Huge Change

Wow! So, I've told everyone about my major hair woes...yikes! (Sorry if you hate reading about it, this will be my last one, I promise!!) I've had SO many different hair colors in the past 2 months alone, that I needed to take a break. I've been highlighting my hair since I turned 15. That's almost 4 years without a natural hair color...yikes again! I talked about my recent hair problems in this post. Well yesterday I went to my real hair stylist to see what we could to about my chameleon color hair. I told her that I wanted to go back to a shade close to my original color, and since she's been doing my hair since I've started caring about it truly, I knew she'd have good input, be able to take care of moi, and remember what the color was. She also does my mom's hair, my sister's hair and a few of the other women in town. She comes highly recommended around!

This has been my hair situation over the past few years, basically since my Junior year winter--that's how far my photos date back! (this is a very narcissistic post...sorry about that. I've had a few friends want to see photos but I'm not going to facebook them because I want it to be a surprise at a big high school alumni function on Monday night!!):

Junior Year-Winter (this is a Natalie Franke Senior Shoot photo): hair is dirty blonde from highlights with roots, short length

Senior Year-Winter: hair is very light, from highlights and very long (~growth 1 year)

Freshman Year of College-Summer before I left: hair is the lightest ever, with dark under layer, short again

Freshman Year-Fall: hair is browny-gold (after being fixed from orange. That color was so awful I refuse to post photos, although they do exist on good ol' FB), short still. The color got to this horrible auburny-goldy-orange color that got progressively worse every time I showered that I needed to do something ASAP. It didn't help that my dark dark dark roots were showing up fast. My hair and nails grow extremely fast.

Freshman Year-Winter: This is the current look (although not the nicest photo). Its 1/2 a shade darker than my original color so that it can fade and the colors will resemble one another. I got this done yesterday and I like it SO much! I wake up and forget that I have dark hair, but it's so much healthier and much more shiny! (Shout out to Audrey M., I hope you like it!)

I promise that this is the LAST hair post! To qualify it as preppy, I read The Updated Preppy Handbook the other day, and realized that I majorly broke the hair rule:

Hair

Preppy hair is, for the most part, left the way God and nature intended it. Blunt cuts of chin length, shoulder length and mid-back length are acceptable. Ponytails and headbands are the most common variations from the unadorned, side-parted look. The luckiest Preps (many of them) are born with thick, straight, shiny hair in a blonde or dark brown shade. Preps that are curly, frizzy, or limp in texture usually favor ponytails. Preppy hair should not be colored (before age forty, that is).

...oops.

Can't wait for the holidays to kick up a notch in the next week! Almost 1 week until Christmas!! Merry Holidays! Tonight was the "11th Hour" shopping for the store!

xxKatie

P.S.: I was explaining this little blogging community to a fab new co-worker today and I realized how much I like it, so thank you fellow preppy bloggers!

Read Up: A Guide to Books on Preppy-ness.

Alright, so we've all heard about the Preppy lifestyle. But how does it get passed down? From grandmother to daughter to daughter to daughter Preppy has been and will be around for generations. (Mark my words!) But besides word of mouth, is the life of a Preppie recorded anywhere? Well, to answer the question yes, in many places. Or should I say pages?

Thankfully, someone had the brainy idea to start publishing books on how to be preppy. (Note: I've only read a couple of these myself, I found the rest on the web!!) Some titles include:

• The Preppy Handbook (Duh. Will be abbreviated from now on as TPH for future refrences)


• Tipsy in Madras: An 80's Guide to Preppy Drinking (by Johnnie and Mitzy-kind of a sequel to TPH- and I just love the title)
  
• Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Entertaining (written by THE prep herself, or highess, Lilly Pulitzer, but is extremely sincere, since it is written more like a diary then anything else)


• Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Holidays (A guide to throwing parties?!? I want to buy this one! The Christmas season IS coming up everyone...)
  
