Veruschka Back On The Runway

Veruschka was a supermodel before the term was even coined and was part of the iconic look of the 1960s. It's wonderful to see her walk the runway at Giles spring/summer 2011 show during London Fashion Week at age 71. I don't know about anyone else, but I started actually buying serious fashion a lot later than in my early 20s, so seeing older models makes perfect sense to me.

Photos: The Huffington Post

Are Bloggers The New Black?

I wasn't around this Fashion Week. My brother-in-law, the Blond's little brother, got married last week, so we were away for the entire time. I missed all the shows, parties and events, not to mention FNO festivities. I was a little disappointed, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter. I saw the photos on WWD, skimmed some articles and took a couple of notes for future reference. I admit to not reading 95% of the PR emails giving detailed breakdowns of hair and makeup looks from the shows. I don't post this stuff, after all, and I doubt most of my readers are losing sleep trying to figure out how to recreate this:

Or this:

Something that has become very clear in recent years, though, is that bloggers (fashion, beauty, hair or nail) are now an integral part of the scene. It makes sense, after all. Why should we wait for the magazines (and incestuous relationship with various corporations) to tell us what's going on? I'm not sure why Abe Gurko of I Mean... What?!?, a fashion/pop culture bloggers who is even crankier than me, was surprised:

Leading up to fashion week I was inundated with news about fashion bloggers. New ones, old ones, newly famous ones, bloggers photographed by Anna Wintour, a blogger that actually hired a publicist, others touting their front row-ness, bloggers who were cast in ad campaigns, bloggers sponsored by major fashion brands, bloggers with capsule collections, bloggers hosting events…and then I realized…that fashion bloggers are the new black. And that’s not necessarily a good thing.


The phenomenon of fashion bloggers rising to power has surprised me as much as it has magazine publishers. Who would have thunk that in many cases bloggers would be deemed more relevant than established fashion editors; replacing them in the front row and dressed up as the new guard?

Abe is worried this might be a passing fad. I'm not sure why, really. The world and the media have shifted in a very fundamental way. It will take years until we will be able to fully assess the change and the depth of its impact. I don't know where we go from here, but definitely not away. Black is black, no matter who brings you the commentary on how to wear it, and I plan to stay around and tell you which lipstick goes best with it.

Top photo: myvintagevogue.com
Fashion Week photos: WWD

Mary-Kate Olsen at the Proenza Schouler Fall 2010 show

Mary-Kate Olsen is 23. I have a morbid curiosity to see what she'd look like at 30.

Photo: Faded Youth Blog

Inspiration

Here's the inspiration for the look Francois Nars created for the runway on Marc Jacobs' Fashion Week show:

"I wanted the models to have a dirty look as if the hair and makeup had been slept in,"

~Marc Jacobs

“This look is what you’d see on a girl from the East Village or St. Germain des Pres-an existentialist with a modern twist. These girls are sexy and cool. Their makeup looks dirty and worn out as if it has been on all night but still translates beautifully on the runway.”

~Francois Nars

I guess I'm too old to get inspired by girls who stay up all night and sleep in their makeup.

Face chart and information: Nars PR.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

This man thinks he can tell me what to wear.

Photo of Andre Leon Talley outsite the Fashion Week at Bryant Park NYC: Dlisted

Bluefly.com is spoiling Project Runway Finale

Bluefly.com's Facebook followers just had the most unpleasant surprise. Someone at Bluefly had the brilliant idea to report from the Project Runway Season 7 Fashion Week Finale. Including photos. And at least one name of the finalists. They didn't preface it with a spoiler alert (unlike the Twitter updates from Project Runway that warn about any link that might include spoilers) as you see above (I blurred the contestant's name), so we couldn't have avoided the unwanted info.

I don't know about anyone else, but I promptly unjoined Bluefly's fan group before they tell me who wins. Auf Wiedersehen, Bluefly.

Edit: Here's my Twitter conversation with Bluefly.com-

the_non_blonde:  @bluefly_com What's with the Project Runway spoilers on Facebook? I had to stop following you.
bluefly_com: don't know who the winner is; just a show recap.
the_non_blonde @bluefly_com: The names of the finalists are still considered spoilers. It totally kills the hype.
bluefly_com: all contestants still on the show showed.
the_non_blonde @bluefly_com: After last night's episode there are still 11 contestants. Giving the names of any finalist who went to Bryant Park is a spoiler.
bluefly_com: apologies!

