We all know that famous quote that a woman’s hair is her shining glory, right?  Man, if you’re having a hair month like I am (WAY overdue for a cut and just grossing me out daily), then this quote could really ruin your day.  Can’t my sparkling wit and humor be my shining glory???  Eh, c’est la vie, it’s the hair, so let’s talk hair. Everyone has two things:  a face shape, and a hair style.  The thing is, these two need to coincide to make the other one look good, so let’s take a look at face shape versus hair style. Also, let’s text my hairstylist and beg for an appointment, so Kim doesn’t have to keep seeing me like this, she’s got to be afraid at this point.

Round Faces

If your face is round, the best hairstyles that work on you are longer than chin length, with volume in control. Curly hair and round faces are something to be careful with, because you don’t want to add volume to your cheeks.  By pulling the hair below the chin (especially cuts right below the chin, mid-neck level) you can elongate your face.  You also want structured layers, again to balance the middle volume of a round face.  Katie Holmes has a beautiful round face, watch her hair moves!

Long/Oblong Faces

Think width as the goal here.  You don’t want all one-length super long hair, because you already have a long, same shape face, it’s only going to make it look longer.  Bangs can add some width, but what you really want to focus on here is layers.  You want layers to break up the volume and flow of your hair, to add some change to the straight shape of your face.  A jaw-length bob can also look really great, so long as the hair isn’t shorter than your chin.  I have a longish face, and layers are my most favorite things ever, because when it gets really grown out (like right now…seriously, I need my hair cut) I start looking in the mirror and wondering who Mr. Ed is…and then realizing it’s me.  Shoot. Eva Longoria and Kate Hudson both have lovely oblong-ish faces, I try to watch their hairstyles as they change.

Square Faces

The goal here is to tone down a very prominent square jaw, therefore texture can help a lot. Curls are great on a square face, as are choppy ends, stacked cuts, and anything a little bit funky, or a little soft.  Does that make sense?  When you have a strong jaw, the goal is to deflect by way of texture and movement near your face.  Avoid anything all one length and blunt cut bobs, this will only accentuate the shape further.  Check out Kate Winslet at all times, she has a great-looking square face!

Heart Shaped Faces

Heart-shaped faces are usually most prominent in the pointed jaw region, so the goal with hair is to pull the view up to your lovely eyes and adorable nose.  Side-swept bangs can do this amazingly, as can a part that is obvious and falls below your chin, and soft layers to balance a heart-shaped face.  You want to avoid really blunt, heavy bangs and chopped layers.  Pretty much, you can just watch Reese Witherspoon and do what she does, as she has the most famous gorgeous heart-shaped face.

Having said all that, the best hair is the closest to your natural color (don’t get me wrong, I punch mine up a shade, but I don’t bleach it platinum or anything), clean (as mine rarely is), and healthy (hence, I need a haircut).  Keep these things in mind first and foremost and you’re ahead of the game!  Now please excuse me, I’ve got to find a headband big enough to cover this disaster….or a hat.

Ok sooooo this is going to be a shorty, quickie, fast article this week–as I’m heading out the door to LAS VEGAS!!!!   Vegas is so much my favorite place to go, and it’s 100% due to the clothing that I get to wear while there!!!  I’m going to give you my basic Vegas outfit rules, and then my friends, I’m off to dance and gamble and cause trouble!

Vegas Outfit Rules

Don’t Look Like Your Normal Self

Most days you can find me in a sundress, shorts, or  jeans, usually with flip flops on my feet.  But in Vegas????   The goal here is to be someone else, let loose, go crazy–your clothes should reflect this!  You normally wear minimal makeup?  Then rock the cat-eye eyeliner in Vegas!  You normally wear baggier clothes?  Then stuff yourself into something skin tight in Vegas!  You always wear black/grey/navy?   Then I hope you’re wearing hot pink in Vegas!  Get out of yourself and get into the city.

Less is Much Much Much More

Come on, the only thing you need to show in Vegas is skin.  I don’t care if you’re 300 pounds or 90 pounds, you gotta flash some skin.  This is a land of showgirls!  Go shorter than your mother would approve, lower cut than your job would allow, and strappier than you thought a piece of clothing could be while still staying on your body!

Focus on One Word While Dressing:  Fun!

You think your dress is way too short, your shoes are way too high, your makeup is borderline high school theater, and your hair is somehow sprayed into a Fergie-esque faux hawk pouf—-ummm, this means success!   There’s a reason Halloween is so fun, people, dressing up is fun!  There aren’t a whole lot of places that support the truly absurd and out-there clothing the way Las Vegas does, so live it up!   You’re only there for a few days, you’ll never see these people again, and come on, we all know what they say about Vegas…..

Party on friends, see you Monday through tired eyes, sore feet, and an empty wallet!!!

