Talk about statement hair. From Dame Viv to Yohji Yamamoto, dyed and powdered hairstyles have definitely captured the attention of the front row and beyond this season.
The boys behind Proenza Schouler said that they were inspired by “surfing and skating” for their most recent collection. But this apparent Nineties grunge revival in fashion has influenced more than just clothes. At their S/S show, the purple and teal hair dye made the models look like Kurt Cobain-influenced mermaids. Natural elements surfaced in Europe as well. Vivienne Westwood’s fiery orange and red hair reinforced her always eco-concious message, while the bright, earthy green hair at Comme des Garçons was just another playful feature in a generally satirical collection. And at Yohji Yamamoto, the airy powder blue dye was the crowning feature for his minimalistic designs.
One question remains: will this wild hair trend have you rethinking the color of your coiffure come Spring?
This summer we at Fashionista have been drooling over long hair and fingering our own locks, cursing them for not growing faster. The grass does always seem greener, doesn’t it?
You have hair far past your shoulders and then you think, “Hmm, that Alexa Chung sure has a cute little crop going on…” Snip snip! But two weeks later, and you’re shaking your fist at pictures of Blake Lively and her flowing locks.
Last summer I cut my hair from shoulder length to boy short à la Agyness. I was glad I took the plunge, but then let my hair grow out. My hair is back to shoulder length and I was imagining in a few months how nice and long it would be.
And then I saw this photo in Style.com’s round-up of Lollapalooza fashion.
Farrah Fawcett’s recent death is still inspiring odes to her famous locks. We’ve already rhapsodized on how much we love Farrah, but this got us all thinking about other 1970s hair icons.
Since it’s summer, the first lady that came to mind was Bo Derek, running on the beach in 10.
Farrah had the blown-out voluminous curls. Bo was on the other end of the spectrum with her sleek cornrows.
Sure it’s a beach-associated style, but we’re actually of the belief that an incredibly wide range of people can work it with confidence, even on the isle of Manhattan. Hell, even David Beckham looked great in them back in 2003 (okay, actually, David Beckham basically always looks good.)
Looking for a way to spice up your hairstyle? Give cornrows a second look. Now, if we could look that good in a nude bathing suit…
When it comes to our hair, many of us are what can be politely described as crazytown. We like our hair to look and feel a certain way and get really bitchy when our strands don’t comply. And since the natural boom, we’ve gotten even more exacting as to what’s actually in those products, or more specifically, what we don’t want them to include: sulfates.
The sulfate debate has been raging for years. If you’re still a little hazy on the details here’s the rundown: Sulfates are a chemical that serves as a lathering and cleansing agent in everything from shampoos to body washes. They are cheap and effective but they are pretty harmful to the environment and are known to strip hair of color and natural oils.
I choose my products based on how good they make me look and feel, unfortunately not solely for their impact on the earth. That said, if there are areas in my life where I can go green without sacrificing efficacy, I do it. So naturally, when I saw that three of the major players in the hair care biz — L’Oréal, Frédéric Fekkai and Jonathan Product — were finally launching their own sulfate-free shampoos, I tried out all three brands to see if they could outperform my regular stuff.
Even though I’m officially brown-bagging my lunch since the e-word fell into a r-word, the one thing I can’t bear to give up is my pricey haircuts. Try as I might, I just can’t cut back on them. I’ve considered trying to DIY, but I had a bad experience in my youth that left me with uneven, half-inch long bangs on Picture Day Eve, so I can’t even handle a pair of shears without having traumatic flashbacks.
I guess I’m a salon snob, but I dealt with so many horrible hair cuts back in the day (hello infamous bowl cut of ‘92), that the minute I had the chance, I plopped myself in a chair at Bumble and have refused to go anywhere less since. The unfortunate side effect of this stubbornness is that my already anemic bank account goes on life support every 6 - 8 weeks.
