Red and Cream

This is my first set of photos after cutting my hair! I actually shot this RIGHT after I filmed my hair video (Link here). I couldn't be happier with how it turned out ! It makes any outfit looks more authentic. During the course of this year I've focused on more 1940s styles, and I would love to dip into the 1930s. But I can't seem to find pieces from that time period. This dress is actually from the 90s but I paired it with a vintage hat (1940s) and vintage style shoes and I think it makes the dress look much older than it is!  I love the flutter sleeve details and the ruffle collar. I also brought an umbrella because they were calling for rain... it didn't rain but the light was beautiful!  it's always beautiful this time of year until the end of December. I cant wait to show you more outfits with my new hair! 

My haircut Inspiration - 1940s Middy

 

As many of you know I am (and have been) on a journey to achieve 1940s hair. I got the hang of it for a little while back in May/June but my hair grew too fast, I should've cut it longer when I got it cut in the spring. I want a more authentic 1940s hairstyle, like the ones regular women would wear at the time. I think what really made me decide to cut my hair MUCH shorter shorter was when I was watching Waterloo Bridge. 

Vivien Leigh is my favourite actress and I finally watched this movie!  Her hair looked amazing!  The length was perfect! Its short (By modern standards) and very feminine. I love the way it styled and how it looks when paired with hats. This was my biggest inspiration for my haircut.  I was watching it and taking pictures on my phone every time she turned her head so that I could see the back of her hairstyle lol 

Vivien Leigh had beautiful hair regardless.  I could pull inspiration from any of her looks from movies or red carpet events. Her hair, once curled, was either floating above the shoulders to right above the collarbone in length. I always worry about cutting it that short because I've always had long hair, in modern culture long hair is associated with femininity and I have a hard time seeing myself with shorter hair. I see other girls (Modern) with shorter hair and it looks amazing!!  It looks feminine to me but I struggle with it on myself.  But it looks so good on Vivien leigh and it doesn't look THAT short to me, so I decided to take the plunge... hair grows back 

 However.... As much as I would love to have the perfectly styled hair of the movie stars of the 40s I'm trying to be realistic in my expectations lol. I always look at inspiration from real women of the decade so see how it will look with my level of hair styling experience. It's like comparing hairstyles from red carpet looks or movies to girls we see out on the street every day. Red carpet looks and hairstyles for movies take a long time to achieve and have a hairstylist on set to touch up the hair. I assume it was the same in the 40s. So here are some examples of photos I saw of regular women. 

In the 1940s Middy haircuts were the most popular and considered the most flattering in the 1940s. There was also the baby (the shorter version) and the middy long (The longer version) . And while this diagram is very helpful I was worried about following it word by word. Since I started getting vintage style haircuts my mom has been cutting my hair (Makes it more authentic because this wasn't uncommon in the 1940s lol at least for teens and younger girls). I've had a hard time finding a haridresser that is willing to do a vintage haircut. I've brought diagrams and photos of hair styled and unstyled, I even asked around at different salons and no one will give me an authentic cut because they don't think it will look good. It's an out of date haircut so they don't want to risk me being unhappy after the haircut which I understand. So I turned to my mom (Aren't moms the best!) 

We looked at tons of photos and she cut it for me for the first time during the pandemic ! so this will be the third haircut she gives me !  I'm a bit nervous because its shorter than I normally cut it so we will see how it turns out ! I hope I don't end up looking like a poodle.

If you want to see the final result check out my video below! 

