Ladies, meet the modern day Audrey Hepburn: Bethany Herwegh
I knew Bethany was perfect for HaveHeart when I stumbled across her webpage: (www.theglamoroushousewife.com) before my magazine even existed. I found myself completely inspired by a woman who transformed herself by following her dreams! At the time I had just lost my job and was thinking of teaching myself how to start my own magazine to uplift and inspire women like myself. The second I saw her blog, I was instantly captivated by her retro site. I am a huge vintage lover and I adore the everyday glamor of the 50’s housewife, minus the sexist societal roles! What I’m referring to is the happiness some women experienced during the time when their home was their calling card. I’m talking hot rollers, gloved hands at the supermarket, and decorating their houses room by room. I’m talking vintage fashion, cooking, and of course, manners! So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across someone who was daring to live that way now and was sharing her lifestyle with her readers. Bethany mentioned briefly on her site that she was unfulfilled and had gotten “frumpy” and that had inspired her change, but I had to know more.
I wrote a reminder note to email her as soon as I got HaveHeart together to ask her to be a cover woman. I mean, she is the essence of what we’re about! I find so much inspiration in women who share their stories of triumph! The first thing I asked her was to dish the details on her personal transformation. “About five years ago I was feeling very depressed because I had to shut down my line of boy’s clothing,” Bethany says. “I loved having my own company and adored designing clothing. But, the economy was terrible and I knew it was the right long term decision. So I found myself becoming a housewife and felt very unfulfilled in this new endeavor. At first I spent my time exercising. I had gained about thirty pounds while I was working on my company and hadn’t realized it. Plus I had a lot of time on my hands because both of my children were in school. I ended up losing about 25 of those 30 pounds and decided to celebrate by purchasing vintage clothing. I had always loved vintage, but didn’t really wear much of it at that time. I also decided to start a blog and record my re-found passion for vintage, as well as discuss my attempt at finding inspiration in being a housewife. Over time my blog took off and now I consider myself a full-fledged glamorous housewife!”
Bethany says getting into a life rut is something a lot of women feel at some time or another. “I wish women would put themselves first. Ok, so maybe first is a bit of a stretch, but at the very least they should be taking no less than 30 minutes out of their day to work on something they are passionate about. You are your choices. Every single thing you choose to do or be says something about who you are, so first decide who you want to be and then make your choices based on that idea, not the other way around. Just because we are married with children doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to be fulfilled with more than just our husband and kids.
I have a housekeeper for cleaning, and then I make my kids and husband keep up their end of things. I am also not a perfectionist, so having a messy house doesn’t bother me. I have a hard and fast rule that I must do the most important things first and can let things like picking up the kid’s toys and dirty dishes be left until later. I also think it is important to be clear that I think being a housewife or stay at home mother is the right choice for me, but I don’t think this is the only choice out there for women. If a woman wants to work, then she should be able to! If she wants to stay at home, that is fine too. So long as she is making the best choices for herself and her family then they are the right choices, even if they differ from mine.”
Her website is filled with tips like how to be a great party guest, how to accessorize per decade, how to arrange flowers and how to be a great wife. Before I was married, I read through her entire marriage advice section and gained some amazing insight. Bethany talks about how you don’t read too much about happy marriages these days because it’s more of a hot topic to gossip about bad ones, but she was quick to share her happiness with her readers. “My husband and I joke that our marriage is based on sheer laziness,” she laughs. “Do you know how much effort you have to put into a divorce? Way too much for me. I jest of course, but there is a bit of truth to it. I would rather spend my time on focusing on the things I love about him, like the fact he takes out the garbage. I certainly don’t want that job! Plus he is always supportive of my crazy ideas, my colorful clothing, and my cooking. I think a happy marriage comes down to having more laughter than tears, more time together than apart, and more truth than facade.”
Bethany didn’t like the way mainstream fashion made her look and feel so she created her own style with a serious vintage twist. “My background is in costume design, so I turned to history. I have always been enamored by the 1950s and felt my body was much better suited to those garments. But vintage fashion looks amazing on every type of body, hence why I think there are better representations of different body types in vintage magazines. The reason I got back into vintage clothing was because my body no longer conformed to what mainstream fashion was telling me I should look good in,” she adds.
The truth of it all is, it takes serious guts to share your passions, let alone follow your dreams and Bethany is doing exactly that. “I have a very active imagination and sometimes I think about things like a printed magazine, a line of home goods, my own talk show, etc. But for now I am content to continue building my blog, make fun little videos on YouTube, and I am also trying to write a book that encompasses everything I believe about being a glamorous housewife.” See what I mean? After I interviewed Bethany I realized just how full of courage she truly is. I asked her to share her secret with me. “I found this quote in a book called, “Who Moved My Cheese” when I was in my mid 20’s and it changed my life: ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’ Now, when I am afraid of something- like being judged or failing, I ask myself what would I do if I wasn’t afraid and then make my choices as if I wasn’t afraid,” she tells me. “The fear is still there, but my choices aren’t based on it anymore. If women come to my blog and find inspiration in what I’m doing then I know am doing my job right!”
With thousands of loyal followers, fans and inspired women like myself signing up to hear what she has to say, I’d say she is definitely doing her job right!
