It’s no secret that I am obsessed with vintage hairstyling. I just spent some time on pinterest which I rarely fit in time to do, and I was browsing vintage hair and drooling on myself and having pintergasms ( Thx, Brookie for that perfect term). I’m sorry If that offends anyone.
I have coveted fashion and hairstyles from the early 1920’s- 1940’s since I started beauty school, which was also around the time that I worked as the shop girl at a fabulous Seattle classic vintage clothing store, Private Screening. It is now closed (quiet tear dripping down face) along with the rest of Fremont which is a Seattle neighborhood that once considered itself the Center of the Universe. All that remains in my opinion is ETG, a hole in the wall pillar of Seattle coolness, culture and coffee. Check it out if you are ever there. It was the owner of ETG that passed on this famed quote to HTHG…..Can ya guess???? ‘Stuck in hair, stuck in life’ Love it. Miss it. Can’t wait to go back.
So back to the start of beauty school. My first instructor at my fabulously ghetto beauty school was the infamous Jesse Daniels, 7 foot tall black gay male hairdresser to uptight female newscasters and rich old ladies all over the state of Washington. He was a jewel of a man.
He started us off with finger waves. I enthusiastically thought ( As I am prone to do) that I could just jump in and do them. Turns out their is an incredible method to doing them correctly. This proved to be the case with all the hairstyling tricks he taught us that first quarter. Wet sets and comb outs, spiral perm sets, press and curls, perfect finger waves and pin curls, all those gorgeously methodical tricks from the days of yore.
I now see that he was trying to weed out the lazies. After first quarter, half of us were left. It was really my first lesson in taking the time to do it right and actually enjoying it. I spent many weekends nights in those days wearing incredibly beautiful and dangerously delicate silk chiffon dresses from the 1920’s and finger waved hair and I felt absolutely great.
Oh to have the time and energy and lightweight priorities of those days! Lately, the effortlessness inspiration of the 1970’s is where I rest my comb. But secretly, I’m always trying to capture a bit of the good old days in all of my hairstyle tutorials.
Here is my conundrum. How do I combine the looks of those immaculate and labor intensive hairstyles from, say, the early 1930’s with the ease and simplicity needed to suit today’s busy and streamlined lifestyle?
So far, I have come up with a couple ways. The scarf roll is a great and easy way to get that working class women’s Rosie the Riveter look.
Pin-curls and other no-heat curl techniques are awesome for getting long-wearing bouncy vintage-inspired waves and curls.
The 1940’s pin-up up-do is pretty darn hot and easy to do.
But I will not be satisfied until I can come up with some way to do easy finger waves on myself that I can make into a tutorial that won’t scare people away because it is NOT EASY! But I will make it my goal for the month to make it easy. Or make it look easy at least. I love a good challenge.
I’m will do my best for you, my fellow vintage hair lovers. What vintage hairstyles are you dying to learn? Tell me and I will try and make a tutorial for you. Also, I adore this vintage hairstyling book.
Wish me luck! XOXO