Saturday Polo Match - Niagara Polo

 I went to Niagara Polo on Saturday and it was amazing !  It was my first time attending and wow ! I can already tell I will be a regular attendee from now on! Since it was my first time it was more of a learning experience. On the website they said you were allowed to bring you own food. We dismissed it and figured we would buy something there.... big mistake haha everyone brought a picnic and I felt so left out!  I will be packing an elaborate lunch in my picnic baskets next year! (Think of a  Downton Abbey spread LOL... ok kidding....kinda) For my outfit I wore this pink lace late1940s dress and paired it with a pink hat that of a similar colour (it also has lace details!) For shoes... I wore these burnt copper coloured shoes that have a a small block heel. I had a hard time picking out what shoes to wear because most of my shoes are heels and the polo match is on the grass. For my purse I grabbed a brown vintage cord handbag. It was a REALLY hot and humid day on Saturday so I attempted to protect my hair with a hairnet, It held pretty well for most of the day. It did start to fall apart a bit later in the afternoon, I think I might need to invest in a better hairnet and practice how to put one one so that it looks less "Stiff" and more natural from the front. It was one of my first times wearing a hairnet so I guess I just need to practice. Overall I had an incredible time and I can't wait to go next year! I'm already starting to plan! If you want to see some footage from the day make sure to check out my youtube video below! 

The Best Prize At The Fair

I had to go back one more time to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition).  One time is simply not enough! As I mentioned in my other CNE post (See it here!) there hasn't been a fair in two years because of the pandemic so it was exciting for everyone to go back. There is so much love and history to it. The Toronto sun wrote an article on a 95 year old man who has been to every CNE since 1932! (You can read his story here). Can you imagine!! Of course things have changed a lot since 1932.... They have even changed since the pandemic. The lines for the rides were longer, and the price to play the games was more than double what they were pre-covid. And then there is also the topic of the prizes....this has been a thing for a while but the prizes on the games are a bit sad.... they were comparable to toys you would find at dollarama. And I don't expect luxury toys but simple stuffed animals that actually look like animals seems reasonable. What happened to teddy bears and elephant and tiger stuffed animals? The ones at the CNE were very cartoonish with giant eyes and sparkles.  I wish they had more variety and more traditional looking prizes. I would've been more willing to pay the high price to play games if the prizes were worth it.  I kept thinking back at that episode of Anne with an E where Jerry wins (gives) Diana a porcelain poodle. If a guy gave me a porcelain figurine I think I would faint from happiness. I talked about this on my Instagram story the first time I went. so this time around I decided to sneak in my own bear... and no I didn't do this just for the photos, I walked around with him and I would bring my own bear regardless lol. I had major fomo last week seeing everyone carrying around their stuffed animal prizes and I wanted to be part of the club lol. 

Anyway enough about me ranting about the appearance of carnival prizes (really there are bigger issues in the world lol) Let's talk about what I wore!  I wanted to go for a classic and comfortable outfit so I grabbed my vintage pink 1950s circle skirt !  I paired it with this new-to-me  cream blouse that ties in a bow at the front.  It fits me beautifully and I like that its not too baggy. I have a really hard time with blouses because most tend to be too baggy and bunch up and slide out when I try to tuck them in. I finished the look off with my cream heels! Nothing too over the top for the fair! The CNE always marks the end of summer and yesterday was the last day of the fair. And just like that the air will start to feel like fall, can you believe I already saw some leaves turn orange! Fall will be here before we know it! I have to start planning my outfits! Let me know if you have any requests for videos or blog posts for the upcoming season! 

August 2022 - Film and TV

August is done and the end of summer is near! I feel like once labour day goes by my brain starts going into fall mode. This past week the weather has started to cool down....well... mostly in the lower 20s, so not exactly cold. But we did have two mornings were we woke up to 12 degrees so its a bit chilly for August. Anyway this post isn't about the weather !  Its about the movies and TV shows I've watched this month ! I've been super busy trying to fit in as many activities at the end of summer that I haven't had much time to watch movies. You will see the difference in the amount of movies I watch once the cold weather starts. But for now this is the August round up! 

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) 

8/10. Another technicolour musical! This one is An American In Paris starting Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. and I'm about to admit something.... The only movie I've seen starring Gene Kelly is Singing in the Rain. Which happens to be one of my Favourite Movies!  Not sure why I've never seen his other movies but TCM was having a Gene Kelly special and I happened to catch this one!  I thought it was amazing! 

