Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques

This book is way more than a bunch of pretty pictures! Though it definitely DOES have a bunch of pretty pictures...it also has extremely detailed instructions on absolutely everything. Not only does it detail every single hairstyle with exhaustive written instructions and photos, it also has sections at the front of the book explaining what each kind of hair product, curling device, and other tool does along with how to best use it. For example, did you know that it's better to use hairpins to make pin curls, rather than bobby pins, because bobby pins are too tight and leave a kink in the curl? Okay, maybe you did know that but I sure didn't. It also has a big section just on combing out, so that you can fully understand the correct method to get the look you're going for, whether it's a curl, loose wave, tight wave, pompadour, etc. It also has small sections in the back on vintage makeup and nail trends, to complete your look. For each hairstyle (there are 38 including the different comb-out methods), it tells you up front what tools & products you'll need. It has a "before" photo of the model, which is not only impressive when you see the final look, but is also handy to see who has hair similar to yours before you get started. It offers tips, though, for styling alternate lengths, which is nice for me because my hair is much shorter than most of the models. I'm seriously the biggest idiot ever when it comes to doing hair, I never really learned what to do when I was growing up so today I rarely even bother to blow it dry. So you can imagine this was book was incredibly intimidating! I've been buying up lots of pin-up style clothing lately and my signature hair un-style just wasn't cutting it, so I just had to try. Even though the styles looked like so many steps and tools and seemed so hard to do, the extreme level of detail was REALLY helpful for someone like me. It was pretty scary getting started, but in the end my hair looked exactly like the photo in the book! For someone with my absolute lack of hairstyling skill, that's pretty impressive! Now I can't wait to try a few other styles! BE AWARE that the styles in this book are not "vintage with a modern twist." These are really really vintage looks! So it's really perfect for anyone who is doing a pinup photo shoot, doing hairstyles for a play or movie, or a costume. I don't know if I can pull off these very precise styles in my everyday life! But, it's a great place to start and learn, and I'll work on adding a modern twist on my own.

In my review for this authors other book, Retro Makeup: Techniques for Applying the Vintage Look , I went into some detail as to why I went this direction as a 46 year old woman. Unlike many faithful retro-lovers, I wasn't looking to duplicate styles. Instead I wanted to try to find a new look for myself that didn't just include trying to look unobtrusive in order to disguise flegling lines or other effects of aging. One's hair helps define their face. Bottom line. You can put on a perfectly neat Mad Men face, but if your hair doesn't reflect that intention, you'll just look strange. So, for me, this book was a necessity. I read it cover to cover and discovered a great many things about hair that I simply didn't know before. Things that make you say, Huh. I also discovered that my astonishing array of expensive hair goos were entirely wrong. And finally, I discovered that these styles are surprisingly easy to pull off, even for a total amateur, if you have patience. Since I wasn't looking for a completely authentic retro style but rather an impression or accent to a specific clean look, I needed to combine some styles and enhance or dampen some elements to fit in and look good without being obvious. Again, just one practice session and I had a winner. The results of this hair and makeup were surprising and involved many enounters while shopping that were pleasant or embarrassing or both. I loved it. The book is organized so that it isn't just a linear progression of a style and then how to do it, it gives opening chapters that show the tools and how to use them in the context of the book. It also gives a good illustration of things like a basic set and what it means to be on or off angle, etc. Super informative while entertaining. Again, just from a brief reading I was able to pull off one of the more complicated styles with minimal tools (though you will need the right ones) and a bit of patience. Highly recommended for any age. Very customizable for those trying to define or redefine their own personal style. Also nice for anyone who wants to really go authentically retro and look perfectly done.