Clothes can be so expensive.  A clothing season can be really pricey.  A clothing habit (like mine) can be ridiculously costly.  So, how on earth does one decide which items can justify the higher price tag, and which items can get by on the cheapy, cute, lower-quality versions you run in to pick up at Target?  It’s not always easy to figure this out, because sometimes you see something so perfect that you decide to splurge, only to realize later it was a stupid idea, while conversely all of us at times have found ourselves buying the same type of item over and over, year after year, and for some reason always having to replace it!  So let’s look at some splurge vs. go cheap items, and establish some guidelines to help lower our shopping trip tabs (and credit card bills!  and fights with spouses!  and…you get the idea)

Dress Clothes

Splurge: Spend your money where it counts- on the dressy items you are going to wear to multiple events, in multiple seasons, for multiple years.  A black dress, black dress pants, a suit, a classic shape skirt, wide-leg trousers in staple colors (houndstooth, gray, white, etc.), a white blouse.  When you pick up an item picture it in summer, spring, winter, and fall.  Will it go with more than one item in your closet?  Can you wear it to work and to a dinner?  Can it be worn with heels and boots?  Is it cute alone and with a jacket?  Is the shape something you’ve seen in style for years?  If your answers to these questions are yes, then splurge.  Buy a name brand, high-quality, good-fitting version of this item and it will be something you can turn to over and over again for years, if your size doesn’t change.  It’s an investment, so invest.

You will wear this so many times, splurge it!

Go Cheap: Skip the fancy tags and pricey fabrics if you’re buying something for a one-time party night, Las Vegas, or a random function.  Do not spend a lot on anything that is uber-trendy right now, because next summer it will be uber-out and you’ll never wear it again.  That one-strap, flashy gold dress may look better in a Betsey Johnson label, but I promise you, it won’t look so cute next year.  If you’re like me, and you like to have lots of fun options for nights out and events, don’t go crazy on the spending of these items.  Hit H&M or Forever 21, or trusty old Target and see what they have first.  I promise you that no one dancing at Jet in Vegas is going to check your tag.

Totally hot, totally not gonna wear this in  5 years.  Go cheap!

Jeans

Splurge: On one pair of dark washed, wide-leg (or boot cut if you really like your legs), perfect length jeans.  All you need is one and you will wear their worth out of them over the next few years.  Yes, $250 on a pair of jeans seems crazy, but do the math.  If you love them, and wear them even twice a week for a year, that’s 104 wears, making it about $2 a wear.  If you wear them for two years, (which you will), you will have worn the cost right out.  Find a name brand you love and spend the money.  Once.  All it takes it once!

Ahhhh True Religion, worth it to me every time.  Splurge on these!

Go Cheap: On anything cropped, cuffed, fashion washed, bedazzled, skinny, or anything else that is considered trendy.  You might not always like those skinny jeans, you can’t wear cropped all year, and a fashion was (extra faded, vintage fade, etc.) might be really lame next year.  So go somewhere cheaper like Old Navy, American Eagle, or a non-name brand from a department store, for these styles.  You can own ten of them, and wear them without worry that next year you won’t like them, because they didn’t cost you much!

You might seriously hate this distressed look in two years, don’t break the bank.  Go cheap!

Tops

Splurge: On basic shirts.  A white one, a black one, some long tank tops, and anything else you know you wear constantly.  My older sister loves V-necks, so for her, buying a few really nice ones from Banana Republic is going to go further in the long run than 20 cheap ones at Ross that fade/shrink/fall apart, and she has to keep replacing.  I wear tons of ribbed tanks in the summer, so I get my major colors (black, white, navy, gray) from Abercrombie or J Crew.  Sure, I could get an $8 from Wal-Mart, but I’d end up buying 4 every summer, when I could buy one really nice one from J Crew and wear it next summer (case in point, the one I’m wearing today I got 3 summers ago from Abercrombie, and it’s still perfect).  Think about what YOU wear, and splurge on it.

It’s so perfect.  Splurge.

Go Cheap: On everything else!  A crazy leopard print top, a one-sleeve caftan style, a strapless glittery number….why would you spend a boatload on these?  You’re going to wear them only a few times, to a few very specific type places, and that’s it.  There is no reason to go crazy dropping cash on these tops when you know they aren’t things you’re going to recycle wearing over and over.  Those tops you buy for a Friday night?  That shirt you got for that one beach wedding?  Have you worn these since?  See?  I know what I’m talking about, people!

Dude, you won’t wear this through the ages. Go cheap.

Shoes

Splurge: Again, think basic and frequent wearing.  Black heels, running shoes, brown heels, neutral flats.  These shoes will be worn over and over and will go with everything you wear, so don’t go cheap on them.  It is kind of true that the more expensive the shoe, the longer they will last and most times the more comfortable they will be (yes, I know a 4″ Jimmy Choo is never going to feel like a Nike sneaker, but you know what I mean).  I also never suggest buying cheap shoes for exercise purposes.  A LOT of injuries can be attributed to poor footwear in exercise.   So one pair of versatile of sneaks is worth a splurge just as much as a great black heel, in my opinion.

You will wear these for 10 years.  Splurgggggge.

