Idda van Munster: Inspired by dark vintage vamp beauties.

Darlings, just a quick post tonight on this lovely vintage vamp look. This look from the silent film era began emerging in the mid-1910′s and continued to play strongly into the post-WWI emphasis for heavier makeup and more sexualized beauty. The dark eyes, evoking the sinister sexuality of the female vampire (or “vamp”), are also a nod to the vogue for Orientalism and all things exotic at the time, deliciously embodied by the striking Theda Bara in the banner pic left. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing for Halloween, my dears…

The silent film era of the 1920's was full of glamorous movie stars, such as Louise Brooks, Pola Negri, Pina Menichelli and Clara Bow. Women were mysterious, beautiful and heavily made up for the camera. The look was very distinct and included short, wavy hair, dark crimson lips and sparse eyebrows. This is a perfect look for a 1920's party or a Halloween costume. You don't have to be a makeup artist to do this yourself, but there are specific things to do to create a realistic silent film star look!

The makeup:

I think this is really beautiful feminine, yet dark and mysterious look; the roaring 1920's were called so for a reason; short skirts and dark makeup.

The 1920's vamp had a pale face, dramatic eyes and eyebrows and crimson lips. The basic look was powdered and pale. Women used loose powder, slightly lighter than their natural color, and never applied it to their bare skin. They would apply powder on a puff to their face (still moist from facial cream) to create a pasty look. The modern method is to apply foundation and dust all over with powder.

The hair:

Marcel waves can be tricky to create, especially when you have longer hair. Since this was a hairstyle popular in the late 1920's/early 1930's, when many women had bob haircuts, it'd be much easier to accomplish with a short haircut.

Anyway, there are some tricks to creating this look, but some do require using a curling iron or flat iron. My cousin bought me in Berlin Iron Babyliss Pro Wave 3 Branches - I'm so happy and satisfied with it!

I learned how to create Marcel waves with fingers too, maybe this will help you: creating finger waves.

Recreating the Twenties look with vintage is do-able but good condition clothing is both expensive and hard to find. A good starting point is etsy.com.

My look for a 1920's party:

For this look - I've done my nails with a 1930's manicure.

As you can see, only the center of the fingernail was painted. The half-moons and the tips were left bare.
I love this photo of Joan Crawford, it's got such atmosphere and style, and just look at that manicure!