase because the other day I donned my 'Sexy bumblebee eyes' as someone once called them.

To be honest though it's hardly a bumblebee look. All it is is my noral eyeliner with yellow eyeshadow but it looks effective and cute when teamed with red lips.

 I used to wear this look an awful lot last year when I went through my beehive days in which you could see my sporting the classic 60s beehive almost everyday! Ruined my hair I tell you.
And yes, that it Charlotte's hat you see me wearing. I think I have worn it almost everyday this week, There's no way she's getting it back haha.

On Thursday (which reminds me, I NEED to post about 'Allo Allo'!) I had a meeting with some potential business partners about a theatre project me and Bethan are hoping together, I went for a simplified 1920s makeup look, notice the lips. Once again wearing the hat.

A very (I wanted to say slightly but it would have been an understatement) photo of my. I digging the classic 1920s lips at the moment, it looks so cute.

Well, I'll update you soon on 'Allo Allo' if I remember.
Till next time,
Laura Lou x

(Saturday) Sunday, Monday Happy Days!

This week I've done a lot of pin curling.
I've been trying out a few different techniques, seeing what works and what doesn't.
Friday night was spent setting curls for Saturday. I looked like this...

 

This look made shopping at the supermarket a lot of fun *raises eyebrow*

 

A pretty little picture of my lips. I was watching a vlog on Diary of a Vintage Girl on how to apply and shape vintage style lipstick and I thought to myself 'with lips like these I don't need that!' though anyone else who wants a perfect vintage lip should check it out.

Saturday's hair looked pretty cute. I was going for a classic 1920s style for the night (another showing of Allo Allo and a night on the tiles), I bought a new dress from asos.com in the sale and it's uber cute. I'll show you.

A picture of me in my dress, with no head?

Full length view of the dress.

The hair. What I did was after pin curling, I brushed every curl individually then twisted it round my finger to give it some bounce then after about half an hour after it had relaxed I pinned all my hair under to make it short. A bit like a bob.

And what a surprise... another Caught Out photo of myself and Hannah Potter.

Bad quality!

The on Sunday night I decided to try a different kind of pin curl. I think they are called vertical pin curls or something like that?

I actually loved how this looked. Is that weird?

But anyway, they turned out like this...

I think it will get better with practise but it did look really cute with a hat on haha.

Fortunately it got even colder later today so I got to wear another hat and matching scarf (on loan from my 10 year old sister Charlotte)

Worn with my old 'millitary style' coat.

My alien face.

Nice and warm!

Till next time my lovelies!

Laura Lou x

A Night Out 1960s Style

On Saturday night Myself, Hannah and Bethan went out to celebrate the end of GKR (Goblin Kings revenge).
I searched for days for an outfit to wear but to no avail, I went through dress after dress, shoe after shoe and nothing seamed right but then I found my black Audrey Hepburn dress hiding in the back of my wardrobe.
"Yes! You beauty!" I was heard shouting, I had completely forgot that I even owned the thing.
And just like that I had my whole look planned including hair and makeup.
I decided to mix things up a little and do a bit of a 1960s, Ronette look and I think I achieved it very well even if I do say so myself.

 

I kept my accessories to a bare minimum wearing only a watch and topped of the look with a cute pair of tan heels.

 I don't know whats going on with my facial expression here but hey ho.

 

Excuse the washing line and the wendy house in the background.

 Look at the length of Bethan's legs!

I will be the first to admit... I look quite tipsy in this photo but I still like it.

The night ended with a McDonalds and a late night/early morning showing of 'Allo 'Allo, all in all a good time was had by all.

Till next time, folks,

Laura Lou x

The Face

Well you've had the hair and now it's time for the most important part of the vintage look... 
the face...
Enjoy. 




5: 60s
Makeup in the 60s a dramatic and eye catching, it was the focal point of the face, the outfit even. The most used and popular colours were white, black and grey for the eyes and lips were always quite natural, nudes or pinks were the colours of choice.
What I love most about the 60s makeup style is that you can tell just by looking at it things are changing, that things are moving into a new era, a new generation! The look is still so popular today with celebrities like Adele trending it.


