If there’s one thing the ladies from previous decades knew how to do perfectly, it was creating a flawless silhouette. But we aren’t here to tell you to squeeze into a suffocating corset. After all, we’re talking about retro swimwear, not swimwear antiques! So, when you’re shopping for some retro swimsuits this summer season, keep an eye peeled for high waist swimsuit bottoms that are designed with a vintage appeal.
Voodoo Vixen: While the brand has the same themes as many of these other shops (swing dresses for everyone!), Voodoo Vixen has two unique angles. It does collaborations with popular retro bloggers — like this winter’s collection with Chicago Chic — and it creates its own vintage-inspired prints in house (this nautical dress is everything), which means you can’t get some of these looks anywhere else.
RebelsMarket will always have all of the hottest trends in pin up inspired dresses at cheap prices. We cut out the hassle of having to shop at multiple stores and give you the ultimate selection of pin up style clothing and accessories for women and girls so you can complete your entire outfit in one shopping trip from the comfort of your own living room.
Begin with the fringe area. Create a horizontal parting from the crown and brush hair forward. Backcomb the surface of the hair. Gather ends straight up, smooth the underside so you have a smooth surface as you roll hair from the ends down toward the head to create your fringe roll. Use a hair donut, padding or gentle backcombing for extra support. Pin as needed with bobby pins. Smooth the exterior of the fringe with a fine tooth comb and light hairspray.
^{Dressing in vintage style clothing for a themed event or personal fashion is our passion. We turned a hobby into this website to make it easy to find vintage inspired clothing for women and men online spanning 1900-1960s. Our fashion history blog helps you create the look from decades past using vintage, vintage inspired and thrifty clothing, Need help? Ask us anytime.}
Gently flatten the back of the roll and curls under to close off the back of the victory roll (since this is the more traditional look that we’re going for), making sure to bobby pin well! Shape the front of the roll as needed, make sure to bobby pin the roll from the inside out, and spray well with hairspray. Repeat step #3 and #4 with the other side, and your rolls are done!

Another very popular style was the shirtwaist dress. Originally, introduced by Christian Dior in 1947, this style of dress was particularly popular with teenagers. It is set apart by its sloped shoulders which were a drastic change from the boxy shoulders just a few years before. This dress also has a raised bust line. The real change, however, came with a very narrow waist starting with a padded hipline and flowing away to a skirt with lots of fabric that was often pleated ending just below mid-calf. Wear this casual dress on your next shopping trip by getting this one from EricDress (@ericdress.com).

The clients you would most likely come across for this style are vintage enthusiasts, pin up pageant girls and burlesque artists, as well as people going to costume parties. There are also always drag queens and the secret “I Love Lucy”-obsessed people from that era who are holding onto nostalgia. Either way, this style is great fun to create and will come in handy when you least expect it, or when you want to embrace your inner silver screen goddess.
Many of the most popular prom dresses today are based on styles of the 1950s. Again, Christian Dior created one of the fashions that every girl had to have when he included the bubble dress in his 1954 and 1956 collections. French designer Pierre Cardin also included it in his collection. These dresses are made with hems that fold back on themselves to form a bubble. Women could find various style tops, but bustier ones are most common. Making them even more radical for their time, most had hemlines ending mid-thigh to just above the knee. Look spectacular at your next party by checking out this offering from Lyst (@lyst).
When we say that pin up clothing is made for this season we mean it. When else could you wear this kind of blouse if not during warm sunny days? Match a cute gingham button up blouse with a pair of high waisted shorts: this is the perfect summer pin up outfit and you can wear it pretty much anywhere, from a cinema date to a hot rod festival. You can wear high heels or flats, sneakers or wedges: everything works with the shorts+blouse combo. It is what you make of it. Polka Dots Crop Top
Imagine having a wardrobe that is entirely and directly from the 30’s and 40’s? Well, that’s exactly what you get to see when you follow Idacath on Instagram. This modern day retro fashion icon doesn’t recreate vintage inspired outfits with modern day items; she finds real vintage clothing and turns them into modern day masterpieces. Her vintage apparel is about as authentic as it gets.
_{You’ll want to start with one day post-washed hair. If you have cleaned and conditioned hair, it’ll be too ‘fluffy’ and light unless you use loads of hairspray and back-combing (which isn’t great for your hair by the way). Grab your sections from the front half of your head and pin the rest out the way or hold it back with a ponytail. Split in half and you have the two chunks you’ll be transforming.}
The hair is elegantly swept back up away from the face and nape of the lady’s neck, and the curls are elegantly dressed out on top of her head with meticulous precision. This style elevates the hair, elongating the profile and creating slender lines finished off with a dramatic burst of curls. Any diva sporting this style in the era of yesteryear would be destined to be swept off her feet by an admiring tall dark and handsome man. And of course they would live happily ever after.
Dressing in vintage style clothing for a themed event or personal fashion is our passion. We turned a hobby into this website to make it easy to find vintage inspired clothing for women and men online spanning 1900-1960s. Our fashion history blog helps you create the look from decades past using vintage, vintage inspired and thrifty clothing, Need help? Ask us anytime.
Using spray and a bristle brush, comb the underneath of the hair upwards in sections and pin it tightly up into the base of the top section. Grab small sections on top of the head, teasing the base and creating barrel curls by wrapping the hair around your fingers. Secure each curl with bobby pins. Refine the style by dressing each curl out so they work in harmony with each other. It is important to make sure the style is symmetrical unless you purposely want a feature piece framing one side of the face. Once you are happy, fix the style with strong hold hairspray.
Rockabilly and pin-up are two separate styles. They are often mistaken for each other, as these two are distinguished with bright makeup, colorful clothes, and mysterious smiles. However, rockabilly was formed later, under the influence of rock-n-roll, as this music genre demanded a new way to self-expression. Thus, rockabilly can be called a son of pin up, which inherited the bright colors and free behavior from its mother, but added a bit of sass, tattoos, and insane dancing into its style. If you recognize yourself in this description – rockabilly was definitely created for you!
The Poodle Do is a very versatile hairstyle to achieve as it can be created with most hair types and lengths, from just above the shoulders to hair that is midway down the back. It all depends on your ability to handle minimal hair (perhaps using a few hair extensions to pad the top out) or long hair (hiding excess hair by overlaying the hair as you wind it up into curls).

Women usually chose a pair of cigarette pants with side or back zippers. These pants were cut full through the hips tapering to slim- fitting legs. Most cigarette pants ended just above the ankle allowing women to show off their stylish footwear. They had a high waist usually accentuated with a 3 inch waistband. Some women broke up the wide waistband with a thin leather belt. Early on, these pants were mostly black, but by the end of the decade women were expressing their own unique style by wearing stripes, leopard prints, checks and polka dots. Consider adding a pair to your wardrobe by getting these from Unique Vintage (@uniquevintage)

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