I live in a rented flat so my dream of a full-on Sixties (or even better, bright orange Seventies) kitchen remains, well, a dream. While other rooms like the living room or bedroom can be easily given a vintage feel with furniture, rugs, curtains and general deco, the kitchen is usually a tricky room. Ours is undeniably modern and there’s only so much you can do trying to add a vintage feel with Sixties jars and kitchen towels.
This is until I stumbled across a pack of original Sixties decal tiles at a local vintage fair. These transferable stickers – you just paste them over your tiles - add an instant retro feel to our otherwise rather bland kitchen tiles. Best of all, you can simply peel them off and save them when you move. Genius!
Look out for vintage decals at fairs or car boots or have a look around Etsy. I love these wood-effect apple decals (£7.97) or these amazing mid-century tea set ones (also £7.97).
I absolutely love this video tutorial by the brilliant Lisa Eldridge. She is using unopened, original Biba products to create this amazing deco inspired look.
With the new Great Gatsby film coming out next year even mainstream fashion magazines are going into a Twenties overdrive – apparently Twenties Marcel and finger waves are going to be staging a style come-back.
Well, I’ve tried finger waving my hair a few times and boy, it is not easy. I find Marceling (a technique using a hot curler on dry hair) a lot easier than finger waving (done with a comb on wet hair). Especially when you do you own hair, finger waving is very tricky, watch out for numb arms.
There are plenty of finger waving tutorials in books and on blogs but I much prefer seeing someone demonstrate, so after some searching I’ve found this excellent YouTube finger wave tutorial by Thrifty Creations, which is a brilliant step-by-step guide, I highly recommend it!
I absolutely love vintage and fancy dress parties, and one of my favourite themes is the Twenties. I’ve been to quite a few Twenties parties – big ones with hundreds of people and small ones at my friends’ places – so I though I’d share my party ideas and experiences with you: here is my guide to throwing a Twenties party.
Inspiration
If you’re not sure where to start, watch Billy Wilder’s 1959 film Some Like It Hot. Featuring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag on the run from the mob, the film’s memorable opening scene is set in a funeral parlor, which disguises a speakeasy serving coffee laced with booze. Love interest Marilyn Monroe’s amazing flapper outfits will be a great inspiration too.
For a more serious account of the era, read John Dos Passos’ 1925 novel Manhattan Transfer, which gives a fantastic insight into life in New York City during America’s Jazz Age.
I also keep on referencing Otto Dix’s drawing Die Grossstadt, which depicts a scene in a Berlin jazz club during the Twenties.
What to wear, hair and make-up
I recently put together how-to guides on how to create a Twenties day time look and how to put together Twenties evening wear. Also check out my inspirational gallery of Twenties hair styles. My top tip for girls with long hair: wear a simple head band and tuck your long hair over and under it. As for make-up, the Twenties look was about a strong, vampish face. Exaggerate blushed cheeks, deep red lips and kohled eyes. Your eye brows should be pencil-thin and in a high arch.
What to eat and drink
To create a Prohibition atmosphere serve gin cocktails out of mismatched vintage tea cups. I love the French 75. Named after a hard-hitting World War I artillery piece, the French 75 is, as far as can be determined, the only cocktail invented in the United States during Prohibition to become a classic.
Shake well with cracked ice:
1 ½ oz London dry gin
½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Strain into a tea cup full of cracked ice and top off with chilled champagne.
As for food, I wouldn’t bother with Twenties recipes as they can be rather difficult. It’s all about being decadent and having a good time, so serve lobster cakes, champagne truffles and figs dipped in chocolate.
What to do
Dance the Charleston (here’s a great introduction video showing the basic steps) and amuse yourselves with Twenties slang expressions.
And as a final touch…
Add a splash of Juniper Sling, a brilliant new fragrance by Penhaligon’s inspired by the most iconic and atmospheric of spirits: London Dry Gin.
I’m a huge fan of Penhaligon’s – all their perfumes are amazing – but Juniper Sling is my absolute favourite so far. It’s cool and crisp and smells of juniper, brandy, pepper and black cherry. From £78 (50ml eau de toilette) at Penhaligon’s boutiques, concessions and online. Do check out their brilliant, tongue-in-cheek Twenties-inspired video to get into a Twenties party mood.
This blog post is sponsored by Penhaligon’s. I genuinely like Juniper Sling though!
Yesterday I went to see the lovely hair stylist and creative Beauty Director for head&shoulders Peter Lux, who was doing a demonstration on how to do classic, vintage hair styles as part of head&shoulders 50th anniversary.
