Sophistique Noir's Monthly Theme: Early blunderings through vintage hair

A.k.a Fiona's collection of extremely vain selfies

So - my first time participating in Sophistique Noir's monthly theme post, and my blog deletes half the post after I write it. Nonetheless, I shall persevere.

I should hate vintage hair. And I do - it's designed for a time when women were not eighteen year old medical students who are already running late to lectures without trying to learn how to put in a faux fringe. I am not skilled in the dark arts of coiffure; it's a fuss, difficult to get perfect, and a nightmare with layers.

But love it I do. I think everyone has cast an envious glance to the vintage crowd at some point in our lives. Whilst we're well used to painting perfect eyeliner flicks, for many in the alternative fashion community (traditionally famed for it's attempts to make hair look more like bird's nests than actual birds nests), the perfect coif is not something that necessarily comes naturally.

It was really only on coming to Uni that I began doing stupid things to my hair, armed with bobby pins, freeze hold hairspray and stubborn determination. YouTube was a great help, and
I teased and sprayed and stuck rats in, ending up with a fairly shoddy set of victory curls. I suppose we all have to start somewhere.

Eyebrow shaping was also I skill I would go on to develop.

Victory rolls are the most famous vintage style - from the forties, they were supposedly named for the manouvres performed by WWII planes, and were worn as a practical up do for working during the war. Worn up, down, high, low, with hairnets or curls - there's hundreds of variations. As with a lot of vintage styles I found it very difficult with layers, but if you're struggling they're much easier to do with furious teasing and hair rats. This site has some excellent photos of the trend done properly.

Next attempt bandana and pin curl - I don't have a photo of me doing it, so this blurry one where I'm wearing a pseudo curl will have to do. Although not worn in the poster, it's best known as a result of the 'Rosie the Riveter' poster produced by the American War Production Coordinating Committee (a copy of which is hanging on my door). I like this one because it's easier for everyday wear than victory rolls, and awesome for bad hair days.

Bathroom shot! (The best light is in there. I shall not be judged.)

 

My most recent attempt is my favourite right now - faux bangs! Designed to mimic the curled fringe of Bettie Page, these aren't something I've had a lot of practice at (as you can see from the horribly squint placement of the attempt pictured), but I love them too much to care. These too can be changed in styling and placement; Dita Von Teese, queen of vintage hair, wears them up high and glamorous here.

The added bonus of this style is that I get an awesome curly fringe afterwards.

While the above styles have been mostly forties in origin or inspiration, I do also love the loose curls of the fifties, and have attempted this now. I have no photos to show for it, however, as the first time I didn't bother and the second oh god I never want to see them again how many cocktails did I have so instead I will link you to Dita rocking them for me.
 
My advice for those wanting to try hair more elaborate than 'I think I brushed it this morning?'* is short and sweet - tutorials, bobby pins, freeze hold hairspray and hair rats. I would also recommend having a basic knowledge of vintage hair; while it's not necessary to match up the decade of your do to the outfit, it's certainly a good thing to know your stuff.


Because I'm a lazy bum who hasn't done her wardrobe feature for this month (or, indeed, last month), I'm going to include it in here! Plus, the tights I'm featuring are moderately vintage inspired -

Yup, I took the last three photos on the same day. I like the dress, okay?

I got these at newlook a couple of years ago, but have struggled to include them in outfits as the blue doesn't really match the rest of my wardrobe. If you have any suggestions, please comment, as I really want to use them!




Tutorials -

• Fleur's Victory Rolls in a Jiffy Tutorial at Diary of a Vintage Girl
• Fleur's 1940s Faux Bangs Tutorial at Diary of a Vintage Girl (favourite vintage blogger, obviously)
• CherryDollFace's 1950's Curly Hair Tutorial on Youtube

Fee




*Not that this is me, six days a week. Oh no.

February Blog Round Up

This is just going to be a quick link round up, as I have work in the morning and haven't really been keeping on top of the blogging!

