The best pin curls

The best for me, that is. I’ve been doing pin curls for a couple of years and read up on tutorials all over the web and in every book I could find. There are a lot of opinions on how to do them the best way and I don’t think any of those are wrong. They just didn’t work so well for me. I came up on the way that suited me best quite by chance and perhaps some of you will find it useful too. It depends, of course, how you want your final “do” to look. You may not like the effect that I prefer. Hair quality is another factor. My hair is fairly thick and with a natural wave and reaches just below my shoulders in the back. It is also cut in a middy- the best haircut I ever had and one that really makes it easier to curl your hair.

I start with my hair wet, but again, that is a matter of preference. My hair dries overnight, but you may have better result with only damp hair. I don’t use any setting lotion, but that’s because I never get around buying some. I probably will one day and be converted, but with this method my curls lasts three days, which I’m fine with. I use a rat-tail comb, booby pins, hairclips, a brush and some pomade. Setting and lotion and hairspray could be used too, even if I don't.

New sweater

I recently bought another sweater from Rocket Originals as I was so pleased with the red one I bought. The cut is the same, but this one has a fairisle pattern. I did a little change of colour as my list says a white jumper, and this one is in "stone", which is a pale grayish beige. A bit more practical than white. The pattern is in green, cream and brown, so it will work well with the wardrobes colours.

I know, I know, horizontal stripes are a big fashion no-no when you have a well-developed chest, but I like this sweater anyway.



For once I thought a little before and took photos when I rolled my hair. I know everyone make a post on their pin-curls, but we all do it a bit differently, so perhaps it will be appreciated anyway.

A Facebook page of my very own

I succumbed and did it, created a Facebook page for this blog. I have been thinking about it for a while, feeling that my blog is way too small for such a grand gesture. But it seems so practical! I often read blog posts that I’d like to share, and a Facebook page seems to me to be a very good way to share those. It also gives me opportunity to keep track of them myself. And I won’t need to flood my personal Facebook account with my 1940’s obsession, especially as not all of them there share it…

So please, go and like it if you feel so inclined. I will add the Like gadget here too, as soon as I can figure out how to do it…

Rebecca

Last night I dreamt about Manderley.

Rebecca from 1940 is my favourite Hitchcock movie and in my view also a very good adaption from the book by Daphne du Maurier. A young and rather insecure woman (Joan Fontaine) meets and falls in love with the glamorous widower Max de Winter (Laurence Olivier. Despite knowing that he mourns the loss of his prefect wife Rebecca, who has drowned a year previously, she marries him and comes with to his manor house Manderley. There she is confronted with the very scary housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) who was fanatically devoted to Rebecca. The heroine feels if anything even more insecure and increasingly uncomfortable at Manderley and when Rebecca’s body is recovered from the sea, everything comes crashing down.

This is not a grand costume movie, but just because the heroine is so very ordinary, her clothes are quite interesting anyway. And of course, the movie is well worth watching for the suspenseful plot and the excellent actors. Joan Fontaine is perfect as the ugly duckling and Laurence Olivier is dreamy. Judith Anderson is perfectly horrible and then there’s my favourite Golden era bad boy George Sanders as Rebecca’s nasty cousin.

Tabac Blond and reformulating perfumes

Tabac Blond was actually the first vintage perfume I tried and it was love at first smell. Looking at the notes it was not a perfume I expected to suit me, even if carnation and ambergris usually work well on me. Patchouli, however, usually have the dreaded “old lady” smell for me and I felt very, very unsure of the leather

Top notes: leather, linden, carnation
Heart notes: iris, vetiver, ylang ylang
Base notes: cedar, patchouli, vanilla, ambergris, musk

I’m not a smoker and I don’t like the smell of it, but tobacco does smells different from smoke. When I was a child my grandmother had an antique snuff box in silver and her brother once filled it with tobacco. Probably to tease his big sister as she was vehemently against smoking, but the tobacco stayed put and over the years it dried and the scent grow fainter. I remember opening that box and sniff at times, it smelled so nice, somehow. The first whiff of Caron’s Tabac Blond reminds me of that smell and it smells lovely. It may sound like a paradox, but it’s true. It evolves into a lovely spicy scent that is a little bit naughty- sexy, but rather quiet about it. Of the leather I detect nothing much, a mere whiff, , but when the patchouli arrives in the dry down it plays nicely and smells divine. Finally a patchouli scent I can wear! Oh, I love Tabac Blond.

Green felt hat

Here it is, the green felt hat in action. I am very pleased with it, despite all the problems I had when I made it. One thing I noticed when wearing it that the elastic did nothing to keep the hat on. It just slid on my hair- I guess it would work better if I had had my hair down. Luckily I inherited a few hat pins from my grandmother, so I used one of those to keep the hat in place. Much more becoming than elastic anyway.

An illustrated guide for making Vintage Vogue V7464, hat B, part 2

The second and last part. The first one can be seen here.

There are actually no markings on D to tell where you are supposed to attach it, but trust me, it is supposed to wrap around the gathered bit on B. The instructions said to stitch it to the inside first, but I did it the other way around, as I found it easier to place. Just stitch it down at the ends.