Daring to be Different

Who am I? To tell the truth I really don't know. I'm a 35 year old mom of two preschoolers. An advertisers dream. A natural born follower. Shy. Insecure. A go with the flow kind of person. Non-confrontational. I like to make things. Belle Blossoms to be exact. I love old cameras. Antique stores. Old hats. Old hankies. Old movies. Dean Martin.


Ever since I can remember I've gone with the flow. Including the flow of fashion. In the 80's, I was a prep. The early 90's a new waver. In between these times I wore the same tight rolled jeans, layers of slouched socks, and Keds that the other girls wore. I painstakingly teased and sprayed my hair to freakishly tall heights. Thankfully, I was a little older when the grunge phase debuted and started to find my own style...at least one tiny piece of it. Although it still involved huge hair sprayed and teased hair like everyone else. But, it also involved bright red lipstick. I can't remember why I started wearing red lipstick, no one else was wearing it, which was unlike me to do my own thing. The red lipstick is the only thing from my early days of figuring out fashion that I'm not embarrassed by and have never stopped wearing. 18 years later and I'm still in love with red lipstick and don't feel quite myself wearing any other hue.


I've always loved old movies and admired the beauty and style of times gone by, even as a little girl. I've always wanted to wear hats and gloves and dress up like women use to do. Problem is, I've always wanted everyone else to too, so I could. I've never understood why women started wearing jeans and tee shirts and not really caring anymore like their grandmothers and maybe even mothers did. I don't really mean that they don't care, I'm sure they do. But, clearly looking like a beautifully put together woman is a much better option. Even though I've gone with the fashion flow, I have never really liked it. I love to dress up and do so any time I get a chance. My closet is mostly full of classic types of clothing. I curl my hair often. I wear hair flowers. This is about the extent of my being different fashion wise. Although to tell the truth, most people would probably think that I do dress and look very different. Not many people around here wear their hair like Marilyn and wear red lipstick and hair flowers (I'm trying to change that part, I've given away lots of feathers and flowers to friends). But I don't feel really all that different, I guess because I am use to looking a little different with my classic style. I didn't feel different until now...

I've been playing around with Lisa Freemont Street's video tutorials for vintage hairstyling for sometime now. Two nights ago I decided to try one more time to sculpt my swing cut bob (once again for me the popular haircut at the moment) hairstyle into victory rolls of some sort. I actually got it this time. Practice makes perfect...though it wasn't perfect, it still looked good I thought. I did two victory rolls on the sides, a french twist in back, and three barrel curls on top. I topped the style off with a red Real Rose from Belle Blossoms (I probably could have had better placement of my Belle Blossom, but it was also covering a spot that I couldn't get right. See, they are useful for more than one thing) I wore a vintage navy blue polka dot dress that I got at an antique store for $3. Oh, and of course red lipstick. My family was going to my niece's dance recital. I was very nervous on the way there because I have never gone out like this. We stopped for dinner first. Walking in I was greeted by everyone staring at me, since I looked like I had just stepped out of the 1940's (although they were looking at me like I'd just stepped out of a UFO). Something I wasn't too comfortable with since I am so use to conforming and looking like everyone else. Then a lady came up to me and told me that my hair was beautiful. Wow, no one has ever done that! Oh wait, because I look like every other girl in the room usually. Other people sneered at me and I knew they were whispering about me. At this point I really didn't care...thank you random lady for boosting my confidence! Before we left the restaurant three more people told me how beautiful my hair was. So when we got to the recital, I walked in with my head held high. So what if I look different. I am different. So what if I'm the only person among the hundreds in here not wearing jeans and a tee shirt. I really don't care what you think. Yes, I am obsessed with a different decade. And probably would have been much happier conforming then than I am now conforming to non-glamorous and many times ugly fashion. So I will continue to wear hairstyles from other decades. Clothes that I found at antique stores, goodwill, and garage sales of old ladies. And red lipstick. And the next time I step out dressed to the nines in vintage fashion, I will step with more confidence than before.