In blues & plaids outfits {and post-haircut}

Thursday evening, I got a haircut, as you know. I went for a shorter version of pretty much my usual, so basically a short middy. I had a long talk with my stylist about how I'd style a curl fluff on top, and she cut my hair so that I could do that, albeit with that layer a little longer as she was worried I wouldn't be able to do much with it if that didn't work out for me. Which is good, because wow, was I all thumbs at it when I tried. I'll give it a go again but I'm not holding out any hopes. I think it was a combo of "I'm not doing this successfully" and "this just doesn't look very good on me". Ha!

In the meantime, here's two outfits and post-haircut photos in one. First, I'll show you a hairstyle you will likely not see me in very often. This was styled with sponge rollers the day after my cut.

This turned out to be a don't move, don't go outside, don't go near humidity, don't breath hairstyle. It would be lovely if I lived in the middle of the desert. I don't.

Instead, I live in humid Chicago, and it rained the day I styled this, and within an hour my hair was a complete wreck. Frizz, falling down bits, you name it. Appallingly bad! As soon as I got home from brunch and fun but fruitless second-hand shopping, I had to pile it all up on my head and adorn with a scarf. So much for a chic vintage 'do. On the bright side, the after-style was pretty cute and will be fun and casual for summer. (Sorry, I forgot to photograph it! But you'll see it again, I'm sure.)

Outfit details: Freddie's of Pinewoods jeans, red Bakelite bangles, Bass saddle shoes, 50s wicker basket purse, 50s starburst earrings from Atomixrox, reversible squirrel belt by Cassie Stephens, pullover knit by a friend for a swap on Ravelry (the pattern is Mary Jane)

So here's my hair the next (again rainy) day and much closer to what my hair really looks like, droopy curl included. I'd already had to pin one up to the nape of my neck by this point in the day. This was styled with perm rods, which my hair really is a bit too short for unless I'm just going for a bit of wave at the bottom. But sometimes I like to play with different tools.

Having gone short again I'm still not sure if I like my hair better when the length sits above or below my shoulders. I forgot that when it's this short, any rogue curls and droopy bits are way more obvious, and I do get those. A lot. But I can also leave it mostly un-styled with a little front roll for quick on-the-go days, like when I commute to work and just can't bring myself to set my hair.

The great thing is it's just hair, and by the time I make up my mind, my hair will be different...and I'll have probably changed my mind, anyway. ;)

Outfit details: Freddie's of Pinewoods jeans, mixed Bakelite bangles and earrings, the other side of my reversible squirrel belt by Cassie Stephens, 50s plaid cowboy shirt, 50s embroidered bolero from FuturaVintage

And last but not least, we're starting to see things bloom in our new yard!

Hope you had a lovely weekend! And hello to all my new followers on Twitter! I'm still getting the hang of it but I think it'll be a fun way to connect with other vintage fans.

Haircuts and Twitter

Hello all! Today is haircut day. Why am I nervous?

I think it's because we're (perhaps?) entering warm weather season here. That will mean lots of heat and humidity, where I live. And in most ways, I am most certainly not a wimp, but I will admit: I am a heat wimp. At the first sign of hot, humid weather I run for hair elastics and scarves and bandanas and anything that will get my hair off my neck faster than you can shake a leg. But I'd still like to look decent if I need to do that. I hope to try out some styles with my new Grip-Tuth hair combs (I love these!) that might make me slightly less twitchy in hot weather. So I think I'll go for a few inches chopped with suitable vintage-friendly layers, probably slightly shorter than my November haircut. I'm undecided about my bangs and need to consult with my stylist. Fortunately she specializes in vintage hairstyles, so we'll be having a heart-to-heart this evening.

I'm still a little obsessed with the idea of doing a curl fluff, but I'll have to discuss with my stylist what options that would give me for days I don't want to do that (How would I even do that, anyway? Would I look like an idiot? Could I still do a front roll?). Along with some of the photos from my whine about my hair funk, I'll also be showing her this lovely lady, who I found on Pinterest. Isn't she grand? (I love her dress and matching bracelet and dress clip, too!) Her hair is much thicker than mine, however, but at least it's a starting point.

{Source: My Pinterest, original source unknown / no results on TinEye.com}

In other news, I've decided I'm going to give Twitter a try again. I've had an account for years but have only used it sporadically (most recently was last summer, to keep up with the wildfire in New Mexico that was near my family's town, for which it was brilliant). But lately I've been feeling the need to share just a little bit or two that wouldn't warrant an entire blog post. And since I just can't bring myself to use Facebook, I thought I'd give tweeting a try again.

