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Red Carpet Recap: Academic Achievment

By |February 22nd, 2015|Celebrity Style, Red Carpet Recap, Why Did You Wear That?|

dakota johnson rosamund pike behati prinsloo Dakota Johnson in Saint Laurent, Rosamund Pike in Givenchy, Behati Prinsloo in Armani

The red carpet was red hot this year at the 87th Annual Academy Awards.  While it poured down rain in Los Angeles, causing a hot box effect with plastic tenting literally wilting A-list hairstyles and melting perfectly made up faces, nominees and future winners did not let us down in the dress department.  While there was nothing truly offensive, there were also very few that inspired any standing ovations, which would be saved for John Legend, Common, Patricia Arquette, and Graham Moore.  Saint Laurent on both Dakota Johnson and Margot Robbie were two of my early favorites.  When Rosamund Pike arrived in a perfectly fitted Givenchy frock only two months after giving birth, I shed a tear and poured out a little bit of alcohol, which my dog quickly lapped up.  A few debatable dresses were worn by Lupita Nyong’o, Nicole Kidman, and Felicity Jones.  I’m not sure why, but Khloe Kardashian was recruited by E! for her opinions on red carpet arrivals, to which she held nothing back.  I zoned out from the actual awards show after Neil Patrick Harris’s first failed joke, but I did catch Julianne Moore’s well deserved acceptance speech, Common’s freckles, Lady Gaga’s epic cover of The Sound of Music, and the absence of Joan Rivers in the Memoriam.

Citron Sirens:

nicole kidman emma stone oscarsNicole Kidman in Louis Vuitton, Jennifer Hudson in Romona Keveza, Emma Stone in Elie Saab

Blushing Beauties:

jennifer anniston jennifer lopez oscarsJennifer Anniston in Versace, Zoe Saldana in Atelier Versace, Jennifer Lopez in Elie Saab

Petal Pushers:

kiera knightley gwyneth paltrow chloe moretz oscarsKiera Knightley in Valentino, Gwyneth Paltrow in Ralph and Russo, Chloe Moretz in Miu Miu

White Hot Women:

faith hill zendaya jenna dewan oscarsFaith Hill in J. Mendel, Zendaya in Vivienne Westwood, Jenna Dewan Tatum in Zuhair Murad

julianne moore lady gaga lupita nyongo oscarsJulianne Moore in custom Chanel, Lupita Nyong’o in Calvin Klein, Lady Gaga in Azzedeine Alaia

 Metallic Mavens:

laura dern naomi watts oscarsLaura Dern in Alberta Ferretti, Anna Faris in Zuhair Murad, Naomi Watts in Armani

felicity jones chrissy teigen

Felicity Jones in Alexander McQueen, Chrissy Teigen in Zuhair Murad, Kerry Washington in Miu Miu

Black Betties:

margot robbie sienna miller oscarsMargot Robbie in Saint Laurent, Sienna Miller in Oscar de la Renta, Cate Blanchett in Margiela

Black and White Babes:

reese witherspoon meryl streep arquetteReese Witherspoon in Tom Ford, Particia Arquette in Rosetta Getty, Meryl Streep in Lanvin

Navy, Baby:

rita ora jessica chastain oscarsRita Ora in Marchesa, Jessica Chastain in Givenchy

Why Did You Wear That: Black Dress, Jean Shirt

By |August 17th, 2014|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

lbd day to night how toPerhaps your need to be discreet regarding last night’s outfit is a bit more innocent than the aforementioned instance.  After a beautiful dinner complete with across the table hand holding with your beau, you both awake with a hankering for Eggs Benedict, but seeing as you are not (as of yet) co-habitating, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.  And isn’t that what life is all about?  A swanky dinner at Claudette called for the perfect little black dress (a favorite LBD of mine worn two ways here and here) and sexy stilettos.  As stunning as you looked last night strolling past tables packed with wealthy Wall Street types and their girlfriends who smacked them for gawking, wearing the same thing this morning to Bubby’s may raise some eyebrows for entirely different reasons.  An incredibly simple way to disguise your enticing ensemble is to simply tie a denim or chambray shirt around you (a flannel variation would work as well) and embrace the uptown/downtown amalgation by also embracing your bed head with a simple rope braid (learn how here).  You’ll look so “devil may care” that the only reason someone’s head may turn this time is to figure out which tabloid star you are.  Order a mimosa for me.denim shirt scotch and soda nyc whydid

