Decades of Elegance Summer Look-Back

Hello my dearest, I hope you are having a lovely summer week so far!  I am very excited as I have just found my camera, after having lost it about three months ago!!  And no, I don’t know how it ended up behind the fridge, but I will make sure to put it to great use again.

Vintage 1950s Necklace i Multi Colours

I have had an admin day today with my photos and thought that a little look-back at these past few years was in place!  In the photo above I am wearing one of my own favourite pieces – a 1950s costume jewellery necklace that my dear sister gave me for my 30th birthday.  She envisaged me wearing it with a white dress, and so for her 30th birthday party this is what I ended up in – a white silk and lace dress by Haiku Kimono.

Onyx and Marcasite Art Deco Cocktail Ring

Onyx and Marcasite Art Deco Cocktail Ring and a very handsomely dress Tedi

And at her 30th birthday party my sister then wore this Decades of Elegance Art Deco onyx and marcasite ring, and she paired it up with a white shift dress in silk by Haiku Kimono and her hair so beautifully half up half down with a black bow.

Vintage-Style Leopard Bracelet at Marys Living and Giving Event in 2013

And of course there was this glorious Leopard bracelet, vintage style and also Cartier style – you might know how beautifully Cartier designs their leopard jewellery pieces, and this one always makes me think of their designs!

I would love to hear about your favourite summer styles and what vintage or antique jewellery you wear at the moment, so please email me a photo and write a few lines: info@decadesofelegance.com

Happy Summer!

An evening in 1930s Paris

QuecumBar 

Happy Monday my lovely one, I hope you had a fabulous weekend!  I sure did, as I went to an amazing 1930s Parisien style live music brasserie, that specialises in Gypsy swing – a style of music that stems from the 1930s Paris, and draws on nearly 2000 years of Gypsy culture.

My take on 1930s style hair, makeup and outfit

I obviously took the opportunity to go all out, since I so rarely get the chance to dress up all 30s style – so I ended up looking a little something like this (which I think was more 40s style, but still, it was such fun!).  I did a bit of research online before I put on some red lipstick – for once in my lifetime managed to make the perfect eyeliner flicks!! and couple it all with a pearl necklace, pearl earrings, a polkadot dress – and a hairstyle that I twisted and messed around with until I decided to leave it as it was.

QuecumBar – Peter Sheppard on guitar accompanied by an amazing gent on the accordion

The venue that we went to is called QuecumBar and it is widely regarded as the world premier venue of the music genre Gypsy swing.  They are dedicated to promoting the music of Django Reinhardt, the founder of Gypsy swing and they stage some of the world’s finest Gypsy swing musicians.  We had the pleasure of enjoying the performance of Pete ‘Tiger’ Sheppard on guitar and his amazing colleague (whose name I am unable to recall or find!!) on accordion.  Experiencing the music live in this atmosphere, in such a beautifully decorated restaurant immediately drew us all into 1930s Paris – just amazing.

Do take a look on their own website to get an idea of what Gypsy swing is all about, and they have some more amazing performances coming up this year, so make sure that you reserve a table, have dinner with your loved ones (I don’t have words to describe how delicious it all was – such a treat to have a fantastic French restaurant here in London!) and enjoy this amazing experience.  I can also warmly recommend that you get dressed up in the air of the 30s – even just a bit of red lipstick will get you in the right mindset – and get ready to be taken back in time!

I would also love to hear how you would dress up if you were given the dresscode 1930s style?

Bumped Up Hairstyle with Loose Waves

Today we are looking at a fabulous and super easy hairdo that my friend Lady L wore to our afternoon tea last week:

Bumped up hairstyle with loose waves

She wanted an elegant look for the occasion and since we love hairstyles that don’t take forever to do, we decided to go for this bumped up look with some gloriously loose waves:

Who needs to create a windswept hairstyle when you can just spend a winter in London?!

Start out using a curling iron to create soft curls that go from the height of your ears and down, and make them approximately two centimeter wide.  When done you can run your fingers through the waves to make them soft and loose, and remember to give them a misting of hairspray.

After that gather a wide part of your hair at the front and tease the underside of it to create a bump on the top of your head – spray some hairspray into the teased part to make it stay.  Pull the whole section up and back softly to get that stunning bump, then twist the ends at the crown of your head and pin with two criss-crossed hair pins (as you can see in the photo below).  Spray liberally with hairspray to make sure that it stays up all day and night!

