Lazy Gal

I've concluded after a few tries that this is about the closest my hair will get to the 1960's-European-actress look I wrote about a few months ago. It comes out alright, but it's generally more work than I want to put in every day, which is why I usually wear it straight.

To achieve this style I put in a little Blow it Up while my hair is wet, then dry it until it's barely dry. Then I put my hair up in thermal self grip rollers. It takes about 5-7 minutes to put all my hair up, since the rollers just stick in the hair by themselves and don't have to be clipped in place. Then I just hit each roller carefully with the hair dryer on the lowest velocity and highest heat. The metal core of the roller heats up and curls the hair, and then letting it cool thoroughly locks the curls in place.

Before I take the rollers out I spritz on a little light hold hairspray just to keep the curls in place while I work with them. It's important not to use too stiff a hairspray or else the rollers won't come out. Then I just run my fingers through a couple of times, arrange the curls the way I want, and finish with my favorite strong hold hairspray. If the curls are a bit frizzy I might scrunch in a little Aerate or Water Wax before the last coat of hairspray to give it more smoothness and shine.

It sounds like a lot of products and a lot of time, but in total I'd say this takes me about 15 to 20 minutes instead of my usual 5. Not bad, but I'm sort of a lazy gal when it comes to my hair, so I can't be bothered to go to all that trouble every day. It's nice when I'm feeling a little euro inspired though -- if only I had a vintage Vespa to drive to work on. Ciao bella!


Blazer: Helmut Lang
Top: thrifted
Pants: Rag & Bone
Boots: Brako
Bag: Boktier

Personal Flair

I was happy to wear this dress without anything layered on top, so that all the interesting details showed. However, since a dress like this can't be belted, or layered over anything, there aren't too many options for giving it a personal flair. I threw on some fun jewelry and thought, "This is all I can do; I'm just going to have to let the dress be the star and settle for a fairly tame outfit." Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror with my fab new hair color. An interesting dress, pink skull jewelry and peacock blue hair; that'll do, that'll do indeed.

Dress: Escada Sport
Jewelry: Betsy Johnson
Tights: Hue
Shoes: John Fluevog
Hair: Michele at Colorbox

Versatile

This is a near recreation of an outfit I wore during my travels in Europe recently. On one of the warmer days in Lisbon I wore the tunic/belt/pants combo with sandals, and later in the trip when it was cooler I wore it with black boots and a yellow cardigan. Here I tried to create a hybrid between a warm/bright colors and a cold/layered outfit, because although we're well into spring now, we're still getting some colder days. Sometimes I feel like I could rename this blog, "Seasonal Dressing When the Weather Refuses to Cooperate."

This little tunic is magical in its ability to bridge colors I would've otherwise never attempted to pair. The cardigan is sort of a salmon-coral color, and putting it next to tomato red would be an impossibility were it not for the multitude of shades existing in harmony in the tunic. Pieces like this create a huge amount of versatility in a wardrobe.

This is my recent new haircut, and this time my hairdresser added a few dark purple streaks. She weaved them in underneath the top layers so that I can show them a little, or a lot. My hairstyle is now as versatile as my clothing.

Cardigan: Anthropologie
Tunic/belt: gifts from mom and sis
Jewelry: Metal Pointu's
Pants: Michael Kors
Boots: Bronx

Hairstyle Inspiration

Lately I've been growing my hair a bit longer and letting the bangs grow out into a long layer. Today I tracked down a few photos of the styles I'm inspired by lately.

This is Anouk Aim�e with Marcello Mastroianni in La Dolce Vita (1960). I never understood why his character became so obsessed with Anita Ekberg when he could have Anouk; I thought she was by far the more beautiful and the more interesting of the two characters.

 Here's another one of Anouk. The European actresses in the 60's had the best hairstyles. 

Need more proof? Check out Gina Lollobrigida, looking sultry with her loose curls and dramatic eyebrows:

The bangs are shorter than I want, but the style is still gorgeous.

Here's Sophia Loren with a relaxed, messy hairstyle. 

This is a look that says, "I was perfectly coiffed this morning, 

but then I had an afternoon romp with my lover and got a bit mussed. 

Now be a darling and fetch me a drink."

And who wouldn't want a hairstyle that says that?

