Redhead Tribute: Christina Hendricks

So who isn't obsessed with Mad Men? No spoilers here, and please don't tell me anything! I'm not much of a tv watcher and I got in late in the game. I haven't netflixed my way through the series yet. I just felt that Christina Hendricks was a perfect choice for my series of tributes to redheads. She's a lovely woman offscreen of course, but I'd be lying if I didn't say her main appeal to me was her wardrobe on the show.

She defies the rule about redheads not being allowed to wear pink and she's gorgeous in it! This is so va va voom sexy for the workplace but it suits her character completely.

I know she hates her body type being such an issue but she's like the retro kate winslet, being praised for being curvy and not anorexic. I love seeing a sexy sultry curving girl on tv but I agree it's still annoying and wrong to judge someone by their looks one way or the other.

The pinnacle of 60s fashion.

From the red carpet, showing her just as lovely without the red lipstick!

From a magazine photo shoot. Refreshing to see her out of character.

Redhead Tribute: Laura Prepon

I didn't want to leave you hanging too long while I work on posts that are going to take some time. So I thought today would be the perfect day to launch my long promised tribute to red heads. I've been a red head my whole life (well except for a few unfortunate teenage years when I died in purple or black). It's taken me a really long time to learn to love and accept being, what they call, a "ginger".

I got picked on mercilessly growing up for being different. I guess I don't quite fit in in other ways too but this was immediately noticeable.....from across the room! But now I love having something special about me. As an adult I can see the value of having a "rare" look. I no longer feel it makes me ugly, but instead exotic! Well at least here. Some countries I could probably just blend right in.

Enough about me! I decided to do my first redhead post on Laura Prepon because I mentioned her very early on in this blog when I was obsessed with high waisted 70s jeans. I also have a soft spot for That 70s Show. While not my favorite era of vintage, it's cute and funny. And I when I die heaven will look like the Foreman house!

This is a promo pic for the show so she's in character but still kinda not. She just has such a natural clean look. They often downplayed her beauty on the show but she really shines here.

In character again but in a more tomboy way. still lovely of course!


And here is where we get Laura and not Donna. Absolutely goddess worthy. Stunning!

And here she is sexed up during that lad mag phase before she went blonde (Boooooo!!!!)

Unreal. This is her at her most "made up". This is what I want to roll out of bed looking like.

Who's your favorite redhead? I don't have one! But I'd still like to know yours...

Style Icon: Emma Pilsbury

Hurray for neurotic lovelorn guidance councilors! Ok, maybe just the ones that dress this sweet and stylish.



I love her unconventional beauty and being able to see a fellow redhead on tv. Plus I find her craziness cute and lovable.

Her look is so simple, a little vintage inspired, a little librarian chic, but it's the little things that make it so special.



I love the way she'll build an outfit using shades of the same color.

I love how she wears such vibrant colors despite her more timid personality.



She's always perfectly accessorized, not too little, not too much. But also just the perfect beaded necklace or broach.



Sweater sets and pencil skirts are classic and lovely.



And then there's the little details like a peter pan collar, contrast stitching, or delicate bow.

So deceptively simple, i think i could never quite manage this but I'll certainly try. It's perfect style in my opinion. individual, recognizable, iconic.

Style icon: Urban cowgirl

Here is how all this started. I went to a yard sale some time over the summer and bought a western style shirt with opalescent snaps and blue flowers on a white background. I don't usually even like florals but I do like snap ups (on my husband....) but somehow I had to have this shirt. so I bought it and promptly forgot all about it.



Then i came across a Calvin Klein denim skirt. I have a long time hatred of denim skirts. they always seem to look cheap and trashy to me. even when they made some kind of a hipster comeback a few years ago I winced internally every time I saw them and declared i would never wear one. But this CK one sort of called out to me. it wasn't too short. It wasn't wide at the bottom. It looked sort of sleek and......fashiony. so I bought it and promptly forgot about it. Somehow both of these items ended up in the same bag together in my closet and I pulled them out while cleaning. Magic. I had to wear them together. I love them.


