Friends of Bettie: V is for Victory at Goodwood Revival

Behind the scenes with Miss Vienna Green at our Goodwood Revival photoshoot. Photo by Scott Chalmers

With just a week to go until the world's most celebrated classic motor racing meeting and vintage festival, Goodwood Revival, Vintage Hair Lounge is gearing up for an entirely new kind of vintage salon, located in the Victory Street Party area Over the Road. With highly trained vintage hairstylists, a specialist vintage barbering team and superb vintage makeup artists, we have brought together an outstanding team to deliver the Vintage Hair Lounge vision to a global audience.

Photography by Scott Chalmers, Graphic Design by Cassie Leedham at Good Show Studio

Vintage Hair Lounge kicked off our pre-Revival campaign with a brief to recreate a design to celebrate the contributions of women to the war effort in the 1940s. With labour shortages and the need to keep morale high, women were the target of a range of sophisticated and glamorous recruitment campaigns to encourage, and in some instances compel, them in to the military and other auxiliary services.

With leading UK bodypainter, Julia Townend creating our model Miss Vienna Green's own unique military costume, it was down to Vintage Hair Lounge to finish the signature 1940s hairstyle and makeup, and there was no doubt that true Victory Rolls were going to feature.

Julia Townend creating Miss Vienna Green's bodypainted costume. Photo Scott Chalmers

The V roll at the back of the head has become one of our flagship vintage hairstyles, showing authenticity, elegance and a distinctive wartime image that is instantly identifiable. Our Victory V Rolls had their first catwalk outing in the British Airways Costume Archive Show at Vintage at Southbank in 2011. As the models graced the runway through the eras in original British Airways cabin crew uniforms, it was the early appearance of model Amy in 1940s uniform and our Victory V Roll that wowed the Festival Hall audience.

So with Gloria's expert backbrushing of Miss Vienna Green's abundant locks and crafted Victory V Rolls in place, the finished hairstyle provided a stylish platform the military hat to proudly sit on.

Miss Vienna Green. Photography by Scott Chalmers

Amongst our exciting sponsors this year, which include Babyliss, EasyDry, Organise A Hen, VintageBrighton.com, Island Memories, The Bluebeard's Revenge, Good Show Studio and Scott Chalmers Photography, we have the iconic vintage makeup brand, Besame Cosmetics. From the beginning of Vintage Hair Lounge we have been honoured to be official Besame stockists, enabling us to bring an extra sparkle of glamour all to our vintage makeup work. Nothing beats Besame Classic Color lipstick which comes in six outstanding vintage tones, and we plumped for Red Hot Red for Miss Vienna Green, which complemented her hair colouring and skin tone, especially when a flush of Besame Crimson Cream Rouge was added to her cheeks. The finished look was set with Besame Cashmere Powder Compact in Light and Porcelain.

Sharon Holloway adds Red Hot Red lips to Miss Vienna Green. Photo Scott Chalmers

The entire hair, makeup and bodypaint process took 6 hours and then it was on to the studio floor with photographer Scott Chalmers to capture the essence of the Victory images. And then the finished photos were sent straight over to our brilliant graphic designer Cassie Leedham at Good Show Studio to create the final campaign posters. It really was a huge team effort in true wartime spirit! But the process wasn't quite finished, as video footage from the shoot was skillfully edited together by Andy Wilks at Big Barn Media to the soundtrack of "Stuff Like That There" (originally recorded by Betty Hutton in 1944) lovingly performed and recorded especially for Vintage Hair Lounge by vintage vocalist Miss Annie. Without a doubt, the best celebration of V for Victory we could muster.