A beautiful example of 1940s headband inspiration

✯ Day 333 of Vintage 365 ✯

Headbands are a marvelous accessory, if you ask me. No doubt due in part to my 1980s and 90s childhood (when they were frequently all the rage - especially in the pre-scrunchie days), I've had a long standing love of headbands. Between grades four and seven in particular, I sported them more days than not to school and amassed a collection of a dozen or more, all of which saw heavy rotation.

By the time high school rolled around and I was actively experimenting with a range of hairstyles (including my first solid attempts at vintage hairdos), headbands took a bit of a back seat, but I certainly still reached for them sometimes.

Hop ahead to my twenties; gone are most of the particular updos and hairstyles I wore as a teen (oh the horrors of some of them!) and instead, nearly every day, I opt for vintage 40s and 50s looks instead. The one main exception to that statement is that I will sometimes wear a ponytail, but even then I try to give it a fun late 50s inspired vibe.

Interestingly, I've found that it's by no means impossible to combine mid-century styles with that beloved childhood hair accessory of mine, headbands.

Now granted, the 30s, 40s, and 50s did not see an abundance of headbands (be they soft fabric or sturdier plastic/metal band styles), however I have encountered some images of gals from those decades looking positively lovely in headbands, such as the elegant blonde who appeared on the July 1945 cover of Cornet magazine pictured below.

{Vintage Cornet magazine cover featuring a sophisticated looking woman, complete with a pretty blue headband, via What Makes the Pie Shops Tick on Flickr.}

 

Here a relatively simple, completely classic curled hairstyle partners with an understated royal blue fabric headband to which a glistening bejewelled pin of a bird (an eagle, if you ask me) has been attached for a delightful dose of unexpected bling.

The wearing of headbands is by no means a twenty-first century novelty, in fact cultures stretching back as far (if not earlier) than the Greeks and Romans used both strips of fabric and wreaths of greenery as headbands.

During the last century however, headbands (generally speaking) didn't really come into major vogue until the Mod looks of the swinging 60s appeared. However prior to that, styles ranging from plain black bands to feather and flower adorned examples did indeed exist, sometimes paired with a wisp of tulle to create a sort of hat/headband combo.

Over the last few days headbands have (like most fashion accessories) waxed and waned in popularity, yet never completely fallen off the radar (in fact in very recent years, due in no small part to a rival in preppy fashions alla Gossip Girl, they've become a hit once more with fashionistas everywhere), and I suspect they're unlikely to ever completely vanish.

Not, of course, that I'd stop wearing them if they did! These days, inspired by images like this beautiful vintage magazine cover, I enjoy wearing headbands with second or third day pin curls, as well as Veronica Lake inspired waves. Sometimes, I'll swap a headband for the more classic bandanna look, and channel my inner WW2 factory worker with a roll or mini pompadour of hair adorned with a cute polka dot (or solid hued) stretch fabric headband.

To all those who enjoy both headbands and vintage 40s/50s hairstyles, yet may have been hesitant to pair the two, I hope that this post helps put your mind at ease and that it inspires you to try pairing these two together for a stylish, completely old school approved look that radiates beauty and timeless charm.

Cliniderm: an excellent hairspray for those with sensitive skin

✯ Day 324 of Vintage 365 ✯

To say that I have sensitive skin would be a massive understatement. So temperamental and adverse to most products is my skin that, in chatting about this topic, I can't help but rely the story of when, one day several years, my husband playful blew a shot of condensed air (of the kind used to clean computer keyboards) onto my arm, I got a rash! (yes, a rash from air - it's rather funny, I know.)

My skin was always highly sensitive, but became even more so around when I hit puberty and then again when, at the age of 18, I first became chronically ill. In the years since then I've discovered, through trial and error (and plenty of trips to the doctor to help take care of the ensuing skin irritations), which products I can and cannot use when it comes to everything from laundry soap to face cream, shampoo to even dish soap.

While (knock wood!) I've had relatively good luck with make-up (I can usually wear most better drugstore and department store brands with little to no issue), when it comes to hair care products, things turn ugly very, very quickly.

As a child I suffered in silence with a ridiculously itchy, often red scalp due to the run-of-the-mill shampoo and condition my parents bought for the family. As soon as I was old enough to do so, as a teenager, I began buying my own and experimenting with many brands, but few (even those from the health food store) were of much help in this department.