All kinds of beauty at the Fashion Week amfAR gala

This is going to be a sad and weird Fashion Week, but at least last night at the amFar annual gala (a benefit that raises money for HIV/Aids research) there was some real beauty on the red carpet. It was almost enough to make one forget about Lady Gaga and her skin disease pearls.

The first one who caught my eye was model Leigh Lezark (above). There's something special about her and the ring she's wearing almost makes me forgive the manicure.

Rufus Wainwright was there to show his support. He lost his mother earlier this month and there's something very fragile about him- he doesn't smile in any of the photos and his eyes speak volumes. I just want to give him a big hug.

Eliza Dushku and Heidi Klum show the many faces of classic beauty, while Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Iman and Donna Karan are timeless and gorgeous.

All photos: Socialite Life

Chanel Particulière- The Next Nail Polish Stampede

Did anyone think the Chanel Jade craze was a one time thing?

There's already a new color in the works for spring 2010. Style.com has some details and a photo on the Beauty Counter blog, and it looks very good. The new color, Particulière, designed by Chanel makeup director Peter Philips, is a shimmery mauve-gray, looks right up my alley. It actually reminds me of another Chanel polish color I had years ago- around 2002 or so, but that color had probably more brown.

Particulière is expected to launch in January 2010. Is it on your list?

Photo: style.com

The Muse

When a fashion house considers Lindsay Lohan to be the answer (not to mention the muse and "creative director"), it has worse problems than a collection that's gone awry.

Photos from the Emanuel Ungaro Paris Ready-To-Wear show: WWD and Dlisted

Pantone Fashion Color Report- Spring 2010

...and some musings about the way the world has changed since the 80s.

It is easy to get overwhelmed (and more than a little bored) with the constant coverage and unprocessable amount of information from the various Fashion Week events all over the world. As a blogger, I also receive countless press releases informing me exactly who did what and what hair spray they used to achieve that space age seductress-vampire-with a hint of Queen of Sheba look everyone(?) was talking about. And I look through them, watch the clips, read the interviews, take notes, take Advil.


I look at this stuff for inspiration, trying to recognize emerging patterns and trends through my own perspective, not what someone's PR is pushing. Like most of my readers, I want to know how all this affects me. What DVF dresses and Neiman Marcus cashmere sweaters will I buy next season? Am I going to like the new lip colors? What colors are on the fingernails of the Chanel models?

And I'm thankful for all the photos and neverending fashion stories. Beyond words.

Growing up in a small suburban town during the 80s, my access to this kind of information was so limited I might as well have lived on the moon. Some dry reports with a couple of black and white photos in the paper, a 30 second clip from a fashion show in the evening news and the elation of getting my sweaty palms on the new issue of Vogue. And, of course, it was so hard to relate and apply those faraway images to my life and wardrobe. I couldn't even dream about sitting on my bed one evening with my cute little computer on my lap, connected to the entire world through it and leafing through the Pantone Fashion Color Report for the next season. What a concept!

So, the Spring 2010 Pantone Fashion Color Report...
There are some cute and optimistic colors (bright yellow, blue, coral and tomato red) and a few sombre neutral that seem to always be part of the summer palette like shades of khaki (dried herb and eucalyptus, this year). Of course, I immediately start to envision the way they'd be interpreted in the J. Crew catalog, Armani eye shadow palettes and YSL lipsticks...



These are some of my favorites (from the report) as seen in NYC Fashion Week, and you can download and read the whole thing (including quotes and advice from the usual luminaries such as Ken Downing, Nina Garcia, India Hicks and Clinton Kelly here.

What are your favorite colors and ideas? What would you like to see?

Fashion drawings from the Pantone report.
Photos from Diane von Furstenberg's fashion show: New York Magazine.

Hair Styles From Fashion Week Tents: It's Alive

Those of us who are not necessarily fond of hair styles that look like they were made using wood polish can breath easily now: there is an alternative. Seriously, some seasons it looks like having a curly hair that actually moves when we do is not a legitimate option. That's why seeing the photos from some of the fashion shows felt validating.

