My Feeble Attempt At An Update...

Blogging is hard. Especially to a perfectionist. You get too stressed out attempting to make the details pretty and perfect. Aaand that's why I suck at blogging. BUT, I'm just going to push those perfectionist tendencies to the side and focus on documenting life, because it's so fun to look back. So without further ado, I guess I'll get started. Umm... *clears throat* ... *tugs at collar*

Ok.

I typed out this long ass thing about how I, randomly, went from art student to hair dresser but I bored myself writing in. I'm guilt of writing run on sentences and getting too excited about boring details.

Aren't you lucky.

So, I'm just going to post some things I'm lusting over or w/e.

I MISS MY COPPER LOCKS. I've been blonde since June, and pastel pink for 8 weeks. I've had my fun but now I just want to go back to my soul color. (Yes I said soul color. Don't judge me, k)

Growing my hair out so I can accomplish sultry pageboy waves. I wish I knew who this was. I found it on Pinterest and there is no source link. So feel free to let me know who this is so I can credit this goddess.

Dark lips. Deep wine, berry and plum colors. I just want to look like a goth child.

(ModCloth)

Ridiculously cute footwear. Except not for $270+. Trying to think of a way to DIY these.

Among other things, like struggling to stay true to my wardrobe and appearance because getting bleach on nice clothes is devastating and working two jobs has left me with little energy to do my hair. I look like some average joe now. Former Julia would be very displeased with me right now.

Well, we'll see when is the next time when I feel entertained enough to do another post, because this was already draining enough. Phew. (See? Perfectionist tendencies coming through.) 

Exciting opportunities ahead!

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Hi everyone! Birthday weekend came and went, along with World War 1 Days at Rockford, and I must say it was a big hit! Not so much my pet era, but I loved helping out with my girlfriends at the French Cafe. So many giggles, nerdy inside jokes with reenactors, and lots of full hearts you could just about burst!

I decided to attend the Kennekuk WWII Days at Danville, IN. I was provided a great opportunity to set up V is for Victory Rolls at a barber shop building! I also did a short interview which is going to be featured and I am just in a daze. This is all happening so fast and I don't even have everything together, gah! It is crunch time indeed.

For those of you that don't know, which is like pretty much everyone because I kept this project in my little hope chest, away from negative feedback and discouraging comments. V is for Victory Rolls is a service that I provide period, historically accurate hairstyles mostly focusing on like 30's and 40's, but upon request I do anywhere from 20's through the 60's. I also will be providing period moon manicures of the time, and doing hairstyle workshops and educating on how women played their part on the home front during WWII.

(source)

In a hobby that is overwhelmingly dominated by male participants, I remember entering the reenacting world 3 years ago. I remember being very disappointed by the lack of women. Sure, you have a handful of women who do WAC impressions or Red Cross Nurse, but it's not exactly the best thing to join if you are starting out and just need to dip your feet in the water. Firstly, understanding how fashion, culture, and mannerisms is a whole other ball game and trying to understand that on top of learning proper uniforms, insignia, ect can be very overwhelming and discouraging. Secondly, some of the men have, well, not given me the warmest of welcomes. Some of them, even, feel threatened by the increasing amount of women joining within the last couple years. Oh gosh, god FORBID we women threaten your weekend away from "bitchy, catty" women! Bah let us drink beer and say sexist, derogatory things in peace! You get the idea... -rolls eyes-

So doing V is for Victory Rolls is not only about the glamour, the hair and make up. It's about finding a place to hide away if you find yourself, new and fresh faced. Feeling awkward, and full of anxiety wondering if you're dressed right and who the heck you can talk to to pass time. Well, that's what I'd like to be there for! Not ridicule my fellow ladies. Everyone was a newbie at once. And I know I had to deal with some snotty people. I don't want anyone else to have to go through that. Not to mention give the credit all these bad ass women should entirely deserve who did their part on the home front, whether they enlisted into the service, worked in factories, or stayed as a home maker with their children doing everything they can.

(source)

In other great news, I submitted my painting called Insert Dramatic Music Here, oil on canvas, into our Student Show and McHenry County College. And I got in, yay!

Lots of good things going my way and I can't be more thankful.

Thanks for reading, until next time!

