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.

70s skirt 60s shirt

This is what I wore on Tuesday - Melbourne's big Cup Day horse racing holiday. However, because I dislike horse racing - as I do any other kind of animal abuse - I decided to dress in bright colours to stop myself getting too depressed about all the fuss.

It sort of worked.

I love this skirt because it sits really nice on, and I love love this shirt because it is an ascot tie and because it is orange and brown!

In other news:

• I saw George Harrison: Living In A Material World and I loved it and it did not feel like 3+ hours to me.
• I also finally started up a writing blog. I wrote an article about Vintage Shop Assistants and put it up there (I am slightly embarrassed about how angst ridden my writing is) but it's good to write to get stuff out of my system.

Hope you're doing well too.

About blogging, and giant babies

Hi, sorry I haven't been around for a while...I've been busy and lacking inspiration. I'm having a blogger dilemma. Perhaps more appropriately, I am suffering from a bad case of blog boredom. I am one of those people who follows many a famous, big hit fashion blog, but I have just about stopped reading all of them. There are a select number of blogs that I look for on my dashboard which I find interesting, funny, inspiring (you know who you are - if I am following you and you are not a 'world famous' blogger then don't worry, I like your blog!) but none of these top blogs are any of these things. All they are is hundreds of photos of themselves in vintage or more often pseudo vintage (my arch enemy) clothing, or photos of themselves and their boyfriends/husbands frolicking around on holidays, while we are constantly reminded about how wonderful their life is.

Thanks. I find this most interesting.

It is starting to drive me insane. I find that the blogging world suffers from a serious case of copy-cat syndrome. It is odd that 99% of these top bloggers some of whom have many hundreds or thousands of followers, most of the time dress in the same way and blog about things in the same manner, which is why it becomes boring if you are someone like me who looks for a unique voice/sense of style. I am not saying that just because your blog is highly popular that it is automatically bad, obviously people must start somewhere and perhaps some of the smaller blogs that I like will become famous in the future, but it does seem as though the blogging world, like the real world, highlights people who conform, not people who have the guts to be different.

So should we feel sad that only 5% of bloggers appreciate our blog? No, absolutely not.

Last year I was forced to take a compulsory class as part of my major, (which I despised at the time, but have since come to realise was more helpful than I ever thought it could be) where we looked at the philosophy of writing. Only one concept has stuck with me from this class, and that is Bourdieu's concept of 'art for art's sake'. In a nutshell, Bourdieu discusses the fact that 'high art' ie. modernist literature like Joyce's Ulysses is often unpopular or rejected by bourgeois society while it is bench marked by the elite as a seminal work of art and made as 'art for art's sake,' without economic gain. In contrast, things that are often popular amongst the status quo and hence economically successful are often seen to be crude or labelled as 'bad' art by the elite - the best example of this I think is Blockbuster Hollywood movies of today.

I think the analogy I am trying to make here is fairly obvious so I will leave it at that. But basically the purpose of this post is to say, I want to make my blogging more interesting, so I have decided to start a writing blog (I will probably keep posting on this one too) so I can write opinion articles about issues I find interesting, and begin my quest to improve my writing skills and enter the world of writing/publishing. This hasn't happened yet, but I hope to start it up soon. I've also posted the essay I wrote about Bourdieu's theory in relation to the 70s Punk movement as part of that class on a new page labelled Articles and Essays if you care to have a look.

In other news, Melbourne is currently full of giant reptile babies. I know, weird. It's for the annual Melbourne Festival. This is a picture of me in front of one baby. My friend S who took the photo says it looks like it is trying to do yoga.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Outfit Post: 70s 70s 70s

It's been a long time since I've shared an outfit.

This is probably my favourite outfit at the moment, feauturing this same pair of mystical jeans.

Unfortunately the sky is very grey today, not so great for taking pictures. I love this shirt, the green is a lot brighter than it seems, kind of a lime green! I seem to be blending into the foliage.

Hope your having a great Wednesday.

Outfit: T-shirt from Bob Dylan concert, jeans from etsy, shirt and sandals thrifted.

Blue Jeans

I'm house and dog sitting at the moment, in the lovely (uber hipster *rolling eyes*) suburb of Brunswick. This is a big deal for me because a) I usually live in the outer suburbs about an hours journey from the inner city and b) I am not used to living alone and having total responsibility for my life! 

And so far I'd have to say, having soul responsibility for myself is pretty sweet. I think I am a very introverted person anyway, so it's nice to have my own space for a little while.

In other news I bought a pair of high waisted 70s jeans on etsy which came in the mail last week. I have been wearing them almost everyday. Today I managed to get a snap of them on in the changing rooms with my Runaways t-shirt.

