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Sunday, April 19, 2009

...as the driven snow.

We are currently embarking upon the great annual adventure known as wedding season.
Maybe that's why we've got white on the brain.
Not because we're getting married (or even thinking about such things) mind you. The Mollys enjoy wedding season because a). it means we get to plan fabulous parties b). buy new dresses to wear to all of these shindigs and c). it signals the return of warmer weather. What's not to love?

In the land of fashion, white is somewhat of a scary color. There are lots of hazards that come with it: you can't wear it after Labor Day or before Easter, don't wear it to a wedding, and of course the dreaded stain-factor.

But fear not. With a little Scotch Guard, you too can look radiant in this non-color of a color. It's classic, clean, and always in fashion. It has the heart of a neutral, without the same serious emotional baggage that black carries with it. White is lighthearted and fun, just like summer should be.

If you're a little apprehensive about bringing some (color) purity into your life, why not try using white as an accent color to break up bolder, brighter statements. This gives your old pieces a newer, fresher feel. White goes with anything, literally- it is a neutral, after all. The Mollys like it best with bolder, heavily saturated jewel-tones for summer, particularly turquoise and fuchsia. We must warn that pastels are probably best avoided to prevent looking like the a holdover from your Easter basket. If brights aren't your thing, you could always go the white with black route. It worked for Audrey and Jackie-O, didn't it? A true classic for a reason.

Just use a napkin when you eat your raspberry Popsicles, k?



-FLORA TEE, elizandaxel

-White denim matchstick jean, J.Crew

-Jackie Ohh, Ray-Ban

-Creamy Dreamy Pearls, MDsparks

-Chuck Taylor All Star, Converse

-The Unisex Cirle Scarf, American Apparel

-Pocketed Tube Dress, The Limited

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Mrs. Matthews takes a nosedive

All right Danielle Fishel.
We get it.
Your career has somewhat (we're being a little generous) been on the d-cline since "Boy Meets World" and TGIF left the picture. Sidebar: remember TGIF? Remember TGIF and SNICK? Those were the shit when we were twelve, were they not? Anyhow: career's been on the downward slope. Also, Google informs us the you were arrested for a DUI. And that you used to date Lance Bass who is now quite openly homosexual (not that there's anything wrong with that...but you have to admit that when a former lover starts playing for the other team that logically there must be some sentiment of failure on the part of the ex. Think about it). Plus, he was a big pop star and was presumably going places and had lots of success and you...well, you kind of fell off the face of the planet for a couple of years along with Corey and Sean and Eric.
Back in the day, you were hot stuff. So it makes physchological sense that you're kind of trying to re-live your ABC primetime glory days through fashion. But just because it makes sense does not mean that it's a good choice:

What the hell, child?
You are not Alicia Keyes. You are TOPANGA.

What makes this even worse is that apparently, you are part of some collaboration with the Style network which we've never seen but can only assume that it has something to do with "The Dish", as indicated by all the promo pictures available. Your efforts are undeniably admirable: a co-hosting gig on a major cable channel is most definitely a larger stride than the majority of the rest of your fellow Friday night line-up alum. But donchathink that if one is hosting (or even co-hosting) a current fashion-related anything, one should not dress like one is a member of the Spice Girls circa 1997?

Current fashions aside, there's also another horribly unflattering layer to this saga in the form of a commercial on the Style Network for a multitude of their shows including "The Dish." It features a veritable bounty of other fabulous people (or, just about as fabulous as the Style Network can get these days...but we digress):

Finola Hughes, for whom one of us possesses a very VERY unnatural love for (blame it on the Soaps).
Thom Filicia, who is first on our list of possible celebrity gay husbands and needs to come decorate our offices pronto.
Niecy Nash, who always has some sort of motherly-wisdom, bold color statements, and silk flower hair accessories to entertain us with, even if she does choose to place inflection on odd words at inappropriate times.

