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As the E! Network seems to be taking over the world, obviously accompanied by the infamous relationship warriors, the Kardashians; there is one person more annoyed than almost anyone else out there. If you’re thinking yourself, your close but the answer is Vera Wang. Vera Wang is (as of now) scheduled to release a lower priced wedding gown collection which essentially mimics the three different wedding gowns Vera personally designed for K.K. Now that it has been reported that once the line is released, it would have been more days of the over publicized couple being divorced than married the gowns aren’t looking so good. Ms. Wang recently told a reporter when asked about Kim Kardashian and the situation at hand, “Oh please, stop. I’m not a marriage counselor.” Vera, you said it perfectly…
More (noteworthy) news on Vera Wang; she debuted her ever popular perfume, Princess back in 2006, Flower Princess was next, Rock Princess in 2009, then Glam Princess, Preppy Princess in 2010 and now with its ever growing popularity – especially around these holiday times – she has come up with the next scent in the franchise. The new Vera Wang perfume is called…Princess Night. This new fragrance is like its predecessor as far as the appearance goes. Princess Night is in the classic heart-shaped bottle a toped a crown and a heart-shaped tag labeling the fragrance. However, this time, as the name implies, the bottle looks like it’s ready for a nigh on the town completely covered in a deep purple hue of glitter.
The scent is rather similar to the original Princess Eau de toilette, but perhaps a little more daring as it is meant to be an evening fragrance. The ads also differ as the new ones feature a faceless couple seemingly admiring the fragrance as well as each other. The original ad for Princess featured a young actress, appearing over privileged with jewels and a crown in a very serene setting.
This new scent has been described as “an exotic-floral-woody concoction” and key notes are sweet fruit as well as their classic musk and vanilla notes. The launch of the new Princess is set for January 11th, 2012. Princess Night will be available everywhere Vera Wang fragrances are sold.
A women’s rights movement in England has been stirred up by the Miss World Competition. Feminists and other women’s rights groups are insistent on petitioning the Miss World Competition which is set to take place in London, England this year. So does this mean that these women are indirectly against beauty, wit, and charity? Well, maybe against a competition based solely on beauty, but winner of Miss England 2008, Laura Coleman, and Miss England director, Angie Beasley disagree with the competition being exclusively a “beauty pageant.” The two pro-pageant women are in agreement of the pageant more so empowering women, as the platform for the competition covers much more than appearance.
Laura Coleman, the 2008 Miss England winner has made statements concerning the matter saying, “Appreciating beauty should not cause anger. Women enter beauty pageants at their own will, they are not forced into it. I don’t understand why feminists think it is degrading, as pageants are actually empowering women. Ask any of the contestants…Pageants give the girls confidence and give them opportunities they may not otherwise have had and I can speak from experience. I don’t think the protesters understand that Miss World do many amazing things, including raising millions for Beauty With A Purpose, every year.”
The opposing side, the feminists have made their statement via the London Feminist Network website, saying: “Forty years ago feminists disrupted this sexist contest in a spectacular fashion, with chants of ‘we’re not beautiful, we’re not ugly, we’re angry…Let the organisers and all those profiting from the event know that we are all angry that such an event is once again being held here in London, 40 years later. Bring placards, banners and raise your voice against this appalling offence against women’s equality. Let them know loud and clear that this event has no place in London in 2011.”
Due to Miss Coleman’s belief in the empowerment of women through this forum she has urged these feminists’ protesters to stay home and not attend the event, especially with an angered temper.
The pageants’ director, Angie Beasley had something to say (to the protesters) as well, “I’m all for women standing up for what they believe in which is why I run Miss England but I’m fed up of these protesters trying to bully us and push us around. We live in a free society where women have the right to choose. The contestants in Miss World are quite capable of making up their own minds if they want to enter or not and protesters shouldn’t keep criticising the same
decision. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.”
