First Lady Hair

Let's play a little game. It's called match the First Lady to the hair. Alternative game: which First Lady had the coolest hair? My votes go for Ellen Arthur.

Key after the break! (click to enlarge)



Hair-Portraits of First Ladies. From left to right:
1st row: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Martha Randolph, Dolley Madison, Elizabeth Monroe, Louisa Adams
2nd row: Rachel Jackson, Hannah Van Buren, Anna Harrison, Letitia Tyler, Julia Tyler
3rd row: Sarah Polk, Margaret Taylor, Abigail Fillmore, Jane Pierce, Harriet Lane
4th row: Mary Lincoln, Eliza Johnson, Julia Grant, Lucy Hayes, Lucretia Garfield
5th row: Ellen Arthur, Frances Cleveland, Caroline Harrison, Frances Cleveland, Ida McKinley
6th row: Edith Roosevelt, Helen Taft, Ellen Wilson, Edith Wilson, Florence Harding
7th row: Grace Coolidge, Lou Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower
8th row: Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter
9th row: Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama.

NY Times Published July 4, 2009
By Laura Jacobs Read More......

Love, Courtship, and Marriage, or How to Win a Lover.

Casey was so kind as to give me a small pamphlet, first published in 1880, called "Love, Courtship, and Marriage, or How to win a Lover" for my birthday. What better place to discuss it than the salon! After all, a bunch of spinsters like us could sure use the advice!

Todays discussion will revolve around..... Courtship!



(This picture is totally a literal depiction of how my "courtship" is going to go by the way.)

Moving on. Here are some tidbits to spark discussion.

Choosing Your Life Partner
"There are men, and very often the best too, who are shy and need encouragement, inasmuch as it should be remembered that the men who declare their love in most beautiful language are those who love least truly."

For Would-be Engaged Girls
"Do not forget that the girls who are most successful in securing husbands are those who do all in their power to fit themselves for the role of matrons while spinsters. Do not give way to the dangerous habit of playing at courtship. It has often nipped in the bud many a girl's good and perhaps sole chance of changing her name and condition."

May and December Relationships
Boiled down - this book advises - DON'T DO IT! It will end in heartache. Also, they seem to think that "elderly women rarely make such a mistake". Boy would they be disappointed by the emergence of "cougars"

Lover's Quarrels
"Some old writers used to say that the quarrels of lovers were the renewing of love. There is no truth in it."

Women Men Dislike (I feel the need to write out the whole of this section so we can fully avoid falling into any of these pitfalls.)
"The woman who excuses herself when telling an unpleasant thing, by stating it is her duty."
"The woman with a rasping voice, who has a troop of children with whom she must continually converse." (I don't even know what they're talking about with that one....)
"The woman who can talk of nothing but men and dress."
"The woman who intimates that her baby is much superior to any other." (But what if they really are???)
"The woman who spends the best part of her life in following the latest fashions."
"The woman who likes dogs better than children."
"The woman in the train or omnibus, who boasts about her private affairs so that everybody can hear." (Hello pet peeve! Modern day equivalent - talking too loudly on your cellphone, while on the omnibus.)
"The woman with a pet ailment"
"Men like a girl who is slow and soft in her speech. They dislike the girl who is the least bit rapid in her manner or speech. They may talk to her, flirt with her perhaps, but in their heart she is disliked."

To the Girl in Love
"The way to bore your friends is by constantly quoting what "he"says or thinks." (Funny how some things always stay the same, lol)
"Don't wear only the colours which "he" pronounces the most becoming, if they make you look a fright."
"Don't strive to make your younger sister jealous occasionally." (Something to keep in mind for the future.)
"Don't neglect the housework because you're in love."

The Appropriate Length of Courtship
"The longer the wooing, the better the contracting parties know each other; while the shorter is vice versa. Of course there is such a thing as carrying things to extremes, and a courtship which is too long is apt to be wearisome."