So, news: Ted Gibson, one of my all-time favorite stylists and an all around sweetheart, was feeling my pain. The man behind the hair of Angelina Jolie and Anne Hathaway understands that times are rough and wallets are tight so he’s launching Recessionista Tuesdays at his eponymous salon. Every Tuesday, you can swing by the Fifth Avenue location for bargain basement prices on all the basic services. We’re talking $40 for a blowout and $75 and up for a cut or color. Considering the usual base price for services is $125, that’s one hell of a deal.
Best of all, if you swing by the salon between 10 and noon on Tuesdays and drop your business card, you’ll be entered to win a free hair makeover with Ted himself at the end of the day. The economy might be a mess but Ted is apparently a firm believer that your hair shouldn’t have to be. Amen.
One of the best things about being in London is seeing what everyone in New York will be wearing in six months.
Sure enough, peplums were already in the window of every high street store, everyone’s rocking Alice Dellal-like grungy booties, and there were an inordinate amount of super stylish fashion show-going girls with a perfectly plaited braid wrapped around their long wavy hair.
Each time we saw one of them we’d wonder, how’d she braid that so perfectly? How is it staying in place just so? Until finally, when we had thirty minutes to spend in Topshop on the very last day, we saw a wall stocked with fake braid headbands and felt like an ass for not realizing they were fake three days before.
We’ll blame it on exhaustion, being far away and blurred fashion vision at this point - but for all the railing we’d do in an argument against fake hair, we couldn’t even tell the difference.
Which makes us wonder, would you wear a fake braid on your head? Because all the cool girls are doing it.
Ok, not really. But Plum Sykes’ article on shoulder-length hair in the new March Vogue does explain how Gisele ended up chopping off her Gisele Hair, copied by thousands of magazine-gripping women everywhere: Apparently, she spaced, cut her super long hair to her shoulders, then freaked out and called her hairdresser at John Frieda in shock (we’re sure he helped shape it up later).
The thing I find most funny is that I’ve been cutting (ok, trimming) my own hair for years. I haven’t seen the inside of a professional salon in about a decade (I just put my hair in the most even braid possible every few weeks, then chop off about an inch), which has worked out quite nicely for my shoe budget.
I’ve always thought that unless you’re doing an all out Audrey Hepburn-inspired cut-a-thon, you can probably get away with most styles on your own - most girls I see just have long hair with a few shorter pieces in the front anyway.
Do you cut your own hair at home? Or does that just sound like a bad Full House waiting to happen?
Beauty inspiration backstage can run the gamut from “English Rose” to “Post-Apocalyptic Bladerunner Chic.” But this season, it looks like the name of the game is mostly just rock ‘n roll.
Rock as an inspiration is nothing new - it pops up every season. But this time around things feel a bit different. Those that don’t take the “clean, fresh and simple” route are edging farther and farther into grungy, hard rock territory. Usually, Fall brings lots of retro-glam or Victorian-era looks to the runways, but the general feel from backstage is that this season is a lot harder and rawer than those past.
Hence the rock stars. There was boyish and British Quadrophenia hair at Preen, “Mick Jagger’s poet rock girlfriend” at 3.1 Phillip Lim, a gorgeous purple smoky eye at Miss Sixty, and the very fitting “street rock n’ roll” greasy hair and smoky cat eyes at Yigal Azrouël.
There was even a “walk of shame” theme at Carlos Campos, with models sporting pallid skin and a creamy, dark eye smudged off on the outer corners, as if someone had hurriedly tried to make the vampy eye look respectable for the light of day and the long walk home (been there, done that).
My favorites were the badass black and white eyes created by MAC’s James Kaliardos at Preen, and the ribbon-bedecked, “Seventeenth Century Rock Star” braids whipped together by Redken’s David Cruz at Abaete.
I for one am glad to see the Retro and Romantic Goth trends (with a few notable exceptions) phasing out. You can only see so many pin curls and “brooding” dark lips before you just want to hit the makeup artist over the head with your notepad.
Raw and deconstructed is so much more interesting than perfectly polished. Just don’t take it to Little J levels of raccoon grunge.
At the 3.1 Phillip Lim show last night, stylist Odile Gilbert was fitting all the models with custom snipped, mushroom-shaped wigs. Well, not all the models — show opener Tao Okamoto was left wig-free. That’s because the Japanese stunner was Lim’s beauty inspiration for last night’s show.
