I created the woman on the right in Photoshop by combining different women's "assets"
that people find appealing in our culture today. I also created an
updated version of "My Little Pony" on the left. These are both comments
on the warped way the world sees women
and the obsession with the oversexualization of even the most innocent
of images, e.g. slutty Disney Halloween costumes.
And whenever I
create a digital imagery like this I always feel the need to raise it
to a higher level artistically by turning them into a paintings. As a
designer I struggle with how to display something that is digital and
wonder where things like this fit into the world of art.
Would they be better as paintings or does being digital suffice?
Updated Version of My Little Pony | My version of the 2012 ideal woman according to popular culture.
I'm not sure what is fueling the vintage craze right now, but it seems like vintage boutiques are popping up everywhere. Here is a list of some places in Fayetteville that you can find vintage clothes:
If you have lived in Fayetteville a long time you might remember we used to have a vintage store called Decades, in the old UARK
bowl building, and a great one called Experienced Denim. They were
wonderful stores and I miss them.
A lot of these stores specialize in a style that I can only describe as something that is a mix between 80's vintage and prairie girl chic. Lots of floral patterns, bright colors, short shorts, mixing and matching of different decades, etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on it, I think there is something to be said for taking the vintage and making it modern, but I am just more of a fan of the traditional vintage look.
My personal favorite place to buy vintage inspired clothes is online at Pinup Girl Clothing. They are not authentic vintage, they are vintage reproductions, which as anyone with curves knows, it's almost impossible to find real vintage clothes that fit. You can also buy reproductions and authentic vintage clothes online at at Mod Cloth.
When you think of the words hair rat, something pretty gross probably comes to mind, but hair rats have been around a very long time. Back before the days of the Bumpits and hair extensions women were collecting their hair in jars called Hair Receivers. These jars had holes in the top so that when you brushed your hair and some of it fell out, you could put it in the jar and use it at a later date to make fuller hair styles. When enough hair was collected, they would wad it up or wrap a hair net around it and stuff it in bangs, victory rolls or on the crown of their heads to create volume. This reduced the amount of backcombing that had to be done.
Antique Hair Receiver
Well, today you don't have to keep a creepy little jar of your own hair to create volume. You can buy a new form of hair rat made out of foam that comes in a variety of colors and sizes. I have a long one that has snaps on the ends to either create bumper bangs or the perfect bun.
One warning, if you are going to wear the large bun on the top of your head, unless you are Pentecostal, I suggest avoiding wearing long denim skirts with this look. (:
To create the perfect bun on top of your head, put your hair in a high pony, then stretch your hair out above your head until it's straight and place the long hair rat at the end of your hair. Roll it down and roll your hair around it until you get to your head. Snap the ends together to form a ring and then carefully distribute the hair around the form to hide it. Bobby pin in a few spots to secure and your done. A perfectly full bun in no time.
If you want to go the cheaper route and create your own form, you can always use a sock. No kidding, it's called a sock bun and here is a great tutorial.
The Final Look
Other styles you can create with the hair rat include bumper bangs, which I mentioned before. Here is a great tutorial using the rat by Cherry Dollface.
For all you full figured women out there. Hate to wear dresses or skirts because your thighs get sweaty and chaffed? Well, since we don't have the luxury of not having our thighs touch, there isn't much you can do about it, until now! Here is a little tip...when you are getting ready in the morning and you put on your deodorant, put some between your thighs. Put a little on each leg and it will create a smooth, sweat proof barrier that prevents chaffing and smells nice. I actually discovered this on my own one morning. I used to use baby powder, but it wore off very quickly and made a mess. I thought, if deodorant can do for my thighs what it does for my underarms, this may just work. And it does, like a charm. I use dove invisible solid, but I think any solid will work. Your thighs will thank you.
I'm starting to understand the benefits of spending so much time pin curling your hair. If you take care of it, it can last for days. After yesterday's style, I decided to see what would happen if I re-pinned my hair in larger sections and slept on it. I chose to do the larger sections because I didn't want to redo the small sections because I'm lazy, and I was hoping that by doing larger sections the curls would not be so tight. It worked out very well and it took much less time.
So, this mornings hair style is very similar to a style I recently saw on Dita Von Teese.
Me (left) Dita Von Teese (right)
I created victory rolls on the sides and a small roll in the front. This is more of a 1940's look. And because I don't want to reinvent the wheel and she does it so well, here is a tutorial on how to do a victory roll by one of my favorite Youtubers: Cherry Dollface.
I wanted to give the pin curl another try so I spent an hour last night pin curling my hair. I have a new respect for my grandmother and the fact that she did this every night before she went to bed. I used Lotta Body and a much more sheer scarf around my head than the one I used on Buffie. This helped with drying. And after lots, and I mean lots of brushing with a bristle brush, here is the final result. I think grandma Collins would be proud.
I did some research about the hair and makeup created for the movie before I started this process. I found a video tutorial created by the actual makeup artist and used the same techniques to create my look. I also collected images of the hair from the movie and other styles from women in the 1930's. I used Lotta Body setting lotion to make the finger waves and pin curls. I had never used that product before, but it worked really well and I would recommend it to anyone trying to achieve the same style. I also used the book Vintage Hairstyling as a guide for the finger waves and the pin curls.
After the Lotta Body was diluted with water and generously applied, clips were used to hold the finger waves in place until they dried.
After the finger waves were created, I made pin curls all around the head, concentrating them at the nape of the neck.
After the hair was set, I wrapped it in a bandanna to protect the hair while Buffie slept. I did the hair the night before to give it time to dry.
I created a smokey line along the lashes with a black eyeshadow, then applied the shade gunmetal (last on the right) to the eyelid. I applied the color virgin to the brow bone and added a dab of white to the middle of the eyelid to create dimension. I also added individual false eyelashes to the outer corner of the eyes and rounded and extended the eyebrows to give it that 30's look.
This is how the hair looked when I let out the pin curls and brushed through. I then used bobby pins to give the hair a bobbed look. You can see the final hair style in the photo shoot photos.
