I hatched a hairbrained scheme...

... to go back to my natural hair color, a dark, honey blonde. All the dark brown I've been putting in my hair for the last year has mostly grown out, and though I would love to stay on "the dark side," it's just more practical and economic to stay closer to my natural color. After a three-hour transformation (!!!) at my local Aveda salon, I'm not quite back to my original blonde... but I'm getting there. My stylist had to shampoo my hair with bleach to banish the old brown, and then, as she put it, "highlight the crap out of it." These pictures make it hard to tell, but I figured I'd share 'em anyway:

Yippee! I figure one more trip to the salon in the spring, and I'll be good to go; after that, no more dye jobs! And now, just for fun, an outfit post. Sorry the photos are so small... my dopey camera likes to make close-ups really ridiculously huge and my outfit photos itsy-bitsy, even when I enlarge them! Or maybe it's all Blogger's fault. :P Anyway, here's my current style go-to (sweater dress!), worn two ways...

Sixties a-go-go:

Sweater dress: Loft

Beret: H&M
Scarf: Gap
Bag: Paul + Joe for Target
Tights: Target?
Boots: Apt. 9 (Kohl's, gift)

Après-ski chic:

Scarf, bracelet: Apt. 9 (gift)
Tights: Loft
Sunglasses: Simply Vera
Bag: Five Below (in Jersey! Woot!)

I wore the first outfit to church and to a work event on Sunday night. The second is from this morning for a meeting... now I'm slumming it in my favorite striped H&M sweater and distressed skinny jeans. I'm going to pull on my slouchy knee-high boots and run some errands, then do some more work from home. Exciting day, eh? Hopefully my week will become more eventful, as I'm planning a trip to Brooklyn this weekend. Can't wait!

In the meantime, don't forget to enter my purse giveaway! You know you want it!

Blake Lively blonde

It's the age-old question, Betty and Veronica... Do blondes, like, really have more fun?
Yesterday, I came across this NY Times article and was highly amused. It concerns a certain 'Gossip Girl' with long, flowing locks... Apparently, the coif and color of Blake Lively is now the most requested style in NYC salons. So is Serena van der Woodsen's hairstyle the new "Rachel"?
Women who frequent salons like Bumble and bumble are asking for shiny blonde highlights, long layers and plenty of tousle à la Lively. But, as the Times takes pains to point out, hair like Blake Lively's is awfully hard to duplicate unless, ya know, you're born with it.

"It's aspirational hair," said one salon owner. "It looks accidental, but actually it takes work." (Shocker.)

Others add that some lucky girls like Lively are simply "born with amazing hair" and that wanting her exact style "sets unrealistic expectations." One stylist even questioned if everyday women can even handle such a cut. They must figure that only screen goddesses are born with perfectly tussled tresses; the rest of us simply can't handle it!

I guess I'd like to point out that I was born with a full head of hair, too, Ms. Lively, but mine started out inky black and turned blonde by the time I was a toddler. Then what did I do with my "lucious" blonde mane?

Hi, Emily!

I brought this very picture into my stylist...And emerged a Zooey clone! Now I've got some "indie cred." Still waiting for my big "indie" break. :P

So much for Blake Lively blonde! Why, oh why, did I do it? (My stylist was practically crying.) Boredom, sheer boredom. Sometimes I do miss my long, flowing blonde waves, but I figure it's hair, we might as well do what we want with it! Especially if we have lots of it to mess with. My other major point was that nobody is born with perfect hair. Lively's stylist claims that to achieve the Serena look, all she does is apply a conditioning mask, twist the hair into a chignon and let it air dry. Yeah, right! If you've ever seen Gossip Girl, you know it takes a little more than some conditioner and a loose bun to achieve those curls. Even natural waves and curls need treatment and TLC... and heat! I used to achieve bedhead blonde "perfection" by sleeping with my hair in a topknot, shaking it out in the morning, and curling the ends under if the waves were too uneven. Add plenty of Aussie's Sprunch spray and a good curl gel and you're good to go!

Now I miss my "Zooey" cut (yeah, so I'm a copycat, too)... my hair is a boring "blah" brown right now and ready to go lighter or darker. Too bad I spent all my designated salon money on shoes! :D This season, I seem to care more about how my feet look (and feel!) than what color my hair is. I figure if I really feel like it, I can always just grab a box of dye or a highlighting kit and experiment at home. What about you guys? Any hair-raising tales to share? You know me, I always love a good "hairstory." And puns. :P

Blonde ambition: fall fashion mags hit the peroxide

August is almost upon us, and in fashion it means one thing is absolutely certain: the massive September issues hit the shelves. This is the industry's most important (and most readers' favorite) issue of the year. But I don't have to tell you that: just see the new documentary coming out about Vogue and Anna Wintour, aptly titled The September Issue.

But this year the volumes will be lighter (with far fewer ad pages than usual), and so will all the cover girls. American fashion editors, at least, are using a friendly, familiar formula: stick a blonde celebrity on the cover and, voila!, the magazine will sell. I once read (wish I could remember where) that advertisers turn to blonde models turning times of economic crisis because, apparently, seeing blondes lifts reader's spirits, thus making them more likely to buy the featured product. This is, supposedly, why so many screen sirens dyed their hair blonde when they made films during the Great Depression (or it could be that platinum blonde showed up better and appeared silverly on-screen, but I digress). When finances are risky, blondes seem to be the safer choice. Well, I don't know about you, but even though I like blonde hair and all (I used to be blonde!), I enjoy seeing - and being! - brunette more. And most of my favorite actresses and celebrities, from Audrey Hepburn and Jane Birkin to Penelope Cruz and Zooey Deschanel, are brunette. Everyone has their preference, I guess, and the American model is blonde hair, blue eyes, apple pie. In case you were wondering, last year's September cover girls were a little more varied.

This year's (puzzling) September cover list:

Jennifer Aniston - Elle
Jennifer Lopez (yes, a faux-blondie, but there she is) - InStyle
Taylor Momsen - TeenVogue
Kate Moss - W
Ashley Olsen - Marie Claire
Amanda Seyfried - Allure
Jessica Simpson - Glamour
Charlize Theron - Vogue

Ashley Olsen graced Marie Claire's September issue two years ago, while it's been just as long since Charlize Theron last covered Vogue. But Jessica Simpson was Glamour's cover girl just last August, and, arguably, is hardly a newsworthy/relevant/even remotely interesting choice. Not that I'm trying to hate on poor Jess; I'm just sayin' some variety would be appreciated. And I hope it's not as terrifying a cover as last September's Elle was (which I ranted about last year, consequently); if Simpson is wearing something other than a plaid shirt and cowboy boots, Glamour will have bested Elle. That simple.

TeenVogue has already leaked their cover:

Can't wait to see the rest! I'm especially excited about Marie Claire; the Ashley Olsen issue from 2007 was one of the best I've read. I'm not a fan of the Olsen twins (ok, so I was when I was little!), but I've always loved Ashley's fashion sense. And even her sometimes bleached, sometimes dirty-blonde hair. ;)

Which September magazine, if any, will you buy?