Philippines in Black and White: 105th Independence Day

Today marks the 105th Independence Day of the Philippines. As I recalled the facts I learned in my Philippine History subjects when I was still studying and looking at the present situation of the country, I can say that it's in Black and White.

Why Black and White? Just like all the things in this world, it has a good and bad side. The country has experienced dark moments and enlightenment as recorded in her history.

White is associated with light, goodness, innocence and purity. It is considered to be the color of perfection. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning and depicts faith.On the other hand, Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.Black is also the symbol of grief.

Relating to fashion, I have chosen to present a black and white creations of Raoul Ramirez that was presented last month at the 2008 Philippine Fashion Week. Behind every stitch, every button and every creation are artists who worked hard. Artists whom, along with garment suppliers, seamstresses, accessories manufacturers, artisans, apprentices and countless other talented individuals, work hand in hand to produce not just clothes, but beautiful, quality works of art.

I hope you enjoy this post. By the way, thank you for visiting and spending time with this blog. It had reached more than 100,000 page views!



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Forbes' 2008 The Celebrity 100

Yesterday, Forbes released a special report on this year's The Celebrity 100 list. It is a list of the world's most powerful and best-paid celebrities. To generate the list, Forbes estimates celebrity earnings, then factors in media metrics like Google hits, press mentions as compiled by Factiva, TV/radio mentions from Lexis/Nexis and the number of times an A-lister appears on the cover of more than 50 consumer magazines. Earnings estimates are from June 2007 to June 2008 and consist of dollars earned solely from entertainment-related income. Management, agent, and attorney fees are not deducted.

Who made it to the top ten?

#1 Oprah Winfrey

Even if the ratings for The Oprah Winfrey Show decreased, Oprah remains on the top of the list. She will be in partnership with Discovery Communications next year and also has a three-year, $55 million deal with XM Satellite Radio.

#2 Tiger Woods

As he won his ninth PGA Player of the Year award and a seventh Vardon Trophy, he also bagged the inaugural FedEx Cup, earning $10 million payout. Woods has also big contracts with Nike, Accenture, Buick and Gillette. His latest endorsement is a five-year agreement for his own line of Gatorade drinks.

#3 Angelina Jolie

Despite the paparazzi, pregnancy and peace activism, Angelina manages to be on the third spot with her $14 million earnings and unrivaled levels of fame.

#4 Beyonce Knowles

After going solo since 2003, the Beyonce has released two platinum albums and built a wildly successful entertainment empire that includes fashion, film and publishing deals. She sold $50 million in tickets on a recent tour. Her endorsement contracts, with L'Oréal, American Express and others, bring in $10 million annually.

#5 David Beckham

David's salary for Los Angeles Galaxy was only $5.5 million but he's earning more than double from merchandise and sponsorship revenues. He had deals with Sharpie, Giorgio Armani, vitamin company Go Free, Adidas, Motorola and Pepsi.
#6 Johnny Depp

After being Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp starred in movie version of Sweeney Todd which grossed $154 million. He earned his third Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

#7 Jay-Z

Jay-Z had a great year after releasing a second platinum comeback CD, American Gangster. Last April he signed a $150 million with 10-year recording, touring and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation.

#8 The Police
The late-1970s rock band reunited at the 2007 Grammys performing its hit "Roxanne." Then they set off on a world tour, selling out $200 million worth of tickets and played to 4 million fans.

#9 J.K. Rowling

Her adventures of teenage magician Harry Potter and his classmates at Hogwarts became a children's literary sensation in 1998 with the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The six subsequent books have now sold 375 million copies worldwide. The final one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has sold 44 million since it was published last July, including 15 million in the first 24 hours.

#10 Brad Pitt

Pitt banked $20 million in the past 12 months and was often spotted on the covers of magazines with Jolie as the two traveled the world promoting movies and working for various charities.

Click here View the rest of the list...




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Random Hump Night Binges

Y'all, first of all, my sincerest apolomagies for not Binging as hard or efficiently as I have in the past. I've been blogging my ass off for work, and while my heart remains in the Binge, work, well, pays the bills. Ah tries mah hardest to come up with some fun, semi-thoughtful and cohesive, subject-driven posts with lots of fun shit to look at/ buy/ dream about, but that's the Type A-er in me. At the risk of creating Bingeorexia and leaving you starving without much Binge at all, perhaps I should try being more Type B and just throw some shit up there? Your thoughts in the comments -- less frequent posts with more ZING or more frequent with less ZIP, if you will?

Okay, that said, here are three random Binge wants on this Hump Night (the night OF hump day, and not, to say, a night during which I'm humping, because I'm not, because I'm blogging. Ew. "Humping" is gross but funny!)

