The Art’s Coming to Life! Wednesday, Apr 23 2008

Ask anyone, art and fashion are my Achilles’ heel; whenever I go to the MOMA or read Women’s Wear Daily, I get weak at the knees. Harper’s Bazaar has taken my dual passion and fused the two together to make something otherworldly. Julianne Moore has lent her beautiful face and body to recreate some of the world’s most beautiful paintings. Unlike any other fashion shoot, the designers aren’t exactly showcasing their beautiful pieces but contributing to someone else’s vision. Paintings like Degas’ Dancers to Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer I were completely revamped with Julianne Moore posing as the subject of every painting in couture pieces from designers like Christian Dior and Ralph Lauren, just to name a few. This shoot is definitely the right way to bring in the Spring season.

 

To catch a slideshow of Julianne Moore’s artistic photo spread, check out the article and slideshow at Harper’s Bazaar.

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Since when is layering against the Commandments? Wednesday, Apr 23 2008

The fashion police usually attacks a lot of obvious fashion-don’ts but what is so terrible about men wearing undershirts? The Boston Globe’s Wesley Morris has made it his mission to make sure this alleged “fashion faux-pas” is put to rest. I gotta say that I, myself, have spent hours nagging my boyfriend about the fashion crimes he commits on a daily basis but I usually encourage an undershirt, not bash it! On just about any makeover show like TLC’s 10 Years Younger, the stylists preach layers for men; it adds a splash of color to a man’s typically dreary outfit. Funky vintage tees under dress shirts are all the rage, season after season! Sure, some guys can get a little color-crazy but that shows not only spunk, but personality (which no woman [or man] can resist!). So I really think Mr. Morris should reevaluate his article and maybe consider throwing on a Led Zepplin t-shirt under a collared shirt next time he gets dressed.

For a closer look at Morris’s article, please check out his article in The Boston Globe.

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Everyone’s Wearing Green! Wednesday, Apr 23 2008

During my most recent outing to Bloomingdale’s (at their 59th Street location in New York), I was really in awe to see the amount of organic designer clothing. In honor of Earth Week, the world suddenly seems to be devoting time and money to saving our crumbling environment. It seems that the Go Green prophets, Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio, have finally made their point! Name brands including Seven For All Mankind and C & C California have begun to feature just a few organic pieces in their summer season collection. Although the market is developing slower than molasses, big name brands are joining companies like Sugar Cane Jeans in an organic market. So my advice to all is spend the extra dollars on organic clothing, the Earth will be a better place for it!

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Fleaing right into Brooklyn! Wednesday, Apr 16 2008

Spring has officially begun-The Brooklyn flea markets are back in action. Over 170 vendors participated at the opening of the flea market season. Known as the playground for the New York bourgeoisie, the Brooklyn flea markets attract people from the Upper East Side all the way down to Soho. The flea markets all around the City will typically go through the summer and into the early fall.The New York flea markets are always jam-packed with hidden treasures of all sorts. I can remember my Shabby-Chic obsessed aunt dragging me to all of sorts of flea markets maybe this year I’ll drag her to a couple myself.

To read up on the Flea Market Kickoff, please visit NYtimes.com & for more updates on other fun, summer things to do in the City, check out TimeOut.com.

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France models healthiness! Tuesday, Apr 15 2008

France is trying to revamp the model’s body image, one far-too-thin model at a time. Members of The French Fashion Federation, the National Union of Modeling Agencies, and the French Advertising Standards Authority got together to discuss the ever present issue of unhealthy models. Rather than imposing more laws on the French fashion world, these organizations want to launch a campaign to promote healthy body images and encourage models get regular medical check-ups.

Now before I go on my editorial rant, I just wanted to state something. I don’t know much about French health regulations but I know that in the US doctors encourage ALL people to get regular medical check-ups. Growing up, the end of August was usually spent going to the doctor for annual physical exams because of state and school regulations. France is very advanced country so I’m going to assume that they have similar, if not, the same regulations regarding all people, not just models.

