Best & Worst of 2007

Since this is a fashion blog, I had to include 1 about the years best and worst dressed celebs. From shaving her head , to drug allegations , to multiple court appearances, its no surprise fashion is the last thing Britney Spears thinks about. She wears cheap blonde wigs , and her daytime attire consists of shirts worn as dresses and oversized sweatpants. Her evening apparel is ridiculous, consisting of the most trashy and over-the-top dresses that show way too much of her most of the time. Some others that topped the list were the Olsen twins, and Paris Hilton. The Olsen twins make homeless clothes into a fashion statement. You could barely recognize them when they sport 10 layers of shirts and sweaters and 5in heels. The best dressed of the year would definitely have to be Victoria Beckham. Not only does she set trends , but she even when she wears micro-mini dresses , she does it with class. Nicole Richie comes in a close second , sporting trendy tops with highwaisted shorts , which started a popular trend of 2007. To finish this off ,"Every year it's the same story, with the flashy getting flashier and the trashy getting trashier," said red carpet fashion expert Melissa Rivers.

What not to wear

Don’t make the same mistakes this winter that you made last year. Leg warmers are made in a variety of colors , from basic black and white , to orange , red blue and every color imaginable. The only real purpose they serve is keeping our ankles warm, but does it serve any other purpose? I guess you could say it adds texture and color to a basic outfit, but can u really wear them without looking like you’re trying to bring back the 80’s? If you absolutely must wear them, wear them over leggings or skinny jeans with flats. Don’t wear bells on any clothing, put down the Christmas themed red and green outfits, stop knitting everyone in the family sweaters with Santas and reindeer. Actually you can knit a sweater for anyone under 5. My last tip is to stop wearing a Santa hat to celebrate the holidays, leave that to Santa.

Black Friday Madness !

After a long and stressful Thanksgiving i was planning on going home and passing out. I got home at 10 and just as i was about to take a shower , my friend called me and somehow talked me into going with her and a few others to Woodbury for the midnight sale. Needless to say , it was a very big mistake. We stood in traffic on almost every exist and somehow made it there by 5 a.m. then stood for another hour waiting to get into the parking lot. It was literally pure madness once we walked into the stores. Maybe if i wasn't so exhausted i would actually be in the mood to find a pair of jeans that were 20% off , still costing more then $200 mind you. Maybe i would actually want to fight for the last pair , and I'm not even joking it was happening things were getting snatched out of hands left and right , you really had to hold it close and VERY tight or else it disappeared before your very eyes. Obviously the guys started whining and crying 2 hours into our shopping adventure , so after all that i came home with just one purchase:a Dior bag , which is actually pretty ugly now that i think about it.

Christian Louboutin ripped off?

My FAVORITE shoe designer in the whole entire world , Christian Louboutin keeps getting ripped off by cheap imitations! Known for famous red soles on his unique and fabulous shoes. First cheaper brands were copying him and puttin red soles on their shoes , until the court intervened and they were no longer allowed to do that. Now another designer , Steve Madden is doing the unthinkable copying the shoe exactly , everything BUT the red sole. Is it an inspiration or is it just lack of imagination? Take a look at the picture of the booties one is the real and one is the Steve Madden imitation , it looks EXACTLY the same. Another designer that took it up a notch was Nine West who copied a pair of heels right down to the red soles! Is it fair to Christian Louboutin lovers who actually pay $700 , just like people who buy Louis Vuitton bags for $700 and others buy imitations for 20 bucks?

American Gangster

Over this weekend, I went to see the most talked about movie all year, American Gangster. I should admit that before the movie even started I was ready to go home. Not only were we in the second row and my eyes were killing me, but when I found out the movie was over 2 hours long I almost died. The most interesting part of the movie is the fact that its based on a true story and the guy it’s about Frank Lucas, is still alive. Ill talk about the plot briefly; Frank Lucas, followed his mentor into continuing the biggest drug empire in the 1970’s.

Frank found a way to get good heroin cheap so he sold it cheap and made a lot of profit off of it. He was not only violent, but he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in the 70’s. He made over $1,000,000 a day selling heroin to soldiers and to people all over New York. Throughout his life he killed over 100 people and in a particular scene shoots a rival in the head in during the daytime in front of hundreds of people and didn’t get arrested for it. He wasn’t so bad though, every 2 weeks he bought $500,000 worth of food for all the people in the neighborhood and bought his mother her dream house. The movie depicts how corrupt the cops were during those days and the reason he stayed out of jail for so long was because he paid off 80% of the cops at the time. The one cop Richie Roberts played by Russell Crowe was one of the very few who was not corrupt and worked day and night trying to catch Denzel Washington. Obviously he ended up getting caught, but he ratted out all the corrupt cops and went to jail for only 8 years. To this day he is still very wealthy and living a luxurious life. Its crazy to think a criminal like him, could live such a good life even though he got caught and normally would have served consecutive life sentences if he hadn’t ratted out all those cops.

