The Halcyon hair tutorial: Emma Garland 1940

So, who has seen The Halcyon? I'm feeling ripped off that not only did Home Fires get canned after two amazing seasons, but also that The Halcyon has only had one. So much for being the 'new' Downton Abbey. I've only seen episode one (aired on ABC on Saturday, Australian peeps if you want to play catch up) and spent most of my time drooling over Emma Garland's up do.

This 'do is so appropriate for a polished working girl in 1940, and I know later into the season we'll see some pretty 40s waves in her hair, but I like the tidy feel of this one - you definitely don't need to get the curlers out! It's also a great alternative to Victory Rolls and Gibson roll, which I'm making an educated guess that they weren't widely, if at all, worn in the way we are used to associating with the war yet. The hair on this series still screams 1930s.

So, here's my take on Emma's do!

You'll need:
Three clear hair ties
Bobby pins
A teasing brush
A regular hair brush
Hair spray
Hair extension piece (optional)

Start with well brushed hair, then part your hair to one side. You can of course do this hair do with a centre part as well if that suits you better.
Section from the crown of the head to behind your ear off on both side and pin out of the way.

Take the back loose hair and put into a pony tail using a clear tie to secure.
Divide the ponytail into two sections and plait them, securing with a clear band at the end. If you have short hair, or very fine hair, this do can be hard to achieve, so this is where a plaited piece of hair extension could come in very handy to either weave in with your own hair, or use your own hair as one plait and it as the other.
With one plait, wind it in a spiral on one side and pin securely, making sure to tuck the loose end under and hide the clear band.
Repeat on the other side. This is the basis of the do.

Let one side at the front out and give it a good solid teasing (be gentle though). This will give you height through the twist at the front.
Twist your hair back, careful not to pull too tight, then work it across the top of the two plaits and wrapping it around the spiral on the opposite side and pinning in to secure.

Repeat by teasing the opposite side for height, twisting, bringing across the top of the two plaits and twisting it into the updo. Pin to secure it into place. Then, hair spray the lot and you're done!

A very simple, elegant do that looks a lot more complicated than it is! Let me know if you try it, and if you have any requests let me know!

Love WTP x

Blue sun

I am so excited I can FINALLY share this dress with you. I bought it in Stockholm this time  last year (!!!) but it needed TLC before I could wear it. It's my dream 40s dress. The shoulder pleats, the tiny fabric covered buttons, the bow, the full-ish skirt. It had some holes and once I got them beautifully darned, I then went through the painstaking process of hand washing with my metaphorical fingers crossed to get some marks off the shoulder. And it came off the line without shrinking and stain free. Phew!

So when I slipped it on today it felt like a small triumph. I couldn't resist adding victory rolls and hair flowers to give it an authentic touch. It makes me wonder who in the 40s was wearing this dress. Was it from a Swedish woman, who remained neutral through the war? Did she have strong views about the world around her, or was she just relieved to be relatively safe? How did she wear this dress, did she have nylons and a jaunty hat? Was she blonde, how old was she? Somehow that question seems so much more poignant where this dress is concerned in compared to my 40s dresses from the USA.

Wearing...
1940s dress bought in Sweden, Irregular Choice heels, Daisy Jean Florals Signature Rose Double in blue, vintage opal earrings, 1930s Czech glass ring, Jean Jean Vintage Edwardian bangle.

Curling technique - rag curls

So, curling lots of long, fine hair is a challenge I'm sure you can imagine, and pin curling is an arm-busting work out. To curl my hair these days I need it to be fast and effective, and preferably not heat, which doesn't hold for very long due to the sheer weight of my hair and damages hair with repeated use. As it is, long hair is far more likely to be damaged at the ends which is why regular trims on long hair are important. Never try to grow your hair by not cutting it. Each split end will continue up the hair shaft the longer it is left, and will need to be removed anyway when you eventually do go for a cut! By regularly trimming split ends it stops the damage spreading further, allowing you to grow longer, healthier hair. But enough about that...

When it came to a solution, I revisted my childhood days of Physical Culture when my mother would curl my hair with a technique of course from my grandmother - rag curling! Called thus because you can use 'any old rag' to curl the hair. Rag-curling is suitable for most hair types, even straight like my grandmother's is, as it holds it tight and is comfortable to sleep in. So, no matter what your length of hair or type, you will probably find this great to try.