But, bad as shampoo and its hair care partner in crime, conditioner, were, it was products like mousse, gel, hairspray, hot oil, and volumizer that (generally speaking) seemed to irritate my ridiculously sensitive skin the very most.

From scaly rashes (sorry to be frank) to weeping, open sores after one application (Garnier Fructus, I'm looking at you!), by the time I hit my twenties, I'd had no choice but to pretty much stop using all styling products (which, as you can image, makes wearing one's hair – especially when it’s very fine and straight as a pin like mine –  in vintage styles pretty tricky a lot of the time).

{As this elegant 1957 ad for Revlon Satin-Set hairspray clearly demonstrates, hairspray is often required to achieve the beautiful vintage hairstyles we adore, however for those with highly sensitive skin, finding products that don't bother you can be a significant challenge. Image via clotho98 on Flickr.}

Never one to give up a fight easily though, I kept trying brands (many of which were "natural" or organic) that were designed for sensitive skin. A few were less bothersome than their mainstream counterparts, yet it wasn't until 2009 that I discovered a Canadian brand called Cliniderm at a local Rexall drugstore that I finally found a shampoo, conditioner, and hairspray I could use with virtually no irritation.

At first I almost couldn't believe it. After each shower or time I applied hairspray, I kept waiting for the usual itchiness and redness of contact dermatitis, the dry flaking scalp and/or rash around my hairline and down my neck, but nothing happened. It seemed like a small miracle to say the least.

For over two years now I’ve been using Cliniderms hair care products with great success. Their shampoo and conditioner (which are free of parabens, dyes, perfumes, lanolin, formaldehyde and proteins) are great (though, not overly moisturizing - however one can find plenty of homemade, all natural hair mask recipes online to help counteract the issue of dry hair), but it's their hairspray (which I'd peg as being medium hold) that's saved the day, so to speak, the most.

Thanks to it, I've been able to wear a multitude of hairstyles that require styling product once again. As I was fixing my locks in place recently, I began thinking about how some of you may also be in the same boat, and wanted to share about how I found (and have since used) Cliniderm's hairspray with all of you.

Though it's not that easy to find (to date I haven't found any Shopper's Drug Mart locations here in Toronto that carry it, however some of the Rexall drugstores do), and is a tad pricy (about $16 plus tax per bottle), if you have highly sensitive skin and cannot use most (or any) styling products, Cliniderm's hairspray (pictured below) may be the answer you've been looking for.

 

 

According to Cliniderm's official website, their products can be found at several different chains across Canada - and some, though not the hairspray for whatever reason, can be ordered online through the site Well.ca.

I know that what works for one sensitive skinned person may not work for another, but as someone with both sensitive skin and multiple chemical sensitivies, I feel that Cliniderm's products are the best (from a sensitive skin standpoint), least irritating I've come across so far in my whole life and thus really wanted to share this helpful line with my readers.

As one never know though, how long a product will be on the market (especially a niche item like all natural hairspray), if you have highly sensitive skin and have had success with other brands (such as Suncoat, Kettle Care, Beauty without Cruelty, Organic Excellence, or Free and Clear, all of which are US brands that I've not been able to test out yet myself) I'd love to know about your firsthand experiences.

While having sensitive skin can create many beauty routine challenges, if one is diligent and willing to play the role of guinea pig sometimes, there are often solutions to be found out there that can work for you.

It took about 25 years, but I eventually found Cliniderm and now have the ability to wear hairspray without my super sensitive scalp going into a tizzy – which, let me tell you, makes me a very, very happy vintage hairstyle loving camper!

Four fantastic 1940s hairstyles for long haired gals

✯ Day 151 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Throughout much of human history young girls and women alike have worn their hair long. Lengthy locks were tied to deeply rooted notions of beauty, vitality, innocence, chastity, faith, devotion, and health - amongst many others - and were something that countless ladies over the centuries prided themselves on having. However, as time wore on and the 20th century dawned, a cord began to change where women's hairstyles were involved.

