Get ready for Glamour

Living Doll - Miss September

Living Dolls are mothers, nurses, models, photographers, graphic designers, grandmothers, students, teachers - infact you name it, they come from every walk of life but have this one thing in common - they love and live vintage !

 

I cant tell you how thrilled I am to indroduce you to our Miss September - not only is Miss Sammy a stunning vintage chick, but, like me, she is also am extreemly busy Mum who manages to care for her family and fuel her vintage interests, all while looking a million bucks at the same time. I love you Miss Sammy - you are an inspiration !

What does 'vintage' mean to you?

 It means love, charm, glamour, happiness, cocktails, swivel sticks, music, dancing, friends, baking,…. LIFE. xx

 

What was it that first prompted your interest in vintage culture?

My Grannys furniture, I totally fell in love with it. I have it in my house now.

 What is your favourite era, and do you 'live it' every day? In what ways?

My favourite era is the 40s and 50s. I dress in this style everyday, paint my face and do my hair and endeavour to wear red lipstick. I try to live by some of the family traditions of the era and oh how I love to bake, and look after the men in my life.

Tell us about your favourite item of vintage clothing, kitchenalia, music, furniture or whatever !

My favourite vintage thing is my Grannys crystals.I never met her but feel a conection with them and love to take her with me on my vintage journey.

 

 Can you share with us why vintage culture continues to hold such appeal for you?

I think it holds such an appeal to me because I love the values of days gone past. I am in awe of our for mothers and what they endured with so little. I love the way they made do with the little the had and they never just threw things away like we do. I wish we didn’t live in a throw away world and that appliances and general household thing were made to last. I love the simplistic way in which they lived and how much they didn’t take for granted but most of all I love the glamour and pride in which they took in themselves.

Do you have any tips for anyone starting out in the vintage scene?

yes step out side your comfort zone and meet the most wonderful people, dont be afraid to be who you want to be and step inside and meet the people who will willingly help you on your journey.And fall in love with being glamorous and all things vintage.

Now is your chance to provide us with an overview of who you are and what you do.

I am a mother of four boys and have a wonderful husband who encourages my journey. He too loves the vintage life. I am lucky to be able to encourage and teach ways of vintage glamour through my Job with The Lindy Charm School for Girls. It brings so many tears to my eyes and when someone is moved by the fact that they truly feel beautiful, I love it. The more I see young girls exploring the Vintage life the happier it makes me as I can see that vintage glamour is never going to die. Whist my boys secretly call me a freak or say oh not another dead person’s dress hahahah. They constantly tell me how lovely I look and how they love that my friends look like real women. I think it’s so important to be proud of being a woman. I loved staying home when my boys were little and baking and keeping house and feel very privileged to have been in a position to be able to do that.

 

Finally, what or who inspires you and why?

I am mostly inspired by my friends. Whilst I am totally in love with Hollywood Glamour, the women and men in the  whole vintage, retro, rockabilly scene  are really inspiring people. I guess ordinary people living their lives drawing inspiration from there vintage life. I am inspired by both my grandmothers and what they had to endure and how they totally loved my Grandfathers till the day they died and beyond.

Brooke Orchard Photography.....your ultimate pin up shot stop!

Fellow Vintage Lovers....I want to tell you all about the ultimate pin up and fashion photographer currently working in Melbourne. A woman with a passion for not only creating that authentic vintage look in print, but also with a passion for living the authentic vintage look in real life too..... The ever beautiful - inside and out - Ms Brooke Orchard........

 

Can you tell us about you and your photography business?

About me, well I like original, I like meaning, I like real, I like deep, I am a dreamer and I simply love creating beautiful images!!

Apart from my vintage inspired art I also like to photograph children, I love history so I often do children’s theme shoots that have a historical or fairytale element to them. People’s personalities, uniqueness and their individual journeys are of great fascination to me which I guess accounts for my passion for portrait photography. Whether I am shooting a beauty portrait or a real life character study, the element I’m seeking is always the same….feeling….mood….emotion & connection, it’s that small window of time the eye of the subject can convey to me something from deep within….capturing this is a real thrill! It’s the number one ingredient for a great portrait.

"My aspiration as a photographer is to create images that have strong visual impact, but they must also have soul!"

Brooke Orchard

Where are you based, and where do you travel to?

I am based in Point Cook and although I do often work from home I consider my studio to be anywhere really! Anywhere that I can achieve the quality of light I’m looking for dependent on the project at hand too of course. I’ll often shoot on location or at a client’s home!

I am happy to travel taking all things into consideration.

When did you start offering vintage photo shoot, and what was your inspiration behind doing so?

I originally started shooting vintage whilst studying photography, it was during this time that I got the notion to combine my love of imagery & vintage fashion and this was the content of most of my folios during that 4 years after which I graduated top of my class

My inspiration for ‘Vintage Fashion’ was born out of old movies, as a girl I would watch movies spanning from the 1930s- 60s. I absolutely fell in love with the way the women looked, so elegant, classy & feminine not to mention stylish! The 1950s silhouette I found particularly appealing, who could go past those hourglass curves? The look for me holds such a wonderful combination of contrasting qualities, it is both soft & feminine yet strong & striking at the same time then you have this delightful concoction of alluring sensuality softened by innocence & vulnerability ……. sweetly tempting!!

