Wednesday, June 30, 2010

These Maison Martin Margiela Black Crinkle Booties Are Making Me Cry



($995, Maison Martin Margiela, SSense.com)
These Maison Martin Margiela crinkly slouchy black leather stiletto booties are just about making me weep at the potential. They're also probably so uncomfortable that I'd be weeping at the pain. Sigh. So beautiful. Truly, these are the boots of my despair. Take it away, Patsy!

Designer Vs. Discount: Black Lace Top

($827, Markus Lupfer, Luisaviaroma.com)
See, this Markus Lupfer black lace top with an ooh-ahh inducing exposed zipper is an ooh-ahh-inducing $827! BOO!

Meanwhile, this BB Dakota black lace top...

($70, BB Dakota, Piperlime.com)
... JUST $70! YAY! You save $757! BOOM!

It Happened At Topshop!

SHARK ATTACK AT TOPSHOP! Not a real shark, of course, but I was all "OMFG! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE when I saw what could only charitably be referred to as a "schmatte," to use the Yiddish colloquialism. This hyperbolically long graffiti-print maxi dress basically looks like someone stitched a bath sheet together and called it a dress.

It's actually from Topshop's Unique Spring 2010 collection, and while the maxi dress is batshit, I am kinda sad I missed the boat on this nesh shark wrap dress. Oh well. You snooze you lose.

Discovering Pitti: CP Company

CP Company's exhibition space at Pitti Uomo. Image from Pitti.

After last February's change of ownership, with CP Company passing from Sportswear Company to Enzo Fusco's FGF Industry, the future for this Casuals favourite brand was far from clear. The new direction began not on the catwalks of Milan but in Florence. Participation at Pitti Uomo marks a milestone in the life of the brand as it presented its fascinating story at Fortezza de Basso's Sala Ottagonale alongside the new collection. For SS11, the focus is on the soul of the brand, it sees a return to experimentation. A casual concept generated and developed to seek innovative materials and technological advances to create a selection of iconic goggle jackets.

Two of the latest designs of that iconic jacket. Image from Pitti.

The new CP Company is firmly rooted in the great tradition of the iconic designer sportswear brand. Kicking off with outdoor work and military apparel, the SS11 collection develops materials and technological studies, with garment treatments that offer unique, inimitable aspects to give clothing a new, contemporary flavour without losing echoes of memory. Flax has been blended with nylon for a new techno look, using a special resin coating that conjures up memories of the oilskins used by seamen of yesteryear. Nylon has been completely transformed and evolved with metameric treatments that gives the fabric a colour changing effect. Inserts of cotton and other material add new dimensions, combining to create a balance and depth of colour, textured effects and various sheens. There is a special focus on a navy style, with a treatment that gives the fabric a slightly crumpled look, as if it had been consumed by sea salt and left to dry in the sun. The collection offers models with such authentic details and fabrics that the garments could be mistaken for real vintage.

A close up, detail shot I took of the Goggle jacket as the film plays on in the background.

The Italian clothing designer Massimo Osti (1944-2005) created groundbreaking fashion works during the 1980’s and 90’s by combining his revolutionary textile innovations and painting techniques, with functional ideas from mainly military clothing. The story of this iconic piece of outerwear began when the great Massimo Osti exclusively designed and produced the very first Goggle Jacket as a promotional piece for the competitors of Mille Miglia in 1988. Last October I was able to visually document the narrative of the jacket at the Past, Present, Future exhibition at the RCA. From the very first, special edition jacket to the special edition created in collaboration with Aitor Throup last year, C.P. Company’s journey was told through the different steps of this iconic item which, season after season, has been subject to continuous transformation and experimentation. For Aitor Throup the brand has not had the respect and attention that its iconic designs deserve but this exhibition changed my perceptions and understanding of the brand. I hope the new look CP Company continues on the path set by Massimo Osti, creating garments through experimentation and innovation.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Beauty For Real Makes My Favorite New Lip Gloss... For Real




Well, that's a lie. My all-time favorite lip gloss is MAC's "Squeeze It" from the 2008 Fafi collection (RIP!). But that was two years, probably 300 collections, and one sad-faced, scraped-dry tube ago. I haven't found a gloss I loved as much as MAC's "Squeeze It," but Beauty For Real's "Turned On" is a close second, if not a tie for first.

