Often I am asked “How do I dress vintage without looking cheesy?” or, “I love vintage makeup looks, but if I wear it, will I look old or out of date?” Here are a few tips to know:

Don't Be Afraid Of Going Vintage Glamour!

Think structure. Think of your own bones like you would consider the bones of your home when decorating your space. In decorating, you take the style into consideration; a cozy cottage with rustic charm may not take an Eames era makeover. When trying a vintage fashion look, keep your own bones in mind. Most period dressing had a body type in mind as well as in vogue and that may not be yours. Even alterations may not make that flapper style sheath dress float over your curves as you’d like… So be as realistic about vintage fashions as you would the style and fit of contemporary ones; this is also true of vintage hairstyles and makeup. Sometimes we just can’t wear what we love and pull it off.

Don’t remain frozen in the past. Retro & vintage looks can look outdated & just plain horrible if they are beat-up & dusty looking. You wouldn’t want your home to look frozen in time (think about some of those homes you visit which have not been updated!). The easiest way is to make sure you have authentic pieces with modern support. A contemporary dress with 40’s makeup (heavy top lashes, red matte lipstick); pair antique shoes with a new suit; mix in both a vintage handbag and retro jewelry with an au courant sweater set and skirt.

Keep your clothing clean & bright so it looks like you choose it, not froze it! Never, ever wear that 1960’s poly top with a stain on it — no matter how cool and mod it is.

Makeup tips for following vintage glamour looks. Keep the color palette to colors which flatter your tones and coloring. You can follow the look or design of cosmetic application, using colors and shades you already own.

Two words commonly associated with vintage faces are pale and powdered, but remember to keep these basic make-up tips in mind:

• Don’t go lighter in foundation as it will make you look washed out & old.
• Remember, too much powder collects in lines & on dry skin areas (again making you look older), so keep it light &/or use a lighter weight foundation.

The December issue of Marie Claire features some fabulous hair accessories in their Free For You, Strike Up The Bands feature:

Marie Claire: Strike Up The Bands

I love the sparklies, of course! Who wouldn’t want the Billie Barrette comb by Stella Accessories? Sorry, couldn’t find this pretty comb or any hair comb, actually, on the site — but there’s always vintage combs with rhinestones!

I’d prefer to win the incredible Jennifer Behr Double Crystal Headwrap!

Jennifer Behr Double Crystal Headwrap

I have nothing like it, but I have pinned rhinestone necklaces into my hair every now and then… Mostly for holiday parties, but not exclusively so.

To enter, you’re supposed to go to marieclaire.com/freeforyou — but that page is still featuring November’s giveaways — so you’ll have to wait a bit, yet, to enter. (Doesn’t mean you can’t enter the other ones while you wait!)  If you’re impatient, just go buy these pretty hair accessories now — my guess is they’ll be plenty picked over by holiday.

I don’t suppose any discussion of Kim Novak’s glamour in Vertigo is complete without mentioning her spectacularly spiraled hair — a unique kink in the classic coif!

Kim Novak's Spiral Coil French Twist

If that spiraled sophistication gets to you as it did Jimmy Stewart, here’s how to do it. Begin with a simple French twist — only leave the the front section of hair, at the crown, out. Once you’ve made your French twist, take the still-loose section at the crown, and gently pull it back back, gathering the ends.  Coil the ends just off of center above the main twist and pin in place.

At Flickr, signs and wonders has posted this lovely page from a 1953 self-published instruction manual on hair styling featuring instructions and photographs for creating a classic comb-out.

How To Create A 1950's Basic Hair Comb-Out

If you haven’t seen King Creole (1958), it’s probably because you’ve dismissed it as “just another Elvis movie.” Even if you’ve heard that it’s his best film, you likely smirk, “Well, the competition isn’t that rough; they’re all just some schlock created around pretty babes and musical interludes.”