And, as would be expected they all look fabulous. All of them, that is, except for you. Although the internet being used to type this does not currently provide access to YouTube, we are promising that a link to the afroementioned hideousness will be posted. Because it's really just that awful.
There's an ill-fitting satin dress involved (albeit the color is not all that horrible) that's both too tight and too short and over-processed hair that would make John Frieda's eyes bleed.

Okay, seriously Topanga? We're here for you. We want you to succeed.
And that's why we think that maybe you need to fire your stylists.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Bite me? Please?

And...umm...speaking of Robert Pattinson:
You're welcome.

Things that make us pretty: #2

It has been said that the greatest loves of your life will be the ones that you fall in love with because they embody everything you never knew that you needed. Take Robert Pattinson for example: how could we have ever guessed the Cedrice Diggory would turn out to be our ultimate vampire fantasy? (there's a sentence I never htought I'd write...)

The same can be said for the products below.
Things you never knew you needed:


1. So, pale colors are not colors that look good on some us. We won't lie. But we still love them occasionally because, hey? Who doesn't love colors that remind us of Easter eggs? As such, we have to settle for wearing them as accessories. OPI Done out in Deco is a good compromise in this respect. With a lavender base and gray undertones, it works as a neutral or on it's own. It's spring-y, but you don't look like a twelve year-old. Which is, you know, always a good thing.

2. Benefit pretty much rocks our socks. They've got cute packaging, inventive names, and a loyal fan base. Their almond-loaded scrub Honey, snap out of it! is a cult favorite; it can be used as a simple scrub or can be left on for two minutes in the shower to function as a mask for extra-softening and exfoliating action. We love products that multitask: they're a busy girl's savior.


3. Between the two of us, we've got a lot of hair going on. Seriously. One of us grew up in the land of beauty pageants and hair that was teased so crown wouldn't fall off, and another is...well, italian. But sometimes genes and breeding just aren't enough. That's why we've got Paul Mitchell Extra-Body Daily Boost in our style arsenals. It lifts, but doesn't leave that icky, crunchy feeling behind.

4. We think Dooce described the magic of Dior Blackout mascara best when she wrote, "I am going to petition the government to make it legal for a woman to marry her black mascara." Yeah, it's that awesome.

5. You know what we hate? When we shave our legs in the shower, put lotion on afterwards because we don't want to be scaley, and become afflicted with little red bumps and painful stinging sensations because our newly-smooth skin does NOT agree with lotion. That's what we hate. Don't be scared be the obviously dirty connotations that come along with body oil; Neutrogena body oil will get rid of your discomfort and you don't even have to use it for foreplay. Unless of course, you actually want to...

6. If you're still not using Tweezerman tweezers, we feel bad for you. Trust, we are avid fans of eyebrow-waxing (less pain overall). But sometimes, we're just too busy or broke to go to the spa every 3 to 4 weeks. In between appointments, we utilize these little gems to keep our faces looking groomed and catipillar-free. Go buy some. Now.

Oh honey.....no.

We like when people read our blog. We love when they incorporate what we say into their lives and style choices.


Usually......
Dear Paige Davis,
We love love LOVE your peppiness on Trading Spaces. Adore when you try to keep a straight face in the midst of redecorating freak-outs. And are totally pumped that you're reading our little blog. But THAT?! Is sooooo not what we meant.

Call us. Together, we can fix this.
Love,
The Mollys


Save the planet.....all the cool kids are doing it.

The Mollys love cleanliness. And adorableness. And saving the environment.

Luckily the kind folks at New Soap, Old Bottle agree. How cute are these?!


If you went to the website and voted for mass distribution, we'd be your friend. Not your BFF because we have each other, but we'd let you sit behind us at the movies and share our Milk Duds.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Prints Charming

Recently, one of us moved into a new apartment with their significant other. The apartment is beautiful: dark cherry hardwood floors, porcelain tile in the kitchen and bathroom, granite counter tops, brand new cabinetry, brushed silver fixtures and the hardware...oh! the hardware! We are very lucky indeed. The only thing that could make it any more perfect is if said apartment was somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon, and we were both occupying it (the boys can come too, but only if they promise not to touch our stuff).

