Wildest cats in towns Bettina's style

I know this post is rather a bit late now as the Wildest cats in Town weekend is longgg gone but as promised in my last post I said I'd show outfits I wore to that weekend. The Wildest Cats, is well known for it's strong Teddy Boy following so you will see Drape after drape at this weekend, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb because even though it is a Ted weekend you get a lot of other characters there that I must say had the strangest dress sense with ankle boots and circle skirts as just one combination!
I tend to go to weekenders with at least one pair of jeans packed away in my case but this time I made sure I hid them away and packed skirts and Capri pants because I remember once stating in a post that I was going to try and stop wearing jeans as much, I haven't really done that since said  post, until the Wildest Cats!

The first outfit of Friday, very summery I think, a yellow 50s sun top and atomic circle skirt with a yellow thermoset jewellery set, excuse the tatty headscarf, my hair was all pin curled up! With my dearest daddy outside the bar.

Friday night outfit!

  I love everything Hawaiian and I really think this dress brought the sun out for the weekend, well maybe not but it certainly brightened up my day (oh so cheesy!) The colours and patterns are so gorgeous, soft pastel blues and greens! I bought it at the Rhythm Riot last November and it is vintage, I'm not sure of what era I think quite possibly 60s or 70s but I think it looks perfect for a 50s weekend, it has changeable straps so it can be halterneck or spaghetti straps!
I teamed this with a vintage 50s white jewellery set and white wedge heels from New look.

Another view of my dress with my lovely mother in her Outerlimitz flamingo dress! (I really hate my posture in this picture I look huge!)

 The next day I noticed I managed to get lipstick marks on it, woops!

Day two - day time

Now don't I look attractive with my curlers in! This is a reproduction 40s leopard print beach set from Cal Noir of Hollywood! I was really nervous about wearing this but it was lovely weather for it so I thought I'd get my milk bottle legs out! I teamed it with black espadrilles and my wooden Enid Collins bag. This outfit is ideal for the beach (hence the name!) But I've worn it for shoots as well as at this weekend, I'd love to wear it to the High Rockabilly! 

Day two night time - Saturday night dress!

Saturday night of a weekender is the night to glam up so I thought I'd dust off my blue lurex dress I bought from Outerlimitz last year, I love this dress so much but it does scratch me something chronic! This dress can be worn to any event I think because I don't think it screams 50s too much so it could get away with being a dress bought out of a high street store, I love it and I love outerlimitz!
Because it is so low cut I put a cute vintage broach on the bust to stop my boobs making an appearance!
Once again teamed with my white jewellery set but this time I wore my vintage 50s Lucite heels and Lucite handbag, both very easy to find on eBay if you've got a lot of money and tiny feet (unfortunately I have clown feet but managed to get my shoes at a bargain price of seven quid!)

Another shot of my dress and my handbag with my daddy dearest, doesn't he look smart in his drape?

Day 3! Eek I had four changes on this day, how dramatic right? Well when a girl doesn't feel comfy she just doesn't feel comfy, I started off wearing my vintage 50s aqua cigarette pants but soon changed into my gorrrrgeous Bernie Dexter dress named after yours truly, yes the Scarlett dress!

I am well and truly in love with this dress, it is so comfy and the print is so cute! I teamed it with (my mothers) patent belt and my Vintage Aqua wicker handbag and cork heel wedges.
My dad said it was an evening dress but I thought it was perfect to wear on a gorgeous sunny day!

Evening Attire

I hadn't worn this dress since the Rockabilly Rave two whole years ago and I was so happy that I did again, I bought this dress at Hemsby a while ago and it is a vintage 50s yellow lace pencil dress and I have to say fits me like a glove (which makes it the more difficult to take off!) I was always too scared to wear it again because I love to jive and unfortunately in this dress I can't because of how tight it is under the arms, which most dresses were during the 50s!
But I kept it on for long enough to get an effect and I wore it with my gold Lucite handbag, Lucite heels and yellow thermoset earrings, this was definitely my favourite dress of the weekend, so simple but so stunning!

My dance outfit, yes I could breathe again! I made sure I wore comfy clothes so I could dance, a simple cream 50s blouse and a beautiful school themed 50s circle skirt I got at the Rockabilly Rave car boot this year! Oh and of course I teamed it with my Vivienne Westwood flats hehe!

I must admit even though it is not one of my most favourite weekenders going I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for my outfit choices this time around, lets hope I can keep it up for Twinwood and Hemsby!  I still can't get over that I had nine outfit changes over three days, pretty mental huh? I'm a girl so it makes it OK!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

The Vanity Box hits Wildest Cats in Town

During the first weekend of July I packed my gear up again for the Teddy Boy weekend of the year, Wildest Cats in Town, luckily it's only five minutes drive up the road from me so I didn't have lots of unfortunate travelling to do unlike some people, but the downer on was getting there stupidly early before anyone else and watching my father try and work the DJ decks because the silly blue coats had mucked around with them before hand! 
I've been going to the Wildest cats (or Pakefield as it's known to some) for a good few years now and for me it had started getting a bit repetitive year upon year until this year that is!
Before I had even gone I found out some great news that the Vanity Box were going to be doing what they do best and that's hair and make up! Which obviously got me excited because it meant I would be looking immaculate the whole weekend (well at least one night before my money ran out!)