As a bonus, here's what Anouk looks like today:

 Still a knockout, no?
 And she still has great hair.

Janet

Recently I had the honor of being featured by the fabulous Sarah Von on her blog Yes and Yes. If you haven't done so already, go check it out!

Looking at these photos, which are now several weeks old, makes me realize how badly I need a haircut. Usually when I get my hair done I make my next appointment then and there, so as not to forget and let too much time slip by before the next cut and color. But for some reason the last time I forgot, and the other morning I realized that my hair has begun to look like Janet from Three's Company. Which was cute... in 1982.

Not exactly the look I'm going for in 2011, though.

Of course making the appointment has been on my to-do list for the last week and a half, but somehow I just haven't managed to remember to call during business hours. I'm hopeful that this is the week I'll actually make it happen.

My aunt gave me this cute top, which has a panel of sequins that show subtly through a layer of sheer chiffon. I like how the soft neutral color looks contrasted against the black shrug.

Top: Express
Shrug: Cenit
Necklace: from a glass shop in Venice
Skirt: Noa Noa
Leggings: Black Market Baby
Boots: All Black

Classified

Yep, I wore the same scarf two days in a row. But when I put together this outfit I knew it needed some extra oomph, and the scarf just seemed to give it the perfect, polished-yet-funky touch. And anyway, that day I was on a TOP SECRET MISSION and needed all the polish I could get. Hopefully I'll soon be able to reveal exactly what my mission was that day, but for now it's classified. In this outfit, I felt like someone who'd have top secret clearance. Or maybe just a pistol in my handbag.

Here's a close-up of my new pixie cut, which I absolutely love. It's been awhile since I've had my hair this short, and I forgot how great it is for windy summers by the bay. There is seriously no messing up this style, no matter how strong the gusts get. Between the new haircut, my awesome Helmut Lang blazer (which is possibly the best purchase EVER), and the killer scarf, I felt totally invincible in this.



Blazer, dress: Helmut Lang
Scarf: Alexander McQueen
Bag: Foley + Corinna
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Born
Earrings: Swarovski

Playa Hair

Okay, so the new hair isn't really radical so much as it's just very different. I had several reasons for going this route, most of them having to do with the upcoming trip to Burning Man. For one thing the desert, with its blazing sun, dry air, and ubiquitous talc-like dust, is hard on hair color, and since red is the most delicate of the colors it definitely had to go. More importantly I'll be without my hairdryer out there, and my hair without a hairdryer is about as limp and lifeless as a soggy dishrag, and about as attractive. But bleaching my hair gives it stiffness and texture, so my brilliant hairdresser Michele created this mixture of colors by bleaching big sections of hair on the top and leaving small strands of the previous color mixed throughout, and then darkening the layers underneath for contrast. Because of previous color treatments, the bleached strands have sort of an ombre effect, with the roots being very blonde and darkening to more of a caramel color on the part of the hair shaft that's already been dyed several times. This, my friends, is playa hair.

I recently decided that I absolutely love these loose, open jersey vests I've been seeing all over. So much so that I went and ordered FOUR of them. This wasn't a huge splurge, mind you; this striped vest set me back just $13.80. To me pieces like this are way too simple to spend more than about 20 bucks on. That's why, although I've seen some cute ones on Gilt and similar sites, I haven't really been tempted to buy until I found this and the others at Forever 21. None of them was more than $15.

These little vests are perfect for warmer climates, because they're lightweight and cool while still adding visual interest to an outfit. And as luck would have it, San Francisco suddenly and without warning turned into one of those climates. Last week it was cold and foggy, barely getting into the 60's in the daytime, and then BAM! NINETY degrees the last couple days.

Now people in places like Houston or Phoenix are probably going, "90 degrees, big fucking deal!" But I assure you that this is really extreme for the city. The other night I went out to meet Laura for a show (Crowded House at the Warfield) and both of us showed up hauling sweaters along, as you do. It was so warm we had both considered leaving them at home, but then of course you do that and later find yourself freezing your ass off like a tourist. And yet there we were, leaving the theater around 11 pm with those sweaters still in tow and not on our bodies. San Francisco weather, I will never fully understand you.

Vest: Forever 21

Dress: Lady Language

Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Tights: Sock Dreams

Boots: All Black