Christian Dior fashion show marks 60th anniversary

The annual autumn/winter Christian Dior fashion show was packed with countless celebrities, such as Charlize Theron , Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson. Charlize Theron was wearing a black gown with chiffon sleeves and a red rose with dramatic silver eyes and shimmery pink lips. Kate Hudson was very 60’s wearing a loose flowy yellow dress and sporting very light shimmery makeup. Jessica Alba looked a lot more sophisticated and chic wearing a sparkling gold fitting gown with dark makeup playing up her gorgeous eyes and skin. This marked the 60th anniversary of Dior and 10th anniversary of having British designer John Galliano at the helm. His collection was 40’s mixed with old Hollywood glamour. Also it had a Japanese theme with kimonos, animated origami folding and traditional Japanese hair and makeup. The collection was considered surprisingly wearable, bright colors , skirts in all different styles accentuating small waists. The glamorous elements were gloves, jewels and a lot of fur trim.

My newest obsession: The Real Housewives of Orange County

Last week a new season of the Real Housewives premiered on Bravo! This is the third season following five rich women and their lives living in the elite and sophisticated neighborhood of Orange County. All the women are over 40 , successful , wealthy and are wrinkle-free thanks to the botox injections they get all the time. It follows the life of Vikki whose a complete control freak , and overly dramatic at one point buying her daughter a new Mercedes then getting upset that her daughter wasn’t screaming at the top of her lungs just like her. Then there’s the blonde bombshell who got recently engaged to a billionaire that bought her 7 yr old daughter a horse and bought her a new $100,000 Mercedes. After her first husband left her , she was pretty much broke and living off of nothing , and after she met George her whole life changed. She moved her 2 daughters into his huge mansion and is now pretty much spending all his money into clothes , vacations and cosmetic procedures. The other two are just as fortunate , living and spending vicariously on themselves and their kids. The only unfortunate one is Tammy , who lives in a small house , cant afford basic necessities and makes her 2 daughters work and pay for all bills. Stay tuned for next week , and watch the superficial lives of these women unfold.

ROBERTO CAVALLI FOR H&M

H&M : A dream for fashionistas in New York. When H&M first opened up , it was looked down upon until Madonna came out with a line for the store. Noone in their wildest dreams could ever imagine Roberto Cavalli would sell his collection there. I mean Roberto Cavalli which sells shirts for thousands of dollars , selling his collection for close to nothing. Roberto Cavalli isn’t the first premier designer to launch a line at a store not as highend as Bloomingdales and Saks. Designers such as Vera Wang, Cynthia Rowley , and Isaac Mizrahi have all designed affordable lines for Target. At the premiere of the line at the 5th avenue location , there were lines and lines of fans of the designer waiting to snatch up at least something. You could imagine how many bloody noses and ambulances were called. The collection is full of signature Cavalli clothing , animal prints , silk , and other gorgeous prints. There are over 20 different pieces in his women’s collection. Leopard and zebra is a significant theme in the women’s collection, and features on dresses, tops, coats and lingerie. A tailored jacket is teamed with slim slacks or shorts. A leather jacket is decorated with fringes and laces and a fake-fur jacket has eyelets and studs. An elegant trench coat has piping and metallic studs. A heavily embellished jacket adds instant glamour to tight fitting or wide leg jeans. A leopard-print or black corset top look dazzling on bare skin for evening or over a T-shirt for day, and there are several blouses with animal prints, ruffles and bows. Knitwear consists of a leopard-print or black oversized cardigan and a tank mini dress with ruffles. For evening or cocktail wear: a sequined mini dress, a chiffon baby doll dress in zebra stripe or leopard print, a long metallic pleated halter dress and a long animal print dress.

Suffering for fashion?

Even though the weather is starting to hit 40’s and below, people are still fashion conscious. When I was in the city a few days ago freezing from the unexpected cold weather, I couldn’t help but noticing the shoes that most of the women were wearing. I was shivering in Uggs while most of the others around me were wearing ballet flats. The strange thing is, is that they seemed perfectly fine with the weather as if it were still 80 degrees outside. Is it really worth it, to suffer for fashion and then put on a front like your fine, when everyone around you is not fine wearing socks and boots?
Some alternatives to wearing thin flats are the newest trend; loafers. I think they are just as cute just more warm and practical. If you are willing to spend top dollar, you should buy my all-time favorite: Louis Vuitton loafers. Not only are they very practical and look good with anything ,but they are warm and you don’t look stupid wearing them in this weather , since its not getting any warmer anytime soon. Another alternative which is more affordable and still very warm and cute are the ones made by Ugg.

You can find the Louis Vuitton flats on eluxury.com & the Uggs can be found on their website : uggaustralia.com

Keeping up with the Kardashians

Keeping up with the Kardashians , a new show on E recently premiered about the life of socialite Kim Kardashian and her crazy family. She is famous for being the daughter of the famous lawyer, Robert Kardashian who defended OJ Simpson during his famous trial. Her stepfather is Olympic medalist, Bruce Jenner and her mother was a former model. The show also follows Kim’s 4 sisters and stepbrother. The mother could barely be considered a mother and more a friend, usually gossiping and keeping a secret from her daughter that her daughter’s boyfriend was cheating on her. Kim had a pretty interesting life, going to an all girls high school and getting married at only 19 yrs old. Then she also got divorced 2 years later and even though she doesn’t have a "real" job she is a self proclaimed entrepreneur.
One time she saw a pair of Manolo Blanhik boots on the runway and instead of buying one pair she bought 10. She bought them for $2,000 a piece and sold 9 pairs for $10,000 each. Just like any other semi-famous socialite she plans to write a book documenting her fabulous life and starting a clothing line. During the first episode, the family threw a party for the parents anniversary. In that episode one of the little girls danced on a stripper pole and the other served alcoholic drinks. It always seems too crazy and that the family is acting and not being real. Either way it’s entertaining, look out for the show every wed night at 10:30 p.m.