When I got there I made sure I had a good ole catch up with the ladies Gemma and Verity while they were setting up, I was happy to hear that some women had already been taking an interest in the stall and they were taking bookings!

(picture stolen from Andy Munday!)

The stall could not look more professional, as well as providing hair and make up stands for the the ladies having theirs done they also had little bits and bobs you could buy such as hair flowers, clips and earrings, perfect to make any outfit complete.

Check out all those goodies! I love the fact that they had antique Esq gold frames showing what they did
I love the fact that they did not just specialise in forties, or just in fifties but they liked to do styles with their own unique twist to styles.

Verity hard at work styling the hair of a lady for the evening, they were set up in the main entrance hall so everyone could see what was going on

Gemma concentrating on make up, I think this is such a great idea especially if you feel like having a lazy weekend, getting someone else to do the hard work and making it look doubly amazing!

Time went on so slowly.. (swoon) on Friday and I thought I'd go get my hair done  by the girls, unfortunately I had already pin curled my hair for the evenings events so Gemma offered to brush it out and style my fringe for me and I'm completely glad she did because I always have an Afro when it comes to pin curls!
(picture stoling from Luke Domingo)

And here was the end result

Unfortunately not the best shot but I think it looks great and I got great feedback (from middle aged men mind) saying how good it looked! I thought my hair had got quite long so this was the perfect length when curled for me!
Gemma did a fab job! And I know from speaking to other ladies that both her and Verity were well received and I saw many ladies having their hair styled over the weekend, one lady I saw she kept her style in the whole weekend, it shows that you are definitely getting good quality styling from these ladies!

My mum even had her hair styled by them, and even though she was nervous she was truly happy with the results she got, she wanted the Rosemary Clooney 50s style Roll and it suited her down to a tee!

You can't see her hair very well but don't her and my dad look fab! Very proud of them both as they were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary that weekend!

I was so glad to see the girls at the weekend, they kept me company definitely! I know I've wrote about them before but I really cannot praise the work they did that weekend high enough, They were so relaxed through out and were welcoming to every lady who booked with them, I have heard that they are wanted again for next year, I hope to see them again there!

The girls finishing the weekend in style

My next Post will be on outfits I wore that weekend, I don't usually do that but without blowing my own trumpet I thought I looked rather dashing haha!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx



Rave today gone tomorrow

I've just returned from the 15th Anniversary Rockabilly Rave, I cannot believe how quick it's been and gone, unfortunately I thought it wasn't one of the best, it had a strange ol' kind of atmosphere going on, not to say that I didn't enjoy it, it was the Rave of course I did! But it was just a bit flat for me I think, but never mind I had a lot to drink, spent far too much money on clothes and burgers and overall had a giggle!  Here's a few pics of the outfits I wore over the few days

Wearing my vintage Hawaiian sarong dress with friends Graham and Julie, this dress
I bought at Hemsby a couple of years ago and was a bit of a tight squeeze, pity it didn't bring the sunshine out! I thought my flask matched quite well though don't you think?

Vintage one shouldered Aqua embroidered dress made from what looks to be Sari fabric with my fella,
we didn't mean to be matching but I think he scrubs up well when he wants to!  When I first bought this dress it was in a sorry state and also nearly was again when the shoulder ripped so I had to change quick!

Sunday night with the ladies wearing my vintage green halterneck

pencil dress and matching jacket, completely a play it safe outfit for me!

Unfortunately I didn't get to see a lot of the bands because I was too busy eating most of the times or shopping, yes I'll say shopping that's what us girls do! But the bands I did see were super, The Rhythm Shakers on Thursday night probably would have to be the top one of the weekend for me, I've loved these guys and girls for a while now and the rave was the first time I had got to see them, the rest of the wild records artists topped the bill on the Sunday night to a great response from the crowd and of course Saturday showed us the Inferno's( my all time favourite band!) and The Bellfuries who I had doubts about because they only played the rave last year but they blew us away again, the singers voice still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end!