For the Luca Luca show, hairstylist Teddy Charles did teased up, poufed dos. Of course, if you're me, there' no need for extra teasing or poufing. That's what my hair does naturally. Just don't take it into this extreme, which looks like Jersey hair gone very very wrong:



For the Costello Tagliapietra show last night, lead stylist for Sebastian Professional, Thomas Dunkin and his team created "a ‘40s inspired faux bob that was feminine and elegant yet also playful and not too done". Call it whatever you want, really. I'm just happy to see hair that moves, breaths and doesn't look like it's over-gooped.



Info and photos:
Luca Luca from WWD
Costello Tagliapietra from DeVries

Bold Lips On The Runway

Dark lips are here to stay, at least through next spring. The three looks above were shown last night at Jason Wu's show and were created by makeup artist Linda Pieroni. She used MAC, but I'm already scanning my stash (would it be too dorky to make a spreadsheet?) for suitable colors. According to Pieroni: "All dark girls are getting the dark brown burgundy color, the blond girls are getting bright red, and all the others are getting a kind of deep, black currant-like one.”


More red lips were shown at the Bensoni show. It's interesting to see how this fiery red works (or not) on different complexions. And even more important- despite the Back to the 80s wave we're seeing in cosmetic companies ads, what we see here is a balanced look with minimal eye makeup and only a hint of blush.


Photos and info: WWD

Posh's new hair and other atrocities

Just another reason to dislike Marc Jacobs.



Celebs are losing their hair left and right and soon they will all look like Samantha Ronson. I don't like this, but can't stop staring at Posh in her two-tone glory.


Do you think she shares the same stylist as Pete Wentz?



At least we'll always have Jennifer Aniston and her perfect highlights. It's always 1995 in her world (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, everything considered).


Who do you think will be the next celeb to get her hair cropped?


Images: Dlisted, Mollygood

Already Waiting For Spring

WWD has the photos from the Diane von Furstenberg RTW Spring 2009 show. The colors and prints are fabulous, but as the WWD reporter has noticed, almost everything shown was on the dreamy, hippie side, and very little you can take to the office or a NYC dinner party. However, from past experience I think we have reasons to hope that the fabrics would also end up in other shapes and cuts. I know I'd be happy to meet many of them in a wrap dress or a little blouse one can pair with a denim skirt or classic white pants. The ones I'd take as is are the dress Diane herself was wearing and this cute striped one (minus the model's horribly bony legs):


Images: WWD

Sole-less

This slide show from today's NY Times not only brings new meaning to the phrase fashion victim, but also proves to us that even runway models aren't perfect. Someone here is in a dire need of a good pedicure.

And no, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. These YSL shoes (designed by Stefano Pilati, shown in Paris fashion week) don't have a sole. Only the metal rod you see in the picture, which keeps both part of the sandal together .

Miuccia Really Likes Flowers

These Prada shoes (and pants), shown in Milan fashion week, are so incredibly over-the-top, that I just can't stop staring. I'm curious to see a (sane) wearable interpretation. I just might go for it.

Photo: Antonio Calanni/Associated Press from the NY Times

Little Black Dress

Rihanna is perfection from the neck up, but this Dsquared2 dress (from Milan fashion week) is a nip-slip waiting to happen. Also, I know everyone is as tired of hearing me say this just as much as I'm tired of maternity style dresses: Unless you really are with child, why would you choose clothes that make you look 6 months along?

Little Pleasures

Fabulous coverage of fashion week:

• NY Magazine has photos, videos and interviews and blogs. They also added “The Model Manual,” a guide to over 200 models, with career bios, quotes, video, and photos (50 per model on average), and “Runway Rankings,” live updates of the top 100 favorite (and least favorite) looks from the collections, as voted by readers (http://nymag.com/runwayrankings). A great time waster if there ever was one.
  


• InStyle magazine isn't bad, either, with live coverage, photos and videos. More reasons not to do any work this week.

Also, tonight is the premier of Tim Gunn's Guide to Style on Bravo (10pm/9 C). My TiVo is giddy with anticipation.


(photo from BravoTV.com)

Mossy

One of the Beauty Addict's posts last week as part of her excellent Fashion Week coverage was from the Jason Wu show. The makeup featured was all MAC and inspired by Kate Moss. Kristen is quoting a MAC makeup artist who defined this Mossy look as " very overstated, messy, disheveled".
My question is: Who wants to look like that?