I will be going back to the basic WordPress plan from July 2019, while we save for our new home. I still have plenty to post, but I just don’t have the time to post as often as would justify the cost. I’m keeping my website address, so please keep a look out for me posting again.
You can email me at thegirllovesvintage@gmail.com if I need to add you to my subscribers list manually again, or if you have any commission queries.
Please keep in touch, I am still taking commissions and selling handmade vintage reproduction pieces. Find me on Instagram @thegirllovesvintage and feel free to DM for commissions this way too.
Sorry for the delay in posting, I’ve been busy sewing! Let’s look at some hat styles from the Fifties and Sixties.
Marilyn Monroe hat test in ‘Love Nest’
Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ – beret and pink hat
In the Fifties, smaller more subtle hats that fitted close to the head were available, but you could still find fun and fancy hats too. The beret is a perennial favourite for most decades.
Fifties velvet rose hat – side
Fifties velvet rose hat – side
Fifties velvet rose hat – back
The hat above is one of my purchases from the 2017 Goodwood Revival. It needed a bit of cleaning, using baby wipes, but it came out well.
Modern red tilt hat dressed with flowers
Modern red tilt hat dressed with flowers
Cream lace tilt hat with flowers and black net
Cream lace tilt hat with flowers and black net
Cream lace tilt hat with flowers and black net
Lilac jumper and embroidered skirt by Butterfly Child Art
Strawberry dress from original Fifties pattern by The Girl Loves Vintage
If you get a chance to see Grace Kelly’s hat collection, you may be surprised at some of them as they go into the Sixties. Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day also sported some amazing hats. You just have to be daring enough to wear them.
Pink Audrey Hepburn wearing a Sixties turban style hat with white flower
Audrey Hepburn wearing a cream sailor/ pie crust hat
Audrey Hepburn wearing a Sixties giant navy flower fascinator
Audrey Hepburn wearing a Sixties black pill box hat with white feather pom pom
Audrey Hepburn wearing a black sun hat with cream scarf
The hats in the Sixties are best worn high or far back to create that beehive look.
Pink pill box hat with net – front
Pink pill box hat with net – back
Pink pill box hat with net – front
Pink pill box hat with net – side
If you’ve got longer hair, this works well with Sixties styles, as you can style it straight, with flicks or create volume and pin it into a bob, Doris Day style.
Pink and navy Sixties hat – back
Pink and navy Sixties hat – side
Pink and navy Sixties hat – front
Pink and navy Sixties hat – front
My brother calls this the brain hat because of the shape, and I have to admit it does remind me of Mars Attacks! So don’t mess with me when I wear it!
Straw bucket hat – front
Straw bucket hat – side
Straw bucket hat – front
This bucket hat is a modern buy, but reminded me of Doris Day! I sometimes style it for the Twenties too.
Wide brim sun hat
Casual floppy hat
Sixties turban
Fur hat
Furry Dr Zhivago hats are popular again at the moment, but they were fashionable through many decades. Marilyn Monroe wore one in the early Sixties.
Faux fur Russian style hat
Faux fur Russian style hat
Faux fur Russian style hat
Black wide brimmed hat
Black wide brimmed hat and gingham dress
Little flower covered smartie hat
What other styles would you like to see? Or what styles do you find difficult to style?
Vintage dressing always looks best finished with accessories. Generally, I plan jewellery with my clothes, but with sunny weather here, sunglasses are picked up as I rush out the door. I try to make it simple by having a few pairs (not too many!) that cover the decades I like.
For the Twenties, Thirties and Forties small round glasses were popular. There are some fun frame designs from the Forties, like petals around the eyes to create flowers! Watch Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun (film or ITV) for some great Thirties summer outfits and sunglasses. I love the colourised photo of a young blonde Bette Davis with an icecream.
