Hairspiration - Gossip Girl

     Gossip Girl has always been one of the most fashion-forward shows on tv and in it's fifth season it's still a strong style influence. What I love about this season in particular is the hairstyling by Jennifer Johnson. The styles have evolved from the school-girl look of pin-straight hair and headbands to elegant updos and intricate braiding. The characters have grown up, defined their individual styles away from school uniforms, and their hair has become more sophisticated. The styles look relaxed and effortless yet are unique and hard to duplicate. I've tried...no such luck! If I could have Johnson as my personal stylist, I would never have a bad hair day again!

 

(photo credits: cwtv.com)

The Gap Turnaround

     Last week there was a big fuss about Gap's new logo design. From tweets to blogs, everyone was quick to express their strong disagreement with the company's decision. No sooner than the new logo surfaced, the old one came back! Gap claimed they have learned from their mistakes and understood that they didn't go about this the right way. "This wasn’t the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing,” said Gap Brand North America president, Marka Hansen.

     In the past few years, Gap has lost its modern appeal and it's not surprising that the brand tried something different. However, maybe they should be making bigger strides in the design of their clothing and less in entering the public eye as insecure and hesitant of their direction. I can't help thinking that without changing their image further than just a logo, their future might not be as triumphant.

     On a more positive note, the few things Gap has done right throughout the years? Their ads!

Here are some of my favorites...



The Funny Boys:

The guys of Saturday Night Live.

James Marsden

A Gossip Girl Holiday:

Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester

Chace Crawford, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley

Black and White:

Twyla Tharp

Hugh Dancy

John Mayer

Lucy Lui

Selma Blair

My Favorite Models:

Abby Lee Kershaw and Lily Donaldson

Anja Rubik

Chanel Iman

Coco Rocha

Sasha Pivovarova

What's a Girl to Do On a Rainy Day Like Today?

It's been raining practically all summer so far, and there's really been only a couple hot, sunny days. So what better time to sit at the computer all day?

I've come up with a list of spring runways to get inspiration from:

• Alice & Olivia
• John Galliano
• ADAM
• Blumarine
• Versace
• Chloe
• Collette Dinnigan
• Elie Saab
• Martin Grant
• DKNY
• Chanel
• Isaac Mizrahi

(DKNY)

I took a virtual tour through the Bass/van der Woodsen apartment of Gossip Girl on style.com.

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/promo/0,,20227278,00.html

I took a quiz on style.com on how much I know about couture....which I did terribly on!

http://www.style.com/trendsshopping/stylenotes/062909_Couture_Quiz/

I went to InStyle's virtual Hollywood Makeover Salon and tried on a few celebrity hairstyles.

And the rest of the day I looked at Resort 2010 collections. http://www.style.com/fashionshows/collections/2010RST/

(Basso & Brooke)