The problem with trying to change a model’s weight isn’t typically up to the model but up to the designer. Traditionally, a model is simply supposed to act as a hanger for the clothes she is modelling so having a model gain weight might jeopardize her contract with an agency or designer.

Valerie Boyer, deputy for France’s UMP party, is trying to have all pro-anorexia paraphenelia (including bloggers like these) made illegal. But that seems like an impossible task to tackle.

For more info on France’s plan of attack on the super skinny model, please check out NYMag.com.

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Mango’s grow in the US! Wednesday, Apr 9 2008

The Barcelona-based retailer, Mango has now graciously begun to make the transition to the American market. With stores all over Europe, Mango will make its US debut in the San Francisco International Airport. Sounds strange doesn’t it? A big fashion name selling in an airport? Well, as usual, Americans are the last ones to jump on the fashion bandwagon, European airports like London’s Heathrow and Greece’s Athens International have been home to big fashion brands for quite some time now, harboring stores like Chanel and Hermes.

Having visited their Athens location (and bought an incredibly fierce top), I am anticipating the store reaching the East Coast as quickly as possible!

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Outta the way, Dear Abbie! Wednesday, Apr 9 2008

Clinton Kelly (along with Stacy London) has helped hundreds of fashion-impaired people across the US on TLC’s What Not to Wear , and now he’s delving into the editorial world. The Chicago Tribune is now featuring Kelly’s Dear Abbie-style fashion help column. With his What Not to Wear cohost branching out into the talk show world, Kelly definitely needed his very own project and his newest column has proved to be just the ticket.

Kelly’s column is a breath of fresh air-instead of pushing people into wearing trends that go out as quickly as they came in, he is preaching mixing trendy with must-have classic pieces. Kelly preaches two things – the pajamafiction of America must end and that everyone owes themselves a little TLC when it comes to appearance. This is just another homerun for Kelly, as of today he has another reader to add onto his audience.

To avoid the fashion-dark side, check out Clinton Kelly’s column in the Chicago Tribune!

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Quaker-styled Fashions Are All The Rage Tuesday, Apr 8 2008

University of Pennsylvania’s Dzine2Show, the university’s fashion design group, has just wrapped up their Fifth Annual Fashion Week. The week-long event featured the students’ collections in its “Carnaval”-themed show. The Ivy League students were hard at work to produce a showstopping fashion week that was sure to blow past years’ shows out of the water.

Some of the participating designers were interviewed and asked about their respective collections showcased at the show and their goals concerning the fashion industry. During an interview, one of the university’s sophomore and Fashion week participant, Zach Serji mentioned that fashion design was simply a hobbie and would never be a career ambition. How typical that the Ivy Leaguer scoffs at the thought of going into fashion design. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though, afterall he is a sophomore, or more commonly known as a “wise fool.”

To check out the Daily Pennsylavanian’s interview with the Dzine2Show team, please click this link!

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Rail Thin Models, MALE Models That Is! Thursday, Apr 3 2008

Too thin models have always been an issue in the fashion world, beginning with Kate Moss who marked the end of the supermodel and the beginning of the waif model but when did men begin to shrink too? As the clothing have become smaller for men so have the men themselves. Zachary Bailey, New York model (originally from Chicago), measures 6’1 and weighes in at an astounding 130 lbs, just 10 pounds more than I weigh myself at 5’4!

The big brauny men that the industry used to idolize are obsolete and the skinny minis are in high demand in the New York based industry. On Bravo’s Make Me A Supermodel, host and former model, Tyson Beckford has specified that the show is looking for thinner men than what the industry demanded when he landed his first contract so long ago.

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Touche Crochet Wednesday, Apr 2 2008

 

Remember the days when your parents forced you to wear the sweaters, scarves and socks your grandmothers knit for you? Well those days are long gone as knitwear is becoming a precious commodity. For this upcoming fall, there is an expected 20% rise in price for all knitwear. All those comfy sweaters we love to wear in the cold winter months will begin to make our designer purses a whole lot lighter. So hold off on what will be donated to Good Will for the season and save last season’s knitwear; it’ll be like bringing retro back, very quickly!

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