editors v. bloggers

Here's an interesting article on a recent Elle editors panel discussion where they discussed fashion bloggers. I think they're maybe being a little hard on bloggers like Tavi and BryanBoy, but I do agree that it's not fair when editors are pushed to the second row so that bloggers can be put in the first row.

I think fashion blogging is the reality TV of the fashion industry. It's like outsider art. It's fun and entertaining, but fashion bloggers are not (usually) trained and educated industry professionals and we will, I think we should all admit, sell out pretty quickly if it means getting exposure. I will never think I'm better or more deserving of respect than the editors of magazines like Elle, Vogue, Nylon, W, etc.

Read the article here at fashionologie.com

would you pay $64 for a diet coke...

if it were in a limited edition bottle designed by Karl Lagerfeld?

Read more here.

lindsey.wixson's.life

Two things I learnt today:

1) Lindsey Wixson is on the cover of Life Magazine

2) They still publish Life Magazine

Who knew?! I always think of Life as something so old fashioned. Maybe they're trying to make a comeback?

I'm not sure what I think of Lindsey. She kind of looks like a caricature of a doll. Although I think different and unusual is always good in the modeling world.

simon.says

"Since they are all about my height,

I am going to impersonate one of

them. I am going to wear a doily on

my head and tell everyone I am a teen

blogger. If they ask why I am so wrinkled,

I will tell them that I have progeria."

-Simon Doonan, creative director, Barneys

-- via GQ --

R.I.P. Mr. McQueen

I don't really know what to say. This is just beyond horrible.

alexa.chung.bing!

i love that she makes fun of her overwhelming skinniness in this bing commercial. although i'm not totally convinced that she doesn't have an eating disorder. funny and uncomfortable at the same time? that's okay with me.

-- youtube, tfs --

from the mouths of babes

Kate Moss talks about how she schedules her new life as a businesswoman and what she uses to keep pretty while flying:

Kate Moss has a daughter, Lila, 7, and lives between homes in London and the Cotswolds. She is currently appearing in cosmetics ads for Rimmel, as well as campaigns with Longchamp and Bulgari. She has her own clothing range in collaboration with Topshop, and a fragrance collection with Coty

What have you learnt about yourself since becoming a businesswoman?

It’s much more inspiring to get up in the mornings and not have to go and sit in a chair and have your make-up done, but to get up and go, “I want to make this dress, I want to make this perfume.” I’ve got ideas. I like modelling, I still love creating images, but I think after doing it for as long as I have, it can get a little samey. So it gave me another bit of zest for life. People had been talking about it for a while — “You should do a collection, you should do your own clothes” — and it just naturally progressed. It wasn’t a big game plan.

Was any of your career planned? Did you want to be a model?

No. I would never have thought about it, ever. I remember meeting this girl in Florida, maybe the year before I started, and she was the daughter of a friend of my dad. She was, like, “I wanna be a model.” I thought it was so vain, really embarrassing.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Being there for Lila and being able to work and be a stable parent. And with the paparazzi, keeping it as normal as I can. I surround myself with old friends, and I know who I am. I keep things relaxed and not high-maintenance.

How do you juggle everything: modelling, fragrance, fashion?

Day by day. I live in the moment. Obviously, my diary’s scheduled, but I don’t really think about what I’ve got to do in two weeks because I might freak out, so I just take it a day at a time. I say what I’m going to do and when I’m going to do it. I’ll know a few days in advance, but I don’t look too far into the future. I will go into ostrich mode if I have too much on my plate: I won’t be able to think properly about anything.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Just the furniture I like, the bottles I like, the glasses I like. In my house, I have old champagne glasses from 1830, and decanters from the 1920s — they inspired the bottle for my new fragrance, Vintage.

Are you a big collector of things?

Read more here.

Article via Times Online

Image via herfamedgoodlooks

crystal wren

I'm sure this makes me a terrible person and I'll probably be killed for saying this but... I'm sorry... I think Crystal Wren was a lot prettier when she was thin. It's terrible that she had to be unhealthy to maintain a thin physique, but I just don't think belly rolls are ever attractive. I think you can be plus-size while still being toned, and while I think magazines should use more regular sized models (think, size 6 instead of size 2), I think glorifying overweight women is just as bad as glorifying underweight ones. Sorry!

Then:

Now:

While we're on the topic of anorexia, supposedly the Kate Moss quote that seemed to support eating disorders ("Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels") was taken out of context. In the interview she was talking about fashion industry mottos: “There are loads of mottos. There’s ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.’ That’s one of them. You try and remember, but it never works." I don't know, Kate, it seems like it worked for you.

twiggy

I'm in London at the moment and went to the National Portrait Gallery yesterday to check out the exhibition on Twiggy in celebration of her 60th birthday (practically a national holiday here). There were lots of photographs I'd seen already, of course, but a few I had not and many I had only ever seen in black and white. It's definitely worth checking out if you're in the UK.