Vintage Hairstyling does a great job of providing in depth details and pictures of how to do different curling methods, the directions to roll them, etc. It also goes into detail about how to roll and set hair for a handful of different “complete” looks and updos. The directions are very clear, and this book was my go to for getting a solid handle on technique. I absolutely love having both. If I want detailed notes on how to do a certain roll, I look here. I also have Vintage Hairstyles by Emma Sundh and Sarah Wing, and I really feel like these two books compliment each other. Vintage hairstyles is great if you already know the basics of vintage hairstyles and are looking for more ideas. The book does a lovely job of giving historical notes on the looks and makeup for each time period (1910 through 1960s) and has a great section on bangs, or the front part of a hairdo. The style in front is a quick way to give most normal curly hairstyles that vintage feel, and I was looking for some variation. There is also a good selection of full updos for more formal looks. I tend to look to Vintage Hairstyles for variants to my updos, while I look at this book (Vintage Hairstyling) for all of my techniques and full 'dos. If I had to recommend a book to start with for a beginner, I'd recommend getting this book first. If you have a lot of experience with technique and doing vintage hairdos (like from watching youtube) and have the basic techniques down, I would recommend the other book first.

This book has great information on technique and easy to follow instructions on mastering techniques of vintage hairstyles. I started doing some crude hairstyles that I found online with rag curls and pin curls. They looked alright. What I gained from the book that I didn't get online was the patterns, techniques, tips that really made the styles perfect. I enjoyed the makeup tips and the reference section and definitely purchased a snood to do those styles and now have far more flower barrettes than one gal needs. I haven't always have long hair. I have fine hair. Recently I suffered several physical injuries and a brain trauma, in place of reading at night, I have taken up doing complex hairstyles and making vintage clothing. It's awesome, I just love it. It would be awesome if this book was spiral bound so that it laid flat while I was trying to style and follow instructions. I have had some girlfriends over for those wicked winter Wisconsin nights and we stayed up doing our hair and perfecting our vintage makeup tricks. It was a blast, an absolute blast. I would recommend this book. I have two other styling books and this is by far the most thorough and easiest to follow.

I am a costume designer for school & amateur theatre productions & am often require to address hair & make up needs too. Over the years I have picked up lots of hairstyling techniques & did a short course that has assisted me in translating images into styles, but this book has been the most fabulous resource. I now know how to use the correct period styling techniques to produce a complete vintage look. Highlights:- There are loads of different styles from 1920's - 1950's, for all hair lengths & from the first look through the book I was blown away at the transformation from before to after. Step by step instructions with lots of accompanying photos. No need for lots of professional equipment to recreate the styles, but some experience with 'doing' hair is an advantage. Pages on accessories, make up & overall styling. Hint: always do a trial first as some styles are a bit complicated & took longer than I expected. Worth knowing for timing when styling for a show or special event. I have recommended this book to everyone I know who works in the theatre & many Swing Dancing friends, as I have seen nothing else on the market in this league.

I love this book and really think all women should own this book. This would be a great gift for high school girls, college women, and anyone interested in cosmetology. I did not have the luxury of having someone that could teach me about hair, makeup, etc. while growing up. This book really goes in depth into everything relating to vintage hairstyles. The information can also be used for modern hairstyles as well. I had several aha! moments while reading this book. The book gives detailed information with pictures and explanations on how to do pin curls, how to section your hair, roll rollers, which way to curl your hair, and extra how-to's on painting your nails, makeup tutorials, and creating and using hair accessories including the famous Rosie the Riveter bandanna. It even tells you what you need to create each hairstyle! I got this book and within a week read it cover to cover. I am very impressed and would consider purchasing other books from this author. I took it to work to share with my lady co-workers and they loved the hairstyles in the book. Several wished they would have known about this book years ago so they could have used these hairstyles for their wedding. Kudos to the author for making a great book. The beautiful thing is most of the hair products/styling tools that are listed in the book are here on Amazon for those that are lacking in this department like me. I can't wait to start trying these hairstyles...starting with learning the basic pin curl.

