What and how to do with the sides of hair

shamrocq · Mar 21, 2008

Hi dolls, I'm new to vintage hairstyling and hope to get some advice from you lovely ladies here. I would like to know for a generic 40's look, what do you normally do on the sides of your hair? Right now I just put the sides in a tiny pony tail which i think is not right. I would like to have an effect something like this (below) without visible accessories or clips.

What about this pix below? Is her hair tie back or slick back? How do you get the sides to stick without it falling into your face? It looks like there was no clips to hold it up.

Thank you very much. Love all your hair dos.

Smuterella · Mar 21, 2008

Hi

I'm pretty new too but I think I can help with the basics.

The easiest thing to do is to sort of wind the sides of the hair back and secure with combs. I think thats probably similar to your picture number one, but it is hard to see as her hair is so dark. Either that or she has rolled the hair at the sides and at the front to form oe big roll (see below)

The second option is victory rolls and you can find plenty of info on here about that, also try livejournal and you tube for vintage hair tutorials.

The second photo is a basic roller set I think, I imagine it stays where it is because a) it was set in that direction using a setting lotion, b) lots and lots of hairspray.

The key, for me, in getting my hair right, is getting a curl. Have a look at the pin curls thread on here and do a basic search for pin curls on google and you'll get the idea.

most of all - have fun with it. some days you WILL wake up with poodle hair, its inevitable. Dita has a team of stylists and make up artists I'm sure - don't expect your hair to turn out that perfectly.

Smuts

x

ShooShooBaby · Mar 21, 2008

Smuterella said:
most of all - have fun with it. some days you WILL wake up with poodle hair, its inevitable. Dita has a team of stylists and make up artists I'm sure - don't expect your hair to turn out that perfectly.

Smuts

x

amazingly, she has stated that she does her own hair, always. however she's been doing it constantly for so many years that i'm sure her skills are incredible!

to the op... i have a hard time with combs myself... my quick fix is for sides is to section them off, tease a little on the backside, and fix them with 2 bobby pins in a criss-cross shape. unfortunately i can't find any pictures of myself with a closeup of my hair this way or i'd show you. i think in the picture you posted though, the "bangs" are actually made up of the front/side hair put in a big roll. in the second hairdo, i know you can achieve that look by using specific setting patterns. setting pattern central has tackled this, i think.

miserabelle · Mar 21, 2008

Dita does do her own hair and makeup, there's a story that she had a stylist once who suggested that her vintage heels would look great with jeans, which... didn't make the poor girl too popular. I think she used to be a beautician, so she must have had plenty of practice. xx

MissHannah · Mar 21, 2008

My quick fix suggestion is to take the sides and brush them back and upwards before pulling them up (and forward a bit) and pinning behind the front section (fringe/bangs if you have them) of your hair. A bit of height in the front section of your hair will hide the bobby pins/kirby grips from view. See my avatar for a rough idea, but if you leave the back down and curl it you'll get a good 40's style. But don't get discouraged if you don't end up looking like Dita/Rita Hayworth/Marilyn Monroe/Your icon of choice!! Like smuterella said - play around and have fun - experiment and see what works for your hair type/length/cut. But bear in mind it has taken time for most of us to get even half-way good at it!

Edit: Oh and the biggest tip - don't be afraid to use lots of products, especially hairspray and setting lotion!

Daisy Buchanan · Mar 21, 2008

Hey! Welcome to the lounge!!

We actually have a whole lot of threads here on the lounge specifically about hairstyles. So, you're best bet will be to use the search function, or if you want better results just google what you are looking for and add the words "the fedora lounge" and archives will come up with the many, many different hair styling threads we have on here.
There's a plethora of info on here in regards to it, and it's just easier if we try to keep it all in one place, that makes it a bit easier to find when we do need to search for a particular topic.

