Hair cuts remain one of those nebulous areas that is just so hard to get right. You can walk in with a picture of something you think will look great and walk out looking like Albert Einstein. Here are some tips and tools that I hope will make your next haircut a success. Believe me, a seriously bad hair experience takes time to fix.
Take my last hair fiasco. I have really fine hair, and to compound the problem, I hate spending time fixing it every morning. After a lot of consideration, I decided a body perm was the answer to my problem. It would save me a lot of time in the mornings. I would no longer have to even blow dry my hair, never mind, anything else. In my idiocy, I refused to wait until my regular stylist could do it. Instead, I went to a friend of a friend and made it quite clear I only wanted a little volume by adding a few large loose curls. I exited looking like a poodle. Since then, I have spent copious amounts of money slowly cutting off my icky (and exceedingly curly) hair.
I made a last ditch effort to keep some length a month ago. It looked great when I left. All my hair was magically straight and silky. Of course, even when I was willing to expend the effort to straighten my hair the humidity kinked it back up in record time. I tried, tried, tried, tried, tried, again and again to get my hair to stay straight and finally had to admit defeat. The end result after a year of being terrorized by my hair was the short haircut I had long avoided.
Now, while you have zero control over your hairstylist, you do have some control over what you request. That's not to say whoever you end up with can do what you like. I highly recommend shopping around until you find someone who does your hair well and then stick to them like glue. That usually requires good tipping, but you really don't want to screw over someone who uses sharp objects on your head anyway. Just make sure once you find 'the one', you dn't go to someone you've never met. That's what got me into trouble. I will never cheat on my hairstylist again.
I discovered a couple sites that let you scan in your picture and try on various haircuts and hairdye. My favorite is a site which allows you to experiment with celebrities haircuts as well as makeup and other accessories. You can see how sunglasses and hats would look with the new haircut you choose. This is convenient because you can save the money you might have to spend on new accessories if they all clashed with your new do. The second site displays haircuts and you can also scan in your own photo but it lacks any extras. Whichever you choose, it moves the possibility of a good haircut further into the realm of possibility.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Never Run with Scissors
Carpe Diem
Tired of seeing the same things hangin in your closet every winter, but you can't afford to buy a new heavy coat? The best time to shop for your winter wardrobe is in the spring. That means now. The reason behind this is simple- sales. By now, any jackets and sweaters should be hanging on the 75 % off rack. Now the pickings may be slim, but that just offers a challenge in persistantance. Just be careful that you don't buy just to buy, because the prices have dropped so low. You still need to be selective.
Goin' Green
They all use thermo-chromatic inks, so as the fabrics heat up against your skin, the prints change.
AUGH!!! Big Fashion No-No
I know plaid and checkered clothes are making a comeback. There are even some that I like. But checkered pants that make it seem as if you stole someone's tablecloth, because Yogi and Boo-boo already got the picnic basket, do not look attractive on anybody. I guarantee people are not looking at you because they admire your fashion forward way of dressing. What they want, is to know if you have any fried chicken and deviled eggs left over. If you remain oblivious to that, at least acknowledge the trail of ants behind you.
Smaller checks are preferable but please avoid any that make you look like you came from Gilligan's Island or Oz. The easiest way to avoid that is to watch the cut of the dress, the kind of fabric, and your accessories.
Drum Roll Please...
I finally got to see the last two episodes of Project Runway. I missed them when they aired and I was Psyched to catch a re-run.
Tim Gunn traveled to the homes of the four finalists and we got a sneak peak at their collections. What I saw worried me. Two of the four finalists put together collections based on the Romantic Goth style. It gave me flashbacks to the season three finale when two competitors both created their lines around a safari theme. This time around I wanted more originality out of the designers. Christian, who was doing Romantic Goth, was already part of the final three, but there was hope that Chris, who was using the same theme, might still be eliminated.
Rami and Chris each showed three looks. The left two above are Rami's and the two on the right are Chris's. You'll notice that despite the fact that Rami did not do his entire line in a gothic style he still showed the judges the dark clothes from his collection.
Chris created his looks with odd material. He made an overlay on a skirt and the necklace out of safety pins (shown top). I thought that was creative. What disturbed me, was the use of human hair as a trim on the coat (also shown top). I considered that use of material creepy.
What bothered me about Rami was that he once again relied on his skill at draping. To be fair, he did try some new techniques, but after numerous complaints from the judges I was surprised he sent a dress out that was so reminiscent of ones he had done throughout the show.
In the end, Rami won the last spot at Fashion Week. The judges said that Chris made costumes while Rami designed clothes. Because the line between the two is so thin, I'll leave delineating it to the experts. I was just glad I wouldn't be inundated with two lines of clothes all done in black. Well, in all fairness, I was more than a bit relieved not to have to watch models strutting down the runway with human hair decorating their clothes, too.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
OT - Doing a Live Blog on Shopping
Most stores don't have wi-fi. That makes live blogging a shopping trip difficult. Writing everything down and then posting it later remains the only possibility. Whipping out your pen and paper every few minutes is kind of annoying when you are trying to shop. I think next time I will just jot down where we are and update it every 15 minutes or so. If anyone has any ideas on something else that relates to fashion that I can live blog (besides a TV show) please leave me a comment.
Shop 'til You Drop
2:47 pm
We found a pair of silver flops with quilted soles. They are really comfortable. Granted I wouldn’t pay $25 for them. But apparently my cousin would as she is currently handing over her money to the cashier. Now that we both have found what we were looking for it is time to call it a day and head home.
2:44 pm
My cousin has dragged me into the store across from Old Navy. I don’t even know the name of it. They had some shoes in a display window and she unilaterally decided we had to go in.
2:42 pm
Old Navy does not appear as packed as the other stores we have passed. I believe this is due to the immense proportions of the store. There are probably as many people; they are just more spread out.
On to the shoes! They are spread out here. The flip flops are not on sale, but the sandals that were $19.99 are now $12.50. If I actually needed a pair I would be tempted. But I try not to buy just because things are a good deal. My cousin doesn’t seem particularly enamored with any of the shoes so we are moving on. Pity after all the time it took to get here.
2:30 pm
The mall parking lot is clogged. Clearly, numerous other people decided to see what the Easter sales would be like. Something about Easter must send everyone into a frenzy of buying for their summer wardrobe.
2:15 pm
The car is within view and we have both selected s singe pair of shoes to purchase. Narrowing it down to a single pair has been no small feet for both of us in this store. We put our purchases in the trunk and we are off.
1:52 pm
We are still in ‘Ladies Paradise’. I have resisted the urge to try on various shoes for a good twenty minutes and finally succumbed. I am not shopping for anything in particular. Mostly, because I have already located a pair of shoes that will work. They are a mustard yellow spike heel with a single strap around the ankle and another over the foot, beautiful on their simplicity.
1:43
No, I have not moved on to the next location. My cousin has been trying on every pair of black heels in sight. I cannot convince her to try on the ankle boots. Personally, I think they are exactly what she should be looking for.
1:35 pm
We arrived at location and indeed there is no sale. There are numerous pairs of heels that are exceptionally cute and some great espadrilles. The only thing missing are tennis shoes. I do not consider that to be unfortunate because good tennis shoes are an investment and getting a cheap pair is usually a bad idea. Next!
Friday 1:29 pm
An excursion to check out the Easter sales is underway. Our first stop is a hole in the wall store called “Ladies Paradise” where all shoes are $5.99- $12.99. The prices remain so good here one hardly needs a sale, but it would be nice nevertheless.