Flattering Trends Part 3: Chunky Knits

Sup? It's Caroline. I was gonna do a Halloween tutorial, but I gave up.  I don't have the right tools for filming my costume or makeup video, but maybe I'll ask for a video camera for Christmas.

Also, I don't think posting a Halloween tutorial just a couple of days before Halloween would help anybody.  But, I swear, my vampire costume was gonna be awesome.  And so was my Little Red Riding Hood.  And my Ancient Roman costume.  I'm sure you can imagine it.

Now onto more informative things.  Today I'm going to talk about chunky knits.  I know people who won't wear 'em, and I know people who wear them all the time.  I personally love chunky knits, and it's that time of year again.

There is a way to do chunky knits wrong for your body type, so I'm back with another "tutorial" on how to flatter your shape and still follow this fall/winter trend.  For reference, see part 1 and part 2.


{Rectangle Type 1}  Lucky you!  You can pull off almost any chunky look.  You look super cute in full sweaters or vintage sweatshirts/ponchos over skinny jeans, and you can work the horizontal stripes.  Pair with boots (and maybe some legwarmers peeking out from the top of your boots) and you've got a really trendy look.

Rectangle Type 1 - Chunky Knits by jabberbabywokky featuring a knit sweater

{Rectangle Type 2}  The best knits for your body type are open sweaters and chunky scarves.  Go with a bold-print scarf and a neutral sweater, or try a fun ankle bootie with rolled up jeans.  Also, stay warm with the trendy floppy-brimmed felt hat or a knitted beanie.

{Apple}  Since you have a narrower waist and a broader top-half, minimize on top and accentuate on the bottom.  Choose sweaters with more volume towards the lower-half, and try a plain t-shirt tucked into a pencil skirt.  Wear some fun tights and boots, and accessorize with a cute hat.

Apple - Chunky Knits by jabberbabywokky featuring long sleeve sweaters

{Pear}  Since you have a fuller shape lower down and you get narrow towards your shoulders, wear chunky sweaters and scarves that add volume to your upper half.  Pair with bootcut jeans and boots underneath.  Tucking skinny jeans into boots may work for you, but for most pear shapes it can over-accentuate your fuller hips.

Pear - Chunky knits by jabberbabywokky featuring red scarves

{Hourglass}  Play up your narrow waist with a belt or a sweater that nips in at the middle.  Pick some cute knee-high boots and tuck in some skinny jeans, or try a funky ankle bootie.

Hourglass - Chunky Knits by jabberbabywokky featuring a sweater vest

That's all for today!  And as I've said before, these don't always apply to everyone.  Your body may not fall directly under these categories, but this is just a basic guide for you to have in mind.  Figure out how to play up your best features and camouflage the ones you may not like as much, and you're golden.

Have fun shopping for the cold weather!

-Caroline

Un-washing your hair

Caroline here!  Like I promised you, here's a post on how to wash your hair less and still look like a model.  (Or, you know, like someone with pretty hair.)

Let's just go ahead and get started!

{Step 1}

                Plan out a few days where you're not going to go anywhere special.  You're hair's gonna look pretty unattractive for a few days, but if you can manage to pull it back or cover it up with a hat, you're set. But the best plan is to do this when you've got lots of time at home.  

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{Step 2}

Wash your hair thoroughly on the first day.  You need to remove every impurity possible!  So you can buy a clarifying shampoo if you want, but the best way to really get in there without damaging your hair is to use baking soda.  Make a thick paste with 2 parts baking soda and 1 part water and rub it into your scalp.  Really get in there with it, and then rinse with warm water.  Follow up by mixing one part apple cider vinegar with one part water, and rub it gently through your hair.  Rinse and style your hair as usual, but don't add any hair products.

{Hair Health Tip:  Don't use those same baking soda measurements if you have incredibly fine hair, or if you use this cleansing method daily.  Instead, use about two tablespoons of baking soda in a cup of water and just pour it over your hair and scrub.}

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{Step 3}

Now here's the hard part.  You need to completely refrain from washing your hair for AT LEAST three days.  I recommend five, but that can be reaching for the stars for some of us.  No matter how nasty your hair looks, don't put anything in it!  You could use dry shampoo, but that could build up and end up making it look worse more quickly.  Just... don't touch!

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{Step 4}

On the final day of your waiting, when it's been long enough and you just don't even want to think about your hair anymore, you're free to wash.  You might want to use the baking soda method again, but you can also just use plain old shampoo and conditioner.  