I’m certainly not the one to dismiss classic Elvis kitsch films (I adore the music, fashion and the babes right along with looking at The King himself), but I have to tell you that King Creole isn’t just good by comparison to his other films; it’s a good film period.

Elvis King Creole Promo

Now real film critics will tell you that Elvis was saved by a good director (Michael Curtiz — yes, the one behind my film nemesis, Casablanca), a movie based on book (the 1952 novel A Stone for Danny Fisher, by Harold Robbins) as opposed to one with its plot concocted by gyrating bodies and rhythms, and, the real cynics, will point to the fact that Elvis’ handlers hadn’t yet sold him out on settling for the safety of a screen franchise — and all of that’s true to one degree or another — but what makes this film really work is all of the above and the fact that Elvis has a supporting cast of real actors, as opposed to entertainers. The cast included Walter Matthau, Academy Award winner Dean Jagger, and Academy Award nominee Carolyn Jones.

In short, it was a real film project.

The proof of which is the official film history notation that James Dean was set to play the lead role of King Creole as straight drama but when he was killed in a car crash, the role was open for Elvis — at which time, the musical numbers were added. And when I say “added”, that’s what I mean; this film is a story, not a music vehicle. In fact, some argue that they find the music lackluster in comparison to the acting — something I’m not sure how they can say after the film’s opening with jazz vocalist Kitty White:

While the promotional materials (in color, while the film is black and white) showed Elvis surrounded by the usual bevy of babes, that’s rather misleading. The film is a more character study than romance — and in fact, it wouldn’t be wrong in my book to classify this as film noir. Or at least film noir lite.

Elvis and Babes Publicity Photo For King Creole

In any case, there’s only one woman who stands out in this film. That woman is Carolyn Jones. Her performance is equal to, if not better than, Elvis’s. But then it would have to be. She plays Ronnie, a victimized moll about as cliché as it gets. While the rest of the girls are virtually bobby-soxers in comparison (even the cheeky Banana Girl), Jones’ Ronnie has all the dark romance such a character ought to have — at least to be alluring.

Carolyn Jones and Elvis Presley Still From King Creole

She blends sophisticated sexuality and the alcoholic’s self-medicating self-loathing with exhausted victimization & a dash of “maybe I’m not too-worldly-to-hope?” In today’s terms, she’s an over-experienced cougar with an unsure hand forced to manipulate a teen-aged bad boy (one who actually is less likable, actually abrasive with his anger, resentment and shame than the iconic standard). There’s certainly chemistry.

Danny and Ronnie Kiss

Danny may be drawn to Ronnie for all the right reasons, or even the wrong ones, but in any case, these two are doomed in several ways… But enough of the plot; let’s move onto the glamour.

In terms of glamour, the best thing to discuss is Carolyn’s hair.

While her hair is the chic and sophisticated bob which matches her role as former sultry singer, woman of the world, now owned as both a trophy & a tool by the gangster, there are those bangs…

Scene from King Creole

The bangs are both blunt and severe, emphasizing the mature lines in her face, yet those open spots, those pixie-like wisps, pose the question of play… But what kind of game is this? Those bangs beguile with the questions they beg.

But what really mixes the message of Ronnie’s character are those soft curls, which, especially when seen from the side, offer more than some glimpse of the clichéd hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold but offer up a softness, a tenderness, which contradicts her otherwise worldly air.

The Soft Side Curls Of Carolyn Jones

It’s those curls, which we & Danny see when we take those sly side glances at her while we try to secretively evaluate her, which make us want to rescue her — and therefore find escape ourselves.

Elvis and Jones on King Creole

Another High-Five Friday!

1 Sandra at The DebLog answers What’s wrong with zippers and bows? (A question based on 1933’s Dancing Lady.)

2 The Sophisticate’s Diary shows us all how to make sculpture curls. (See all her vintage hair tips here.)

3 A Slip of a Girl has a post about the beauty and versatility of vintage bed jackets.

4 Couture Allure shows us stunning vintage evening coats.

5 Things Your Grandmother Knew gives the free crochet pattern for a classic cape and skirt ensemble.

Love the pretty curves of hair worn by Rita Hayworth in this vintage ad?

