Glamorous Getting Ready!

Feeling so excited to be off to London – we were up at 5.00am!

 

 

Hello dear Reader, a warm welcome to Gloriously Vintage today. The post Glamorous Getting Ready has been simmering nicely in my thoughts for some time.  It is a joy to commit these thoughts to this post now. 

 

This photograph was taken at 7.10 am. We had got up at 5.00am to be ready for our trip to Buckingham Palace to see the State Rooms and the Fashioning a Reign Exhibition of HM The Queen’s clothes.  I will be posting soon about that amazing Day Out.  Feeling very excited and with a very early start –  wearing pearls – I tried to make getting ready for this wonderful day as glamorous as possible!

Do have a look at this book “Your Beauty Mark” by Dita von Teese and Rose Apodaca.

 

My favourite Beauty Book!

 

 

 

It is featured on the Gloriously Vintage Books Page. Last Christmas I gave a copy to myself as a Christmas present.  The book has been a great source of confirmation for me because it is written clearly and with honesty about all aspects of beauty, hair, makeup and nails – it is all covered with a sense of humour too.  A great read.

I have found myself saying “yes, I do that”, or “yes, what a great idea”, many, many times as I worked my way through the book and took in all the lovely photographs too.

 

We all need to be glamorous sometimes.  Glamorousness is there for us all to enjoy – accessing it can be tricky if life gets in the way as it frequently does.

 

The idea from the book that really leapt out at me on first reading was the way Dita gets ready. She knows her makeup routines inside out.  Although her look seems very high maintenance, it is not.

You could look at my hairstyle and say “high maintenance”, but it is not. The initial “set” takes time but thereafter it is quick to brush up to be ready to go out.

 

Essential combs for the “Brushing Up “

 

The secret here is knowing how much time you need to get ready and vary it depending on the day or the occasion.

Dita explained beauty routines for going to work out, going to dinner and getting ready for her performances.

 

The great idea she follows is she uses a playlist.

 

When I am getting ready I have different approaches depending on what I am doing. Usually it is:

1. Getting ready to go to work
2. Getting ready at the weekend to be out and about
3. Getting ready for a date or a special event – then it is the full works!

I have always loved to listen to music when I am doing jobs and often when getting ready. I sit at my dressing table and then make an important choice.

 

Just add makeup!

 

 

The appropriate playlist, dear Reader is essential to my sense of purpose and feeling glamorous! I love The Rat Pack and especially Frank Sinatra, sometimes I will have music from Hollywood musicals, it all depends on my mood!

 

Since reading this book I have started to look at playlists differently. It is not a random collection of loved tunes.  Now it sets out the available time at the dressing table – usually 8 or 10 tracks.

 

I am relaxing into the songs and know exactly what stage I should be at with my makeup and hair. Dear Reader, I have clocks in strategic places too.  Time is important; I like to be on time if possible.  Planning my time to get ready is usually an important stage in agreeing with my husband how our mornings unfold.

When you follow a beauty routine, very quickly it is possible to grasp how long each element takes. It then follows that you can group these elements into chunks of time.  The result is that the same tasks repeated daily can be achieved in a set time with no surprises to make you late!

I can get my hair brushed up; add a touch of hairspray too in 15minutes or 10minutes if it is closer to the initial “set”. My make up routine can take 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on where I am going.

 

Speed can certainly be achieved with specific practise. It is not a case of practise makes perfect – more that practise leads to accuracy and speed.

 

As you are experienced at making up your face, so you can expertly apply moisturiser, foundation , concealer, powder and the base is ready for the fun part – the colour makeup. I spend as long on applying the base and the colour makeup.  It goes on accurately because it goes on almost every day.

When I want a new tweak to my look I set aside time to practise- to save oodles of time later on.  You have a beauty skill-set that makes it possible to cut corners when needed and relax into a lovely pampering time to get ready – it is all there because you know exactly what you are doing.

 

Looking at a clock continuously can be stressful, do you agree, dear Reader?

 

Listening to music has the opposite effect.  So a playlist is a marvellous way to work through your chosen tunes and you quickly know where in the routine you need to be on song 3 or 4!  I have been doing this unconsciously for a long time.  It is only thanks to Dita von Teese that I have captured this idea and really started to use it to help me get ready, feel so happy because of the music and be finished on time!  I also feel much more glamorous because of the music.

Tracks vary in length but the music of the 1940’s and 1950’s are often 3 minutes in length. This helps when choosing.  I put on the music and get ready – if it fits into my routine I take note of how many tracks it takes.  Then I know with each one what I need to be doing to be on time.

Apart from the oasis of calm I experience sitting at my dressing table, the music enables me to relax and not have to keep clock watching.

One of my favourite CD’s is the one I have of the Glamophones.

 

Such a happy photograph of me with the Glamophones

 

 

It has 8 tracks –

1. In the Mood
2. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
3. Chattanooga Choo Choo
4. Johnny B. Goode
5. Why do Fools Fall in Love?
6. Umbrella
7. Britney Spears Mash-UP
8. Uptown Funk

I used these 8 tracks to help me get ready for my Day Out. Timing was so important as we were going on a coach tour and could not be late!

 

When I am giving myself longer pampering time I will increase the selection or play it twice. It works!

 

Have you used playlists like this, dear Reader? If you are tech-smart it is all probably easy for you.  You are possibly doing this with playlists in a number of contexts.  The advance in accessing music is one of the wonderful marvels of change in my lifetime.

I grew up with 78’s as a very small child and then collected 45’s and LP’s on vinyl all through my teens. At 18 years old I had a portable cassette player for my birthday.  That gift was absolutely wonderful.  I used it so much I wore it out!  The Walkman was also a great way to have music anywhere.  The access to music now is totally amazing.  I have over 3000 tracks on Spotify in creative playlists.  My next step will be to have a more elaborate phone to play them on.

As a teenager in the 1970’s I always had music on. I started with a love of Motown as a young teenager, Elvis and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  I still love all that music enormously.  I love new tracks too and keep up with the most played new music on Spotify!

 

Glenn and I both love the music of Glenn Miller.   Glenn is actually named for Glenn Miller.  He was born the year Glenn Miller tragically disappeared.  He was called Alan Lewis Glenn.  After the disappearance his mother started to call him Glenn.  So dear Reader, Glenn is Alan at the Bank and at the Doctors and Glenn to everyone else!

 

We were fortunate to go and see the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the UK, led by Ray McVay.  It was near our wedding anniversary and I emailed the orchestra and requested “String of Pearls”.  When they played it for us I said excitedly “That’s us!”  It was a magic moment.

 

I am listeningto the CD of the Glenn Miller Orchestra now and fitting the tracks into my beauty routine. It always feels glamorous as I hear the music -remembering that magic moment and what I wore.  The music adds a layer of glamour to getting ready in a way that clockwatching can never do.

 

I would love to hear from you about your playlists for getting ready. Is this a new idea for you?  Have you been doing it for years?  Do chat in the Comments!

 

A big thank you to Glenn for taking the photographs.