Fashion and Beauty Trends in Color

Is blue hair cool or is it not? Is it sci fi or is it a big fat WHY?

Juliette Lewis was spotted sporting blue hair in a chignon and side-swept bangs during the premiere of  “The Switch.”  Now I’ve always liked Lewis – classy lady with a bit of a quirky devilishness that you can’t quite put your finger on.

Another star that has sported blue hair is Katy Perry at the MTV movie awards in June as a show of her relations to the new Smurfs movie in which she was a leading voiceover.

In the past, Kate Hudson (Bride Wars 2008), Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Gwen Stefani (1998), Ryan Phillipe, and Adrien Brody have had some blue in their hair.

Playful shiny gold statue of the great late Michael Jackson and his monkey displayed in the middle of one of the art galleries at LACMA.

Why is it that some of the hottest Hollywood stars, the usual blonde suspects, opt to cover it all up and go for dark raven black hair?  Let’s look at some “Black Hair Case Studies” and see what these sexy stars have in common.

Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan, Christina Aguilera, Ashlee Simpson, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Connelly, and Paris Hilton. All of these ladies are known to have had their hair dyed a jet black color at least a couple of times during their reign.  Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, and Jennifer Connelly are often seen with dark black hair whereas Lindsay, Christina, Ashlee, and Paris are usually blonde and have created quite a stir when they go dark.

Why is there such a shock effect when these vixens turn from light to dark? I mean, isn’t hair just hair?  NO!  Biologically speaking, hair was grown to keep our skin protected from weather, sun, and external foreign bodies.  However, since humans have found other ways to protect their skin, through sunblock, blankets, and clothing, hair has become more than just a protective device – it has become one of our body’s best fashion assets! 

So how is black hair a fashion asset? Well, black hair is a bold fashion statement. It represents mystery, fascination, and power as seen in stars such as Jolie, Fox, and Connelly.  These women are mysterious and bewildering and their black hair is sexy and sultry. One can never tell what they are capable of. From acting in a thriller, drama, action, getting married in secret, or adopting children in foreign countries, these black-locked women cannot be underestimated.

What about the usual blonde suspects going black as seen in Lohan, Aguilera, Simpson, and Hilton? Day and night! What a magic show! These women are known to live a bit on the wild side – they are unpredictable and like to experiment and try new things.  If you know hair color then you know that it is easy to go from light to dark but much harder the other way around. So these women who risk going from blonde to black are stepping in dangerous territory – right where they belong!  These women are the friends that you want at the party because they are the life of the party.

Linday Lohan went to jail today to serve a 90 day sentence.  Reason: Missing 7 alcohol education classes in 2009, pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug charges, and no contest to three driving charges.  She arrived today in a black stretch limo where fans, paparazzi, and a guy wearing a pink “Free Lindsay” tshirt stood waiting.

When the British Prime Minster David Cameron made his first visit to the white house, President Obama gave him a color lithography entitled, “Column with Speed Lines” by Ed Ruscha, an influential American artist of the 20th century Pop Art movement.  This gift is arguable much better than the set of classic DVDs that Obama had given the former Prime Minster, Gordon Brown.

First lady, Michelle Obama gave Cameron’s wife, Samantha Cameron, a gift basket that included a baby basket because she is pregnant and was unable to come to the states.

If anyone has the image for “Column with Speed Lines” please feel free to send over the link.

By Victoria Rodriguez Baziuk

Do you remember 80’s fashion trends, where nothing was considered to be over the top?  Bold and bright neon colors made their way into the different styles of 80’s clothing, but that wasn’t all that was bold and beautiful. Overly done makeup, and high hair was also a popular beauty trend of the 80’s. The saying, anything goes, was pretty much the slogan for the 80’s, which makes many people wonder, if anything goes was the infamous slogan of 80’s fashion, then what the heck was the slogan for the new millennium?

The infamous 80’s fashion trends were more than just neon colors and loud makeup. It was a time when people were given the freedom to show their individuality. Whether it was making a statement through outlandish clothing or overly glossy crimson red lips, each person had their own sense of style.

Some of the most popular colors of 80’s fashion trends were 80’s clothing often found in neon pink, yellow, green and blue. Do you remember those incredibly short shorts that came in these fabulous fluorescent colors? People would wear these out in public thinking they looked cool, only to discover that twenty years later someone had snapped a candid photo of them wearing them. That was when they had discovered that they had some serious explaining to do.

Another popular beauty trend of 80’s fashion was 80’s eye makeup. Do you remember the bright blue eye shadow cosmetics and matching neon blue eyeliner? It didn’t matter what color your eyes were, or what color your skin was this was the look of the 80’s. Just about everyone experimented with these makeup trends.