Round Thirties sunglasses
Cat eye glasses epitomised the Fifties, from bookish to pin-up. Marilyn Monroe wore a thinner black design that won’t flatter everyone, but I like the wider frames that go to the edge of the face, and up to the eyebrow. Classic black or tortoiseshell goes with everything, but there is plenty of scope for fun. Coloured frames to match lipstick, dresses or accessories were popular, as were diamante details and shapes on the upper edge. Ray-Ban wayfarers were worn by Marilyn too, and these are a classic style that’s still popular.
Marilyn wearing cat eye sunglasses
Marilyn in Ray-Ban wayferers
Going into the Sixties, sunglasses got bigger and any shape and design imaginable show up. Generally, bug-eye and soft edged square shapes were popular. Grace Kelly had a huge selection of sunglasses, and that might be a good place to start if you want to have a reference to shapes and styles before you shop round.
My dream pair of sunglasses are the pair Audrey Hepburn wears as Holly Golighty in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. They have a tortoiseshell framework greenish lenses. These were designed by Oliver Goldsmith. It’s worth checking out some of his other designs too. There are lots of similar designs out there, but if you want the real thing, Oliver Goldsmith reissued a line!
This style covers the Seventies owl eyes and modern styles currently popular.
They are well worth it, they met all my expectations. Now I’m scared of scratching them, so I am learning to be glasses conscious, not wearing them on top of my head and always putting them in a hard case when I’m not wearing them.
Here’s my line-up of necessary styles to have a pair for any outfit from the Twenties to the Sixties.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
All these eras are covered by modern styles available to buy on the high street. Now you know what to look for, I hope you find a style you like.
Drop earrings are seen in old photos, and you can still find them. I like wearing this style with Victorian and Edwardian styles. The Sherlock Holmes series and other period dramas are a good reference.
Irene Adler in Sherlock Holmes (1880’s)
Ginger Rogers (1930-40’s)
Marilyn Monroe (1950’s)
Veruschka (1960’s)
The Forties, Fifties and Sixties saw the rise and continued popularity of large earrings. This was revisited in the Eighties, which are seeing a revival for SS17.
Heavy earrings with hooks can leave unsightly stretched earlobes visible. By modifying earrings to hide hooks, to look like clip-ons, will give a modern pair a vintage look.
You will need:
Earrings
Tweezers
Small/ fine ended pliers
Needle and matching thread or superglue & felt
Scissors
1) If you cannot twist the hook around to sit it behind the earring design, follow this step. Alternatively, skip to step 5.
Remove the hook and link. These didn’t have links, so I just had to pry open the fastened end of the hook. You can use old tweezers, small pliers or if it’s soft metal, even your nails (beware chipping nail varnish!)
Loosen the spiral of wire, to push it up the hook, as if you’re going to slide it off. This reveals the fastened end.
2) Stick your nail in the gap where the wire is pressed together. The gap you create should be big enough to slide the hook off the earring. (I also removed the tassle in the same way.)
Join hook lower on the earring
3) If the earring has something on the back you can loop the hook around, be sure you can lay the hook against the back ready to afix.
4) Close the loop end with the pliers. Push the spiral back over the join.
Afix the hook to the back of the earring
5) Check the hook won’t show from the front. Using a needle and thread, sew the hook from top to bottom, to hold it in place.
If there is nothing to stitch through, but you have a solid surface on the back, flatten the lower part of the hook against the back and glue.
Cut a small square or circle of felt to glue over the glued part of the hook. You may need to use something to hold the hook up while the glue dries, like blue tack.
Modified hook backed earrings
Is this useful? Are there other types of earrings you want to modify?
This slightly irridescent silk sari fabric was a remnant given to me as a gift. I don’t feel like orange is a colour I naturally choose to wear, but I thought this was beautiful with the gold embroidery, so I’ve spent years just admiring it draped over a mannequin. My first idea had been a Regency dress. However, as I never got around that, I eventually looked for some vintage ideas of how to style it into a Fifties dress. My impetus was finding an outfit for a friend’s wedding.