This apartment is drastically different than our old apartment. It has a much more "modern-ish" feel to it. And, as such, we need some new stuff to put on the walls to make it pretty and not so asylum-y in there with the white walls and stuff. This is what we've got so far. Oh, and did we mention that everything is under $25? Because it is.




By rows, starting from the left:

1. paper head gocco print in blue, $20 from katep: This print is cute without being "twee", as the kids are saying these days. It's a little unexpected. Which, you know, we're totally in to.

2. Original ACEO-Frida, $10 from carambatack: There's something so appealing about works of art that a). don't take themselves too seriously and b). combine several different mediums. Seller carambatack has a couple of different versions of this piece in it's shop, so is can be used in a multitiude of different spaces and color schemes. It is pretty twee, though. So...maybe you can use this as a bargaining chip when your boyfriend tells you he wants to display his Battlestar Gallactica posters?

3. Live What You Love Letterpress Print in Red, $12.50 from hijirik: We kind of just love things with words on them. And this is no exception. It's clean and simple and modern, but classic. Maybe a little trendy, too. But for $12.50? We think you can afford to be a *leetle* trendy.

4. Rebecca, $20 from nosideup: Another in a series of works. How perfect would these be in a minimalistic bathroom? They're on the not-too-frilly side, which is also a big plus in our house.

5. Darling Nest Print, $17 from MarmeeCraft: We're kind of noticing a theme here. Women with lots of hair and birds and a little bit of whimsy. But you know what? That's okay. When most of your furniture comes from Ikea and Craig's List and looks like it belongs in your little brother's frat house, you have to indulge your femaleness somehow.

6. SO VERY HAPPY (version 1), $23 from dazeychic: We'll just say right now that we love love LOVE dazeychic. Love her. Love her work. Love her spirit, and love her concepts. We think it would be great to wake up to these words every morning.

7. Blackbird, Fly Away, $15 from 3LambsGraphics: Birds are kind of our "thing." Actually, one of the Mollys was flat-out informed by a close friend that this person felt guilty for buying a necklace with a dove on it because birds were Molly's "thing". Which is sort of true because birds rule and we rule (common ground, you see). They represent free spirits and determination and really great outer-wear. The Mollys can get down with that.

8. LUCKY FEATHER, $15 from theloveshop: This is what we're calling our "compromise" piece. Not that we don't love it, mind you. It's just a little more masculine than some of the others in this showcase, which leads us to believe that it will probably be the most appealing to our male companions. Sidenote: how did we get stuck with the only man in the world who actually gives a flying Twinkie about wall-art or any sort of interior design? Unfair.

9. i miss the idea of you, $24 from the weathergirlshop: Kind of sad, no? But also really beautiful. And thought-provoking. Art doesn't always need to be happy, but it should always kick some ass. Mission: accomplished.

10. We are here, $15.70 from HidenSeek: Reminder- the Mollys met while studying British children's literature in England. Therefore, rest assured that we know a thing or two about fairytales or any interpretation thereof. It's something that we're passionate about and smething like this speaks to our mutual love of fables and the like.

11. Scarf For Two Print, $18 from theblackapple: Everything in this store pretty much rules at life. It's a little bit haunting, and the creep factor is definitely present. It's also fun and not you average Ansel Adams poster. Which is good, because we're not the kind of people who buy their artwork at Wal-Mart.

12. Keep Calm and Carry On Poster (Light Olive), $20 from PrintSpot: Yeah, yeah. We know. These prints are EVERYWHERE. But, you can't deny the universal appeal of it's message and nostalgia. It would be really approriate for an office environment, but we were actually intending upon putting it in the kitchen. So that when we're burning the crap out of dinner, we can take look at the poster on the wall, take a deep breath, and grab a take-out menu.