($99, Anthropolgie)

Oh, Anthro, you heartless, overpriced little bitch. Your sales are hardly even. Yet you keep drawing me back in.

($140, Nine West)

My ongoing love affair with grey heels continues. These are perfect summer shoes (with easy warm-to-cool seasonal conversion capabilities!) and almost have a Chie Mahara feel. But cheaper!

($175, Brian Bowie, Refinery29)

This messenger bag is supposed to be for guys (which fulfills one of my Type A goals of doing more men's stuff on the bolg), but I'd rock dat. Each bag is handmade by designer Bryan Bowie (best last name ever!!!! besides Rockwell) and thoughtfully comes with a detachable laptop case. Noice! They're supposed to be available at Bowie's site, Nostalgiecloth.com, but that site looks like it's slightly busted, so yell at Refinery29 and not me, k?

Leather Lust

($1605, Costume National, Yoox)

There just so happens to be a massive fucking heat wave going on right now, and, next to wool, leather happens to be one of the last materials I'd like to wrap myself in, and this jacket just so happens to be $1505 out of my leather jacket budget, but still this grey Costume National jacket is heavenly.

Save the tie campaign

The slow demise of the tie is something that I've noticed during my time working in the big smoke, not just within the offices where I have worked (not that surprising really because the media industry were one of the first to embrace the open neck look) but also more alarmingly during the commute in where I am pressed up against numerous peoples indistinguishable body parts I can see very few ties. Getkempt recently ran the Wall Street Journal article and I've seen enough. A number of articles in recent years have highlighted the decline of the tie and some have tried to explain the reasons why. Kathryn Hughes writing a few back for the Guardian suggested that the tie should be abandoned as ever since the 1880's when the jaunty rowers of Oxford's Exeter College removed the ribbon bands from their hats and tied them around their necks the tie has come to represent class and social divisions. This argument is utter rubbish today. The tie is for everyone and should again adorn neck's one and all. The tie has broken free of the shackles of work/formal wear, no longer confined to being teamed up with bland, ill fitting office suits.

Cherishable goods

The Sunday Best and Carlo Brandelli got me thinking about my theoretical children...

Ever since The Sunday Best wrote about his desire for a legacy bag, the question of what I have to pass on to my theoretical children has troubled me. On the train back up from Kent I happened to find someone's discarded Lux, which is a supplement from The Times (and I thought I was the only one from my hometown who literate... it must have been left by an outsider) and there was a wonderful spread describing a number of interesting and well known peoples inheritances. Far from the dull pound sterling, these gifts were worth far more. One of my current heroes, Carlo Brandelli (if you don't know who he is, he is the Creative Director of Kilgour) was featured and he inherited an entire library from his Uncle in northern Italy. Most of the library is where his uncle left it but Brandelli brought a few favourites back to London with him, including Orlando Furioso and Divine Comedy, both illustrated by Gustave Dore.

What made me fall in love with this story even more was the fact that all of he books are bound in a way which is so distinctive and personal to his uncle, they are covered in the same coloured ale fabric of his summer suits. Brandelli then goes on to describe his most vivid memories of his uncle, how in summer he would wear crisp linen with a silver cane and silk handkerchiefs within his 400 year old Townhouse which was littered was heavy furniture... but there his uncle would be in finely pressed suits. Not only did these words inspire me to ensure that I pass on something as equally special but it also made me want that Kilgour suit even more - as even theoretical children are lightyears away I guess I should concentrate on accumulating the funds to invent in one of Brandelli's masterpeices.

Other people featured included Pierre-Louis Vuitton who- unsurprisingly- inherited a bag... not just any bag though, it was the first Keepall which was designed by his great-grandfather. People forget that during the 30s people travelled with trunks and hard suitcase; there wasn't really a suitable fabric until this soft Keepall, which was personalised with the Gaston V logo and the interlaced blue, white and red design Gaston Vuitton used on all of his designs (a far cry from the Murakami monogramouflage Keepalls. He certainly inherited a legacy bag... I think this has set the bar for The Sunday Best.

I certainly will never inherit anything as stylish as the valued possessions described above but there is hope for my theoretical offspring... although I might just want to take it with me- or maybe I will just live forever...

I love the idea of Steve being buried, Pharoah-like, with all of his worldly belongings when he goes. I also love the idea of clothing inheritance; being clothed in the same material which once covered a loved one is such an appealing idea to me. Vintage luggage is always classier than those little bags on wheels that inevitably break and jam (or do if you buy them cheap, Steve!).

Just out of curiosity...

Is any who reads this planning on going to Fred Astaire: the Conference? I won't be but, as Steve will be visiting that weekend, we may have to have our own meeting to discuss Mr Astaire. We already have quite exciting plans for around then, so watch this space!