Tuesday 16 December 2014

Kelly Brook flaunts her curves in sexy bodycon dress at Cosmo Ultimate Women Awards

SHE'S known for her sexy hourglass figure, and last night Kelly Brook made sure her trademark curves were well and truly on show

 


The 35-year-old model looked senstational as she arrived at last night's Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards which were held at London's One Mayfair.
Wearing a black and nude optical illusion dress, Kelly posed up a storm on the red carpet and couldn't have looked happier to have all eyes on her.
The sleeveless dress fell just above her knee and clung to her curvaceous frame in all the right places.
Kelly teamed the figure-hugging garment with a pair of black strappy heels as she posed with one hand on her hip.Source

Porsha Williams flashes the flesh in a VERY sexy beige dress and fur coat for Watch What Happens Live in NYC

She's appeared on Watch What Happens Live numerous times, so Porsha Williams knows the drill when it comes to making a lasting impression.   
The 33-year-old tempted wandering gazes in a very sexy beige dress that put her cleavage and toned pin on full show, thanks to a revealing slit that met at her hip.
With her lovely hair worn down in loose curls, Porsha beamed as she whisked her way to and fro an appearance on the Bravo program in Manhattan on Sunday.

The reality star showed off her slender waistline with a golden belt, and teamed her frock with a luxurious black fur coat.
She highlighted her complexion with smokey eye shadow, a slick of candyfloss lipstick, and polished off the look with a bit of coral blush.
Clearly proud of her ensemble, the reality star took to Instagram to show off her evening wear.

Beyonce Flashes Sexy Thigh In Revealing Dress At Billboard Event

Check out that leg! Beyonce showed off her toned bod in a revealing maroon dress at the Billboard Women In Music Luncheon — talk about one hot momma!

Beyonce, 33, looked super sexy in her look for Billboard’s Women In Music event. She was all smiles as she posed for pics with her thigh on full display — in the freezing cold might we add. She is a total rock star!

Beyonce’s ‘Billboard’ Women In Music Fashion — Sexy Thigh-Bareing Dress

Beyonce works hard for that body, so why not show it off? The mother-of-one attended the Billboard event at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC on Dec. 11 and looked like a vision in red.
She showed off her left leg in a nearly hip-high slit. The maroon-colored dress featured elbow length sleeves and ruching at the waist — super flattering.
To keep somewhat warm, Beyonce wore a purple coat with gold embellishments draped over her shoulders.Source

Women who love footwear need to head to Alexandria’s Shoes

Waterloo Region Record
Alexandria’s Shoes based in St. Jacob’s, Ontario sells the finest selection of footwear in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. In business for more than 19 years, Alexandria's Shoes has earned a reputation for carrying the finest selection of quality footwear and accessories for women who pride themselves on being fashion forward. Owned and operated by Mary Reger, Alexandria's Shoes offers something for everyone - footwear and accessories for the office and leisure time.
The dedicated and knowledgeable staff at Alexandria’s Shoes ensures that each and every customer finds the perfect items, and that they fit like a glove. Set in the beautiful village of St. Jacob's, Alexandria's is the most popular spot in the region for trendsetting and unique women's shoes and accessories. From casual to evening footwear, Alexandria's vast inventory is always changing. You will find unique and specialty European Brands not found anywhere else.
Women who love shoes and who like to accessorize with them should head to Alexandria’s Shoes today. Convenient hours and ample parking make it easy for customers to spend time at the store. A true fashion boutique experience awaits at Alexandria’s Shoes. Did we mention that the store is open seven days a week?
Please visit them in-person, give them a telephone call at 519-664-3149, or check them out Source