Sari sash
Sash front
Fifties sari dress
Fifties sari dress
As the fabric is patterned and beautiful standing alone, I kept to a pattern without making alterations to it. The simple fitted shift dress is accessorized with a detachable sash. This is a nod to the sari. The dress needs little added, so I kept my jewellery classic with a vintage pearl necklace, gold hoops and my gold heels (bought because I love Marilyn’s shoes in Bus Stop).
Boat neck and side panels
Mock wrap V-neck
Dior – the dream dress
Indian fabric was used in the Fifties for Western style dresses. The pictures I found made good use of the gold panel of embroidery often found on saris. My first choice was to copy the one shouldered Dior dress with a stitched wrap of gold edging used for the bodice, and a full skirt. The sari I had was only a remnant, and I didn’t have enough. Less fabric meant a pencil skirt and and no gathers. I did get my sash though.
At the wedding
On the day, I did require some dress first aid when I ripped the back seam of the skirt getting in the car. The trouble was climbing in instead of sitting and swivelling like a lady. I think that’s something you learnt at finishing school. Thanks to my mum’s first aid kit ( for clothes, naturally) I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening without embarrassment!
I think if I get the opportunity to buy a whole sari, I’ll make the Dior dress. Then I’ll just need something to wear it to.
I recently had the chance to dress up for a weekend in Devon. I took my orange ‘Paris When it Sizzles’ Audrey Hepburn dress and a floaty peach dress. I also made a new dress with some vintage lace fabric.
Audrey Hepburn style dress
‘Paris When It Sizzles’ dress
Wearing with pearl clip on earrings from a vintage fair, Next kitten heels and underpinnings all from What Katie Did.
Seventies style pleated summer dress
With box jacket and gold heels
Worn with matching flower headband, coral chandelier earrings (matching No.7 nail polish), pink rose ring and belt from another dress. The box jacket is more Sixties but the colours go perfectly. I think the tailoring grounds all the floatiness! I’m wearing my gold Marilyn Monroe heels, from ‘Bus Stop’. I got these from Topshop.
‘Gambit’ dress
White lace Sixties dress
As I don’t have a bob like Shirley Maclaine in ‘Gambit’, I wore my hair in a big bun instead of a beehive. I’m really pleased how this project turned out, even though I’m sure the original doesn’t have a zip up the back. I couldn’t see how to get my head through the mandarin collar without it! Worn with Marilyn style sandals from Dune, in place of white slingbacks, which I’m still hunting. See my Marilyn Monroe Sandals post for close-ups of them.
Watch the films and see what you think of the original dresses. I ‘researched’ these films to draw out my patterns and make the dresses. How did I do?
Translating Summer 2016 into vintage and retro styles.
I love this bucolic/ pastoral theme as it makes me think of the rare sunny days we get here in England. It brings back looks from history and inspiration can be found in literature and costume dramas. Imagine roaming the green hills and wild flower meadows.
Sixties Edwardian maxi gingham
Flowers in my hair and natural curls. Although I love the perfectly done look of the Fifties, I’ll always include some costume drama! It’s amazing how even vintage eras cross over, and the teddy girls of the Fifties and the costume films of the Sixties give a good mix of old and new.
Embroidered daisy headband – a gift
Black ribbon choker home-made
Mini dress worn as blouse – George at Asda
Gingham skirt – home-made (film reference The Assassination Bureau)
Buckle sandals – La Redoute
Vintage floral maxi dress
This dress is wonderful to wear, and is a typical Thirties style (watch Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby). From the label I think this is a Seventies dress in the popular original Laura Ashley style.
Dress – eBay
Mini straw boater – check out my post on The Assassination Bureau
Parasol – Irish craft shop
Lace and stripes
Vintage earrings, and grosgrin ribbon tied at waist. All clothes La Redoute.
Country checks and gingham
Red checked blouse made from a vintage pattern, and gingham skirt as before. Red gingham tie from another dress.
Embroidered cream waistcoat – H&M
Lace and pintuck detail skirt – Primark (altered to fit at waist and panel added along bottom to get length.)