Gilbert and Nars’s lead makeup artist, Ayako, both confirmed that Lim was so taken with Okamoto’s now signature cut, he told her not to be surprised when she showed up backstage to see all the models looking just like her.
I know we hear the model-as-muse story all the time, but I can’t help but smile when I see a unique and gorgeous look like Okamoto’s adapted into a runway-ready look.
Aveeno, perhaps the best skincare brand in your local Duane Reade (or anywhere, if you ask me), is branching out into hair care.
The Johnson & Johnson-owned brand will release their new shampoos and conditioners this April at a price point of $6.49, which is a very friendly price these days indeed.
Of course, they’ll also release a massive ad campaign of the TV, print and online trifecta, which means they’re probably casting the new girl right now.
So please, Johnson & Johnson, get Cintia on the phone. You know you want bright red hair for these commercials.
The big non-Golden Globes announcement this morning seems to be all about Sebastian Professional sponsoring the Henry Holland show for London Fashion Week next month.
So we take that to mean that the hairstyles will be particularly over the top, meaning a glimpse of Agyness in extensions is now on our backstage sightings wish list.
But could this also mean a surprise catwalk turn by Sebastian’s face of the moment, Charlotte Ronson?
Guess we’ll have to wait until February 24th, when Henry unveils his newest collection at Quaglino’s restaurant.
And if you can’t wait for Fashion Week just yet, we suggest reviewing Henry’s Spring 09 show, just to be ready.
I’ve always gotten compliments about how even after a long night of partying, my hair always looks amazing the morning after. So, I wanted to pass along a tip of mine for the holiday season! Especially if you curl/wave your hair for a night out, before you go to bed, spray a texturizing hairspray (or any ultra hold hairspray) all over your head to the point where you think you have sprayed too much. (I use Pantene Pro V Ultimate Texture Hairspray, cheap, tried and true.) The next morning, your curls will still be in place and you will be left with a very natural and sexy bed head. Revive your hair by recurling a few key pieces and you’ll be ready to go! This really comes in handy when you have to work or go to class the next morning…
Hope you can pass this on! This is my saving grace during the heavy hangover holiday season!
Living with two girls who both work in fashion is a godsend. Not only are they aware of current trends for women, but they also have a huge interest in boys (menswear of course).
So on a gloomy London morning when I was overheard complaining about shaving, my very caring roommate decided we should go out and by me a beard trimmer. It would apparently give me designer stubble and the appearance of someone who doesn’t really shave but maintains a rough look. Brilliant.
Little did I know the fun that would come with the beard trimmer I now own and the late night experimenting on other members of our “fashion” flat.
You can probably guess what happened, so I’ll spare you the details and go straight to the burning question:
Can a girl pull off an Alice Dellal-inspired shaved side?
Let us know, and if you have pictures, well, you know what to do.
—BR(IT) BOY
[Editor’s Note: Natalie and Britt recently met Johanna, one of the Stylista contestants, in person. She had a somewhat shaved side (more of a very close crop, if you want to get technical), and we have to say, it looked amazing, mostly because it was so subtle. Just a little PS since we would have immediately answered Br(it)’s question with a loud-as-hell no - though we think his friend pulls of the true shave quite well.]
Maybe it’s because I’ve just returned from a long weekend in the country, or maybe it’s because I’m particularly eagle-eyed when it comes to hair, but did anyone else notice last night’s prime time hair switch?
First, I watched Blair Waldorf help save a young girl from 1 Oak sporting a side braid more reminiscent of Lauren Conrad’s cool-California girl style than her usual UES stiff. And that was funny and fine.
But then I noticed Lauren Conrad sporting a black headband (and was that a bow on it? Tilted to the side?) more reminiscent of Blair Waldorf’s uppity signature look, which always makes me think of Shannon Doherty in Heathers.
An intentional Monday night hair swap? Or an East Coast / West Coast hip-hair rivalry?
You know we doubt it’s either, but it’s just so fun to say shit like that.
