Whittemore House Salon

Could she be?  Would she be?  She might be.

First, the week in review:

—Max Mara tapped Hailee as their 2013 Face of the Future at the Women In Film Awards.

—Previously unpublished behind-the-scenes photographs of Liz and Dick on the set of Cleopatra popped up on Life’s website, to commemorate the film’s 50th anniversary.

—We got our first glimpse of Dominic West and HBC doing there best Dick and Liz from the upcoming biopic for the BBC.

Which is just to say—we’ve got Liz on the brain.  And then we saw Hailee.  And we thought about the face of the future and, as we’re wont to do every other Friday, the faces of the past. Liz;s face.

It’s their dark, playful beauty—that’s why we made the connection.  The promise, in young Liz and Hailee, of the woman to come.  There’s fragility in them both, but there’s also joy and real toughness.  And, of course, they’ve both got that hair.  Gorgeous, but with a mind of its/her own.  Rich, full.  They make a case for the striking brunette. 

Of course, they also made a young, powerful start in Hollywood in rather rustic films.

True Grit to National Velvet.

Mattie Ross could take out Velvet Brown, though.

Regardless, the talent was obvious.  They both sparked.

That’s where this #InstantClassic is coming from.  That spark.  And, as always, the shared look:

Hailee is a girl of her generation,  unafraid of embracing old school glamor.

While mixing in some modern, punk kid at her leisure.

We like to think Liz would approve.  But who the hell knows?  The point is that we we like what she’s doing here.  The old classic (the up-do, the cut of her Marchesa) against the new classics (Converse).  Total #InstantClassic.

The real question is whether or not Hailee will decide to take things to the next level with The Chop.  Liz did.  And Liz became legend.

It would become Hailee.  And there’s no better way to officially grow up than with a short, daring cut.  See: Emma Watson.

Initially, the goal was to collect something funkier, stranger, borderline bonkers:

Tilda Swinton at Cannes was this.  Borderline bonkers + divine + gorgeous.  And always, always a hair inspiration.  Those short blonde, surprised locks will live in our memory for light years to come. 

And that’s where the odd ends.  Because, with the exception of Tilda—and isn’t Tilda always the exception to the rule?—the hair we found ourselves most inspired by this last fortnight was clean, smooth, uncomplicated.

It was Nicole Richie that did it, that changed the direction this #HairDid was initially intended to go in:

Deservedly so.  She is a vision.  A girl of the 90s, living and skipping in 2013:

This is the look of this year CFDA Awards.  Not just our favorite look, but the most predominate among its best dressed attendees.

Face-first.  Smooth, clean, off the face.  And the beauty of it, of these women—Kerry Washington and Joan Smalls and Jessica Chastain—is beyond striking.  It’s captivating.  Such easy elegance!  Le sigh.

But it wasn’t just the CFDA Awards.  Face-first is blooming into a bit of mini-trend:

Heather Graham at the Paris premiere of The Hangover 3 is further proof.

And we get it.  Good heavens, we get it.  These women could. Not. Look. Lovelier.  What more is there to say, really?   Certainly the hair needs no explanation.  This you can do at home.  You need no guidance from us, no how-to.  (Except, perhaps, encouragement to be good to your hair.)  Self-explanatory hair at its very best:

Erin Wasson’s part down the middle (back at the CFDA Awards) is almost daring in comparison, no? 

Erin Wasson, ever the daring girl.

It’s very much a go big or go home game at Cannes.  And we’re responding to it.  To the volume. 

That was the plan for this post—hair that moves up, up, and away.  That was the plan, at least, until Liu Wen showed up in an elegant blue number with her raven hair made sleek, parted straight down the middle, tucked behind the ears, and floating on her back.  We were reminded of the reflexive gasp we emitted upon seeing Carey Mulligan’s nearly pin straight blonde at The Great Gatsby.

Is there anything so fresh and so clean-clean as this look? 

On the other hand:

Holy shit, Solange.  This is something beyond and including elegance.  How does she do it?  And do it better than anyone else?  The way she continues to reimagine her natural hair, her natural volume.  It is a revelation.  And a lesson to anyone looking to totally reinvent themselves.  Sometimes, just don’t. 

On the other hand:

There are times when reinvention is just what the doctor ordered.  Nicole Kidman’s ponytail at Cannes.  Is.  Spectacular.  She’s not always so bold.  So borderline strange.  This hair, quite ladylike 50s from the front, almost makes us uncomfortable from the side angles.  Almost.  Would we have adored it as much had she not gone a bit alien?  Perhaps.  But we believe that her sweet, floral Dior required a little alien to balance out the sugar.

On the other hand:

A full-on classic, 60s beehive can have a similar effect with a more modern gown.  For your enjoyment—Marion Cotillard’s beehive, everyone.  We applaud her this classic volume.

On the other hand:

It may be Zhang Ziyi’s less than classic rendition that we appreciate most of all.  We’re not claiming it is The Hair of the Fortnight.  What we’re saying, instead, was that we were beyond impressed.  Surprised.  The hair the you see at the top right, the boyish pixie? The pompadour on a bottom left?  The hair that looks to be pulled back into an elegant chignon?  That is all short hair.  And it’s also the most versatile styling of a pixie cut we ever did see.  Almost impossible.  In fact, it’s so well done that many bloggers assumed the top right had to be a wig.  Because, well, how?  How else could the rest of these looks exist?  The softness of the chignon and the way it seems to float up and around the face—surely that’s impossible for a pixie. 