So what’s your opinion? The women participating in the pageant are doing so on their own free will and is also putting herself in the position to win awards, money/scholarships, and the opportunity to assist in charity work. On paper this opportunity sounds like a once in a lifetime one and if a feminist biggest worry is for equal rights and the right to choose, this forum seems to be exceptional as well as 100% optional. And as far as the swimsuit section goes, Ms. Beasley was quoted saying the pageant “had changed with the times and was no longer just about looking good in swimwear.” Also, looking back to past beauty pageants, a certain contestant made quite the fool of herself during an interview question which essentially took her out of the running, all beauty and appearance aside. Therefore, in my mind I see nothing wrong with a competition awarding women for beauty, brains, and talent.
As every good fashionista knows style rarely comes cheap and a pair of Manolo Blahniks never do, but paying $70,000 dollars per pair seems a bit much especially when they’re knock offs! Yet that is exactly what a group of smugglers in Spain had been doing for the last two years, but these shoes weren’t made for walking at all. Last Tuesday Spanish Police broke up a smuggling ring that had been taking the term “high-heels” to a bizarre and admittedly brilliant new level molding cocaine into replica Manolo Blahniks and smuggling the shoes into Europe through Spain.
The operation was run by a 34-year-old Colombian man and his 24-year-old wife who were living in Barcelona. The couple paid drug traffickers in Columbia who mixed the powdered cocaine with a liquid, hardened it into a paste and the molded and painted the paste to resemble a pair of Manolo Blahnik high heels. The cocaine heels were then smuggled into Spain by drug (shoe?) mules who handed the heels over to another group of smugglers whose job was to turn the shoes back into powder and distribute it to dealers throughout Europe.
The group was finally busted by Police at the Barcelona airport with an estimated $630,000 dollars worth of cocaine shoes. The police currently have five Colombians and one Spaniard in custody and have told press organizations that the bust represented the culmination of a four month investigation into the group’s nefarious and admittedly very clever plot. The Spanish Police pulled the trigger on the bust when they learned that the boss and his wife were about to receive one final shipment of “Manolos” before heading back to Columbia and out of their reach. No word yet on how the folks over at Manolo Blahnik feel about having their signature footwear copied by the smugglers, but you know what they say: imitation is the highest form of flattery!
Hair, hair, hair; there have been musicals, movies, and shows all based around hair. For woman, this is one of the most important aspects of our person. A good hair day usually means a good day, and a bad hair day usually means a ponytail with a big headband or a bun. Well, the last thing any girl wants is to run into this problem on the day of your homecoming, prom, or any event where an elastic headband is simply inappropriate. Now, there are many different types of hair, curly, straight, think, thin, but it almost always comes down to two things; dry hair or greasy hair. Now to state the obvious, no is perfect therefore no one has perfect hair –just a stylist and/or a ridiculous amount of money spent on hair products per calendar year. Speaking of, this time of year can be brutal for a girl with dry hair. You see, with the cold weather, dry hair usually means dry scalp which can cause some head and shoulder related issues. The daily beauty blog recently posted their best option for dry hair and scalp, rating Rene Furerer’ Karite solution as the best. The daily beauty reports, the product “utilizes the restorative power of shea butter and a blend of proprietary active ingredients… the superluxurious Intense Nourishing Oil is, in a word, indulgent. You spray the pre-shampoo treatment (don’t worry, the extra step is worth it) five to 10 minutes before you shampoo. It’s lightweight and doesn’t weigh hair down—and the scent, an aromatherapeutic blend of citrus notes, patchouli and musk, is divine. It leaves hair soft, smooth and hydrated post-shower and is powerful enough to keep working and improving the condition of your scalp long after your hair has dried.”
And now, the other side of the spectrum; greasy hair. Again, the daily beauty reported that their top pick for anti-grease and oil products is, Moroccanoil Oil No More Professional Scalp Treatment. This works like any old leave-in treatment; leave in for about ten minutes then rinse. Their report stated, “Moroccanoil Oil No More Professional Scalp Treatment leaves your hair noticeably balanced. Instead of just masking oily roots like dry shampoo or hair powder, it treats the problem at the source to reduce oil production altogether. Organic ginger oil helps to stimulate the scalp and regulate the sebum production that’s causing the unwanted shine. Additionally, purifying essential oils control the dandruff caused by excess oil.”
