The Pixie Cut: Growing Out

I'm pretty sure my most popular article of all time is "Getting the Perfect Pixie." I wish "How to Accept Your Body and Move On," one of my personal favorites, was so popular, but alas I am not in control of what people read. Shocking, I know.

Anyway, I have enough trouble keeping up with comments on recent posts and that kind of thing, so while I read the many comments that appear on the pixie cut post, I don't tend to reply. I appreciate that people took the time to read and respond, but I'm just too busy to write my own response. However, a freshly-written comment on the not-so-fresh pixie article caught my attention.

Renee said: "This post originally inspired me to get my hair cut pixie-short. That was around two months ago; I've had it cut again once, and I'm already disenchanted. My hair has always grown fast, but within two or three weeks of it getting cut I had to gel the hell out of it in order for it to not look like a white-girl fro. It was starting to become a mullet before I cut it again, and now it's just not behaving.I can do a faux hawk with it but even that requires a lot of patience and manicuring, and it doesn't weather well with my habit of petting my hair. I loved the pixie, it looked good on me for a little bit, but now I'm faced with the desire to grow it out and having no idea how. It's almost summer so I can hide the awkward phases with scarves and the like (it's not allowed around my gang-infested school), but for those who are considering cutting it all off, heed my warnings.Right, I'm done. Sorry about the length of that. Just trying to spare some possible-pixie-chicks some frustration and money."

I feel your pain, Renee, and I'm here to help! This is something that you can overcome, not something that will overcome you. Let's talk about a few issues that come with pixie cuts, and how they can be dealt with.

♥ Pixie Maintenance. So your pixie cut looked dazzling for a month or so, but now its becoming a bit shaggy and mullet-y. This problem is not a huge deal. I was traveling in Israel when I noticed my pixie was too long in the back (beware of impending mullet!), not to mention the little bits of hair in front of my ears were threatening to become those ear locks (peyas) worn by Hasidic Jews.

Allow me to clarify.

But all is not lost, dear readers! My story did not end badly! As I sat in a Haifa dorm room, twirling my faux peyas and contemplating breaking my mirror, a friend came to the rescue. We didn't have scissors with us, but we did find tiny nail scissors. My friend removed the ear locks in a few snips, then hacked away at the longer hair that was growing past the base of my skull. I looked fine. The lesson here is that yes, your hair will grow out quickly, but you do not need to see a hairdresser every time. It's pretty hard to mess up when all you need to do is trim off an inch or so in the back and an itty bit in front. I'd like to point out that if my hair survived a cutting with nail scissors, yours will surely survive one with real scissors. Get a friend to do it and you'll be set until your next hair appointment!

♥ Growing it out for real. You've had enough of your short 'do, and you want longer hair, damnit! This time, when your hair reaches the shaggy, mullet-y stage, you don't trim it, and it looks awful. What to do?

Well, I'm an expert on what not to do at this stage. I let my hair grow, sans any sort of styling, until everything but my bangs was chin length. The bangs I then cut right above my eyebrows. I looked like a scarecrow.

I think the trick is that as the hair grows out, you need to sort of "prune" parts of it until you have finally reached an acceptable grown-out stage. Let's look to Miranda Hobbes of Sex & the City for some guidance:

1. Stage one: Miranda is rockin' a cute pixie.

2. Stage two: Miranda's hair has grown a bit, but she is not afraid. She battles bad hair by parting hers on the side and tucking any extra bits behind her ears. She has let the hair at the back of her head grow longer, but the way her top hair is parted and has grown longer than pixie length keeps her out of mullet territory.

3. Now that Miranda's locks have continued to grow, her front hair is long enough to allow her to wear stylish bangs at the front. She parts the rest of her hair in the middle, and lets it keep growing.

4. Notice that the back of Miranda's hair hasn't grown past her neck; she is clearly giving it a few trims to start getting rid of the short top/longer back proportion of the pixie. Her front hair is now too long to wear as bangs, so she has given herself a side part and stuck any extra hair behind her ears. She looks sleek and fabulous, I think!

5. Miranda's former bangs grow further, and she finally crops a bit of hair off the back so that all strands are the same length. Miranda keeps her hair this way for the rest of the final season, but you don't have to keep your hairline above your chin if you don't want to; let it keep growing!

See? It's not so bad! Pixie cut maintenance is fairly easy and mindless, once you get into the routine, but you'll want to find a good hairdresser and do some planning when it comes time to grow out the 'do.

I think this pixie cut subject is becoming a series. If you're interested in reading more, check out my initial post on getting the perfect pixie, as well as my second post with some examples of short hair cuts to try.

I hope this helps! I really wish I knew all this when I grew out my pixie; it was a painful process.

Formal Wear & Glasses

A recent comment: "Can you do a post on glasses worn with semi-formal / formal wear? I can't wear contacts, and while I think my glasses look fantastic with normal wear, I feel that I look weird wearing them with semi-formal / formal dresses. It's so unfair that guys look hot when they wear glasses with their suits, but girls are expected not to wear glasses with their formal wear!!There's this formal event coming up and I'd like to look good in my dress and glasses. Any suggestions / thoughts on this?"

Aha! A problem that has plagued me quite a few times! I'd be happy to help you out, lovely!

First of all, I'd like to point out that our society seems to have developed an unfortunate misconception that "guys look hot when they wear glasses with their suits, but girls are expected not to wear glasses with their formal wear." I'm not saying that I haven't felt the weight of this idea when slipping into a fancy dress, but I think that it needs to be reconsidered. For many people, glasses are as much a part of their face as their mouth or nose. You wouldn't get rid of your nose for prom, would you? So why get rid of glasses?

Still, I think there's something to be said for picking a dress that works with your glasses, or vice versa. Just like you might buy a gown in a color that brings out your eyes, it's a nice idea to consider how your glasses will look as part of your outfit on a formal occasion.

Of course, I have come up with some ideas for how to do this through some internet sleuthing. Watch and learn, baby!

Here we have some examples of how gosh-darn amazing it can look when you match your glasses to your dress. That Dior ad has been dancing around my head for months, and not just because Jessica Stam happens to be gorgeous. The glasses and the dress compliment each other perfectly, both drawing attention without stealing it; the two outfit components share the spotlight magnificently. Take note - try buying a dress in the same color as your glasses~

Next we have some instances where the glasses, while paired very nicely with pretty dresses, are the focal point of the outfit:

Whether it's the fact that the frames are large, or that their color is in high contrast with the dress, the glasses steal the show in these pictures. Nerd glasses aren't universally flattering (and it's very unlikely that you own them), but I do like how the way the black stands out from the white in the Dior ad, and the way the red really pops on the upper right. To give this look a try, go for a dress that is radically different in color from your glasses.

Last but not least, we have the formal wear-with-glasses technique that has been serving bespectacled women for years:

There's really no trick here, no special method. Your glasses are already flattering on you, correct? I mean, I assume you wouldn't have bought them otherwise. So how could buying a flattering dress to pair with flattering glasses go wrong? There are some instances when this idea is tricky (pairing flattering pants with a flattering shirt doesn't always work), but I think you're pretty safe in this case. The fashionable women above (two fashion magazine employees, one gorgeous actress by the name of Sophia Loren, and one wardrobe_remixer) seem to have taken this route, and they still manage to look fantastic.

The bottom line, I think, is that wearing glasses with a formal dress is a lot easier than it seems. Play with matching and contrast if you want to, but don't get too worked up about it. It's better to end up with a dress you love that doesn't match your glasses than a dress you're not too keen on that does. Savvy?

Oh, and if you're wondering about whether getting an updo for this event will look alright with those glasses, worry not. Bridget Bardot (below) demonstrates the beauty of this look.

Short Hair Help

I recently received an email from a reader that said, "I wanted to ask if you had any websites that were really good for looking up chic haircuts, I want to go really short but I'm not really sure exactly what I want, and I can't seem to find any decent websites online."

I figured I'd post my answer here, because other people might find it useful. Short hair is so easy and comfortable, and it can look damn hot! Embrace it!

I know for a fact that finding a picture of the exact cut you want can border on impossible. I remember that when I decided I wanted a pixie cut, I was sure finding a picture to show my hair stylist would be a snap.

It wasn't.

In the end, I threw up my hands, went to the stylist, and explained what I wanted. It came out beautifully, but I got lucky. Unless you know exactly what you want your cut to look like, you need to find a picture. This will a) ensure that you figure out what you want your cut to look like, and b) give the stylist an extremely clear idea of what you want.

What I'm trying to say, dear readers, is that this was a smart question, and I'm happy to answer it.

Now on to the good stuff.

A while ago, I wrote a post on getting the perfect pixie (which actually might be of some use to you.) I noticed that I was getting a lot of hits on that post from a hair forum, which led me to check out the website that hosted the forum. Hair Boutique seems amazingly useful to me, and there is a feature where you can search for pictures of hairstyles based on hair length, face shape, hair color, etc. Some of the pictures aren't great, but there are a bunch of good ones if you're patient enough to sift through them.

Above: Pictures found via Hair Boutique

Also, The Fashion Spot has a thread discussing short haircuts that's filled with fabulous photos of stylish short hair. These photos are some of my favorites among all the ones I found while researching for this post, so check it out!

Above: Pictures found via TFS

Finally, flickr has a few great groups bursting with photos of short-haired women. Take a peek at Beautiful Short Hair and Cut It Short to see some gorgeous ladies rocking amazing 'dos.

Above: Pictures found via the two flickr groups

Best of luck, darling! I'd love to see a picture of your new haircut!

Sorting Through Etsy Vintage

Kimberly of Beauty & Bangles just asked me how I sorted through the overwhelming amount of Etsy vintage to find the clothing, shoes, and accessories I featured in my recent post. I thought I'd answer her question here, in case anyone else wanted to know.

I'm feeling a little bit like I want to selfishly hold onto my Etsy shopping secrets, but since it is the holiday season (Happy Hanukkah, everyone!), I guess I'll share them with you all.

I'm a bit of a shopping nerd. I spent a couple of days when I was home sick sorting through the Etsy vintage selection to find the best vintage shops. And then I subscribed to them on Google Reader, so that every time the stores add more vintage clothing, I'm notified and can easily locate the new stuff. Every so often I add more shops, so the list of shops I subscribe to is steadily growing.

Here is the current list:
♥ 80sdiva
♥ allencompanyinc
♥ atomicyente
♥ CHERRYPICKVINTAGE (one of my favorites)
♥ modernmoonlight712
♥ NikitaJade
♥ Nostalgia
♥ nstylevintage
♥ putonthatdress
♥ ramonawest
♥ revivalhouse
♥ RunzWithVintage
♥ Salvage Life
♥ santokivintage
♥ TresChicVintage
♥ ultraretro

Yes, I am a nerd. But I figure you can sympathize, since I can't imagine anyone who hates shopping would bother to read my blog.

Winter Coats Don't Have to Be Black

I recieved an email that said:

"I'm looking for a winter coat. I'd love some color, which is proving difficult since apparently all winter coats must be black. I luuuuuuurve this one - http://www.fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=2763&cat=344, but it's made of terry cloth, so it's not exactly warm enough.

So here's my question: Have you seen any sites or stores with really fun, colorful winter coats that will actually be warm? Do you have any suggestions for places I could look?"

Why yes, I do have some suggestions! I don't know of any store that's chock-full of colorful coats (although Topshop has a nice selection if you're willing to spend more), but here are some individual coats that might appeal to you (click on the picture to go to the website):














I hope that helps! Even though they're all from different stores, the coats are all reasonably priced and colorful enough to make you the brightest thing on the street.

The Lion, the Witch, and the High School Wardrobe

I recently recieved an email from a reader who is entering her freshman year of high school. She wanted to know which wardrobe staples would help her make a successful start in high school, at least in terms of her fashion choices. I told her I would help her out.

Before I list the wardrobe staples I have relied on throughout my high school career (I'm a senior now), I would like to stress that my wardrobe choices are based on the fact that a) My high school has an outdoor campus, b) I live in New England, so I have to be prepared for all kinds of weather, and c) My morning brain makes very different clothing choices than my afternoon/evening brain. To explain the last point, I give you A Typical Morning with Kori. Scene: Alarm goes off at 6:20 am. Girl hurls it against the wall before finally waking up. Girl looks groggily at the outfit she laid out the night, which consists of a cute skirt and tights, a t-shirt, and a sweater. Girl sighs and reaches for sweat pants. End scene. Basically, my point is that comfort is very important to me in the morning. Tights are usually out of the question, as are pinchy shoes or anything in which I would be too hot or cold. I have learned to lay out comfy and cute outfits so that I can avoid wearing sweats, but that's just me. A lot of girls can make themselves wear heels and short skirts. I'd also like to suggest that, when going back-to-school shopping before entering a new school, you try not to buy your entire wardrobe at once. Go to your school for a week, get the feel for what is acceptable (unless you don't care), and then buy what you need.

And now for my list of staples:

Jeans are a must. You don't need to buy expensive ones, but buy a couple pairs that fit you nicely. You will wear them a lot...I promise!

Sweatshirts/light jackets are another good thing to have. Because most high schools are quite large, the temperature tends to vary depending on which part of the school you are in. To deal with this, removable layers are a good idea. I like sweatshirts or jackets that button or zip in the front, because that way you can wear them open so that your shirt still shows. I have only three sweatshirts/light jackets that I wear on a regular basis, but my outfit always looks different because I have plenty of tops to wear underneath them. So make sure you have a good variety of tops. I personally favor vintage or vintage-look t-shirts for a typical day, because they are comfy and versatile, but really you should wear whatever you like.

Dresses are a great thing to have on hand, because it's the easiest thing to do to just slip on a dress, and you don't even have to worry about finding pants (although I would wear the dress over jeans, tights, or leggings in the winter). Also, you will always look like you made an effort when wearing a dress, even if you didn't (It will be our little secret). I'd suggest buying dresses that hit somewhere from just above your knees to your ankles, because wearing a short dress isn't so comfortable when you're spending hours sitting in class, and you don't want to be worrying about whether someone can see up your skirt while you're trying to learn. Or pass notes. Or sleep. Whatever floats your boat.

Make sure you have comfy shoes, because you'll be walking to and from classes all day. I live in my black Chuck Taylor All Stars during the school year because they are nice to my feet, go with everything, and can be worn in gym class. If you don't like Chucks, any cute pair of sneakers will do. Flats are another option for days when you want to look especially nice. And a great pair of leather boots will really get you through the winter. There's nothing worse than spending all day with wet feet and pant hems because you accidentally stepped in snow on the way to school, and boots will definitely help you avoid that discomfort. Boots are usually pretty expensive, but Delia*s and Alloy (and I think Urban Outfitters) currently have some on sale in their clearance sections. I would go for those. Actually, I did go for those, since I just bought a pair of motorcyle boots from Alloy, but that's beside the point.

If you have some money left over after buying your staples, it might be nice to buy some fun accessories and less practical clothing. The great thing about high school is that people are a lot more open to dressing differently than they were in middle school or junior high, so embrace it! Also, you should know that I tend to save my more unique/fun pieces of clothing for going out with my friends. It's fun to dress up for school every now and then, but I am just not enough of a morning person to deal with it on a regular basis. Oh, and I didn't include shorts or winter coats or backpacks in my list of staples, because I figured those were kind of a given.

I hope that helped! Good luck with high school!

P.S. If anyone else wants a long, rambling (but well thought out) response to their question, comment with it or email me.

P.P.S. Witty title, eh? I thought so. Oh, I am full of bad puns and tweaked book/movie titles. Just watch me go!