How to Choose a Sweetheart (again, I will transcribe all that they have to say on this subject. Seems pretty important to me.)
"First of all, respect yourself, then you will win respect."
"Love is blind, but marriage is a capital eye-opener."
"All have love, but few know how to use it right."
"Very dark or very light complexion persons should marry one with medium complexion." (and up until this point I was thinking how their proclamations were basically standing the test of time.)
"Very tall or very short persons should marry one medium built."
"Never marry extreme opposites or where there is too much sameness." (ahh, and now we get back to some legitimately good advice.)
"Never marry just for money or position or you may live to regret it."
"In choosing a wife see that she can mend a dress and cook a dinner." (Success on both parts! You're welcome mankind.)
"In choosing a husband see that he is kind to his mother and sisters." (Seriously - that is very good advice. I was literally thinking that very thing to myself just a couple days ago. Don't know why I thought about it in the first place though....)
"Keep your mind and eye upon those you love or care for."
"Don't talk too much in the presence of those you love; at times silence is golden."
"In conversation don't talk too much of 'Self'."
"Before getting married, send the Photo or Handwriting of your Sweetheart, to the address on the cover of this book, and find out if you are suited to each other." (How weird! But just in case you want to, here's the address: " Address all letters to - "Madame" 122, Railway Terrace, Padiham." Hello return to sender no zip code or state!)


That basically concludes all that this most useful pamphlet has to say on the subject of courtship. Now to discuss! And if you're interested in seeing ALL that this pamphlet has to say on the subject, feel free to book an appointment with me and I will allow you to peruse it at your leisure. Appointments are for 15 minutes, if you anticipate taking longer, please sign up for multiple time slots to avoid overbooking! Thank you.

Next week: Marriage.

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The Foundations of Menswear: A retrospective by Net-A-Porter

Hello Saloners,

Today I was scoping the Internet for interesting tid bits and found this little piece (http://www.net-a-porter.com/magazine#/13/13) which I think is quite relevant. If you've seen any runway shows this past year or really stepped foot into any mall you can see it, men's wear has firmly asserted itself into women's wear lines. And thank goodness because a little tailoring never hurt anyone. But this retrospective from Net-A-Porter looks back at the trendsetters who did it first. I like what they've done but how did not one look from my fav Katherine Hepburn make it on the list? Like this one for instance? Were there just too many to choose from or what? Such a large oversight by such a fashionable source.

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Hello my costumed comrades

So this year I really couldn't decide between a few choice ideas for Halloween so I thought I'd consult my fellow Saloners. This year its all about looking back it seems. Whether it be to your childhood, classic film images or to a general era that no longer is. So your job, is to weigh in on which costume idea you like best. Your choices: Rainbow Brite, 70's Roller Girl, or Classic Jailbird. Let me know what you think! To help I have included some images of how I would interpret these ideas:

First is Rainbow Brite, a classic and beloved cartoon character from my youth. I would try and spin this in a more cute and not so much slutty direction, as it is vaguely creepy to sluttify cute cartoon children (yikes).

This is, of course, an idea I had last year that never came to fruition b/c of the genius clue characters theme. But I thought it was good enough to reconsider for this year. Really I just love coming up with ways to wear those sucks and my romper (love it).
Finally we have what I consider a classic Halloween option that I've always enjoyed and yet never seriously considered till now. I have no clue how I would swing the ball and chain or hand cuffs. I mean, does anybody have these lying around? I didn't think so. And one priority of this year's Halloween is slim to no budget for buying things. My goal is use what I already have in creative ways!

SO let me know what you all think and I guess everyone will see what I decide on October 31st!

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Halloween Costume 2009

This year, I'm feeling a little gothy, a little scary, a little pop culture. Basically, this year I'm feeling a little Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! I think this would be the ideal costume for me right now, and it's pretty much a now or never costume. This year I would still be riding the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies wave of popularity. Next year, who knows what the relevance of this costume would be. Ah, but this year, yes, this costume would be ripe for the picking.


I figure it's a good mix of funny, pop culture/literary reference, historical, but still has the ability to be a little scary. If you're willing to take it there. And oh, I would be. I would go all out with the green, decaying skin makeup, welts and sores, oozing blood, cockroaches crawling up my body.


(Thanks for that idea Martha Stewart). Yes, this costume would be a glorious melange of everything I love. Thus, it would be my costume.

However.... As things stand, I am currently attending my cousin's wedding on Halloween, thus eliminating basically any chance I have of wearing this costume. Their theme is still pretty fun though. After the cut see what I have to say about it.



So they are going for a "Victorian Gothic" themed wedding. I put together a little Polyvore set of what my DREAM outfit to their wedding would be. Of course my actual outfit will be a little more accessible price wise, but along the same route.

