♥ hairstyle is the final tip.off whether or not a woman really knows herself.

the moment i met my hairdresser, tom,

i knew my hair had met it's match.

it was a snowy day in early march

and i walked into a hair salon

without a single thought in my head

about what i would actually do with it.

for you see,

(and as i tried to explain in the simplest terms,)

i was trying to "grow my hair long for my boyfriend."

a statement, to which my sharp.witted,

hairdresser/bestfriend promptly rebutted;

"is your boyfriend going to wake up early

every morning to style your long hair too?"

two years and many, many hairstyles later,

i have found that i can bring almost any idea to tom and he

can tell me straight.up whether my straight hair can even do it–

i have trusted him to cut off nearly every inch of the hair i started out with,

and to deliver knockout hairstyles to every family member,

friend or acquaintance that i have recommended him to.

not only that– but i have discovered,

that although i enjoyed having long hair,

i feel more myself with it short,

and despite my delusional thoughts about beauty–

my boyfriend will love the way i look

no matter what i decide to do with my hair.

with that said,

i would like to introduce you to my latest hair idol,

tao okamoto,

whose mushroom style bowl cut is drawing designers to her

like moths to a little, bob.haired flame.

it all started when she met phillip lim on the photoshoot

for his fall 2009 collection lookbook, and he exclaimed,

"you're so beautiful, it would be great if all the girls

at the show had your hairstyle."

at the time she thought he was joking,

but turns out...

he made her his muse, saying

"tao is beautiful in a way that is elegant

and a little rebellious.

she showed that short hair can be beautiful.

it has strength and it was very modern."

{so i guess the perk of being a "muse"

is that you get to look normal,

while everyone else wears a wig that looks like you!}

as if that were not enough,

that bob landed tao an advertisement for

ralph lauren's fall 2009 collection!

and earned her a spot on his catwalk...

as well as miu miu's fall 2009 runway

(a place where an asian model hadn't walked

for nearly two years! unfortunately..)

tao okamoto's mold breaking bowl cut,

which she received over a year ago from owner/stylist

miho matsuura of tokyo's twiggy salon,

has recently led publications as prestigious as the new york times

to name her, "one of the top ten models to watch,"

and has landed her prime real estate

on the runways of all the hottest designers at

new york fashion week.

um.. jealous!!

yigal azrouël spring 2010 ready to wear.

jason wu spring 2010 ready to wear.

cynthia rowley spring 2010 ready to wear.

zac posen spring 2010 ready to wear.

zero + maria cornejo spring 2010 ready to wear.

marc jacobs spring 2010 ready to wear.

donna karan spring 2010 ready to wear

diane von furstenberg spring 2010 ready to wear.

never underestimate

the power of a good haircut.