{Step 5}  

Now, wait three days before you wash your hair again.  It should be loads easier this time around already!

{Step 6}  

Wash that nasty scalp.

{Step 7}

Now, do what you will!  I trained myself to wash my hair two (occasionally three) times a week.  You could do it every other day if you're more comfortable with that!  But there's no way you can do either of these things without doing the hard part of living with the nastiness for a while.  My hair, now, doesn't get gross until the third day, which is my "pony-tail" day.  

I hope this helped you!  Once you start washing your hair less, your hair will be healthier and stronger.  Plus, you won't have to blow-dry and straighten it every day anymore, either!

Go forth and have awesome hair.

-Caroline

The Season of Tights and Headbands

As most of the other girls on The Dressing Room Door, I too am in love with the season autumn.  From the warm tones to the comfy sweaters and opaque tights, I am head over heels for fall.  Let me show you what I mean.

 I adore red.  It's most definitely my favorite color to wear.  Burgundy is even better. I've had this dress forever, and I just rediscovered it this morning while getting ready for church. Paired it with black tights, a belt, a crocheted headband, and boots that are who knows how old.  I love the dress' capped sleeves and almost turtleneck collar.

The shoes are my latest love.  They're vintage and absolutely amazing. They lace up through the ankles and have the witch-like pointed toe. I adore them. And if they weren't so uncomfortable I'd probably wear them with everything. Well. I'll probably end up wearing them with everything anyway.

They are very old, and the leather's cracked and the laces are frayed. But I think the vintageness makes me love them even more.

Dress - Thrifted? Or gift, I can't remember
Belt - Kohl's
Tights - Target
Headband - Crocheted by my mother
Shoes - Vintage, via Goodwill
Nail polish - Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in the color 90, Brilliant Bordeaux


That's it for today, lovelies.  I promise to have that last installment of Back to the Basics up in a few days. I've been drowning in papers and science experiments.  So here's an OOTD to make sure you don't think I've fallen off the face of the planet. ;)

What's your favorite fall color? :)

xx,
Emilyann

Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.

Hey There!

Remember me! I'm Elizabeth, that chatterbox girl who hasn't posted since last spring? Yeah. That one. Don't worry though, I'm heartily ashamed of my long delay in posting and intend to start a new leaf. I'm going to keep up with all the other wonderful diligent girls on here and post once a week, how about that! (Unless I'm swamped with homework in which case you'll get another apology.)   ;)

Anyway, Hello! Hi! How are you all! I  hope you had as wonderful a summer as I did. Busy. But wonderful. However I'm exceedingly glad Autumn is finally showing its glorious face. Autumn is my favorite season. October is my favorite month. October 11 is my favorite day...  Just kidding that last one's not true. But I do just really love Fall. All the fiery leaves cascading downward with every slight breeze, they look for all the world like heaven is raining down orange and yellow sprinkles, the crisp chilly mornings, pumpkin moonshines leering in the most cheerful way possible from every doorstep. An excuse to dress up and beg candy from people legally... Just kidding about that last one too. Sort of. But another reason I like fall is the fashion. I mean who doesn't, but I think I especially love it. I love felt hats and leather boots, brightly colored tights and school cardigans. Corduroy jackets, plaid wool skirts, that boyfriend blazer that was too hot to wear in summer, knee socks, more hats.... I like fall. Plus autumnal hues are always the ones that look best on me. So I can be biased right? So I've got a post on specific outfit ideas and color trends for Fall all lined up for you all, but its not quite ready yet. I figured I'd come back gradually with a simple post. Just my own interpretation of a classic autumn outfit. With my own personal flair of course. I.E. the hat. =) 

Yes. I'm making up for lost time by taking up the entire home page with pictures. Just so you know the game plan. 

Burgundy Cardigan: Target

White Ruffled Blouse: Target 

Brown Skater Skirt: Forever 21

Burgundy Felt Hat: Target

White Ankle Socks: Target

Oxford Flats: Shii by Journeys

Make-Up: Standard

I love burgundy. As you can probably tell. And its perfect for Fall! And while your still reading, can we talk about these shoes? Found them at the mall while "window" shopping with a friend for $35. I'm still reeling with the perfection of them. Just thought I'd let you know. :) I'm so happy to be back everyone. Its going to be a good year. Happy October! 

Laughter and Song, 

~Elizabeth

Hairapy

Hey, y'all, it's Caroline!

