Vintage Link Love for May 2015

Noooo May, please don't go, I love you ever so much and have built a shine to you out of sundresses, wedge sandals, and straw accessories - isn't that enough to appease you to stick around for another hundred years or so?

No dice? Pleas in vein? June is "insisting" on arriving no matter what? Shucks, okay, if it has to do, fine. After all, it is a pretty darn fantastic month, too!

Hee-hee, okay, not that I've got that out of my system, on with the show! :)

May whizzed by at the speed of light and I'm happy to say that in a lot of respects, it was a better month that April. After all, how could it not be with my Etsy shop hitting its first birthday back on the 6th?

I've also been pouring a ton, and I do mean a ton, of thought and energy into thinking about (and in some cases, getting the ball rolling when it comes to) change this month, as I discussed at length in this recent post. I feel like I'm swirling around in a vortex of ideas and excitement at the moment. In the weeks and months that follow, I want to wrangle some of these ideas in and put them into action, and I couldn't be happier about that prospect.

I feel like I need to proverbially clear some cobwebs, so to speak, out of my life - both online and off - and to also work on showing you guys even more sides of who I am (a topic I may devote a post to in the near future, though I did delve into that topic in some respects in this entry last July).

For today however, on this last, gloriously pretty day of May, it's time for the monthly edition of Vintage Link Love, and goodness, am I fired up about the fabulously fun, informative, and highly inspiring list of stories in this one. From how to make lipstick with an every day art and crafts supply item to the debunking of some all to common vintage myths, there is so much to love about these awesome posts!!!

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♥ Recommended Online Reading for Vintage Style Enthusiasts: To say that Natalie has blown it out of the water with this thoroughly, helpful, marvelous post - that honestly teeters on the cusp of being called a directory, IMO - would be an understatement. From blogs to YouTube channels, Facebook pages to Pinterest accounts and oodles more, this wonderful post shares some of the best and brightest, most helpful and inspiring vintage related websites and personalities to be had anywhere on the web. Run, don't walk, over to this post, read every last word, share it, and bookmark it, because this is the kind of entry you'll want to refer back to time and time again.

♥ Ten tips for petite vintage style: Being a short lass myself (I just barely scrape in at 5'2"), I'm allays eager to read more about how my fellow petite lasses dress for their height and bodies, and absolutely adore the selection of terrific advice that CiCi shared on the subject recently in this post (very much including tip #1 - midi dresses and skirts are by far the most flatting and leg lengthening option for me as well!).

♥ The evolution of women's workwear: This photo filled, lovely overview of the subject of women's workwear, and how it has changed and evolved over the course of the last century, from Retronaut/Mashable is sure to appeal to vintage fashion fans the world over, no matter if you have to dress up/differently for your day job or not.




♥ How to store vintage hats: As someone whose own vintage hat collection (save for those that are nicely arranged on round end hooks on one wall in our house), could seriously use for some more practical and accessible storage options (the others are mostly stored carefully in cardboard boxes due to lack of space to display them), I lapped up this great post from Stephanie with gusto and am currently looking for some storage boxes akin to the ones she highlighted in her video.


♥ Life as the kid of a vintage blogger: I was struck by what a poignant, beautiful topic this is and loved that Brittany from Va Voom Vintage opted to speak from her heart on the roll that her own passion for vintage has already had on/in her young children's lives.


♥ How Katharine Hepburn became a style icon: Engaging, well written, and chocked full of images of garments worn by the famed actress herself, this wonderful post from the Smithsonian is sure to further deepen any fan's love for Katherine and the undeniable impact she left on the world of fashion.



♥ 5 Vintage Myths: Gemma always does a fantastic job of calling things like they are and speaking insightfully on topics pertaining to the perception of vintage wearers/enthusiasts. This post examines five common vintage myths that most of us have encountered over the years and will have you nodding your head vigorously in understanding and agreement the whole way through.


♥ Why a good seamstress is your wardrobe's secret weapon: Nearly any fashionista/o will sing the praises of a tailor, but skilled ones can do so much more than just hem skirts or make cuffs and the impact they can have on your wardrobe can be seriously profound, as this great post from Blue Velvet Vintage's blog highlights and reminds one and all.


♥ 10 strangely popular recipes that mom used to make: I've said it before, and I'll happily say it again: there are plenty of what we might now dub kitschy at best (nightmarish at worst) vintage recipes out there that I flat out adore. This fun post from the family history site Crestleaf rounds up ten old school dishes that might not see a lot of mealtime play these days, but which still hold an unmistakable appeal for many folks (I will forever adore grape jelly meatballs!).




