Power to the People

With the month of June just around the corner, summer, and more importantly summer fashion is about to kick into high gear.  For summer I'm loving the 3 F's.  Feminine pieces, Flirty hemlines, and Free.  No not getting my hands on some free merchandise, Free People.  Many know the brand as part of the widely popular Urban Outfitters family, but few know that Urban Outfitters actually started out as Free People.  Dick Hayne opened the first Free People store in Philadelphia in the early 1970's.  When the store began to take off, he opened a second store and changed the name from Free People to Urban Outfitters.  The company continued to flourish, especially the the private labels exclusive to UO which were overseen by Dick's wife Meg.  In 1984, the couple decided to create a wholesale line to be sold in department stores and boutiques nationwide.  They used Free People as the name, bringing forth the rebirth of the brand.  For years the line attracted mostly juniors, but in 2001 Meg Hayne and her team sculpted Free People into a contemporary, fashion forward brand for women in their late teens to early twenties. With a new targeted audience, the brand became a huge sensation and synonymous with the terms"effortlessly chic" and "trendsetting."  The magic words every designer and company one day hope to hear.  With highly coveted pieces for summer 2011 and dedicated customers, Free People continues to hold it's rightful place at the top of the fashion food chain.  Power to the People.

 Lace Flounce Dress  

^$98^.00

 New Romantics One Shoulder Top 

^$98^.00

 Love Joy Buttonfront Vest  

^$88^.00

Lost Temple Skort  

^$68^.00

The Return of Balayage

Balayage: (bah-lay-ah-je) French for "to sweep"

Bursting onto the Parisian fashion scene in the early 70's, the let-your-roots-grow-out look didn't gain popularity in the U.S. until the late 90's.  The coloring technique was the perfect alternative to the uniform look foils provided.  Instead, hairstylists would apply a thin amount of color to their client's roots or let them go au naturel then hand paint lighter hues in a sweeping motion all the way down to the tip, giving hair a chunky yet faded appearance.  The highlighting trend then faded.  Literally.  Recently, however, numerous actresses including Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, and Cameron Diaz, fashionistas like Rachel Bilson and Nicole Richie and countless models such as Gisele Bündchen, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Lily Aldridge have been sporting ombre hair.  But why has it taken celebrities almost 40 years to finally jump on the Balayage bandwagon?  For so long it seemed women would instinctively rush to their stylists for a touch-up the second their roots began to show.  Have we simply gotten lazy?  Or perhaps the 70's trend dominating spring/summer fashion thus far has leapt off the runway and right onto people's scalps.  After all Balayage did define the fashion capital of the world in the 70's.

Lily Aldridge

Jennifer Aniston

Cameron Diaz