How To: Go 1940s on a budget

As you know, I love absolutely all kinds of vintage, but I do not like to spend a lot of time getting ready in the morning or the night before, which is why I spend much of my time wearing the practical, straight-haired vintage of later eras. Lately though I have been feeling a certain nostalgia for older styles (probably brought on by my watching of the BBC series The Hour) and so today I decided to indulge myself - yet due to my budget I don't actually own any 40s vintage, but it is still possible to achieve the look.

Here is an example of how you can ( "make-do and mend" ) using your thrifting skills, to transform yourself into a 40s goddess for a day...

For the outfit you will need:

1) A short-sleeved button down blouse. It doesn't really matter too much what colour or pattern. You can often find a lot of white or creme coloured 'granny' blouses in op-shops - which is what mine is. And remember, the women of the 40s made their clothing out of all sorts of old scraps and materials like curtains and hessian sacks!

2) A high waisted, below the knee length, A-line skirt. Mine is a 1970s A-line skirt which I found in an op-shop - (70s skirts are still fairly easy and cheap to come by) or any kind of A-line skirt, even a rap around will do.

3) A neat fitting, thrifted cardigan.

 For the accessories you will need:

Jewellery: A thrifted necklace such as fake pearls or beads - or an old brooch to jazz up the outfit.

Shoes: Espadrilles or another kind of low wedge heel will do well. If you don't have these try using some basic lace-up sneakers worn with ankle socks instead.

Here is my version of the look

Finally

For the make-up & hair:

Make-up: (This is the fun part!) - sit yourself in front of a mirror and paint some black eye liner above your lashes with small cat-eye flicks at the ends. Then add some blush and a dash of red lipstick. If you have a compact mirror, gaze at yourself in the compact mirror while you apply for effect!

 

Hair: I'll be honest - I'm the worst hairdresser in the world. I have very straight, fine hair which never seems to do what I want it to do when it comes to curls. This, paired with the fact that I don't seem to possess any form of patience makes things difficult.

If you can do victory rolls by all means go for it because you're a star and they look amazing. If you're lacking the many hours sitting in front of a mirror that is needed in order to become a proper retro pin-up girl, there is an easy & quick style to start with:

Part your hair in the middle and pull the top front section of hair including the hair that sits above your ear, towards the front (one side at a time). Twist it in towards your parting leaving a looser section of hair up the top (like you would if you were making a pouff) so that it sits up high as you fold the long twist of hair backwards and behind. Pin this twist behind the pouff of hair sitting up  with two bobby pins & spray lightly. You can also curl the ends of your hair with a curling iron if you so wish.

*If you are confused by my lack of pictures, this style is sort of like the beginning of a victory roll, without the roll, so watching an online tutorial for these might help!!*

And voila!

GPOY ~ with turban

 I only just this very minute learnt what "GPOY" means.

 I'm such a bad Gen Y. I think I would have been cool in the 60s/70s though, but now I'm just out of touch mannnn.

Anyway I thought I'd name this post after my new found vocabulary (haha) since it is - gratuitous pictures of myself with the added addition of a turban and stuff.

I got home today and was feeling a bit grey so I thought wearing this bright pink turban would cheer me up a bit - and it did! I guess this outfit is channelling 40s 50s and 60s. All of it is thrifted.

Speaking of stripes and jeans, I also love these guys from the 70s! Stripes are, apparently, timeless.

The Ramones

Hope you're having a nice week.

A century (almost) in shoes

I've come to realise what my guilty pleasure in life is:

I really, really enjoy browsing through vintage shoes, whether it's in a market or online I don't really mind.

I think I've always been enchanted by shoes from a very young age, particularly high heels (somewhat ironically since I can't really walk in high heels due to a foot ailment I had as a child). I used to love trying on grown-ups high heels when I was a kid. Then there was the love affair with those little pink plastic princess shoes (you know the ones with the little feathers on the toes that click click around when you walk) that seem to be essential to every four year old girl's life.

I think it's obvious to most people who know me well...or read my blog!...that I love all vintage fashion, but there is something about the design qualities of shoes (their sleekness, shininess, glamour) that seems - when it's done well - to mimic perfection.

A couple of years ago I was browsing through a book shop and I came across a book called Vintage Shoes by Caroline Cox that was basically a pictorial history of shoes, and wow, I fell in love with it. Every decade of shoe history was covered with big colour photographs and biographies of the shoe designers. I suppose everyone who is interested in the elements of design must have one particular object that they favour like houses, or cars, or chairs? Mine I think, must be shoes.

The funny thing is though that despite this visual love for shoes, I don't own many pairs of shoes myself. I think this is because I am very very fussy when it comes to the shoes I wear, I like them to be sleek, easy to walk in and flattering on my feet, and because vintage shoes are often so pricey and hard to come by in large shoe sizes.

The good thing is, I still find pleasure in looking at shoes, even if I can't own them.

Here are some amazing women's shoes (perhaps I will do a post of men's shoes in another post one day) from different decades that I have fallen in love with via etsy.

Just click on the era to go to the source.

Victorian

I am a big fan of Victorian lace-ups. Always thought they looked comfy (but I doubt anyone could fit into them now because their feet were so small!)

1900s

Aren't these just beautiful?

1920s

1930s

1940s-50s

To me, 40s shoes are just the most glamorous...and the 70s tend to mimic the 40s when it comes to shoes so I love them both of course!

1960s

1970s

These are BIBA!! :O

1980s

Love these! Very Molly Ringwald in Pretty In Pink!

1990s...

Well most of us were there weren't we? And to be honest I'm not a huge fan of those chunky Spice Girl platforms....(I'm sure there were some decent shoes in the 90s?) but I'll leave it to your imagination.

What is your favourite shoe era?

Etsy outfit: 1940/50s summer

As you may have noticed lately I have been quite interested in 1940s fashion. This is surprising since I have always been more into 60s and 70s vintage which requires much less effort to pull off ( I am in awe of anyone who does their hair in pin-curls everyday!) and blends into modern day fashions much more, however as I was searching for wartime fashion pictures one day I realised how simple, yet beautiful and glamorous 1940s fashions were. I'm guessing this will be just another one of my "phases" as I always seem to go through "phases" in different eras of vintage fashion, but it's nice to mix it up a bit I reckon.

1950s Bomshell Lolita Play Top

40s WWII USO Military Print Tap Shorts

40s Peep-toe Braided Cork Platform

(These are so fantastic!!!!)

Hope you're having a great week so far!

1940s make-up tutorial

The make-up lady is very stern (who would've thought applying make-up was such a serious business?), but I like watching how gracefully they apply their make-up. And remember to "Please! avoid the too powdered look!" I suppose this is the same as the pancake face look of today? (haha)

Enjoy!

Rosie the Riveter Part 2

via wartimefashion

So here I am again in war time attire, it's funny how cutting your hair opens up a whole new scope for style - and it is such fun to wear! Anyway I like this style because it is practical, comfortable clothing and yet still super sexy. I got these overalls a few weeks back and have been wanting to share them ever since - and they just happen to be perfect war time attire.

I also found this wonderful tumblr wartimefashion full of inspirational pictures of women factory workers and magazine ads during the war. The 40s was an incredibly fashionable era considering that it was a time of hardship and ration. The "Make Do and Mend" concept is also a fantastic thing to ponder nowadays when we live in a society obsessed with buying 'new' things. It was ideas like this and the woman power of collective effort that really helped win the war.

Outfit: all thrifted (who am I kidding!?)

Ha er yeah just ignore the fact that I have no muscles...."WE CAN DO IT!"

You can check out this video if you want to try out this Rosie scarf look yourself!

Hope you're having a swell week :)

I can do it!

Today I am channeling 1940s war-time worker women like Rosie the Riveter.

Headscarfs like this are great when you can't be bothered putting in any effort (which is me like all the time) or if you haven't washed your hair...you just make a little pouff or curl at the front if you don't have a fringe and tie it on up.

Rosie the Riveter

Outfit: cardigan, scarf, boots and jeans all thrifted.

Black Swan

Today is a national holiday in Australia and the day most Australian's celebrate 'Australia Day.'

However in recent years there has been growing awareness about the fact that the anniversary that this date commemorates is the day on which 'The First Fleet' set foot on this land and claimed it as a British colony.

Because of this, growing numbers of Australians are choosing to avoid celebrating 'Australia Day,' preferring to refer to it as Invasion Day or Survival Day. I am one of these. I believe it is wrong to celebrate the 'birth' of one nation and ignore the destruction of another.

In my attempt to ignore this holiday I went thrift shopping and saw Black Swan.

If I had to sum this film up I would describe it as a frenzy of anxiety, self harm and sadness.

Natalie Portman is definitely amazing in her role as Nina.

I was also astonished by how strongly it reminded me of the 1948 film The Red Shoes. You could almost call Black Swan a darker, modern adaptation of The Red Shoes.

 If you haven't yet seen The Red Shoes, it is a MUST see!

x L