Victorian Gothic Wedding by Twitoyear featuring Marc Jacobs

Sigh, this is fun and all. But I can't help but think that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies will be running through my head the whole night.

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What's YOUR Halloween Costume?

Maybe it's a little premature, Halloween being a month away and all, but I got really jazzed. Guess who's going to be Joan Holloway from Mad Men this year.... Yeah. Me. Anyone want to help me dye my hair and shop for jewelry? :)



So what are you going to be? Post your pictures and comments. Let the planning begin! Read More......

Cool Podcast Alert

Casey told me about the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast and I am forever grateful to her. So in an attempt to pay her back - I see your "Stuff You Should Know" and raise you one "CD Baby 60's Pop Podcast".

Basically this podcast takes one aspect of 60's pop music (this week it was the Mellotron which is this psychedelic keyboard that was used most famously in the likes of The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever") and then shows how artists are using that influence today. It's a great podcast because they play the full songs and they play quite a few of them. So basically - this podcast is a good way to find cool, little-known, 60's-inspired bands. And who isn't looking for more obscure bands to name drop to your friends so that they feel lame for not knowing them, and you look cooler by extension? There was one song that they played that I liked so much ("Sunshine" by P.T. Walkley) that I decided to download it, and what I thought was funny is that I found out Sean Lennon collaborated on that song. Sounds about right. I just love Sean Lennon and anything he does apparently!

But yeah. Another plus is that the podcast is brand new and there has only been the one installment thus far. This way it will be real easy to catch up.

Only minus is that the guy doing it said he would only be updating every 6 weeks - which is good for the quality of the program, but bad for us. Although I'm accumulating so many podcasts at this point that maybe once every 6 weeks won't be that bad. So yeah - go check it out! I think you will all find it enjoyable. Read More......

It's Going to Be a Thing / Educate Yoself!

I'm so excited about this next it's going to be a thing! I am 100% endorsing/going to wear this once I get my grimy mitts (shoutout guitar hero world tour!) on one.


Turban headbands! And maybe just turbans in general for those very daring people. Turbans have such an interesting history, so I'm going to look into that a little bit for you all. Because I know you're interested. Or I will force you to be.


Generally speaking, a turban is a single piece of cloth that is wrapped around someone's head to serve as a head covering. Humans have practiced this form of habillement since fabric was invented - but we won't get into that subject! That's a WHOLE other post!

Generally turbans are worn in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. It seems to me that the reason turbans are more prevalent here is due to environmental elements. Heat, little coverage from the sun, dust, and other harsh environmental challenges all make turbans a practical choice for fending off the specific elements that are common to these areas. Religion is also a large factor in the use of turbans (although I would still argue that even the religious rules regarding turbans stem back to environmental causes - but again, that is a TOTALLY different post altogether). In particular, the Sikh faith requires that men cover their un-cut hair. It's probably a good bet that most of the people who wear turbans in the western world are of the Sikh faith.

Turbans didn't really become popular in the European world until the late 17th century. But at that time they were solely worn by men who would wear them while relaxing in lieu of their wigs. Oh those were the days. Women didn't pick up on this trend until about a century later. In fact, the first recorded use of the English word "turban" for a Western female headdress is in 1776 (thanks Wikipedia).

In the west, Turbans had two particular points of popularity. The first era that saw a rise in the popularity of the turban was that most beloved of eras - Regency! I'm assuming that they were so popular at this time because of exoticism, orientalism - you know how that went. They were generally worn with formal outfits at this point in fashion history. You can bet that if I lived in regency - I SO would have rocked this look. In fact - in the Kiera Knightly 'Pride and Prejudice', in the scene at Bingley's Ball (all white dresses - so glorious) there is one girl wearing a magnificent turban-esque head piece and I always say that she is me and I am her (besides me being Lizzy. Obviously.).



The other time that saw a great popularity in turbans in womens wear was the 1940's and 50's. This time around they seemed to have much more flexibility of use and could be worn casually (cover up those curlers gurl!) or still formally (I'm thinking Joan Crawford - she must have worn one at some point, or just should have, because that image is inexplicably in my head.)


So chic! I just really dig this look and I think it's rarin' for a come back. The milinary art deserves more respect!

And if you doubt that this trend has legs - Exhibit A: My favorite contemporary style icon of all time. Blair Waldorf.


