Why Did or Why Don’t: Braidy Bunch

By admin|August 27th, 2014|Beauty Buzz, Somethin for the fellas, Why Did or Why Don't?|

We have already covered the man bun/mun/male topknot (feel free to weigh in), which does not seem to be going anywhere if this week’s awards shows have been any indication. Just look at all the fuss over Game of Throne’s, Kit Harrington’s, perfectly executed updo from Monday night’s Emmy Awards. But all the man buns in the world and even Jared Leto’s ombre mane couldn’t compete when True Detective’s director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, took the stage to accept the award for Outstanding Director. I, for one, audibly gasped at this handsome man, but it wasn’t just his cheekbones that sent the internet into a tizzy. It was his hair. At first glance, he looked clean cut, but as he described his coiffure, “For tonight, I just thought business in the front, party in the back.”

Though Cary was a pleasant surprise in a room full of familiar faces and stuffy industry types and his hair seemed to be a fresh interpretation for man coifs worldwide, he’s not the first to be seen sporting man braids. As a matter of fact, the night before rapper, Riff Raff, clad in denim had a head full of braids and is probably asking today, “Dafuq?” Even before Riff Raff, there was David Beckham, Axl Rose, and let us never forget Kevin Federline.

I, myself, spent a sunny Saturday afternoon in Amagansett this summer lackadaisically braiding cornrows into one of my man bun wearing guy friend’s head. We thought it was kind of funny and for him, the look actually worked. I even taught him the importance of patting his head when it started to itch as to avoid creating frizz. So, back to Cary’s internet sensational hairstyle and potentially the next wave of hipster hairdos (Slate created a pretty genius rendering). It may have something to do with the fact that he’s terribly good looking, but the only part of his hairstyle that truly bothered me was his (unintentionally) crooked part which The Cut got a close up of. You see though, I’m quite dextrous and great with a comb, so Cary, call me next time you’re you’re looking for some Poetic Justice.

What do you think about men with braids?

xx,

WhyDid

Why Did or Why Don’t: Man Bun in the Oven

By admin|August 13th, 2014|Somethin for the fellas, Why Did or Why Don't?|

This summer, men took accessorizing one step further by donning what we now know as the “man bun.” And while I do have a healthy portion of male readers (God bless you analytics), I will not take the blame (or credit- depending on your stance) for the trend just because I’ve made more than one brilliant top knot tutorial (you can learn “how to” here and here). For the past decade or so, men hadn’t had much wiggle room when it came to socially acceptable hairdos except the beard which they could style at home, rather than going to the barber for such a task. There’s been the classic buzz cut, the Bieber bob, and that whole spiky gelled situation that ruined shams worldwide. And let’s just be thankful we all survived the “faux hawk.” You can check these awesome hairdressing scissors most barbers preferred.

While the ponytail is nothing new (hello, Karl Lagerfeld), men decided that wasn’t good enough and began piling their locks on their heads way atop or grazing the napes of their necks, real estate formerly reserved for sweet nuzzles from their beloveds. I’m not sure who can specifically be appointed as the official firestarter of this follicle free for all, but I think Colin Farrell was one of the male topknot pioneers. To be fair, average citizens started sporting it well before it became mainstream. I had an ex-boyfriend several years ago who began experimenting with the trend. Granted, he also thought waking up and drinking the leftover beer on his nightstand from the night before was par for the course. In any case, this hair-rowing (see what I did there?) hairstyle has taken over from east to west coast, north to south. There are several blogs dedicated solely to the praise of ballerina buns fit for Baryshnikov (exhibit A and exhibit B) and The Awl even created a brilliant collection of the male topknot in its natural habitat.

Much like the beard bubble was predicted to pop (and has yet to do so as late adopters are STILL jumping on the bearded bandwagon), the man bun would appear to have a shelf life itself. Interestingly enough, it seems that the topknot and beard are not mutually exclusive and often worn in tandem. All this hair has me asking a lot of questions though. Many men claim to be the superior sex, but I’m beginning to sense a trend. It started with our eyeliner and skinny jeans then men began eying our tank tops and now they’re angling for our hair ties? And if you’re in a couple this also leads to a lot of financial hurdles. Can we afford to double up on deep conditioners? Do we need to own one flatiron or two? Won’t our shower drain clog twice as fast?

