Setting the Mood: … And Break.

By Kirsten|March 4th, 2014|Setting the Mood|

Your definition of “spring break” doesn’t necessarily need to include a wet t-shirt contest and well tequila shot from a super soaker into your already inebriated mouth. Sometimes the best kind of spring breaks are those spent with close friends in low key locations. Sure, during my years as a co-ed I visited the obvious and oh so exotic locales of Aculpulco, Cancun, and Panama City, but never did I appear in a Girls Gone Wild DVD, nor did I awake in nothing but plastic beads. I did, however, misplace my purse and nearly face a lifetime spent in Mexico without government ID. But alas, UPS delivers to all of Northern America and I was returned home safely to two less than impressed parental units. While my behavior south of the border was less than stellar, let’s just remember that I was far from bikini clad, AK47 holding, Riff Raff groupie, so I call that a “win.” And why should we ditch the tradition once we’ve earned our undergraduate degrees? Maybe, much like naps, spring break is a tradition that should span on throughout all of adulthood.

Le Specs Cheshire Round Frame Acetate Mirrored Sunglasses, Etro Woven Pandanus and Printed Cotton Fedora, Alexander Wang Prisma Silicone Tote, Sophia Webster Violeta Vinyl Sandals

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

Friday Frocks: Spring Training

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

We 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.

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

image via

Beauty Buzz: Fresh Face- Spring 2014

By Kirsten|February 27th, 2014|Beauty Buzz|

It’s probably difficult to even begin thinking about your spring beauty regimen with lips scratchier than sandpaper, snot encrusted nostrils and eyeballs that won’t.stop.watering. I’ve basically thrown in the towel on a full face of makeup at this point… eyeliner is entirely out of the question unless I want to look like it’s the morning after while it’s still the night of. Sure, the winter is brutal for beauty, but let’s not forget that there comes a point in New York ladies’ lives, say around July, wherein we give up on makeup altogether again as it will have run down our faces and right onto our blouses before we’ve even completed our commutes. Therefore, spring is just about the only time where we can be playful with our makeup palette and anticipate our faces staying in place for most of the day.

The makeup and hair for spring this year was sort of divided into two camps. While some designers like Michael Kors and Alexander Wang went for clean, fresh, bronzed barely there faces and “I woke up like this” hair, others like Rag & Bone painted lips and eyelids with bright pops of colors. Most notably was blue for eyes and while red and berry lips were still very much trends, the most prevalent pout was lacquered up in orange. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen orange lips on the runways and I’m still not sold, but perhaps you can make the look come across as something other than having housed a bag of Cheetos. If you didn’t wake up with Olsen hair, a low sleek ponytail seen at Jason Wu or braided crown a la Naeem Khan are good ways to camouflage a potentially bad hair day. Wide cloth headbands at Vera Wang as well as flowered accoutrements at Zac Posen adorned updos as well. The cat eye remained strong. So strong, in fact, that makeup artists continued the bold black liner all the way around the eyes. And speaking of cat’s, claws were kept quite simple. Many opted for soft shades accented with silver space age stripes and others chose the reverse French manicure, both proving that nail art is here to stay for at least another season. So schedule your facials, ladies. It’s time to prep your canvas for a very colorful spring. If you would like to look for great makeup find out here how to obtain it.

1. Sally Hansen Salon Effects Reverse French Manicure Strips, 2. Smashbox Baked Fusion Softlights Baked Starburst, 3. Tarte EmphasEYES Waterproof Clay Eyeliner in Black, 4. Mr. President & Co. Instant Cool Ponytail Holder, 5. NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Timanfaya, 6. RMS Beauty Living Luminizer, 7. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Colour Pencil in Pool Boy, 8. nails inc. Fibre Optic in Hampstead Court, 9. Givenchy Ombre Couture Cream Eyeshadow in Bleu Sole, 10. Kevyn Aucoin Set of Four Loose Shimmer Shadows, 11. Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Polishing Serum, 12. Chantecaille Lip Chic in Rose Délice, 13. Karina Black & White Headwrap Duo, 14. Bumble and bumble Thickening Dryspun Finish

Why Did or Why Don’t: Skort Stop

By Kirsten|February 27th, 2014|Why Did You Wear That?|

In the process of rounding up spring’s shoppable trends, I spotted yet another one making an encore performance from the 90’s… get out your Lisa Frank covered Trapper Keeper, kids, ’cause this one is a doozy. In line with Birkenstocks, but better than scrunchies (definitely better than skeggings), please give a warm welcome back to the clothing equivalent of the spork, the skort. Yes, that’s right. No need to choose between a skirt or shorts this spring because you can wear both! At the same time! Now, I get it because I do love a flirty little skirt. And there’s really nothing better than showing off those hard earned gams in short shorts. I’m also quite indecisive at times, so the appeal should be obvious. Not to mention, a skort would make having a Marilyn moment atop a subway grate far less likely. However, since I’ve done this whole “skort” thing once before, I recall them never being quite so flattering as one might hope. It’s awfully difficult to get the fit of both articles of clothing right in one single garment. Skorts tend to have the effect of “long ass” or “elephant butt” on most women who dare to wear them. So, like I said, I’m undecided.