However it is only recently that I decided to offer this as part of my service to clients, for some reason I always regarded it as my personal work but people seem to love it so much so why not offer it?

"Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

You offer packages which include hair & make-up, do you prepare your clients hair and  make-up yourself?I have hair/make-up stylists that I use for this although I sometimes help out with the make-up! I also work with The Lindy Charm School for Girls on occassion and can collaborate with the Misstresses on a session when they are in town.... (Melbourne)

Let me encourage my readers, if you are in the market for a shoot for yourself, a modeling folio, a gift for a loved one, or simply to feel good about yourself, then Brooke's multi National award winning service is for you, give her a call and you will most certainly be glad you did !

Brooke can be contacted via the details on her business facebook page:

Brooke Orchard Photography

I love surprises ! A gift and a makeover....

Can you imagine how delightful it was for me to receive a surprise parcel in the mail recently? Dont you just adore those little packages that arrive so unexpectedly? It is those little highlights that add magic to ordinary days........ and when I opened up my little package, there was an entire makeup set courtesy of my dear darling friend Chrissy Keepence from the Lindy Charm School for Girls!

Now, I dont claim to be any expert in powder and paint, infact, I am usually the one begging my friends for their make up secrets and hints, but last Sunday I opened all my new little Lindy Charm goodies and gave them a whirl. Before I tell you just what I thought of my new blush, eyeliner, lipstick (red of course), lip pencil and eyebrow pencil, let me give you a small bit of background about my cosmetic knowledge.....

I didnt start wearing makeup till I left highschool and even then, not really very much till I began my working life at age 20. It wasnt that I didnt adore make up and what it could do to enhance the features God gave me, it was just that, well, it never seemed that important save for all the plays and musicals I participated in. That's perhaps a bit sad isnt it? After all, every young girl loves to play with makeup, and I most certainly did play and experiment, but in the country, 4 hours from Melbourne, there just wernt that many places to wear make up too......

When I began my working life and started wearing makeup every day, I quickly fell into a routine of 60's glam style - you know...winged eyeliner, defined brows, and as I have very thin lips, I tended to play them down with subdued shades of lippy. I guess I just gravitated to what looked beautiful to me in all my favourite movies and images - 50's and 60's styles of course !!! Never one to follow fashion trends and always far more inclined to dance to my own drum......

I have kept pretty much the same look ever since - alternating between red 50's lips, light eyeshadow and winged eyeliner sometimes, and 60's natural lippy with heavy coal coloured eyeshadow and eyeliner. It has been alot of fun, just as make up and dressing should be.

In the early 90's when I was 'getting my groovy on' with make up, I really really struggled to find a liquid eyeliner that would last all day and not crumble off, sometimes I found it very hard to locate a liquid eyeliner at all, as it was not really the norm to wear it at the time - everyone seemed to have that 'shimmery face' look (a look I just cant stand - give me Dita porcelain smoothness every time.) I must confess that I have never really found the perfect liquid eyeliner, although generally speaking, you do get what you pay for. And pre 'Poppy' lipsticks, it was nigh on impossible to find a mat lipstick in golden age of Hollywood red.

Skip ahead to last Sunday as I experimented once again with new make up.....my lippy went on mat and PERFECT in the absolute darlingest shade of red (no Ita Butrose orange to be seen !!!).

My lip pencil complimenting it with precision that did not 'bleed' into the little creases around my lips (yes, age is creeping in!!)

My eyebrow pencil spot on the right natural looking colour.

My blush the rosiest of glows that perfectly suits my pale skin (that is something else I have always found difficult to get just right!).

And the piece da resistance, my wonderful WONDERFUL new liquid eyeliner!! It lasted all day looking as flash and daring at 10pm as it did at 10am.

(Below - the makeover begins)

I am in love !! Did you hear me readers? I AM IN LOVE with my new make up!!!! Please believe me when I tell you that I am NOT just saying this because I know the Lindy Charm gals....this make up has been perfectly orchestrated to suit those of us who want a golden age of Hollywood face. If you like that shimmery face effect, head on down to Priceline, but if mat finish, last all day, perfect iconic colours is what you chase. If Dita, Marilyn, Rita, or Elizabeth is what you are after then these are the goodies for you !!! Miss Chrissy, you have a devote for life in me....no more searching for non-crumbly eyeliner, or the perfect rose pink blush, or chasing that hard to find matt red lippy for me.

A million thankyou's to Miss Chrissy and the Lindy Charm Girls !!!

(First and final photographs in the article provided courtesy of Brooke Orchard Photography)

Lindy Charm School For Girls

Girls....it's on again !!! The Lindy Charm School for Girls is coming to Victoria !! You dont want to miss either of these events - a wonderful chance to make new friends within the vintage cultural scene, to have a girls day out with lots of laughs and fun, and of course, the chance to learn new tips and tricks to create that glamerous, beautiful vintage look you long for !! Planning a hen's outing? Want to celebrate a milestone with your girlfriends? Want to spend some quality time with you Mum/Sister/Best Friend? This is the perfect opportunity !!! Get in early to secure you place.....you will be so glad you did !!!