I managed to pick up a few bits and bobs over the weekend including another pair of Capri pants in a beautiful aqua colour... I have 9 pairs now!! I will be able to stop wearing my jeans soon! A lovely printed circle skirt from the Car boot... Yes I managed to get up for the car boot, the first weekend in god knows how many years but I did it! Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so it was heaving but I came away with my skirt so I was content when I went back to bed. I also bought a vintage white jewellery set and black beaded sweater, good weekend buys I'd say!
I generally had a blast this weekend spending time with close friends and making new ones.
I apologise for this post being a bit short and is a general overview, I'm finding it quite difficult to get motivated at the moment so am running low on ideas but as soon as I get one you lot will be in for a treat!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Kicking the summer off with some snaps

I came back to Lowestoft on Wednesday for three whole months, in this time I'm meant to get a head start on my dissertation, figure out what I want to do for my FMP, work and have a social life? How this is going to happen is beyond me. But I thought I'd start the holiday off with a little photo shoot on Thursday evening, it was at a place called Baconthorpe castle near Cromer, I'd never even heard of this and I've lived in the area all my life, sheltered life maybe? I found out it was going to be a group shoot with six photographers and three models so I was quite excited, but I also found out it was castle ruins not exactly a castle so I was a bit wary of how "Pin up" would work, but I got myself ready and away I went.

Here are some images from the group of photographers I worked with:

This was by Mark Whitmore, I think it looks quite moody and mysterious,

 even if I do look a bit young!

Love this by Andy Robinson!

Doesn't look like the average pin up and in

my comfy clothes too!

Love the vintage feel this one has to it by Andy Robinson!

I seemed to stay in this part of the ruins most of the shoot which I was a tad disappointed about because there were so many other parts to explore!

I adore this shot by Lynton Smith, the cropping of it is just amazing!

A shot by David Abbott, love the composition again, even though I was very uncomfortable
in rather tight Capri pants!!

And last but not least a finishing shot by Dean Mitchell
the angle is just so clever and like Dean said to me "this is my castle and what"

A fantastic shoot with a lovely bunch of photographers where I got some great shots for my portfolio I think!
The majority of the outfits I wore for this shoot are vintage minus the black Capri pants which were from Freddies of Pinewood, a fab repro jeans company, check them out!

I hope to go back to Baconthorpe to do more of a darker gothic shoot because I think the location is more suitable to that rather then Pin up! So keep your eyes peeled

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

Victory Rolls... The happy shopper version

So after my last post I had a comment asking if I could give any tips on how to do Victory rolls so I thought I'd quickly put some images together and give you a how to! because to be honest I'm not sure how I learn, I just practised one day and voila there we had it, Victory rolls... Bettina style! Now they're not perfected in any way yet but I think this will give you a rough idea of how I do them and you may be able to figure it out a bit better then I showed you!!

So here we go!! Excuse the really poor quality images and the person in the images wearing very little make up and Afro hair... It is a Wednesday and I have washed my hair!  But anyway...

I don't think it matters on where your parting is in your hair, I've had a side parting since I was about 12 years old because personally I do not think a centre one suits me but victory rolls often work really well with a centre parting and it is easier when it comes to sectioning your hair off because you get an even amount on each side...

Start by getting a small section of hair (enough to make quite a thick roll out of it!)

Then get a comb and back comb near the roots of the section so it makes it stand out a bit more,

make sure you smooth it all out before or after you've done your roll because otherwise you look
like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards and that is not a good look!

Next get the end of the section of the hair and roll it into a circle... If you're having trouble with this you can spray it a bit with hairspray so it all stays in place when you're rolling it. Once you have rolled the end into a circle, keep rolling it towards your head like you word a pin curl so then it looks like a barrel against your scalp. (Everyone now Roooolllll outtt thhheee barrrellll... no just me? )

 Grip it in place with Kirby Grips, you can try to hide them so it looks like it's standing up all by itself but if that's too fiddly just clip it in anywhere so it stays in place

And if any of that made sense it should look something like this!

Basically you have to do exactly the same on the other side but when it comes to Sectioning it make sure its around the same amount of hair as the other roll because when it comes to rolling it it could look uneven and ruin the whole Do!

Rolling the second one may take a few attempts to make sure it looks even and right compared to the other, but luckily you've got the other side of your head to look at to even them out!

And this is what the rolls should look like! Given they are a bit scruffy but you get the idea I hope?

Now if you have a fringe you could always leave it but I think this often ruins the hair style so why not try rolling your fringe too?

You don't necessarily have to have a fringe to be able to roll it, just make sure you section a small part of your hair before you start this whooole process

You do the fringe roll pretty much similar to the others but I don't tend to back comb mine, I used to have to do it with heated rollers or tongs but I've got the hang of doing it without these now, if you are still a bit wary you can just roll it with your tongs and then clip it in place with a grip

I tend to do mine at a diagonal angle because I think it shapes my face better but you can do it horizontal so you've got a Bettie Page Esq style fringe, I find it looks more forties then a diagonal fringe so I tend to stay away from it because I'm more of a fifties gal.

Try curling the rest of your hair with tongs or rollers to glam it up more or you can clip the rest of the hair up also for a easy up do!

But ta da here is what you should end up with!!

All in all this took me around 5 minutes to do, not bad really considering I've only

just got the hang of it! This may take you a bit longer at first but once you've got the hang of it you'll be able to do it easy peasy, but be prepared to have aching arms because you will get them and after all practise does make perfect!!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx



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



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