Jump into Vintage Day 1

I must admit, I've gone overboard for vintage.  Specifically the 1940's.  Well, I've always loved all things Victorian, 1930's, 40's, and 50's but now I'm interested in spending some time and effort to emulate a vintage inspired look on a regular basis, and on a tight budget. I'm going to Jump into Vintage every day this week!
Update: you can see the rest of the week here:
Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

My biggest obstacle...laziness.  I'm an incredibly lazy person when it comes to hair & makeup.  I grow my hair long so I can braid it and slap it up in a bun, and because I'm too cheap to pay for a haircut every 6 weeks.  The last time I had my hair cut (not including having my mom trim up the split ends once in a while), was 2009.  This go round my hair was as long as the hem of my shirt in the photo below.  It was getting to be too much to wash and comb so I put it in a ponytail and lopped it off.  Then I went to the salon and sheepishly asked the stylist to fix it. I donate my hair to wigsforkids.org.  

This is what my hair looks like now.

When I get the urge to learn a new skill I research relentlessly.  This endeavor has spawned at least 2 new favorite blogs here and here, 10 additional Pinterest boards, 4 thrift store shopping trips, and an unsuccessful search for setting lotion in a small town.  I ended up ordering Lottabody Professional Setting Lotion Concentrate from Amazon.

Let's jump into day 1 of my vintage journey...I started by washing and rolling my hair.  I used mousse instead of setting lotion because it hasn't arrived yet.  I'm considering this week my mousse experiment to see how it differs from setting lotion. 

I washed and set my hair on a weekend morning, then put on a scarf and headed out for a day of shopping.  I texted my mom a picture and she responded with "Welcome to the 50's!". 


My hair was dry by evening, but I wasn't sure how the loose curls would fare if I slept on them so I left the curlers in overnight. The next morning I took out the rollers and this is the result.  I would've been terrified if I hadn't researched how to do the next step, called brushing out.

This is the finished product after brushing out and a tiny bit of hairspray.  I'm very pleased with the result!

This is the Nancy Drew inspired ensemble I wore to work for vintage day 1. I already owned the vest, skirt, and red jeweled cat brooch. I snagged the white cotton shirt, with ruffled sleeves and front, at the thrift store for $1, and picked up a new pair of black loafers.

I received many compliments on my hair and makeup.  Especially since I don't usually wear any makeup, or have my hair down at work.  Then I suddenly show up with curls and red lipstick!

One lady in her 70's looked at me like she'd seen a ghost.  I imagine she had a rush of memories from her younger years flood in.  She asked where I went to have my hair done, and I replied, "I did it myself".  She said it looked wonderful. "Thank you.", I said. "I'm still learning."  She exclaimed, "Oh, you've learned perfectly!".  That was the best compliment I had all day.