Be-banged and bewildered

Dorky confession ahead. A few weeks ago, I found out pretty last-minute that She & Him were playing a gig in Boston. So after work I hopped on the T and raced to queue in a pretty long line. Guys and gals alike were emerging, tickets in hand, so I just hope-hope-hoped there'd be one left for me. But alas, when I reached the "finish line," if you will, the SOLD OUT sign had just gone up.

Uh-huh, mmm-hmm, Gonna get along without you now...

Turns out, missing a cool-girl indie band is a great excuse to go wandering about the Back Bay, window shopping and snapping photos. And also ogling some pretty spectacular looks on the street... 99% of the girls queueing up to see Zooey D. and co. were sporting her identical "indie ingenue" bangs.

I, too, once possessed a dark shock of hair topped with straight-across bangs. And I loved it. The only reason I went back to my natural hair color and texture is because it's, well, easier. Less maintenance. I hated watching my blonde roots seep back in and ruin my dark, shiny tresses; made me look like Rogue in X-Men. Anyway, I digress.

This month I came across a great feature in Elle about possessing "rock and roll bangs." It's true, there's something both tough and alluring about sporting full-on fringe. And when many of us take to the scissors, we're taking a page from one of our favorite singers. My bangs were inspired both by Zooey and Marit Larsen; Larsen claims hers were inspired by Feist. And every gal sporting boho-chic fringe is heavily indebted to the one, the only Jane Birkin. Just what is it with songstresses and bangs?

Marit Larsen, singer/songwriter. Doesn't she look so cool and seventies?

Jane Birkin's too-cool-for-school daughter, the lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg.

After major contemplation, I don't think there's any one real answer. Bangs are just cool. Plain and simple. And I miss mine!

Hmm... should I pick up the scissors once again? D'ya think bangs go well with blonde?

And what about you? Was your hairstyle ever inspired by a singer/actress/other cool chick?

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

My mother is going to kill me...

Because THIS is coming to my mailbox:I mean, really. My 'rents already think I've gone off the deep end with this whole "fashion writer" thing. Receiving a magazine with a barely-clad ScarJo cover complete with scintillating headlines does not help matters. Thanks a lot, Glamour!

Now I wouldn't call myself a prude, but this mag is just EMBARRASSING! I'm talking Seventeen trauma-rama bad! It may not be very modern of me to say so, but 99.9% of the time, I think it's better to follow a more conservative route. Why? Perhaps because I'm a pastor's daughter. I like fashion and all, but when my beloved glossies decide to go the tarty route, I'm not afraid to get all Jane Austen up in their business. Word.*

I suppose this is why I'm not a huge Scarlett Johansson fan... because most of the time she represents herself as a bat-'er-eyes, voluptous vixen. Yes, ScarJo, you're gorgeous. You've got the perfect figure and can do any hair color. We get it, okay? Stop rubbing your wannabe Ann Margaret-ness in our faces already. Yeesh.

That said, is it bad that I'm secretly curious to hear her latest musical endeavor? Only because it involves Pete Yorn. I dug She & Him, so I might have to give these tunes a spin. Maybe. Happy now, Glamour? I'm intrigued. But good luck beating this:
Maybe I prefer Zooey because she, well, prefers wearing clothes. If only Zooey had been Glamour's cover choice (perhaps in a whimsical alterna-fantasy world, where everyone would sport charming vintage frocks and sip tea atop their bicycle/roller skates of choice. And we'd all sing "Xanadu." Of course). I jumped for joy when this hit my mailbox a few months back:
This cover is so sweet, fresh, and girlie without being cheesy. Obviously this was part of Zooey's promotion for 500 Days of Summer, and most likely resulted in thousands more flocking to theaters to catch that quirky indie darling. This cover is the perfect marketing tool that paints Deschanel as the ingenue she is. And that coral-hued dress with matching Repetto flats? Self isn't even a fashion mag, but it clearly has a far superior styling squad here. Sorry, Glamour. You got schooled. (And it's not the first time! Yawn fest).

So. Have any of you heard Zooey or ScarJo's music? In a Zooey vs. Scarlett face-off, who wins? Do let me know what you think. I'd do another spiffy poll, as the last one was a rousing (wee!) success, but I'm too lazy. Oh, and have you ever received a blush-worthy magazine in the mail that you wanted to hide before your parentals/flatmates/neighbors/cat could see? Feel free to sound off in the comments, loves.
And if you watched The Hills or The City last night and laughed your butt off (or cried tears of joy.... or anguish)... well, I wanna know that, too. :)


*And perhaps I've erred by drawing unnecessary attention to this tacky cover. That's the journalist in me wanting to "seek truth and report it," I guess. Or, in this case, expose things. Nevertheless, I'm bothered, and usually when I'm bothered, I share. And then you share, too, and we all share something deep and meaningful and weep and laugh and become the best of friends. Or not. I don't really know. All I know is it's early morning and I need to make coffee. :P

Fascination street

Thank you all for your insightful responses to my last post. Sorry for being a tad emo. I didn't mean for my frustrations to strike a nerve with anyone, but thanks for bearing with me. You were all so sweet and understanding and helpful, which I truly appreciate!

I love the suggestion to focus more on photography as opposed to just fashion. That really is something that makes me happy and that I'd like to have more time for... I also covet a digital SLR, and maybe a vintage SLR, too, that would make my geeky-photog fantasies come true. I need soft focus! And I'd like to get majorly dorky and photograph nebulae. Oh, yeah. My first foray into photography (aside from 35 mm and Polaroid shots taken for fun in childhood-- I used to pose my Barbies!) was when I took astronomy my senior of high school. We learned to develop film the old-school way for the purpose of astronomical photography, but I never got that far... I wound up swapping that course for film studies and stuck to photographing more earthly subjects. Maybe someday soon I'll scan and upload some of those early dark room pictures. Photography is an endless source of fun and fascination, and I love capturing the little odds and ends that make up my world.

So here are some photos from, oh, you know, around...


Wee! Hope you had fun. Stop by again soon! More fun and frolicking to follow... :)