• If you follow my tumblr you will know that I am very fond of the Everyday Goth's feed (read: I reblog pretty much everything she posts), but you have no idea how much I love her writing - she manages to surmise the problems associated with fatphobia in the gothic subculture in her post Fat Goths magnificently, addressing many of the problems with beauty standards and the hypocrisy of some goths.
• Multiculturalism for Steampunk's Art Challenge: Japan. Okay, so this was last february, but I'm ignoring that because I think multiculturalism is such a key concept to steampunk that often gets overlooked in favour of the traditional cogs and victorian inspired fashion. I especially love Miss Kagashi's Bat Brigade design. 
• While not a member of the Kink culture myself, I love the ideals of consent and negotiation that lies at the heart of the community, and Cliff Pervocracy's post on Getting Negotiation Going is excellent, for both established relationships and those just setting out. Cliff recently spoke at the University of Chicago Sex Week on sex and relationships, which is also surmised on her blog and is well worth a read.
• Ra's post Porphyrogennetoi on the recent trend of the Byzantine on the catwalk is dear to my heart, being a lover of the near east myself (I never did get the classics out my system). I'd wear the hell out of this trend, if only I suited gold. Sigh. 

And finally, since I didn't do one of these for January, my featured post for last month is Coffin Kitsch's very trad goth club outfit post - I love the original eighties look, and damn she looks awesome here.



More tomorrow, hopefully, with my wardrobe feature post!





Fiona

Wardrobe feature: Alien Sex Fiend top

Greetings again - it's been a while, hasn't it? Medicine decided that, no, I wasn't allowed to stay in the eye of the storm any longer, and back to graft it was. Anyway, I decided to start a wardrobe feature post, given I've accumulated a few awesome pieces of clothing over the past half year and might as well put them on the internet. 

As the (belated) second half of my christmas present, the boyfiend had me over to his for dinner and together we made this awesome t shirt -

A new web cam is on my birthday list, trust me.

Personally, I adore it and think making t shirts together was an awesome idea (I'm not so sure about the combination of the necklaces now I see it again, but ho hum). This one was done with bleach and a homemade stencil, for anyone interested - results vary with different fabrics, and I recommend doing  a test blotch on the inside fabric.

If you try your own, do show me the results!



Fee

High street sale recommendations

Just a quick post for UK goths on recent developments on the high street - 

• Office have got rid of most of their sale stuff (I bagged a pair of real leather knee high combat boots for £50, which I am mighty pleased about), but their stock recently has been surprisingly goth friendly. They even had platform boots in - not incredibly attractive ones, but the fact remains I never thought I would see a pair in a high street shop. I'd highly recommend a look, anyway, as some of it is lovely.
•  Claire's Accessories, though mocked and loved in equal measure for being an integral part of the 'goth in a box' kit, is useful for basics, and to clear out last year's stock they have started a '£10 for ten items' deal - pretty good, and I'd definitely consider it if I weren't on a strict shopping allowance.

Resolutions.




The sky on campus was very pretty this morning.

Managed to not only secure a library fine yesterday on a book I thought I'd returned on time, but I missed the bus like an absolute tube because I thought I had an entire hour left. Why, I don't know, but rather hoping it was a fluke. Magically the bus gods favoured me and my journey took a fraction of the time it usually did, meaning I was only late for my lecture by five minutes. I also managed to stay interested in said lectures, which was amazing.

The whole Uni is back this week, which I guess means it's officially the new year now. I still haven't got used to being back in a city where it's still freezing even when sunny, which has resulting in me leaving the house with next to nothing on while snow is lying on the ground. I do miss the holidays, partially because I was in Glasgow and with family, and partially because I got to see the boyfiend and other friends. I also got to go to Glasgow's Danse Macabre (goth/disco club night - yes, you heard that correctly), and received tonnes of awesome things for christmas (some of which I might post pictures of).

Still, Monday (first real day back) was good fun; I learnt how to play Magic: The Gathering, look at the heart in a dissection and do ward rounds all in one day. I figured I should keep the blogging up for my first week back or two, but don't expect posts super regularly, because I'm a lazy fucker and tend to be a bit too busy. :L

In line with cheesy cultural tradition etc. revaluing what I wanted to do and what type of person I wanted to be in 2012 (i.e. one who doesn't forget to do important things or neglect friends or have a panic attack under her desk at exam time), I made resolutions just shortly after new year on tumblr. I can't be arsed looking back through my archives to find out what I said, but I'm sure I broke every single one of the resolutions, ha ha.