Next week: Do you like it when stuff has your name on it? So do we.

“In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.”

And for us, Marc Chagall, the colors of love are yellow and gray.

The Mollys are very into bold blocks of color. I mean, we wear prints as much as the next person; but it is our opinion that the statement of commiting to a vibrant purple or shocking orange speaks to our boldness as people. And sometimes it is easier and infinitely more appropriate to say so with a snappy pleated skirt than a snappy comment.

We ARE ladies of the stage after all, not at all adverse to a look--be it good or bad. And we absolutely love the question "Where EVER did you get that?!" as it allows us to share our knowledge of the perfect vintage shop or sale.

This February, New York Fashion Week,sans Tommy Hilfiger--Seriously Tommy, get with the program--was awash with our newest obsession in color combinations: yellow and gray. Canary and steel. Mustard and slate. The possibilities are endless. Add in a little crisp white or black....and Voila!
(The above looks are from Tadashi Shoji, Nanette Lapore, Lela Rose and E.Y. Wada. So much love!)

Now in a previous post, one of us admitted that yellow is not our best match. And that's fine. That Molly concentrates on the gray part of the equation, maybe adds in a yellow belt or shoes or the aforementioned Lucite bangle. The other Molly is a decidedly fair-skinned brownish redhead (at the moment) who pretty much ignores the "It's my color" vein of thinking and wears whatever the heck she wants. She needs the other Molly's firm guidance. (Stupid Illinois and Alabama, why'd they have to be built so bleeding far apart?!)

We've done some of the work for you, perusing the interwebs and such. But feel free to combine your own colors.....Like purple? Pair a deep plum with a French blue. Into orange? Go for it! (Though for the sake of Alabama Molly's sanity, don't wear it with blue. Please.) Here's what we love for Spring/Summer, since the Fashion Week pieces are all very fall:

from Banana Republic

from the etsy.com shop, Quarks


from the geniusly quirky and fabulous blog of Keiko Lynn. If only we lived in Brooklyn and were this adorable...


Now, go forth and be colorful!



Friday, April 10, 2009

Kind of like a train wreck

Umm...we totally bought this today:

We're pulling for you LiLo. We really are.
We remember when you were cute and talented.
We think you can be that way again.
But the way to do that does sooo not involve giving exclusive interviews to US Weekly.
Because then people like us buy it.
And read it.
And then things like this happen.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Wait, what?

Okay, so we might a little late on the up-take here...





But please don't let this become a style:


Aaaannnndd just in case you need a close up:

On what planet is this okay?

Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles.

Thanks Mae West. We think so, too.

This Thursday, we're investigating what kind of jewelry box-related fabulousness we can come up with within the wonderful Etsy universe.

We have some thoughts on accessories that go on your fingers, ears, necks, wrists, or maybe even toes (though we don't necessarily condone the last practice unless your on a beach in Bermuda or something) that we'd like to share. Basically, we feel as though there need to be two kinds of things in your collection: pieces that get you noticed and pieces that your grandmother would approve of. One piece can cover the two categories, no problem. Or not. Your jewelry should reflect your own personal taste and style, not necessarily what's popular at the moment. Just because everyone else insists upon wearing tons of brightly-colored lucite, should you do the same despite the fact that you severly dislike it? Only if you want to be uncomfortable all day. Not to mention waste your money.

Depending on the frequnecy of your accessories rotation, jewelry can also add new life to regular clothing stand-bys; it has the potential to turn one staple into several different days of versitility. One of our favorite situations in which to utilize this strategy is on days when one solid color for all your clothing is a necessity. Like, for example, the day after $1.99 margarita night at our favorite Mexican establishment? Yeah. Days like that. We're big fans of an all-black outfit on these days because it can cover up any physical...ahem...results of excessiveness from the night before, but it doesn't hurt to have some sort of color near your face or add a little something exra to the outfit to avoid looking like a mime.


