Lately I’ve been spending time with some very glamourous company: the lovely ladies from the Lindy Charm School for Girls, and the inspirational Ms Candice DeVille.

Now, I’ve always been a big fan of glamour – we can all benefit from that bit of oomph that a flattering dress or a nice shade of lipstick can give us, but my hair and make up was letting me down. I had this crazy idea that all my hair needed was a good cut, colour and the right product to make it look good – cut and colour was easy, a good stylist took care of that, but the product side just wasn’t working for me.

After years of trying, all I got was a cupboard full of expensive formulations and my hair, well, this is what my hair looked like (I’m almost ashamed to show you this photo that appeared on Candice’s blog in June:

Photo courtesy Super Kawaii Mama

It’s a bit like “one of these is not like the other” isn’t it? Candice and Miss Carly look fabulous and I, well, I’m letting the side down. I’m sure it was a source of frustration to my glamourous companions but I can tell you that photo is the last time I’ve gone out in public without styled hair because, oh yes, I’ve seen the light!

The following night we were all going out for my birthday and so Miss Chrissy of the Lindy Charm School treated me to hair and make up – the result was spectacular! I felt wonderful, got lots of compliments and it made turning 45 all so much easier.

…but the look was a big too strong for every day and so each morning I would experiment, looking for something simpler, less structured and most importantly, took less time. Here’s a shot taken a couple of days after Miss Chrissy did her stuff – it’s softer but only took a few minutes to brush the curls and pin up. No longer the ugly duckling!

I found to my delight that the 1940s styles suit my face – and I really like that they don’t need a lot of work. Initially a bit more effort is needed, as I set my hair in hot rollers using setting lotion (which takes all the frizz out and gives me big sleek curls), then allow to cool, brush out the curls and pin up into place. I roll the curls around my finger to get a good shape – the curl dictates what I do with it. Once it’s in place, I might apply a little Brylcreen (yes, Brylcreem!) to smooth the loose ends and flyaways, and finally a good spray of old fashioned hair spray.

That’s it! My hair is set for the day and no more work is needed – and the following morning it only takes five minutes to get it back into style. The other thing that I love is that I used to wash my hair almost every day because after I had slept on it, it had lost it’s shape and needed re-doing. Now I can get a week out of my hair. Unbelievable: that extra time doing it at the start of the week certainly pays dividends.

So I was converted – and then went to the Lindy Charm school when they were last in town. Miss Chrissy asked me to be model, and she and Miss Kim styled me ala Andrews Sisters – the back was done with a few hot sticks and the front was just setting lotion, no styling tools at all except for a small wooden peg and Miss Chrissy’s finesse.

I can’t tell you how impressed I am at all this – I’m a great believer in the wisdom of our grandmothers, and I love that these techniques are simple and effective. What I really love about all this, is not only do I feel like I’m doing justice to my vintage wardrobe but I actually feel more like myself! Glamour has a bad reputation as something that is frivolous and perhaps a bit unnecessary or silly but it’s a powerful tool, surely anything that makes you feel better and more able to go out into the world is a very good thing!

Here are some more shots from the Lindy Charm school – it was wonderful to be surrounded by a group of ladies who were all there for the same purpose: learning how to make more of themselves and their look.

If you’re interested in learning how to transform into a glamourous vintage style goddess, there are still places available in the Lindy Charm’s workshop on Sunday September 12th and if you’re already a convert, Circa is now stocking the “Essential Setting Lotion”, made to the same 1946 recipe.

Coming up: Adventures in Hair Part 2, when Ms DeVille transforms me 1950s style!

Hi all,

This is the third talk that I have coming up in the next few weeks and it’s dedicated to the wonderful accessories that ladies and gentlemen wore to spruce up their outfits during the ’20s to the ’50s – with a definite Art Deco slant. I might even sneak in some items from the Deco revival in the late ’60-early ’70s.