Smoothed Out

Lately I've been obsessing over the hair do's of the 30's. The side part, smooth crown, and tussle of curls at the ends make my heart beat fast! Maybe it's because my bangs have finally grown long enough to touch my chin (!!) and there is no use for trying to think of creative ways to incorporate them into my hair when many styles were too long for my awkward, grown out Bettie Bangs. Here are some pins from my Pinterest board of hairstyles that I have been totally digging and trying to convey in my everyday hair.

I just love how effortless the hair do is to do. I think this will become essential during the summer on those hot, humid days when I could just slick back my hair and not have to fuss with pin curls piled on top on my head.

If you would like to follow me on Pintrerest, please click here! I pin all swoon worthy 1940's, 30's, and 20's images that usually involve me wiping drool of my chin, ha! As of late you will probably see some 1910's fashion in the mix. Next weekend I will be attending the World War I Days event in Rockford, IL and working in the French Cafe along with my good girl friends! Nothing beats hanging out with reenactors. What a good feeling it is to hang around people for the entire weekend, who are just as insane as you are and totally nerd out. It also helps that my birthday will be that weekend too, so getting hammered with them is like, the best.

Thanks for reading!

Blog Makeover!

I'm so happy that my little corner of the internet had received a much need make over. Hopefully this will be of great motivation to me to post more now that it's not such an eyesore. I used to dabble in HTML back in the ol' Livejournal, MySpace and Xanga days, so it'd be nice if I can get back into the swing of that and not have my blog look like an armature's haha.

In other news, I'm excited to announce that I will be starting a little booth at WWII reenactments where I will be doing period half moon manicures and up-dos! And of course cutting gentlemen's hair. I've seen many men, sheepishly grin at their unit commanders as they quickly try to disguise the fact that their hair is far too long, therefor inaccurate. Then get pinned down as the guys clumsily hack off their locks, resulting in some embarrassing bald spots. After getting lots of compliments on cutting my mister's hair and receiving requests to cut theirs too, I thought I would include the service in my booth.

(This is a haircut I do a lot since the mister's in a German unit and a lot of my friends are as well. The part where the hat doesn't cover is cut very short, while what is hidden under the hat is extremely long as you can see in this picture. Picture found here.)

I've been busily searching for old nail polish bottles, vanity sets, pretty handkerchiefs, and images online of amazing 1940's dos and practicing on myself. Pretty soon I'm going to need to recruit some of my friends to do their hair so I can take pictures and create a portfolio. I'm just bursting with excitement, reenacting season couldn't come any faster!

Thanks for reading!

     So last night I kind of went bat shit crazy and purged my entire closet. It's been an awkward past few months concerning my wardrobe. I unconsciously started sporting the early 40's look, everyday. Before I would every so often mix some vintage pieces in with modern ones like from Forever 21 (ugh, don't judge me) or H&M. I don't know if it's because I've been finding more and more resources to reference to and now I have a better idea as to what to shop for or my money situation has turned out great as of late. Nonetheless the past few days it would just make me sick to go into my closet and see the amount of garbage I had in there. Just settling for less when I go clothes shopping in the past, and opting for the cheap, poor made fast fashion. So yesterday I said "THAT'S IT" and pretty much got rid of 60% of my closet. And I still feel like it's not enough! But I know I need to keep some clothes in the mean time while I search for good places to buy reproduction clothing or find better places to shop for vintage. I've also just recently finished sewing a dress for a friend and that has really motivated me to get serious about sewing.

Since winter's coming, I really need to get serious about investing into some really good pieces. Ones I know will last me forever and I won't cringe when I look at it next year and think it looks outdated, or worse, get all gross and pilled up. I need to somewhat compile a list if winter staples to get me through the winter.

If anyone has some advice or any recommendations to some fabulous stores, let me know! I would love to hear how other people went through the process of purging their modern wardrobe into a vintage one.

Here are some things that will surely inspire my winter wardrobe.

Betty Lou Got A New...

LOVE this! This is perfect for Chicago's crazy shit storm winters.

Johanna Ost

Perfect Christmas time look!

Kafferepet

This looks so cozy. I would love to make myself a cozy little collar like this!

Thanks for popping in! I would love to hear from you guys! x

Head up in the clouds.

