The 1940s WWII Ball--Part One: What we wore

Saturday night was simply magical! Last summer a friend told me about a local event called the 1940s WWII Ball. It's held at a tiny airport about an hour north of here and we weren't able to go last year but the photos made it look like so much fun that I vowed we'd attend this year. I'm so glad we did--it was fantastic!

I knew from last year's photos that everyone goes in 1940s attire, so I started searching Etsy for something to wear. Soon there just wasn't time to order anything and I wasn't able to go out searching the local vintage clothing stores with two kids in tow, so I decided to wear the only 1940s dress I own, a dress that I purchased last summer. Because the ball has a WWII theme, I added a pretty vintage patriotic rhinestone pin to the collar.

With this dress I have previously worn a pair of cherry red patent heels--pretty, but not so great for walking around in. I decided instead to go with a pair of red and cream wedges that I've always thought had a bit of 1940s flair. They're comfortable and I love them and I think they looked great with the dress!

As it turned out, much of the event was held in a field complete with weeds and poky thistles, so I was even happier that I decided to ditch the heels for the sensible wedges.

For earrings, I chose a pair of vintage blue moonglow Lucite screw-back buttons that I bought at a garage sale with a matching necklace a few summers ago. They were the perfect shade of blue and I think they were very authentic in style!

The next hurdle was hair and makeup. For a 1940s event, Victory rolls are a must! I've never tried them on my hair because I have naturally curly hair, but for this party I was determined to be authentic. The first step was to spend an hour with my flat iron, straightening my hair. Next, I watched this YouTube video several times.

I practiced once on Maren but I didn't get my rolls tight enough and she ended up looking like the child bride of some freaky polygamist from Southern Utah.

I know that traditionally victory rolls start with a pin curl or hot roller set, but since my hair will curl if it's wet and and I haven't had to use hot rollers in 20 years and therefore don't own any, I had to to the best I could with my little curling iron. I managed to get it all wrestled and pinned and am happy with how it all turned out.

For makeup, I used an auburn-colored eyebrow pencil to match my new red hair, watched yet more YouTube videos on how to do 1940s eyeliner (still haven't mastered that skill) and even went for the gusto with false eyelashes! And of course, red lipstick with my lips drawn to match the 1940s full style.

The Mister did some research on men's fashions in the 1940s and ended up wearing a pair of navy pinstriped trousers and matching vest, with a white shirt and beautiful red tie. He looked handsome!

And now that we were all fancied up, we were ready to party....more on that tomorrow!