♥ DIY Crayon lipstick: My dear online friend Beverly is one of those people who has an innate talent for making beautiful things and creating the kind of dreamy, shabby chic, vintage infused world, so many of us would give our favourite Bakelite bangle to live in. This month on her blog, Tea Cottage Pretties, she shared a really fun recipe for making your own lipstick using none other than good, ol' Crayola crayons. How cool is that?!


♥ The Vintage Map: This link is for a whole site, not a specific story, as I thought the premise behind The Vintage Map was fantastic. This site has set out to be a worldwide directory for vintage shops, inviting store owners to write their own shop overviews, and encouraging shoppers to submit their own favourites as well. It can often be tricky, especially since not all vintage shops have their own websites or social media presences yet (hard to believe but true, I run into it all the time here in Canada!), to find stores pertaining to the past in your area or a location that you might be traveling to, so for that reason and oodles more, this directory is just what the vintage community needs!


♥ 1960s Makeup – Eight Steps to a Party Face: With the truly beloved television series Mad Men having ended this month (*sniffle, sniffle*), I think that a lot of us are in the mood - if only temporarily - for 1960s and even 70s fashions and looks, so this fun how-to from Glamour Daze, which was originally released in 1967, couldn't come at a more apt time.

{All images throughout the list of links above come by way of the post that they are displayed directly beneath the write up of here. Please follow the links provided to learn more about these images.}

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While I would love to see May stick around for a bit longer, June really is a sensational month, too! I love it when the weather really starts to heat up, as it does around this time of the year. I must have been a sunbathing iguana in another life because, even though it drains me something fierce (that would be my health factoring in there big time!), I madly love the sizzling heat that soaks into your skin, bones, and soul alike.

June is a happy, fabulous month and I can't wait to make the most of it, from walks at the beach to celebrating the longest day of the year on the summer solstice (on Sunday June 21st), yard saling to barbequing - and of course, no shortage of sundress and straw hat wearing!

With all my heart, I wish you each a jubilant and joyful June - here's hoping it's one of the best ever for all of us!!!

Taking a look at classic Maybelline eye make-up products

✯ Day 314 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Veering away, generally speaking, from the usual order in which most people apply their make-up, once my moisturizer (and primer, if using) are applied, I head straight for my eyes.

It's always been that way, for as far back as I can remember (and given that I was 14 going on 15 when I was permitted to start wearing makeup, I can recall those early days of high school cosmetics pretty well). Before foundation, powder, highlighter, blush (which, to be honest, given the natural rosiness of my cheeks I don't wear all that often), or anything to do with my lips I attend to my eye make-up routine first.

I begin with my brows (plucking any stray hairs and filling them in, as they've always been naturally sparse), curl my eyelashes, do my eye shadow followed by eyeliner, and lastly mascara. At the point, though I do like a "full face" (as my mom and I have always called it), I feel sufficiently made up enough so that if I suddenly had to answer the door or bolt out at the spur of the moment, I'd feel like I had my war paint (so to speak) on.

In fact (assuming I had a good moisturizer already), if you made me pick just three make-up items to take with me to a desert island, without giving it a second thought, I'd reach for black eyeliner and mascara, paired with a tube of MAC's Russian Red lipstick.

Perhaps it's because we get to use our lids like tiny artist's canvases that I start on that part of my face here first. Sure, one can play around with their lips, but rarely (sans costume make-up) does a person wear more than one distinct colour on their lips at the same time.

With our eyes we can play it safe and stick with classic neutral shades or create whole rainbows of multi-coloured shadow or liner, if so desired. We can fatten our lashes, or even apply false one's if what nature and the cosmetics counter provided us with just isn't doing the trick.

I'm a big fan of make-up brushes, especially for eye make-up (though having one each specifically for foundation and powder is very great, too), and while the ones I use are modern, they really haven't changed all that much of the past few decades.

Take for example the lovely vintage Maybelline ad from 1960 pictured below. Here one sees a selection of make-up products and applicators that (excluding perhaps cream mascara and its accompanying brush - though these can still be found and are really quite fun to work with if you get the opportunity) still appears in most of our cosmetic bags today.

{So very chic and beautifully elegant, the makeup products in this wonderful vintage Maybelline ad will never go out of style. Image via CapricornOneVintage on Flick.}

 

Like many gals, I enjoy playing with make-up and have a range of products in my trusty (train style) case, but at the end of the day (or more accurately, the start of the day), I do generally reach for the same beloved items that help give me my beloved 1940s/50s looks in a flash, every one of which appears (albeit in more modern packaging) in this charming vintage ad.

Whether you're also a fan of starting with your eyes, or work your way up there a little later on during your routine, it's hard not to enjoy timeless images like this that show you exactly what the ladies whose looks we so admire and emulate were lining their vanity tops with during the most glamorous years of the twentieth century.