What: Nicole presents a talk on Art Deco accessories
When: 7.30pm, Thursday 5th August2010
Where: Racecourse Hotel, cnr Waverley Rd & Princes Highway, East Malvern
Cost: $15 which includes coffee, tea, biscuits and mini-muffins.
Bookings: Complete the booking form on this page and send in no later than 30th July 2010. We also have some booking forms at Circa.

More information at the Art Deco and Modernism Society

Copies of my book “Love Vintage” will be available on the night.

UPDATE: this talk is now sold out.

UPDATE: This event is now sold out. Kingston Library are taking a list of names interested in a future talk.

Hi all,

I have three talks on vintage clothing coming up and this is the first one:

Join Nicole Jenkins, author of Love Vintage and owner of Circa Vintage Clothing in Fitzroy, for afternoon tea and a talk about ladies fashions from 1940 to 1960.

Nicole will bring several original garments to illustrate cultural history, design, fabrics and construction. Bring your own classic garments for discussion too!

What: Talk on ladies fashions 1940-1960.
Where: Kingston Library, Chelsea Library Branch, 1 Chelsea Rd, Chelsea.
When: 2pm Friday July 30th (talk will go for an hour, followed by afternoon tea).
Cost: free
Bookings: Phone the Library on 1300 135 668. Please note that numbers are limited.

Click on the image to see larger.

I’m particularly looking forward to this one, as I usually talk about a century of fashion and this is a rare opportunity to concentrate on my current favourite decades: the 1940s and 1950s, the golden years of couture.

Starting with WW2 “make do and mend” it will go post-war with Dior in ’47 and the haute couture of the ’50s, through to 1960 when elegance had peaked and begun it’s decline into the youthful fashions of the ’60s.

I love coats, I really do, but at Circa we currently have more than we really need.

So – we’re going to have a Coat Sale – all coats are $80! They’ve all been dry cleaned, most have been repaired although at this price some may have damage to the lining or the occasional moth nibble. Most are from the 1950s, some are ’40s, ’60s or ’70s. I love colour so there are quite a few to choose from – we also have all kinds of wools from llama, mohair, camel, velour, boucle, gabardine and tweeds.

There are men’s coats as well as ladies coats, some are full length, some hip length, some the short “car coat” or “topper” length. All are in very wearable condition and looking for happy new and appreciative homes.

We have a rack full of them and as they sell, I shall bring some more in – here’s a selection of what we have right now (with thanks to my wonderful model Fiona).

How long will the sale last? As long as our stocks last. Please note that sale is for overcoats only, not evening coats, afternoon coats, opera coats or jackets. All coats are one offs and it’s first come, best dressed.

The weather is so lovely today, perfect for catching up on some laundry for the shop. As you know, everything at Circa is cleaned before it goes in, and for most items of vintage clothing that entails hand washing.

Today I’m tidying up all the bits and pieces that haven’t fitted into previous wash days and that includes a big bag of gloves. I collect them throughout the year and every few months, do a big wash – this is a smaller one than usual.

Here’s a pic from an earlier Glove Day. I bought the local shop out of pegs before doing this one:

Today I divided them into plains and coloureds – plains are the whites, the creams and the beiges. Most vintage gloves come in these colours, and as unexciting as they are to our modern eye, they were the perfect companion to an outfit back in the day. And, of course, they usually matched her shoes and handbag.

These are the plains – the coloureds are next. I’m excited about some of those: there’s a long pair of ’50s gloves in candy pink and another in royal blue. I love coloured gloves.

This seems like a good opportunity to say a few words about vintage gloves. I believe that there is no easier way to glam up an outfit than to add gloves – it’s an accessory that whilst being essential in the past (every lady would put them on as she left the house) is rarely seen these days, out of very formal occasions like weddings and balls. Like the hat, they’ve been mostly relegated to history.

The vintage lover will find gloves where ever she turns – but if she chooses to wear them, she will soon encounter a size issue: our hands (much like our heads and our feet) are larger than our grandmothers. In the past, gloves came in sizes and the size was your shoe size. The most common sizes are 6, 6 1/2, 7 and 7 1/2. Whether you can fit your modern hands into them depends in part on the style and the fabric. For ladies with either broad hands or a foot larger than size 8, Circa stocks a range of new gloves alongside the vintage gloves. They’re made of stretchy polyester. They don’t come in the variety of styles, colours and fabrics that their vintage sisters do, but they will fit.