One thing is for certain: jewelry doesn't need to break the bank. At least not jewelry that you are buying yourself. This, like so many of the other things we like to talk about, can follow our basic principle that not everything one buys needs to be an investment piece. You don't have to spend a lot of money to spend it well. Not to mention supporting independent artists. Which we also love.



By rows, starting from the left:


1. Octavia, $23 from MDsparks: This is one of those pieces that falls into that "unique and classic at the same time" category. Everything in her store is gorgeous, and there's something for everything. Which kind of rocks.

2. Lady in Waiting, $22 from ForTheCrossJewelry: Umm...how gorgeous are these earrings? The colors are just insane. The whole collection has a very vintagey-antiquey (yes, antiquey) feel to it, which in our opinion os universally stylish.

3. Melancholy Lashes, $25 from UntamedMenagerie : Yeah. We love this necklace.

4. Octupus Earring, $24 from affixment: I'll just say right now that we have a necklace with an octupus on it, and it's way more versitile than you'd think. Plus...your earrings can protect you from preditors.

5. Wist mix tape bangle, $8 from ivyteakettle: Now we wish that when we had pulled all the tape out of our Ace of Base cassette after our boyfriend dumped us in the summer of '96, we'd had the fortitude to save the remains of our rage and weave it into to bracelet like this one. Alas, we'll just have to settle for seeing someone else fufill our dreams.

6. Ginko Leaf Ring, $38 from esedesigns: One of the things we adore most about Etsy is that one can always find something comparable to a piece seen in a magazine or a celebrity (however rare an attractive one of those may be) for a much friendlier price. The same can be said for our next item...

7. Silver Gossip Girl Necklace, $39.99 from SpoonerZ: as the title implies, it was apparently part of the show at some point. One of us watches, the other doesn't. The one who doesn't watch happens to be authoring this post, so we'll have to check with the other half and confirm. Either way, we have a total hard-on for jewelry made out of untensils. Why? Because we're awesome like that.

8. Pink and Gold Bracelet, $59 from ThePaperNut: We think pearls are great. Crocheted pearls? Even better.

9. blue skies yo-yo necklace, $25 from cookorrikoo: We'd definitely be lying is we said we didn't want one of these in every color.

10. Posh Punch, $21 from ERMoriginals: When considering the possibilities for this necklace, we get little butterflies in our stomachs. Pink! Copper! A different kind of neutral! It does seem a little delicate which we don't (generally) go for, but the necklace makes a big statement without raising it's voice. Kind of the opposite of us.

11. Prairie Plant Wooden Bracelet, $30 from uncharted: We began our love affair with the color yellow long long ago. Alas, our coloring is such that we can't wear it near our faces (i.e. shirts and/or sweaters), and yellow pants would just be....well no. So we've had to settle for shoes and sunny pieces of jewelry like this hot little number that's made from wood covered in Japanese paper.

12. Smokey quartz twisted cut and peridot tear drop earrings, $20 from jennytrinh: We hate to admit it, but even we sometimes need something a little sparkly and girly to brighten our days. But if we have to stoop to such levels, we're doing to do it with shiny blacks and greens.

Next week: Spiffy prints for stylish walls.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Molly's Rules for the Mega-Mall

1. Just because it COMES in your size, doesn't mean you should actually wear it.


2. On the same note, just because it looks good on your best friend, coworker, sister, mother-in-law, yoga teacher, etc. doesn't mean that it will look good on you.


3. Don't wear sunglasses indoors, at night unless you are blind.....or Corey Hart.


4. Leggings don't go with everything. They certainly aren't pants. And wearing them with a hoodie, a "Vegetarian Vampire" t-shirt, and a frayed denim skirt, does NOT make you Edward Cullen's next girlfriend. It makes you a tool.


5. Tearing out pages from last May's Vogue and putting ALL the trends together for an outfit is inadvisable.....very highly inadvisable.