Shoes With Sex Appeal: Why Women In High Heels Make Men Weak In The Knees

A pair of 4-inch heels can make the difference between being a wallflower and being the center of attention in a room. High heels add the finishing touch to any ensemble, making them a girl’s best friend. According to a recent study published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, women who wear high heels are found to be significantly sexier to men.
"Women's shoe heel size exerts a powerful effect on men's behavior," said Nicolas Gueguen, lead author of the study from the department of social behavior at the University of Bretagne, according to the press release.
Heels force the pelvis to tilt so that your backside and your chest stick out more in comparison to flats. This elongates the female body and accentuates one of the most desirable traits found by men: long legs.
From an evolutionary standpoint, a woman’s leg length is tied to the state of her health and fertility. A 2008 study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior found leg length is a good indicator of nutrition, since legs stop growing once women reach puberty. If a woman has long legs, she most likely grew up in a good environment, which can yield a positive effect on fertility.
Gueguen sought to observe the effect of sartorial appearance by conducting a series of four studies on the length of women’s shoe heels. In three out of the four studies, the French female participants were identically dressed in black suits with straight skirts and white shirts. Most of the participants were all brunettes because previous studies showed that men were more likely to approach blonde women over brunettes and ask them out on dates. The only noticeable difference among these women were their shoes.
The first three studies involved a woman confederate wearing black shoes with no heel, a 2-inch heel, or black pumps with a 3.5-inch heel asking men for help in various circumstances. The woman switched shoes after soliciting every 10 people.
In the first study, the women asked men to respond to a short survey on gender equality. The findings revealed women garnered the most responses when wearing the highest heels, with 83 percent of the men approached agreeing to spend three to four minutes answering questions. In comparison, 47 percent answered the questions when women wore flats.
Gueguen was curious as to whether this pattern could be seen when four women approached both men and women to answer some survey questions. The second study asked men and women to participate in a survey on local food habit consumption. Similar to the first study, men were more likely to respond when the women wore the highest heels — 3.5 inches — with a rate of 82 percent compared to their flat counterparts who only got 42 percent to say yes to the survey request. However, only 33 percent of women agreed to answer the survey, regardless of their heel height.
Since the men in both studies were receptive, Gueguen sought to test his obvious attraction hypothesis by observing men and women who were walking in back of the female participant. For the third study, the women were asked to walk ahead of the “targets” and then drop a glove in an oblivious fashion. The findings revealed 93 percent of men chased after the women when they wore high heels to return the glove, while only 62 percent did when she wore flat shoes. In this scenario, women were also more likely to track down the high-heeled women than their flat counterparts by 52 percent and 43 percent, respectively.
In the fourth and final study, Gueguen wanted to observe if high heels actually make men more likely to pursue a woman as a romantic interest. He strategically placed women wearing different heel heights in three bars as he sat them at tables near the bar where their shoes were visible to those standing and walking around the area. It took men about eight minutes to approach a woman wearing heels compared to those wearing flats, which took about 14 minutes.Source

What's behind shoe obsessions?

It was a bright pink pair of saltwater sandals that began Katie Rosen's love affair with shoes — beyond the normal need for foot protection, that is. "I was about 5 or 6, and I was totally obsessed with them," Rosen says. "I was very fastidious about those sandals."
Rosen is now 39 and an attorney in Seattle. But back then, just barely into elementary school, she was entering the vast Sisterhood of the Shoe Obsessed. Rosen now recounts painful stories about her shoes, like the time the 3-inch heel on a black patent leather Christian Louboutin broke in court. Or when her black Jimmy Choo flip-flop was swallowed by quicksand while she was at the beach.
This affinity for shoes is not unique. Shoe mavens are everywhere, eager to show off their latest footwear finds, collecting pairs like kids with baseball cards or hipsters with LPs. Ask one, and she'll preach about how shoes make or break her outfit, how shoes can change the way she feels, how shoes let her personality sparkle without saying a word. Shoes are, without a doubt, the most important piece of fashion.
What shoe are you?: Take our personality quiz
The USA WEEKEND Program: Listen to an interview with fashion expert Valerie Steele
"When you ask, 'What do women want?' — the answer seems to be shoes," says fashion historian Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
"It might help if you think of shoe shopping as the ultimate happy form of shopping," says Steele, the author or co-author of more than a dozen books on fashion, including 2013's Shoe Obsession. "If buying a bathing suit is the most humiliating and depressing part of shopping, then buying shoes is the most delightful part."
Shoes are forgiving. Shoes are loyal. Put on a few extra pounds, and your favorite strappy, metallic sandals will still fit, unlike that ruthless pair of skinny jeans that mocks you in the mirror.
"While you may age out of plunging necklines and miniskirts, a woman of any age can enjoy a stiletto or vampy toe cleavage," says Michelle Madhok, founder of SheFinds.com, a style and shopping resource.
But an enduring fit is just the tip of the pointed toe pump. A special shoe makes a statement. You might not embrace glitter, animal print, metal studs or bold prints on your clothing, but on shoes? Yes, please.Source

Do comfy shoes mean you have to sacrifice style?

