FASHION Magazine

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Last night’s Met Gala could easily be described as overwhelming—it’s easier to list who wasn’t there than name all the stars who were. (But our best dressed gallery does a pretty good job!) When it came to the beauty, gone was last year’s hyper-colour punk inspiration. For the 2014 Met Gala, simplicity in hair and makeup was best. Just moments after the event began, we spoke to celebrity stylists and Vidal Sassoon ambassadors Ben Skervin and Miki. They shared the secrets behind two A-lister looks, Rachel McAdams and Diane Kruger, as well as some tips and tricks for getting your own red carpet-ready look at home. (But if you get an invite to next year’s Met Gala, give us a call, okay?)

If you’re looking for volume or planning on styling an updo, chances are you know that second-day hair is the way to go. Freshly washed hair can look too squeaky-clean and doesn’t hold its shape as well, plus there’s also a gritty, cool-girl factor that only second-day hair can provide. However, should you think this is a hair secret only used by women, think again. According to Vidal Sassoon hairstylist Chase Kusero, Jared Leto’s winning hair at the 2014 Oscars was all about the second-day style.

Should you want to copy the look (hey, those beachy waves would look just as good on a lady as they do on Leto) or get your guy on the edgy, long hair train, here’s how it was done. The night before the Academy Awards, Chase prepped Leto’s wet hair with Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Waves Primer Spray and Pro Series Waves Pomade.

Who has better style than those who help you look your best from day to day? In theory, no one should. Hairstylists have long since had their own thing going on and we sought out to prove it by quizzing five of Toronto’s most stylish on their tricks of the trade, favourite hair styles and keeping it together from day to day.

Vidal Sassoon, the hairstyling genius responsible for overhauling the tease and set styles of the ‘50s, passed away in his Los Angeles home early this morning. Sassoon, who had styled such iconic manes as Twiggy, Mia Farrow and Mary Quant, has been hailed as the visionary who introduced “ready-to-wear” hair to women around the globe, and transformed the role of hair cutter into hair stylist. Sassoon had been battling leukemia since 2006.

Sassoon started his journey at the age of 14, when he worked washing hair and mixing hair colour. In 1954, he opened his own salon and spent the next nine years perfecting his hair cutting techniques and styles. In 1963 he earned the title “the founder of modern hairdressing” for the revolutionary bob and five-point cut, styles that stood in stark contrast to the beehive and bouffant that had preceded his esthetic. Hilary Alexander, fashion director of the Daily Telegraph, tweeted “Much sadness on death of the architect of hair, Vidal Sassoon. He banished the beehive, boosted the bob; most radical hair shift since 1920s.”

Sassoon explained his creative thinking behind this shift saying, “My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous… Women were going back to work, they were assuming their own power. They didn’t have time to sit under the dryer anymore.”

It was Sassoon who was famously paid $5,000 (or so the story goes) to give Mia Farrow a pixie cut—the same pixie cut that her husband at the time, Frank Sinatra, didn’t like—for her role in Rosemary’s Baby. Today, you can still see Sassoon’s influence in the young Hollywood starlet set, including Winona Ryder, Michelle Williams and Emma Watson—women who fearlessly rock Sassoon-inspired looks and prove that short hair can be uber sexy with the right cut.

In regards to the Royal Wedding, the threads which weave the fabric of our patience are wearing a little thin. With only 3 days remaining, and our anticipation amounting, we’re onto assessing the final details, like Kate’s hair and how it will hold up her newly-bestowed crown jewels.