"Turned On" is my EXACT lip color -- a rosy mauve with hints of plum -- but better and with brilliant depth and dimension. PLUS it's got a subtle minty fresh tingle that cools and refreshes AND the applicator has a light inside, which complements the little mirror on the tube, so you can put it on (which I've been doing so often it's almost gone) in dim, date-night light situations. (Said mirror is also perfect for covert potential-crap-in-teeth checkings -- stuff in my teeth is my biggest social phobia.) It's perfect as a stand-alone gloss or, since it's basically an enhanced neutral, it's works perfectly over a matte lipstick. Oh, and there's zero tackiness, which means your mouth won't become a hair magnet. Because that's disgusting.

Beauty For Real was founded by Leslie Munsell, a makeup artist and former color cos­met­ics creator for Aveda. She's also, clearly, a genius.

(Credit: Beautyforreal.com)

Check out Beauty For Real's nine shades of lip gloss -- if your lips aren't made even more perfect by one of these shades, then there's probably just no hope for you. (Just kidding! There's probably hope for you!)

Me + Beauty For Real = Really Into It

Oscar Blandi Raffinata Straightening Balm = Straight-Up Perfect


($19, Oscar Blandi, Sephora.com)
UPDATE: I'm using this on my curls now, and it actually works AMAZINGLY well as a smoother and defrizzer. I mixed it with my gel and applied (liberally) when my hair was still wet, and seriously, my hair looks better than it has in weeks.

I have had THREE hair cuts in the past month and FOUR blowouts (I have thick, curly hair that frizzes as though it were getting paid to do so) in the past 10 days (there's obviously a story there), and I've tried a handful of straightening products that just didn't deliver. Which is so not the case, however, with Oscar Blandi's Raffinata Straightening Balm. It's designed to minimize blowdrying time, but since, um, I've had my share of the blowdryer, I tried it out to see if it'd maintain and revive my blowout. Oscar Blandi and his unparalelled Straightening Balm instantly annihilated my frizz (and it's about 17,000 degrees in the shade here in New York right now), and smoothed out my layers without weighing them down or making them greasy, sticky, or too slick. My hair looked thick and wavy but polished. You only need a small dab of the cream-based product to achieve near-magical results. And it smells fresh and clean, like shea butter. Sold.

Discovering Pitti: Leitmotiv

The one thousand, four hundred and seven exhibitors who decided to preview their new collections and projects at Pitti Uomo and Pitti_W was an unprecedented record. The sartorial Disneyland of menswear trade shows that is Pitti introduced me to countless pulse raising brands. Italian menswear, womenswear and accessories brand Leitmotiv was undoubtedly among them...

Leitmotiv AW10. Photographs by Danielle Mari and modeled by Hannes at Urban.

The two minds behind Leitmotiv were both studying in Bologna when they met by chance. Fabio Sasso was studying art and following private tailoring classes, Juan Caro had moved to Italy from his native Bogotá to study art. Realising they shared many interests they started collaborating together. Leitmotiv is an artistic project with a bright and colorful language on the edge of dreams and theater. For their AW10 collection they chose to concentrate on the shirt as a means to communicate the style of the entire collection.


Sasso's passion for tailoring and constant Baroque thoughts combine with Caro's passion for art and all things Gothic. This fusion of these seemingly disparate styles create clothes and accessories that contain the most fantastic stories. They are stories that have fascinated us throughout childhood. Today we relive these through this duo...


There is a constant play of opposing references
. Hot and cold, chaos and order, past and future, light and dark. From the beautiful cityscapes that when seen from a closer look reveal a set of microchips to the faces of the forties that are surrounded by baroque frames to fairytale figures with the heads of robots.


These Leitmotiv creations encompass both the ancient and the modern. All the while creating an eclectic, ironic, visionary array of designs
. The seemingly simple white shirt becomes the canvas that unfolds a tale of dreams and the poetic whims of the design duo.


The shirt designs are both elegant and whimsical. By looking to past centuries and different worlds, these prints provide a smile inducing collection. Leitmotiv is a label that references art and fashion while showcasing great craftsmanship. I'm glad I've discovered it.

Leitmotiv AW10. Photographs by Danielle Mari and modeled by Hannes at Urban.

