Thursday Tutorial: DIY Red Ombre Hair

So I have to admit that I've felt like a pretty bad blogger the past few weeks. Not that my heart's not in it anymore, because it is. I've just felt completely swamped by life. Part of this feeling led me to believe that I needed a new or at least updated hair do. Naturally, I'm a girl and that's what we gals do when we feel like something needs to change, we change our hair. There you go fellas, Ladies 101. 

Anyway, when trying to figure out what to do with my mess of hair without spending a ton of money, I decided the biggest change would be in getting both a cut and a color. Picking out a color for my hair was the hardest part, but I finally settled on red, even though I know how quickly red fades and what a pain in the butt upkeep is on it. This is why, if you saw yesterday's outfit post, you will see that I have since given up on red hair and gone back to something dark. BUT if you have the patience to re-dye your hair every month and not wash it often, here is a tutorial for how I got my Red Ombre Hair! 

A few things before I start this red ombre hair tutorial:

a.) Bleach is very corrosive. It will burn. Try to keep it off your skin as much as possible and always wear gloves when applying. 

b.) My hair had a LOT of layers of dye before I started so I knew I would have to leave the bleach on for longer periods of time to get it as light as I wanted it. If you don't dye your hair often, this will take less time. Try bleaching a little test piece first. 

c.) This is kind of a LONG process. Expect it to take at least a few hours.

DIY Red Ombre Hair Tutorial

What I Wore Wednesday: The Sexy Summer Nights Edition

I love summer! Well, I mean who doesn't right? Although it can be challenging to find outfits to wear out at night that don't scream slut and still keep you nice and cool. I love this maxi skirt I found at the sale Urban Outfitters by me. That super high slit up the side makes it nice and breezy and ultra sexy. Super important for summer nights out, no? Anyway, I was happy with how this outfit turned out even though what I was trying to highlight were my super sweet floral platform sandals that I have been waiting to wear out until it got warm enough. Well, it's warm enough and I think me and these floral sandals are going to be best friends all summer. Actually, this maxi skirt may pop up in a few more posts as well since I have discovered it is one of the most comfortable things ever.

Monday Design: Obsessed with Swedish Style

Summer is here. Get ready! The eat waves are going to start hitting. In this currently unbearable heat, I keep looking to white space and clean designs with pops of bright color. Sometimes when I'm browsing the internet at all these amazing home designs, I feel like I would want to change my apartment design every other season. I am in love with Swedish design when it comes to clean simple, so this apartment is where I'm dreaming of hanging out right now. Anyway, apologies for the short post, but I'm going to get some Memorial Day barbecuing on.

Happy Memorial Day! Hope you're having a relaxing weekend!

Photo Fridays: Pin-up Girls Before and After

I feel like you can't love vintage without loving pin-up girls. The are the style icons for so many girls that love to dress up like they've been sucked through a time-warp. That's why I was so excited to find this post on Pin Up Girls Before and After! I only pulled a few of the photos, there are many more, but they were all great. I mean I knew the models had to come from somewhere, but who knew you could match them up like this. I love how you can see all the set ups and props in the actual photographs and then you can see where the artist had to create the rest of the pin-up girl's world. I adore them! I also love how in this first photo you can see a hand holding up this girl's skirt. Too funny. Someone turn me into a pin-up girl please?

Which one is your favorite pin-up girl?

What I Wore Wednesday: The Girl's Night Out Edition

Let me give you a little back story here. My best friend and I have known each other since we were 5. We met across the crowded and bustling kindergarten room and it was love at first sight. Magical, no? Now we haven't always been the closest in the almost 20 years that we've known each other now. We go months without talking sometimes, but we can always pick up the phone and pick right back up like there was no lapse. That's my favorite thing about our friendship. It doesn't matter how long we haven't talked, I know I can just call her up and we'll get drinks.

That's what happened last weekend. We actually haven't seen each other in several months, but I desperately needed a gals night out! So we poured the whiskey and teased our hair and went dancing! What. A. Night. I'm still recovering. Anyway, this outfit is what I decided to wear dancing through the streets of Chicago. Thankfully is was about 80 degrees that entire weekend so I didn't have to worry about bringing a jacket or anything. And since we were going to be in crowded and hot bars, I though skimpier was better.  Oh, I also recently dyed my hair! It was dyed in the last outfit post, but you couldn't really tell. The red ombre really pops in this post. I'll share my tutorial on how I did it tomorrow.

Tuesday Trendspotting: Floral Dude Shirts

As we know, flowers come back in style every year for spring and summer. That is just something that will never change because it's just such a logical print to have around during that time. The size, shape, and style may change every year, but the print will always be floral. When I was on ASOS the other day I found an interesting trend in florals: masculine florals. Now I don't know anything about men's fashion (which is why I don't talk about it much) so maybe this is something that comes around every year too, but I can't say I've seen a whole lot of men in floral print shirts that weren't overweight or on a vacation in the tropics.

Anyway, I'm not sure I totally hate this look. I have to say that I am more of a fan of the big print florals than the tiny print for guys. Although, I suppose anything that I've seen in the past dubbed as masculine florals has been the tiny prints.

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

This is a completely biased opinion because I'm having a small love affair with this male model, but I feel like you need a certain kind of "look" to pull off masculine florals well. If you have some tattoos and look a little rough around the edges, it seems kind of sexy. No? Just me? Alright, I'll shut up now.

What do you say? Masculine florals: Love 'em or too Hawaii Five-0?

Monday Design: Elephant Chair

This may be a bit of a secret, but I love elephants! Well, ok to be fair to anyone who knows me irl, I love most animals and sea life. However, there are a handful of animal shapes that if printed on a t-shirt, notebook, or turned into a necklace I will stop in my tracks. Elephants are one of those. They just seem so sweet and have those big floppy ears, how can you not love 'em?

Finding this elephant chair by Maximo Riera was definitely a stopped in my internet tracks moment. It's made with such amazing detail, it looks like it could get up and walk away with you on its back. I'm already imagining the safari themed living room this chair will one day end up in, thick with the smell of mahogany and leather. Or more likely it will end up in some ultra modern apartment bathed in white with pops of color. How I would love to design the room that this little chair is going to end up in. I'm thinking maybe I went into the wrong profession. This elephant chair is actually number four in a series of animal chairs that Riera has been working on and even though I love octopuses (octopi?), this one has to be my favorite by far.

How intense is this all black picture? You can see the extreme attention to detail in this piece. From the eye to the skin, even to the little flaps in the ears. It really is gorgeously crafted.

What do you think? Gorgeous or too creepily realistic?

Photo Friday: Stanley Kubrick's New York - 1940s Photography

For most of us, when we hear the name Stanley Kubrick our minds go straight to movie titles, not iconic photography. When I hear Stanley Kubrick, I will forever think of A Clockwork Orange and those chilling suspender clad gangsters. However, I was pleased to find these photographs that Kubrick took in the 1940s in New York. Mostly because I love vintage photographs and movies since they're the closest thing to traveling back in time I'll ever get. The fact that they're the work of a director that I'm a fan of, just makes me more likely to love them. Which I do. Who knew Kubrick hung out with so many showgirls?

Anyway these kind of vintage photographs make me happy. Even though times were probably not easier, they at least seemed simpler, which is something I feel we might never get back. So enjoy these old black and whites of showgirls and circus performers!

Have a great weekend!