everybody loves liberty curls (edit: victory rolls?)

Last week my partner and I had some friends over for an after-thanksgiving day veg dinner (tofurkey AND field roast!).  I got gussied up in retro housewife fasion, and some of the guests were so enamored by my hair, I got to do 4 more curls that night!

I’m feeling more and more confident in my abilities to do pin-up hair.  My liberty curls are getting better and I almost have my pin curls mastered.  Here’s hoping I get a copy of this book for the holidays so I can learn even more tricks and tips!

 

edit: ends up they are called victory rolls. oops

oooo, ‘feather’ hair clip!

Last week I went to a massive vintage and antique show down at the piers in Manhattan. While there I stumbled across a pretty amazing find:

plastic feathers!

According to the seller, these date back to the late 1920’s, though I’m not sure of this.  The plastic is very durable and the little shiny rhinestones are pretty sweet.  So, victory in the search for finding non-feather hair decorations that give the effects of real feathers!

modeling my new fake feathers!

a closer look at felt – dollsville NYC

At the NY burlesque festival where lots of great vendors.  I already talked about Drag Addict and their wonderfully luscious non-feather boas.  Today I must talk about Dollsville NYC and the wonderful experience I had with them.  Upon arriving at the Thursday night ‘Teaser Party” at Brooklyn Bowl, I was running late and just passed by the vendor stands but got to go back and check them out later.

Upon arriving at the Dollsville NYC stand they had some of their ‘Pin-Up Essentials’ flower clips, but the stand mostly consisted of their ‘Psychobilly Sweetheart Essentials’ line featuring hair ornaments like clips with Lily Munster, The Bride of Frankenstein and Pee-Wee Herman in the center.  I really dig some of their clips, but was extremely saddened to pick them up and find felt as the adherence fabric on the back.  If you remember from a previous post, I found out recently that the felt used to make hats is typically made from rabbit fur, and many felted items are made of wool, both of which are decidedly not vegan.

yay eco-fi felt!

When the woman running the stand and shop, Laura, came over to ask if I needed help I explained the my dilemma of loving some of the clips, but not being able to get them because felt is made from wool or rabbit fur.  By the look of shock on her face, I deduced she was not aware of this.  She pointed out that some of her clips had fabric backings and she could custom make them for me at no additional charge.  I picked out a skill and vinyl combo and then asked to get a skull hand painted blue to match a dress I have.

Saturday morning I sent an email to Laura as a reminder and she was prompt and kind and totally on the ball with working within my vegan limits.  That night when I met up with her at the Bell House for the NYBF Premiere Party, she had my custom pieces, but showed me the information about the felt she uses for her hair ornaments.  Ends up it is not only vegan, it’s totally eco-friendly and made from recycled bottles.  This makes me really really happy because I always felt guilty at my last job when I had to work with felt, but now I realize craft felt isn’t all made from animal products.  Hip Hip Hurray!

I quickly purchased my two custom pieces, as seen above, and even put the blue skeleton clip in that night to help hold my hat on so it didn’t blow away in the wind. I loved the idea that the skull hand was holding the hat to my hand.

If you dig any of the Dollsville NYC works, I highly suggest purchasing them. They aren’t two expensive in the world of handmade hair decorations, and the owner and maker is a super nice woman who is willing to custom make whatever ever color or design combo you are looking for.

hair today, gone tomorrow pt 2

One of my problems with this blog is that by the time I get home from work, finish eating, and clean up I am so exhausted that I should go to sleep.  Problem is I feel guilty not updating, so often times I type out an entry while nodding off during it  resulting in many times doing a not so great job.  At my past job, I would usually just go through and edit the post in it the next morning, before most would read it, to correct spelling mistakes and bad grammar, but with my new job I am scared to be caught using the computers for personal use, so my posts don’t always get read through and edited.

Because of this, I wanted to make some corrections and additions from yesterday’s train wreck of a post. I was totally out for a goof 5 minutes in the middle of typing it and my partner woke me up with a pillow to the face so I would finish it and get to bed.  Personally, I think it shows. Don’t worry though, I napped before this post so hopefully my mind is less foggy and my words are clearer.

• It is spelled Aveda, not Aveeda.  Here you can read about how much care and thought they put into their products.  The only non-vegan ingredients you would find in their product line is honey and beeswax.  Their red products are carmine free, which is awesome.
• Alfangi is the name of the salon I went to.  They have been around since 2003, but switched management in 2007.
• I totally forgot to even put up a picture! Now, this isn’t the best of quality, in fact, it was taken last night after I walked 1 1/2 miles due to getting on the wrong subway after my second burlesque performance (which will be written about in a different post).  I also used the camera on my computer because I needed to charge the battery on my digital camera.  Anyway, excuses aside, here is a picture.  Bette ones to come in the future, I swear:

super grainy photo taken with my webcam

vegan “feather” headband alternative

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, finding vegan feather alternatives can be difficult. I was reading through my friend’s blog, Atomic Bettie, when I came across a site she had linked to about Martha Stewart Halloween ideas. (side note: Atomic Bettie also runs a pretty sweet vintage clothing store on etsy you should check out if that is your thang) I figured that burlesque incorporates many costume aspects, so I might as well have a look to see if anything could be adapted for the burlesque stage.

Then I found the bat headband.  Although it might seem like a bit of a stretch I question how different is the feather look  from the bat headband idea?

Okay, sure, one looks like bats, but if you are talented with a pair of scissors, there is no reasons those bas couldn’t become more feather like! Add some black birdcage veil material on top and in the front and you’d be set!  Directions on how to make the bat headband can be found here. And hey, if feather/bats aren’t your thing, you could always go for rats instead…

quick hair update

I spent a good chunk of the evening weeding through various youtube videos on how to achieve beautiful, curly pin up hair.  In the end I wasn’t pleased with reposting any of them, so instead I am posting this cute 50’s look: