Mary Van Notes

I’m sick of my long hair.  I know I would be breaking one of the rules laid forth by Patti Stanger in Become Your Own Matchmaker to cut the long locks that the men desire, but after reading the book (yeah, I totally did) I realized that I don’t care. I’m not in the dating mood these days anyway.

You might be confused right about now if you saw this recent Mary Van DAAAMN! post.  Twas a wig, folks.

I’ve been reading a lot of fashion blogs. And what has struck me the most in some of the photos was the hair. Strawberry Koi has some great hair tutorials on youtube, but I have a hard time trying them because I have too much hair. I just don’t know exactly what I want but I’ve collected hair inspiration pictures.

I just admire the beauty of the top two, though I know that kind of hair wouldn’t look right on me. The bottom three are examples of 1940s styles with bangs.

Claudette Colbert. I just love her look. And I’m tempted to chop off my hair so it could look like hers in It Happened One Night.  Although if I really wanted to look like her I’d have to wreck havoc on my eyebrows.

And this modern vintage starlet is one of the fashion bloggers I spoke of. Solanah aka Vixen Vintage always has such beautiful hair to match her exquisite pieces of clothing. Speaking of Vixen Vintage, Solonah is sponsoring a giveaway of a beautiful 1930s-inspired handmade hat.

Head over to http://vixenvintage.blogspot.com/2009/08/giveaway.html for your chance to win it.

I also love the short sweetness of hair that is on the head of the girl behind heart city vintage.

Although if I did cut my hair short, I wouldn’t want people to think I’m jocking super-talented comedienne Kristen Schaal‘s style. We already share the same love for vintage dresses and quirky comedy stylings, and not to mention two studs by the name of Bret and Jermaine.

But I love this short style:

I’m at a loss. My hair is a natural curly mess. With any of these styles, it would take time and effort. But I’m up for the challenge. What’s your vote?

A lot of the fashion blogs are abuzz with excitement over the season premiere of Mad Men on August 16.  If I had AMC I would be stoked.  I’m even tempted to dive in to season 1 DVDs just to drool over the costumes and sets, and not to mention the sexbomb that is Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm.   I say that Don Draper is the sexbomb because I am so clearly attracted to the way he dresses in 1960s tailored suits, although I am also a sucker for the whole rugged-manly-man-in-his-30s look which would be entering Jon Hamm territory.   What I thought I could contribute to the Mad Men buzz in the fashion blogosphere is how connected the drama series is to comedy.

Jon Hamm is a comedy nerd.   I say that in the highest regard.  And from what I can gather, he’s got quite the comedy palette- from frequenting the hip comedy shows at the Largo theater in Los Angeles to hanging around with comedians like Jimmy Pardo, Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifianakis.  Here he is being interviewed by Zach on Between Two Ferns:

I’m tempted to move to Los Angeles only to try and mill around the same social circle as the Mad Men star.  I heard from the grapevine that Jon Hamm was seen at a party at Sarah Silverman’s pad with the likes of Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island, Norm Macdonald, Human Giant’s Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer and Aziz Ansari, and the writing staff and cast of The Sarah Silverman Program.  Even megastars like Jessica Alba and Jon Favreau were in attendance.  Apparently Hamm and Favreau were chatting it up most of the evening, so maybe there’ll be a new Favreau-directed/Hamm-lead motion picture in the works.

Dreaming of the potential hook-up between a comedienne like myself and a handsome Mad Men star is not too far off the wagon.  Elizabeth Moss, who plays secretary Peggy Olson in Mad Men, is engaged to the hilarious Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live fame.  Let’s only hope Hamm is as into funny girls as Moss is to funny boys.  Apparently Hamm is taken by actress and screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt.  No word on if she’s funny, although she did co-write the romantic-comedy screenplay Kissing Jessica Stein.

What it all comes down to is that I wish I was in Mad Men.  Come on… wearing vintage clothing and undergarments to work everyday?

Getting my hair and makeup done in period style?

Hanging around handsome men in tailored suits and donning hair like this?

Umm, yeah! I’d probably pull a diva deal the way Sarah Jessica Parker did with Sex and the City and demand in the contract that I be able to keep all the wardrobe I wear. I’d love to own pieces like this:

Check out the interview here with Janie Bryant, the costume designer of the show.