My Style Change: 60's girl in a 50's world

Aloha, sweeties! So, as some of you may have noticed the last couple of months my style has definitely had quite an obvious change. I discovered my love for 60's style back in November when I tried it out during my pregnancy with the Bright & Beautiful Tessa Babydoll Dress (blog post about it here!). I fell in love. I just loved the comfort and relaxed feel of it all - there is definitely another level of 'fun' with the 60's that I just didn't quite feel with the 50's. Maybe it's the freedom of wearing something short? I don't know. Just a disclaimer by the way - I do still love 50's pinup style, I still admire the aesthetic and think it does look amazing... All of my opinions are just based on my personal experience. I have dressed in a pinup/50's/40's style for three years and I just felt a bit 'stale'... A little bit 'been there done that' (aside from all the other things that I'll explain in my post), if you know what I mean?


So, back to how sixties makes me feel... You know, aside from super comfortable... I think especially since giving birth my body just isn't what it was and I'm totally okay with that. It's not far off and I know I am very lucky to have shrunk back to my old size (you clever uterus, you!) but I just don't feel as curvy and hourglass as I would like to if I was to wear my old 50's style. Now, don't get me wrong, I am by no means saying you have to be perfectly hourglass to dress in that way - I just feel like, for me personally, I knew I would feel better in a different style of clothing that I feel suits my body shape better.



Growing up as a young teenager, the thing people always use to comment on were my long legs and I feel like I have covered my legs up for the last three years. They were my favourite feature (aside from my 25 inch waist but that is long gone now!!) so why the heck wasn't I making the most of them?! I am a firm believer that if you have something you love about yourself then remind yourself of it every single day!! And if that's putting them on display then so go with it, honey! My waist isn't quite what it was pre-pregnancy, my tummy obviously isn't smooth (let's be honest here... It never was and it never has been!) and I'm not very busty I just didn't feel the best version of myself in big swing dresses.

Now, let's talk about practicality... I am a girl of comfort. There are fewer things I hate more than being uncomfortable. I simply cannot bare it. I have been known to take off my petticoat/corset/tummy tuck pants in public. No regrets. I know my full skirted dress will look better with a big ass petticoat underneath but I just can't bare to wear one unless it's for a fancy occasion. It's also the fact they bloody get in the way of EVERYTHING! Knocking shit of tables and all sorts. It's like carrying an extra person with you all the time and believe me, I have a baby now so I do that anyway!!!!!! And on the subject of having a baby... I know I, for one, am not going to try and change a nappy with a big skirt on a daily basis. Now, of course there will still be times I dress up all fancy and wear my big skirts and perfectly curled (yeah, right! Until I step outside or Matilda-Mae gets her paws on it!) hair but it's just not my every day uniform anymore. I rarely wore heels before my style change anyway and to be honest I did feel like that did let my outfits down a bit but I'm nearly 5ft8 (not that height should ever stop you wearing what you want, I just felt a bit like a wobbly emu when I wore them) and remember that comfort thing I was talking about earlier - that too... but I've even less reason to now as I definitely prefer mini dresses with flats. My favourite shoes being my Rocket Dog Roana's (pictured below) which I pretty much wear every single day.

Hair, hair, hair. Sixties hair is significantly easier than typical pinup hair. That's a fact. Especially when your hair is thick and misbehaves often like mine. 90% of sixties styles consist of a beehive and then you can pretty much do what ever you want with the rest of your barnet - a braid, pony tail, leave it down, clip it all up etc. I even got a new hair cut (a sweepy fringe and some layers) which make them even easier to do! I know I don't suit victory rolls. I just don't. I have a long face and I only suit specific hair styles which I've learned the hard way by letting other people style my hair and hating it (sorry!). I just know what suits me... I think most people do, especially if they've been properly styling their own hair for a while. I love a good poodle (the dog and the up do) so I'll still be rocking those occasionally... But as for the rest of the pinup hair do's, I either can't, haven't got time or my hair is too frizzy & coarse to do them and the ones I can do usually get destroyed in the good ol' British weather in exactly five seconds of being outside anyway and you know aint nobody got time fo' that. Especially when you have a bush head like mine. Instead I'll be sticking to a backcombed pinned-to-shit hair-sprayed beehive or messy poodle-esque up-do a la the infamous Bardot - who is my ultimate sixties inspo. I love that I can still wear my colourful nylon hair scarves with my styles too, I just wear them in a more alice band way (see below).