By the end of the '10s, some brazen, trend setting gals were ditching their Gibson Girl inspired, Rapunzel-esque manes for much, much shorter cuts, such as the immensely popular bob of the 1920s and 30s (which was sometimes paired with a Marcel or finger wave, or other type of tight curl).

Shorter styles remained commonplace through the 40s, and 50s, though there were noticeable differences between many of the styles of each respective decade.

However, whereas some gals were quick to sheer off much of their hair (or never grow out, in the case of those born after short female hairstyles became more culturally accepted), others opted to hang onto their longer locks.

Whether shoulder grazing or reaching down to their tailbone, long hair was not uncommon by any means amongst vintage women. In fact, many of the most beloved and iconic actresses, models and performers of the golden decades of the last century boasted hair that was anything but pixie cut length (think of the cascading waves of beauties like Rita Hayworth, Ann Sheridan, Veronica Lake, Susan Hayward, Hedy Lamarr, and Bridet Bardot to name but a few screen sirens who boasted longer hairstyles).

Then, as today, not all women opted for shorter cuts - not did all ladies decide to go in for perms (which generally gave the appearance of lopping at least a few inches off of their locks). Popular as they were for much of the early and mid-twentieth century, permanent waves were not something that every gal embraced (for various reasons including having naturally curly hair, being allergic to the chemicals used, economic concerns, or simply the desire to stand out as something of a hairstyle maverick).

 

As such, women who opted to keep their hair longer needed becoming styles that were on trend, practical enough to do themselves (for those days when a trip to the beauty parlour wasn't in the cards), and which ensured they looked immensely well put together.

Pages such as the handy magazine spread above from 1944 entitled Dos for Long Hair, helped teach WW2 era long haired women of all ages some delightfully chic styles that they could  readily apply to their own tresses.

Many of us, myself included, have hair that falls into the medium to longer length category and as such are often on the lookout for authentic vintage hairstyles that we can easily do ourselves today.

This delightful 1940s page (which comes by way of clotho98 on Flickr; click here if you'd like to see a larger version of this set of instructions for of graceful long hair vintage styling options) delivers four distinct looks (the Chinese Page Boy, Crescent Chignon, Side Sweep, and Ears Buns), which can easily be replicated - with some practise and a few hair pins - today by many of those with longer manes.

Each of these looks is distinct, yet so perfectly channels the blend of practicality and feminine beauty that held sway in women's lives during the tumultuous war years.

These hairstyles are ones that will stand the test of time, as perfect and enchanting today as they were sixty-seven years ago when they first appeared on in the pages of Women's Day magazine - inspiring women of both generations of try something new and gorgeous with their longer locks.

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!

Vintage 365: CV post inspires vintage blogger's beautiful 1940s looped braid hairstyle

✯ Day 20 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

The response to the Vintage 365 daily post here on CV has been tremendously positive so far, and I believe that as the year progresses things will continue to shine. Though the project is less than a month old at this point, I've already had a some people contact me to say that they blogged about one of the Vintage 365 posts that really caught their eye (thank you, sweet dears!).

One such person is the immensely lovely Tasha of By gum by golly! , a delightful vintage and craft centred blog, who wrote to say that the vintage magazine cover image I used for the January 13th Vintage 365 post Slide show celebrates 125 years of Ladies Home Journal magazine, inspired her to recreate the darling 1940s looped braid pigtails the the mother and daughter are sporting on that cover.

Not only did Tasha recreate this charming, seriously adorable hairstyle with immense success (see image above), she detailed the steps she took to do so on her blog, so that she could inspire her readers to try this playful style on their own locks.

For me one of the best elements of being a vintage blogger is the continual inspiration I gather from both yesteryear images and my fellow old school bloggers, and I was touched deeply to know that Tasha drew such stylish inspiration from one of my posts. Though my own hair is far to thin to pull off this immensely cute 1940s hairdo with any degree of success, I adore the how Tasha tied cheerful ruby hued ribbons around the tops of her pigtail braids, and I'm now inspired to dig into my craft stash and start wearing more ribbons in my hair (and should I have ever a daughter one day, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be trying the looped pigtail look on her!).

Thank you very much, Tasha, for sharing how an edition of Vintage 365 inspired you; I absolutely loved seeing your wonderful hairstyle and am sure you'll inspire scores of vintage loving gals to copy this super fun look!