A vintage guide to glamour

Hello everyone I hope you are all having an amazing day today!
If you have been reading my blog you will discover that I have a bit of  a vintage fascination. I truly respect and adore our grandmothers and their lifestyles and I actually feel they knew a great deal more about happiness than us despite having less luxury and means. That's why I believe we should look at them and learn from their lives and try to incorporate their knowledge in our modern lives.
The ladies or yesteryear all seemed to be, well, ladies and they were glamorous as well. So why is it that those women seemed to have that extra quality that is sadly lacking in so many women today?
This brings me to the first vintage tip: Embrace being a woman

Marilyn Monroe was an expert on embracing her femininity
[source:thewideeyed.wordpress.com ]

 It's true! Despite our view on women of the past as being oppressed and miserable, these women knew what it meant to embrace their femininity and womanhood, and I'm not talking about frilly pastel dresses with bows and flowers, those are personal taste but I'm talking about the joie de vivre that was common amongst women. I once read a quote that said: " Women understand the value of life, they give it " and this quote seemed to sum up the essence of femininity. Women are nurturers and givers of life, and to embrace your femininity is to give and have an abundance of love that overflows into every aspect of your life.

[source: lt-arts.deviantart.com ]

Not only were women of the past more nurturing, they also knew how to Keep it simple.

Today we live in a world of excess. We have an excess in everything, and that leads us to over indulge in things we don't really need. The solution to this problem: Keep it simple! Do you really need a 10th pair of pumps? even if they are in a "trendy color". Do you really need yet another cream/lotion/lipgloss? Does your body really need that extra large double cheeseburger meal that you will probably throw half of in the trash? Ask yourself questions like these and answer them honestly (no cheating girls!) You will be surprised at how little you actually need. Now, don't get me wrong, I for one adore luxury and we are talking about being glamorous here so I'm not saying throw away all your stuff and live in a cottage in the woods ( ok, maybe that was a bit extreme but you get my point ). All I'm saying is to keep the luxuries in your life, well, luxuries. This means they should be in small portions that you can truly enjoy and appreciate. So bottom line, a little bit of luxury = good, excess and over indulgence = bad.
This concept also goes hand in hand with giving and nurturing, because when you stop living in excess, you start having more to give to people who actually need things.

Now I don't like posting very long boring posts so I will keep it simple now and leave you to think about the above to tips :)
And now for a little indulgence: If you are like me, then you love everything beauty, fashion,skincare..etc related. Here's a really nice educational video (Sorry if the quality isn't exactly HD) from the 40s talking about good grooming habits, skincare, fashion and other things. I personally found it adorable to watch and hey, you might even pick up a tip or two :)

Well that's all for today's post I hope you enjoyed it and that it was helpful and I will talk to you soon.
lots of love
xoxo
Rue

Read more »

Inspiration profile: Audrey Hepburn

Hello my lovelies! I hope you are doing very well today.
Personally, I believe that it's very important to learn from the past and take note of the mistakes of others in order not to repeat those mistakes ourselves, and a good place to start is by contemplating the lives of great and influential people in history who made great contributions to this world. And if you are anything like me and you are trying to grow into your more feminine, classy lady-like self then where better place to start than the life of Audrey Hepburn.

When most of us think of grace, poise and charm, Audrey's image almost immediately pops up in our heads. Why? Because Audrey Hepburn was the epitome of grace, elegance and poise. So much so that her name has become virtually synonymous with these traits.
Now I must warn you that this post will not be free of bias since I have had a girl-crush on Audrey for so long I can't even remember when it started.
Audrey Hepburn was not only an actress. She was also a fashion icon, mother, humanitarian and wife. She was a true lady.
To find out more about Audrey's amazing life check out this biography:

Lessons to be learned from Audrey Hepburn:

1) True beauty comes from within:
This is a concept Audrey believed in strongly, and if you don't believe me here are her own words:

       "The beauty in a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart; the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It’s the caring and that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows and the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years."