Most vintage gloves come in cotton or nylon, occasionally in rayon or silk. All can be a bit stretchy depending on the weave – knits are best. Most of the vintage gloves we find in Australia are from the 1950s or 1960s – during the latter decade their use gradually declined although older ladies still wore them because they were used to it (it must have been a shock when young ladies started going without. This is of course a big reason why Jean Shrimpton was so shocking in 1965 at Derby Day).

Ladies would have large collections of them – when I buy an entire personal wardrobe I often find that there are twenty or more pairs stashed away. One lady had 74 pairs, all in cream! They used special glove soap to clean them (nowadays, I just use hand washing liquid).

The length of the glove worn was dictated by the style of sleeve and time of day:
- wrist and bracelet (half way up your lower arm) lengths suited day dresses and ensembles, usually worn in plain white, cream or beige.
- below the elbow was for an evening event with a short sleeve (eg, party dress)
- above the elbow suits a sleeveless dress (eg cocktail dress)
- opera length, the longest, almost come up to your shoulders – was best for a strapless gown.

During the early 1980s when sophistication made a comeback via the New Romantics, gloves came back into vogue. That was when I first started wearing them and my favourites were a pair of 50s opera length gloves in an intense cobalt. They perfectly matched one of my 50s party dresses, and I wore them to a 21st where upon I drank too much and ripped apart some garlic bread without taking them off.

Later, the birthday boy declared it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen…my gloves might have been ruined but it was worth it for my Dolce Vita moment.

Apologies for not posting many photos recently, I think this post will make up for it a little, especially with the glamour quotient, which is higher than usual!

Last week we had a film crew in the shop, filming for a New Zealand TV programme. At the same time, Super Kawaii Mama dropped by with her visiting friends Violet le Beaux and Jimmy America. So of course Fiona and I had to dress them all up in some of the great frocks and suits that are currently in store.

Somehow I neglected to take any shots of Jimmy looking very smart in a pinstripe suit – perhaps he’ll put up a photo himself? If you go over to his blog, you’ll see some great photos from their Melbourne visit including my favourite – parasols at dawn and an action shot of Fiona fitting Violet. You can see that the camera crew seemed to be enjoying themselves too.

As you know, Circa is hosting a vintage swimwear parade at the Wintersun festival in June, and it’s been a wonderful excuse to stock up on swimwear from the ’30s to the ’60s (not that I needed one).

Although I’ve bought quite a few lately, some styles are particularly hard to come by so I turned to the Vintage Fashion Guild for help. I’ve bought over thirty suits from fellow VFG traders around the world now and finally began to feel as if I have enough. That’s on top of about thirty or so that I already had.

But there was one style that I really wanted – and I found it on ebay, from a seller who wouldn’t ship outside of the US. Thankfully Jennifer from Vintage Visage came to my rescue, and the following beauty was mine for the princely sum of $3.99US. I don’t think the seller knew what she had…and she photographed it badly. Oh dear.

I waited eagerly for it’s arrival and here it is – from the late 1930s or early 1940s, it’s made of ribbed knitted wool and features a cut-out midriff and adjustable straps that can be worn either halter-neck or cross-over style. The straps have been replaced, and it looks like it’s gone a few rounds in a washing machine but all in she’s looking pretty good for seventy years old.

Here’s Fiona showing the swimsuit to much better effect:

In case you’re wondering why the swimsuit has suspenders attached, don’t worry….it’s not some wacky old-fangled kind of bathing suit, it’s just that Fiona (like all well behaved ladies) has kept her underwear on when trying it on. Doesn’t she look smashing?