Well there it is, your tips for perfect hair. Found any other products that work as well or better? Let us know!
It seems as if fashion designers have become big enough icons in the world that they now have their own dolls – well, a select few have likenesses of themselves out for circulation to the adoring public. The freshest doll face to be spotted is the all-loving Marc Jacobs. He has been the talk of the town since Dior has been practically begging him to come over to their team and it seems everyone really likes Marc. I say this because Marc’s doll likeness was featured on the most recent episode of South Park. If you are unfamiliar with the Comedy Central cartoon, it is created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and can be rather controversial as the two comedians enjoy pushing the line of cruelty and comedy. However, crude humor aside, the two crude cartoon creators must have a soft spot for fashion because Marc Jacobs was not made fun of. The doll version of Marc Jacobs appeared shirtless and tattooed (still in likeness of himself) and was referred to by one of the main characters, Cartman, as Muscle Man Marc. Quite humorous and somewhat flattering, Muscle Man Marc was written into the plot line to assist Cartman in finding his lost toy Clyde Frog which happens to actually be tattooed on the real Marc (and Muscle Man Marc).
Another fashion icon to be turned into a doll is the leather adorned, black and white wardrobe wearing Karl Lagerfeld. Yes, the legend is collaborating with Sephora and making some familiar looking products. The collaboration with the fashion icon and the cosmetics giant is for a makeup collection including eye shadows, nail polish, and cosmetic bags. The humorous part is that Sephora is also selling a few more items for Karl Lagerfeld, items that bare a close resemblance. There is a Karl Lagerfeld doll, a bear, a “Lagermouse,” and probably the most noted item for purchase, a snow globe featuring a black, silhouette, profile of the legend himself – and instead of fake snow, Karl is being snowed on by gold flakes.
Start making those holiday gift lists; I’m sure you won’t be able to resist a few of the picks from Sephora and I’ve already put Muscle Man Marc on my list. However, there has been no word yet on actual production of the doll so closely resembling Marc Jacobs. For now we will have to be satisfied with comedy central re-runs.
As the holiday season comes closer and closer, food seems to be the topic of choice. However, what to wear for the holidays is on your mind as well as what size dress to buy. As these two topics can be rather competitive you are probably thinking of different ways to keep your figure to look good for all the holiday dinners and parties that are soon approaching. Well, this brings on the mass dieting before the New Years diet craze, call it the pre-season diet if you will. The dieting that goes on around the months of November and December are to keep you the same size, so you fit into all of your red, green, black and silver dresses pre-picked out for the next two months. (Still need help finding Holiday Dresses?)Staying the same size or even dropping down a size or two is most challenging when we are constantly going out to eat. In light of ‘the too much food’ season I am going to give you some helpful tips on what food to sink your teeth into and what foods to skip over and leave for the folks with the fast metabolisms.
A holiday legend you should avoid, first and foremost, is filling up on appetizers. Don’t think because it is small it will not accumulate as much calories as your meal. Appetizers and their fat and calories can add up very quickly. Number one tip, eat your meal. These parties have caterers who prepare the food based on taste, but also on nutrition, and if there are no caterers, the host/hostess will be sure to prepare a well-balanced meal. Essentially, skip the appetizers if you can help it.
