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!

All three of the July and August Melbourne workshops by the Lindy Charm School for Girls have sold out and now – by popular demand – a fourth one is now scheduled for September. I’m impressed that there are so many of us who wish to learn how to do vintage hair and make up styles!

What: The Lindy Charm School for Girls
Where: The Library, Father Flanagans – 484 Smith Street Collingwood (cnr Alexandra Parade)
When: Saturday 11th September from 1pm to 4pm. Second workshop Sunday 12th September, 1pm to 4pm.
Cost: $60.
Bookings: email Christine@marinaoceanus.com.au or phone 0409 727 888.

Click on the image to see in rather large full and readable detail.

Chrissy, the Principal of the Lindy Charm School did my hair in 1940s style whilst we were up at Wintersun recently – if you sneak a peak at my profile pic (on the right) you can see an example of her art.

Update: second workshop announced
September 11th is booked out but there are vacancies for Sunday September 12th.

This week the new Frankie magazine came out – not only is it my favourite mag (and the only one Circa subscribes to) but it features six pages of vintage clothing tips from yours truly!

Starting with the 1930s, each page features a dress from Circa and useful advice about how to recognise it when you see the real deal – and what to look out for in reproduction styles.

As well as the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, it covers the 1960s and even the ’70s.

Although most of my stock is bought from private collectors, I’m amazed at what you can still find out there in unexpected quarters – recently a friend found a pair of 1820s dancing shoes in a Tasmanian op shop and over the years I’ve bought several ’20s and ’30s dresses at flea markets and quite a bit of Victorian cotton underwear in op shops too.

The important thing is knowing what to look for, and enjoying the treasure hunt!

One of the things that I love about the wonderful slide into autumn and winter is the emergence of wool fabrics and in particular, tweeds. Tweed is a coarsely woven wool fabric, in a plain or twill pattern and it’s the patterns that I like the best – here are some of the tweed fabrics now gracing coats, jackets, skirts and suits at Circa.

Firstly – here are some houndstooths. Houndstooth has been selling very quickly at Circa lately, and this post was inspired by a lovely pair of classic black and white high waisted ’50s pants and a gold lame ’60s straight skirt. I’ve never seen a gold lame houndstooth before! Unfortunately they both sold yesterday so I can’t show them to you now but out there, are sure to be two happy houndstooth loving ladies.

Houndstooth must be the elegant tweed because most of these are ladies garments, from the ’60s, the height of houndstooth’s popularity. The grey one on the right is from a Harris Tweed jacket.

Now, onto the houndstooth’s royal cousin, the Prince of Wales check – originally known as the Glen Urquhart check or Glen plaid for short – it was popularised during the 1930s by Edward VIII when he was the Prince of Wales. These are all from jackets: two mens, two ladies. The fabric is finer for the ladies styles.

Herringbone tweed is a personal favourite of mine: it can be strong or it can be subtle depending on the colours used. The first is a ’60s ladies jacket, the second is a Harris Tweed jacket from the ’50s (note the knotted leather button), the third is a mens coat also from the ’50s and the last is a ladies trench coat from the ’40s, complete with bakelite buttons.

Herringbone tweed apparently gets it’s name from the herring fish skeleton. Not having ever seen one, I’ll take their word on that.

Had enough of tweed yet? Thought you might like some pin stripes – these are all from mens suits, so the fabric is a finer worsted wool than a tweed, and they’re from the ’30s to the late ’70s. Like anything, pin stripes go in and out of fashion and the main eras seem to be the ’30s-’40s and then again in the ’60s-70s. For many of us, they never go out of style.

It’s easy to tell the older suiting fabrics from the newer ones, because as they said in the classics: “feel the quality”. The older ones are thicker and heavier. You know you’re wearing a suit when you wear a pre’60s suit.

As always, you can click on an image to bring it up in full and then click again to see it full size.

UPDATE: This event is now sold out.

Once or twice a year (if we’re lucky), the wonderful ladies from the Lindy Charm School for Girls come south to teach us how to do proper Victory Rolls and finger waves, and how to apply vintage style make up. Their invaluable instruction also includes tips on vintage dressing.

Their next visit is in July: it might seem like a way away, but the workshops fill up quickly so I encourage interested ladies to sign up soon. This time they’re also coming to Ballarat!

What: The Lindy Charm School for Girls
Bookings: email Christine@marinaoceanus.com.au or phone 0409 727 888.

Melbourne
Where: The Library, Father Flanagans – 484 Smith Street Collingwood (cnr Alexandra Parade)
When: Saturday 10th July from 12 noon to 3pm.
Cost: $60.

Ballarat
Where: TBA (ladies who have enrolled will be notified)
When: Sunday 11th July from 10am to 1pm.
Cost: $60.