I paired them with dark brown tights that have pinstripes which are sheer brown and my beloved boots that I seen to wear with everything these days.

In a way, I'm channeling Uma Thurman in Even Cowgirls get the Blues and Ariel in Footloose and maybe even a little of Thelma and Louise. I'm looking forward to see what else I can do with this skirt. Any suggestions?


I wanted to go kinda natural on the makeup for this but still be feminine. Peach and reddish-brown on the eyes, a reddish bronzer blush and a sheer red lipstick. Part earthy, part sassy.

Makeup details: Shallow by Benefit on the browbone, Swiss Chocolate by MAC on the lid, Dallas by Benefit on the cheeks, and Tropical Kiss by origins on the lips.

Style Icons: Sporty Prepsters

I've been shamefully working on this post for over a month and I've still got nada. It all started when I saw a collection in some fashion magazine that featured a sporty style with vintage tinges. and while I've never been sporty, either physically or in fashion, I'm drawn to nearly anything vintage.

That fashion editorial got me to daydreaming about what Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby would have worn on her golf outings. Then I thought about sunbathed preppy girls in the fifties, playing tennis at some exclusive country club. Then I began to realize that tennis dresses are dresses and boy do I love dresses.



And it kinda ended there. I didn't think I would ever get my hands on a vintage tennis dress. And there was no way I was going to invest in some terribly styleless nike version.

But then I did find a vintage tennis dress...and it fit! So I knew itwas fate and I had to do this post. But there have been other obstacles.



Firstly, I couldn't find many example online that I could use to showcase the style on this blog. I have gathered a few from etsy sellers but the trail was running cold. Google and flickr were no help to me as I searched for vintage photographs, particularly of starlets wearing this style.







But still, I must persevere on. This blog may be the only forum for which I can get away with wearing a tennis dress. They are quite short, you know.

So for total vanity I am posting this blog wherein I tout a sporty retro style so I can show off a couple of days later in another post. I'm sorry. But it is what it is.

Style Icons: Faeries

I can't think of any style icon more feminine, flirty, and delicately pretty than faeries. And I can't think of better adjectives to describe my summer clothing desires either. Popular images that come to mind when one hears a word like faerie (or fairy if you prefer) is Tinker Bell, obviously, or sci-fi/ fantasy role playing, or maybe even that Paris Hilton fragrance ad. And I certainly don't want to imitate any of these. Still, I can't help but want to clothe myself in something pink and wispy and to shimmer glitter my face, even if it's just for one day.

Some semi-random images taken from various website showing faeries in some popular conceptions...


Taken from: laguniak.files.wordpress.com


Taken from: dls1219.spaces.live.com




Taken from: www.bluemooncandles.com

I'm not sure how to take inspiration from butterfly people without looking like I'm going to a closplay convention. And I'm deeply concerned about how much skin one would need to expose. But I love a sartorial challenge and I think I can create a real life version of this.

How I styled it: West Side Story!

So I finally got around to trying my hand at dressing up like the lovely Latinas in West Side Story. As always I tried to do vintage with a modern twist. In case you are too tired to scroll down to my original inspiration post, here's an example of what I was going for...



I got all gussied up in a fancy red party dress and matching heels, paired with very bright orange tights. I added to this some peacock-esque earrings in teal and yellow. Miraculously, I had a very vibrant magenta pocket door to pose against.



I have a way less sassy pose than real Broadway girls, but I'm extremely fidgety and shy even though it's my husband taking the pictures. I'm not sassy at all, I'm really just holding my hair up to get the earrings in the picture. Those shoes in the picture are actually retired. I bought them from a street vendor in Paris on my honeymoon last year and wore them out pretty quickly. Both heels are broken but I brought them out of storage to give them one last hurrah!

I also did some super bright makeup colors to match the theme. Here's a close up on the eyes...



First i used a yellow eyeshadow all over from lashline to crease. Then I added a matte orange shadow to the inner corners and blended out. I toned it down a little by using a khaki colored shadow as an eyeliner.



On the cheeks, I swirled on a shimmery plum blush and the lip were double dipped. First with a magenta lip stain and then they were topped with a lavendar lipstick. All MAC products were used.

The shadows :Bright Future (style warrior collection); Rule; Flourishing
Cheeks: Grand Duo (mineralize blush duos)
Lips: Tender Tryst(Rose Romance collection);Lavendar Whip (cremesheen)

This was a really fun look to try but definitely for dressing up occasions. I still kinda felt like I was in costume but I guess that's part of the fun. i think I may reserve this for my upcoming trip. I think when you go to another country you're expected to have fun. I'll feel less self-conscious wearing this to a London nightclub than I would wearing to one at home. Which is very silly of me.

Cheers!

How to be a flapper in ten easy steps!

I love flapper attitude and style and I think this look should be adopted for more than a lazy Halloween costume. It's free spirited and fun and sexy in a darkly glamorous way. So let's try it for a night out.

1)Bob your hair! This may be hard for some people. I am not willing to cut my hair at this time but I've had bobbed hair in the past on several occasions and always loved it. If you can't bob it, try an Uma Thurman circa Pulp Fiction wig, or, I don't know, try to pull it up in a way that looks rebellious and possibly finger waved. Would that work?




2)Watch some fun 1920s films that helped popularize the look and made stars of actresses like Clara Bow and Louise Brooks. It'll help you channel your inner vixen, inspire your look and had some pepper to your slang. The following flicks are the cat's pajamas! I mean, the bee's knees. Uh, you know what I mean....
A couple of suggestions are It and Diary of a Lost Girl




3)Curl up on a rainy day and read one of my favorite books, by my favorite author: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Scott and his wife Zelda also helped the flapper look and personality reach the masses through their writing and antics. Then read a bio and feel terrible.


4)Well, come on girl, you have to rebel! But do it old school style and drive a car and swear. If that's not enough I guess you could attend a petting party, but, eww.


5)Drink gin. Lots of it. In an illegal speakeasy. But don't forget: Gin makes you sin. Could be helpful for tip no# 4.


6)Very long pearls are an iconic flapper staple. Also try accessorizing with a cloche. Or a beaded handbag. Some well accessorized flappers:


7)And don't foget the jazz! Jazz music was often the scapegoat for all the loose morale but so very tame by today's standards. Hit up itunes for Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Earl Hines.

8)And if there's music you gotta dance. Try shocking the public the flapper way by exposing your knees during the Charleston.
Video

9)Most importantly you have to have the perfect flapper dress: dropwaisted, slenderizing, and short. Fringe and beads are bonuses.



10)Complete your look with heavy makeup. Dark eye makeup is a must as well as rouge--put it on your knees too!

The know-nothing bohemians

I'm thinking more and more about the clothing I've been attracted to lately and my last post. And then I realized how dumb i am. Because i was trying so hard to distance myself from the hippie dippie bohemian fashion that I've always loathed, my brain completely blanked out on what I was so obviously trying to think of. The word I lost was : nautical. yeah, not Americana. So I'll repeat just to be clear. I'm into 1970s nautical. what?!? I never thought I'd think, type, or utter those words. I just want to be comfortable. But also classic so I don't have to worry about looking shluppy.

so I found some style icons. Of course there's the above Ali Mcgraw of Love Story fame. She isn't nautical but she looks so relaxed and classic. I also like a less tomboyish version of Donna from that 70s show, maybe because we're both redheads. Er, at least we used to be both redheads... She looks perfect like this:

I also really like this random chick I found on flicker (thanks random chick). I love wearing dresses in warm months and I would definitely wear this in my real life.


And finally another dress option from another flicker girl. I'm sorry flicker girl #1 and #2 for forgetting your names and being too lazy to look you up. Thank you for not suing me for telling everyone how lovely your clothing is.






I have to find my camera wire doohickey so I can upload pics of my attempts to add my own creative interpretation to this style.