40's maternity

all patterns available on etsy

I will start this post by saying this I AM NOT PREGNANT! This is not why I am writing this. Last year I went to dinner with 2 of my girlfriends and one of my friends turned up in this beautiful 1940's vintage dress she bought in the US when on holiday. After finishing our starter of lots of good chili con queso and tortilla chips I was saying that I should have worn something with a little more stretch in it my friend said she did and un-did the tie of the dress then un-buttoned the side of the dress then re-tied the the tie and sat back down. I was amazed, I had never seen a vintage dress like it, she then told me that it was a 40's maternity dress that had buttons at the side so you could expand the front as the belly grew. After dinner I went home and jumped on etsy to find more and I was hooked.

BasyaBerkman @ etsy

Sugar bank @ etsy 

Unlike modern maternity wear that is stretchy and tight fitting the 40's maternity clothes where designed to be  grow and shrink with you and be warn through multiple pregnancies and shared with friends or family who needed it (multiple pregnancies in quick secession where common, watch call the midwife to understand). The intricacies of the construction are amazing with all the hooks/buttons/ties to gather the fabric so it can be let out as the baby grows. While looking I also found patterns to pregnancy skirts that are made with a large cut out for the belly and held closed by a tie. A cut out like that must have been a little cold, at least somethings are better now than in the 40's (thank you hormonal contraception and belly bands).

2 amazing blogging vintage pregnancy style mama's

Left - Ulrika Bachér from her blog the freelancer's fashionblog pregnant with her 1st child, son Dag. She not only looks fantastic but also performed burlesque all the way through her pregnancy 
Right - Twila Jean from her blog twila jean  pregnant with her 3rd child, daughter Olive. A mother, a model and etsy store owner who looks amazing and what a hair colour  

red lippy

All images from Vintage Vault @ style sight best example of red colours

I am a big lover of red lips and use to try and wear it every chance I got but I have always found that finding the best colour for me is a pain in the neck and not good for the bank balance ether.
A little anecdote about my red lips one Friday after being at a very late night of dancing at Hullabaloo, not removing my makeup before going to bed and a very early day at work (and avoiding a mirror) I ended up going to work with a full face of 40's makeup and because I worked with men no one told me I had it on until morning tea when I went to the admin building and was asked about it. Was very embarrassed but when I asked the guys why didn't they tell me they replied "we thought you where going for a new look".

If you like a good red lip you will probably be with me and have many colours of red with one never quite rite. Unfortunately I have found there is never just 1 that is universal, its too dark for summer or too light for winter, do you match it to your skin or to your hair, not appropriate for day time or night time. I have pale skin (ivory or porcelain base foundation normally with pink undertones) and have had every colour of hair from black to blond but try to keep to a pink undertone to match my skins.

When purchasing a new colour of red if you are not at a makeup counter swatch the colour on your wrist or inner arm because it is lighter than back of your hand making it a better comparison to your face (the skin on your face is normally lighter than the rest of your body). If you are at a makeup counter ask if they have a mirror with natural light simulator (the colour will look different in fluro light than it does in natural) so you can see the difference.

I have at the moment 4 lipsticks, 3 pencils, 1 lip stain and a lip gloss (it is edited down from what I use to have, that's not to say I am not still adding to it) which i find to be a good range for me. I like to also mix my colours to get the perfect shade for my mood or match it closer to my lip liner to make the blending invisible. If I only want a hint of colour I like to wear them more as stains than full coverage.

 they look very close in colour but until you swatch them you can never tell the correct undertone

as you can see, just because it looks red does not mean that they are the same
from left - lipstick: db Red Hot Red, chanel Rouge Allure, alverde Alpine Rose, mac Russian Red, lip stain: catrice Red & The City, lip gloss: natio Love, lip pencil: manhattan 94T, natio Scarlett, unknown brand

Keeping red lipstick in one place is also hard. There are many different ways of application for red lips but if you want it to stay using the foundation/concealer technique (a stick concealer works the best), powder technique or the liner technique are the best. To keep it on and looking good for hours even through eating (and avoid leaving a red mark on your partner) there are only 2 things not to use, any creamy formulas that make the lips shiny or/and are moisturizing to the lips, they are not made to last and the biggest no no is gloss it just slides off and all your hard work is gone ( if you want to use gloss use a stain then a gloss or a gloss with an in built stain).      

If anyone has any good tips to keep it in place please tell me, I am always looking for new ways

p.s. if you want to go relay vintage match your nail colour to your lip stick

leftover dinner

 Veggie burger (pattie made with yesterdays leftover couscous with fruit and nut and veggie stew with capsicum, onion, tomato, parsnip and mushrooms) spicy tomato sauce, remoulade with pickled gherkins and radishes, gouda cheese in a rye toasted bun with a side salad

Downsides I have found to switching my diet
- eating the same veggies for days or having leftovers and leftover leftovers
Cooking for yourself is not fun when you always end up with lots of leftovers so the next day you have to eat it for dinner (and the next if there is too much the second time) and shopping is not fun because to have a good variety of veggies to use you need to buy enough that you eat the same veggies for 2 weeks straight.  

- wind
Yes I know, it is not a nice thing to talk about, but when you start to eat more pulses and roughage veggies every day your tummy takes a while to get use to it and wind is the result, who knew. Luckily it only takes a few weeks for your tummy to get use to the change.
- if I do eat meat I feel heavy and can only eat a little of it
I have found not only can I eat a few peaces of it I also start to feel like I swallowed rocks and want to just lie down and digest it. My boyfriend says my stomach has shrunk from too many veggies. I also found the smell of cooked meat makes me feel queezy too.