She is one glorious bitch and I will follow her just abouts where ever she leads me.
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Blog cuts and more inspiration! And a test of sorts.

I THINK I may have figured out how to do a blog cut on our posts. So it took me a while to figure this out, and a few tries in editing the html of the blog layout, but I think that this is the best option for what we want out of a blog cut. So here's the deal - when you go to post a new post on the blog, you will notice some new text that is already in the box where you would normally type your entry. Where it says "Type your summary here" - you just replace that line with all of the text and pictures that you want to show on the regular blog. Where it says "Type rest of the post here" - is where you type all of the text and pictures that you want to appear in the cut. Just make sure not to delete any of the stuff in brackets and keep the bracketed lines where they are.

So if you DON'T want your post to have a cut, then just delete everything that's in the posting box when you go to write a new post so that the posting box is just blank like it would have been before, and just post like you normally would.

I hope I'm explaining all of this clearly - it might be a little confusing. If you're confused about anything, then just ask. I'm going to test this out a little with this post to see if it all works etc. So hopefully I'll know any answers to any questions you guys might have.

So, now that I've posted all of this technical stuff, here are some early 1900's sportswear looks that I find to be extremely inspirational whilst deciding what to wear for the lawn sport olympics - after the cut! (I hope! lol)








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It's Going to Be a Thing : Lawn Sport Olympics

So some exciting things have been announced today via Allison. Lawn Sport Olympics 2008! Is everyone excited? I know I am!!

Allison and I discussed it a little bit, and I think that she and I were in agreement that an event with such a prestigious nature as this deserves - nay - DEMANDS that it's participants pay it its due respect in every fashion. Yes, that is right - in Fashion. No, you are not mistaking my meaning. Allison was so kind as to allow me (or rather I should maybe just hope that I wasn't too annoying in just assigning myself the privilege) to come up with the dress code for this blessed event.

So as we all know - the Lawn Sport Olympics have a proud history. It is said that while Hercules was creating the first olympic games as far back as 776 BCE, his younger brother, the lesser known deity Dante (god of the dandies), was right next door creating his own olympic event - The Lawn Sport olympics. While it may seem unfortunate to some that our chosen event came about from a younger sibling being relegated to the back lawn while his older bro took up the whole damn arena leaving no room for his brother's chosen sports - we know it is not so. Only the true olympians understand that a real sport is one in which you can take the time to enjoy a glass of lemonade while making sure that your patent leather shoes do not get damaged or soiled. How many olympic sports can boast that? Plus, Dante got the last laugh when badminton somehow snuck itself into the "Real" olympics anyway. And by the way - have you seen the way they've bastardized the sport over there - they've made it high-speed and competative! We can take pride knowing that we play badminton in it's pure state.

So anyway - enough with the history lesson. On to the dress code! (And of course - feel free to make your own dress code suggestions!)


No. 1 - The majority of your clothing must be white. You could wear a white shirt, or white shorts or skirt, or even a white and say... yellow allover striped onsie (no no no Allison, I know what you're thinking, but honestly that is just a totally random, hypothetical, example. Not at ALL based on any real articles of clothing which may or may not be worn to the Lawn Sport Olympics. I haven't decided on that anyway - it's just an option). Let's just say that as a rule of thumb, about 50% of you should be covered in white.

No. 2 - Any color worn besides white must be a tasteful neutral or pastel. Dark colors would just be ridiculous - we're playing outside and we don't want to risk attracting the suns rays - then we might end up sweating. Yucky.

No. 3 - NO ATHLETIC SHOES ALLOWED! No sneakers or tennis shoes, or whatever you may call them. We are playing LAWN SPORTS people!! Only sandals, oxfords, or what have you will be permitted. Heck, you could even go barefoot if you really want to I guess.

Finally - take pride in your appearance. We have the honor of upholding a noble tradition, and our appearances should reflect so.

I will leave you with a little inspiration. Here are two pictures from the 1908 Olympic Tennis events (from the website www.olympics.org.uk). 1908 was apparently the year that it was trendy to pretend that you were playing in the Lawn Sport Olympics rather than the "real ones" - but whatever was the reason for these tennis players to wear such glorious clothes, I suppose does not matter, for they are worthy fashion icons and I for one plan to follow their example.





Happy dressing you all! After all, we know that dressing the part is the unofficial sport of the Lawn Sport Olympics.
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