As more women – particularly among the over 50s – vote with their feet against high heels, we seek out wearable shoes with a wow factor
“The days of running around in uncomfortable shoes are over,” declares footwear designer Tracey Neuls when we meet in her Marylebone shop. “I think it’s ridiculous. It impairs women and I don’t think there’s anything sexy about being in pain at work or while you’re walking around.”
A YouGov poll from last week suggests she’s right. Surveying 2,000 women over 50, it confirmed that grown-up shoppers dress to please themselves and want to feel comfortable, and for the majority that doesn’t involve wearing high heels.
I take the zero-tolerance approach to sore feet. As a comfy shoe obsessive, with the Pinterest board to prove it, I’m always on the look out for easy, run-around styles. I’m 51 and would rather wear Liberty print Nike Air Max (Burgundy Belmont) than Nan Shoes. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw: “If a woman rebels against high-heeled shoes, she should take care to do so in a pair of fancy flats.” I stopped wearing heels around the time I stopped being a fashion editor on a glossy magazine. After a bout of Plantar Fasciitis (a painful foot condition common in women over-40) my longstanding love of trainers and shoes I could actually walk in was reignited.
Women over 50 form the UK’s fastest growing consumer group, and I often wonder if the power of the grey pound will keep fabulous flats forever in vogue. “Maybe it’ll happen because there are more women in the work force,” continues 47-year-old Neuls, “Women with stuff to do and places to go, need footwear that works.” Fortunately, we are seeing the rise and rise of frump-free, statement styles; from Phoebe Philo’s Furkenstocks to Orla Kiely’s collaboration with Clarks (I’ve got my eye on the Orla Dorla loafer), shoes that are designed by women for women. And this makes me and my old lady feet very happy.Source

MEN BEHAVE MORE FAVORABLY TOWARDS WOMEN WITH HIGH-HEELED SHOES

PARIS — The well-heeled Marilyn Monroe reportedly once said if you give a girl the right shoes, she can conquer the world.

The allure of high-heeled shoes is no secret among women, who have used them to entice men from the streets of Ancient Rome to the New York City sidewalks of Carrie Bradshaw. Heels have also been a controversial symbol in the battleground of sexual politics.

Now a scientific study in France has measured their power.

Scientists from the Universite de Bretagne-Sud conducted experiments that showed that men behave very differently toward high-heeled women. The results, published online in the journal "Archives of Sexual Behaviour," may please the purveyors of Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo shoes yet frustrate those who think stilettos encourage sexism.

The study found if a woman drops a glove on the street while wearing heels, she's almost 50 percent more likely to have a man fetch it for her than if she's wearing flats.

Another finding: A woman wearing heels is twice as likely to persuade men to stop and answer survey questions on the street. And a high-heeled woman in a bar waits half the time to get picked up by a man, compared to when her heel is nearer to the ground.

"Women's shoe heel size exerts a powerful effect on men's behavior," says the study's author, Nicolas Gueguen, a behavioral science researcher. "Simply put, they make women more beautiful."Source

Miss World 2014: Without the blatant sexism, it's pretty dull

Miss World held its 64th final in London with 121 women battling to win the crown. Radhika Sanghani went down to watch and found it wasn't the sexist show she'd been expecting

Hundreds of women in floor-length gowns and Louboutin heels stood outside London’s ExCel centre for the Miss World 2014 final. The unofficial dress code consisted of hair blow-dried into perfect Kate Middleton-style waves, gowns covered in rhinestones and bridal make-up – and this was just the audience.
Standing amongst them in my winter-appropriate clothing, I knew that watching the final was going to go one of two ways: I’d either feel incredibly uncomfortable watching a line of judges grade women on their looks, or I’d be so swept up in the glamour of it all that I’d come away wishing I was a beauty queen myself.
As a feminist, I was pretty sure I’d end up feeling the former. Only, I didn't.
After sitting through several hours of the contest, I was not disgusted by the sexism, but I also wasn’t excited by the pomp and pageantry either - I was just seriously bored.
I’d expected the beauty pageant from Miss Congeniality and Drop Dead Gorgeous – a glitzy affair with talent rounds and contestants showing off their bodies by twirling around on stage in bikinis. But that just wasn’t the case.Source


Monday 15 December 2014

Christmas fashion: a guide for pregnant women

Dressing for the festive period is always tricky. When you’re pregnant, it is a minefield. Here are some top tips to see you through every seasonal occasion in style













