In honor of our fourth annual “March Makeover Madness,” where we take two hapless individuals and dress, coif and accessorize them for $200 each, we decided to make over one of the hardest working teams in the school: the It’s Academic gang. After all, when you’re busy studying the exploits of Yaroslav the Wise or memorizing all the allusions in “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” you don’t always have time to update your look for spring. Furthermore, we, the caring and industrious Pitch staff, took it a step further and made all of our purchases with a limited budget in mind. FYI, thrifty is the new black.
Our Style Team:
Hair Stylist Kevin Hwang of Zohra Salon at Cabin John – Kevin is a WJ alum who generously came in on his day off when the salon was closed(!) and spent two hours working on both Dana and Daichi’s hair. He used to style Taylor Momsen’s hair (aka Jenny on “Gossip Girl”), and he goes to New York every year to see hair shows and take the latest classes. So consider dropping by Zohra Salon (recently named the best salon in Potomac by Bethesda Magazine) and asking for Kevin the next time you’re in a hair rut! Call 301.299.3100 or visit www.zohrasalon.com.
Makeup Artist Andrea Gaus of the Chanel Counter in Macy’s at Montgomery Mall – Andrea generously made over Dana for free and considered all of her input along the way. Ask for Andrea the next time you drop by the Chanel counter!
Senior Lily Shepherd – Fashionable senior and one of our guest stylists, Lily is thinking of majoring in costume design next year. Look for Lily in the senior hallway and ask her for thrift shopping advice!
Senior Faith Witherspoon – Fellow fashionable senior and guest stylist, Faith is potentially attending art school next year and considering fashion merchandising as a major. Find her by the senior hallway and ask her if your accessories match your shoes!
Senior Dana Gordon
On her style: I would describe my style as flexible overall, but rooted in how I feel at the exact moment I’m getting dressed. If I’m feeling happy and up, I like bright, interesting jewelry. If, for some reason I’m not, an oversized sweater just feels right.
On agreeing to the makeover: I was curious, and thought it would be fun to try something different. I’d be the first person to admit that half of the time, I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to fashion.
One style she would bring back: Woodstock. Massive jeans, flowers in hair, beads, face painting, body painting, freedom.
One interesting fact about the “It’s Academic” team: Before each taping of the TV show, they have to do various tests to make sure nothing goes wrong, [including a mic check]. After having to sit through “one . . . two . . . three . . . etc.” forever, our team finally decided to start naming random things. One team member decided to name presidents, in order, and purposely skipped one to see if anyone would notice. Someone in the audience did, and yelled it at the poor kid. I’ve never seen someone blush so hard.
Step 1: Clothes – We started out at Heritage 1981 for Dana because we wanted to find cute, well-made basics that were still reasonably priced so we could have enough money left over for one splurge item, the buckled four-inch wedges (right). Dana loved this skinny jeans, layered shirts and long cardigan ensemble. “It’s comfortable. . . I can see myself running around school in it.”
Step 2: Makeup – Andrea Gaus, Dana’s makeup artist, had a very specific plan. “Dana’s very fair and young, so we didn’t want to do a heavy foundation to make her look old, we wanted to keep her youth. She has brown eyes and blondish brown hair so we used warm tones. And for the lips, we decided to make them really shiny and dramatic,” said Andrea. Andrea also used emerald mascara to bring out Dana’s eyes. Dana was happy with her look because it was tailored to enhance her features. “I wanted to stay pale . . . and I like having very dark eyes in contrast, so I wanted something that would bring that out.
Step 3: Hair – Kevin wanted to modernize Dana’s look while still maintaining the length so she could wear it curly. “I’m going to shorten it up to give it a little bounce, and I’m going to add some longer bangs so it looks more stylish,” said Kevin. Dana was thrilled with her new cut. “I’m so happy to have bangs again for the first time in years. It’s amazing!”
On his style: I guess eclectic. I pretty much wear any type of clothing, so one day I might look stereotypically preppy, another day I might dress like a hood, and other days I may look like a hobo. I don’t want to contain myself within a certain style. I think it takes away from the fun of waking up each day and choosing what to wear.
Favorite/least favorite thing to wear and why: I like my flip-flops, but I rarely wear them to school because I have decency, unlike some other men. I like them because they are comfortable. I don’t like wearing jackets because I don’t like carrying it around in school.
On agreeing to the makeover: I’m all about fun, baby.
One interesting face about the “It’s Academic” team: When I was in eighth grade, I was randomly flipping through my brother’s yearbook. One of the sections asked, “What is your favorite extracurricular team?” or something, and there were two girls saying “
Step 1: Clothes – We also decided to buy simple and low priced basics at Heritage 1981 for Daichi. To update his classic, somewhat preppy style, we put him in black skinny jeans and a crisp white Oxford. Because we saved money on the basics, we had enough left over to splurge on the light gray “contrast-placket” man cardi from J.Crew. Below, Daichi tries on his Oxford and jeans. “It’s fun to shop at a store I would never go to otherwise. I don’t shop in the U.S. because I don’t want to wear anything that other people are wearing.” He usually buys clothes when he travels.
Step 2: Accessories – Daichi didn’t have the option of a makeup portion to his makeover (although we considered it) so we decided to really vamp up his accessories. In order to inject a little edge into his laid back yet preppy look, we went with a white studded belt, some oversized polarized shades and bright blue shoes (a steal at under $40). In general, he does not take accesories into account when getting dressed, but he still takes good style seriously. “I think fashion is pretty important, and guys at WJ especially should take care of themselves better.”
Step 3: Hair – Kevin decided to focus on shortening Daichi’s look in the back and on the sides while still maintaining a length that he could style. “I’m going to shorten the length a little bit, layer a lot more and texturize it,” said Kevin. Said Daichi of his new look, “I love it. It’s completely new.”
“Wonderful. I don’t know if this is appropriate for everyday fashion, but if I feel like it, I’m probably going to try and do something similar and I’m going to try to emulate [the makeover] if possible.” – Daichi
“I really like it, I think it’s something he hasn’t done before and I think it looks good on him. I also like the shorter hair.” – Dana
