The long-awaited hair tutorial

Everyone wanted to know how I achieved the glorious hairstyle in this post, so here is the step by step process in all its glory!


1" curling iron | hair tie or hair clip | bobby pins | music of some sort

These are the items you will need. Hairspray is optional. Music is not.



Step 1. Start with bedhead, because there's nothing classier than sharing a photo of your bedhead with the internet.



Step 2. If you have any dampness in your hair like I usually do in the morning, get rid of it. This is also a good time to seal in or adjust your part if necessary. To do that, part your hair where you want to, then blast it for a bit with cool air. If you don't have a blowdryer, make sure to do this when your hair is entirely dry--manufactured curls do not hold in even slightly damp hair, especially if you have stubborn hair.



Step 3. Gather your supplies: music, curling iron, and hair clip or hair tie.



Step 4. Clip/tie up half of your hair, & pin back any bangs or loose strands so you don't end up curling the wrong thing at the wrong time. Part the loose section down the middle. Curl the hair, going away from the face. I recommend pulling the stand down right after curling it so you get more of a loose, wavy curl than a sun-will-come-out-tomorrow look.



Step 5. AWAY from the face.



Step 6. I AM NOT JOKING IF YOU CURL TOWARD YOUR FACE YOU WILL LOOK LIKE A SOCCER MOM.



Step 7. Keep going until it's all done. It usually takes me about 45 minutes to do, but I have an exceptional amount of very thick hair. For hair of average thickness or shorter length, I wouldn't estimate more than 25 minutes of curling.



Step 8. Unpreen. Finger brush it to loosen the waves. You can also use a soft bristle brush if you prefer that, but tousle it a little bit afterward--unless the 1940s movie star look is your thing (and it's a good thing to be a thing!), in which case stop here.



Step 9. If you want to or think you need to, give all of your hair a quick sweep with the hairspray. I use this stuff simply because my mom stopped using it and there's still like three fourths of a can left. After that, back comb the ends a bit with your fingers for added volume/insanity.



Step 10: Bask.

Although this is a pretty straightforward tutorial, I'm really not sure how it will look on anyone else's hair. I think mine looks good with this style because of the amount of layers I have in my hair, so the curl is defined from cheek height all the way down to the ends. I don't know if it will look as brilliant on women with blunt haircuts, but I'd love to know so tell me if you decide to try this out!

Reader request: French braiding, part 1

Meghan requested a French braiding tutorial, and I thought I'd do her one better and do a few videos over the next month, building up to a video on doing the serpentine braid. So here's the first part, on how to do a basic French braid!



And a couple of pictures...



This is what a French braid looks like from the front or the top.



This is what the underside of a French braid looks like. I actually learned to French braid my hair this way--I grew up in a largely African-American community, and my friends who could cornrow taught me, so I originally French braided upside down. Instead of placing strands of hair over each other, you pull them underneath each other. It's a really cool look to do, especially for French braid pigtails.



And this is what my hair looked like today. It's extremely oily and this is not the best braid--I'm terribly uncoordinated upside down!--but this goes to show that you can do just about anything with a French braid once you figure out how to do it :)

Wear*It Wednesday: Graphic Tee Edition

It's time for Wear*It Wednesday! I am so, so excited, you guys. Everyone in this post looks so stinking stylish. Here we go!

Mandy of Juggling Chic is up first, and doesn't she look awesome? I can totally see her walking down the streets of Nashville in this outfit. (That's a compliment, I swear!)



Next is Salazar from 14 Shades of Grey. Between the outfit and the backdrop--I'm just amazed. Her photography is so pretty, and she is too. And her shirt is adorable!



Hilary of Young and Naive is a newcomer to WIW and she knocked it out of the park, don't you think? I mean, I'm a fan of the Black Keys anyway so I'm partial, but the hat and cardigan? Adorable.



Rebekah of From the Mixed-Up Files says that this outfit would fit in at her church since there are quite a few Packers jerseys spotted in the pews on Sundays. Well, boo Packers but yay for this outfit! Pink/white/blue is a great upgrade on the classic red/white/blue I've been fighting with.



Rachel basically invented WIW so of course she's going to do it too. And of course she's going to look awesome. She recently revamped her blog, For the Birds, but no matter what she calls it, it's still thrifting gloriousness.



Look. At. This. Blazer. BiblioMOMia has found essentially the best blazer in the world and I am so glad she shared it! & her shirt is from Out of Print Clothing, which specializes in putting book covers on shirts. Awesome!



Flyingpurplehippos.com is joining the WIW fun for the first time too, and I'm thrilled to have her! If this purple tee & these boots are any indication, we're in for some very cool outfits.



Jackie of Made with Love by Jackie B. is pulling off the most perfect Parisian vibe with this outfit. I love the high waisted skirt with the sandals. She looks so pretty!



Last but not least, here's my outfit. It was freezing when I woke up today and it has stayed that way but I refuse to let The Man get me down! I love this top--I ordered it from a menswear clompany because I liked the design so much.


Cardigan: Target | Tee: CXXVI Clothing | Bracelet: Target | Skirt: Walmart | Tights: Target | Socks: Target | Boots: Target

I want to thank you all for your participation. You've made this such a huge success and you've made me crazy happy in the process! How I feel is photographed below. Thanks K. for photographing me and I hope you all enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed making it!

RR: style this dress

I know from experience that there are some clothing items everyone seems to own, and most of them come from Target. Target does a great job at spitting out basics with a twist, so it was no surprise that reader Jessica (Jessica party in the house!) has more than a couple of the same Target items I wear. She asked for some ideas for remixing my gray and blue striped Mossimo dress, which I adore but admittedly have had some problems remixing myself. Before we splash into my ideas from today, here's how I've worn it in the past:


Click on them to go to the entry!

So essentially very time I've worn it I've done a top underneath, a belt, and maybe some tights. I'm surprised I haven't worn it with a cardigan over it yet because that's standard fare for me. Time to remix this sucker!

Here's what it looks like plain.


Dress: Target | Toes: butter London Henley Regatta

While I'm not uncomfortable with the deep v of the dress, it's definitely inappropriate for work, so I usually wear something underneath. Fair warning, I'm not always doing that in these pictures. Anyway, here are my ideas!


Top: JCPenney

Wear a top underneath. I really like how this looks, especially since this top has a neat collar and the sleeves are longer than the sleeves of the dress. It's a little...half lawyer, half hobo. I like it. I wore a cardigan underneath it too, but I didn't like that quite as much. Maybe because it was 85 outside.



Wear the cross ties in the back. I didn't think of this until I pulled the dress on to do something else and the ties ended up in the back. It makes the dress a little plain and is a good slate for accessories.


Top: JCPenney | Necklaces: JCPenney & Anthro | Cat: Abigail

Wear it backward. I'm all about wearing things backward, and this dress is no exception. Because of the cut of the back you'll have to wear something underneath, but this option offers a totally different neckline, which is great with a boatload of accessories.


Sweater: Anthro

Wear it as a skirt. Get a chunky sweater or a button down, belt it, and you have a completely different look. This is probably better for fall/winter but I will definitely be wearing this outfit when cooler weather comes around!


Skirt: Boden

Wear it as a top. I about peed my pants when I saw this picture because a) I look awesome and b) my outfit looks awesome. I love this particular pairing, but I think this dress would look great with a lot of different skirts. I also thought the cross ties would make things awkward but they actually look nice with the skirt. I'll definitely be wearing this combo (albeit with a camisole) to work.

So there you have it! Readers, any other suggestions for Jessica (and me!) on creative ways to wear this dress? The more the merrier!