Go Cheap:  On the bright, wacky, fun, crazily painful, brightly colored numbers you buy for anything else!  If you look at them and cannot name five occasions they could be worn to, don’t splurge.  Hit up a knock off and enjoy the $40 out of them.

You and I both know you can’t name 4 places to wear these.  Go cheap!

So you see the motto here?  If it’s going to be something you wear a lot, something that isn’t going out of style (AKA it’s been IN style for a long time now), and is an article of clothing you wear a lot, splurge.  If not, cheap it up!  Happy shopping, my friends!

It was brought to my attention that I have some male readers, and I’m completely ignoring them!  First off, gentlemen, my apologies.  Trust me, it’s not from a lack of undying love and affection, you’d be hard-pressed to find a person out there that loves the male species more than I do!  Here’s an article, just for my favorite creatures, on some basics to buy to look stylish and put together on a regular basis.  An “Everyman List” if you will.  I know shopping isn’t likely to be your favorite activity, but looking good surely is!

Great Jeans

Fact:  Men look great in jeans.  They were originally created for you, and we all thank Levi Strauss daily for this fantastic way to show off a man in all his hot glory.  But….there are ways to go wrong.  Tapered ankles, overly faded wash, pleated fronts, or anything high-waisted is a quick way to take all the hot out of your jeans.  What you want to look for are some basic guidelines.

Length: Jeans need to be long enough, but not too long.  Tricky, I know.  General rule of thumb is to get them long enough to cover the top part of your shoe.  Any longer and you will look slouchy and shorter than you are, any shorter and you will look…well, like Screech from Saved by the Bell.  Neither is your goal, I hope.

Wash: Just be safe and make it dark.  Yes there are a ton of vintage fades, lighter washes, etc. but in my experience, a dark wash jean on a man doesn’t go wrong.  Ever.  Oh, and please, PLEASE walk past the styles with studs/bedazzles/huge TR crosses on the rear/any form of glitter.  You’re a man, Scottsdale, bring down a notch, playa.

Fit: These should not squeeze you, hang so low they show your underwear, or require acrobatics to get in and out of.  Men’s jeans look great in a straight leg in a slightly loose fit.  Skinny jeans on a man?  I know it’s trendy, but unless your job also includes eyeliner and an instrument/microphone, leave the skinnies to the girls.  It’s just not a good look, dude.

This guy’s got it right, no bells or whistles, just great fitting jeans.

A Classic White Shirt

I’m telling you, the one outfit every man can disarm a woman in is a great pair of jeans and white shirt.  I don’t know what it is!  Maybe we all watched too many movies and Brando in Streetcar Named Desire started it (and we’re thankful for that), but this outfit just screams MAN to me!  Check out any classic male heartthrob movie role if you don’t believe me- Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise, James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, you may not realize it, but we’ve been programmed to see this look as the classic good-looking man. Whether it’s a button down with the sleeves pushed up to 3/4 length (love this look), a loose fitting beach shirt in San Diego, or a classic Hanes crew-neck T-shirt, a white shirt and jeans on a man is perfect.  Just so perfect!

You can’t tell me you don’t want to be Brando.  Even I do!

A Suit

I know these are expensive, guys, but you only need one.  One great black suit will carry you through decades if your fit doesn’t change too much.  A suit needs to include flat-front pants (never pleats, unless you want to look like a pregnant woman), a jacket, and a vest.  I like the 3-piece suit best of all because when a man is all buttoned up into one, they just look the way all of us picture a man looking-classic, masculine, and elegant.  I say this suit should be black because it’s versatile.  Yes, a gray suit is great, but it’s not appropriate for every occasion, while a black one is never inappropriate.  Fit is major here.  It needs to be professionally tailored to fit you.  Think of this as an investment.  You’ll wear it to your interview, your promotion lunch, your best friend’s wedding, your loved one’s funeral, and every single major life event in between.  It’s worth the expense and the added thought.

Don Draper, the essence of MAN, always suited up.  Gorgeous.

A Swagger

You need some touches of you, guys.  I know men’s clothing is super boring–you have like 5 options maximum on what to wear any given day, but there are ways to have fun.  My friend David got married in his prized vintage Air Jordans, my ex-boyfriend owns every kind of Chuck Taylors known to man, and my cousin always wears a pink tie on Easter.  I love this stuff.  Put yourself into your clothes in fun ways, not by purchasing 90’s Hammer pants because you really dig 90’s hip-hop (we all do, but you don’t see me rocking backwards overalls…in public).  Ties, shoes, hats, watches, cuff links, these are YOUR toys, the way that jewelry, high heels, and purses are our toys.  And we notice, boys, we notice.  I met my boyfriend on a night when he was in a 3-piece suit and his matching, amazing tie clip and cuff links sealed the deal on me.  I loved them.  (I actually…stole them..but that’s another tale!)  Don’t be afraid to get stylish, it’s not effeminate, it’s hot.  You’re hot.  We love you for it.

In terms of personal style, I place Beckham at the top, only slightly above Pharrell.  Personalize it and own it, men can be stylin’ too!

Lovely spending this time with you boys, it won’t be the last!

XOXOXOXO