Just because you’re shaped like a bauble, it doesn’t mean you have to look like one.
There are lots of exciting things about being pregnant. But maternity wear is certainly not one of them. Despite more fashion-forward brands than ever before, we mothers-to-be are still faced with a homogeneous sea of dark jersey and horrendous nana bras. And at no other time of year will those of us lugging a bump around feel the injustice of this more keenly than in the runup to Christmas. When the shops are awash with sparkly sequins, jewel colours and jolly jumpers, we’re left to forlornly nose through a couple of racks of black stretchy dresses and maternity jeans.
But I want to get something on record: it doesn’t have to be like this. At six months pregnant, I have found a way through the pain. Mix your maternity basics with a few well-chosen regular pieces (ie pieces that will actually remain in wardrobe rotation well after the baby arrives), and you’ll be the belle of the ball this festive season. And not because you’re shaped like one.
Here is my guide to dressing your bump for the holidays.Source

Fighting the tyranny of thinness: Can media make room for larger women?

Overweight people – or, more accurately, overweight women – are still discriminated against in fashion, television, movies and advertising. Israeli activists rate their chances of finally changing things as far better than slim.

 When the artist Haley Morris-Cafiero goes out to take videos of herself, she does not treat herself as the main subject. Although she is in the center of most of the clips, causing the drama that they document, her real subject is something different: the responses of passersby to her body, which is that of a fat woman. Equipped with a tripod and accompanied by an assistant, Morris-Cafiero goes out to crowded places, and her films almost always show a response of disgust – whether from a group of derisive adolescents, tourists who stare at her as she eats ice cream, or an on-duty police officer making fun of her as she stands on the sidewalk, talking on the telephone.

If Israeli journalist and writer Ariana Melamed had a similar artistic interest, she could have made video clips that were just as damning. If she had pulled out her cellphone last summer, she could have shown the stranger who spat in her face as he angrily muttered, “Fat slob.” Instead, she documented the incident on her Facebook page, using the weapon she had developed to cope with such incidents: her sharp tongue. “Fat women are such a terrible threat that they cannot be seen in advertisements (except for ones about weight loss, right?), filmed for television or employed as spokespeople or in public relations, create a positive impression in any job interview or be seen in public with anyone,” she wrote then, taking the opportunity to start a discussion about the place – or, more precisely, lack of one – of fat women in the Israeli media.Source

Sunday 14 December 2014

New store going small in the Village

MUNCIE When Tamar Lask decided to open a business near Ball State University in Muncie, she decided to do something different.
She didn’t open Juniper, her women’s fashion store, in the new $60-million Village Promenade commercial-and-apartment development.
Instead, Lask and her husband, Peter, opened their third Juniper store in the Uni-Mart building across University Avenue from Village Promenade.
Lask said the decision was an easy one.
“Muncie Mall was not on our radar, not even a little bit,” Lask said. “We wanted to be adjacent to campus. We did inquire about Village Promenade., but we really liked the charm of the older space. And having real storefront windows appealed to us. It was smaller. We wanted to keep it simple. We wanted to keep it intimate.”
So Muncie’s newest clothing store and the Village’s newest business moved into the Uni-Mart, one of the neighborhood’s oldest commercial structures, having been built 80 years ago and still home to businesses like Insomnia Cookies.
The Ball State-area location is the latest move for Tamar and Peter Lask, who have been slowly growing in the retail business in Ohio and Indiana.Source

Glam Up Your Holiday Party Style With This Season's Trends

Everyone loves a good holiday party — the champagne, the eggnog, the sugar cookies.
But if you're going to one of these shindigs, you're going to want to look sharp.
This season the classic holiday trends are back: sparkles, deep reds, and bauble-like jewelry. 
If the event's a little on the fancy side, you'll definitely want to go for a cocktail dress and heels combo.
But if it's more low-key, a few great holiday-styled accessories are the way to go.
Happy holidays.Source

Thursday 11 September 2014

Federal agents seize $75 million in L.A. Fashion District raid

When a Mexican drug cartel took a U.S. citizen hostage for a cocaine debt two years ago, it demanded his family deliver $140,000 in ransom to QT Maternity, a wholesaler selling pastel tank tops and ruched swimsuits in downtown Los Angeles.

Federal agents on Wednesday raided that store and others in the bustling fashion district, seizing more than $75 million they declared “blood money.”

Calling Los Angeles the “epicenter” of money laundering for Mexican cartels, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Dugdale said some fashion district merchants accept huge sums of cash stuffed in duffel bags, boxes and luggage carried into their stores, sometimes by strangers.