It's no secret that in order to have pretty hair, you have to have healthy hair.  You may have the longest, thickest hair in the land, but it can be wildly unattractive from the frayed, broken ends and the lackluster color.

So, what are you going to do about it?  Here are some tips on getting your healthiest hair yet.

• Get your hair trimmed once every 4 to 6 weeks, even if you're trying to grow out your hair.  This cleans up split ends and fragile tips, and heightens the overall healthy appearance of your locks.  A trim doesn't have to remove much length at all.

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• Wash your hair less.  Yup, you heard me right:  LESS!  This probably freaks you out, because you're thinking about how oily your hair gets after even just a day without washing it.  Well, worry no more!  The reason your hair is this prone to oil is because every time you wash your hair, you strip it of its natural oils.  This causes all of that good stuff to come in too quickly and powerfully to compensate for all the oil you took away.  I only wash my hair twice a week, and by the time I wash it, it's only just starting to look dirty.  Next week, I'll be doing a post on how to pull this off, so stay tuned!

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• Let your hair down!  When you put your hair up with clips and pins and rubberbands, you're inevitably going to break some of your hair.  So try to wear your hair down more often, and if you need to "put it away" for a while, try braiding it loosely and securing with a no-snag hair band.

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• Never brush wet hair.  When you get out of the shower, use a wide tooth comb.  Start at the ends of your hair and gently work out the knots and kinks.  Try not to tug, pull, or yank at your hair.

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• Every once in a while, use a clarifying shampoo.  This reduces the amount of build-up in your hair so you can get a shinier look.  For people with color-treated hair, and also for people on a budget, use baking soda!  Make a paste out of two parts baking soda and one part water, and work it through your hair.  Rinse thoroughly, and follow with your usual shampoo and conditioner.

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• Keep off!  Try to use heat tools as sparingly as possible, and when you just must, please use a heat protectant.  Don't handle your hair too much throughout the day, because that will cause greasiness.  Also, don't put too much product in your hair or brush it too often!

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These are just a few thoughts on healthy hair, and I hope this all helped you!  Like I said, stay tuned for a post on how you can go days without washing your hair.

Have a great day!

-Caroline

Hey Ladies!

It's Valentine again, and I have a video for you today!  I talk about my foundation routine a little bit and also a handy-dandy little antibacterial brush cleanser I got from Sephora.



So, in summary, I use Sonia Kashuk's Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in "Fair" and I use Sonia Kashuk's Synthetic Flat Blusher Brush to apply it.  Also, for all of my brushes, I use Sephora's Antibacterial Daily Brush Cleaner to rid them of gross stuff. :)

Maybe some of you noticed that I didn't mention a primer...I happen to be looking for a good, inexpensive one right now.  My previous primer did not agree with my skin (aka, it broke me out), so it had to go.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Happy Mid-week!
-Valentine

Fall Trends: The Varsity Jacket

Hello all, Lillian here!

Today I am sharing with you my love of the new varsity jacket trend.  I've always loved the look of varsity jackets, and even though I'm usually averse to such blatant trendy-ness, I just purchased my very own.  I think it's pretty terrific.  But unfortunately, in a sad case of ditsy-ness on my part, my camera is all the way across America at the current moment.  So instead of posting any sort of outfit post, I am going to share with you two different ways to style your jacket, should you choose to join me in this awesome-jacket-party. 

{Number One:  The Authentic, steal-from-the-guys, Varsity Jacket}

For this type of look, go to the guys section of stores, thrift stores or actually steal it from a brother or friend.  It'll be a bit large, but that's what we love about this look.  Pair it with casual dresses or jeans, or for a more fancy look, try it with a high-waisted skirt and blouse, and just sling it across your shoulders, getting more of a 50's look.


{Number Two: The more style-ized Look}

For this type of look you can have more of a free-reign on what exactly a varsity jacket is.  But that's ok, because this is a trend, and you always want to have your own twist on it.  Take a sweater version, or a patterned one, or a sweater with barely a hint.  Style them however you see fit with girly accents or retro ones.

But really, just have fun, because what is the point of getting dressed everyday if it isn't fun? Well besides the fact that it isn't socially acceptable to go everywhere naked... but you knew what I meant.  ;)

Are you considering getting your own varsity jacket?

Any other trends you are embracing this fall?  Do tell!

{love}
{lillian}

P.S. See the original Polyvore sets here.  
P.P.S Mine is most like the red-sleeved "authentic" jacket in the first picture.