Welcome to my first blog post! I can’t guarantee any regularity with posting, but I can guarantee honesty! I hope this will become a channel for me to share hair and makeup tips and tricks, as well as some vintage clothing and other personal topics.
However I wanted to start with why I dress vintage, and how this has shaped my confidence, and then my career.
I used to be that shy goth girl. You could always catch me wearing black loose fitting clothing, little to no makeup and my natural curly hair. I have always been a bigger girl, genetically I am from a big family and never felt comfortable in my own skin, let alone in modern clothing.
Media has always taught us we should be ashamed of a tubby tummy and wobbly thighs, creating issues with our bodies we didn’t know we had (aka cellulite, which everyone has) and teaching us that if you’re fat - you’re lazy, and should be ashamed. I battled with this a lot as a teenager and into my twenties. I still struggle with it to be honest, but it’s something I work on daily, and some days are better than others (This happens to everyone at some point, no matter what size you are).
It all started when I moved into a house full of women! My amazing female housemates were a little alternative and not overly vintage, however we would go out to a Rockabilly event each month and all get dressed up together. I slowly realised that the vintage style clothes (mainly 1950’s reproduction dresses) were very flattering on my curves - they hugged the smallest part of my torso, I could choose to show some cleavage or not, and it hid the bumpy bits I was so ashamed of. The event became a regular thing and I started to experiment more with my hair styling and trying to achieve that perfect winged liner. Over the space of about 4 years I started to regularly incorporate vintage elements into my wardrobe, and dipped into making my own circle skirts.
I can’t remember when exactly it was, but at some point in those years I started dressing vintage every day. I loved how the clothing fit my body, I loved how confident I felt, and for the first time in my life I felt sexy. It is such a powerful thing to realise YOU ARE SEXY. Not that I needed a person to find me sexy, but to know you are sexy is so important for your journey of self-love. If you feel and act confident, that rubs off on the people around you, and you tend to attract others to you.
In 2014 I entered my first Pinup Pageant at the Sydney Tattoo Expo. I didn’t place but I got amazing feedback and a nice little confidence boost. It was after the pageant I was contacted by a photographer who wanted to do a Pinup shoot with me, as the model. I have always been told ‘you have such a pretty face’… many of my plus size sisters have likely heard the same thing. They may have thought this was a compliment, however all we hear is ‘You are pretty, except the fat body’. Subtle back handed compliments eat away at the little confidence you have, especially if it is coming from those close to you. But I could not believe that a photographer wanted to take photos of an awkward chubby girl like me!
The photos were lovely (even though I now cringe at my hair and makeup!) and I got such good feedback, so I started to network and model for other photographers. Modelling helped to boost my confidence in front of the camera and develop my own hair/makeup skills.
After focusing on teaching myself how to do vintage hair styling and makeup (thank you Cherry Dollface and Youtube tutorials!) I realised that I was sick of my corporate job and wanted to pursue a new career – I needed to do something I was passionate about! So I quit the corporate job and started a makeup course. It has been a long and tough road but I am now doing well as a professional Hair/Makeup Artist and can thank my love for Pinup and Vintage for my career!
Pinup to me has been such a powerful tool as well as a large part of my branding and confidence. I get a lot of stares, curiosity and compliments on a day to day basis, but the most rewarding thing for me now are my followers and clients. To be able to see a woman see herself for the first time in full pinup hair and makeup start to cry from happiness is priceless. I love being able to share my passion for vintage with others and see their own confidence and personality shine. This makes all the struggles I have had with myself and my career 100% worthwhile.
I hope you learnt something from my first blog, and I look forward to sharing tips and tricks to potentially help you on your own journey.
Be kind to each other – we are unstoppable when we build each other up!
Want me to write about something? Let me know! Send an email to Dianne.murphy@live.com and I will hopefully be able to write about it in a blog!
Photo Credit @dollydeephotography
Brooches & Hair Flower from @daisyjean_floral