Hair – Page 3 – Swing Fashionista

The book every swing girl should own

A lot of SwingFashionista.com readers have written in mentioning this book, so I thought I’d post it up, just in case any of you lovely ladies hadn’t heard about it. It’s called Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques, and it’s by Lauren Rennells. I wish I’d had this when I first started out! Â Here’s the blurb:

There was something very special and beautiful about women in the early- to mid-20th century. The way they dressed was elegant and the way they wore their hair was feminine. This book shows how to create so many of those hairstyles by taking hairstyles from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s and breaking them down into simple, easy-to-follow instructions. It uses brand new photographs and detailed directions. Not only a manual, it is also fun to read. The Finished Styles chapter of the book contains coffee table book quality images of models with their finished hairstyles. Sprinkled in introductions and throughout the book are interesting facts about the history of hairstyling, origins of styles, and information about starlets and performers who made the styles popular. This 200-page full-color book has 6 main chapters. The book begins with the basics of styling and works its way back to advanced techniques. It also provides information on makeup, nails, and accessories for a finished look.

You can pick it up for $36.95 on Amazon.com:

Click here to buy ‘Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques’ on Amazon.com

1940s Faux Bangs by Fleur de Guerre

A part-time pinup girl and full-time Forties enthusiast, Fleur de Guerre shares her knowledge of vintage and provides lots of authentic vintage & retro fashion inspiration, plus styling tips & tricks, events and other fun stuff. Here is a great video of her showing how to create faux bangs that were so popular in the 1940s.

Fleur is exceptionally skilled and truly has a knack for what she’s doing. She has styled for a number of photo shoots and here are some pictures:

Model Sinderella Rockerfella, and we shot at a Hot Rod garage in the depths of Bedfordshire.
Miss Mink, the Pinup Poet

Miss FanTeasy, burlesque star and owner of some seriously luxuriant tresses!

Top top it off, she’s a model as well. Click here to go to her gallery, otherwise here are a few of my favorites:

Pictures by John Evans, Tobias Key, Damon Allen Davison, and Paul Godfrey respectively.

Vintage Hair Styling

Click here to buy ‘Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques’ on Amazon.com

Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step by Step Techniques is a guide showing how to create hairstyles from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s using simple, easy-to-follow instructions. I have revised and revamped the book of worldwide popularity to be even more informative and fun. This 2nd Edition takes hairstyles and breaks them down so that the directions are clear. It uses over 750 brand new photographs and illustrations and detailed directions in a 200-page full-color book.

The book begins with the basic elements and works its way back to advanced techniques. It concludes with information on makeup, nails, and accessories to finish the look. No matter your skill level or hair type, Vintage Hairstyling has something for everyone.

A Review of the book from Debutante Clothing:

From cover to cover, the book is full of beautiful photography of vintage hair styling tools such as pink dryers and jars of Lustre-Creme. But this book is not a fluffy, pretty art book full of hair related pictures. The book is more instructional without being boring.

The beginning of the book walks you step by step through the necessary tools you will need and basic curl techniques in order to create a true vintage hairstyle. Then, Rennells leads you into the techniques for combing out the curls. Finally, you get into the actual styling.

I’m a very visual person. I have to see someone do something in order to determine if I am doing it correctly. The step by step directions with accompanying images are the next best thing to having Lauren right next to you. The steps are clear and concise.

I myself am thinking about getting the book. Perhaps it could be a Christmas or Birthday present?!!

The Great Victory Roll Folly

Victory rolls are a favorite hairstyle for swing girls, but so often I see this little mistake.Â If you have a round face, be careful not to leave the rolls too loose, causing the hair to balloon out at the temples. This will just make your face look rounder. Go for fullness at the top, not at the sides.

Because Naomi here is cute as a button, she absolutely gets away with it, but you can see how tightening up the rolls at the side (done here with the help of handy Photoshop), makes the look more elegant.

Of course, the opposite is true if you have a long, narrow face – then if you have a lot of height at the top and nothing at the sides, you can end up looking a bit like a Praying Mantis…

Just saying…

Anyway, here’s Dita doing Victory Rolls in fine style, and a few vintage shots to inspire.

Hair – how to tutorial

Lisa Freemont Street has some great hair tutorials on you tube. She is quite the glamour girl and clearly a fan of classic cinema and rockabilly culture. What I like about her videos is that they move along quickly and she the main points are written out. Here is her most recent video:

This video is a mixture of two styles, a more casual and a more formal one. It’s rather simple in the front, but still very lovely.

She has a myriad of videos on her page. Check out her Classic Pinup Series, Starlet Series, and Authentic Hair Technique from the 40s.