Haircare and Bodycare

1. Everyday shampoo - Bübchen baby shampoo, no phosphates or sulfates in it and saves my hair from feeling greasy (a feeling that other shampoos do) and stops my hair from going brassy between toner treatments. It doesn't lather like normal shampoos do so I have to use more to do my full head and it has no scent, not even that powdery baby smell you get with other baby products

2. Purple toner shampoo - Swiss O Par silver shampoo, I have found that the deeper the purple colour the better the result of removing the brassiness out of my hair. I tone my hair every 3 days and it keeps most of the yellow out of it but I always use my baby shampoo once to get rid of any oil build up before using the toner twice on my hair leaving it for about 2-3min each time before washing it out.

3. Hair oil - Alverde hair oil, mine is an argan/almond oil mix that smells like freshly squeezed lemons. I only put it on the ends of my hair when it damp every few days because my hair is very fine but gets greasy very easily. I also use it on my damp hair before I blow dry it when it is cold weather.

4. Hair cream - Vitapointe between wash conditioner with UV protection, you only need a pea size dollop of cream and goes on absolute dry (no moisture at all) hair and it makes your hair soft and keeps a curl or wave in my hair if i plat or bun my hair after putting it on my ends plus it doesn't change the colour of your hair like some oils can. I bought it in Australia where you can only get it in chemists but 1 tube lasts for ages.

5. Hair dye - Garnier belle colour in number 111 extra light ash blond , at the moment I like a light ashier blond rather than a golden blond that I had been using (it is relay hard to find a ash blond dye at the shops I have only found 3) because it seams to suit my colouring seeing that my hair is naturally a dark ash blond colour but looks more sooty. I am a little disappointed that I can't dye my hair red but that will have to wait till I go back to Australia.

6. Gradual tanner - Balea magic summer gradual tanner in normal, I have never been a big tan kind of person (natural or fake) mainly because I am a naturally pale person who burns easily plus if I do go dark I look ill but I do get a bit experimental just before spring when I will have to start showing my arms and legs again but only very light colour. The problem with tanners is that I go orange very quickly so I only use it for 2 days to start getting the colour and then once a week after that (that is how orange I can get if I use to much).

7. Body lotion - Belea best age cream oil lotion, I am not a big fan of body lotions and normally just use olive oil if my skin feels dry but what I found from earlier this year is that my skin gets itchy with the central heating being on. I normally only need to put it on my elbows and my shins when they start to get dry. It is more of a thing that I use occasionally than every day and I know that I should start to use it more regally but I hate that stickiness you get when it doesn't all sink in.

8. Perfume - Stella by Stella McCartney, my favorite perfume. I love the rose scent with a very woody  notes. I have never been a big perfume person mainly because my skin can turn some perfumes into smelling like fly spray but I have found that that the more oils it has in it the better my skin reacts to it. I have to ration myself in putting it on because the 30mL bottle cost close to $80 in Australia and I only have a quarter of the bottle left. In Australia I have a big bottle of Stella McCartney Sheer that I like to wear in summer because the Stella is more of a winter scent. I love perfumes that smell very fresh/aquatic and I think my next will be one of them when I run out, maybe.

9. Deodorant - Mum dry Active, I am not a big fan of deodorants because they normally smell so overpowering that it makes me gag but this one smells very "sporty floral" if that makes any sense and matches with my perfume well. For such a cheep deodorant it doesn't leave any white marks on clothing and does last all day and can withstand even dancing.

food

Puffed wheat chocolate squares with almonds 

 I had a problem making them because my pan separated into 2 layers with molten chocolate on top and toffee on the bottom so the bars where more like hard fudge with peaces of toffee running through them 

Rice cracker sandwich with tomato, cheddar cheese, salad greens and yogurt mayonnaise (tastes a little like salad cream, very tart)    

Sweet potato, carrot, celeriac, mushroom, tomato stew with a feta cheese top

I got the idea from this recipe, a crispy top with juicy stewed veggies (another dinner my boyfriend had seconds of)    

Porridge with cinnamon, banana and apfelmus with sanddorn 

I always eat porridge when its cold. I use to eat it at work for breakfast or lunch depending on my mood or even dinner if I am feeling very lazy. It fills you up and on cold days it is just as good as soup but much quicker to make and incredibly cheep (most supermarkets in Germany sell it for 30-50 cents for 500g) . My favorite is to have it with fresh fruit like bananas, apples and pears or with fresh berries (especially blueberries) and greek or plain yogurt. Lately I have been having it with apfelmus which is a stewed apple pure or sultanas.  On Friday I found apfelmus with sanddorn in bundikowski (bundikowski is a cross between a priceline/boots with a health food store) and decided to try it out. Sanddorn (known as Sea-buckthorn in english) is a tart berry that is very high in vitamin C and I think makes apfelmus taste better than normal which can be super sugary sweet sometimes.

dinners

Fried rice with radishes, endive, capsicum, spring onion, mushrooms, toasted nuts and fried egg

Salad with salad greens, endive, tomato, cucumber  grapes, pickled gherkins and mixed nuts with a chili mustard dressing

Roast butternut pumpkin, spring onion, capsicum, garlic, mushroom  spaghetti with grated hard goats cheese