I'm a licensed cosmetologist in the State of Washington, and I can honestly say that this book covers all aspects of wet hairsetting better than alot of cosmetology textbooks I've seen. I was so glad to see these techniques revived so beautifully in the pages of this book. Because it would be such a shame to see this type of hairstyling become a "Lost Art". It is definately worthy of being called a text book - and If I were a cosmetology instructor, I'd be using it as a supplimental text to the assigned book. The author covers all the basics and gives thorough lessons and tips on how to set the hair, each step beautifully photographed. She also covers products and tools to use, consideration for achieving the correct silhouette, and even includes a section on accessories and makeup. Most of her techniques are tried and true as they would have originally been done. But she also has a few techniques that are great for achieving some of these styles a little bit more easily than they might have been originally. For example, her beehive technique is clever and, while it does involve some backcombing, appears to require far less than the original version from the 60's (which was basically almost solid backcombing!). And then the bang technique for the 40's look pictured on the front cover is also pretty clever I thought - because you actually don't have to have cut bangs at all to achieve that look! Over all, this book is an excellent investment for anyone interested in vintage hairstyling.

I have purchased numerous items through Amazon, but have never taken the time before to actually review any of them. This book is so awesome that I wanted to take the time to post a review. I feel like I've always worn my hair any of three ways - down, half-up/half-down, or in a side pony. I needed something to jazz up my look, so I started looking around on YouTube for ideas and came across one woman who specializes in pin up hair. There was one style I replicated and I received so many compliments that day. In one of her videos, she suggested this book, so I came over and picked it up. It arrived - all beautiful and glossy - yesterday. While I haven't had the opportunity to try any of the styles yet, I am so pleased with the number and quality of styles offered in the book. Each style has incredibly detailed pictures (step by step) on how to replicate the style yourself. This book also spans several decades from the early 1900's through the 1970's - From how to do a finger wave to how to pin up a beehive. (There are also more subtle looks for those less daring.) If you are considering, this is the book to buy!

... und ein Muss für Vintage Addicts. Ich hatte jetzt über ein Jahr beobachtet, ob sich noch was am Preis tut und doch endlich zugeschlagen. Denn inzwischen ist auch so etwas wie eine Sammelleidenschaft aus dem Erwerben von Vintage Styling Büchern daraus geworden. Aber sie verstauben nicht, ich "benutze" sie auch ;-) Die knapp 35,00 € haben sich einfach gelohnt. Ich kannte Lauren Rennells Arbeit schon von dem Buch "Retro Make Up", das sich in einer ähnlichen Preis Liga befand, obwohl es halt nur ein broschierter Einband ist. Die Frisuren sind ausführlich "auufgeschlüsselt". D.h. im Vorhinein werden grundlegende Techniken des letzten Jahrhunderts gezeigt, um Locken zu legen, Vor- und Nachteile der einzelnen Techniken werden aufgezeigt und dann gehts los mit dem Kreativen Teil der Frisuren. Anschließend kommt noch ein kleiner Make Up Teil, sozusagen als Goodie. Besonders hervorstechend finde ich das ausführliche Kapitel über Pin Curls, die zwar auch schon gut in dem Buch "Style me Vintage" beschrieben worden sind. Hier finde ich es allerdings einfach verständlicher. Auch die "Patterns" sind leicht erklärt, also wie man und in welche Richtung man die Pin Curls legt für diesen oder jenen Shape der Frisur. Sehr gut gelungen! Diese Investition lohnt sich. Für Anfänger, die von der Pike auf lernen wollen. Und für Fortgeschrittene um neue Inspirationen zu gewinnen.

Acheté pour ma fille, pour qu’elle fasse ses coiffures de concours. Le livre est très bien fait

Fab book and easy to follow. Good range of styles over the ages. Lovely pictures

J'ai acheté un produit usagé cependant, le livre est arrivé très bien emballé de plus, je suis fière de mon achat. Ce livre est selon moi comme neuf, et les techniques pas à pas valent de loin le prix d'achat. Des images en couleur, aucune page brisée, pliée ou déchirée. Un gros merci au vendeur, je suis très satisfaite de mon achat.... Aucun regret.

livre avec beaucoup de photos pour reproduire les modèles de coiffure des années 1940 ! Dommage qu'il soit en anglais mais on va essayer de traduire.