HOW TO RAG CURL

YOU'LL NEED:

An old t-shirt to cut up

Setting spray or lotion

Spray bottle of water

Pin curl clips or bobby pins

A paddle brush

Rat tail brush

Pomade or gel (optional)

Hair spray (optional)

Hair net or scarf (optional)

TECHNIQUE

Start with dry hair. Mine here was air dried from the shower and I skipped putting hair oil in, so it looks a little less shiny than usual, but I find the oil stops the hair curling as well.

I use strips of t-shirt material to rag curl with. I went to my local charity shop and bought the biggest t-shirt I could and then cut strips the width of the t-shirt and about three inches thick. Bonus, I took an ugly motifed t-shirt out of the world and made it useful ;) Any thinner and they will make too tight a curl. Start by taking a section of hair. These can be a few inches wide as the strip makes a tight curl. Spritz the section with setting lotion - I'm using Dita Margarita from The Leopard Lounge, but you can use your preferred product. You should also lightly spritz with water to help it set - just don't soak the hair completely!

Tie the strip in a knot at the end of the hair, maybe an inch or two off and start wrapping the end around the knot, then keeping the end tucked in, roll the strip up the hair, keeping it relatively tidy. Then tie the strip in a knot again to secure, keeping it as neat and close to the root as possible.

Continue around the head. I ended up with twelve rolls. For any that felt they might drop, (you'll see as you go what I mean here) I used a pin curl clip to secure the rag to my head.

Once they're all in, leave them several hours to let them dry. I recommend doing them of an evening and sleeping the night in them. They're t-shirt fabric so they're fairly comfortable!

The next day, take out each of the rags, carefully so as to not get any snags or tangles. You will be left with curls, yay!

Begin the brush out stage. I use a nice wide paddle brush, that is best for my hair. Some people prefer different types of brushes, so go with what works best on your hair. At first I give it a light brush just to get the curls unwound.

Part your hair where you desire and give it a brush on the smaller side.

On the wider side, lightly tease to get volume in the front waves if desired, and pin curl clip into place to let them set while you hair spray.

If your hair is still a little fluffy add a light styling agent like pomade or wax, depending again on what best suits your hair weight. Keep brushing, these curls should be strong and hold well.

Once you are happy, enjoy your waves, and untangle all your rags, ready for the next time!

A couple of notes:

• While this gives a great tight curl on the ends, the longer the hair, the less likely to get a curl near the roots you are. Make sure to wind right to the base of your hair near the front to get a wave. I always add a little extra spritz of setting lotion once the curl is tied up to help the roots set in place.
• For smaller, tighter curls, use more rags. I use thick sections for speed and more of a wave, but if you're going for a really tight curl definitely go for more rags and sections.  The more you use, the closer to ringlets you'll get!
• Sleep with a hair net over the rags if you want added insurance the curl will hold as none will pull out in the night.
• If your rags after a few uses feel unclean or sticky from the setting lotion they've been exposed to, pop them in a laundry bag and send them through the wash. This is easier than making new rags all the time!

Let me know if you give this a go, tag me on Instagram or send me an email at wildteaparty@gmail.com. I'd love to see how it goes for you! Or let me know if you have any questions so I can clarify!

Love WTP x

Why is ok enough?

One of the things as I do battle with the mental health beast I keep hearing is 'Don't strive for happiness. It's transient, it's not real. Strive for ok.'

Man, oh man. I'm sooo not down with that as a message. 

There is nothing wrong with striving for happiness, and in fact, why the hell shouldn't we all want it? Why don't we deserve to build a life that makes us happy and bring all kinds of joy to the party? Sure, bad stuff happens, we have ups and downs and there are things outside of our control. I know that's reality. But why can't we have a happy metaphorical house, where those things come to visit for awhile, but the house still stands, and when they leave there's still walls of happiness there? Life is too short and too long for just ok. I don't want to look back on my life and regret that all I ever got from my youth onwards was 'ill' and 'ok'. 

