Style

Love’s a mystery, but we like it that way

(The Washington Post)

Love is the central mystery of life — it deceives and confuses. You can’t see inside the heads of other people or into their hearts, to use a metaphor that somehow has survived 400 years of medical research.

The Style blog

Items are displayed near a likeness of Whitney Houston at a memorial for the late star outside the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died Saturday, Feb. 11. She was 48.  (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Whitney Houston: How social media mourns

Many fans of Houston found out about her death through news alerts or tweets on their phones.

A model presents a creation from the Diane Von Furstenberg Fall/Winter 2012 collection during New York Fashion Week February 12, 2012. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: FASHION)

Will it work in Washington?

A pink jacket and slacks from Diane von Furstenberg could transition from day to evening.

Jackie Kennedy’s restoration papers released

The papers of Jacqueline Kennedy pull back the curtains on the first lady

Pacino, Asbery, Watts received White House honors

President Obama awarded actor Al Pacino, poet John Asbery and pianist Andre Watts the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal.

Mandy Moore added more elegant sparkle to the red carpet with a dress by Monique Lhuillier.

Think you could style a celeb for the red carpet?

Enter our Oscars Remix: Polyvore Style Search and create a collage of a red-carpet worthy ensemble.

More from Style

Spring Arts Preview 2012

The Post Arts staff offers you its most-anticipated events of the coming season and more.

Oscar nominations 2012: Who will win? (VOTE)

Cast your vote for best picture and the lead and supporting acting categories.

Oscar best picture picks: Remixed

We’ve partnered with Polyvore.com to bring you a design challenge around the Academy Awards.

TV’s midseason makeover

Television’s 2012 midseason features missing persons, supernatural twists and ‘Glee’ for adults.

The Fillmore arrives in Silver Spring

What happens to Washington’s greater nightlife ecosystem when the largest music hall of its kind opens shop in a rebounding suburb outside the city?

New York Fashion Week: Faux pas or fashion forward?

The line between creative genious and aesthetically displeasing can be a precarious one in fashion.

The right fit for ‘Fela!’

From its workshop beginnings in 2006, “Fela!” has really belonged to Sahr Ngaujah.

Savoring their opportunities

The Washington region’s musical amateurs are finding more times and places to perform.

Desk stuff becomes the stuff of art

We’re the city of desk jobs, news desks, “what desk are you on at State?” Desk portraiture seems an eerily accurate depiction of Washington living. But E. Brady Robinson excludes the usual bureaucrats. For her, the buck stops at the arts desk.

Summer movie hits and misses

“Bridesmaids” and “The Help” hit. “Green Lantern” and “Cowboys & Aliens” missed. We look at some of this summer’s movie surprises and what they might predict going forward.

Baltimore leads in integrity

Baltimore’s not a Very Important Place — which is just what its residents like about it.

Literary novelists take a page from kid-lit fantasies

Adult fiction that invents, and muses about, wildly popular children’s fantasy series is becoming its own genre.

Martin Luther King Jr., the columnist

Between 1957 and 1958, Ebony magazine published a King-penned series called “Advice for Living.”

Music: Tri Angle Records

The hot indie label’s founder, Robin Carolan, has discovered all of his roster — including oOoOO and Balam Acab — online.

Contemporary classical: A primer

A few things you wanted to know about contemporary classical music but were afraid to ask.

Mother’s vigil for missing son in Libya ends

Six days after Matthew VanDyke arrived in Libya, the freelance writer from Baltimore vanished into the vortex of Libya’s civil war.

Advice

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Baggage for two

A woman traumatized by past boyfriends’ treatment finds it hard to talk to the patient new boyfriend about it.

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Giving advice, then getting the cold shoulder

Carolyn Hax’s thoughts on what to do when relationship help causes a rift among friends.

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Coming to grips with one’s childhood

To know your own history, it helps to understand your parents and what was under their control.

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Aunt lets sister down by skipping children’s births

Aunt upsets sister by missing sister’s two childbirths.

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Should they get back together?

The reader isn’t sure how to respond to the ex’s request that they try being a couple again.

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax’s advice: A mother-in-law’s resentment, and a ‘compli-slam’

Sometimes the issue isn’t whether you’re right, it’s whether there’s any value in being right. And, the best response to a backhanded compliment.

Carolyn Hax

Carolyn Hax

Freedom in five bars or less

How can a parent stay connected with kids at college without being a helicopter parent? Hint: Stop worrying about cellphone range.

More Carolyn Hax

Lifestyle Videos

Hearse arrives at Newark, N.J. funeral home (1:20)

Hearse arrives at Newark, N.J. funeral home (1:20)

A hearse under heavy police escort arrived late Monday at the New Jersey funeral home officials say is handling the funeral of Whitney Houston. (Feb. 13)
Hearse arrives at Newark, N.J. funeral home (1:20)

Hearse arrives at Newark, N.J. funeral home (1:20)

A hearse under heavy police escort arrived late Monday at the New Jersey funeral home officials say is handling the funeral of Whitney Houston. (Feb. 13)
A look at the Westminster dog show (00:52)

A look at the Westminster dog show (00:52)

More than 2,000 dogs have begun taking the spotlight at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The top hound, toy, nonsporting and herding champions are being picked Monday night, and the best in show will be chosen Tuesday evening. (Feb. 13)
Authorities: Houston found underwater in tub (2:22)

Authorities: Houston found underwater in tub (2:22)

Whitney Houston was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub, authorities said Monday. They also said that she had prescription drugs in her room. (Feb. 13)