Here's what I found on a quick search here, these are just a few, there are tons more!!
quick hairstyle thread
pin curl thread
recreating vintage hairstyles

Smuterella · Mar 21, 2008

miserabelle said:
Dita does do her own hair and makeup, there's a story that she had a stylist once who suggested that her vintage heels would look great with jeans, which... didn't make the poor girl too popular. I think she used to be a beautician, so she must have had plenty of practice. xx

I still don't think she does it herself. never, never, believe the publicity

ShooShooBaby · Mar 22, 2008

Smuterella said:
I still don't think she does it herself. never, never, believe the publicity

well i used to see her out fairly often - before she was famous... and she still looked that perfect even then!

Smuterella · Mar 22, 2008

ShooShooBaby said:
well i used to see her out fairly often - before she was famous... and she still looked that perfect even then!

in which case the woman is an alien, definitely an alien

Fleur De Guerre · Mar 22, 2008

Well given that Dita started practicing her vintage styles in her early 20s and is now in her mid 30s, I don't think it's particularly hard to believe that over a decade of daily practice she would have nailed her look.

Shamrocq, welcome, and I haven't anything else to add that that other helpful ladies haven't already told you!

roots66 · Mar 22, 2008

(Seems she does let stylists do her up for photo shoots. Here's a behind-the-scenes vid in which she actually let the cameraman film her in hot rollers.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq0IILE8S3w

Real Swell Gal · Mar 22, 2008

I just about had an orgasm looking at her shoes! OMG!!

Anyway, I was going to say don't be afraid to use combs. They hold hair up well and are a cheap fix. I prefer the Goody brand combs because they are plastic and slightly flexible and you can hide them in your hair.

Lulu-in-Ny · Mar 23, 2008

Real Swell Gal said:
I just about had an orgasm looking at her shoes! OMG!!

Shoes?? That's it?? Wow.
You must be in a really good mood a lot of the time...

cherry lips · Mar 23, 2008

Smuterella said:
in which case the woman is an alien, definitely an alien

Hahahaha!

shamrocq · Mar 24, 2008

Wow!! Thank you all ladies for your feedback.

Smuterella: Yeah I know what you mean by poodle hair. I've tried pin curling once before and I was actually horrified it didn't turn out like the pictures. Later after looking through the forum only I found out I have to brush it out.

ShooShooBaby: I've heard about the Dita does her own hair theory too. That's what giving me hope to have glamourous hair like hers. I've heard about some book about vintage hairstyling she going to write about but not sure if it's true. As for the combs, I wonder if this clip will help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG-IdUDnzOU

MissHannah: Thank you for the encouragement. I will definitely try again.

Daisy Buchanan: Thank you for the links. Actually I did a search regarding the sides of hair and I got some bits and pieces about how to do it but not an actual topic about it. I will check out your links again. Thanks.

Fleur De Guerre, roots66: Thanks. I didn't really thought about looking for a video of her in YouTube (also the fear of my colleagues catching watching Dita's boobies in the office)

Blondie · Mar 24, 2008

I would think Dita does her own hair & make-up for her own shoots,
but when she is being paid to model they would do her hair and make-up.
I saw a pic of her recently sans make-up, unstyled natural hair, maybe her year book pic, OMG if thats what a change of haircolour and perfect make-up can do, then count me in for a make-over !!!!!!! There is HOPE after all

lyburnum · Mar 24, 2008

Killing two birds with one stone:

Dita without makeup, and having her hair done by someone else.

I should think you're right Blondie. But I think she was still gorgeous in her high school yearbook photo - just a little more run of the mill.

dollydaydream · Mar 24, 2008

She makes me sick. One day I shall be able to go without makeup and look at least half normal...

I like the top she has on in the hairdressing pic

Smuterella · Mar 24, 2008

dollydaydream said:
She makes me sick. One day I shall be able to go without makeup and look at least half normal...

I like the top she has on in the hairdressing pic

Yip

but there is really no excuse for that tacky Louis Vuitton

Blondie · Mar 24, 2008

Thanks Lyburnum for those pics ! I love seeing *stars* w/out there makeup.

What and how to do with the sides of hair

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