         "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone"

           "Make-up can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn't help if your ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the make-up."
                                                                                                -Audrey Hepburn

2) The key to true charm: selflessness:
Now I'm not talking about the type of temporary charm that comes from a self-absorption so great that it draws other people in. I'm talking about true charm. The one that stands the test of time and nestles in people's hearts allowing it to remain and live on long after the woman who has that charm herself has passed on.
Here's what Audrey had to say on the matter:
                     "It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so don't fuss, dear; get on with it. "      
             
              "Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others. "
                                         -Audrey Hepburn

3) Don't let hardships knock you down:
Audrey was no stranger to hardships having grown up in world war 2 Europe and suffering its effects greatly, as well as going through several abortions which left her devastated. But despite these things Audrey remained strong and did not allow circumstances to dampen or break her spirits.

               "If my world were to cave in tomorrow, I would look back on all the pleasures, excitements and worthwhilenesses I have been lucky enough to have had. Not the sadness, not my miscarriages or my father leaving home, but the joy of everything else. It will have been enough. "
                 
                “I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles”  

                 " You can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly ... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive"    -Audrey Hepburn

4) Enjoy the little things:
                  "Let's face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me."

                  "I'm an introvert...I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees,flowers,the sky"


5) Be grateful:
             " I've been lucky. Opportunities don't often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them."

              "I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it."

                "Good things aren't supposed to just fall into your lap. God is very generous, but He expects you to do your part first"


6) Give back :
               "Since the world has existed, there has been injustice. But it is one world, the more so as it becomes smaller, more accessible. There is just no question that there is more obligation that those who have should give to those who have nothing"

                 "I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."

7) Family is important:
                "If I get married, I want to be very married."
             
                 "And...I think that's what life is all about, actually about children and flowers"



8) Don't take yourself too seriously:
                  "I never think about myself as an icon...I just do my thing."

                        "The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters"
             
                   "I don’t take my life seriously, but I do take what I do – in my life – seriously"

9) Believe in miracles:
                    "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible"

                    "If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all"
                      
                     "Anyone who does not believe in miracles is not a realist"

10) Have something you love:
Audrey had a love for many things including reading and fashion.
                    
                     "Some people dream of having a big swimming pool. With me, it’s closets"

                     "For my whole life, my favorite activity was reading. It's not the most social pastime"

And finally a summary of Audrey's life in her own words:

          How shall I sum up my life? I think I've been particularly lucky. Does that have something to do with faith also? I know my mother always used to say, 'Good things aren't supposed to just fall in your lap. God is very generous, but he expects you to do your part first.' So you have to make that effort. But at the end of a bad time or a huge effort, I've always had - how shall I say it? - the prize at the end. My whole life shows that.

For more Audrey Hepburn quotes check this link out:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/692403.Audrey_Hepburn?format=html&page=1
                                                                                             
I hope you enjoyed today's post and I will talk to you soon
lots of love
xoxo
Rue

Read more »

Vintage 40's week: Day 4: Skincare

We all have to admit the ladies of the 40s had amazing skin and it's probably due to the fact that they knew how to take care of their skin while at the same time not over doing it, so here's a simple authentic guide on 1940's skincare basics...

                         


So as you see, back then skincare was pretty simple and I'll tell you something else.. IT WORKED!
They did not have the need for 500 overpriced products and gadgets to have good skin, all they had was common sense and cold cream! Now I would like to take the liberty to gush about the awesomeness of cold cream... Did you know that Ponds cold cream still exists today? Actually it's what I use to take off my makeup and It. is. amazing.. It's very gentle and thoroughly cleansing and does NOT make me break out ( I have combination/oily skin btw ) although if you have the same skin type as me it's more beneficial in the winter time than summer, I usually switch to a lighter formula then.
So here's what it looks like:

So give it a try, you will not be disappointed..

So anyways back on topic [ I will be doing a full review on cold cream later on] as I was saying these girls kept things pretty simple, something that a LOT of girls nowadays need to take a hint from. And another thing that contributed to giving these women amazing skin was the fact that they did not tan, you see back then pale skin was very much "in" and so women were not obsessed with beaches, tanning beds, bronzers and the like, so they spent a lot of time away from the sun in order to maintain their pale complexions therefore less sun damage and less wrinkles, spots, oranginess, etc.

