Monday 3 January 2011

Leading lady hair: The Lady Eve (1941)



As mentioned yesterday I was rather taken with Barbara Stanwyck's hair in "The Lady Eve" and wanted to give it a whirl myself.

It is a fairly simple do that looks a lot more elaborate than it really is:  a curled back hanging loose, two small side rolls, and a tumble of rolls at the top.

I started by cutting my bangs, which were about 8 inches long, to about 5 inches - though shorter would work too.  You could do with longer hair but it would need a lot more grips to hold.

I then wet set my hair, without setting lotion as I didn't want any crispiness, and separated it into four sections with a rat tail comb: a rectangular top section, the sides and back.

I set the back in pink perm rods, only rolled to the nape of the neck and rolled under.  I then placed two upward and forward facing pin curls on each side section and the top was set in as many pink perm rods as I could fit on the top of my head.

(Look at my glaring eyes.  Mwahahahahahaaa)

I then stuck a hairnet over the back and went to bed.  I woke up next to a kitten - say hello to Baby Gene:






The key to this hairdo is in the brush out - it needs to be done section by section.  I started by brushing out the back section and lightly brushing it under.

I then took out each side, brushing out lightly in an upwards direction and then I teased the section before smoothing the top and rolling (I always roll over an old mascara tube) and fixing with a bobby pin.

Side section before brush out - not very promising looking eh?:


Once both sides were rolled I very carefully removed the rollers at the top.  It is essential to try and keep as much curl in this section as possible, so just sliding the rollers out so the hair stays in little sausage shapes is best.

Sides rolled with top section rollers removed:

And now I was almost done - for the final stage I split each top curl into two, re-rolled each half over the good old mascara tube and sat the curl on the head.  (You would want to pin each one of you were going out dancing but I didn't bother as I'm just staying in).  I also took a little from each front roll and arranged slightly onto the forehead, these were fixed with pins hidden in the hair.

I then gave it all a good hairspray and tada!







I'm rather pleased with it, though of course it looks more detailed on my hair as blonde shows every little curl.  Now to find somewhere to go so that I can show this off.  Ah, the supermarket, oh, the glamour!

32 comments:

  1. WOW Lisa! That's bloody amazing! I'm going to have to try it! A*! :)

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  2. I LOVE this style on you!!! I think my hair is just long enough to try this front with the back in a snood. I love that you are taking pics of your sets. It makes it so much easier to for me to see if I can do it, too.

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  3. So glad Fleur alerted us to this on Facebook! It's utterly perfect!! Must do a video tutorial; I will credit you entirely! xxo
    Ashley
    Lisafreemontstreet

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  4. wow wow woooow!! Lisa you are the hair styling guru!!

    xxx

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  5. Beautiful! I'll try that tonight/tomorrow!

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  6. Wow, it's stunning! I'm going to have to try this one too! Thanks for the tutorial! xoxo

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  7. S U P E R!!! Great job LISA! :-)

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  8. This style looks great on you and why not look galm whilst doing the supermarket shop.
    Big thank you for sharing and I may if I am brave enough try this style maybe with a snood.

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  9. Thanks for another great tutorial! Hopefully I'll have an evening off soon to try one of them my self ;)

    Miss M
    missmargaritas.blogspot.com/

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  10. Beautiful!! - and: Hello to Baby Gene!! ;")

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  11. Oh, I wish I was more adventurous when it came to hairstyling, but I always do the same old sets… you have done a really nice job there and I might even stray from my setting pattern! Tups x

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  12. Fan-flippin-tastic my dear friend!! Gorgeous all the way around!

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  13. I love it! Thanks for the great tutorial.

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  14. that looks great. i would like to try those kinds of more elaborate styles myself but i end up look like a horrible poodle. :)

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  15. awesome tutorial and a fantastic set on you Lisa! thank you :)

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  16. Well done Lisa! I love using perm rods...they always give me the best, most long wearing curl. Bravo to you for sleeping in them! The brush out is always key and something I must work on to master. Thanks for sharing!

    MaryDeluxe

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  17. I am so thrilled that people liked this - thanks. I'd love to get a little webcam to record tutorials and stuff properly. It is a fun do, I'm trying to keep it for tomorrow.

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  18. What a great set! It really looks just like Barbara Stanwyck's.

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  19. I MUST try this its looks amazing!
    brilliant tutorial

    x

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  20. how darling..thanks for posting this..I need to try it...my version of messy curls sucks compared to yours amor.

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  21. That's fantastic Lisa, I doubt I could pull it off, but I may attempt it one day! Love the cat photo too! :)

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  22. Hey, what a fabulous job you did with that! It looks great on you. Wish I could do that style, but I think my hair is a bit too long.

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  23. omg this style is the most complex one you've demonstrated yet, I think! Gorge!!

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  24. Gorgeous. Im proud of you! Hopeing you r feeling better these days. Im having a crappy week, with my try to quit smoking, im on my fourth day no without the stinky-sticks! But feels inspired when i see you!
    I rolled my hair on thursday night and slept in rollers, woke up and brushed it out and did a simple but nice 40s-do. It made me feel a little bit better!
    Have a nice day!

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  25. lady eve is probably my fav BS flick and you gave such a wonderful tribute to her! i found your blog via your links on FB (i'm missy kim) and i am so inspired! it's about time i started learning how to style my hair ~ ahahah! i thank you so much for the details and photos to help the hair impaired follow along! pleasure to meet you!

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