If you’d like one for yourself, I found a nice stretch satin version on Glamoursurf’s website. This one will be appearing at Wintersun in June – and speaking of which, thank you to everyone who has volunteered to model or help out, I shall be contacting you soon with some shots of swimwear that will be available for the parade, and yes, we’re still looking for models – please email me at nicole@circavintageclothing.com.au

Hi all,

I’m organising a group to see Loel Thomson’s Costume Collection.

Loel is a private collector who has dedicated her time and resources to the collection, preservation and display of two hundred years of Australian fashion. Many of her pieces were included in my book Love Vintage. I’m sure that she has the best collection of Australian fashion in the country, as well as jewellery, accessories and lace. There’s also an impressive tea cosy collection!

When: Wednesday 17th February at 7pm.
Where: The Costume Collection, 39 Greenaway Street, Bulleen.
What: Tour and talk on 200 years of Australian fashion.
Cost: $5 which Loel donates to a local nursing home.
Bookings: call Circa on 9419 8899

For those who are interested in social history, the history of fashion or just beautiful clothes, I thoroughly recommend this visit. Numbers are limited and RSVP is essential.

Here are some links to photos that I took on previous visits – please note that Loel often changes the displays so you might see some of these but you’ll probably see others from her collection of over 3,000 pieces:
Early 19th century dress.
Victorian era.
Edwardian era.
1920s dress.
1930s dress.
1940s dress.
1950s dress.
Swimwear.

1950s swimwear from Loel Thomson’s Costume Collection.

UPDATE 8th Feb: As sufficient numbers have been received to fill the group, we’re now taking names for any one who might be interested in a second tour, hopefully in the next few weeks. Please call the shop on 9419 8899. Thank you.

A new exhibition of ladies vintage fashion is opening on Friday night:

From exquisite party frocks to warm woollen coats and even the odd fancy dress costume, this is a rare opportunity to view original garments hand-made by Mrs Dorothy Hart of Benga House. Mrs Hart, who together with her husband Dr Ian Hart designed and built Benga House, was an accomplished seamstress.

The original dresses and clothes were all handmade by Mrs Hart between the 1940s and the 1970s.

What: Hart & Hand – Stitching together the private and public lives of Mrs D. Hart.
When: 13 January – 10 March, Wed to Fri, 10am to 4pm and Sun 12pm to 4pm.
Where: Benga House, Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens 66 McCrae Street, Dandenong 3175. Phone phone 9793 4511.
Cost: Gold coin donation

Further information is available at the Heritage Hill website. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of related talks, including two by Patricia Begg and one by me. I’ll post about those soon.

I had the opportunity to view some of the gowns, to help with dating and I can report that they are very good examples of a highly skilled seamstress – the standard of Mrs Hart’s work would nowadays qualify as couture. In particular I was impressed by her structured 1950s ballgowns (an early example of which can be viewed above). The clothes have been well preserved by the museum and this is the first time they have been displayed for the public.

Wintersun, Australia’s leading rock & roll nostalgia retro event is held annually in Coolangatta – from the website:

Wintersun 2010 starts on Friday 4th June and ends with the huge Best of Wintersun Concert on Monday 14th June. Featuring almost 1500 Hot Rods, Custom and Classic Cars, more than 100 bands and performers, dancing, movies, and competitions. The festival is held in the border coastal towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads on the New South Wales & Queensland border. Many events are free, some are in the streets while others are in the local clubs and shopping centres.

I’m excited to announce that in collaboration with the Lindy Charm School for Girls, Circa will be presenting a vintage swimsuit fashion parade.

What: The History of the Bathing Suit – a retrospective parade.
Where: Stage 8, Goodwin Park, Wintersun Precinct – Coolangatta, Queensland.
When: 2pm Saturday 12th June and 2pm Sunday 13th June.
Cost: free

Poster design courtesy Karlee Slater – click on image to see larger.

Now here’s where you can help – we’re looking for volunteers to help us with the parade. We need models (men and ladies), dressers and hair and make up artists. If you’re going to Wintersun and would like to be involved in this fun event, please email me at nicole@circavintageclothing.com.au

Thank you!