All About Vintage Hair

So, I love hair.  A weird statement, I know, but it's true!  Styling, teasing, coloring, cutting...there's just something therapeutic about getting an entirely new look.  That's one of the reasons why I love learning about vintage hairstyles.  In order to do them correctly, you pretty much have to do them like your grandma did, minus going to the salon every week. (Sidenote, did you know that Vidal Sassoon was credited with pioneering wash and wear styles, allowing women to visit the salon every few weeks for colors and cuts, instead of every week for styling too?  I bet salons didn't like that at the time.  There's also a documentary about his life, Vidal Sassoon: The Movie (catchy title, no?) that I'm going to try to track down.)

Ok so back to vintage hair.  Most vintage hairstyles require the right "vintage" tools, such as hot rollers, metal and pillow rollers, or clips and setting lotions to achieve that perfect pin curl.  Now I am a huge advocate and appreciator of vintage hair, but as I have just started trying to style my own hair in this fashion, I am definitely no expert.  That's where these ladies come in.

Lauren of the Bobby Pin Blog - She tells you everything you need to know about what's going on in the world of vintage hair and beyond.  She's created two fab books which I can't wait to get my hands on.  One is about vintage hair and the other vintage makeup.  Both are filled with pictures and how-tos to create your own vintage looks.  Hop on over to her blog if you'd like to purchase them for yourselves.

Ashley of The Lisa Freemont Pages creates amazing vintage 'do's on her youtube channel.  Seriously, any kind of vintage style, this woman can do, and does it with four kids running around.  Amazing.

Beauty is a Thing of the Past - This blog is filled with pages and pages (manually scanned and then uploaded!) with vintage hairstyles and how to's from the source--each picture is from a vintage book or magazine.  Can't get more authentic than that.

Now, I've found this last page through Moxie Beauty and Hair Parlor's facebook.  This salon is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and while I've never been there myself, I'm dying to go.  It's a vintage-themed hair salon that specializes in doing vintage hairstyles!  How awesome is that?  But anyway, as I was perusing their facebook the other day, I found a link for a class in Lansing that teaches you techniques for vintage hair and makeup taught by the fabulous burlesque dancer, Go Go Amy.  The class starts in January and is $75 for the how-to session and $200 gets you a complete vintage makeover and your own pin-up photo shoot.  I think I'm going with the $75 option.  Now, I'm off to try and scrounge up some of that dough so I can reserve my spot (have I mentioned I'm a poor college student yet?)

A Late Halloween Post: A Study in Costumes

I know Halloween was last week, but I can't pass up the chance to write a post about it since it is my absolute favorite holiday.  I love the feeling of finding that perfect costume idea, brainstorming about the construction, and that great sense of accomplishment once you've created something you're really proud of.

One of my favorite things to do for my Halloween costumes is to use vintage pieces I already have (plus, it's cheap! Poor college students love cheap!).  Basically all my past Halloween costumes have included some kind of vintage clothing I already owned.  I'd like to take you along a magical journey, back through Halloweens past, back through my tagged Facebook photos...

Sorry for the tacky mirror picture, if only I had known I was going to make a blog!

2 years ago - Deer Costume

Dress: Thrifted

Belt: Thrifted

Headband: American Apparel

Antlers: lovingly self-made out of cardboard

This costume was thrown together pretty last minute, but I loved it.  The velvet dress kept me warm while walking around outside and my antlers were a big hit.  And even though pretty much everyone assumed I was a reindeer, I really liked this costume. 

My attempt at the signature Steve Nicks pose

Last year - Stevie Nicks

Dress: A gift from my co-worker and fellow thrifter

Belt: Thrifted

Top Hat: Party City

Cape: Fabric via Joann Fabrics which I sewed onto the dress

Even though no one really knew who I was, I LOVED this costume.  Stevie Nicks is one of my favorite singers of all time and I had so much stinkin fun wearing this outfit. 

No shame.

Last year - Tippi Hedren from The Birds

2 piece suit: Thrifted

Birds: Doves from Hobby Lobby spray painted black

Okay, so this costume wasn't technically for Halloween-- I wore it to a Classic Cult Movies party, but I had to include it.  Easily my favorite costume I have ever put together, and pretty simple to make.  I actually had a relatively easy time finding a suit that matched the one Tippi wore in the movie.  After that I merely sewed the birds onto the skirt and jacket and sewed one onto a barrette to attach to my hair.  I think I looked pretty darn similar, don't you?

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my costumes further than 2 years back because all of my old photos are in technology heaven along with my old Mac (sniff).  This year, my boyfriend was Bill Clinton and I was Monica Lewinsky.  I didn't take any pictures of our costumes myself, but once I find some I can throw them up here too.  Both of our costumes were completely thrifted, mine complete with a plaid, shoulder pad-adorned mini dress and some white vintage Ferragamos, and his with a grey suit and sailboat necktie.  We were a sight.

Now, I know I don't have many readers yet, but for those that do happen across this post, please comment and tell me about your favorite costumes!  Did you make them?  Buy them? Did people know what you were?  Drop me a comment and tell me all about it!

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my small corner of the internet!

Most of those reading this blog probably already know me, but if you’ve stumbled across my page and don’t, here’s a small introduction:

My name is Chelsea and I am a 22-year-old college senior.  I live and love (and work) in Lansing, Michigan.  I live in a house with 26 (yup!) other people and love it…most of the time.  I have a cat named Salinger who I will probably be posting about every so often because he’s almost always doing something weird and entertaining.  He’s also very fat and cute.

I have a passion for anything vintage; hair, fashion, décor—I love it all.  This, along with my affinity for all things beauty related will make up the majority of the content on this blog.  I’ll probably throw in a few lifestyle posts in here, just for good measure (at least I think my life is interesting!) along with some craft posts, makeup reviews, and some daily outfit posts.  It should be a pretty good time, so I hope you keep reading!