On the other hand.

Or: How to Avoid the Awkward Grow-Out Phase by Embracing the Awkward

We can’t even promise you, not with total certainty, that’s she’s growing it out.  That’s how perfectly natural her (possible) in between phase appears:

Is she?  Isn’t she?  You tell us.

Because while it would seem so, based on what’s happening with the long fringe in the front and the length on one of the not-pictured sides—there remains another side that’s still resisting.  That’s being kept short.  That’s not quite sure it wants to go long.  

Behold, more angles:

What can we say?  From some angles, it’s divine and girly as can be.  From other angles, it’s divine and punk without looking too Try.  Michelle Williams in full-on mohawk punk mode?  That would look too Try.  

The cut is not unlike another another one-time blonde pixie;s.  It was long long ago, in a world far far away.  The 90s:

In the here and now, Gwyneth Paltrow resists whatever punk impulses she once had (see: Met Gala).  At the Met Gala, she showed up in fuschia Valentino, a ballgown of a dress with tight sleeves and one measly sheer panel.  One sheer panel is not enough.  Maybe if it had been torn or slashed, maybe then.  And, no, resisting punk on a night like that isn’t punk.  No, ma’am.  In a room full of socialites and Hollywood folk, it’s expected.  It’s easy.  But had G shown up with her 90s hair?  Perhaps then.  Pink is the color of punk, after all.  Perhaps we would have let it slide.  Hair did make all the difference that night.

Do you remember 90s Gwyneth?  Besties with our #WinoFoverever? Michelle Williams has got to remember 90s Gwyneth.  It’s not an exact replica, certainly not of the above Gwyneth, but there are plenty of subtle similarities running throughout Michelle’s modern rendition.  Not to mention nods to a younger Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett.  

Our supporting argument:

Now you see it, yes?  Even the Gwyneth.  Or, for that matter, the Brad (that’d be Brad Pitt).  It’s incredible, that these four lovelies (not including Brad) would have such a similar, semi-subversive twist on the blonde pixie.  Tilda’s short side is nearly shaved, flirting with hair anarchy.  Ms. Blanchett’s is the most adult, but there’s something that remains quite devil-may-care about it.  It’s that short side.  And Gwyneth’s is the easiest.  So where does that leave Michelle?  We doubt these other ladies wore the look as a segue between short and long, though G might have.  Instead, we’d bet they aimed for this look from the start.  And perhaps that’s why Michelle’s homage bespeaks such purpose.  Such girlish disregard for the awkwardness of the grow-out phase.  She chose the right inspiration.  

Though we do wish she’d occasionally take a cue from G and put a pin in the fringe:

The theme was punk. We’re not telling you anything you don’t already know. The reason to reiterate, though, is that the punk matters.  

Beyonce cannot officially make this week’s #HairDid because she did not go punk.

Despite how large her spirit looms here.  She is all spirit in that photo.  Truth is, though, the hair is nothing to write home about.  And—we hate to say it—neither is the gown.  It was too stiff.  She was too stiff and no amount of beach waves could change that.  If she’d shown up with pink hair though?  Yeah, we might have been persuaded.

If she’d catered just a little more to the theme, really leaned into it, she at least be feeling looser.  Lighter.  Anne Hathaway light:

What was it about blonde that night?  The blondes really werked it.  Adding inches to the spirit, as Sarah Jessica Parker did, with the help of a magnificent Philip Treacy hat:

Can we even call this a hat?  It’s a revelation.  And a mohawk.  So, haute punk.

We wanted to see more ladies indulging the punk that has always resided within.  

Sienna Miller, of course, did not have to move out of her comfort zone.  Sienna Miller loves a dash of punk.  We imagine this is basically a costume she’d put on any evening, every evening, just livin life to its Rottenest:

Does the fact that the haute punk theme was practically made for her take away from the overall effect of the look?  It does not.  Does the fact that she’s known to love a slightly greasy head of hair matter?  You know it doesn’t.  And, besides, this is a very clean greasy.  It’s product.  It’s styling.  It’s not laziness.  On top of that, spikes!  Spikes are certainly not lazy.

Many of the models could have played up the punk we all know they’ve got in spades (based on copious street style photos), and yet there were so many “meh” looks.

One model, though.  One model did it right.  She was probably the (second) rightest of the night:

Anja Rubik.  Was.  Perfect.  The hair wasn’t anything unusual.  But that’s fine.  The effect is wonderful.  The hair complements the look.  And you know how we feel about complementary hair.  ADORE.

January Jones’s, on the other hand, does not happen by itself.  

This takes time.  Is taking time punk?  Full-body tattoos take time and they are punk.  We don’t have a problem with time.  And that kind of tight braiding comes with its own type of pain.  Not as intense as a tattoo, no.  But she earned that braid.  For that we commend her.

The most legit punk of the evening though?  The one person who committed to the theme in its entirety?  We never would have thunk it two years ago, but—Miley Cyrus:

There is nothing too Try here.  She was haute messy.  The perfect balance.   It doesn’t look like she overthought it.  But it also doesn’t look like she smells underneath that dress; it doesn’t look like she just threw something on. So while the hair wouldn’t be our favorite look of the (fort)night anywhere else, you can’t say she didn’t nail that theme.  Her hair is practically in the museum.  The pink version, yes, but who else even came close to looking like they belonged in the actual exhibit?  And elegantly? Only Miley.

THE END.  

Wait, wait.  Real quick, some Zachary Quinto love:

No other man came close.  No other man dared.