So please, do follow me on Twitter! I'll have to make the rounds and see who else is on there to follow, too. :)

Follow @bygumbygolly

{Source: Laughing Squid, Retro Future Advertisement for Twitter}

I can't promise I'll ever have anything interesting or important to say, but I'll try and pop in now and again with thoughts that don't make it to the blog. Quick little updates on sewing and knitting projects, blog posts and links I'm enjoying, outfit photos, mini updates, little things like that, I'm thinking. If you use Twitter, what's your favorite thing about it?

Hope to see some of you out there, too!

Saturday evening outfit & haircut

We're off to my mom's tomorrow. So before we jet, I thought I'd post a quick outfit, mostly to show you all that I got a haircut last weekend! I'd been debating about chopping another few inches off for awhile, and went for it.

Now you'll never see me wearing my hair down like this, but you can see the length. We went out with friends Saturday night and I didn't feel like doing anything to my hair after the cut that afternoon, so I just did a little front roll and plopped on a trusty beret. So easy in autumn.

I'm really pleased with how the cut worked out. I set it last night for the first time since the haircut using my trusty setting pattern. And the style is just what I was looking for! Very late 30s. So you'll have to wait to see how it looks set until I have photos. :)

Outfit details: variety of yellow Bakelite bangles, wool gabardine trousers from Allure Originals,  mustard blouse with pintucks from Small Earth Vintage, vintage shrug from forever ago (probably one of my most frequently worn staples), fair isle beret hand knit by me. Can you tell I've been on a yellow kick? I just can't seem to get enough of it this autumn!

Have a wonderful week, and a very Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow American readers! I'll have lots to share when I'm back!

Post-haircut photos

I am busy breaking all my previously set rules about not sewing for Viva since I suddenly found myself in desperate need of a blouse to match something, so I'm just going to quickly post a few photos post-haircut. Sorry, they're pretty anticlimactic actually. The cut went pretty much just as I expected. It's so nice to have a hair stylist who I can have a conversation with about setting my hair. I don't feel like the length looks dramatically different but it feels a lot lighter and was definitely easier to set and is easier to brush out, which was one of my main goals. It's probably pretty close to a (long, long) middy haircut.

So, a few photos. The first is from Friday night before going out to a friend's art opening. I worked from home Friday so I set my hair that morning.

 A close up at the bus stop of my latest pair of vintage eyeglasses...

The photo below was on the same set yesterday before going to an awesome vintage clothing party. Still hadn't washed my hair, I just set my curls back in sponge rollers Friday night. Not as many rollers, and kind of haphazard with a slight spritz of setting lotion and water (that mostly hit the mirror and not my head). I had to add a clip on the side because I had a really bad dent from my hair flower the night before. Oops!

And here's what it looks like from the back. (Now you see the angle I always avoid in photos, the dreaded ugly cat post. Ha ha! So mid-century, huh.)

And today, same set still (messy bangs since I'm not planning to go anywhere). I'm really impressed how well it lasted with fairly minimal effort.

Probably the best part of the haircut other than the cut itself was that my stylist taught me a trick that works really well for my bangs. I usually roll them with really small rollers with mixed results for trying to get them to go to the side when I side part my hair, which is more often than not lately.

With my bangs wet and unstyled, she put Layrite in them, then blowed them dry. That gave my usually roll-resistant flyaway hair just the perfect texture to create a roll with my bangs. I'd literally never been able to successfully do that before and now I know just the perfect trick.

I know it's not just a fluke, either. You know when you have a hair fluke: you do something awesome, and are cursed by never, ever being able to repeat it again. But I've done this a few times now so I'd call that a success. In fact, it worked so well I'm tempted to try it out for side rolls. If it works I might do a tutorial for it since there must be others who have pain-in-the-ass hair like mine. I rarely do rolls because they always come out like crap.

Now back to the sewing I swore I wasn't going to do. Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

A-choppin' my hair will go...

...okay, not really. It'll only be a few inches. And it's certainly not chopping itself. But in about an hour and a half I'll be getting my hair cut. I snapped some pre-cut photos last night before going out to dinner with friends. 

This was my hair after a Hot Sticks set (that of course only lasted through the evening, and barely at that) because since I made the appointment to cut my hair, I've been too lazy to bother setting it wet because I felt like what's the point? Guess that's why it was time for a cut. ;)

I seriously can't believe how long it's gotten and how long it's been since I was last getting it cut regularly. It dawned on me how many years I had short hair when I dressed for my appointment in a machine washable cardigan and a tee underneath, preparing for all those teensy little hairs that get stuck in your clothes... yes, it's been so long that the last time I had a cut the back of my neck was cleaned up with clippers! Won't be doing anything near that drastic this afternoon!

Dinah told me she didn't really care what I did to my hair one way or another. You can see it in her eyes.

Well, when we meet again my cheveux will be a little lighter. I admit I'm a bit nervous. Wish me luck!