Latest news with #CoolGirl
Elle
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
The Pixie-and-Bangs Combo Is the Cool-Girl Cut That's Back for 2025
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Ever since Emma Stone stepped onto the Golden Globes red carpet with a pixie cut, it's clear this hairstyle is poised to dominate 2025. From choppy pixies to the slightly longer pixie bob, if you're ready for a bold transformation—or want to refresh an existing chop—there's a look here for you. One of the most striking takes on the trend? The pixie cut with bangs. Bangs have long been a go-to for fashion insiders, calling to mind the iconic styles of Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, and Ronnie Spector. Pair them with a daring pixie, and get ready to turn heads. 'In my eyes, all pixie haircuts have bangs—it just depends on how short the bang is and how they're styled,' says hairstylist and BaByliss ambassador Syd Hayes, who has previously cut the hair of Renée Zellweger and Iris Law (aka the modern-day pixie-cut icon). On Law's look, Hayes adds: 'I regularly cut it, but we switch up the shape and play with the texture to create different styles—and, mostly, to have fun!' It might seem like this is a haircut best suited for angular bone structures, but it's really about your personal style—and how comfortable you feel with an ultra-short length. A skilled hairstylist will customize the cut to highlight your features and guide you through what you love (and don't love) about your face, your fashion sensibility, and how much time you're willing to spend on daily styling. Hayes recommends drying your hair using a 'wrap' technique with a tool like the BaByliss Nano Titanium. 'Dry your hair by pushing it around the shape of the head in both directions, wrapping it around to create a natural bend at the ends,' he explains. He adds: 'I also love texture sprays like Sam McKnight's Cool Girl—they help add a matte finish and dry texture to the hair. A good matte wax can also provide hold.' If you prefer a heat-free option, Grace Newton-Hedges at Hershesons salon recommends using a curling cream for wavy or curly hair to 'define natural movement and eliminate frizz.' For straight or fine hair, try a salt spray to build texture. 'If you have a difficult fringe with a cowlick, I recommend roughly drying it with a hairdryer while focusing on pulling the cowlick down,' Newton-Hedges advises. 'I also love using a razor on short hair,' he says. 'It softens the ends and gives the cut an irregular, more lived-in shape.' Newton-Hedges agrees: 'Even half an inch can completely transform the haircut—but that's also the fun of short hair. You can switch up the style often, whether that means leaning into a longer pixie or going full micro, like Emma Watson circa 2010.' Edie Campbell's blonde hair with dark roots and straight, long bangs adds an edgy contrast to her otherwise romantic makeup. Iris Law's clean, platinum-blonde pixie cut channels a minimalist, '90s vibe that feels effortlessly cool. Taylor Russell's take on the style features a sharp, graphic fringe and a deep side part.
Global News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Global News
The chicest black summer looks to wear now
The Curator independently decides what topics and products we feature. When you purchase an item through our links, we may earn a commission. Promotions and products are subject to availability and retailer terms. Forever the Cool Girl cousin, black reeks of fashion. And sometimes throwing a darker hue into your wardrobe mix (in a summer-weighted fabric like linen) can both ground your look and elevate it at the same time. Have you heard my favourite saying? 'I'll stop wearing black when they invent a darker colour.' Tailored and Timeless Right on cue for the August return of upscale academia, a pleated skirt with simple lace-up brogues and a black twin set is equal parts fetching and fashion. Thank you yet again, Demi Moore. Story continues below advertisement Amazon Essentials Women's Vee Cardigan Do not break the bank on a simple black cardi. I chose a 'V' cut here – but roll with your neckline preference. $28.6 on Amazon SHAPERMINT High Compression Womens Top Affordable, effective shapewear worn as a tank is the best kind of double dip. Sizes up to 4-X Large. $34 on Amazon Pleated Skirt A smidge shorter than Demi's iteration (plus this one has an elastic waist at the back – woot), but you get the drift. And inky navy and jet-black is one of my most adored pairings in the Pantone universe, btw. $25.90 at Zara Story continues below advertisement Oversized Handbag Clearly giving retro Balenciaga Le City bag vibes, and I'm completely here for it. Extra points if you clip a charm (or like, four) onto the handles. $55 on Amazon You may also like: Laneige Lip Glowy Balm – $25.50 Gold Polished Chunky Twisted Waterdrop Bangle – $19.99 FunkyMonkey Women's Comfort Slides – $39.99 Proportions, proportions… When it comes to injecting a little edge thanks to summer black, proportion-playing is a clever way to shake things up. Translation? Test drive a blousy chemise with bike shorts (below) or perhaps a high-waisted balloon pant with a fitted tank is the move. Either way? You'll add dimension plus drama. Story continues below advertisement Braided Leather Slingback Ballet Flats These slingbacks are equal parts ballet and jelly – and both are trends I'm loving right now. $109 at Zara Home Weweya Pillow Slippers A cloud-inspired buckle sandal adds a touch of street style (not to mention height if you're 5'2, like moi). $21.99 on Amazon (was $29.99) Women's Short Puff Sleeve Top Never have I ever met a puff-sleeve I didn't like. Be sure to try a laissez-faire French front tuck on this cutie. $19.5 on Amazon (was $30.67) Story continues below advertisement Golden LIFE Atmosphere Hi-Rise 7-inch Shorts The LIFE Atmosphere Hi-rise 7' bike short from Aritzia has become a sweat-wicking gold standard. $58 at Aritzia You may also like: Women's Sleeveless Slim Fit Ribbed Tank Top – $16.57 Tomtoc Electronics Organizer Travel Case – $27.99 