However, if you are an instant gratification person, like most Americans, here are a few tips on tackling the hors d’oeuvres. Number one; fried equals bad. We all know that fried food is not healthy now or as it is digesting. If you do eat it, it may taste good but there will be some gassy side effects later. Number two; carbs are still bad. We may have been learning that there are good carbs, but the breading and pasty used for appetizers is not too healthy. The delicious flaky, filo dough may look like a good choice but don’t be fooled. Most of these pastry-like appetizers are prepared rather quickly as they were frozen. News flash, any frozen to microwave/oven food is no good as it contains way more sodium and preservatives. Obviously, your best option is to eat the fresh foods and the lean proteins. Veggies and fruits are great. Shrimp cocktail, chicken skewers, and salmon are perfect. If you really can’t resist all the stuffed pastries then try to go for the stuffed mushrooms, filling and filled, yet healthy. Also, as cheese tends to stick with fruit and veggies, try to not eat more than a cheese stick amount. Ultimately, just try to eat what you like in moderation, stick to these simple rules, and you should be just fine for your holiday wardrobe.
To the surprise of her friends and family, and the utter lack of surprise of almost everyone else in the world, reality TV queen Kim Kardashian’s marriage to basketball star Kris Humphries has expired faster than a bag of unopened potato chips. The couple’s 10 million dollar fairytale wedding and Kim’s divorce court filing citing irreconcilable differences were separated by a mere 72 days. Now Kim, who is under fire from the media and facing accusations that the nuptials were nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to bolster the fast growing Kardashian brand, is defending herself and apologizing to her fans. However as of the writing of this article we have not heard any news about an apology to the one woman who may stand to loose the most from Kim’s not so happy ending, Vera Wang.
Three of the dresses that Kim wore on her big day were designed by Wang specifically for the occasion. Two of those three were reinterpreted by Wang for her White by Vera Wang line which is sold exclusively through the David’s Bridal chain and these “affordable” gowns, which retail for $1,500, wont even hit the stores until February of next year. Meaning that by the time they are available for sale Kim and Kris will (almost certainly) be officially divorced and will have been separated for longer then they were married.
Clearly Wang must have been banking on the coverage of the wedding and all the associated craziness to drive up interest and sales in her White by Vera Wang for David’s Bridal collection. A collection that we must note, had Wang taking a lot of heat from certain groups within the bridal industry who perceived her budding relationship with the prolific (and for most boutiques widely despised) chain, as a serious betrayal. Now it would seem that both the E! network and the Kardashian business empire will do everything they can to forget the wedding ever happened, and when it is brought up we somehow doubt it will be done so in a positive light.
While it will be impossible to tell how the divorce effects the sales of the collection until it, you know, actually goes on sale; it is hard to imagine irreconcilable differences being the sort of thing that boosts the sales of a wedding dress. It’s not like Vera Wang has to worry about falling on hard times, but unless there is a hidden silver lining yet to be revealed this situation will probably have both Wang and her business partners over at David’s Bridal seeing red, in more ways then one!
Walking into a Target recently, you will notice the remaining soliders – a.k.a. merchandise – from the Missoni for Target collaboration. Its been quite a few weeks, however a hand-full of Target stores still have a ballet flat, a trench coat, and a plate leftover from the biggest collaboratiion Target or Missoni has ever seen. Well, it seems Margherita Missoni has caught the bug and has another collaboration in the works as well as a low-priced charity collection. If you didn’t already know, Missoni has a line called M Missoni and it is sold in retail locations such as select department stores. As a part of this line, Missoni frontrunner, Margherita Missoni has created a charitable way to get her zigzag lineage out to more of the public. The line breaks off from M Missoni, entitled M Missoni for OrphanAid Africa Collection. The whole collection will consist of a mere 12 pieces. However, the famous zigzags are only going to be red and pink. Ms. Missoni herself explains to Women’s Wear Daily, “The choice of colors was instinctive; it was the combination that I liked the most. Pink is symbolic, it refers to childhood, and red to Africa, and together they were aesthetically pleasing. The pattern in itself is something that is ours, that belongs to us.”
In addition to saving the world, one zig and one zag at a time, Margherita Missoni is also planning their next collaboration. This time a slightly higher price-point and to go big or go home – meaning, this collaboration has the hopes for being international. Talks, currently, are saying Macy*s will be the next store collaboration, but Margherita says, “We can’t waste too much time [in designing a new budget line]. We have a lot of options because everyone is interested, but it has to be something that touches different categories… The fact that you can put a zigzag on anything was part of the success at Target. People who wouldn’t wear a top would have a glass or a blanket.”
