Pretty Little Liars: Dead to Me

Part 2 of 3: YKYLF's Guide to Sartorial Interventions

Hey Em, when your mother starts dressing better than you, it's time to put down the aztec denim mini-skirt. 

Seriously, go Pam! Love the pop of color, and the blazer adds the right amount of formality while the jeans keep it casual. I can't imagine they're too strict on jeans at a police station, but then, I have little experience in the pokey.

Oh Emily. When I said "put down the jean mini" I didn't mean you should raid the Humphreys' closets. Ripped jeans + red plaid? Le yawn.

But Dr. Sullivan... look at you! Those boots are fab. That shirt is fab (did you steal it from Spencer?) And your accessories are simple & elegant....usually.

You may want to follow the Golden YKYLF rule. Take off one piece of jewellery before you leave the house. AKA you're turning into Vanessa Abrams, please stop.

Speaking of dull characters... NBD, just writing a paper on a typewriter. #computersaretoomainstream

Yeah, I'm already bored with Wes' storyline. It may have something to do with his plaid button-up and cardi combo. We need a plaid intervention here!

Ooh, now this is more exciting! It's Flashback Filter time! I love seeing how the girls' style evolved from the flashbacks to present. Emily is more or less the same. Only now she cuts out the shoulders of her tops and would probably opt for something involving denim instead of cargo shorts. Sometimes I wonder what Ali would dress like in present day, I mean look how cute her dress is!

Back in the present, poor Spence is pouting. I can't fault her for this printed sweater, the leggings as pants, or the really really beat up boat shoes. Or the hair. Also, where can I nominate Troian Bellasario for omgmostamazingactressever? When she breaks down upon entering the 'A' room? Pure. Gold. 

I'm hoping that Spencer will follow the Creepy PI guy's advice and move on from Toby. Step one, get rid of all of his stuff. Check! Maybe we can work on your hair next. Or your clothes. I miss the animal prints.

We may not see any animal prints, but she did break out one of my favorite Spencer pieces of all times - the Shady Dealings Trench! It's a good thing it's cute. Love the little zips on the sleeves.

More Rag and Bone...

It Happened That Night - Part 3 of 3 - The Leftovers

Emily should really take some tips from Pam. She sports the summer Hamptons look like she's a member of the Revenge cast.

Also winning points in the Most Stylish Mom category is Veronica. A little summer air has done her good! Lovin' her hair and red is totally her color. 

Sorry moms, time to check in on the boys. Garrett looks so much hotter in jail, right? That Justin Bieber hair is really working for him. 

And this suit is working for Wren. Although, he just shows up everywhere, doesn't he? I love that the PLL writers try to keep him on the show by inserting his "doctor" abilities anywhere that seems plausible. 

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Let's end on the best-dressed of all. IT'S MALE SHIRTLESSNESS TIME! After a near-season of drought, ABCFamily heard our pleas and gave us some eye candy. Let's just revel in Toby's perfect physique.

Alright, so there was only one example of male shirtlessness. But still, it's a start. We'll take what we can get.

My Name Is Trouble - Part 2 of 2 - "Who Do They Think They Is?"

I have to say, there wasn't a whole lot happening with the supporting cast this week which is quite disappointing. Maybe we really do need Mona to pop in and class the joint up once in a while...

Aww, look how cute they look together! Add on the possibility of getting caught and I'm downright swooning over here. Aria's dress looks amazeballsUSA, but then again, she has to class it up if she's taking college classes now. It's clear that Ezra's new found freedom has gone to his head because he's wearing his shirt slightly unbuttoned. Oh you cad, sir. You rakish fop - button that up lest we see your collarbone! But seriously, when can we see you topless again?

*cat noise* *record scratch* *spit take* I'm going to sound like a total loser here but when Ezra pulled Aria across the couch by her booty, I damn nearly died. He's all, "I'm in a robe and I got my piece. Go get you some", except he's not exactly straight thugging in his cotton robe. Still, I do love putting mismatched dialogue into characters mouths.

Flashback Filter? Odd colour wash? Alison's in the house! There's nothing especially scandalous to report here fashion wise. However, in the character department, we finally saw some emotion bubble underneath her lioness like visage proving that the Queen Bee was not immune to feeling and acting like a human female.

Alison is totally dressed for a sleepover compared to...

these broads right here. Not that they aren't dressed for a sleepover but when I think of a prime time teen drama with girly sleepovers, I don't immediately picture polka dot robes and hoodies. I guess I've just been conditioned by popular culture to think that all girly sleepovers involve one really sexy teen wise beyond her years, three middle of the road lemmings and the "odd" girl who, with the right amount of styling, can become the really sexy teen. I'm talking Jawbreaker, Heathers, Empire Records, The Breakfast Club... you name it and I've described the casting process.