60's style is so FUN! It really is. And so versatile. I feel like you can either be really authentic or you can be super kitsch or you can put a modern twist to it. I know you can do all of these things with most styles but I just feel like it's really easy with sixties style. I am totally not authentic... Well at least not yet...The only true 60's vintage I own are a colourful shirt and two dresses that look more 50's if I'm honest but I hope to expand my collection in the near future although I am loving wearing reproduction (I'm looking at you Bright & Beautiful ;-D).

Another little thing that sold me on the sixties is how easy it is to find inspired pieces on the high street and usually they are super cheap! You can always find high neck shift dresses in the sale at certain shops, even places like George @ Asda and F&F @ Tesco have a cracking selection. My favourite places to browse are the aforementioned, Boohoo and Everything5pounds. My wishlist is ever-growing and once I sell some of my collection I plan on re-doing my wardrobe with super affordable (under £10) dresses, skirts and tops. For 1960's reproduction, my obvious fave is Bright & Beautiful available on Collectif. I have also been adoring Tara Starlet for that modern chic sixties look. Their new SS16 collection is literally everything and I'll be doing a blog post all about it soon.

What about wiggles? Now, I personally don't think wiggles are strictly 1950's but then again I'm not a fashion historian and I'm totally not one of those 'You can't mix eras!!!' kind of people. Mix your eras, wear that dress, do what YOU want! Ain't nobody allowed to tell you what you can and can't wear. I love a wiggle... Even after pregnancy... Pregnancy taught me to love my pretty flipping awesome body. It grew a human. A beautifully perfect human at that! I have a lot to owe it even if it did leave me with a bit of extra baggage and a whole load of tiger stripes. Hey, I am a proud woman and I'm not one to make out that I'm perfect or that I don't have my hang ups. Doesn't mean you can't love your body. Maybe I'll do a post all about my post pregnancy body and loving yourself. Anyway, back to wiggles... I do love them. I recently acquired some new gorgeous ones from Glamour Bunny that make me feel like a total bombshell and I'll never let go of my Pinup Girl Clothing Monica dress, that's for sure.

And now to discuss the topic that's probably the hardest to explain without coming across wrong or somehow offending someone. I felt a bit swamped in the pinup scene (a scene I am still firmly 'in', I am just riding my own wave within it and that's okay)... The thing I loved most about dressing retro was being/feeling different and unique and I often felt lost in what, to me, is a slightly saturated and overcrowded place at times. I think I am easily overwhelmed and I can't lie and say I never felt insecure in the wonderful world of pinup... because I did/do. I'm just not in a position to be buying the latest reproduction dresses and there's no way I can afford an original 1950's vintage piece price tag. I am lucky enough to receive beautiful pieces in return for social media features, blog reviews and photo's and I am so thankful to every single brand, big and small, who have decided to work with little ol' me. I have formed lovely friendships within this pinup scene and it is filled with such wonderful beautiful strong women who I admire and swoon over every single day. I am proud to still be part of it and I hope I don't get 'kicked out' for having my dress sense inspired by a era that was like 7 years later! Haha! Ya'll wouldn't be that mean now........ would ya? ;-). I love being a bit different and perhaps the odd one out. I like experimenting with fashion and expressing myself in different ways... Plus colourful tights are the funnest thing ever and I don't have to worry about if my seams are straight :').

Who knows... Maybe this is just a phase... Maybe I'll see you back on the 50's side soon? But for now I'm swinging into the sixties and I am so happy about it!

I'll still wear my 50's inspired outfits occasionally and maybe even dip my toe into the wonderful world of the 40's too (I will be taking some photos in the gorgeous 40's inspired Maggie dress by Glamour Bunny that I am super excited to do soon!). I hope you enjoyed reading about my little fashion journey...

All my love,