Vintage hair: two rolls

This post will be a combined post about my outfit of the day and my first attempt to recreate one of the looks from my new hairstyle book.

I tried to make the version that is called Two Rolls from my new book 1940's hairstyles and it looks like this. 

 

And this is my version :-)

 

I chose to wear a flower with this style, partly because I wear it most of the time, but this time also because the sides of my hair are a bit thin, so with this updo that was really showing. So the flower kind of hid that.... ;-)

  

Detail from the side (although my nose is missing, this was the best picture)

And I must say, it is pretty close to the original! Normally I always have problems making the rolls. They turn the wrong way or won't stay in the right place, but this morning it worked the first time I tried it and in literally 5 minutes my hair was pinned up!! Maybe because my hair actually needed a washing, so it was really coarse. The back I kind of hid in the snood (because of the much needed washing ;-) 

And as promised also a couple of shots from the outfit I wore this day. I like this outfit a lot, because it gives me a genuine 1940's feel. So it matches the hair very well!

 

Close-up of my shoes. I love these shoes. Allthough they are not very comfortable to wear all day, I love the look and feel of them.

Top: H&M

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: C&A

Belt: came with a dress from Hell Bunny

Snood and hairflower: homemade

New in: lovely vintage style books

I have been looking for a long time for some vintage style clothing, sewing and hairstyle books to buy on Amazon, but for some reason I never actually bought them, but last week I finally did :-)

I bought these three lovely books:

And they go very well with my small collection of inspiration books ...

I especially like Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, because I thought that it was only a book with tips on enhancing your sewing style in a vintage way, but the book also has 14 different patterns included, with tips for variations. So you can make 25 different pieces!! So I have a lot of new projects on my hands.

These I like to make first, but I think I will sew my way all through the book (it might take a while, but I expect to have lots of free time during the summer holidays, haha)

Bow collar blouse

Tiki dress

I also have been wanting to make some more variations on my hairstyle (because I'm a bit stuck on two or three styles), with styles from the 1940's. That is why I bought the other books. But although the styles look great, it seems to me they take a lot of effort and time (and that is something I don't have). Setting, curling, brushing and pinning your hair, but I will definetely try some styles. I just love the drawings and pictures in the book. Here are some gorgeous examples.

So my time if filled with things I have and want to do!

Vintage sewing: circle skirts

Finally I have some time off to work on my sewing projects which have been waiting for me quite a while. I'm planning to make a couple of full circle skirts. I bought the fabric two weeks ago and now I'm ready to begin.

My history with making circle skirts hasn't been a smooth ride :-) The first skirt I ever made was during sewing class and it was not straight at the bottom, so I ended up never wearing it. Some time later I thought I try it again and used a nice cotton fabric with big strawberries I had lying around, with no destination for it. I used elastic for the waistband, because that was the easiest (and I fully admit, I'm a lazy seamstress). But I forgot one thing.... to stretch it while sewing!! So now, this skirt I can only put on over my head ... oops, little mistake!

After that I made a half circle skirt from a lovely fabric I bought at a thriftstore.

The second full circle skirt I made, I used red fabric and I opted for a zipper this time, and I must say, second time around went a lot better! The zipper is still a bit short, so I have to wiggle myself in to it, but hey I'm proud of my creation! 

Now I'm planning to make a simple black full circle skirt from the same material as the red one, because red and black a so versatile. And I bought this gorgeous baby pink fabric with this skirt in mind:

A fifties poodle skirt!! I saw this skirt a while ago in the exhibition 'Fabulous Fifties' at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and I wanted it ever since. So my days off are stacked with things to do and offcourse I will show the poodle skirt when I have finished it. Can't wait to wear it.

New in: Shopping trip to the Primark

Yes, I have to admit it. Today I went on a shopping trip to the Primark. I fell in love with this store on my previous visits to the UK en Ireland, where they are everywhere! But here in Holland these stores are scattered, so today I went to the Primark in Hoofddorp. And came home with lots of lovely things!

Some new thights who were on sale, for only 50 cents each. Because the weather here isn't that warm at all, thights are still needed.

More sunglasses for my ever growing collection (currently about 30/40 pairs)

New hairflowers in summery colours.

A new bag for doing my shopping at the local market and to take to the beach.

 

Two western style blouses with long sleeves. 

 

  

A lovely blue blouse with polkadots and short sleeves, perfect for the summer. And I thought, I'd show you also somes photos of my going-shopping outfit.

Blazer: H&M

Fur shawl, earrings and skirt: thrifted

Sweater: C&A

Hairflower and snood: homemade

Shoes: van Haren

Jewelry: thrifted, vintage market

Outfit of the day: pretty pleats

Last weekend I bought lots of lovely jewelry, but also some great skirts. Although, they are now, after some much needed modifications to turn them from an 80's grandma look to lovely forties feel. 

This is one of the skirts I bought, in its original state.

I changed the buttons and sewed the pockets to the skirt, because they were sticking out and doing no good to my hips. And after some styling and wearing the skirt backwards (yes, I'm not kidding, wearing it backwards worked a lot better with the fit of the skirt :-) I think the outfit worked really good and has a lovely forties feel to it. I really love the intricate details on the pleats in the front and the back of the skirt.

Skirt, brooch and belt: thrifted

Cardigan: C&A

Shoes: van Haren

New in: art deco jewellery

Yesterday I went thrift shopping and I found lots of lovely things, mainly jewellery. Some of the pieces are new, but look like art deco and others are vintage. But new or vintage, I love them anyway!!

So here is a lookbook of what I found :-)

The brooches are vintage and where only 40 cents each. The earrings are new and where 25 cents a pair. And I also found some pendants, they where abouts 50 cents each.So you could say this was a real bargain trip!!

Outfit of the day: flowers and a pencilskirt

It has been a while since my last post, but I'm back!!

This outfit I wore last week and I love the simple but so versatile pencil skirt from Miss Candyfloss. I also have it in red and it is so comfortable to wear and because it is so plain you can wear it with literally everything on top. Speakings of tops, the top I made from a dress that I bought a while ago, but never worn it because it was a bit short. So I hemmed it up to a top. And I love how it worked out. I think i'll be wearing this top more often.

Skirt: Miss Candyfloss by Topvintage.nl

Top: Noordermarkt

Belt and necklace: H&M

 

Close-up of my hair.

 

The thights are 'homemade' :-) Or actually, the seam on the back I drew on myself. Just like in the old days, except that I used a textile marker and a bit of tracing pattern to make a straight line, instead of eyeliner ;-)