Modern Retro Hair and Fashion Looks + Roll and Go Tutorial

 Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read 

Modern Retro Hair and Fashion Looks + Roll and Go Tutorial

I’ve always loved vintage fashion. I mostly love the 1950’s style dresses due to the tulle, the poofy skirts and the colors, but I love exploring many eras in fashion. In this article, I’ll tell a bit about my love of vintage fashion and give a tutorial for a Roll and Go, a cool hair tool that helps you achieve victory rolls, bumper bangs and many vintage hairstyles. I even included some discounts to my favorite Temu and Melissa shoes fashion loves.

My sweet husband and I at our rehearsal dinner in 2003

For my rehearsal dinner for my wedding in 2003, I wore a vintage style dress (it was new but had a skirt that puffed out like a 1950’s dress) and even did a vintage-ish hair flip to match. See the photo of my husband and I above.

My fiber arts teacher in my Master’s program at UofL knew of my love of vintage fashion and décor and gifted me a Bill Blass book around the same time, which I loved and it inspired me to be bolder and get more creative with my fashion. You can read about the iconic Fort Wayne, Indiana born designer here. He had quite a career in fashion, dressing prominent figures like Katharine Graham and Nancy Reagan.

My bumper bangs

The house we purchased (with the help of my maternal grandma, my Nani) after we got married became adorned by us in vintage furniture and was even written up in the local paper under the title “Nifty Thrifty Fifties”.

We mostly decorated in vintage pieces due to finding them at thrift stores (they were what we could afford), but over time, we fell in love with “retro” design and have incorporated it into our home as a “modern retro” look. Here’s an article that we posted on our site on how to add more vintage style to your home.

My vintage decor pairs well with the look

While I love shopping for vintage dresses and fashion at thrift stores, eBay, Poshmark, and vintage shops, I also like some brands that sell re-designs of vintage fashion like:

I’d definitely wear this dress if I were still teaching

Temu Discount

Many of the “old/new” dresses are quite pricy, so if I need a budget friendly retro dress, I turn to “big box” stores like Amazon, Walmart and Temu, which have some affordable cute retro fashion looks. If you order anything from Temu, use my code afe55197 to get 30% off or simply shop using my Temu link here.

My comfy vintage looking dress

Here are some affordable vintage-style dresses that I like from Amazon and Walmart:

Side view of the bumper bangs

I like to play with adding some pieces from different eras. While most of my looks are 1950’s inspired, I’ve updated them a bit with some modern pieces like a leather bomber or incorporated my own modern hairstyle with a vintage dress. Here are some of my modern retro completed looks so far.

My DIY Daisy Duck mouse ears

Disney Teacher + Melissa Shoe Discount

My first look is what I call the “Disney Teacher”. I created this Daisy Duck mouse ear headband (see how to create it in this article on my site) and decided it looked great with a dress I purchased just a month prior. Sometimes my looks take a while to come together.

The dress is from Temu and I also ordered a fluffy petticoat underskirt to make it pouf out a bit. The dress is very comfortable so if I was still teaching, I would definitely wear it for a day of teaching.

Watch me create the mouse ears in the 1-minute video below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:

I paired it with some old Kate Spade jelly heels that I’ve had (and adored) for many years. They are comfortable, but if I were teaching, I’d wear a pair of ballet flats with the dress. The Melissa brand have some super cute ballet flats and I may have to order myself some. If you order any shoes from Melissa (they are so comfy, especially the Possession jelly), use my link here or my promo code CBCDISCOUNT at checkout on shopmelissa.com for 20% off.

The skirt slip helps pouf the dress out a bit

I curled my hair in my modern daily hairstyle using my Beachwaver Muli-Barrel curling iron for this look and the next one. I love this tool and wrote about it and included tutorials in this article on my website.

Curling my hair first helped my bumper bangs last all day

Retro Modern Barbie + Roll & Go Bumper Bangs Tutorial

The next look was something I threw together after doing some experimenting with my Roll & Go hair tool. I decided to experiment with some bumper bangs, and the tool came with a booklet with a tutorial for the bangs and other vintage hairstyles.

I paired the hairstyle with a pinkish-red dress and my Member’s Only leather bomber jacket, which I’ve had for years and got on eBay. Here’s a similar Member’s Only satin jacket here on Amazon.

The Roll and Go Hair Tool

Check out my 1-minute video Roll & Go tutorial below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:

To create the bumper bangs:

  • I first curled my hair with my Beachwaver.

  • Then I pulled my hair into a ponytail after separating the front of my hair by my forehead (to create the bumper bangs).

  • I backcombed the hair that was to be the bumper bangs with a teasing comb.

  • Then I inserted my hair into the smaller end of the tool (which grabs the hair) and then rolled my hair towards my forehead.

  • I held onto my hair while removing the tool, then I used the bobby pins that came with the tool and inserted one into the bumper bangs on one side, then another on the other side.

  • You can use hairspray to hold the hair, but mine stayed for a day without it. Curling the hair first, I believe, helps it hold the style.

While some may argue that my looks are too modern to be “retro”, remember that fashion can be whatever you want it to be. I like to play with my style and be inspired and I encourage you to do the same!

If you loved this article, then we know you’ll love this one too: Top Retro Fashion Trends That Are Back For Good

Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is the owner of Carolyn’s Blooming Creations is a regular contributor and editor for CBC. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.