Click on the image to see in full (and readable) size. More information can be found on the website.

One of the most sought after kind of dresses in the vintage world are beaded 1920s dresses. Fragile by nature, few have survived to the modern day, and those that have often require lots of restoration, as the weight of the beads damages the delicate silk chiffons and georgettes.

Last year I restored a ’20s evening gown for a customer who was wearing it for a special birthday. The bodice featured a beaded panel, much damaged over the years – the dress was unwearable as is, especially as she wished to dance in it, so I removed the bodice panels (front and back), matched the silk chiffon and silk charmeuse to new fabrics and (with the help of a friend) sewed them all together using silk thread.

Then I spent a week restitching the entire beaded panel. Originally sewn with cotton thread, it had deteriorated over the years and as I touched each bead, it came adrift – so there was nothing else for it, but to redo it all. It took me over fifty hours but I was happy with the result. I don’t think that I’ve ever spent so long restoring a dress for sale, and the resulting price did not reflect all the work and material costs that had gone into it. But it was beautiful and my customer was happy.

Please excuse the dreadful photos: as well as being out of focus, they don’t represent the true colour which is a delicate shade of pale green referred to during the Art Deco era as “eau de nil” (the first image, sans flash, is the closest). The original 1920s beads are a shimmering silver-white. I’m glad that there were enough intact to complete the task, as it would be hard to find more of the same.

The front is high and the back low, ornamented with a beaded rosette. The back detailing along with the silk charmeuse and bias cut skirt (below the drop waist) suggest that this gown is from the late 1920s, perhaps not long before the waistline returned to it’s natural place in 1929. Whilst featuring elements of 1930s style, it’s still very much a flapper dress, ready to kick up her heels at one more fabulous party.

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.

Vintage lovers, I spend a certain amount of time online and one of my favourite occupations is in the perusal of blogs – especially those from ladies who like nothing better than to frock up and show the world how fabulous and stylish they are.

Here are some of my favourites:

Alice Jean’s – vintage living in a modern world
Kesenya is a lady from another age, and like me, prefers the pre-1965 world (in most but not all ways). Her blog is an ode to vintage living, complete with handsome husband.

Esme and the laneway.
I love everything about Marianne’s style – from the red and white polka dots to the victory rolls. Mixing vintage with modern, her style is feminine and whimsical.

Fleur de Guerre – diary of a vintage girl
Fleur is based in England – as she puts it, “part-time pinup girl and full-time Forties enthusiast” and her blog is full of great images depicting her glamourous life.

Super Kawaii Mama
Circa’s favourite glamourpuss, Candice updates frequently with fashion, style tips, make-up and hair tutorials as well reflections on life as mother to two (inevitably stylish) young daughters. Like Marianne, Candice mixes real vintage with more modern styles to produce an individual look.

As you know, some of my older garments are on display in an exhibition at the City Museum called “What Women Wore”. It was with sadness that I read on the weekend that the museum will be closing.

Thankfully it won’t be until the latest exhibition on vintage toys finishes on the 14th of March – and in the meantime, I’ll be giving a little talk on vintage clothing to accompany the What Women Wore exhibition.

What: “Join Nicole Jenkins – long time vintage lover, author of Love Vintage and proprietor of Circa Vintage Clothing in Melbourne – for a lively discussion. Enjoy a glass of sparkling wine on arrival. ” Copies of Love Vintage will also be available for sale.
Where: City Museum, Old Treasury Building, Spring Street Melbourne.
When: Friday 19 February, 6pm.
Cost: Adult $10 / Concession holders and children free (incl glass of sparkling wine).
Bookings: please contact City Museum on (03) 9651 2233.

If you’re interested in cultural events at the City Museum, please see the latest newsletter.

1920s silk devore dress and 1920s silk embroidered coat – in the background you can just see the polka dots of a silk 1950s dress, couture by Le Louvre.

I get a lot of enquiries about creating vintage hair and make up looks. Next weekend some lovely ladies are holding some workshops to pass on their skills to creating the perfect vintage You.

From the website:
So if you’ve ever wanted to become a pin-up gal and learn how to pin curl, victory roll, set your hair in rollers, finger wave, or recreate vintage make-up, why not book a place at this workshop and transport yourself back to this glamorous era.

What: Lindy Charm School – 3 hour workshops on hair, make up and vintage stying.
When: Saturday 15th August or Sunday 16th August

Apparently there aren’t many places left so if you’re interested, please email Chrissy asap for details on where and cost at: christine@marinaoceanus.com.au

More information at the Myspace Page.

Thanks to Super Kawaii Mama and her Events Page where I found the details.