 






4: 30s
The look in the 30s was a lot lighter and natural then the 20s. Gone were the heavy blackened eyes and in were pencil thin eyebrows and light brown eyeshadow and mascara was leaning more towards the upper eyelashes. Lips were also thinner and blusher was applied during the day for a rosy cheeked look, it was altogether more elegant.
The look of the 30s was so seductive but in a simple way, I adore this look and wear it a lot although I do sometimes go a little overboard with the eyeliner...










 3: 70s
The tanned look was very popular in the 70s so bronzers were all the rage.
Women played up the eyes and drew attention to them as much as possible. Shimmering shadows like blues, pinks and green were all the rage for the eyes and the overall look was luminescent.
Whenever I think of 70s makeup trends my mind immediately brings up a image of Farah Fawcett. For me, even though it is the typical, she was the look of the 70s. I only wish I could have that hair...
















 


2: 20s
The eye make up of the 1920’s was dark and dramatic. Eyelids were covered with a dark eyeshadow like grey or green and it was applied liberally. Very liberally. There was rouge on the cheeks and the lips! the lips were probably the most important, the only colour available was red  so everyone was wearing it.
I think I will  try this look but I have a sneaky feeling that it wouldn't look quite as good as this...






 
1: 50s
 Pastels shades ruled in the 50s, pale pinks, greens, blues and yellows but if ever there was a colour that showcased an era, it was the colour pink for the 1950s. Peaches and cream and pink hues all bring to mind the 50s, both in feminine decor, dress and make-up rouge. While red was the big colour of the 40s it was pinks, purple-reds and corals that stole the show in the 50s. The pale complexion was back in fashion and it was all about delicacy when it came to foundation and powders. The eye look of the 50s was minimalistic with very little powder being applied, mascara on the other hand was everyones favourite accessory and it was applied as much or as little as you liked.
This is a timeless look that I wear almost everyday. It beats every other era for stylish, classic beauty and I think it always will and the best part about it is... it looks fantastic on everyone! But especially on Doris here ;)




Well that completes another list, don't be surprised if I start bombarding you with these lists as they are rather fun to complie.


Laura Lou x

Hair from back...way back

Big Old Hair

As much as I adore and wear the styles from the 40s and the 50s I've always had an avid interest Victorian women's beauty and style, particularly their hair. 

Ever since I was old enough to really take an interest in History I have pretty much been infatuated with anything remotely related to the Victorian period from the quality of living (rich and poor people's), theatre, novels and of course the fashion. But  I have only just recently been researching Victorian beauty and hair and I have become quite interested in the 'Gibson Girl' style.

A drawing of a typical 'Gibson Girl' hairdo

 

The Gibson Girl first appeared in the 1890's in a humour magazine called "Life." Drawn by illustrator CharlesDana Gibson, she was his ideal woman with her tiny waist, lofty pompadour hair, and aloof beauty.

The 'Gibson Girl' appeared in  many more magazines of that time and quickly became a style sought after by women everywhere, and it's no wonder why.

In my opinion, although it is a style the requires the woman to have  'a tiny waist, aloof beauty and pompadour hair' it looks so natural, so effortless. It's as though they woke up and absently pinned their hair up and it just happened to look that wonderful even though it probably took them hours to perfect they style each day.

I suppose in many ways it is like women of today who spend hours in the mirror applying all sorts of beauty products to get that 'natural beauty' look. 

All I can say is, If I'd of been around in the late 1800s I would have been a Gibson Girl, just maybe not as good as these ones though.

Laura Lou x

PS. While researching all this I found two really interesting articles that I think you should all take a look at. The first one is just a small piece about tattooed women in Victorian times and the second is all about Beauty products and hair. Like I said they're really interesting :)

http://www.canonballblog.com/?p=1797

http://www.hairarchives.com/private/victorian1new.htm