6. A word about button-down shirts: if the two sides do not meet entirely when you button it, DO NOT BUY IT. This means that it doesn't fit. Maybe go the next size up and get it tailored, even. But don't try to convince yourself that the visibility of your bra through the gaps in front looks like a tank top. You may be fooling yourself, but you're not fooling anyone else. Trust.


7. Umm...those kiosks that sell fake purses? Those aren't fooling anyone either.


8. You are not Carrie Bradshaw. We do not need or want to see your underwear. And, by the way, Carrie Bradshaw is a fictional character. Those were costumes. Ponder that before you leave the house.


Sunday, April 5, 2009

I'm going to go make-out in the coat room. Don't eat my chicken.

Oh, Gilmore Girls.
You've given us so much over the years: realistic fashion beyond the Delia*s catalog, a "cool mom" level to strive for when we birth o our own hatchlings, and rhetoric that pretty much defines our entire relevance in this world. And rest assured, we certainly base our television watching and DVD purchasing propensities on whether or not we can identify with the main characters...so our profession of undying love for thee is no farce.
Yes GG, our lives are better for having known you.

Our lives are also better because you gave us this:

Wow.
Just...wow.

I told you we like pretty things.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Things that make us pretty: #1

Many of us go through phases with the products we use on a day-to-day basis. We are apt to fall in and out of love with our toiletries (I've always hated that word...beauty products are worth so much more than that, yes) as our styles evolve, as trends change, or as our bodies simply adapt to our cosmetics of choice and their intended effect begins to wane.

Trust, the Mollys are no exception to this rule.
Despite this cruel fact of nature, the sunny silver lining is that the ones we love, the ones that are really worth it.

Here's what's really worth it to us today.



1. Smith's Rosebud Salve is a gift for lips. It has a slight sent, and the lightest touch of pinkish color. I use it everyday instead of lipstick. But don't tell my mother that, because for some reason she thinks that I need to wear grown-up things on my lips now. Whatever.

2. All I have to say about Bumble and Bumble styling lotion is this: it will change your life.

3. Cetaphil is the numero uno derm recommended facial cleanser. Why? Because it rocks. For so many reasons. Not the least of which being that it is perfection if you suffer from sensitive skin, like we do, that tends to be dry but also likes to break out at inopportune moments. Also, did we mention that is costs under 13 buck a pop? Because it totally does.

4. Okay, so I know that OPI's You Don't Know Jacques is kind of a fall color, and it's kind of spring. But only kind of. Truthfully we will probably own a bottle until the daywe die, regardless of what season it is. If Jacques is wrong, then we don't want to be right. This amazingly versitile little color that looks like "caca" in the bottle (to quote our esthetician, Angie, when she spied it on our nails several months ago and had to pick some up for herself) is both black and brown at the same time, and can lean more towards either color, depending on what color your clothing is. Now that, my friends, is teamwork.

5. Khiel's is another skincare classic, but not unjustifiably so. If you're members of the dry-and-sensitive epidermis club (holla!), then you will appreciate Creme de Corps and it's light formula that provides heavy results. It doesn't irritate, and we just found out that it comes in an SPF 30 version as well. That's kind of awesome.

6. We didn't even know what eye cream was until about a year ago, we're not gonna lie. That is until we started to notice some...ahem...wrinkles around our eyes. Naturally, we freaked the hell out and turned to a girl's best friend and confidant: Google. Our friend Google revealed to us that the answer to preventing, and possibly reversing, some of the unwantedness around our ocular cavaties was any eye cream. All the goods ones appeared to cost somewhere upwards of a small fortune. So, we turned to a girl's second best friend: the cosmetic aisle at Target. This is where we found Burt's Bees Radiance Eye Cream. Burt had already won our hearts long ago with his zingy lipbalms and garden-fresh facial scrubs, so we took a chance on his idea of an eye cream. We were not disappointed.

PS- pardon the crapiness of the image display. This computer is sadly without the wonder of Photoshop, so we had to settle for utilizing Photoshop's nerdy second step-cousin, Microsoft Publisher.