The last couple of days, whether it be driving, at work, or at school, I've been finding myself day dreaming non-stop about WWII Days in Rockford coming up! My hearts starts beating really fast as I start scheming new hairdo ideas, what alterations my dresses need, things I still need but have yet to buy. I seriously still have such a big to do list. So, I thought I'd post it on this ye old blog here to remind myself not to get too caught up in the glamorous things, but more or less the things I really need that I really suffered without last year. Let us start, shall we?

Last year for some reason I thought it was a great idea to cram all my shit into miscellaneous bags that not only severely wrinkled my clothes, but made it so hard to dig out things I needed in a jiffy. Not to mention how difficult it was to try hiding a loud, stripped bag from high school at a reenactment. Ugh.

Etsy

Alright now forgive me for choosing a not-so-great picture of an army cot, but Ebay won't let me copy pasta pictures so this will do. It seriously sucked sleeping on the floor last year and I couldn't even sleep half the time because I was so god damn COLD. Still, I don't think getting a cot is in the cards for me. The mister hasn't found any luck finding these. Figures, before we found them everywhere for like, $15 bucks. Now the we actually need one we can't find even one.

Etsy

A knitted sweater. No scratch that, more like 10. I did not anticipate how FREEZING it was going to be that weekend, not to mention raining! I was a big dummy and brought one sweater, and I didn't even want to wear it because it just wasn't that cute. I really wish I could whip one up before the event, but that's wishful thinking. Oh and also the fact I've never knitted a sweater before. Pssh. What I'll probably end up doing is buying an XL knitted sweater at the thrift store and manipulate it into looking like I knitted it. Ha!

Free pattern provided by 'By Gum, By Golly!"

At least bring something else BESIDES dresses, yeesh! I would be happy as a clam if I had these bag dogs to change into, especially when it got so cold. I'm seriously considering ordering some, just because they're so darn cute and I'm convinced I need them in my life forever. Not to mention I need to stop looking at dresses and start looking for more blouses. I already have enough damn dresses!

Etsy

Accessorize! Man did I get bored and uninspired with my outfits so quickly. I need to remember to bring my scarves and recent hat collection, and be on the lookout for fun pins, purses, and hunt down some bakelite jewelry! For now I'm gathering some inspiration from these lovely gals!

Lilies and Remains

Vixen Vintage

And last but not least, shoes! Holy crap did my feet hurt from walking all day in heels. Try walking on gravel all day in heels and tell me how you feel in the end. I'm hoping if I opt for wedges and saddle shoes this year, I'll be ok. I'm still sad though, will I ever get used to walking in heels?

Etsy

I'm sure I'm missing plenty more important things, but this will have to do for now, I'm way too tempted to actually buy some of these things. I need to save my money for this weekend, because I'm FINALLY going to the Renegade Craft Fair and The Vintage Bazaar this weekend! Goodnight, yall!

My hats off to you, sir!

I was at work when a woman came up to me.

"Hi, I have this bag full of hats. A lot of them were my Grandmother, some of them my Mom's". She motions to the plastic bag she's carrying, filled to the brim with ladies hats. "I've been cleaning out my house and trying to get rid of some things. But these...". She started getting a little upset. "Are hard to let go. I just want to give them a good home. I don't want to throw them out, or give them to Goodwill. My mother's hat from her wedding is even still in here".

My eyes light up.

"Well," I start. "I do World War Two reenacting, and it would be an honor to take them, if you need someone to do so." She plops the huge plastic bag onto the counter top with a sigh of relief. "Honey, have the whole bag. Thank you so much". And with that... she left.

I opened up the bag to be greeted by the smell of dust and ladies perfume. I reach in to the bag to retrieve this beauty.

It was love at first sight.

The sassy arrow is quiet possibly my favorite detail. 

I will have to remember to take some decent pictures of the rest of the loot. There's even a snood and a rain bonnet in here! Oh my goodness, if this woman even knew how much she made my day. Now the only thing I wish is to be able to date them. I know a handful of them are 60's quiet obviously, but a lot of these are actually quiet older. Let me know if anyone is willing to help a gal!

Tonight is for settling pre-first-day-of-school jitters, trying to get some sleep, and mustering up enough energy to set my hair. My arms always feel like they're going to fall off!