Another season of Jenna's glasses looms on the horizon. At least she's dressing her age again. I'm in love with this t-shirt but that's mostly because I bought one very similar at American Apparel recently. Predictable, thy name is Anthony. We can't play the Smock/Not-A-Smock game with Jenna because she lacks the boho flair of Aria. Maybe these classmates will start to exchange fashion tips? Hmm? Yeah, I'm not holding my breath.

"I'm the best mom in the world!" - oh, Ashley Marin, I do love you. I'm sure that falls under the penchant gay men have for brassy broads who aren't afraid to speak their mind. Or because of this screencap. For serious, I laugh everytime I look at it. I'm laughing now as I type and my roommate is asking me why clothes are so funny. He doesn't get it. If Ashely wore black every day, I'd be OK with that because girlfriend seems to have an endless supply of necklaces that make her clothes pop.

Pam, you are the most normal mom on Pretty Little Liars. She's always styled and put together but never over the top. I'm more apt to believe a mom character if I see her in a sweatsuit once; just once, and then we're cool. It makes me think back to the days when my mom was in her track suit phase. Adorable. There was a bit of a cute explosion when Pam read Emily's fake scholarship letter because she was just so darn excited. Look at that screencap! Presh.

Welcome to the Gallery of Minor Female Characters. Starting in the bottom left, we have Jackie who just caught Ezria in a totally steamy campus lip lock. It's either that or she's shocked that the title of Sexiest Professor no longer belongs to her. Whatever. Moving to the right you may feast your eyes on Lucas' new crush, Danielle. And of course, you will be trapped by her Bowie-esque shag that she's styled her hair into. I'm not getting down on it because I love the style. I will get down on the fact that this clearly does not shape her head well. Look, we've all had major hairstyles we've wanted to try, and we've all failed miserably at them. My advice: find a cut that works for you and hold on with the grip of Paz de La Huerta on a wine bottle. On the top row, Melissa is looking pensive and frustrated as usual. My question is, if she was really missing her wedding ring, and she was REALLY searching the Hastings House top to bottom, how did she miss that rock behind the toaster? Maybe she was concentrating on how she'll be able to keep her bitch face constant throughout this season. January Jones called - she wants her schtick back.

Boys, boys, boys! I'm not wild for the new Jason, I'm sorry. His hair is too floppy, he wears silver chains and he doesn't have that All-American look that I somehow imprinted on back in the day. He's eye-candy for sure but not my type. Why would he be my type when there are total DILFs running around like Tom. But then how can I betray my nerd crush, Lucas? I mean, if didn't already fall in love with his booty shorts last season, this t-shirt that says "Nerds Love Apple Pie" in symbols definitely sealed the deal. Hmm... on closer inspection, I seem to be in heat. At any rate, fashionable men in the PLL world just need a solid t-shirt with heather detail to get by. Lucky.

OF COURSE I was going to end this week with our favourite trending topic, Shirtless Toby! Hoot! It's funny, when he's at school and runs into Spencer, it looked like he and Emily were wearing the same thing. Toby obviously noticed as well, which is why he decided to take off his shirt because ain't no way Ems can compete with that. Oh, and the little tattoo shot? Priceless. OK, I definitely need to stop before I get a reputation i.e. the lecherous 'mo on staff. Sigh, it's been a good week kids.

The Goodbye Look - The Suspects - Part 2 of 2

In Rosewood, everybody is a suspect. Anybody could be A, anybody could be Alison's killer, and we don't even know yet if those two things are connected.

Before we get into the suspects, let's remember Alison. Pretty, conniving, mysterious Alison.

This adorable sundress was Kate's pick for best outfit of the week. I really like it too, especially how she wears it with this unexpected belt:

It's a really cute look. We also get a glimpse of her (newly recasted with a former underwear model) brother, Jason, in flashback:

I was going to say "typical teenage guy outfit," but it's actually not. Unless he's coming from a baseball game, it's a really fun retro look.

Let's get a closer look at the "new" Jason, shall we?

Weirdly enough, he looks enough like the previous Jason that, if I hadn't read about the recast, I might not have noticed. His hair is longer than Jason 1, but definitely a resemblance. And did I mention that he's a former underwear model? I'm sure that fellow YKYLF staffer L-A and I are not the only ones counting down to his first gratuitous shirtless scene.

Speaking of gratuitous male shirtlessness... well, there wasn't any this week. But we did get some nice images of Toby wearing a toolbelt:

Too bad he got fired from that job. I could really get used to Toby-the-handyman.

And then there's Ezra, still on Mr. Schue's 12 Step Program for Vest Addiction (tm Kate).

He looks like less of a dandy from 1902, but suddenly, also looks a lot less fun. Until he put on a three-piece suit for his college interview!

Dapper is the word that comes to mind. He's like a mini-Don Draper here. Who can blame Aria for running through the school and across the parking lot for a piece of that?