So with the imminent onslaught of snow, will these top knot wearing gents be forced to concede their coifs once they realize a bun looks more like a goiter under a beanie? Or will ear muffs have a renaissance for men? As I typed this, a shiver went down my spine as I realized that the knitted headband or even a turban may not be off limits to a man who has mastered the art of bobbi pins. I’d be lying if I didn’t get a little hot and bothered collecting visual aids for this post, but I really want to know your thoughts.

xx,

WhyDid

Red Carpet Recap: Are We There Yet?

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

Charlize 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:

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

Long (Sleeve) on Shine:

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

Flesh and Gold:

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

Bright Whites:

Kelly Osbourne, Calista Flockhart in Andrew Gn, Naomi Watts in Calvin Klein, Laura Dern in Alberta Ferretti

Petal Pink Princesses:

Penelope Cruz in Giambattista Valli, Cristin Milioti, Camila Alves in Gabriela Cadena

Lavender Ladies:

Lady Gaga in Versace, Kerry Washington in Jason Wu, Kristen Bell in Roberto Cavalli

Basic Black:

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

Embellished Black:

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

Moody Blues:

Amy Adams in Gucci, Sandra Bullock in Alexander McQueen, Kevin Spacey in Burberry, Liza Minnelli in Halston

Red on Red:

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior, Ireland Baldwin, Bette Middler in Reem Acra, Olga Kurylenko in Alice Elia

White Knights:

Jared Leto in Saint Laurent, Ryan Seacrest, Matthew McConaughey in Dolce & Gabbana

No Pants, Well, Kinda Are a Problem:

Pharrell Williams in Lanvin

After the Party It’s the Afterparty:

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

xx,

WhyDid

Would You Wednesday: Color Me Beautiful

By Kirsten|October 19th, 2011|Beauty Buzz, Why Did or Why Don't?|

Lately, A-List ladies have been trading in conventionally colored coifs for wild shades that you’d normally only see on Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony. Two of the latest to try this trend on their tresses are Katy Perry (who has gone through several shades of pink) and Lauren Conrad (with a pale ombre peach). While they’ve been making a splash with their colorful new ‘do’s, they aren’t the first to go ROYGBIV on us.

Oh yes, it seems that celebrities have run the gamut on high impact hairdo’s. But what I really want to know is whether or not this hairdo is actually a hairDON’T. I’m all for self expression and trying out the newest in beauty… but looking like a Skittle probably isn’t in the cards for me. I don’t think my hairbrush wants to taste the rainbow. Call me a traditionalist, but I think I’ll stick to haircolors commonly occurring in nature. What do you think?

Now I’m craving Starburst. Great.

xx,

WhyDid

The List Volume LVI

By Kirsten|October 14th, 2011|Somethin for the fellas, The List|

There’s quite a bit of time spent on WhyDid helping the ladies with the do’s and don’ts of fashion… but it occurred to me last night (while watching an especially offensive episode of The Millionaire Matchmaker) that we need to direct some of this professional fashion help towards our male counterparts. It also occurred to me that many of you men actually think you have the slightest clue as to how to dress yourselves. Welp, newsflash: You don’t. Just ask Kanye, who took the liberty of deciding he could show his “collection” at Paris Fashion Week. Oops!

So, this is dedicated to you, brothers Cruz and the rest of you gentlemen out there making our eyes hurt. (I’ll include photos as to be very explicit).

Manpris. Yes, those are exactly what you’re thinking.
Sleeveless hoodies.
Anything with embellishment. Good rule of thumb: If you’ve seen it on The Jersey Shore, it for sure shouldn’t see it in your closet.
Fishnet tank tops. Ahem, Jared Leto.
If you must wear a blazer with your jeans (and it seems you all must), please, for heaven’s sake, do not wear sky blue baggy jeans with it. Dark and tailored denim, fellas.
Button down shirts… only buttoned with one button. There are multiple buttons for multiple reasons. Use them.
Knit hats and/or scarves at the beach or with a tank top, swim trunks, or anything else that could be worn in July.
Jewelry other than a wedding band.
T-shirts that could be mistaken for your girlfriend’s in the wash. Tight, deep V, etc. …. Please reference SNL’s Dangerously Deep V –
Skinny jeans. I’m so uncomfortable with these for so many reasons. One being that I don’t need to know that your thighs are smaller than mine.

xx,
WhyDid

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