Christmas in July Sale starts tomorrow!

Heads up, Jojo's followers!  Tomorrow starts the

Christmas in July sale- 15% off everything in the store!  A great chance to score some lovely vintage and a fab price! 

This sale is part of the Etsy Vintage Market Team's promo and runs through 24th.  To see my other team members sale items, simply search with the tag "cij" or "christmas in july" on etsy! 

Happy Shopping!!!

The Making of a Jojo Girl

As I mentioned (or ranted rather) before, I was in search of a second model for my shop. My advertising was very successful and I received a slew of interested young ladies. I narrowed down the choices and came up with a handful that I will be photo testing over the next month. I've decided to bring on several new girls with different looks and sizes - kind of an retro army of "Jojo Girls." Funny, that makes them sound like they will break out in choreographed Janet Jackson style moves in the studio! That way I can stylize hair and makeup more specifically to a period and shoot a dozen outfits in that era on one girl in one shot.

My first test was with the lovely Miss Kitteh. I attempted to document her transformation in the studio so you could see some before and after photos. I will give a brief tutorial for achieving her look. She has graciously agreed to this with the promise of universal fame and fortune. Well, perhaps just the promise of a monthly phone call to come back and model again. :-) We have decided to transform her into a look thats a cross between Bridget Bardot and Twiggy, so she can model some 60s fashions for me in her test shoot. I wanted to look to be a wearable nod to the 60s yet not completely over the top. We will primarily be using MAC products.

So here is Kitteh (pronounced Kitty)in the studio premakeup. I've prepped her face with MAC's "Fix +", "Strobe Cream" to brighten and moisturize, and then "Prep + Prime Skin Base to keep the makeup on. "

Using a flat foundation brush, I applied MAC "Studio Fix Fluid" foundation in NW20. Then with an eyeshadow brush, I've filled in her whole eyelid with a "Paint Pot" in Soft Ochre to give a nice base for the shadows we will be using. I've put some undereye concealer in the darkest part (crease)of the undereye and a little around the nostrils to blend.

So then we apply an all over wash of "Mylar" eyeshadow with a 213 fluff brush. Then I place "Aquadisiac" on the lid only starting at the outer corner and blending up and in.

Using a 219 pencil brush, I carefully line the crease with "Carbon," a black eyeshadow to give the eye some depth. The line is clean but not as heavily stylized as Twiggy's, because we want this look a little more wearable and not as theatrical. I pull the line out past the eyelid a bit and then backtrack to meet the corner of the eye.

I then do a light dusting of "Shroom" under the arch of the brow with a 224 tapered blending brush. I deposit a little in the inside corner of eye as well. I smudge directly into the lashline "Graphblack" black eyeliner.

Next comes a light sweep of black mascara on the upper and lower lids. I curl the upper lashes with an eyelash curler. Then we apply false lashes- I used Model 21 Fashion Lashes in "3m 28." I cut them into halves to make them easier to apply.

Using a small angle brush, I apply liquid eyeliner in "Blacktrack," starting high at the outer corner of the eye coming in towards the pupil. I go back and fill in from the upper line down to the lash line. Again curl the lashes to blend the natural into the false, and load up on very black mascara on the upper lashes.

Then I lined the waterline of her lower lid with a white pencil to make her big eyes look even larger. using a stiff angled brush, I filled in her browns with "Cork" eyeshadow. I applied "Prep + Prime Lip", lined with a nude pencil and then filled in the lip with "Viva Glam V." I put "Melba" blush on the apples of her cheeks. A quick dusting of "Blot Powder" and a spritz of "Fix +" sets the makeup and keeps it from looking to powdery.

Next stop, Hair. We did some backcombing and spraying and pulled her hair up into a Bardot-esque pony tail. Her hair was fine, so I think next time I will use rollers and some hair powder to get even more volume. Yes, thats my mom in the background. She is my resident hair teaser- since she lived through the 60s, she can tease hair like nobody's business!

So, here is a quick chart of the look I designed for Kitteh before she came.






And here is our lovely Miss Kitteh in her test shoot:

A close up of the makeup look.......

Congratulations, you've just become the next Jojo Girl!

Stay tuned for more models!

Model Hell......oh, and free U.S. shipping in the shop

So, today I reluctantly posted an ad on craigslist for a second model for the shop. I love my model, Sara. She is the best thing since the invention of wine. She totally embodies the Jojo look. She is tall and shapely and everything looks gorgeous on her. I get more emails about her than anything else on the site- lol. I've even had a few european men send odd love notes for her. I know I will be hard pressed to ever replace her when she's decided she's had enough. Anyway, my lovely Sara is broad shouldered and I've started a collection of items that are in the xsmall range that just don't fit her.

So, I finally listed an ad and now have the unpleasant task of trying to sort through pretty women to see who has the right look for the shop. Its tough. They have to have a young face that can pull off many different eras, not to mention needing a 24" waist. So many young women today look,well.... too modern. I need a girl that can pull off a 60s bouffant or a sleek 40s or 50s look. I guess I'll know her when I see her. Hopefully this process will be easier than a root canal. Best to have a cup of tea and calm my nerves.

Anyway, etsy came up with a great new coupon code system to offer free shipping. So, for a break in this model mayhem, I thought I'd try it out. Right now I'm offering free DOMESTIC U.S. SHIPPING on anything in the store using coupon code USFREESHIP (yes, I know it should be "modelhell" to tie this all together, but I'm a mom that operates on little sleep. )

See you at the shop!

SHOES, Glorious shoes....

While I was listing shoes today, the old Oliver song, "Food, glorious food" had its lyrics swapped around in my head. Its shoes! SHOES! "Shoes, glorious shoes...."

Lately I've been setting my "vintagedar" on high for unusual shoes for my shop. I love shoes. I've never had the money to have 60 pairs of designer shoes in some rotating platform in a walk-in climate-controlled closet, but I have had quite a few pairs of cool vintage ones in my life. When I was 15 I found a pair of blue suede pointed toe 50s heels with dainty little gold chains all around the opening. I wore those babies and walked many miles in them until they literally fell apart! However, having size 9 feet does tend to narrow the choices some. So, like all my vintage, I buy it to admire, touch and examine it, and then sell it to someone else who can actually wear it.
So, today I share with you what I consider some of etsy's most daaahhling spring shoes! Shush! You can thank me later, dahling.

Pastel embroidered floral shoes - New Vitality available at HipandVintage

Fruity tootie delicious- even my size!

1950s-'60s bone white shoes - Martinique available at Tiddleywink

Some serious ladylike behavior is required.....No! Optional....

Ferragamo spring green fabric and patent stripe available at Tinygirl

Delicious citrus- these just make me crave a gin and tonic

Hipoppotomus vintage 70s cherry red woven leather clogs available at BirdsChasingBugs

Saucy with a pair of skinny jeans!

And of course, what kind of vintage dealer would I be lest I forget to show you my own beauties:

Geppetto 60s mod pastel graphic heels available at Jojo's Retro and Vintage

for the delightfully insane. Really love, all the best people are!

See you at the shop!

Mod 60s in blue and green

I love blue and green tones and seem to have found myself with quite a little collection of mod early 60s items for the store. Among them are great little scooter dresses, blouses and coats from the early 60s London mod era, with lots of fantastic geometric graphic prints. So I've been busily listing them this week and theres many more to come....heres just a few to share with you here.

See you at the shop!