It must be croppin' season!

After the weightiness of yesterday's post, all I wanted to do last night was a put together a piece on pretty dresses.

I was even going to call it "The pretty dress post" or perhaps something simpler like "Pretty Dresses - yay!" or "These dresses - pretty, no?"

In it, I was going to include a brief, substance-free intro on why owning a pretty dress makes a girl feel pretty and how when a girl feels pretty, even if she's not, she somehow magically becomes pretty (eye roll), and so on and so forth.

But just as I was about to find this pretty lady 11 or 12 pretty friends, I checked my inbox and found no fewer than six enthusiastic e-mails from readers either requesting I write a short-hair post or specifically asking me for my stylist's name* so they, too, could take the pixie plunge.

It seems there's something in the DC air that has women hankerin' for a croppin', and about that I could not be more pleased! I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is nothing more confidence-boosting than catching a glimpse of your hair in the mirror, even on a bad skin/hair/waistline day, and thinking to yourself, "I don't want to change a thing."

And what's even more gratifying than that is when those same words involuntarily come running out of your mouth in fierce Tyra fashion when a smug critic likens you to a Thai ladyboy or Christian from "Project Runway." Until I went super-short last July, I'd never had a cut about which I felt so protective -- not even close.

But now that I do, I'm addicted, my standards have risen, and there will for sure be no going back to letting myself live with ho-hum hair.

Just to be clear, I'm not implying long hair is always ho-hum and short hair is always va-va-voom -not at all, I mean, hello and hello- but I am saying there is a strong tendency for women with longer hair to lazily rely on their length to make their looks look more pulled-together. A fabulous short cut, by virtue of its relative rarity alone, requires much less of a day-to-day time and product investment to make a strong statement.

As with a strapless neckline and short-shorts, however, not everyone is a good candidate for short hair; be sure to rely on your stylist's honest opinion before you opt for the chop.

So anyhoo, for those who asked and also for those who will inevitably tell me I should grow out my "Hungry Like the Wolf" hair, here below are some of my favorite above-the-shoulder lock looks, in order from boldest to longest.

Enjoy!

Swedish Model
(Summer 2007)

Natalie Portman
(Winter 2006)Selma Blair
(Summer 2007)

Elisha Cuthbert**
(Winter 2007/'08)

Audrey Tautou
(Summer 2006)
Agyness Deyn
(Fall 2007)

Bop Model
(Winter 2008)

Katie Holmes 2.0

(Winter 2008)

Katie Holmes 1.0
(Fall 2007)

Paris Hilton
(Winter 2007/'08)

*Karen Doron, PIAF Salon, (202) 783-3334
** your Editrix's favorite (after her own, of course)

What a difference a different dress can make

I was fully prepared to craft a comprehensive, specific-to-their-frame, should've-worn-this assessment for each Jennifer, Natalie, Julianne, Kristen, Sheryl, Marley and Sara, but just as I was about to put fingertip to keyboard, it struck me -- all of these women, even Jennifer "Loves Mom Jeans" Hewitt, have done their bodies red carpet good at least once - and in Natalie and Julianne's cases, many times - in past appearances.

And after a quick Google search for each of these ladies, it turns out I found the proof I needed to demonstrate to you how vast an improvement a scintilla of cinching, a shade of shoulder-baring and a hair of hemline-raising can bring to the hippy, the bony, the petite and the muscular-calved.

On better days, the women from this morning:

Why she looks better:
(1) instead of a fitted-'round-the-hips cut, a petite woman with disproportionately large hips like Jennifer really should stick to styles that skim - not cling - to her midsection.
(2) because her chest is disproportionately large for her upper body, it was wise of her to lengthen her torso with a thinner waist-cinch that didn't sit right below the girls and to draw attention to her thin legs with a higher hemline.

Why she looks better:
(1) much like the shirt-dress in the previous post, this bubble-mini gives no hint of under-the-covers curvaceousness (because there is none), but at least this cut offers Natalie the opportunity to showcase her defined shoulders and back, which makes all the difference in identifying that she is not, in fact, a 13 year old boy.

Why she looks better:
(1) she's defined her waist, a decision that takes at least 10 pounds off her frame
(2) she's raised her hemline and in doing so allowed us to see a very attractive thin-thigh-into-muscular-calf transition. I know well the necessity of showing that peek of knee and upper-thigh.

Why she looks better:

(1) a woman as petite as Kristen (5'1"), no matter how high her heels or how slim her skirt, can not get away with the exaggeratedly voluminous ruffled neckline. Frankly, anything would look better.