We did two styles – 40s Victory Rolls (as seen above) and a style reminiscent of Audrey Hepburns bun updo in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
What made it even more fun was that we had hairdresser’s dummie heads so we could join in and learn each do step by step. Now, I’m pretty good at Victory Rolls so there wasn’t much new there, but I really loved Peter’s guide to doing the Hepburn updo. Head&shoulders have also done a video demo of Peter styling it, and as most of my pictures from yesterday aren’t very good, here are some film stills.
How to do an Audrey Hepburn bun ala Breakfast at Tiffany’s:
Step 1
Make a side parting. Then section off the front bit of your hair on both sides of the parting.
Step 2
Pull the rest of your hair into a very high pony tail. Fasten with a band. Then wrap a small strand of hair around the band to cover it.
Step 3
Backcomb your pony tail. Then, starting at the tip of your hair, roll it up and pin to your head. Make sure you fan out the sides.
Step 4
Now take the front bits of hair and pull them back on each side of your head. Pin the ends just under your bun.
And voila!
Our dummie looked like this:
It was really easy and took less than 10 minutes. I can’t wait to try this on myself!
Ok so I’m going to have to swear you to secrecy cause this is my most precious vintage shopping tip: check out German eBay. Or Austrian eBay. Or both. Don’t let the unfamiliar lingo put you off – that’s what the Google Toolbar translator was made for.
Check out this nifty ‘Design & Stil’ category for example. It gives you the option to search by decade so you can narrow down things very easily.
If you’re after vintage fashion try out the Mode nach Jahrzehnten section, which again allows you to narrow down by decade. It’s worth sifting through the many God-awful repro listings to unearth the real gems.
One of my all-time favourite You Tubers, Berlin Hair Baby, has made a brilliant video on how to get the high-up bun Betty Draper wore on her trip to Italy. I can’t wait to try this one!
I’m beyond bored with my hair at the moment, alas finally a great and easy to do hair tutorial on how to do a 60s-inspired bun up-do. I can’t wait to try that one out!
One of the things I genuinely don’t understand when it comes to vintage is the styling advice that certain eras are for particular body types. Twenties and Sixties, as is often suggested, is only for the boyish figure, the Thirties look great on athletic bodies or pear shapes and for the curvaceous girls it’s Fifties all the way. Really?
Well, not really. I’m a firm believer that any period look is perfectly adaptable to any silhouette, and to think a whole decade could be reduced to one silhouette, fails to do justice to the true versatility of fashion design.
Point in case, the Fifties. Dior designed his New Look – all corsetted waists and big crinoline skirts harking back to 19th century dress – for a slender, regal looking woman like Grace Kelly. In contrast take Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for example. All big-boobed and big-hipped they wear tight dresses that emphasize – not distort – their hourglass silhouettes. It just shows that there is plenty of Fifties vintage out there for you, regardless of your body shape.
And this is something I find true for the other decades too. Don’t have the boyish body to pull off a Twenties drop-waist dress? Then opt for separates instead.
Can’t do Sixties mini? Go Jackie O in a waisted dress suit.
What do you think? Is there such a thing as a vintage era for each body shape?
I’ve written about my slight obsession with Otto Dix’s paintings before, but I have to return to his magnificent ‘Grossstadt’. The main scene, set in a Berlin club, shows a couple dancing along to a jazz band with several onlookers smoking and drinking. The woman about to step onto the dance floor, with her orange-yellow dress, slick Easton crop hair cut, pink feather fan in hand, to me perfectly embodies Twenties decadence and what Twenties evening dress is about: glamour, exoticism, magic, enchantment, excitement.
Against contemporary stereotypes, Twenties evening dresses weren’t short, certainly not above knee-length, and full-length gowns remained popular throughout the decade. Monochrome dresses in black and white, creme or pastel tones were often worn with exquisite art deco shawls in geometrical or oriental prints.
Just as with daywear, the silhouette was boyish and dresses – always sleeveless – were straight up and down or cut to a drop-waist. Cape or cut out back details were very en vogue as were luxurious fabrics such as silk and fur.
Scalloped seams and heavy embellishments using embroidery and pearl details became popular on dresses as the decade progressed – leading up to the fringe detailing that we now associate with a typical flapper dress.
Similar to the daytime look, hair would be cropped in a short bob or Eaton cut and worn straight or set in Marcel or finger waves. Alternatively small curls would be piled up tight on the head. Tiara-esque silver headbands or elaborate crown-like head pieces were popular, often decorated with pearls and feathers.
For accessories women wore pearls or silver jewellery, plume fans were popular too.
