'I'm just a bebop baby, & I don't take nothin' from no one! See ya later, daddy-os!'

Let me count the ways I love this girl. Ms Wanda Woodward, Cry Baby's ultimate lady drape (played by Traci Lords who I also find enormously inspirational, this will be a whole n'other post but for now I urge young girls, feminists & misogynists alike to read her incredible autobiography. We had a twitter chat a few years ago on this very subject, such a thrill!).

Wanda however, has inspired my haircuts & sartorial choices for longer than I care to admit; a style icon since my first year at secondary school. She terrifies & enthralls in equal measure, pouting to lure the boys then snarling when they come too close.

 'I'm all talk and no action'.

Just can't beat a calf skimming polka-dot pencil halter.

Wanda 'wouldn't be caught dead in a full skirt' afterall.

Look out for midi length skirts/dresses to emulate this pin up style. A personal cheat to get just the right length is to but a modest & middle-aged style fuller skirted shirtwaister dress & simply use a sewing machine to pull in the sideseams to a wiggle style. Over the knee is key remember! Add a pair of white ankle socks & neckerchief & you're nearly there...

 

 

 High school hell cat.

'C'mon pick a fight, we wish you would, We love being bad 'cause it sure feels good.'

 

Drapes

'The woman want a Cadillac, she don't want no man'. Failing that a motorbike'll do nicely. Remember the ubiquitous multi zipper biker jacket.

 

'You mean you swapped me? For a milkmaid?'

Wanda's wears Bettie bangs well. Super short bangs are a style I have my own personal love/hate relationship with & return to when my hair bores me (as it frequently does). The look requires balls & a full face of makeup to pull off elegantly. Faux Bettie bangs made with a 'rat' or a small forward victory rolls are what I generally go for & to my view are a more flattering take on this look.