Dunhill SS11

In the midst of fashion week it is quite easy to become a little bewildered by it all. There are just so many collections to view, designers to discover and pieces to add to your dream shopping list. Of course there have been a number of highlights already from Christopher Bailey revealing his darker design aesthetic to Dries Van Noten's graffiti covered quayside to Lanvin's body con knitwear. There is just so much to say, so for the start of SS11 I've decided to take stock of the season before jumping in with show reports and roundups. As with last seasons First Look series, I have really enjoyed Another's Menswear Confidential Milan and Paris coverage. In Menswear Confidential, top designers share the visual references and making of stories behind their latest collections. This type of coverage taps in to our inquisitive nature and really helps see the collections in a new, brighter and altogether more agreeable and understanding light. None more so than Dunhill...

Two snapshots of the Bloomsbury Group

Dunhill's SS11 collection was once again a fusion of heritage with modern day luxury. It confirms what I have previously said about Jones, he obviously takes great delight in investigating the brands archives before adding his own innovation to create the Dunhill of today. The heritage of Dunhill is so broad and so darn British, from its beginnings with the birth of the car to creating luxury accessories for motorcycling, aviation and the oh-so-fashionable smokers in the Roaring Twenties. For AW10, the central inspiration was the journey of Dunhill's very own Clement Court but for SS11 Jones looks at the similarities between Alfred Dunhill and the Bloomsbury group of artists in the 1920s and 30s. Experimentation and English Modernism are the core themes.

"Both Alfred and the Bloomsbury circle were forward thinking, challenging the norm. The Bloomsbury group's work influenced literature, aesthetics, criticism and economics as well as challenging modern attitudes."
Kim Jones speaking to Another

The Bloomsbury Group provide the chief inspiration, both in terms of an ease of dress and a distinctly English take on tradition and subversion combined with an artistic experimentation in the detail and attitude of the clothing and the wearer. There is also a notion of subversion and tradition that is inherited by other English groups post-Bloomsbury and this collection is a nod to them as well, particularly to McLaren and Westwood. So whether it is the 1920s or the 1970s or right now there is always a maverick spirit in Englishness, and this is something that always applies to Dunhill.


Ever since he took over the reigns at Dunhill, Kim Jones has looked a man at home but with this collection you get the sense he really is enjoying himself. For a brand with such strong roots, any steering by Jones has been to emphasise them – those being the characteristics of classicism and understatement but his challenge was to present these with a wholly modern personality too which he has surely done with this collection...


Jones is skillful at fine detail. A stylish etched rosewood brief case containing artists’ tools took inspiration from a cigarette lighter etched by Picasso with an image of Dora Maar. Throughout, he developed the artistic and aristocratic Bloomsbury Group, updated in suits and jackets that were double-breasted but with a single breast-bone button. The revised blazer made the strongest statement and gave that touch of eccentricity. Many of the key items of clothing in the collection are inspired by garments worn by Bloomsbury members such as the economist John Maynard and a jacket worn by the artist and critic Roger Fry in particular. The flannel blazer, wide lapelled, high double breasted with a single set of buttons and almost a flared shape is a recurring motif in the collection. There is a concentration on soft, unstructured tailoring throughout, often double-faced and unlined. Whether this is in jackets inspired by artist’s smocks with big patch pockets or in soft collared shirts and roomy straight legged trousers, there is a feeling of fluidity and elegance throughout the collection. Clashing print inserts are placed subtly in the shirting as a nod to the make-do-and-mend attitude of the British artistic elite. It is also a reminder that Dunhill clothes are for life, to be passed down to successive generations. Such precious items as signature sterling silver buttons should reinforce this point.


Ever since we featured E. Tautz's SS10 collection, I have been obsessed with the idea of an Englishman abroad. For SS10, E. Tautz were inspired by just this very idea but not just by any Englishman, the Duke of Windsor to be precise. When Patrick Grant and his team were creating the collection they were thinking about what the English like to do during the Summertime; they like to go to the Mediterranean, sit on beaches and wear hankies on their heads. However, with this Dunhill collection I get a strong sense of celebrating the great British summertime. Who needs the sand and sunshine of the Med when you can enjoy our very own sporadic sunshine at a garden party in Bloomsbury? Tea and cucumber sandwiches anyone?


Alfred Dunhill's heritage is never far from Jones' references as the designer is committed to creating a contemporary wardrobe for the modern Dunhill customer. Once again, Jones has been strongly influenced by the Dunhill archive and the pieces that Alfred himself created. Alfred Dunhill himself was obsessed with innovation and new technology, which means that there are pieces in the archive that are just as relevant today. When Jones trawls through the extensive archive with his excited eyes, he sees there is little ‘old’ about it but rather it is wonderfully modern.