Bottom line: Keep it simple ladies! 

I hope this was somewhat useful and entertaining and next time we will be talking about 1940's makeup

( if you have any questions/special requests plz let me know)

Bye

Rue

 

Read more »

Vintage 40's week: Day 3: 40's Slang

Well hi-de-do everyone!!

What's buzzin cousin?!

So the 1940's were definitely interesting... and also had interesting slang
Some phrases are actually funny when you hear them today and some are actually still used so here are some phrases used in the 40's... Read them and have fun with them, you can either use them while talking to your grandmother OR (my personal favorite) you can dress up as someone from the forties , use the slang and convince a total stranger that you time-traveled through an undercover government project and you were supposed to go back in time and stop Hitler from ever getting to power and thus saving millions of lives but something went wrong and you ended up in the future instead.... That's bound to freak someone out [ or get you arrested :P :P ]
But I'm running wild with my ideas here... Here are the phrases:

Fuddy Duddy = Old fashioned person
In cahoots with = Conspiring with
Snap your cap = Get angry
Above my pay grade = Don't ask me
Killer-diller = Good stuff
Cook with gas = To do something right
Lettuce = Money
What's buzzin cousin? = How's it going?
Stompers = Shoes
Flip you wig = To lose control of yourself
Pennies from heaven = Easy money
Who's the Jane? = Who's that girl?
That's keen! = That's cool!
Washington = One dollar bill
Lincoln = Five dollar bill
Are you ready hezzie? = Ready to go?
Hubba hubba = well...you guys know what that means :D :D
Holy Moley! = Holy s*** !!
Shucks! 
Good grief!
Swell = Good, well, nice, ok
Neat!
Threads = Clothes
Ginned up = Dressed up
Togged to the bricks = Dressed in the best clothes
City slicker = City dandy
Hep cats = Swing dancers , music lovers (male)
Hep kittens = Swimg dancers, music lovers (female)


Well, Good grief! That's a lot of swell 40's phrases! [Do I sound cheesy? I thought so too] 
Any way.. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and tomorrow we will be getting to the real juice starting with 40's Skincare So stay tuned :D :D


Lots of love


Rue

Read more »

Vintage 40's week: Day 2: 40's music

So I am obsessed with music and everything music related, and I truly believe that music is a great indicator of a nation's culture and status, and the 1940's music definitely showed a lot about the era.
True, there was a war, but the public morale needed to be lifted and that was the job of musicians and entertainers. So you can definitely feel the uplifting vibe in the music....

 Many music genres thrived during that era.  Electric blues, hard bop, serial music, folk opera, country swing, and show jazz were all innovations of the decade, as well as an increased use of the electric guitar. And the boundaries between genres were quite fluid , so musicians would swap genres or incorporate parts of a different genre into their own giving birth to such diversity which was probably seen for the first time during that decade. 

A big genre in that era is "swing" which is a sub genre of Jazz. It quickly became the most popular music genre of the 40's as it spread across the US and the world and actually becoming quite characteristic of the decade as well ( to really get a feel of 1940's music, simply think of the "Tom&Jerry" soundtrack). The 1940's definitely were at the heart of the swing dance era and during that decade was the appearance of the Lindy Hop which quickly became very popular and was pretty much the dance during the 40's and the 50's. The Lindy hop was actually the original swing dance.




Did you know??

• Disney's "When you wish upon a star" was also written and released in the 1940's. and it became the "official" Disney song we all know.
• The first episode of one of my favorite cartoons: "Tom and Jerry" was showed in 1940.

• The 1940's also saw the release of many classic Disney movies such as "Bambi" , "Pinocchio" , "Peter pan" , "Alice in Wonderland" and "Dumbo"       

The most famous singers of the 1940's:


Vera Lynn, Bing Crosby, The Andrew sisters, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Nat King Cole.