I think I really like wearing them so much because they make me feel super hot and alternative amongst all the hipsters and their skinny jeans ("I mean seriously, that is like, so last year") haha I know. Mean!....And because I like to pretend I'm Joan Jett haha

Anyway, going to the supermarket for food has also made me realise how true this song is:

Apologies for this erratic post!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

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.

Shorts & Inspiration

I got these cool paisley pouffy shorts the other day and they are really fun to wear. It's like wearing a really short skirt but without the constant fear of it riding up. Oh yeah and I cut my hair too...big change for the good!

Anyway  here's some of my favourite retro-carefree- inspiration for the week. Enjoy:

1, 2 unknown ,3,4

Project Restyle

As I mentioned in the last post, yesterday I got a chance to finally make something to contribute to Project Restyle. A few weeks ago I found this retro dressing gown for one dollar at a clearance sale. I got it because I thought the colours and the pattern were nice, but as a gown it was practically unwearable.

*before*

So I decided to shorten the sleeves and the hem and make it into a shift dress!
When I sat down to sew I discovered that the zigzag button on my machine wasn't working however, luckily enough the fabric was so synthetic that I knew it wouldn't fray, so I just stitched up the hems! I also discovered that it had a pocket and when I looked inside I discovered it had a little woolen tassel that used to be attatched to the zip, so I put that back on too.

This is how it turned out.

*after*

I think it might make a nice little summer dress.

Anyway you can check out what other creative folks did for the challenge here!

Also just wanted to say how much I appreciate all your comments.
Thanks for taking the time to spread the love!

Black Velvet June

I've been slightly obsessed with black velvet lately. I just can't get enough of it. It all started when I found a beautiful black velvet dress in a thrift store a couple of years ago. There is just something so magical about black velvet and the way it's so luxurious and yet grungy at the same time. I like the way it glitters in the sun.

The Season is also quite beautiful at the moment, the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, most of the trees have lost their leaves and the city seems to be covered in orange and brown leaves.

outfit: top, skirt and boots thrifted

Kitty doesn't like winter much despite his fluff, he doesn't like the rain. Luckily there was none of that today.

Tomboy - Tomgirl

Todays outfit is first and formost warm and comfy!

As you've probably guessed I am very fond of these red jeans and I've only had these shoes for about two weeks but I've found I can wear them with almost anything - so I have been! haha I love them. They are like a cross between King Louis & pirate shoes!! Which is why they are girly but tomboy at the same time - sorry I know my outfit analogys are very strange!!

Outfit: jeans & shoes thrifted, cardi is "fake" vintage, scarf and were socks gifts

And cos The Clash rock jeans to max & would have to be one of my fav tomboy style & music icons here's a song for your Sunday night....

In my dreams

Last night I had a dream about this man, this lovely man and in my dream I was in love with George (I know "are you sure this was a dream"!) All I can say is that it is terribly indulgent when you dream that you are in a relationship with you're musician crush! and even though George broke my heart in the end...though I can't exactly remember why?...I still thoroughly enjoyed my nights sleep haha...

I can't imagine what it must have been like to be a teenager in the 60s, to go to a Beatles show and to see your Beatle crush up so close, yet so far away. It must have been so heart breaking to know that these (very lovable) Beatles boys would probably never know you existed!

Anyway I thought I'd paste an outfit from yesterday onto the end of this story, especially seeing as my outfit was 60s...The weather has also been unbelievably freezing the past week which is why I whipped out this massive scarf - not sure I can go back to wearing moderately sized scarfs after this, it is so snuggly!

 outfit: dress vintage, shoes thrifted, scarf was a hand-me-down

Having a great weekend I hope!

Outfit: 1977

Todays outfit was fairly 70s inspired I'm proud to say. I thrifted these clogs last Saturday for $4 which was quite astounding. I just think 70s a-line skirts are the coolest but then again I'm probably slightly bias.

Hope your weekend is going along nicely.

Outfit: Jacket, skirt and clogs all thrifted

Tomboy

I'm sure not everyone would look at this outfit and think tomboy, but I do. I've been feeling a little tomboyish (ie. "bring it on world!" *rock'n'roll hand sign*) of late (though this is about as tomboy as I get haha) still it's fun: sneakers, baggy shorts, 70s shirts, and band tees. Yeah!

Outfit: shirt vintage, shorts thrifted, old holy sneakers, very old and very holy

Anyway...hope you had a good Monday,

peace x

Autumn skirts and Victorian ruffles

Afraid I don't have alot to say today other than that my essay is almost finished hooray!

Today was nice and cool, so the time was ripe to whip out my Victorian boots. I was trying to do 70s but when I tried on this blouse the puff sleaves turned out to be larger than expected, but I can't say I minded I also really like Victorian styling. 

Hope your Sunday was delightful.

Outfit: ruffled blouse gift, 70s skirt vintage, boots vintage