Mad Men Goes Country

So yesterday I had the pleasure of working w/ photographer Sian Melton and Headmistress creator Jillian Wood on Jillian's Spring 11 Campaign for Headmistress Accessories .  You may remember I've mentioned and used Jillian's awesome accessories a couple of times in the past few mths on various editorials I've worked on.   Her stuff is hand crafted, gorgeous and is awesome enough to make a statement but not so over the top that you look like a fool...just really really cool!

I was so excited when Sian and Jillian approached me about this project b/c I really believe in and dig what Jillian is doing and I've been a fan for awhile.  In past shoots Sian has done the photography as well as the makeup & hair...b/c she's super talented like that.  But this time she wanted to just focus on the photographic end of things so that's where I came in. 

The theme was Women of Mad Men Go Country...how awesome is that theme!  I'm a huge Mad Men fan so Sian didn't have to do much more then mention the show and I was on board lol!  I think Sian and I have spent at least a couple of conversations now idolizing the amazingness that is Joan's chichis lol...plus I just love the style.  Sometimes I wish we put that much effort into how we looked nowadays...I mean the women really cared about how they looked back then...they wore lipstick and got their hair done...they looked hot!  Makes me wish I was around then...minus the whole a woman's place is the home thing of course lol!

So anway, we couldn't have asked for a better day!  I mean everything fell into place.  Sian drove us out to Stratford to shoot...minus a few detours we got there in good time ;).  We had some great models from Spot 6 - Emily and Saira.  The Makekup & Hair Gods were looking down on me :) (Btw did I mention how amazing I'm getting at extended liner...use to be my serious weakness!).  The weather was GORGEOUS!  Plus we got to use Jillian's mom's HOT 1965 Red Mustang Convertible as our prop! 

So basically, my Makeup & Hair inspiration was a 60's vibe which works so great w/ all the beautiful turbans and head scarves/wraps Jillian is designing for the Spring Collection.  I wanted to keep the eyes softer in colour w/ the main focus being on the lips.  I kept the brows full, used shimmery nudes on the eyes and did a nice extended black liner on both girls w/ really full, flirty, flared lashes to top it off.  I wanted the lips to be bold w/ full strong lipstick.  I believe more women should really embrace the power of a great lipstick like they did back then...nowadays everyone just wears gloss and a great lipstick can immediately take your look from being casual to being done up...trust me I know!  I played w/ a variety of pinks on the girls.  It's for Spring so I didn't want to go full on w/ the reds plus I wanted them to remain fresh and playful.  

Another thing I was excited about w/ this shoot was the hair...it really allowed me a chance to play w/ some different techniques and styles.  Last Christmas I asked for this book about Vintage Hairstyling and let me just tell you this book is amazing!  It gives a step by step guide to tons of amazing vintage hairstyles and it REALLY helped at the shoot!  The first hair look I did was to go w/ the turbans and head wraps.  I set the hair to get some nice curl to it and I basically did a mock bob on the girls so that the hair just peeked out the turbans and curled under.  The second hair look I did involved doing a giant bouffant through the top and a curled ponytail to keep in fresh and young in the back...it looked amazing w/ the headbands and hair scarves. 

So here's some pics from the day...can't wait to show you the real stuff but you're going to have to wait awhile on that one :(

Sian giving some amazing commentary for posing lol! 

We wanted Happy, Light & Carefree!

I'm Beautiful but I still know what's under the hood!

Let's Have Lunch in the back of our Car!

Let's Pic Flowers, Skip and Laugh!

Fixing the Bouffant

I need more Height!