80’s fashion, 80’s clothing and neon colors were all very important memorabilia of this very eclectic decade. Many of us still remember 80’s fashion trends as if it was yesterday.  The 80’s was a fun time where just about everyone experimented with his or her physical appearance, and even though it is long gone, there are the fabulous memories that remain ingrained in our minds forever. Long live the memories of 80’s colorful fashion and beauty trends.

By Roman Shapiro

Over the years people have definitely evolved and as a result their choice of styles and trends has evolved as well. Even as early as 20 years ago people dressed, and carried themselves much more conservative and reserved than they do now. There are many reasons for that change of heart, but the main reason is that people now feel free to expose themselves how they truly are. Before you couldn’t be “who you were” because life just didn’t allow you to. Now, when it comes to style and trends people wear and accessorize themselves how they please. For example, color in fashion and in accessories is very big today, as people wear t-shirts, jeans, shoes, and accessories of many different colors. It is regular and quite common to see people wearing pink shirts, or green shoes, where 20 years no one would dare to wear green shoes, or others would “crucify” them for it. It is also quite common to see men wearing pink t-shirts, or jeans, or have colorful bracelets and no one would say or think a thing. It is amazing to see how far society has come, where literally anything is accepted, and that is beauty of life, that people are very adaptable.

By Jenna Birch

The Haute Couture shows are in full swing, and that means over-the-top looks that are oh-so-fun to view.  At Christian Dior, John Galliano sent models down the runway looking fabulous in a rainbow of colors for a vibrant show.  They wore black, they wore pink, they wore red, they wore blue; every hue was represented as a creation in the collection.  The lush colors were a feast for the eyes, from the frilly yellow frock cinched at the waist with a blue bow, to the floor-length pink and white ruffled dress, to the ultimate ball gown with full-taffeta skirt in a feminine lavender.  The show was an escape from the everyday, showcasing a collection of gowns that the little girl inside us would love to wear.  If you love playing with color, this is Haute Couture at its absolute finest.

By Alex Baker

People have been wearing a lot of orange and red lately.  The reason for this is that eleven men who wear orange and another eleven who wear red have been running around fields in South Africa kicking balls into nets.  The Netherlands national soccer team, known as “The Clockwork Orange,” and the Spanish national team, “The Red Fury” has been on winning streaks that saw them matching up in the final of this summer’s World Cup.

The eleven men in electric orange electrified the people of their nation.  Holland, the country of my father, has twice previously been to the World Cup final and lost.  The little North Sea nation, where I partially grew up, has been lately awash in a sea of orange.  People have been hanging orange banners, wearing orange wigs, scarves and jumpsuits.  Many have literally been painting themselves orange from head to toe. 

Picturing the red, white and blue Dutch flag you may wonder why the Dutch choose orange as their color?  It comes from the House of Oranje, who were the Royal family of Holland. William of Oranje’s legacy it seems has become one of grown men at soccer matches wearing full-body orange lion suits with orange whiskers painted on their faces.

The final between the Clockwork Orange and the Red Fury had all the makings of one of the most exciting and colorful World Cup finals in modern times.  But in the end it was a little underwhelming.  It played out as a kind of high impact chess match between two teams whose comparable level of excellence seemed to cancel each other out at times.

The colors however did not disappoint.  The Dutch wore their classic orange while the Spaniard wore deep, regal blue to contrast them.  In the end it was the men of the Red Fury in their blue uniforms that held the trophy aloft.  Back in Spain a spontaneous celebration of the red clad masses erupted that went on into the following day as the often-fractious nation united behind the success of the Red Fury.

The men in orange meanwhile, sat crumpled on the pitch, the green grass stained with their blood, sweat and tears.  There was a colossal orange hangover in Holland the next day.  Many Amsterdammers, having missed the last train home, awoke on train platforms wrapped in Dutch flags.

No matter who you root for the conclusion of a World Cup can leave you feeling a little hollow.  People all over the world now have to wait another four years before the men in red, orange, blue and all the other colors of the rainbow come to dazzle and entertain us again on the fields of green.

Smart Car, the cute little car that could fit two in one parking space is now available in any color or “wrap” of your choice through a program called “Smart Expressions.” Expanding upon the standard 6 factory colors, you can now get it in 93 additional colors or get a custom color made through the “Any Color You Want” program. Just bring in a color swatch and they will match it up.

The program comes with a variety of standard clothing “wraps” for the vehicle and custom wraps will be available in the future. Both wraps and colors come with a 3-year fading, peeling and cracking warranty.

The cost of custom colors costs in between $1500 – $2000 depending on the color – yes, some colors are more expensive than others.  Get smart and get hip!

To play with the colors, click below (pop up application will appear)

Smart Car Custom Colors