I think this 'ok' idea has come from the way we live - modern life is not how humans were intended to live, we are so far from our roots, and the stress we put ourselves through is immense. So 'ok' really starts to sound reasonable. But me? Well, I'm not having it. I'm just plain not. 

Right now, I'm ill, so sure, ok would be a nice start, but I'm not going to stop with ok. Ok sounds really bloody mediocre, and I definitely don't want that either. I want joy, sensuality, laughter, travel, creativity, freedom, technicolor fantasy realities, and doing only the things I love. Because, why not? Why can't life be a work of art, full of your wildest, darkest, deepest fantasies? Why not create a life to live them in? 

And as a side note, I'm obsessed with balloon sleeves on 60s robes, and missed out on this identical robe on etsy, so I stalked obsessively until I snagged one on eBay with it's matching nightie. This is exactly the kind of fantasy garment I want to wear and as I'm working on more Pilates and yoga, and having a better diet, and saying nice things to my body in the mirror, I'm starting to feel more vampy and sexy and confident in myself.  I wanted to shoot this post in square format, which I think worked well for tight shots of this robe, and to enjoy my hair and make up from my latest Daisy Jean Florals shoot - keep an eye out for the new pics on the website! 

Wearing... 

1960s Van Raalte robe via eBay, What Katie Did strapless bra and girdle, fishnet stockings, Wittner Luscious heels, thrifted rhinestone jewelry, MUAH Dianne Murphy. 

Daisy Jean loves your face

 

The pics from my first shoot with Daisy Jean Floral Designs have come through and reached the website and I am honestly so excited about them. The day was a huge one but I'm so happy with how it turned out - especially given how out of sorts I've been. Call it Flower Power! Ok, that was corny, I'm real sorry about that Dad joke.  

I felt like a kid in a candy shop when these pieces started emerging from the boxes and being sorted for shoot. Its hard sometimes to tell in photos, but the quality really is above and beyond and well priced. I love the big pieces most of all, don't be afraid of them, they're ironically easier to style than small flowers.

Keep your eyes peeled over the next few months too. There's another shoot to come and I will give you a hint. There's going to be Autumn, Easter and Anzac Day pieces ;)

If you want to grab a little Wild Tea Party style for yourself, don't forget to pick up my signature fascinator, the Miss Ellen! I can't wait to see how others style it!

For more information on the pieces worn here, visit Daisy Jean Floral Designs. There's even free Australian shipping for purchases over $30! 

Love WTP x

All photos here taken by Billy June Photography 

Front Roll Tutorial

I posted this super quick and easy front roll tutorial on Instagram a few weeks ago but figured I should share it here in case anyone missed it! As you can see it is one of my absolute favorite go-to looks and is very versatile; the more you do it the more you can play with how the roll turns out - and sometimes your hair just has it's own idea. Bonus? It's actually easier on *ahem* dirtier hair. 

To do this look just follow the below:

1. Section a triangle piece at the front centre. 
2. Give it a good back comb on whatever side you want the roll to go to. 
3. Start rolling around two fingers. 
4. Shape the roll into the spot you want.

5. Pin to secure on the inside and behind so pins are mostly covered. 
6 & 7 give your hair a good spray, face pulling optional.
8. Tie a scarf around with a bow.

Let me know if you give this a try!

Love WTP x

The Figure Eight bun: hair tutorial

What, November, where did you come from? October flew past me in a blur of stomach bug, magazine deadlines, Shabbat dinners, and Halloween fun (Check out IG for those pics!). So with Melbourne Cup day tomorrow, racing season in full swing and school formals and Christmas parties on the horizon, I figured now would be a good time for this Figure Eight bun tutorial. I love this bun and do it frequently in various forms. It works well for sculpting around hats especially as you can spread and shape it how you like. I admit it was hard to shoot though because it's quite a repetitive technique that's hard though to capture on camera but I have made a short video on IG that shows the technique and is linked below. 

You'll need:

• Shoulder or longer length hair to create the figure 8s. 
• A brush
• A hair tie
• Bobby pins
• Hair spray (optional)

1. Start by putting your hair in a ponytail. I went off to the side as I wanted to shape it for some hats, but you can place it central and high or low! central looks great with some hair clips tucked into the top. 

