Wednesday 25 May 2011

Hair today... gone tomorrow

As a vintage "enthusiast", hair styles can play a major part in getting the right look whether it be forties, fifties or whatever era you chose to follow because if this isn't done to a certain standard it can ruin an outfit and I think there is nothing worse then a lady looking gorgeous in a vintage frock but having awful styled hair, you may or may not agree but I think it is something that has to look right and you know, I'm one of these ladies that struggle with getting her hair to look "authentic".
Recently at Hemsby 46  I decided that I would change this by getting my hair styled by the wonderful gal's from Lipstick & Curls, when I asked what I wanted, I just blurted out "umm like the 50s pin curl style??" for a start 1. that is really awful English but that is the manner in which I speak and 2. How would they ever know what I meant?  But luckily they did and I had a hair style that looked so nice, was done in a matter of minutes and actually looked authentic!
This isn't a very clear image I know but you do get to see my nice dress  though, but
you get the idea!

I've tried pin curling before and I've still not got the hang of it with a few times turning out to be a mini afro!
I also find it quite time consuming and will only really give it a go if I'm feeling brave!

This was a successful Pin curl story! I've still yet to have another one!  Unfortunately you can not see it all because of the angle but I still remember it like it was yesterday because it brushed into place so well and like I said, I've yet to do it again!
 Recently I've managed to figure out how to do victory rolls which I didn't realise how easy they are once you know!! I have had a lot of arm ache trying to perfect them though! So ladies if you are looking to do rolls prepare yourself to gain some upper arm strength! (unfortunately I have no pictures of my attempts but I'm sure you'll see some soon enough!). I do intend on using this style more often for photo shoots because it is quick and easy and looks the part! 

But to be honest I'm not one of these girls that can sit at home and practise until the cows come home, I really wish I was but I've got the shortest attention span ever! So how am I ever going to learn?
There is also the decision on whether to keep my hair short or to grow it, I have found in practise my hair is so much easier to style when its shorter but I tend to miss having long hair which I haven't had for a few years now but I do not have the patience to grow it and usually end up going for the chop but if I keep it short  I would love nothing more then to be able to style my hair like this

The beautiful Rosemary Clooney, Ohh I love her! How did they do this hair? Pin curls?
I'm always a bit wary of brushing my curls out just in case all of my hard work goes to waste but I think brushing it out could be the key!

But then if I was to grow my hair I would love it to look like this

This image of Jane Russel looks huuuugely edited! but the hair is whats important! She had a pretty long mane so if I was to grow my hair I think it would take even longer to style then it does now and that's a pretty long while... oh what is a girl to do!

Changing the subject ever so slightly I have noticed how women's "vintage hairstyles" have changed over the past 20 years, ladies on the rockin scene all had very similar styles during the 1980s with rather massive curled fringes and pony tails where as today ladies are going for rolls then anything else, I like to do this with my fringe, by using tongs or heated rollers, curling my fringe can be done in a matter of minutes but I don't understand where this look came from because I've never seen many women in the 50s with this style so how  did it come about?

I'm hoping I may give myself a kick up the backside at some point soon and try teach myself some new styles, because there are some great styles out there that I really want to give a go so I might just head over to YouTube and see what it has got to offer! If not I guess there's always companies such as Lipstick an Curls for my hair dilemma's but I'm not always going to have the money to have my hair styled to such a high level and they wont be with me on a day to day basis, so I've got no choice but to get practising! Because frankly I'm quite sick of having sausage looking curls!
Until Next Time
Toodle Pip
xxx


Sunday 22 May 2011

1950s pin up girls ... At Hemsby!