Thing is, I don't actually mind; I'm a happier person than I was at the start of 2011 (though maybe not after learning about my fine today), and I've achieved a lot in that year. Not necessarily anything tangible, like learning how to sew or keeping up yoga or whatever the fuck I said I would do, but I know myself better got to do lots of unplanned things, like go to a gay pride rally, survive living independently for three and half months, hold a set of lungs in my hands and share a kiss in George Square. Hell, I'm no longer terrified of washing machines. I still lose my wallet and have blue spells and don't get done what I said I would do, but I've grown a lot and am generally more satisfied with life. Which to be honest, is all I really need.

But in the spirit of things, I'm going to make a list of cool things I want to do, because there's still tonnes of awesome things I want to do this year. I think the trick probably is to avoid them becoming unreachable chores and make them fun, factoring in reviews and editions for through the year.

• Finish my crafts and try new things

Okay, so some things never change. I keep making this resolution every year, and keep putting off doing anything about it. I got a sewing machine last Christmas, and while I messed about on it a fair bit, I never really did much solid. In terms of sewing, I'm pretty much useless beyond basic repairs and very simple projects, and considering all the awesome things I could make, it's definitely something to train myself into; I have to make a list of the projects I want I do, to give me small goals. But first, finishing the massive pile of crafts I've set out for myself is the real challenge.

• Shop mainly second hand

I love shopping vintage and second hand, and some of my favourite pieces come from there. I've been having reservations about buying things new, mainly for environmental and ethical reasons. This is actually in line with Juliet's Lace's Three Month Shopping Ban, though I'm being a bit more relaxed as my wardrobe still has a bit of space.  While I don't think I can get everything second hand - some wardrobe basics such as vest tops will probably have to be bought - I'd definitely like to try being a bit greener.

• Write a daily to do list

This is something I've been doing for a while, actually, and would definitely recommend. I keep two to do lists - one a comprehensive list, the other my list for the day. The latter only has three items on it - depending on how much you feel you can get done in a day this might differ, but be reasonable. By the end of the day you should have completed the list, and you can write a new one for the morning. It's kind of anal and probably a bit ridiculous, but it helps focus me for the day and not forget anything - plus it's quite satisfying when you've finished everything.

• Learn actual cooking, not pot noodle cooking.

I am a student. I live off pasta and rice. Nothing more needs to be said.

• Hug my dog more.

Because sometimes you just have to.
 




Fee

Greetings from the end of the world!

Hello! The post title might seem a bit of an odd choice, but I live in Scotland and it's pissing rain here.

I've decided to take up blogging! My posts here will probably be outfit posts, opinions, crafts and daily life blogging, because I jump about too much to maintain just one focus point. if you so choose to follow me, expect this and more as I document my mistakes and successes as I begin adult life as a goth, a medical student, a craft enthusiast, a sister and a daughter and an independent human being.

Anyway, onto a brief summary about myself -

• My name is Fee.

• I am a generalised odd person from Glasgow, Scotland, where everyone exists in a permanent state of heroin-heightened existential despair and carries knifes.* I love my city.

• I am in the process of completing a medical degree in Dundee. I am not particularly fond of Dundee and miss Glasgow and my dog, but they do have a fantastic degree program here so I won't complain too much. 

• I have a tumblr, where I may cross post some of my blogging, but I wouldn't recommend following me as it's all 'ASDFGHJKL' fangirl posting and a constant spamming of bats, pretty clothing and really, fantastically bad jokes.

• My music tastes tend towards the stereotypical goth and punk bands, but I delight in finding newer or less well known artists I also like. Not so much for hipsterdom, just because I am attracted to shiny new things, build nests and regrow my black and white plumage in the spring. 

• I like making clothes, jewellery and other assorted crafty things, but, as a gamer might put it, I am a bit of a n00b in these areas so don't expect wonders of a costume design student level. 

•  As with the above crafting, I dabble in everything but specialise in nothing.

• I get kind of irritated by sexism, but that probably shouldn't be an odd thing (See: You Know You Live In A Patriarchy When Feminism Has Bad Connotations).

All the rest you can glean from my profile. The title of this blog might change at some point, but the URL should probably remain the same. Ta ta for now!

Oh god the hair.

Fee



* note: this is a joke. I'm not very good at them.