Mona looked surprisingly sane this week (I guess Aria and her bright blue rainboots were taking up Rosewood's quota of crazypants outfitting). This is a weird outfit to wear to school, but for Mona, is probably the equivalent of wearing a v-neck tee.

Is this the best that Mona has ever looked? That shade of green is stunning on her. And she's only wearing one bracelet! If we'd seen the rest of her outfit, I would have been tempted to give her outfit of the week, which is extremely surprising.

Green was apparently the colour of the week. Melissa looked pretty, despite the whole pregnant-and-possible-widowed, just-was-in-a-car-accident, sister-accused-husband-of-murder thing. I love her leopard print scarf, and I have no idea what she's doing sneaking off with the ultrasound picture. Ian better not be living in a tent somewhere, is all I have to say.

Pam looked cute this week, but who packs their house wearing white jeans? She is like the modern-day June Cleaver. Wouldn't be surprised if she was also wearing a string of pearls, and heels.

Ashley's back in basic black after last week's stunning pop of colour. I like the basic shape of her shift dress, but the overall look is kind of meh.

Let's end wth this rare shot of all four girls all together. In an episode that they were supposed to be avoiding one another, they spent more time as a foursome than many other weeks. It's also always fun to see them together to be reminded of how different all of their styles are!

You've got Sporty Spice, Preppy Spice, Boho Spice...although I'm having trouble coming up with a Spice Girl Spirit for Hanna. Suggestions?

[Ed. note: Trendy Spice, perhaps? or maybe I-was-silly-and-let-my-HOT-HOT-(almost)BF-leave Spice? -K]

It's Alive

Episode Synopsis: HOLY MOLY. If you didn't think this show could get any creepier after the first season, you were WRONG. These PLL writers sure know how to bring it. No one believes the girls that Ian died and they are all suspect in his disappearance. THEN they are forced to go to a therapist. THEN "A" breaks into Ezra's apartment (but who wouldn't after the show he put on for us!), THEN Melissa starts to believe Spencer...with everything leading to the discovery that Ian is alive. The creepiest moment and completely unexpected is the Noel-Mona relationship. Whoa...

(We're experimenting with a new post format. We got a lot of feedback saying that the old posts were too long. Let us know what you think of this new format over on the YKYLF Blog!)

The Standouts

Aria couldn't quite decide whether she was going for the sexy librarian look or an 80s teen (I daresay her Camp Mona hair would have looked superb with this outfit). So she decided to combine them. As separates, each piece is gorgeous and fits beautifully. The detailing on the collar is quite exquisite. But as one look, all I can say is "Aria, honey, what were you thinking?"

Ashley Marin? Is that really you? Well don't you look relaxed and fresh-faced, like you just came back from St. Barth's. Now we know where all the stolen money went. It's nice to finally see a nice bright pop of color on her, and that blue complements her hair so well! 

HELLOOO EZRA! I do believe this is the first time we've witnessed Mr. Fitz in this state of undress. Not too shabby ;)

 [Kate, I hearby request that you start tallying the number of "Gratiutious PLL Half-Naked Boys" in your mini recaps - Ed. Jen]

Done. Who am I to argue?

This is like one of those outfits that you see in the back of People or Us Magazine that has the person's eyes blocked out..."Mesh Gone Wrong." What is even going on here? Sheer, mesh, stripes, shimmery belt, metallic bag...at least she cinched her waist in (?)

 ...and if you saw the back (I wasn't quick enough to get a screenshot) she had on a red bra. Classy, Mona, classy. 

The Snores

So technically Emily had the only snooze-inducing wardrobe...can the girl get enough purple?? Hanna was impeccably dressed, as always. Aria's sartorial choices were nothing out of the ordinary for her...same for Spence. 

But can we please note Aria and Spencer in the first column in their PJs. Whose hair looks that fabulous after a night with the 5-0 and what I'm sure was a sleepless sleepover at Spencer's?

The supporting cast were all snores. Pam (Emily's mom) is usually perfectly attired in something that looks a little less mom-like and a little more Lily Humphrey, but not this time. Ella's pants are bunching at her knees--she wears those boots enough, one would think she would have purchased a pair of bottoms that fit neatly into them by now! And Mona switches out the hideous mesh monstrosity for leopard and gaudy earrings, but it is entirely Mona in a toned down kind of way. Btw: How does Noel go from Aria to Mona?? "A" collaborators, perhaps?

I want to rag on Melissa but unfortunately after the ordeal she was put through, that is exactly what I would be wearing--actually my sweats would be way less cute. 

Caleb, Toby, and Ezra were utterly and completely plain...I'm putting in a request to the wardrobe department: All the male character's wardrobes should only consist of pants from now on; but their faces are quite the opposite of snoozeworthy, so drink it in :) Although it does appear that Mr. Fitz has started Mr. Schue's 12-step program for Vest Addiction. Props to that!