Faran is such a theater geek that she screamed when she heard this news:
On July 7, the new cast of Hair will perform at Theory’s boutique in the Meatpacking District, but not just for one or two songs - the cast will sing out from the racks for a whopping 45 minutes.
We’re so stoked about this, but of course, it’s also funny:
Hair is a show about individualism, free love, sacrifice, art, rebellion, society’s unraveling, and the power (and sometimes the weakness) of youth in America.
Meanwhile, Theory is a store built on $300 slacks and a stable black-white-gray color palette.
We don’t have to spell out the odd contrast, but hey - if Agyness and Gareth can stand against the psychedelic LSD rock n’ roll madness without laughing, then cool, maybe Andrew Rosen and the rest of his staff can manage it, too.
There’s an ongoing discussion in our office about whether or not it’s ok to dye your hair at home.
I’ve experimented with it more than once, mostly blonde highlights in an attempt to recreate the perfect California beach hair I possessed naturally until moving to the east coast.
Luckily, it’s never turned orange or fallen out or cost me more than $10, and it’s a pretty good alternative to getting a tattoo which is what I usually want to do when I’m bored.
However, it’s never looked like Gwyneth’s either. I’m aware there’s a reason colorists have their jobs - it’s a science and an art rolled into one and they’re the ones trained to make your hair look pretty and more importantly, natural. Each time I’ve let a friend brush cheap chemicals onto my hair I’ve taken comfort in the fact that someone out there can fix it if I actually end up looking cheap.
But the rest of the office (all two of them today), balks at the the idea of color from a box, saying you’re most likely to come out looking brassy or brittle, and are better off just not dying it at all.
I’m sticking to lemon juice this summer, but are you intrigued by the Garnier boxes? Or do you save your pennies for salon only treatments?
Here’s a little behind-the-scenes video of her shooting the campaign for those of you still in disbelief - click to hear that she (of course!) uses the products on her own time, that it’s made for “people”, and to watch her try to hop around in her broomstick yellow YSL Tributes.
Whether the main product, Whipped Crème, will come with a diagram on how to get the perfectly haven’t-seen-a-shower-in-months look remains to be seen…
Last night at dinner, my gray hairs came up as a topic of discussion. Again.
For some reason, people seemed to be annoyed that I won’t do anything about them. One friend recently remarked, “Wow, those are certainly filling in!” and I’ve started to notice some people noticing them a little too much for polite conversation. [Note: I don’t have that many, but since I’m just a smidge over an Olsen, almost everyone ends up staring right down into my roots.]
But even with every type of dying product known to man coming out, I don’t want to do anything about it. I’ve never dyed my hair before, and I don’t see why I should have to start now. Silver hairs don’t bother me, in fact, I think they’re kind of cool.
I may have been the kind of girl who needed lip gloss to study for an exam, but I just won’t change myself in a way that can’t be washed off at the end of the day. It’s not that I think it’s too fake - I have no problem with other people dying their hair - it’s just not my style. Which would be fine, except for some reason, this style seems to be pissing other people off.
It it just too matronly? Too fifth-grade teachery? Just too damn unsexy to not cover up? [Note: The only woman in fashion we could think of with gray hair was Miranda Priestly, a fictional character, in case you forgot.]
Would you let your hair go gray? Or are you going to pretend you’re beach-blonde til you’re 90?
That rumor we spread about Mark Fast doing a line for Topshop? It's true. And it's in last week's Sunday Telegraph magazine which means it was true before we even said anything and we've had it in our lap since... Read More
Meet Blue Logan, if you haven't already. A couple of years ago a friend dragged the soft-spoken Brit to a show at London Fashion Week, Aquascutum he thinks, and he started to draw the models as they walked down the... Read More
Talk about statement hair. From Dame Viv to Yohji Yamamoto, dyed and powdered hairstyles have definitely captured the attention of the front row and beyond this season. 
![bo_derek_gallery_main[1].jpg](http://fashionista.com/2009/07/08/bo_derek_gallery_main%5B1%5D.jpg)