You can always add a vintage brooch or a hair accessory at the back – it creates such an elegant look!

I just loved the look of this mother-of-pearl coloured dress and these vintage paste earrings!

Our lovely lady here went for a classic makeup look with some light pink lip gloss to perfect her fair complexion.  She also wore a pair of Decades of Elegance 1920’s style sparkling earrings – such a fabulous look for an afternoon tea excursion!

Messy Side Ponytail with a Vintage Pearl Brooch

Over the weekend two lovely ladies, that you already know from the blog, came to London on a surprise visit!  We had a fabulous time with afternoon tea (review coming up – this place is just amazing!), shopping, dinner and cocktails – which obviously called for some dressing up:

Messy side ponytail with a vintage brooch

So for the afternoon tea we had to make ourselves look terribly pretty, so I put my sister’s hair up in a messy side ponytail and we the adorned it all with a vintage pearl brooch with marcasites:

Hide the pins and hairband by wrapping strands on hair around and across them

It is a really easy hairstyle to do as well: curl you hair from the ears down to create some texture, then twist the front part of your hair back above your ears, and fasten with some hair pins.  Gather the whole ponytail on one side and fasten with an elastic, which you then hide with the help of curls and hair pins.  Lastly you add the brooch by securing it behind one of the hair pins.  You can also glimpse a pair of vintage-style marcasite earrings with a faux pearl, as they went perfectly with the brooch.

A romantic detail is always a lovely addition to any hairstyle – in this case we chose a vintage brooch with pearls and marcasites

And here is the full look!  A white lace dress with that fabulous Peter Pan-collar – a second hand bargain from Mary’s Living and Giving Shop in Parsons Green; a pair of black tights and the most stunning black heels – such a lovely mid-winter look on a beautifully sunny day:

Peter Pan-collar dress in white lace with black heels

Audrey Hepburn-style birthday girl

So you might remember last week’s post from Hyde Park, where we briefly caught a glance of a 1930’s Art Deco ring?  Well it has found a loving home in Sweden and was worn to an amazing summer birthday party on Saturday, by the beautiful birthday girl herself:

It went so perfectly with her hairstyle – a black bow tied up in a simple Audrey Hepburn half-up hairdo.  The ring has a black centre onyx in the shape of a hexagon, surrounded by the most dazzling marcasites.  She also wore a stunning white silk dress by Haiku Kimono, with a few gold buttons at the back, as the last touch to this elegant summer-look.

… see, the ring goes with everything!

Wedding hairstyles and makeup

On the morning of the wedding all the girls came to our hotel room and had their hair – and some also their makeup – done by two amazing ladies: Sofia Sjoo and Emma Louise Sherry.

What a treat to have your make up done by someone who has worked on several movie sets…

Fascinators – the essential accessory at an English wedding

M’s hairstyle above reminds me of the adventurous 1920s bobs, that caused so much controversy almost exactly 100 years ago and eventually started a revolution in women’s hairstyles.  Oh this is such an interesting subject and I promise to come back to it soon again!  Here M’s fuschia coloured hair piece goes so well with her beautiful complexion, which is where all the focus goes thanks to the elegant and discreetly coloured outfit.

D’s ravishing red hair, also above, was highly admired and received so many compliments during the evening, and the navy blue outfit and fascinator that she chose highlighted her hair so well.

… and here she is, Miss V – also straight from the roaring 20s in her gorgeous red lipstick and those stunning finger waves in her hair!  Yes this definitely calls for a 1920s blog post – the era is just so fascinating and my absolute favourite decade!

  

As for the bridesmaid’s, using her creativity Sofia set up our birdcage veils so nicely and made them work with our hairstyles.  She pulled my sister’s hair back into a bun and arranged the curls around it so beautifully.  The hairpiece with pearls was also part of our birdcage veils – just the right touch for a vintage style wedding.

I wanted my hair in a messy French twist with a 50s/60s bump, and I simply loved what Sofia created!  It stayed up perfectly for 14 hours of dancing and partying, and not once did I have to make any changes to it – how impressive is that!?