Alfred Dunhill himself was an innovator and had a very modern approach to life and Jones undoubtedly brings a similar feeling to the Dunhill of the future. When thinking about moving the company forward and how he fits into that process, Jones always consider what would inspire and drive Alfred Dunhill if he were alive today. Here he has has picked out key inspirations from the past and repackaged them for the new era of luxury. One hundred years might have passed since they were first designed but for Jones they are as relevant and exciting now as they were then, made all the more so by Jones' touch...



A good example of this is the captive clock - for which ornate, beautiful shutters were designed in order to protect the watchglass beneath it was worn with eveningwear. It is a classic and well-known piece from the late 1920s. This image represents what is great about Dunhill — the attention to detail and beautiful workmanship is still evident in the watches and pens that they produce today. As ever, with function comes great aesthetics.


This is a collection that celebrates Dunhill's golden era while forging a new one at the hands of the latest innovator, Kim Jones.

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Monday, June 28, 2010

Calvin Klein Microfibre Push Up Bra

lingerie_pushup_bra.jpg

Calvin Klein developed a model they call the Steel Microfibre Push Up Bra. Steel? That doesn't sound very inviting, does it? Here, you should ignore your hearing and go with your touch. Super soft microfibre made from 86% Nylon and 14% Elastane guarantees you get a bra you'll never want to take off. Thanks to a perfectly designed underwire and lightly moulded cups someone special might want to do that for you, though.

If that name bothers you, check out the CK Bed of Roses Push Up Bra. The name is well chosen. You'll feel wonderful in this silky smooth push up bra. Gentle padding provides a contour that is ultra feminine, while lace trim and a lovely print raises the chic quotient to the sky. Its underwire support will make you feel you're lying in on the clouds. Come back to Earth and, thanks to the superb shaping, you'll be the loveliest flower in the garden.

Get a perfectly tailored look with the Calvin Klein Perfectly Fit Tailored Push Up Bra. Perfect for those suit and blouse combos that are a little low cut, that is. This push up gives cleavage enhancement that you can still wear in the office. Graduated foam gives natural shaping that combines with elasticated joins at the bust for a smooth, sexy look. After hours you can show off the subtle logo detailing on the straps... but only if your co-worker has been very, very good.

Ah, the mighty push up bra. What would a woman do without one, or two or ten? There are those days when you want cleavage enhancement, and those nights when you want to show it off. For those times, there's just no substitute. Calvin Klein understands that and so they created a drawer full of Calvin Klein push up bra choices.

The CK Sheer Signature Push Up Bra is one among many outstanding examples. Smooth as a t shirt bra, you might wear this one under a thin-fabric dress and get that great unbroken line. With seamless, comfortable nylon you can be sure your gown will look its best so you look your best. Even better, generous graduated foam padding makes that best the absolute best. The super-comfortable underwire gives you all the support you need to complete the package. Silky smooth, natural-looking enhancement, and perfect fit. What's not to love?
ck_bra_AA300_.jpg CK_push_up_bras.jpg
When it's time to be very, very bad, the Calvin Klein Lace Mystique Push Up Bra is an ideal choice. Graduated padding creates ideal contouring while silky soft, fine lace trim adds an unbeatable feminine look. The great underwire design ensures you never feel the superb support. Wear this model to work and work will to come to a screeching halt. Slip it on for a special night out and the party will get out of control right away.

Best Alina Vacariu Lingerie Model

alina_vacariu_61.jpg

With her natural beauty and sexy body, Alina Vacariu quickly became a very in-demand lingerie model, appearing in the Abercrombie Fitch and Victoria's Secret catalogs, as well as in campaigns for bebe, Bianchi, Clairol, and Stella Artois.

Alina_Vacariu_Sexy_in_Lingerie+2.jpg Alina_Vacariu_Sexy_in_Lingerie+2.jpg Alina_Vacariu_Dress_Underwear+2.jpg Alina_Vacariu_Sexy_in_Lingerie+4.jpg

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Burberry Autumn/Winter 2010 Campaign

Check the Burberry Autumn/Winter 2010 ad campaign by Mario Testino!
burberry,fashion news,campaign ads
burberry,fashion news,campaign ads

burberry,fashion news,campaign ads
burberry,fashion news,campaign ads
burberry,fashion news,campaign ads

Photo Source: Fashionising.com

Geeta Basra, Raageshwari at Rahul Saxena tribute event to MJ