(2) this deep-V halter dress with nary a hint of extraneous volume flatters everything on KBell from her small, perky chest to her thin waist to her toned arms and back.

Why she looks better:

(1) I'm just gonna come out and say it -- if your breasts aren't perky and you want to wear a dress that doesn't allow for a bra, make sure you're cleavage-free

(2) as much as I love an athletic frame like Sheryl's, there's something unsettling about seeing veiny, muscular legs in a formal dress. It was a wise choice for her to wear a floor-length gown, especially one with a curve-enhancing empire waist.

Why she looks better:

(1) aside from the fact this is a much more beautiful dress than the shapeless grey sheath from the previous post, she looks miles better because she's able to showcase her two best assets: her shoulders and her legs. Much like Julianne's, Marley's legs require an above-the-knee cut to avoid looking thicker than they actually are.

(2) like the last dress, this one cinches at the actual waist and then skims over the hips. The difference, however, is in the fabric -- the wool in the previous dress looks "puffed out" over her hips while here, the multi-layered satin - yellow satin, a very difficult combination to pull off well - glides over the area in a much more flattering way.

Why she looks better:

(1) it's a universally accepted truth: dresses with empire waistlines and flowy skirts make curvy women look fatter than they actually are. Unless you're tall, lithe and proportionate, step away from this style...

(2) because Sara doesn't have a very defined upper-body, this deep-V neckline is much more flattering (hello perfect cleavage!) than the one her spaghetti-strapped counterpart created (goodbye armpit potatoes!)

My own dabble with the subjective superlative

In the spirit of the season of "Best of" lists, I thought I'd try my tanned hand at the practice with my own subjective selection.

At the end of the day, everything I know about style is a synthesis of my own organic uh-I-like-that-edness and that which I've read in magazines and fashion blogs and seen on TV and in films; I'm not going to sit here and pretend I recognized a single non-mainstream-celebrity on Vanity Fair's list of the 10 Best Dressed Women for 2007, because that would be lying, and liars, I'm told, end up in a place where the only shoes are wedged espadrilles, the only jeans are bootleg, the only jackets are North Face and the only style resource is this has-been train wreck.

Point is, my list isn't a "Best Dressed" one but rather an enumeration of those women to whom I most often turn for real, lasting and consistent style inspiration.

You'll notice conspicuously absent from my short list are names like Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Lopez and Cate Blanchett, women over whom I fawn shamelessly on almost a daily basis for their red carpet prowess. Their omissions are by no means a function of my wanting to stick to six names and six names only but rather a desire to highlight women who, like I said above, have had and continue to have a real influence on the way I dress and the way I discern between this item or that item for my daily blog features. I'm duly impressed with how Penny, J.Lo and Cate continue to choose striking, figure-flattering Versace, Marchesa and Armani Privé gowns, respectively, but ultimately, the only practical influences they have over me involve their posture, makeup and hair styles.

So without further ado, here is my subjective superlative list:

ASJiNE's Most Prominent (living) Style Inspirations:

1. Katie Holmes

(influences: there is no such thing as casual casual; heels with any outfit, on any terrain; invest in simple, neutral but memorable pieces)

2. Audrey Tautou

(influence: never underestimate the power of "cute")

3. Natalie Portman

(influence: show-stop with cuts, not color; beautiful skin is the best accessory)

4. Woman in Paris*
(influence: there is a tasteful way to wear anything, it just takes imagination and compensation)

5. Sienna Miller
(influences: a toned size-2/4 figure allows you to look good in - or at least try - anything; a sultry eye can serve as your most powerful accessory) 6. Rachel Bilson
(influence: helped me discover my favorite silhouette -- slim, slim lines broken up by a cropped, boxy jacket)

*photo taken from The Sartorialist

10 reasons to love Natalie Portman

10. This crinkled-satin lucite-halter mini by Lanvin (charity event, 2007)

9. She loves dogs, America and evening sandals all in the same breath

8. She brings out a healthy dose of humility in every woman

7. She turned down ScarJo's breakout role

6. She has a degree (I said I was an education-ist)

5. She left Jude Law's cheating ass in Closer

4. This movie. Her character. That airport ending.

3. No one rocks make-up free and bald more beautifully

2. This gunmetal plunge gown by Lanvin (Academy Awards, 2005)

1. She spits dirtier rhyme than Bubba Sparxx

5 best evening eyes of the Spring semester

Natalie Portman (Paris je t'aime premiere)

Hilary Duff (Dignity release party) Katie Holmes (Vanity Fair post-Oscar party) Katherine McPhee (TRL appearance)Sienna Miller (BAFTA Awards)