C'est les Bon Bons de Revlon

✯ Day 338 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

These days just about anything goes when it comes to nail colour, and while I like the freedom to sport a rainbow's worth of hues on your hands if you so want, at the end of the day, 99% of the time, I - vintage loving gal at that I am - reach for the most classic of shades.

Chiefly reds, but also pinks, burgundies and peaches. These colours are akin to neutrals when it comes to cosmetics for your hands. They're feminine, utterly timeless and unlikely to ever raise an eyebrow (pulses, however, are another matter entirely ).

Sometimes though - I suppose that would be the aforementioned 1% of the time - I do like to break out of my tried-and-true comfort zone of nail polish choices (in a nod to my early teen years perhaps, when I loved sporting funky hues like lime green and cobalt blue), but even then I usually stick with very soft shades like the colours in the delightfully lovely vintage Revlon ad below.

{Charming 1950s Revlon nail polish ad via sugarpie honeybunch on Flickr.}

 

As one might have deducted from the inclusion of the word "frosted" in the description, this particular line - named rather beautifully Bon Bons de Revlon - debuted in 1959, as the decade neared ever closer to the most frost-filled make-up era of the 20th century.

Thankfully however these hues - with scrumptious sounding names like Pistachio Mint, Pineapple Yum Yum, Champaign Taffy, and Butter Pecan - stopped short of crossing into Priscilla Presley territory and remained more in line with the pastel craze that filled homes and wardrobes alike during the decade.

I love the sweetness of this line's name, the cheerful add with its trays of sweets and fresh cut blooms, and every single one of the nail polishes themselves.

Though these particular Revlon shades have probably long been out of product, one need only glance at them for a minute to recognize colours that are currently available from other lines at all manner of price points.

So while I do like to stick to my timeless reds and pinks most days, I love knowing that if I want to don pale, pearly blue or marigold yellow nail polish once in a while, I (and you!) can do so and still be wonderfully, authentically true to the styles of the 1950s. Now that’s c'est bon indeed!

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!

Vintage 365: Warm up to a delightful 1950s fashion video clip about sweaters

✯ Day 27 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Here in the urban wilds of Toronto, this month has been a rather bone chilling one for the most part. Though some days were "warm” enough to see icy rain instead of snow, others dipped down as low as a rather toe-numbing -24C, which certainly called for cozy, heavy-duty winter wear.

Our apartment building isn't the best heated of abodes (though we do have an electric heater my husband bought last year that helps significantly), which means that long sleeves are a definite must whether indoors or out. As such I've been reaching for sweaters or cardigans most days to help keep winter's icy breath at bay (not that I mind really, both garments are longstanding favourites of mine).

Naturally I prefer my sweaters to be - or look as though they could be - vintage. Charming 1950s sweaters in particular have always captivated my fashion loving mind, so I went looking for some images of mid-century sweaters for an added dose of wardrobe inspiration and chanced upon a darling little video clip on Youtube that shows some of the most fetching sweater styles of the 50s.

Entitled 1952 Sweater Girls, this short and sweet video is ripe with style inspiration - not only when it comes to sweaters, but also overall ensembles, hairstyles and make-up looks. I adore fashions from the early 50s (they were, by and large, so incredibly feminine and elegantly tailored), and couldn't help but swoon over the beautiful styles the models in this video are wearing .

I hope that this fun, fashion filled clip will help inspire your own styles as we battle our way through the rest of this frosty season that is so perfectly suited to all manner of vintage sweaters.