Peter Pan Collars and Foam Curlers

Inspired by my new swimsuit and some kind words from my husband, I have officially dived into the retro-chic style with both feet. Here is how the progression has gone:

• Research pictures online for 4 hours and start a new Pinterest board.
• Go to Goodwill and search for shirts or dresses that strike me as retro, i.e. wide collars, peter pan collars, sweet heart cuts, or button downs with a v-neck. 
• Spend $50 on said outfits and two rockin-retro pairs of shoes.
• Try to mimic retro hair-dos and fail because I don't have the right supplies.
• Watch a how-to video for a bouffant.
• Successfully pull of a bouffant.
• Purchase make-up, brushes, and curlers to help craft the look.
• Test out curlers.
• Sleep on test hair before I get to wear it anywhere.

So, needless to say, this hasn't been a cheap process, but I feel like after I have the basics and a general handle on the look itself, it will be pretty simple. I really like this idea because I want so much to have my own "look," but I also work in an office where I need to dress professionally every day. This lets me balance those two things. 

Last week, when I tried out some of my new outfits, I got tons of positive feed back. I even had a lady at Starbucks stop dead in her tracks to tell my how cute I looked. While I do like all of the compliments, I want to get to the point where this is just how I dress all the time. The goal being that I can just look cute, dress like I'm from the 40s or 50s and no one thinks twice about it. I don't really like being the center of attention or drawing a lot of attention to myself (despite what I may have been like in high school!) but I still want to have my own thing and look different from most other people.

Because I can only afford to spend so much money on new clothes, I've tried to put most of my effort into my hair and makeup. I finally found my red lipstick, so that is a huge plus! I got my first liquid eyeliner, so I should be able to pull off a more convincing "cat eye," but I haven't tried that out yet. I was working with gel eyeliner, which most of the how-tos suggest, but it just keeps smearing, so I'm trying something else. I've got the eyeshadow and blush down, but for the lips and eyebrows, fuller is better. Unfortunately, I have rather narrow lips and eyebrows. I'm working up the confidence to draw in fuller eyebrows and extend my lips with liner, but I can't convince myself that I won't look like I just have makeup smeared all over my face. Until now, I've usually gone with a more minimalist look for the makeup, sticking to natural tones and just accenting my features. 

My hair is finally long enough that I can start to make it do what I want. Here are my attempts so far.

What I typically do with my hair, now that I finally understand how to use a flat iron.

Rocking a swept back 50s do for a work party. This was a total fluke and kind of inspired my whole fashion shift. Also, I love this pic and use it for everything now.

Practicing a bouffant

Nailing the bouffant, and also one of my cute new tops.

A great swept back style complete with giant flower in the back. You can't quite see it,but I was trying really hard to get a pic of it along with my new swimsuit. I looked way cute when I laid out in the sun that day.

Trying out foam curlers, then taking them out and sleeping on the result before I took a picture.

I'm really excited to figure out how to do new styles with the curlers. Honestly, I was surprised that my hair actually worked with them. Usually, I put curl in and it falls out within an hour. These stuck around for quite a while. My husband has requested victory rolls, which usually go in longer hair, but we'll see what I can work out while my hair is still short.

Clearly, I'm very excited about this transformation and there will be much more to come. Up next on my list of things to learn are eyebrows.