2. Take a section of hair, about half an inch thick, and create a loop, pulling the hair end through, then feeding the end again through the second loop. This is easier to communicate in the pictures and video which is HERE. 

3. Pin the loop where you want the bun to be, through the top of the loop, ensuring the ends of that section aren't poking out. 

4. Repeat until the bun starts to take the shape you want, starting at the sides and working back into the centre. 

5. Add extra pins where necessary to make it sit the way you want. 

6. Once done you can hair spray if you so choose. 

7. Add whatever hats you please! The versatile part of this look is you can shape it around whatever head piece you like - even hair flowers!

Please let me know if you try this one out or let me know if you need more clarity. 

Love WTP x

The day I fell in love with a Chevrolet

This was the perfect outfit on a warm spring Sunday to visit the Rock 'N' Roll & Alternative Markets at Sydney Uni. It was such a bright, hot, sunny day that I was terrified of getting burned. Thank heavens for sunscreen! I was glad to see plenty of vintage for sale, and plenty of vintage ladies. It was so good to see all those beautiful faces from Instagram and real life. I behaved in a most dignified way towards my wallet too, only picking up my 'Way of the Welt' brooch I posted on IG which I admit I had planned from the very beginning to get. 

And of course, outside I found a white 50s Chevrolet. OMG, where do I get one of these? Now I totally get why Lana Del Rey is always referencing them haha. 

Wearing... 

A Typical Girl Vintage 50s blouse, MC by Alexander McQueen belt, Pin Up Girl Clothing Jenny Spanish fan skirt, Wicked Magpie 50s bakelite earrings, The Vintage Mistress Enid Collins inspired bag, 50s sunnies, Miss L Fire wedges. 

Do you remember the time?

I can't believe how long it's been since my Stockholm/London trip. It seems like it was only last week and yet a thousand years ago. Why am I bringing up the trip now though? Two reasons: the first being this vintage skirt was one of my finds! You know I'm nuts for rose prints and I kind of danced a little jig next to the skirt rack in the basement vintage shop I found  - that was before they had to cut me out of a dress with a broken zipper - awks! A million thank yous to the stranger who helped me when I stuck my head out of the curtain and went, 'Help! Do you speak English?!' 

The second that while I was over there I was struggling to find some English TV shows to watch on TV, so I ended up watching a doco about the modern concept of time. It really blew my mind to realise that humans haven't always kept time with precision. Have you ever really considered that before? In the days before everyone carried a watch, people would keep time in a more pastoral sense: "I'll see you in the time it takes to milk a cow!'. Even if you had a clock, it was big, bulky, expensive and would still have been geared towards your own town time - which is exactly how things functioned. Every town kept their own time and it wasn't coordinated with the next town - so even just one town over they were on a different time. Is that crazy or what? The invention of the affordable portable timepiece revolutionised the way humans lived. Suddenly, we could be organised in a manner never seen before. Time could be standardised into zones so a whole nation knew what time it was where, you could make plans with people and both arrive there at the same time, you could catch a train that had a timetable that was easy to read (imagine having one time in your own town and the train line operating to its own time, and having to arrive in a town on yet another time, YIKES) and have set working hours (yes, you have the watch to blame for the 9-5 grind).

Really, the modern world owes a lot to the humble watch.

There is of course nothing humble about the JORD Watches Ely watch in maple. It's lightweight, it fits my baby wrists, and it teams well with my vintage, even despite the slightly sporty feel it has. I'm not much of a watch wearer normally, but this watch has been on regular rotation thanks to the neutral feel of the maple wood. Its amazed me both how much I actually enjoy wearing this watch and how many people have drooled over it and asked where it's from. If you feel much the same you should check out their other styles and colours here. I'm sure you'll be as in love as I am! And yes, they have styles for the men in your life too ;)

Love WTP x

Wearing...

JORD Ely maple watch, The Original Bad Girl JD top in brown and white stripe, Emmaus Vintage 50s rose skirt, Senso brown heels, Bowerbird Vintage mesh clutch, Jean Jean Vintage 1940s bakelite earrings. 

This post was in collaboration with JORD Watches. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting collaboration posts on A Wild Tea Party. 

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