Relatives of the man being held hostage took cash to QT Maternity, according to indictments unsealed Wednesday, charging that business and two others with money laundering. The payment secured his release from a ranch in Culiacán, Sinaloa, where over 62 days he was beaten, shot, electrocuted and waterboarded.

On Wednesday, some 1,000 officers searched 19 stores, six large warehouses and numerous homes.

Cartels seek to exchange for pesos the dollars collected from such ransoms and the sale of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin in the United States, officials said.

Under deals arranged by “peso brokers,” fashion district vendors in return for the cash send their goods to businesses in Mexico. There, the goods are sold for pesos that are eventually routed to drug traffickers.

Agents found $10 million in a duffel bag at a Bel-Air mansion and $35 million in bankers boxes in a Los Angeles condo.

“This is blood money. ...When narcotics proceeds are laundered and funneled back to the street to drug cartels, it contributes to violence, pain and bloodshed,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Authorities arrested nine people, including QT Maternity owner Andrew Jong Hack Park, 56, of La Cañada-Flintridge and manager Sang Jun Park, 36, of La Crescenta.

Two other indictments named Yili Underwear and Gayima Underwear and Pacific Eurotex, Corp.

In two stings tied to Wednesday’s raid, undercover agents delivered bundles of cash to merchants, some of it wrapped in dryer sheets or cellophane. One accepted the money, even though some of the bills appeared to be spattered in blood, officials said.

Not all fashion district merchants deal in large cash transactions, and some said they only accept credit cards and checks. Source

New York Fashion Week Spring 2015: Best Street

Take it outside, ladies!
We're talking about the killer street style off the runway at New York Fashion Week, of course. The curbside outfits haven't disappointed, and if we didn't know any better we might confuse the sidewalk with the catwalk.
The first trend we've noticed? Menswear, with Jackie Swerz leading the pack styling a tuxedo-esque blazer over a feminine ruffled dress. Leaning towards the ultra-feminine end of the spectrum is Naya Dem in a navy fit-and-flare dress with a white zipper detail.Source

New Generation Of Latina Designers At New York Fashion Week

NEW YORK, NY -- Fashionistas everywhere are closely following the action during New York’s Fashion Week, showcasing the latest spring/summer 2015 collections of big names like Narciso Rodriguez, Carolina Herrera or Maria Cornejo. Yet a new generation of ambitious but lesser known Latina designers hope their participation in an event geared for up-and-coming style makers is their golden ticket to exposure in the coveted fashion world.
“I truly believe it is the ideal platform for any independent designer who wants to enter the market in the United States” said Sofia Arana, 22, from San Juan, Puerto Rico about Nolcha Fashion Week, a three-day runway event during New York Fashion Week geared toward discovering and promoting new talent. For the past six years, over 200 designers from around the world have shown their creations to audiences which include supermodels like Christi Turlington and Coco Rocha as well as celebrities like Jenni Garth. 
Models walk the runway during the Sofia Arana show at Nolcha Fashion Week New York Spring Collections 2015 during NY Fashion Week on Sept. 8, in New York City.


Though Arana's designs have garnered extensive press in the island and sales in exclusive boutiques, this is the first time she is showcasing her collection at Nolcha. "My line is for a contemporary woman who is very aware of the ultimate fashion trends, but she doesn’t want to be a fashion victim," said Arana of her "classic but trendy" collection, which incorporates muted tones in cotton and lace and was inspired by an imaginary garden of flowers.  Source

How to dress for fashion week

From last-minute panic buying to how to sprint in heels, Jess Cartner-Morley on what she has learned about style from 15 years of attending fashion weeks
Jess Cartner-Morley sitting front row at Mulberry’s spring/summer 2013 show during London Fashion Week Photograph: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
Imagine if you had to go to a super glamorous party full of incredibly well-dressed people with sky-high taste and really thin legs. And while you were there you had to have various impromptu high-level meetings with the 10 people in the world who are probably most important to your career. This party would start at 9am and go on till around midnight. It would involve some fairly lengthy hikes and a few high-speed sprints, between which you would stand around for hours, occasionally getting to squeeze your arse on to four inches of bench space among the aforementioned skinny people, for 20 minutes if you’re lucky. Some of the party would take place outside at the mercy of the weather, some in ridiculously posh venues full of expensive flowers and twinkly candles, and some of it in underground car parks. In order to travel between these venues you would be up against a black-belt elite of taxi hailers (hence the lengthy hikes.) There would be no cloakroom facilities.
Then imagine you had to do exactly the same thing the next day, and the day after that, for four whole weeks.Source

