They Make It Look Easy

Hi munchkins!

I'm so, so, so sorry for being such a bad blogger and not posting more often. My excuses are that a) I've had a lot on my mind, and b) I've been a bit lacking on inspiration lately, and I like my articles to be fueled with passion instead of obligation. You understand, right?

Well, even if you don't, it's my blog and I can do what I want to! If I were more childish, I would stick my fingers in my ears and wag my tongue. Too bad I'm a mature young lady of nineteen who would never even think to do such a thing. Ahem.

All kidding aside, let's take a moment to fill ourselves with cool hair envy.

Yes, I am still obsessed with that partially shaved look. However, I have decided these ladies make it look misleadingly easy to pull off. The right attitude is definitely a must, and they have plenty of that, not to mention they are all gorgeous. But damn, if you're braver than me, you should definitely go for it! Life is too short to wear your hair long - that's what I always say!

Okay, not always. In fact, it is possible that I am a long-haired  hypocrite who just made the saying up this very minute. But it sounds like something I might always say, and that's what matters.

Photos of cool partially-shaved hair made possible by: Karla, Arvida, some model from egfashion.co.uk, and Wasson.

This Is How It Goes Down

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

Okay, children, here's the deal. A bunch of us will agree to shave our heads like the brave and gorgeous people above. We will all do it. You know the whole "strength in numbers" thing? Well maybe a large number of fellow partial-head-shavers will give me the strength to actually go through with it. 'Cause damn that's a cool look.

Okay, probably not happening. Never say never, though. Wow, I'm on a roll with the overused proverbs tonight.

In other news, I checked out Alexander McQueen for Target today.

Most of my dressing room pictures sucked (bad lighting and all), but here you can see the studded shorts, black cropped blazer, and one-shouldered swimsuit. Alas, the swimsuit didn't accommodate my overly long torso, the blazer was not something I'd get a lot of use out of, and the shorts were a bit pricey for a tiny scrap of denim. Oh well. I also quite liked the cropped black trousers and printed gray dress. If I buy one piece from this collection, I'm betting it will be that sweet studded denim jacket, but I didn't see it in the store. Oh, and the harness bikini. I'll check back, though. The quality and cut of all the clothing actually seemed pretty high.

Alright, I've got a stack of magazines to flip through (including the new Teen Vogue and a copy of Indie, which I've never read before), so I'll catch you cool cats later.

Deep Red

Lately I've been noticing girls with hair dyed a deep, unnatural red popping up on street style blogs.

Photo sources: Dropsnap.jp, The Fashionist, Style Sightings, Dropsnap.jp

I have to say, I think it looks really good. It's definitely a statement since the color is clearly straight from a dye bottle, but it's a lot more subtle than, say, neon tresses.

I love how the top two girls styled it in a way that's classic yet modern. A bit of ladylike demeanor, some hints at vintage luxury, and a quirky sense of humor are great companions to the deep red bob. Of course, if you know me at all, then you can be sure that the bottom two girls share my style sensibilities to a greater extent. Whether rocking extremely long (left) or extremely short (right) locks, these girls were sure to don all black to add a nice contrast between hair and clothing. Killer shoes, sleek tight-clad legs, and a pinch of punky attitude finish off the look nicely.

Yeah, I'll probably be taking periodic breaks from my bio-studying to peer at myself in the mirror and contemplate whether it's a good idea to give my dark brown waves a bit of a reddish tint. Something darker than the girls in the photos, mind you, because my vampire-pale skin actually has an olive undertone, but I can't help but wonder whether I should give it a try. Just for fun. Then all I need is those studded boots and the leopard-print coat. . .

Pixies: In Which the Readers Write

Photos (L->R from top): The gorgeous Angela, Garance Dore, the Streetwalker, Garance Dore, Altamira NYC

Right now I'm full of ideas and reaping the benefits of a few successful shopping trips, so hopefully I'll have a bunch of articles to post up over the next few days. But for now. . .