Knitted waistcoat – from my childhood
Blue floral and crochet detail blouse – Dorothy Perkins
Victorian look corset and petticoat
One of my favourite summer outfits, but not the most practical, being all white. Phantom of the Opera is one the references here. Blouse, skirt and Turkish slippers all La Redoute. Broderie Anglaise corset top from New Look.
Lilies and roses
I changed the plain buttons on the back of the blouse for some painted buttons. The printed fabric has been embroidered over in matching thread. I think it was from New Look. My Mum made the skirt. It’s cut double the width of the front, so it gathers into a bustle. Platforms from Matalan.
Frilly ankle socks with peep toe heels
Broderie Anglaise blouse and coral peep toe heels from La Redoute
Dress and socks – Matalan
Fifties style gingham and checks
Blouse – La Redoute
Belt – vintage
Skirt – made using an old skirt as a pattern
Wedges – Clarks
Lemon bag – Avon
Red cropped top – vintage
Gingham cropped trousers – made from vintage pattern in the style of Marilyn Monroe.
Translating Summer 2016 into vintage and retro styles. Let’s look at stripes.
Nautical stripes
Going for a nautical or school girl theme. References are Gigi going to school or Agatha Christie’s Poirot ‘Cat Among the Pigeons’ and Endeavour episode ‘Nocturne’.
Mini straw boater/ tilt or perch hat altered from a large boater. I explain how I did this in my ‘Assassination Bureau’ post.
Vintage white lace gloves
White peacoat style jacket – Matalan
Stripe dress and belt – La Redoute
Red Seamed stockings – What Katie Did
Cut out lace-up shoes – Clarks
Nautical stripes
Some Like it Hot and Thoroughly Modern Millie are great films set in the roaring Twenties. This dress is actually from the Eighties, but the drop waist and knee length lend itself nicely to the flapper style. I sometimes wear this dress with a Sixties twist, as both decades share similar styles.
Mauve straw hat (cloche) – Liz Claiborne
Earrings – Matalan
Dress – ebay vintage
Sandals – Avon
Fifties style summer stripes
Instead of wearing the dress like a pinafore, I am wearing the blouse over the top, so it looks like it’s worn with a skirt. Tied at the waist, it gives definition without the need for a belt. The stripes are all vertical, and navy and white, but different thicknesses. The pinstripe on the shirt is so fine it blurs in the photo. I’m wearing a tulle skirt as a petticoat to give the skirt volume. For this shape and style, look at photos of Brigitte Bardot for inspiration.
Shirt & dress – Primark
Grey tulle skirt – Mademoiselle R from La Redoute
Black peep toe heels – George at Asda
My Marilyn style blue stripe dress
There are some beautiful photos of Marilyn Monroe when she was married to Arthur Miller, wearing a blue and white tiered sundress. I was thrilled when I found this similar dress from Joe Browns.
Fifties pin up half pinned back curls with flower.Sixties style office stripes
I think the suede look A-line wrap skirt is a key look for the Sixties, as are block heels. They have both come round again, so it’s easy to find interpretations of these on the high street. Although my skirt is longer, it’s surprising to see photos of Marianne Faithful and Anita Pallenburg, both girlfriends of various Rolling Stones in more modest ensembles than the minis of the late Sixties and early Seventies. Jane Fonda wears a brown suede A-line in Barefoot in the Park, too. Check out my post on this film and her outfits.
Skirt – Gok Wan for Tu Sainsbury
Block heel sandals – La Redoute
Fifties style candy stripes
Fifties style beaded fascinator
I love these candy stripes. All I need is a retro diner! I made this blouse based on a photo of Marilyn Monroe wearing a similar shirt. It’s a pretty classic shape, so it works for different decades. Watching Miss Marple, especially the newer Marple episode ‘The Moving Finger’ with Emilia Fox, is great for Fifties inspiration. Her outfits are colourful and the overall look is striking.