Not to mention our stunning bride’s hairdo!  A small fishtail braid along one side, messy ringlets chasing around the back – and this beautiful vintage style hairpiece to crown it all – we love it!

Thank you Sofia, I think you made the day for more people than just for me!

Afternoon tea with a side of glamour

Any excuse to wear a favourite piece of jewellery… 

… my hair is up in a ponytail with a few small braids on both sides for that lovely boho chic touch…

Get the girls together and go for some tea and scones – and don’t forget to use it as an excuse to wear your favourite pieces of jewellery, as it is the perfect time to get just a bit more dressed up! 

I wanted to wear my favourite earrings the other day – a pair of 1920s style ones – but as my friend and I went to a rather rustic French café I didn’t want to look too overdressed – ahh the constant battle!

Well, I ended up pairing up the earrings with this very subtle, dark grey top from COS, which comes with the most divine black bow on one shoulder.  The contrast that it creates with the sparkling earrings was just what I was looking for, as it lets the jewellery stand out just the right amount.  And COS really is one of my favourite shops for laid back, yet beautifully tailored clothes, that just always seem to work with vintage jewellery!

So I hope this inspires you to wear those earrings or that bracelet that might be just a little bit too shimmery, as I think all jewellery is made to be worn and should not be tucked away for that “special occasion” that might just come around once or twice – instead wear it and enjoy it as much as you can!

Romantic messy winter braids

I like starting off the week with some hairstyle inspiration for our workdays, so below is my boho chic braid, which takes about three minutes to do once you get the hang of it.  It looks lovely with a piece of jewellery as well and below I am wearing it with a gold coloured brooch with faux pearls and rhinestones from the 50s.

I am wearing a 1950s brooch as a hairpiece with this super messy braid.

… and this is what it looks like from the other side.  You can also continue braiding all the way with all your hair – and rolling up the end of the braid into a side bun!

Allow the braid to chase around the back of your head.  I could have made mine a bit more structured by tightening up the braid, but here I chose to go for a really loose look.

1. Get some texture in your hair before you start – either by curling it quickly or by useing thickening hair spray or a bit of sea salt spray.

2. Start making a French braid on one side of your head and incorporate strands from the top and the bottom – as you can see in the second picture below.

3. When you get to the other side of your head keep the braid in your left hand and with your right hand take a good strand of hair from the other side of your face.  Put these two up in a small ponytail and loop your hair back through it, as you can see in the top picture.

4. Continue braiding a simple braid with the remainder of your hair and secure it with a headband.  Finally you will wrap another teased strand around the band to hide it.

This hairstyle can be varied in so many ways so have a play around with it to see what you like the most!

Messy bun with 1930’s glamour

I wanted to add a touch of something special to my hairdo on Saturday as I was going to a lovely birthday party, so when searching through my jewellery box this stunning little 1930s brooch caught my attention.  I ended up securing it with some hairpins on the left side of the bun:

When you use a piece of jewellery in your hairstyle don’t worry about getting it perfect.  I love a bit of messiness, which really just gives individuality and oomph to your look!  I do try and hide the hairpins though, but apart from that I just encourage the strands to do their own thing – and my hairdos are never even or balanced, but all the more charming in my eyes!

The look above was quite simple to make: put the top part of your hair up in a ponytail and secure the rest of the strands around it in a big mess.  You can do a little braid here and a twist there, and you are ready to go!

Amber coloured brooch meets sweet winter braids

Ca 1950s amber coloured silver brooch

Oh you know how I love wearing brooches as hair adornments – and how sweetly doesn’t this one go with small braids in a messy updo!

My friend and I spent a girly day around London on Sunday, which involved some fabulous shopping and some lazy Sunday lunching.  Now, a girl simply cannot go on such a fabulous day trip without making herself oh so very pretty first, which is why one of my favourite brooches was invited to come along.  It is ca 1950s, silver with an amber coloured round stone, surrounded by some stunning little marcasites.

As for my hair I just made my usual poof at the back, and secured it with some criss crossed hairpins.  I then took some strands from the front, braided them, pulled them all the way back, across the bottom of the poof and secured with some more hairpins that I hid under the strands of hair.  A very simple yet such a sweet hairstyle which can go from daytime shopping to evening glamour.