December Aim. Midway.

So my aim this month is to try and set my hair more often and to try out my setting lotion. 

Well. I've cut my hair again so it's neater now, and I'm in Scotland now visiting. My godmother was a hair dresser, so I'm hoping she'll have some setting lotion tips for me! 

So far I've set my hair twice. Which to be honest is a bit of a failure!! 

I've been having baths in the mornings so haven't wanted it to be set all day for no reason. I've taken to pin curls and pony tails for an easy retro look. 

Or victory rolls for a bit of instant glam.

In some ways I'm pleased I've done a lot more to make my hair look more vintage styled so far this month, but I would like to get this pin curl thing down!! 

It worked reasonably well the first time, but I did fairly big pin curls so it was wavy and lost it's shape quite fast. 

The second time I did it, I tried to make them smaller, neater and tighter. They certainly stuck close to my head when I took the pins out! They didn't keep too much wave when I brushed them through though! 

I had quite a lot of volume and a reasonable amount of wave. I was told I looked very twenties, which I guess is the result of the shorter hair cut. 

I have no pictures of it as I was (as usual) terribly late getting ready! 

Next up. Setting lotion! 

Jo

P.S. got any setting lotion tips? 

Swagbucks and Retro Shaving

Slightly different kind of blog post today! Shaving and overlapping into an eco friendly kind of place!

I think a lot of people wear vintage and make their own things not only out of a love for the way things look and the chance to be individual, but also because it's a bit more world friendly. We're re-using and recycling things, wearing clothing that's lasted 60 years not six months and that was probably produced in our own countries. Although that's really another post in itself!

Anyway. I found Swagbucks (that's a referral link, if you sign up through it I get a few more Swagbucks!)through The Frugal Girl and one of her fabulous blog posts. I've been using it on and off for about six months or so and a month ago I saved up enough to get a £5 Amazon. Thee good things about it is that you can use it instead of your normal search engine and you don't have to do anything special or extra to get your points. I have the toolbar on my laptop and that's a point a day every time I go on the Internet! Not too shabby!

So, I hear you asking, what did I buy with my totally free and awesome £5 amazon voucher? I purchased myself a Shaving Factory Double Edge Safety Razor with 100 Double Edge Razor Blades. All in a nice little blue box. It's definitely at the cheaper end of the market (and there's a beautiful razor on Amazon, but it was £45!) at £14.90, £9.90 with my voucher! I didn' think this price was too bad, considering a decent disposable razor will set you back at least a fiver for you to just throw it away again. However I didn't want to spend masses in case I hate it, slice my legs open repeatedly or just plain don't get on with it!

Photo from Amazon seller here.

 There's a few reasons for wanting a razor like this. One is purely and shallowly aesthetics! It's going to look much prettier sitting on my bath than a lump of blue plastic! With a little dish for it and it's sleek chrominess (may not actually be in the dictionary...) I feel my bath time will ooze elegance!!! The second is monetary, I really resent parting with a fair bit of cash each month to buy something I know I will have to replace. The third and biggest reason is the eco friendly one. All those disposable razors end up in landfill, not so much rotting away, but sitting in the earth for hundreds of years. I try to recycle what I can and re-use where possible, and this seems the best way to do it for shaving! The blades will last a good while if cared for properly (wipe clean and a bit of oil) and when they're finished with they can be recycled with your tins! The same for the handle eventually (many many years down the line I hope!).




Photo from Amazon seller here.

  So that's going to be the subject of my first bloggy review when it turns up! A way to glam up your bathroom, save your pennies and save the planet all in one fell swoop!

Jo :-)

P.S. Disclaimer.... just using this razor will not save the planet immediately, we have a long way to go! Every little helps though!

Cherries and Stripes

Just made a typo in the title which would have led to this being called Sherries and Stripes, which may have been more interesting and definitely more drunken..... hmmm.

This is the first circle skirt I made!

Casually leaning on the bicycle....

The fabric and pattern (not totally full circle, but nearly) were presents from my Godmother last Christmas and it took the lure of Jazz to get me round to making it! I was so pleased with it. I think I spent a good ten minutes just marvelling at the fact that I put a zip in and it WORKED!!

