Santa Baby...

The days are shorter, and the nights are most definitely colder. However tis the season to be jolly, and with Christmas just around the corner, I thought I would share a few vintage treats I have been eyeing up over the past few months, to help you chase away the winter blues. If you want to look ravishingly retro for Christmas day, or need ideas on how to spend your Christmas cash then take a look at my Christmas wish list below. 

1. Grace Dress in Dark Green (£110) Vivien of Holloway

2. The Milena Grosgain Vintage Evening Purse (Approx. £62) Pinup Girl Clothing

3. Besame Classic Colour Lipstick (£22) What Katie Did

4. Black Glamour Corselette (£68.50) What Katie Did

5. 1950's Red Denim Jeans (£75) Vivien of Holloway

6. Why Not - Compact Mirror (£10.99) Amazon

7. Erin Wiggle Dress in Red Stretch Bengaline (Approx. £60) Pinup Girl Clothing

8. Red Flower Hairclip (£14) Vivien of Holloway

These of course are just a selection of what each respective website has to offer for glamorous gifts this season, so feel free to use my wish list as a starting point or ideas board in order to create your own perfectly vintage look this Christmas. I will be posting more vintage inspired ideas for the festive season in the near future, but for now good luck with all your present buying, and remember to wrap up warm, 'cause baby it's cold outside. OK I'll stop.

"I'd like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair."

Bette Davis had her priorities right. As did all of the vintage icons. From Rita Hayworth to Elizabeth Taylor, famous film actresses were always making statements with their hairstyles. And luckily for us vintage lovers that's exactly what vintage hairstyles do, they make a statement. Hairstyles like the 'Fake Bob' and 'Victory Rolls' were symbols of the eras they were created in, and even today people instantly recognize them as vintage or retro. However, it was apparent to me right from the start of my vintage make-over that these hairstyles aren't exactly easy, at least not with a little help.

So, I did a lot of research on vintage styling, watched loads of hair tutorials, searched through a lot of books, until I came across an absolute winner. "Vintage Hair Styling: retro styles with step-by-step techniques". Let me just say, as someone who had no clue where to start with styling my hair in general, never mind vintage hairstyles, this book has become an absolute must. It's easy to follow, covers all the basics in loads of detail, and basically just has a lot of fabulous pictures of women with gorgeous hair.

What's best about this book is that it covers popular styles from the 30's all the way through to the 60's, so if you aren't sure about what era you love the most yet, you get the chance to try out loads of different styles to see which ones suit you best!

The reason I decided to post/rave about this book is because it's a great resource for vintage hair styling, especially if you're just beginning to style your look differently and don't really know where to start. You can buy it here, then all you'll have to do is start using the "I'm washing my hair" excuse to avoid guys you don't want to go out with. Sorted.

And as an extra treat here are some of my favourite pics from the book that I've scanned, enjoy!

Photo from "Vintage Hairstyling" by Lauren Rennells, page 66

Photo from "Vintage Hairstyling" by Lauren Rennells, page 72

Photo from "Vintage Hairstyling" by Lauren Rennells,  page  106

Front cover of "Vintage Hairstyling" by Lauren Rennells

Also, I think this book would make a fabulous Christmas present for any vintage lover, whether it be for a loved one, or a little treat for yourself. However I will be posting more about gift ideas for the perfect vintage Christmas in my next post so get your holiday spirit on!

From The Top

First of all I'd like to say hi and welcome to The Vintage Wallflower! This is my first post, so I'd like to give you all an idea of why I started the blog, a bit about myself, and where I intend to take things from here. 

So, for a couple of years now I have fantasised about having a complete vintage transformation, but I have so far shied away from putting my ideas in to practice as much as I'd want. The reason? Put simply, I haven't had the confidence or self assurance to pull off a style that, I think, requires quite a bit of bravado.

However, it is for these reasons that made me want to start writing this blog in the first place. I originally intended it to be an online diary, to track my progress throughout my make-over, to write down everything I learn about vintage styling, which in turn would hopefully help to build up my confidence with my new look. Then I realised, what if there are other people out there who have the same insecurities about diving into a completely different style as I do? What if there are other vintage wallflowers out there who know exactly what vintage look they want to go for, but maybe have no idea where to start? 

So instead of an online diary, I decided to make a progressive blog that goes through all of my successes and failures from the very start, and hopefully I can pass on all of the hints, tips, do's and don't's I learn along the way!

This is me on admittedly a good day. As in, on a daily basis I usually just wear jeans and a jumper (it's Scotland it's freezing ok!?) But because I knew I was taking a photo for the blog I panicked and made an effort (you would too don't lie). While my look isn't particularly vintage at all, it's where I'm starting from, and that's what I wanted to show you guys. 

But what I've come to realize about vintage style is that it's not something you have to conform to, it's something you create just for you. So it doesn't really matter where you feel you are starting from, you can take it wherever you want, it's just having the confidence and know-how behind all your lovely ideas that will make it happen. Considering I've been interested in vintage styling for a few years now, you can also tell from the photo it doesn't happen overnight, so don't go out panic buying, have fun building up your new vintage wardrobe/make-up collection, as I am currently trying to do.

You're probably wondering at this point where I am actually going to take this blog, and I can tell you that even though I haven't put much into practice yet, I have been doing my homework, and I've built up quite a bit of knowledge on vintage styling. So from this post onward I intend to write about some pretty exciting stuff, which will include updates about my ever changing look, vintage styling book reviews, vintage boutique reviews/interviews, hair/make-up tutorials, as well as my newly acquired hobby, burlesque dancing! I know, not exactly something you would imagine someone with not much confidence to try, but it's actually where my confidence started to grow, so I thought it would be a perfect feature on a blog all about helping vintage wallflowers learn how to blossom in to their very own vintage vixen.

So if you feel like learning along with me, and making your everyday life that little bit more glamorous, then keep reading, and I'll keep you posted!