I also found this while digging around Google Images. Why don't they sell these anymore?!

jimmy choo for H&M

The lookbook for Jimmy Choo for H&M has arrived and it is magnificent.

The collection goes on sale November 14th.

via awake-smile

a touch of grace

I finally saw "The September Issue" last night and it's the first movie I've watched in years that I wish were hours longer rather than shorter. All the reviewers who have been saying that Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington steals the show are absolutely correct. From her less-than-fashionable wardrobe and hair to her grumblings about Anna Wintour and musings on beauty, we fall in love with her and see that she really is the heart and soul of the magazine.

I don't often read Vogue because I think the editorials and style are both unrealistic and often old-fashioned, but after hearing Coddington talk about her inspirations, I see that this is the whole point. She's trying to create a fantasy world, not pages of wearable fashions, which I suppose it was catalogs are for!

So, here are some Coddington editorials I've dug up to give you an idea of what she's talking about:

The film isn't entirely unflattering to Wintour either. We get a sense from her that she's just trying to be taken seriously in a world, and an overachieving family, that is constantly telling her that what she does and loves is just silly. We also get an idea of how hard it must be to be taken seriously when she looks like such a small and fragile girl (the shots of her being driven in her car make her look almost like a child).

However, now that I'm flipping through Vogue, I'm wondering whose idea it was to redesign Vogue to look more like a tabloid? Anna, I'm looking at you.

the september issue

I'm probably super late with this, but here's the trailer for "The September Issue," the documentary about Anna Wintour and Vogue. It looks so fabulous.

Coming to a theater near you September 11th.

sea of urban outfitters shoes

Sea of Shoes' Jane Aldridge has designed a collection for Urban Outfitters!!! The first images are out and the shoes look so cool. Very Anna Demeulemeester inspired. I wish I knew how much they cost so I could start saving up. I bet they're gonna go FAST and will probably cost a week's salary!

Read more here.

met costume institute gala

I'm not really a ball gown kind of a girl, but hey, it's the Met Gala, it deserves a post.

I try not to be too negative on this blog (I believe that fashion should be fun and expiremntal first and foremost) but, come on... what the f- was she thinking? 

alexa chung / mtv

Alexa Chung is getting an MTV show starting June 15. I haven't watched MTV since high school, but I might tune in just to check out her awesome sense of style.

Can't say much more, gotta run off to work.

marc jacobs slip 'n' slide

Marc Jacobs just introduced his first swimsuit collection!!!

via fashion copious

Yay for adorable swimsuits I can't afford!!

another one bites the dust

One of my favorite parts of big family get-togethers (Labor Day weekend in upstate New York, Passover at my grandmother's house, etc.) is pouring over the Sunday New York Times, everyone grabbing at their favorite sections and tearing the huge stack of folded paper to bits...

The magazine section is often the first item to be snatched up. Carefully slid, almost hidden, between the newspaper pages, it's almost like a game of, whoever finds it first gets it. If I win, I always flip to the fashion spreads first...

Sadly, this shall be no more...

In order to cut its budget, the NYT's will no longer produce fashion editorials in the Sunday Times magazine section. There will be no more stylish meets intellectual wonders, like these past gems.

images via fashionologie

model as muse

I really, really hope I'll make another NYC trip this summer to check out this exhibit at the Met:

The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion
May 6, 2009–August 9, 2009
The Tisch Galleries, 2nd floor

Exploring the reciprocal relationship between high fashion and evolving ideals of beauty, The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion focuses on iconic models of the twentieth century and their roles in projecting, and sometimes inspiring, the fashion of their respective eras. The exhibition, organized by historical period from 1947 to 1997, will feature haute couture and ready-to-wear masterworks accompanied by fashion photography and video footage of models who epitomized their epochs.

The exhibition is made possible by Marc Jacobs.
Additional support is provided by Condé Nast.

text via the Met website

image via teenvogue.com

the fiercest shoes in all the land/christian siriano for payless

So I know this is old news, but I guess I'm way behind, because I just read about "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano's line for Payless in Us Weekly (give me a break; I was at the gym!). 

I'm thinking the final collection will probably be more toned down than what was seen on Siriano's runway, but I hope Payless stays at least semi-true to his original vision, because for under $50 a pop, these are shoes I can actually afford. Whether I can walk in them or not... well, that remains to be seen. 

They're hitting stores in September. At least there'll be one good thing about the end of summer.

Images via myitthings.com

a match made in street style photography heaven

I've never posted any fashion world gossip before, but I just couldn't resist this little tidbit I just picked up over at fashionologie:

Scott Schuman (aka, The Sartorialist street fashion photographer) and Garance Dore (street fashion photographer and blogger) have, after years of friendship, coupled up. 

images via altamiranyc and Style.com

I'm not one to get all mushy, but how adorable is that?