Donning the drone at New York Fashion Week

KARACHI:  We’ve often looked at Ammar Belal’s anglicised poster-boy looks and edgy, rockstar fashion and envisioned him as a gora designer. However, the designer’s recent debut at the New York Fashion Week (NYFW) asserts his very Pakistani roots.
Ammar’s 12-outfit showcase, ‘1432’, is named after the number of prisoner Amanatullah Ali who has illegally been detained at the Bagram prison for the past 10 years. “There are so many more like him and our government needs to fight for them rather than assume ignorance,” explains Ammar.
These are more than just pretty clothes – although Ammar’s glammed-up take on sportswear silhouettes is certainly beautiful – they are socially-charged sartorial statements, worn on the NYFW runway by waif-thin Caucasian models.
“I particularly chose Caucasians because I wanted to emphasise the contrast between the message within the clothes and the oblivion of the wearer,” explains Ammar. “The on-trend over-sized silhouettes emulate hip-hop culture’s revolutionary messages against social prejudices.”Source

Ralph Lauren at New York fashion week: tasteful, traditional – and even a bit hip

At Ralph Lauren’s show, insiders looked to the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling for clues to the collection’s contents                                                                             


Ralph Lauren show
Floor-length dresses would swoop through the lobby on the way to a cocktail party, as would satin sheaths and sequinned gowns. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA
At Ralph Lauren’s catwalk show, insiders look to the chandeliers hanging from the venue’s ceiling for clues to the content of collections. For spring/summer 2015, shown on Friday morning at New York fashion week, they came in gold with looped crystals, covered in layers of ivory chiffon. Tasteful and traditional was the mood, the hush of lobbies in discreet uptown hotels.
The collection kept its end of the bargain – eventually. Floor-length tulle dresses in primary brights later in the show would swoop through the lobby on the way to a cocktail party, as would satin sheaths and sequinned gowns. White trouser suits and nipped-in jackets were a classic – if high maintenance – Lauren look for daytime rendezvous.Source

Ralph Lauren
The Ralph Lauren Spring 2015 collection. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP
While these designs would have kept the Lauren faithful happy – and caused spontaneous applause from the front row – it was the earlier looks that were more interesting, and mixed day and evening to modern effect. The first outfit here showed Lauren was in the mood to try something a bit different: a pair of combat trousers with a vibrant violet asymmetric satin top. The kind of hybrid that women have adopted to respond to day to night lifestyles, the casual glamour felt effortless, not too ‘done’.
Some pieces were even a bit hip – not usually a word used to describe one of the establishment figures of American fashion. A pair of combat trousers and bomber jacket in khaki satin would have easily slotted into Rihanna’s afterdark wardrobe.
This more relaxed take continued through the first half of this show, before the trademark gowns and tailoring came out. Combat trousers were a key shape, but given a luxe edge through a draped, elegant cut. Highlights included fuscia trousers worn with a khaki silk shirt and high-heeled sandals, a camel-coloured satin boilersuit and a pumpkin orange shirt-dress cinched in at the waist. The jewellery - brightly-coloured gem stones worn in ornate necklaces and teardrop earrings - pulled the collection together and gave that trademark Lauren polish.Source

Fearne Cotton unveils new fashion collection for Very.co.uk: Watch her London Fashion Week show here

London Fashion Week is one of the world's most exclusive style events.
Front rows are teaming with clusters of A-list celebrities and fashion powerhouses such as Anna Wintour and Alexa Chung and no invite means no entry.
We might not be able to offer you seat next to Alexa but you can catch one of the catwalk's first big shows from the front row with our exclusive Fearne Cotton's SS15 catwalk show video below.

Go girly in Fearne's fuchsia dress at Very

Fearne Cotton showcases her SS15 line for Very tonight and not only can you watch it live on the MailOnline but you can actually buy the dress the lady in question is wearing right here too.
Obviously the spring/summer collection won't be available until next year but this hot pink number on Fearne is from her current AW14 range meaning we can steal some star style straight away. We do hate waiting...
This cute little dress is made from a stretchy scuba material and while it's the girliest of pinks the studs at the neck add a tougher edge. Fearne has styled it with black flats but it will look also gorgeous with a pair of black patent heels and a matching clutch for your next date night.
Click the link (right) to buy it now direct from Very or if you want to shop around then check out the fuchsia fancies we've found elsewhere. Asos has our top pick or grab a bargain by at Missguided.Source

 