• A Privlaged Life: Celebrating WASP Style (Maybe, I don't want to read this one..., it does however, come "Highly Recommended" from Gail on Amazon.com)


• The Catcher in the Rye (Holden Caulfield was the original preppy bad boy)


• A Seperate Peace (basically the written-but-unwritten code of rules for boarding school- just remember: don't push your friends or break their legs.)

Also, a preppy characterisic is liking to read. This is supposed to be ground into you in high school, but some HS's don't. TPH says, "The school hopes that, upon graduation, you will be a well-rounded young Prep, familiar with the right vacation spots and customs, articulate and witty in conversation, understanding of literary and historical refrences [Holden Caulfield is one of the MOST referenced characters in all of Literature, in my opinion], proficient in the Prep vocation you pursue, capable of making at least one astute comment on any given subject [leave that to your liberal arts colleges, that's why they have a core curriculum...right?]--in short everything necessary for membership at a good country club". Cute right? (Preps know how to write EXTREMELY long sentences...)

Try one of these books anytime soon. If your high school didn't prepare you for the real world, hopefully these books might. Give TPH a look first and it should guide you for awhile, if not forever, and embrace your inner prep!

xx Katie

The FUN with FUNdamentals

So who knew that there are "Fashion Fundamentals" of being Preppy? Ok, so most of us did. We all know that Preps don't dress trashy, or wear black (a lot. there is definitely room for black PIECES in a preppy closet.) The Official Preppy Handbook says that there are 10 fundamentals for both men and women. Thanks to a very preppy aunt of mine, I got my hand on a copy!! So the list reads:

• Conservatism- No low cut tops, revealing skirts, things of the like


• Neatness- a given


• Attention to Detail- Put on all the jewelery you want, then take something off


• Practicality- Do you really need those plaid shoelaces?


• Quality- Things should be built to last, preppy will always be in style


• Natural Fibers- Wools, Cotton, Silk/Cashmere- NO POLYESTER. NO EXCEPTIONS


• Anglophilia- Yea, I didn't know what this meant to begin with either- it means liking British stuff- Shetland Sweaters, Fair Isle knits, Burberry


• Specific Color Blindness- Bright Pink and Green (enough said)


• The Sporting Look- Tennis, Hunting, Fisherman wear


• Androgyny- Men and women CAN dress alike. What other style advocates that?!

Now, let's review. So conservatism, not really a problem thanks to high cut Lilly, and Ralph Lauren Oxfords. Check! Next is neatness, honestly, do you really see slob, frumpy preps? Dubious. Then, attention to detail: snag the pearl earrings, they are a classic, have been a classic, and will always be a classic. Next is practicality...I have a slight problem with this one. I really want these Chooka whale boots but it doesn't rain that often in MD, do I go with the boots or not? We'll figure that out later. Quality, well for the price tag that preppy clothes drag along, they better be GREAT quality. This is one to really consider, when really, preppy clothes don't ever go out of style.

We're about halfway through. Everyone still have all 10 fingers and toes? Great! Next we have Natural Fibers. This one is kinda if-y. Cotton is always good to have. Its versatile enough to wear in the winter as well as the summer. Leather makes great boat shoes. Silk and Cashmere, too rich for my blood like 90% of the time. Then there's Anglophilia, which I don't really understand. The English do make a nice muffin, and yea, we'll give you your teas but tons of American companies make nice stuff too (given its all actually made in Cambodia or China). Lilly, Ralph Lauren and Vineyard Vines all make quality products here in the states. Then we have specific color blindness. I think this can be taken 2 ways: blindness to some colors (like purple) and then blindness of wearing colors together (like cardinal colors like pink and green). Take this one however you want!

Finally we have the sporting look. Thank LL Bean for this one. This can range from sporting the "just back from tennis" to "just back from duck hunting". This can be whites to rustic, warm, Bean fleeces and puppies. Last of all there is androgyny. Why not dress like a man? The blue blazer, khaki pants, boat shoes look is easily versatile enough to be for a guy or girl.

See, how fun are these FUNdamentals? Most of them are easy to abide by and FUN too! Try following just a few or follow them all!

xx Katie