Beaded fascinator/ hat – similar from Accesorize
Blouse – from vintage pattern
Skirt – ASOS
Petticoat (not seen) – Pinup Girl Clothing
Nude Seamed stockings and other underpinnings – What Katie Did
Mint stilettoes – Dune
Handbag – River Island ( like a Louis Vuitton bag with the metal V at the fastening, but in my price range)
Edwardian style summer maxi with 70’s belt
I’ll write more on costume drama dressing in a post about this summer’s bucolic fashion theme.
Tunic worn as blouse – George at Asda
Vintage suede belt with hand painted wooden buckle
Stripe maxi skirt – La Redoute
Regency dress/ late Sixties maxi
Changing accessories can update a dress… from Jane Austen to the Sixties. My mum made this dress for me. Wearing it with a pink lipstick and blue eyeshadow, I still got Jane Austen related comments!
Breton stripes – Fifties or 80’s?
Art Deco or 80’s?
I’m not sure which decade I meant this to be, because I started with a Fifties look, but I think Alex Drake could wear this in Ashes to Ashes, set in the Eighties.
Breton stripe boat neck T-shirt – La Redoute
Pencil skirt and belt – Primark
Patterned jacket – La Redoute
Pointed striped kitten heels – Next
Vintage Seventies blouse – Edwardian style
When summer comes round, I love to wear Victorian and Edwardian looking clothes. This blouse made by my aunty sneaks into the Stripes category. I always struggle to find a skirt to wear with this blouse, but I recently got this rust coloured skirt at a clothes swap. The lace peeking out is a vintage slip.
How are you wearing your stripes this summer? Any favourite themes?
I love going through Vogue and picking out the trends or photo shoots I like. Then I select pieces I already own that fit with the key themes. Firstly, wearing rainbow colours.
It’s amazing how colourful make-up in the Fifties could be, and magazine covers from that era are good references. I bravely tried coral lips and green eye shadow. I should have used more powder later in the day to even out my complexion. I know for next time.
Sunglasses – ‘Amy’ by Boots
Dress – Love Label
Shoes – H&M
Gloves – Vintage, and belt home-made .
Pink and yellow! The shapes are more early Sixties. Think Brigitte Bardot.
Earrings and crochet top – Vintage
Pink and yellow vest top – Joe Browns
Skirt – Mademoiselle R from La Redoute
Peep toe heels – George at Asda
This is a mix of eras! Thirties with the round sunglasses and wedges, and Fifties with the pencil skirt. I just need an Agatha Christie setting. I was given the shoes and they go so well with my new top.
Bracelets and possibly earings, top – H&M
Headband – Primark
Sunglasses and skirt – Topshop
Picking out the turquoise with my vintage earrings.
Floral blouse – Next (altered from a child’s playsuit)
Vest top – Joe Browns
Cardigan – hand knitted from a Rowan pattern
Skirt – home-made using an old favourite as the pattern
Shoes – Clarks
Marilyn style top
This looks a bit Debbie Harry with the paint print jeans and white heels, but I started with Marilyn Monroe as my inspiration! Hence, rolling my hair up into a Bob, and the Sixties make-up.
My mum let me try out a wet set vintage hairstyle on her short hair. Think Maggie the Cat/ Elizabeth Taylor and Leslie Caron in An American in Paris. Short curls are brought round to frame the face in both.
Wet set with Velcro rollers
You will need; Velcro rollers, hair pins, comb, setting lotion, hairspray
Hair should be damp, with a spray of setting lotion brushed through.
1) Start with smaller rollers around the front and sides. Work out from your parting. Mum has a side parting.
2) Use bigger rollers at the back where you want to brush the curls together. The set them, the more volume you get, so this could be used for a Sixties set as well. If you want curls at the nape of the neck, use small rollers or pincurl.
3) Time to paint nails, do make-up, watch a film… Use a diffuser if you want to finish off the drying. I find letting it dry naturally works best for a smoother finish.
4) Take out rollers without pulling the curl out. Comb through with hairspray where you want the hair to lie flat.
5) Use the comb and your fingers to style the curls around your face. Use pomade or styling cream if you need to. Hairspray to hold. A natural hold hairspray works well, so you don’t get crunchy hair.
The Girl loves vintage 