Rita Hayworth In Imperial Cultured Pearls Ad

They are called “victory rolls”.

While “victory rolls” were originally the name for a fighter plane maneuver, women adopted the term for the rolls of hair to celebrate victory in WWII.

Linda Darnell Wearing Victory Rolls

The victory roll hairstyle was wildly popular in the 1940’s — and not just for the name, but for their ease in creation. Any hairstyle in the 40’s had to be created without modern styling products — including blow dryers. If you don’t know the secret to 1940’s hair, it’s the hair sponges — also called ‘rats’. Much easier than just using bobby pins & setting lotion, I swear!

In this video you’ll learn how to make victory rolls in 5 minutes — and you’ll be hooked, wanting to wear them everyday just for the ease of creating such pretty hair.

Come for the Victory Rolls — but stay for the Bettie Page Bangs “how to” in this video too!

(Hair sponges and rats can be difficult to search for online; start with the links I gave you above and then click about for related options — and remember, you’ll be cutting the sponges in half for victory rolls!)

Wondering just how to wear your New Look hats — without having ‘hat hair’ or having your hair compete with your hat? Here are four pages from HairDo, published by Dell (May, 1961) describing just how to style your hair to frame your face and work with your lovely vintage hats. (Click each for a larger scan.)

Hairdo Meets Hat

Hairdo Meets Hat Page Two

Hairdo Meets Hat Page Three

Last Page Of When Hairdo Meets Hat

To celebrate Veronica Lake’s birthday today, how to make those glorious peek-a-boo waves of hair that were Veronica’s trademark.

Veronica Lake

Don’t forget to enter the FLABuLess contest!

Brookise Wearing The

When most film fans picture the bob hair cut, they think of Louise Brooks & her signature hair style, quickly called the “Louise Brooks bob”.

She may not have been the first to wear a bob, but Brooksie epitomized the flapper’s free spirit and her short, sleek hair was as dramatic & memorable as her film roles.

The public had decided; LuLu, the “It” girl, personified the bob, made the bob. And so the “Louise” became an eponymous classic hairstyle, living on in the minds of fashionistas who’ve never even seen her films. (That is, however, a pity; Brooksie’s films are fabulous!)

When discussing this hairstyle, many people will mention the bluntness of the cut — but what really makes the style sing are the smooth sinuous, sensuous curves…

The sweep along the cheek…

Louise Brooks & The Guiche

Even bang-less & slick, the spit curls are sleek, supple contrasts.

Called by many names (kiss curl, cheek curl, comma curl, etc.) in the U.S., the French call them guiche. Guiche, which rhymes with ‘leash’, literally means ‘curl’.

If you want locks like Brooksie, the best place to look for help is actually in hairstyle books from the 60’s, when the bob was resurrected.

(The guiche was also resurrected again in the 80’s, so those retro magazines may also feature tips on the care and handling of the guiche. Also, since those fashions are now returning, look for the guiche to appear on faces near you!)

There are several pages of guiche styles in the May, 1961, issue of HairDo magazine (a Dell publication). These pages feature different 10 curls along with photos of hairstyles:

The Guiche, Page One (Click For Full Scan)

Retro 1960

The Guiche, Page 3 (Click For Larger Scan)

Retro 1960s Curls

The notes on page 64 are as follows:

The care & keeping of the guiche, that sleek curl drawn out to cheek or jawbone, has inspired many a resourceful innovation. Try setting its flat, fashionable arch with a strip of cellophane tape. To keep it close, try a drop of surgical adhesive (in a tube at your drugstore) or clear nail polish.

Styling products have improved greatly since the 60’s, and you likely will not need to resort to sticking your curls to your face with clear nail polish.