A catwalk show at just 13! Teen designer Isabella Rose Taylor makes her debut at New York Fashion Week

Waving to her guests like a pro after her runway show Tuesday, Isabella Rose Taylor at age 13 achieved something most designers never will: She made it to New York Fashion Week.
Oh, and there also was her launch last month of the Isabella Rose Taylor line for juniors exclusively at Nordstrom.com.
The Austin, Texas, girl in bright red hightops has soaked in fashion since she was eight, got serious about it at nine after taking a sewing class and uses her own paintings as inspiration for some of her prints and designs.
 I'm so excited. The adrenaline is pumping,' she said backstage after the show, becoming one of the youngest to ever present. 'It was so amazing.'
Olivia Somerlyn sang her single Parachute on the runway before the models walked in light pink babydoll dresses and blue ones with a touch of fringe.












She put graphic clouds with long fringe swinging freely or cute little raindrops on some of the clothes. Isabella called those references and a floral print in loungepants and a T-shirt a 'little bit of irony, just because fashion can be taken just a little too seriously sometimes.'
Isabella showed maxi dresses, cropped halter tops and tennis skirts, sticking mostly to black, grey and blue.
She also presented comfy sweaters and cardigans, and adorable short babydoll overalls in a blue check.Source

Saturday 6 September 2014

At New York Fashion Week: Living in the moment means designing the right shoes

NEW YORK — The spring 2015 fashion shows have begun in earnest here, and on the womenswear side of the business there has been very little that is head-snappingly remarkable – at least above the ankles.
The sparks so far have been few. Peter Som’s floral printed swing coats and dresses in pea soup green popped off the runway. (They were joyful reminders of the splendid floral gown he created for actress Julia Bowen to wear to the Emmys.)
And Stuart Vevers’ collection for Coach, which was inspired by road-tripping through the Texas landscape, was filled with quirky shades of pink and lavender, cropped skirts and leopard-spotted jackets.
But mostly, only the shoes – a seemingly endless parade of flats and reasonable platforms that were designed for the actual purpose of walking around easily but stylishly – have offered any reassurance that the denizens of Seventh Avenue are alive and well and paying some attention to the women living and working around them.
So much of what is happening up top – with the dresses, skirts and blouses – feels precious and staid. Fussy and ultimately uncomfortable.
The designer Wes Gordon presented his collection late Friday morning to a full house. Still in his 20s, Gordon has become a designer to watch thanks to support from top retailers such as Neiman Marcus and a 2014 nomination as best up-and-coming womenswear designer by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Gordon used his prodigious skills to craft a spring collection that, quite simply, looked old. With skirts that fell to mid-calf, blazers that seemed only fleetingly familiar with the curves of the torso, colors that were noncommittal and fabrics that looked heavy, the collection called to mind that dreaded term: career dressing. There is nothing wrong with professional style, but career dressing has the ring of something that is a costume, a self-conscious choice that has little to do with personal sensibilities but that is dictated by an unforgiving and impersonal series of corporate memos. It is dress code attire for the kinds of careers that those just beginning their professional lives do all in their power to avoid. All that was missing from the runway were nude pantyhose and color-coordinated lanyards.source

Will the Fashion World Accept Andreja Pejic As a Woman?

Andreja Pejic, who stands 6-foot-1 in stocking feet, and a good deal taller than that in heels, looks every bit the model. She is possessed of bottle-blond hair that falls past her shoulders, full lips, a wasp waist and a pair of Cindy Crawford beauty marks just north of her upper lip. (Even Ms. Crawford has only one.)
On Labor Day, just back in New York from a vacation with her mother and grandmother in Italy, Ms. Pejic, 23, arrived at her agency’s office in a leather pencil skirt from Ports 1961 and a silk Calvin Klein blouse, a picture of elegance compromised only by the occasional glimpse of a peach lace bra.
It was a far cry from the look she cultivated when she first appeared on the fashion scene typically dressed in a punkish, provocative mixture of men’s and women’s wear. “I had fun with androgyny, I had fun being rock ‘n’ roll,” she said. “But now it’s time to be chic.”
Outside, hundreds of young models, most not as striking or as experienced as Ms. Pejic, are wandering wide-eyed through a city many of them barely know, portfolios in hand. They are going from casting call to casting call, rarely knowing their shifting schedules more than a few hours in advance, in the hope of being selected for runway shows. They have descended en masse upon New York for fashion week, which began on Thursday and runs through next week. Later, they will arrive, as if by airlift, in London, then Milan, then Paris, as the international round of fashion weeks moves across the globe.
But Ms. Pejic is no longer pounding the pavement. She is taking meetings, exploring collaborations and hoping to secure a spot in a top show. The signal difference between her and every other wraith-thin young woman swarming the environs of Madison Square Park, where a concentration of top modeling agencies have offices, is that she has already had a yearslong and very successful career as a male model named Andrej Pejic.
And now, after several months away from the business, she is waiting to see whether a major designer — indeed, the entire fashion establishment — will accept her as a woman.
Four years ago, Ms. Pejic arrived in Europe and became a fast favorite of editors and designers, especially those with a rebellious bent. Her first professional job landed her on the cover of Oyster, an Australian fashion magazine, and during her first Paris season, she was cast by men’s wear designers including Paul Smith, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Jean Paul Gaultier, who became a major supporter. “I worked a suit very well,” Ms. Pejic said.source