As always, my most popular article is Getting the Perfect Pixie, which I wrote in July of '07. I still get regular comments on that one, actually, even though it is over a year old. I often get "Thanks so much; your article has inspired me to get a pixie cut" comments, which both delights and floors me because it feels crazy that people actually listen to what I say to that extent. I hope my advice paid off for these girls/women! The other kind of comment I tend to get a lot of is one with advice. I love these, because I think it's fantastic that people genuinely want to help each other out, and I'm glad my blog has given them a place to do so. These comments are sweet, insightful, and definitely worth reading - here are a few of my favorites:

♥ I think hair type was far from adequately covered in my original article, because I honestly wasn't sure what would happen were a curly-haired girl to chop it all off. But a commenter tells us:

"I have ringlet curls and last year I sported a pixie cut, and it actually worked really well. Curly hair just gives it a bit of a wilder, less plastered look."

So now you know.

♥ Now here's something that didn't even occur to me until I read this comment:

"Without having hair to hide behind, I've found that it helps a LOT to have well manicured brows. You don't need to get a really thin brow - just clean them up a little and define the arch you have. It, along with the new, shorter hair, will make your eyes really stand out."

Hm, I wish I'd realized this when my hair was really short. But then again, I am a bit lazy when it comes to grooming the brows; in fact, my favorite part of having bangs was that they covered my eyebrows so I didn't have to deal with them.

♥ Now here's a bit of a confidence-booster for those who are nervous about drastically changing hairstyles:

"If you do something weird, like dye hair hair crazy or shave it or something, people will always say 'Wow, I could never pull that off, your so lucky that you can! Your face shape is perfect' or whatever bla bla bla. The point is, just do it, and show confidence in your new hairstyle and people will think you look good. With all the experiments I have done, I have heard 'wow you are the only one that could pull that off' way to many times. And I know that it is not true. All you need to pull something off is confidence in it."

Fantastic advice, no? I love this.

♥ And finally, pilfered from the comment section of my follow-up post The Pixie Cut: Growing Out, is a comment meant to spare readers the painful post-pixie growing out process that I suffered through:

"I got a pixie cut last August and I kept cutting it shorter and shorter until November of last year. Growing it out actually wasn't so bad, but every once and a while I'd get into a mood where I felt hideous and I had to get a trim. Mostly, I just kept getting the back by my neck cut so that the sides of my hair would catch up. Also, I dyed my hair bright red because I felt that it would make me feel less bored and more feminine as I entered the awkward stages. I used product to make my hair look messier when it was growing out so that it was harder to notice when it got mullet-ish. Also, when my hair was at its strangest stage in May, parts were chin length, some parts much shorter, I curled my hair in a 50's, Marilyn Monroe-esque way. The good part about going through this experience was that I got to try tons of different short hair cuts because I would get my hair cut reshaped into a different style every few months."

Um, wow. Wish I'd done that.

That's it for now, but I'd like to say again HOW MUCH I ADORE MY READERS! You guys are too great, seriously. Keep the thoughts, personal experiences, opinions, etc. coming, and not just on my pixie cut articles. I'm no expert when it comes to fashion, and I don't claim to be. Sometimes the best material on this blog comes from the likes of you. Group hug?

Finishing Touches

Sooooooo. . . New York Fashion Week. . .

So far, no particular collection has completely caught my eye (I'm waiting for Anna Sui, my usual favorite), but the makeup at Diesel Black Gold and the headdresses at Diane Von Furstenberg were beyond stunning.

At Diesel Black Gold, makeup artist Val Garland explained the look. "It's very young. It's all about the eyebrow. There's a nod to Alice Cooper. It's all about magenta and peacock blue eyebrows."

I've always loved that scary circus clown pointed-line-through-the-eye thing, but the colored eyebrows take it above and beyond. I've never seen that before, and I think it looks fabulous. Very cool, very playful, very party-all-night. Love.

On a very different end of the spectrum, Diane von Furstenberg's models sported the most gorgeous fairytale headdresses.

I love that these are floral without being at all "flower girl." The addition of the leaves, the feathers, and the strands of ribbons look like they should belong in A Midsummer Night's Dream, or perhaps in Neverland. Very unexpected, I think, from the woman who brought us bright wrap dresses in a myriad of graphic prints. I wonder if this new softness is just another short exploration into a part of Diane's large range, or perhaps a facet of her personality she has finally seen fit to share with us. Either way, I'm blown away.

Photos courtesy of Style.com and Fashionweekdaily.com, as well as the good cobrasnake man.