With over a million square feet of retail space Macy’s flagship store, located on Herald Square in New York City, is the signal largest retail store in the world. Now the company is announcing that they will be spending an estimated $400 million dollars over the next three years to completely renovate this massive location and even increase its size by another 100,000 square feet. Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s, told Women’s Wear Daily that the total redesign of the store’s ten floors is meant to accommodate “how a new generation of customers prefers to shop. In many cases, product will be organized by lifestyle to help customers create looks and build wardrobes across categories.”
Sounds all well and good, also sounds similar to what Macy’s competitor Bloomingdale’s has been doing to a number of their larger retail operations over the last few years, but if that’s what the customers want then it seems the department stores of the 21st century will be organized by lifestyle. If Macy’s flagship redesign truly is a taste of things to come the new breed of department store will also feature plenty of in store dining experiences. The Herald Square location will soon have everything a foodie could desire, from a demonstration kitchen to a coffee and wine bar and even a pub that will remain open after retail hours. The new layout will also feature 300 additional dressing rooms, more shop-in-shops boutiques that offer accessories, shoes and hand-bags and large increases in the square footage devoted to shoes and menswear.
According to Macy’s most recent projections the Herald Square location brings in nearly $1 billion in sales each year, and the lion’s share of that comes in the weeks between Black Friday and Christmas, as it does with most retail operations. So it makes sense that the redesign is not slated to begin until early spring of next year. As long as Macy’s doesn’t completely confuse their shoppers with the newly formulated layout there is no reason to predict anything but an uptick in revenue for the location so the $400 million spent on remodeling should be recuperated very quickly. The real question is how will this layout geared towards a “new generation” change the experience of department store shopping? Unfortunately the answer is going to require a lot of patience, because at the moment the completion date for the renovations is predicting for 2015.
When it comes to costume parties the fashion industry loves to go all out, and one of the most impressive costume balls every Halloween is hosted by model-turned-designer Heidi Klum. As anyone who has ever earned a reputation for throwing great gatherings can tell you, once said rep is firmly in place the biggest threat to this year’s party is the one you hosted last year. For example when your annual New York City Halloween party has become such a hit that it spawns a satellite party in Las Vegas the weekend before, as Klum’s party has, many will begin to wonder how long you can keep that level of cool going. Yet after last night’s gathering and the aforementioned Vegas pre-party party Heidi has proven that when it comes to clever costumes, and rockin’ celebrations, she still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.
Klum had already given eager fans a glimpse of what her two costumes would consist of, but as with any masterpiece, once all the elements were in place the end result was far more impressive then either glimpse hinted. For the Saturday gathering in Vegas Klum was done up in full body make-up made to look like muscles, bones and sinew and when she was wheeled onto the red carpet on a gurney the image of a living corpse sans skin was complete, and completely freaky. For her more storied New York City shin-dig hosted at the Dream Downtown Hotel Klum and husband Seal donned matching his and hers monkey suits (as in suits that made them look like actual monkeys, not tuxes) that came complete with full facial prosthesis and make-up. In short if they had wandered onto the set of another Planet of the Apes remake the duo would have immediately upped the production value. The costumes also made for some funny shots such as monkey-Seal doing his best to dial his cell phone with ape hands.
The most important part of any costume party, especially an annual event like Klum’s, is the host’s costume; it sets the tone for the evening and gives guests an example of the level of masquerade that is expected of them as well. So whether she was the walking dead or just monkeying around Klum’s costumes kept up their end of the bargain and the guest list which included Fergie, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Rose and many more followed suit with some amazing costumes of their own. So let this be a lesson, when planning something as involved as a costume party, it is never too soon to start preparing and there is no over the top. It also helps if you’re a former supe with access to some of the finest designers and make-up artists in the world, if only we were all that lucky.
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