I wore this to Jazz with a black top and a butterfly clasp belt, but I quite like it with these stripes just for fun!

I like how the stripes are horizontal at the back of the top and vertical at the front where it drapes. It's such a comfy top, I always feel very summery wearing it! Either that or just like a deck chair....

Loads of fabric!

It uses up so much fabric to make this skirt, I was a little bit shocked by how expensive it was to make when I did the Strawberry Fields one. I've got my eye on some beautiful fabric on eBay that's black with gold jazz instruments and musical notes on it. It's gorgeous and would be great for Jazz (obviously!) but it's £12.99 a metre plus postage. I need three metres and twenty centimetres.... So it'll be a save up and see job I think!

Jo :-)

Finished Spring Circle Skirt

And here, for your perusal, is the finished article!

Photo by the miracles of self timers! Not included, plenty of shots of me walking back towards the camera looking confused!

Complete with (mostly) level hem. Waistband and button that actually works!



Perfect for twirling!


Complete with smug face!

Smug face not included with pattern purchase.

 As you can see it's perfect for dancing and I'm intending to wear it to Jazz tonight. I'm having so much fun at The Colchester Jazz Club. It's the best way to spend a Sunday evening!

I might have to go on my own this week. Always daunting. Wish me luck :-)

Outfit consists of:
Completely scruffy hair and no make-up, I might update instagram with the finished look before I go out!
Top: Papaya via Charity Shop in Tiptree (Bragainous £2.50!)
Skirt: Made by me using a Project Runway pattern.
Petticoat: Vivien of Holloway
Shoes: Chairty Shop Bargain (see the trend here....)

Jo :-)

Vintage Style Trousers

Gosh. Organisation. A post written last night, to be published this morning. Oh my! Long may it continue!

Now when I say vintage style trousers I'm thinking wide legs, high waist. Typical thirties and forties types as it were. Vivien of Holloway's beauties come to mind!

I've had a couple of pairs of denim wide legged, somewhat high waisted trousers for a year or so now. They're beginning to get rather worn out, I wear them constantly! One pair now has a hole on the inner thigh and in a wild moment, this happened:

Never let me loose with a seam ripper....

You can see where they are worn on my legs, knees and annoyingly large bum! Having pulled one pair apart and laying it out on (totally innapropriate for work!) thin cotton denim I've come to the conclusion that I may need to buy a new pair. Which makes me sad. I've got comfy in these trousers!!

So, I've been on the hunt for some around the interweb and here is what I've found!

Vivien of Holloway 1940s Swing Trousers

Photo from VoH website. Theirs not mine! I just think they're pretty!

Beautiful, classic 1940s design. Only £45 so a bargain really for such good quality clothing. I own a circle skirt dress from here and it's wonderful. My only issue with it would be that it would get wrecked at work! For a smart pair of trousers though, fab!!

A|Wear Ireland Ginger High Waist Wide Leg Trouser




Photo from A|Wear Ireland's Website. Theirs not mine!

 I think these are rather pretty. Certainly not work trousers, but they're currently £9 (?!?) on sale on the website in very limited sizes. If they had my size, I'd definitely be buying a pair!

South Wide Leg Fashion Trousers

From Very's website. Theirs not mine!

I like these, although they have a certain seventies vibe. They come in black and white as well. Also in the sale on Very's website. A bargainous £8. I'd prefer soemthing in denim for work though for the hard wearing properties!

Having had a nose around I think my only decent option for work is to make a pair (once I can get my hands on some nice sturdy denim!) using my old ones as a pattern. I'm intending to make them a bit wider to easily accomadate more layers in the winter and a bit of a higher waist, just cos! I've not made trousers before so I'll make sure to keep you updated! If anyone is actually reading this!

Also, I'd highly recommend Shop Style for searching for clothing online. It's where the trousers above have come from. It came up first on my search engine earlier, but I had already heard about it via Retro Chick's blog post reviewing them so was keen to give them a try!

That's all for now folks!