west village nyc denim shirt shopping how to wear denim shirt why did blog

kirsten smith why did blog

why did blog kirsten smithshirt: Scotch & Soda, dress: similar by Young Fabulous & Broke here, bag: similar by Alexander McQueen here, shoes: Steve Madden, sunglasses: street vendor on Washington Street, similar by Oliver Peoples here

xx,

WhyDid

Photography by Michael Stiegler

Setting the Mood: Five Alive

By |April 28th, 2014|Setting the Mood|

mexican fiestaSomehow it seems we’ve made it through the showers of April without drowning and soon it will be May, one of my favorite months.  So, bring on the flowers.  Also, go ahead and bring on the tequila because Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner.  Sure, some people take it to extremes kind of like St. Patrick’s Day, but because I could easily eat Mexican food every day for the rest of my life, I’m happy to have a designated day for it.  Fun fact: Cinco de Mayo (also called El Día de la Batalla de Puebla) is not actually Mexico’s Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16.  Another reason to indulge in Mexican culture.

cinco de mayo accessories

Anna Sui Lace Paneled Silk Kimono,  Eugenia Kim Sylvie Floral Embellished HeadbandCharlotte Olympia Rosa Rose Appliquéd Leather SandalsAlexander McQueen The De Manta Printed Clutch

Olé!

xx,

WhyDid

Red Carpet Recap: Are We There Yet?

By |March 3rd, 2014|Red Carpet Recap, Why Did You Wear That?|

lupito nyongo cate blanchett oscarsCharlize Theron in Dior, Kate Hudson in  Atelier Versace, Cate Blanchett in Giorgio Armani, Lupita Nyong’o in Prada

It feels as if this particular awards season stretched out a bit longer than years prior, but maybe that’s the overall theme of 2014 thus far.  Long winters, long award shows, long winded speeches.  Tonight’s award show, the 86th Annual Academy Awards, was no exception.  Seeing as the red carpet arrivals started at five thirty (Eastern time) and the actual show didn’t commence until midnight, I literally spent six and a half hours of my life staring at dresses, listening to sometimes awkward interviews with Seacrest, and holding my breath in hopes that the music didn’t come on during winners’ acceptance speeches.  I couldn’t tell if I was still exhausted from the weekend or if the cold had finally taken a toll on my cognitive thinking because I’m pretty sure that every actress on the red carpet was required to wear the same dress.  Either that or I was watching 1984 and didn’t know it, which is entirely possible.  Fortunately, for the first time in WhyDid’s history, I was unable to award an entire category to the worst dressed women of the night.  Instead it went to our charitable roast beef hat wearing friend, Pharrell, who decided that full trousers were not fully necessary for the red carpet.  I might have let it slide because he’s so darn cute if he hadn’t somehow convinced his lovely wife, Helen Lasichanh, to dress in tandem.  I guess it would be hard to say, “no,” to those dimples.

As for the rest of the red carpet, nudes, metallics, and soft whites and pastels were the overall theme with a spattering of both basic as well as embellished black.  Navy was a trend for both men and women and first time Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong’o, deemed her hue Nairobi blue.  Everyone was going nuts over her headband, which I hated because it made her look too “costumey” and would have preferred she’d accessorized her decollete with a delicate lariat, but she gets a pass for that stand out shade of blue.  Speaking of hair, cropped pixie cuts were the biggest trend and soft subtle styles as seen on Jessica Biel and Naomi Watts were the second runner up.  Jennifer Lawrence in a pixie cut and who wore red, didn’t even wait until she was inside before repeating last year’s tumble.  She either needs a better seamstress or a higher tolerance for champagne.  A notable trend for men was wearing a white jacket with their tuxes and why, why, why is Jared Leto so damn pretty?  Rarely do I covet another’s hair, but if someone can get me in touch with his stylist, I’ll be forever grateful… or at least for the next month or two.  And while I finished wrapping up the red carpet, I realized that the real style mavens held out until the afterparties.