And even tho Gene Kelly is the start of the picture I think Leslie Caron stole the show! It's hard to believe this was her first film! She was a ballet dancer and was discovered by Gene Kelly and his wife. She was perfect for this role!  She has a very sweet on screen presence and I love the way she speaks. She is also an incredible dancer! You see her showcasing her dancing skills in a brightly coloured montage (see photo above) which if you are on the vintage side of social media you've seen this dance number before. And there is also a 15-17 min ballet dance sequence at the end of the film that I found breathtaking. My favourite part of the dance sequence was the bit at the flower market (see below) 

I don't know how much time and money was spent on sets and costumes alone! everything was done to perfection! I gave the movie an 8/10 because I felt the ending was a bit rushed (story wise) it didn't really explain much and there were some loose ends. But it was entertaining and worth watching! I think I'm going to check out some other Gene Kelly Movies. (Although I might be biased in my love for Fred Astaire Movies)

GREASE (1978) 

100000/10! MY FAVOURITE MOVIE. If you haven't seen Grease please get out from under that rock you've been living under. We've all seen Grease and we all love it. I think it's also the reason why I started getting interested in vintage clothing. I actually have an almost exact replica of the dress sandy wears on their diner date (See above) its a true 1950s vintage dress and it looks almost the exact same (even down to the tiny polka dots). This is also my moms favourite movie so I watched it A LOT when I was little. I had to see it once I heard the news about Olivia Newton John... it was heartbreaking to hear about her passing. 

They actually played it at my local Drive in Theatre so I HAD to go see it. I love going to the drive in and this was the perfect movie to see ! I love all of the songs but I think my favourite one is summer lovin.  I love boy/girl perspective duets, the contrast between the ultra feminine and ultra masculine is my favourite in any musical.

I don't think I have anything else to say about Grease other than its sheer perfection and everyone should watch it weekly!  This movie should be featured every month on my blog,  I watch it all the time but I try to feature other movies. This month I didn't watch much tv so I decided to include it. 

THE WEDDING NIGHT (1935) 

6/10. I had high hopes for this movie. I've been wanting to explore more movies from the 1930s because I love the fashion. They are a bit harder to come by and they require a bit more digging to find and they aren't talked about much compared to other time periods (There are less of them).  I stumbled upon a DVD of the wedding night at a grocery store a few weeks ago (super random I know) But since I rarely see DVDs being sold these days (I usually get them at the thrift store) let alone from movies from the 30s I decided to give it a try! it was a dark rainy day so thought it would be the perfect backdrop to watch a movie. 

It wasn't as good as I thought it would be.... The ending was also really sad and totally unexpected given the tone of the rest of the film. It's also set in the countryside and I'm not much of a country girl lol so that made it a bit harder to relate to. I think the best part was Gary Cooper of course (He's so dreamy!) and Anna Sten's hair!  I'm tempted to cut mine short enough to style it like that.  I don't think I'll watch it again, it was a bit boring for me..  but I will look up for Gary Cooper movies to watch but I would sure love to watch more of him *wink*. I couldn't find a trailer but the whole movie is on youtube so I linked it above. 

And that pretty much wraps up the Films I watched this month. I'm sorry this post is so short, but like I said I haven't spent much time at home this month. I also didn't have any new TV shows to share. I'm still not done watching Mad Men, I feel like It's taken me over a  year to get through it. Once I finish it I'll do a review! The fall is coming up and that brings the cold weather and earlier sunsets so that means more time for Movies!  I also have my fingers crossed that the movie theatres will have new releases that aren't superhero movies. We are in desperate need of a good feminine movie.  Also I'm a bit torn on my September/October film review posts. September I wanted to focus on watching fall themed movies (Makes sense) and October I normally watch horror. Bit since I do these posts at the end of the month there is no point in sharing horror movies after halloween is over. So you might see an additional film/Tv review post early in October focusing on horror movies. ! Let me know your thoughts!