Clear Cosmetics Bag – $26.99 All About Those Add-Ons Don't underestimate how much a giant resin ring in jade green or an oversized fluffy florette pinned to your blazer lapel can take your look from riding-the-pine to centre court in a split second. Story continues below advertisement FEISEDY Sunglasses It's no secret I heart the super-duper eyewear brand Feisedy, and this silhouette and lens tint combo is my current obsession. $20.99 on Amazon 2-Pack Cotton Mesh Bag A simple French market tote adds texture and chic factor. $19.99 on Amazon Handykette Designer Ina Seifart hits the bullseye with her phone necklaces. I've had my neon orange and pink version for a few years now – zero regrets. $115 at Hills Dry Goods Story continues below advertisement Reef Bucket - Fray OK it's not black – but this topper by Lack of Colour will look SO good with a black maxi dress and chunky slides. $149 at Hills Dry Goods You may also like: Oxford Cloth Toiletry Bag – $23.99 Lojel AirTag Holder – $55 Gold Bubble Initial Keychain – $19.99
Los Angeles Times
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Notes on Surviving the Fire' isn't a rape-revenge thriller. It's a journey of grief
About midway through Christine Murphy's debut novel, 'Notes on Surviving the Fire,' her protagonist, Sarah Common, tells a guy she's dating that rape-revenge movies don't work. 'Action movies are man movies,' she says. 'Rape isn't something men understand.' When the guy asks her to explain more, she gives a little speech that deserves to be as oft-cited as the 'Cool Girl' monologue from 'Gone Girl': 'I think men think that rape is unwanted sex. And sex is great. So how bad can unwanted sex be?' She elaborates: 'You think it's like being force-fed a cookie. You didn't want the cookie, maybe it's not your favorite type or you're not in the mood, but it's just a cookie. And you eat cookies all the time. So — what's the big deal? There may be too many cookies, or cookies you don't like, but the world's worst cookie has still got to be pretty good, right? People love cookies. And you think, even if it's the worst f— cookie in the world, big deal. It's just a cookie.' 'Notes on Surviving the Fire' — out Feb. 25 — is about rape: actual and specific acts of sexual violence, the reality of rape culture on college campuses, and even rape as a metaphor for how those with money and power get to screw over those without it, consequence-free. But it is also about violence more broadly, who we expect to see wielding it and how we react when we discover that those we love most are capable of it. The book opens with Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, smoking weed in her truck. They're both in the final stretch of their religious studies doctoral program at the University of California Santa Teresa, both in the thick of applying for professorships, both preferring to hang out together and smoke, snort or swallow whatever drugs they have on hand in order to push away their bleak prospects. Bleak because the California coast is on fire (Sarah often comments on the ash in her mouth, the students pulling their T-shirts up over their mouths), because of the ever-shrinking academic job market, because of the debt accrued from their studies and the pathetic stipends they earn for teaching, because of the impossible cost of living, because their students don't seem to care about anything. It is, indeed, a dire time for many in higher education and has been for a while. Murphy portrays these struggles perfectly, down to the way Sarah encourages participation in her class by tossing mini candy bars to students. Those like me, a graduate of a doctoral program — 'the overeducated and underqualified,' as Sarah puts it — will surely gravitate to this aspect of the book. And then, of course, there's the reality of rape on college campuses. Sarah, who was raped by a fellow grad student three years prior to the start of the novel, spends Fridays at 4 p.m. in group therapy with other sexual assault survivors. Not that it seems to be particularly helpful — the women are all exhausted by the Title IX procedures, and the therapists leading the group are frustratingly neutral. It's Nathan, the only one in the department who believed Sarah (others thought the Rapist, as she refers to him, was simply too great a guy to have done something like that), who has really been her rock over the years since the assault. She's devastated when, early in the novel, she finds Nathan dead of a heroin overdose. Having known him for years, she's convinced there's foul play afoot because he'd never used heroin — although his sister attends rehab semiregularly for her own substance use disorder — and, moreover, he's left-handed, yet the injection site was in his left arm. There are plenty of plausible explanations but Sarah doesn't believe them. She begins to wonder whether there's a connection between Nathan's death and the others — mostly undergraduates — on campus. 'Notes' follows Sarah as she attempts to investigate the death, but really, it's a journey of grief, and the novel isn't interested in a tidy detective narrative. It's a far messier book than that, but largely, I believe, by design. Sarah tells Nathan that she's so angry that she 'can't remember what not-angry feels like,' and this is evident on every page. Sarah has plenty of reasons to be angry: her rapist is getting job interviews, her only friend is dead and her advisor ignores her repeated requests for feedback on her dissertation — and that's not even the half of it. Her trajectory through the novel is not a hero's journey so much as it is an attempt to regain some control over her fate. While the novel's climax and ending feel a bit silly in comparison to what came before — which, while bitingly funny at times, is deeply felt and quite serious — Murphy has certainly written a furious, fast-paced, emotionally resonant and memorable novel. I'll be thinking about this one for a while yet. Masad, a books and culture critic, is the author of the novel 'All My Mother's Lovers' and the forthcoming novel 'Beings.'
