WORDS BY HEIDI HELBIG
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETE THORNTON
Myleena Hunt of Angaston certainly makes a striking first impression – and not just because she appears to have stepped straight from the pages of a 1950’s Vogue.
While the 24-year-old hairdresser epitomises the style and glamour of the era – from her coiffed hair to her vintage Mary Jane shoes – her character is as authentic as the genre she has made her own.
Taking her cues from Hollywood icons, Diana Dors and Jane Mansfield and movie classics Sabrina and Some Like It Hot, Myleena says it’s not a persona she adopts, but a lifestyle she was destined to live.
“It was always there,” says Myleena. “I used to watch black and white films with mum and remember playing with antique toys at Angaston Abbey as a little girl.
“At trade school I blossomed, when I started earning money and bought my first Wheels and Dollbaby cardigan – I saved $5 a week for a year to be able to own it.
“In my early 20s I realised it doesn’t matter what people think – if I’m happy, it’s going to make others happy. It was then I became the person I always imagined I would be”
“I thought in the Barossa you couldn’t be too eccentric or different but in my early 20s I realised it doesn’t matter what people think – if I’m happy, it’s going to make others happy.
“It was then I became the person I always imagined I would be.”
While Myleena’s daily routine begins on her vintage boudoir stool in front of her Queen Anne dresser in her 1960s home, her devotion to all things retro is more than just fashion – it’s a sub-culture.
Adopting a stage name in 2014, she regularly appears as ‘Miss Myleena May’ at rockabilly and Custom Culture events across the country, and is the reigning Miss Adelaide Rock ‘n’ Roll Club Pin-Up – the latest in a series of state and national pin-up and pageant titles.
She is joined by partner, Jacob Bain, a double bass player in rockabilly band The Silverados.
“Custom Culture is not just about the cars and bikes – it’s the music, the hairstyles, the fashion; the tiki bars and the old school barbers,” says Myleena.
“I didn’t realise how big the scene was until I met Jacob.
“I think it’s very glamorous, especially the pin-up side of things.
“It was a very classic era and it’s an interesting way of showing off the female body in an assertive way.”
With a suite of props at her disposal, from serving trays to parasols, Myleena carefully tailors her style ahead of every competition, preparing themed make-up, hairstyle, outfit and poses.
She credits her posture and poise to a background in classical ballet, and says the rest is play-acting.
Competition judging is remarkably critical with points deducted for mixing genres; the imprecise fold of an apron has previously cost Myleena a title.
She is the mistress of reinvention, slipping easily from 1950s housewife to seductive siren.
“They announce Miss Myleena May and that’s the moment everybody is looking at you and it’s an awesome feeling. I always get a rush at the end and want to run back on,” Myleena says.
“It’s amazing to win but now that I have a few (titles), I would love to mentor and get others involved and show them how wonderful it can be.”
It’s not lost on Myleena that social media has a big role to play in building her reputation and profile in the Custom Culture scene.
“I watch documentaries on Elvis, Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole, Jerry Lee Lewis, people who are still remembered today, and think how hard it would have been to be somebody back then,” she says.
“Now we can just click and share and reach a thousand people. Without these people I wouldn’t be so recognisable.”
Also recognisable is her archetypal cream brick home in Angaston, which Myleena says was love at first sight.
Built in 1961, the fixtures, fittings and appliances are true to genre, from the record player belting out Bill Haley to the retro laminex kitchen table and chairs that resemble a scene from Happy Days.
While running retro appliances is expensive, like her ’50s counterparts Myleena is thrifty, making her own alterations and forever seeking a bargain.
“We find the best stuff, art deco, vintage, antique,” says Myleena, the beneficiary of many giveaways from family and friends.
“If you type retro or vintage into Gumtree, they immediately put a higher price on it but if you go to antique stores you can pick up an awesome buy. You just need to hunt around and find the best bargain – sometimes that’s on the side of the road!”
Her future aspirations include building a tiki bar, buying an FB Holden and starting her own 1950s-inspired hair salon.
“People say I was born in the wrong era, and I take it as a compliment that I am so true to vintage,” Myleena says.
“But if I was a young woman in the ’50s and ’60s, I would be a housewife stuck at home cooking and cleaning – I wouldn’t have a career, earn money or have my freedom of speech.
“I’m so glad I was born in the 21st century because I can have my say and love my life – and it’s a wonderful life.”
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Myleena. You are an inspiration. Keep it up 🌹