Pretty in Pewter:

oscars red carpet Giuliana Rancic, Jessica Biel in Chanel, Jennifer Garner in Oscar de la Renta

Long (Sleeve) on Shine:

angelina jolieAngelina Jolie in Elie Saab, Sarah Paulson in Elie Saab, Julie Delpy in Jenny Peckham, Sally Hawkins in Valentino

Flesh and Gold:

oscars red carpet Kristin Chenoweth in Roberto Cavalli, Jenna Dewan Tatum in Reem Acra, Portia de Rossi in Naeem Khan

Bright Whites:

kelly-osbourne-naomi-watts-oscarsKelly Osbourne, Calista Flockhart in Andrew Gn,  Naomi Watts in Calvin Klein, Laura Dern in Alberta Ferretti

Petal Pink Princesses:

camila alves penelope cruz Penelope Cruz in Giambattista Valli, Cristin Milioti, Camila Alves in Gabriela Cadena

Lavender Ladies:

kristen bell oscarsLady Gaga in Versace,  Kerry Washington in Jason Wu, Kristen Bell in Roberto Cavalli

 Basic Black:

julia roberts oscarsGlenn Close in Zac Posen, Julia Roberts in black Givenchy, Karen O in Camilla Staerk, Olivia Wilde in black Valentino

Embellished Black:

oscars red carpetAnne Hathaway in Gucci, Emma Watson in Vera Wang, Anna Kendrick in J. Mendel, Chrissy Teigen in Monique Lhuillier

Moody Blues:

amy adams sandra bullock academy awardsAmy Adams in Gucci, Sandra Bullock in Alexander McQueen, Kevin Spacey in Burberry, Liza Minnelli in Halston

Red on Red:

jennifer-lawrence-oscars-dressJennifer Lawrence in Dior, Ireland Baldwin, Bette Middler in Reem Acra, Olga Kurylenko in Alice Elia

White Knights:

jared leto matthew mcconaugheyJared Leto in Saint Laurent, Ryan Seacrest, Matthew McConaughey in Dolce & Gabbana

No Pants, Well, Kinda Are a Problem:

pharrell williams Pharrell Williams in Lanvin

After the Party It’s the Afterparty:

vanity fair oscarsKarolina Kurkova,  Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab, Sofia Vergara in Roberto Cavalli, Diane Kruger in Valentino, Jane Fonda in Nicholas Oakwell 

xx,

WhyDid

Friday Frocks: Spring Training

By |February 28th, 2014|Friday Frocks, Why Did You Wear That?|

new york springWe love spring.  We love dresses.  We love spring dresses.  Since you’re all up to date on spring’s biggest fashion and beauty trends, I figured we’d take it one step further by rounding up some of spring’s most stylish frocks that fell into each trend.  Honestly, it was almost too easy.

spring dresses

 

1. Rebecca Minkoff Striped Mesh Dress, 2. Rebecca Taylor Long Sleeve Shirtdress, 3. McQ Alexander McQueen Printed Stretch Cotton Dress, 4. Bec & Bridge Nefertiti Strapless Dress, 5. ALICE by Temperley Venice Metallic Snake Jacquard Dress, 6. By Malene Birger Ajala Fringed Crepe and Chiffon Dress, 7. Dolce Vita Pernita Dress, 8. Markus Lupfer Vivian Printed Satin Mini Dress, 9. UNIF Percy Dress, 10. Bec & Bridge Fire & Ice Printed Cutout Waist Dress

 

xx,

WhyDid

 

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