To recreate the look:
If you’re based in London, do head to the Vintage Emporium just off Brick Lane for the most incredible Twenties vintage dresses and accessories. Online shop Dorothea’s Closet Vintage also stocks incredible Twenties vintage, even if you can’t afford it, get inspired by her stock. Again, check out Etsy, which harbours incredible treasures such as this emerald green Twenties gem (it’s nearly £600…).
Don’t be put up off if you can’t afford to buy any Twenties vintage – just be creative, improvise, make your own: a simple white, sleeveless, ankle-length dress dressed up with a stole and a homamade feather fan will work wonders.
I have to admit I’m rather disappointed that so many Twenties or Prohibition events I go to are full of people dressed in cheap joke shop flapper costumes, paper mache gangster hats and such voluminous feather head pieces they look more Pocahontas than Clara Bow. I’m not quite sure where this mis-representation of Twenties fashion comes from but I guess with Boardwalk Empire (which I love by the way) propelling the look into the mainstream, things are only set to get worse.
So here’s my guide to doing the Twenties – Part 1: Day Wear
There is a real misconception that in the Twenties dresses were ridiculously short. They were in comparison to the previous Edwardian fashion where the mere sight of a woman’s ankle was considered positively scandalous. For most of the Twenties however, hem lines were just below the knee, apart from a brief period in the mid-Twenties when some skirts and dresses came in just above the knee.
During the Twenties the preferred silhouette was boyish and straight up and down without emphasising the female shape. This made corsets redundant and women were, for the first time, able to not wear very restricting shape wear. Instead, simple, taylored dresses or a combination of skirts with matching blouses or knitted tops – often in a drop-waist cut – were worn during the day. The colour palette was simple: black, grey, navy, white and art deco prints inspired by geometrical shapes or flower patterns were in fashion.
Dressing during the Twenties was relatively formal compared to today’s standard and women would wear hats whenever leaving the house, as well as a matching coat and gloves during winter. Cloche hats and turbans were very popular, so were elaborate fur stoles and coat trimmings.
Shoes were kept simple and most women would wear brown or black T-bars or low-heels.
Hair was kept fairly simple during the day with many women opting for the easy to maintain bob cut, revolutionary for its time. Otherwise women would set their hair in finger or Marcel waves or would have tight curls that would peep out below their hats.
Make-up was strong, even during the day, with visibly painted on, thin eye brows, black kohled eyes and deep red lips. During the day jewellery and accessories would be kept to a minimum and women would rarely wear any accessories at all apart from the popular string of white pearls or a simple clutch bag.
Recreating the Twenties look with vintage is do-able but good condition clothing is both expensive and hard to find. A good starting point is Etsy.com.
These online vintage shops also all stock Twenties fashion:
It’s far cheaper however to recreate the Twenties style with highstreet or reproduction clothing. Clarks for example do a great range of T-bar shoes, Heyday Vintage has some fantastic art deco inspired blouses (pictured) and The Vintage Dressmaker offers a collection of bespoke Twenties day dresses.
Yes sorry another post about the Babyliss Big Hair styler but after my enthusiastic review yesterday I was asked to do a more in-depth post on how it works. So here it goes.
I washed my hair this morning as usual, spritzed on some heat protection spray and pre-dried my hair with my normal hair dryer until it was damp but no longer wet. You can use the Babyliss styler on wet hair too, but damp is recommended.
Here’s me with my hair still damp before using the styler.
Now one thing I like about the styler is that you just plug it in and go, there’s no waiting around for it to heat up as you would with a straightener. As you can see the thing looks like a giant brush, it’s got three heat settings (cold, warm and hot) and the brush head rotates both clockwise and anti-clockwise.
All you do is take a section of your hair, hold the brush against the root and press the rotate button for your desired direction. It’s really not that tricky to figure out and if your hair gets stuck you simply stop the rotating and pull out the brush, easy.
Here’s me styling away, I especially love it for my fringe.
It doesn’t take very long at all to do a section. I have lots of very thick hair and if I use a straightener I have to go over sections many, many times to get them straight – the Babyliss is much quicker, it really only takes seconds. I was in a real hurry this morning and the whole styling (including taking pictures) took only about ten minutes.
Here’s me half styled, it gives a good comparison between finished hair and non-styled, big difference, huh!
And here’s me all done. I often wear my hair in this kind of very straight 60s style and honestly, using the styler is the quickest and easiest way of achieving it, so yes, I love it!
Style High Club founder Lena Weber is a social media specialist and digital publisher in love with all things vintage. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of The Vintage Guide To London and The Vintage Guide To Berlin
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