And just to give a nice 40's feel....
here's a link to an online 1940's jukebox containing a selection of the era's biggest hits.. go and check it out:
http://upchucky.com/JukeCity/40s/OldJukes/40splayer.htm

The 1940's was definitely a good era for music and you totally feel it's richness and characteristic mood. Chapeau to the great artists of the 40's, your art remains an influence to this day.....

So I hope you enjoyed today's post and stay tuned for tomorrow's post about 1940's slang..
take care

Rue

Read more »

Vintage 40's week: Day 1: An overview of the 40's

Welcome everyone to day 1 of our "Vintage 40s week" I am so excited to be sharing this with you guys...Now let's get started..

Today we will be talking about a brief overview of the 1940's so you can get a feel of how things were like in this tough yet glamorous era.
So the most definitive event of the 1940's is without question World War II, which had started in 1939 and ended in 1945. Of course, the aftermath of the war remained well into the rest of this decade.

So as you can tell, despite the glamorous starlets, the 40's weren't as glamorous as some movies portray them. As you can imagine, It was a very tough time to live in with loved ones being drafted to the army (and potentially killed), and food rationed for each family due to severe shortages as well as the great depression. It was a war in its ugliest of forms, and took a toll on the lives of people in every way.

On a lighter note, the war did not completely stop film making and cinema, since some great films were made during that time and many stars emerged.

They were also a time of scientific advancements, some great and some not so great (see:atomic bomb). All this next to the emergence of a vast and rich culture.

It would take me several articles to actually tell the history of the 1940's in detail and I wanted this to be a short overview (and I didn't want to get too historical on you guys either :D )

Nonetheless the 1940's were definitely a rich and extremely interesting decade that continues to fascinate us to this day...

I hope this was informative, if you would like further reference or have any questions please feel free to contact me

take care and I will talk to you tomorrow, stay tuned for 1940's music

Rue

Read more »

Introducing Vintage 40's week

Hi everyone I hope you are all doing well...
So first of all let me apologize for my disappearance the last couple of days but I have been cooking up something exciting for you guys and I wanted it to be the best quality
Initially this was going to be one article but then I thought It's not enough.. so I've decided this week will be
      Vintage 40's week

Let me start by telling you one of the things that you guys don't know about me which is that I absolutely ADORE vintage fashion and vintage makeup, skincare.. etc. I think back then looking good was much simpler and realistic (see: No plastic surgery or duck faces) and actually I think these women looked BETTER than a lot of women today because back then, looking good was not about being "a hot mama" or looking like barbie, it actually came to women naturally as a way to express self-respect, meaning they respect themselves enough to actually take the time to groom and take care of themselves, and it was also a form of common courtesy or politeness because no one wants to see you with a bird's nest of greasy hair and your clown striped pajama pants.
And for these reasons, they stuck to the basics, meaning they did not apply 500 pounds of makeup on their faces or paint on a new face like some women do today yet they managed to balance simplicity with glamour ALL while having amazing skin (correct me if I'm wrong but our grandmothers had incredible soft skin)



What inspired me to do this "event" was that the other day I was hanging out with a friend of mine and we were watching the movie "Captain America", which by the way is a great movie, I highly recommend you watch it.
And as I was watching the movie, two things impressed me the most:

1) Captain America himself *wink*

Run captain, run!!

2) Peggy Carter's makeup

Chapeau to her makeup artist

and I was inspired by this movie to incorporate 40's inspired looks in my day-to-day wardrobe and I thought I might share some tips and tricks with you so you can get that vintage 1940's vibe in your looks without looking dated or costume-y.

So I did some digging and I gathered some tips and tricks and authentic 1940's style, makeup and skincare guides which I am very excited to be sharing with you over the next week so you can have an all-round peek into what it was like to be a 1940's gal...

So tomorrow I will be giving you a brief look at the 1940's and how life was like back then and what is was like to be a girl in that era so stay tuned and I hope you will enjoy it

See you tomorrow...

Rue

Read more »