Found: a rainbow of snoods for just $5 each

✯ Day 219 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

It's summer, you're feeling so hot you wouldn't surprised if eggs could fry on your forehead, and anything that can possibly shave a few degrees off seems like a godsend. Enter the snood.

I know, I know, I see your right eyebrow darting upwards, but hear me out. As gal whose had medium or long hair pretty much all her life, I know firsthand the notable difference in temperature one can feel when their hair is worn up out of their face and not matted to their shoulders.

I love (pin) curled locks cascading down my back as much as the next gal, but sometimes you want a hairstyle that's clearly vintage, yet is able to be put together quickly and that allows your hair to be worn up, and that is precisely where the snood comes in.

Snoods are unique in many ways. They're both practical (women who went off to work in the factories of WW2 commonly sported snoods), yet can be surprisingly elegant, too.

You can wear your hair as fancily or plainly in the front as you like (I like a small victory roll or two nestled against the top edge of the snood; curled bangs are another favourite), and sweep the rest (whether you have a few inches or your hair grazes your belt) up into the snood, where it will be kept neat and tidy, resting against the base of your neck.

If you're a fan of snoods, too, then you'll jump for joy over the bevy of lovely snoods I spotted recently over at vintage reproduction seller Red Dress Shoppe.

These wonderful, very vintage inspired snoods are available in a delightful range of 18 different hues (six of which can be seen in the image below), meaning you can find one to go with just about any garment in your wardrobe.

 

Retailing at the very reasonable rate of $5.00 (US) each, these crochet snoods are also easy on the pocketbook. If you're new to wearing snoods, I suggest you pick up a couple in more neutral hues like black and white or grey, and see how you like the look of them paired with your favourite 1940s and 50 outfits.

If you enjoy sporting a snood, especially during these sweltering days of summer when you want a lovely vintage updo that gets your hair out of your face, then branch out and add more colours to your snood collection.

Snoods are a lot of fun, quick to attach (a few bobby pins or hair clips should do the trick), add instant old school charm to any ensemble, and are an affordable fashion accessory that, in my opinion, will never lose its feminine elegance, classic beauty or practical handiness as way of corralling and chicly styling your hair.

Be a summertime vintage streaker!

✯ Day 133 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

…Of your hair that is!

Fear not, this isn't a post about skinning dipping or getting your thirty seconds of fame by sprinting across a sports field in your birthday suit, instead it's devoted to an entirely darling vintage magazine page that showed fashionable ladies of 1954 how to streak their hair at home.

While these days it's considerably more common to include several high and/or lowlights in your hair when you streak it, during the mid-50s one bold, prominently noticeable streak was what daring gals adorned their locks with.

I honestly love this look. It's equal parts brash and beautiful, lively and completely lovely. Long before Stacy London's trademark grey streak appeared on TV screens the world over, ladies of the fifties were daring to dye (or bleach) a strip of their hair a dramatically different shade than the rest of their head.

If we jump ahead six decades it's not entirely uncommon to see this same style of streaking - do in part to the looks sported by some rockabilly and psychobilly loving women. However, it's a look that I think more vintage loving lasses could easily and very successfully pull off.

Streaks (which are all about the dramatic contrast of high and dark hair colours) can work on hair of almost any length and compliment many different styles splendidly. Indeed, if you're a fan of rolls (Victory and otherwise), a strategically placed streak can truly look amazing when put to work in a pin-up worthy roll or two!

{Delightful vintage magazine page via Charm and Poise on Flickr. Click here for a larger version.}

 

The instructions on this page from the July '54 issue of Better Living magazine - complete with sweetly elegant photos - are incredibly straightforward and simple sounding. Which is great, should you wish to save yourself a salon trip bill by adding adding a zippy streak to your own hair at home this spring or summer.

And why not? As the caption below the "finished result" photo says (a streak is) "just good fun". It can be added to your hair in less than hour (when done with a home colouring kit), takes much less effort than a full dye job, is easy to colour over if you tire of it (or it doesn't turn out as desired), and is an instant accessory built into your hairdo all season long.

With those points in mind, I see no reason why we can’t all be streakers this summer!

Taking a look back (literally) at 1940s hairstyles

✯ Day 65 of Vintage 365 ✯

Perhaps I'm the odd (wo)man out here, but as much as I adore seeing what vintage hairstyles look like from the front (and sides), I've always been intrigued by how they appeared from the back as well. Typically in beauty ads, vintage hairstyle books and magazines, and old school photographs and magazine images, we see hairdos as they appear straight on.

However, in the real world it's not uncommon at all to see the back of someone's head (for example, while walking down the street, sitting in class, taking a bus, or waiting in line) and there's much to be said for styling your vintage hair looks so that they sparkle with old school pizzazz (and authenticity) from any view.

Finding genuine vintage images that show how hairstyles of the mid-twentieth century looked from the back is a fair bit trickier than sourcing those that present styles from the front. As such I'm always on the prowl for "back of the head" photos that show how 1930s, 40s and 50s styles appeared from the back. While I sometimes find photos featuring one woman with the back of her head to the camera, it's quite rare to encounter a shot that shows multiple gals all facing away from the lens.

 

Thus today's terrific vintage find is a real treasure. Featuring numerous 1940s teenage girls' hairstyles as they appeared from the back, this lovely photo is both historically interesting and highly practical (if you're trying to recreate styles from that era yourself, I mean).

My hair is currently of a similar length to that of most of these young women, and I could definitely see myself trying to recreate any one (or more) of these looks, using the back of the style as inspiration for how the front would turn out (instead of the other way around, as is often the case).

There's something so fun and charming, timeless and beautiful about this 1940s hairstyle filled image (which comes via kimintn on Flickr). It's a both a slice-of-life look back at fun, wavy hairdos (and teenage fashions, don't you just adore all of their lovely dresses?!) of the day, as well as a super useful reference for creating 1940s hairstyles of your own that will look fantastic from any angle!