So this time last weekend I was finishing Hemsby 46 off with a bang, what a blast it was, apart from managing to drink practically a bottle of Sailor J's to myself on the first night and it reappearing the next morning which I have to say, I don't intend on doing until the next one at least... But Yes it was a superb weekend. Hemsby is like a home from home to me, I've been going since no. 39 and each time is different because of the people, the bands and the atmosphere.
This time was just as great as the last 8 (oh my gosh has it really been that many!!) I have been to. I cannot tell you how nice it was to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in what seemed like forever! I'm not going to go in depth about it all because frankly 1. I don't want to bore you all with a review of every single band I saw and 2. Most of it has just become a blur now like most weekenders tend to do after a while!
But a few highlights for me were: turning up on the Thursday to see my face all over the Hemsby 47 flyer!(that's right Octobers weekend!)
Photography by Dominic Fenn
Now I've been published in a few magazines and I've never really seen it as a wow factor but this was something quite surreal because my face was EVERYWHERE!!! on every table, on every windowsill, on stalls, my gosh! But a massive thank you to the fabulous Andy Brittan who asked me if he could do this, because he wanted someone different on the cover!
 Apparently he wants to do this with each pin up contest winner, which I think is such a great idea! It'll give a lot of girls more publicity!
Which leads me onto my second highlight of the weekend
Judging the 2011 Hemsby/Outerlimitz Pin up Contest!
Because of winning the first ever one last year (yes a whole year, can you believe it??) I had the great pleasure of being one of the judges for this years contest, alongside the gorgeous and lovely Miss Jessica Orbit  , singer of Jessie and the Orbits and a fantastic model, Julie Cooper of Big Girl's Blouse and Mr Levi Dexter himself (for those of you don't know, Bernie Dexter's singer husband! and a truly lovely man!)
What a fabulous judging panel wouldn't you say, it was a great honour to be beside these lovelies on the comfy sofas watching some stunners strut their stuff! I tell you what those girls sure had some balls, I remember doing it last year and how scary it was, so I made sure I gave the girls some encouragement before they went on, according to Di from Outerlimitz  it was really appreciated which is nice to hear!!
Of course I made sure I had bought a brand new (well brand new vintage that is) dress for the occasion, every girl needs a Saturday night dress at a weekender and I made sure I had that, a summery, green and white Hawaiian 1960s maxi dress, rather special some of you might say, I would have to say that too!
Julie, Myself and Bernie all looking rather Flowery (Bernie in her Scarlett dress  she named after me)But back to the girls of the contest, it really was hard to choose the winner but eventually after seeing 9 girls prance around the stage showing their perfectly pin up poses the winner was to be Pip Love, a true vintage fanatic and a super girl! With two runners up being Miss Cherrie Mae and Carrie Hope (a little pin  up in the making I think).

Don't they look brilliant? (Photo's courtesy of Ruth Archer, I hope you don't mind me pinching these few)
Bernie, Miss Hemsby 2011 and me (Miss Hemsby 2010 hehe)

A super way to get Saturday night started I'd say!
The rest of the weekend was just amazing, one of the most famous modern day pin ups graced us with her presence and that would be of course
Bernie Dexter, it was so nice to see her, I did get to spend some time with her and Levi over the weekend and it was lovely having a chat about everything from modelling to swollen feet and barfing alcohol (see the famous ones do it too!!)

Me, Bernie and Miss Stefani Jay, another great gal!!
I did notice this year there was a very strong pin up vibe through out the weekend, with a lot of other models I know off face book,model mayhem etc turning up, which is great to see because it's obviously getting them involved in the rockabilly scene which can only be a good thing! A lot of these girls are true beaut's and it was so nice for even one of them (Ronnie) to come up and say hello because she was following me on face book!! Yes a little claim to fame there!! So for any of you vintage girls who want to know what the rockin scene is all about and to have a great weekend, take a trip on down to Hemsby in October where you'll see me staggering around or hogging the dance floor, and of course my mush on the programme.. You know I'm honestly surprised I didn't see one on a dart board or with a mustache drawn on! Heaven forbid!
But for now I'll leave you with a image from Thursday night events,
a girl, a bike, and a whole lot of rum ...
Until Next Time
Toodle Pip
xxx