Joan Rivers' Death Leaves Big Hole in Fashion Coverage at E!

Following the unexpected death of sharp-tongued commentator Joan Rivers, the E! Network has found itself having to cover New York Fashion Week without fashion's most distinctive voice.
The Rivers-hosted Fashion Police was set to film two episodes from the annual event but after Rivers' death Thursday, the network replaced the planned installments with two specials, the first of which will air Friday at 10 p.m. ET, following a tribute, Joan Rivers: Celebrating An Icon. Designer Christian Siriano and style expert Alexa Chung are expected to appear in the program, titled E! From Fashion Week.
The trailblazing comedienne died Thursday at age 81, days after she stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure. In true form, her New York City funeral, to be held Sunday, will reportedly be preceded by a red carpet.

But how E! will cover red carpets going forward is still unclear. Namely, the future of Fashion Police is still up in the air as the network begins to make plans for a post-Joan era.
Rivers and daughter Melissa Rivers hosted their first red carpet on E! in 1994, and in 2010, began hosting Fashion Police together.
“Right now we are mourning our beloved Joan," E! said in a statement. "We will respond at a later date with programming updates."source

Men's fashion thriving in US

NEW YORK (AFP) - Part cowboy, part dandy and dressed entirely in denim, Michael Bastian is a rising star in American men's fashion. And when he thinks about the future, he smiles.
The era of the fashion-conscious, accessory- and jewelry-loving man -- gay or straight -- has dawned. And it's all thanks to bloggers and style-conscious stars like Kanye West and Jay-Z.
Across the United States, clothing brands are multiplying, fulfilling increasing demand for smart and casual wear, accessories and jewelry and mining the potential in a market on the rise.
"Previously, it has been marginalized," said Mark-Evan Blackman, assistant menswear professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, one of New York's most prestigious design schools.
"People were not thinking of it as being vibrant and sexy and fun. That really has changed within the last decade, and it's really hitting its stride now," said Blackman.
Commentators now predict that New York could get its own fashion week just for men in July, attributing the revolution in sartorial demand to bloggers followed by millions online.
"It's been driven by the menswear blogs," said Bastian, a designer with an eponymous label and former men's fashion director at luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in New York.
"Men are catching up to the women... they're more interested in style and in fashion and how they look," he said.
Behind him, models dressed in suede and slim-fit shirts from his spring/summer 2015 collection inspired by Arizona and New Mexico are filmed and photographed by designers and critics alike.source

Who said no white after Labor Day? Lily Aldridge ignores fashion tradition in a midriff baring ensemble at the US Open Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2745814/Lily-Aldridge-ignores-fashion-tradition-midriff-baring-ensemble-US-Open.html#ixzz3CYLdeuOl Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

What is a girl to do?
Lily Aldridge took on a fashion conundrum in the most stylish way possible on Friday at the Moet & Chandon Suite at the US Open in New York.
While traditionally it has been a faux pas to wear white after Labor Day - which was Monday - she was also indulging in a little bit of racquet action and so took inspiration from tennis whites.
The fashion risk paid off with the 28-year-old looking casual yet chic both inside the champagne suit and courtside.





For her day of champagne and tennis, the Victoria's Secret Angel donned a pair of loose fit tailored white pants combined with a cropped brown tank.
While the pants were high waisted, the combination still ensured that the beauty showed off her toned tummy making the look both sexy and subtle.
The model - who left her long brown locks out and straightened - accessorised her ensemble with a pair of tortoiseshell Ray Ban Club Master sunglasses and gold and brown leather sandals.source