An Alcohol Monitoring bracelt is the newest accessory

The most unexpected fashion accessory spotted in Karl Langerfeld's Chanel runway show , was the alcohol monitoring bracelt. Yeah i know , an alcohol monitoring bracelt a fashion must-have? Celebrities are considered to be trendsetters but when Lindsay Lohan has to wear one because of a DUI doesnt mean that the average person should go out drinking and driving in order to get one of these so called "accessories. " Maybe im blowing it all out of proportion , but i would think wearing one is more of an embarrasment then something to walk down the runway with. Maybe Karl Langerfield has been reading way too many issues of OK mag for his own good. I do think for his own good , this should not only have been the first time he features that in his shows , but it should also be the last.

Chick by Nicky Hilton

Nicky Hilton kicked off fashion week by unveiling her new clothing line, chick. Just because her sister has no talent, doesn’t mean you should automatically discredit her from having talent. The line was full of really cute mini dresses, different shorts and flirty tops. She incorporated apples into most of her pieces, since that’s whets trendy this season. Her clothes are also much priced inexpensively ranging from $60-$160.Her parents and boyfriend came out to support her. She also has a jewelry and handbag line that’s been out for a few years now. Her bags are all very trendy and bright, colorful and young. Her clothes are made for young girls not for older women which is a downside because the clothes are too young and not really sophisticated. You could shop her clothing line here: http://www.designsbystephene.com/cat-chick-by-nicky-hilton.cfm

The most stylish clown shoes ever made

What’s the one fashion item you think of when winter comes along? A fashion must have... Uggs. They look like clown shoes and come in many different colors. I personally love them just because of how comfortable and warm they are, not because of how they look. I hate how they make my feet look 5 sizes bigger and fatter then they are. Every celebrity walking down the street is wearing them once November comes along. You can spot Britney Spears wearing them with a sundress and sunglasses in L.A. since they are not only made to keep your feet warm when its cold outside, but when its hot outside they just adjust to your temperature so you don’t die in the heat wearing them. There have been many imitations such as Emu, Steve Madden made a few pairs and etc , but those aren’t the real deal because they wont keep your feet as warm and comfortable as Uggs since they aren’t made from sheepskin. This year they came out with many new styles also. Now they come in leather, some are heels, short, tall, crochet, solid colors, multi colors and patterns. If you want to keep your feet warm, you should compromise fashion and invest in a pair of uggs.

Nicole Richie

Nicole Richie first came on the scene as Paris Hilton’s partner on the Simple Life. She was pretty much just the chubby nobody that did stupid things with Paris to entertain the audience. By the next season of Simple Life she started losing weight and took out the pink and purple extensions. By the 4th season she weighed 98 pounds and cut her hair into a chic bob and was more in the spotlight. The show was no longer just about Paris Hilton , Nicole Richie was developing her own fan club. These days she has gained back the weight because she is pregnant. She became a fashion icon wearing couture gowns , and making skinny jeans and a t-shirt into a fashion statement. Even as a mom to be she still looks just as classy walking down the street in 4 in Gucci pumps and a trendy maternity dress.

Life in the Fab Lane

Kimora Lee Simons started off her life as a model for Chanel at only 14 years old. Now she is the head designer of the Baby Phat clothing line, she is a mogul, mother and a diva. On December 20, 1998 she married hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and they later divorced in March 2006. She has written a book called Fabulosity ,designed a jewelry line called the "Hello kitty Collection” , has a cosmetics line in Sephora , and even makes diamond encrusted electronics.

A new show recently debuted on the Style Network called, “Life in the Fab Lane” and she proclaims herself as the “new Oprah.” In the show you follow Kimora along her journey of making her company reach new heights of success, through product launches, press tours, fashion shows and exclusive events. You also see her sensitive side as a mother of her two daughters, Ming-Lee and Aoki Lee. Most shows now, are about successful families and usually the father is the one who makes all the money and the cameras just follow how the rest of the family spends that money. Kimora’s show is not your typical family show, because you follow the fabulous life of an independent businesswoman.

Memories ..

By definition memory is the power of retaining and recalling past experience. Whether it is a bad memory or a good one, if it was a significant event, it makes it difficult to forget. Sometimes recalling a good memory can put me in a better mood, if I wasn’t feeling good about something. People write memoirs in order to share a very important event that happened to them or a few significant events. A memoir is written from a first person point of view and captures meaningful and important memories of a person’s life.
They usually remember very small significant details about the event to make it more meaningful. It is usually written in a higher emotional level since the series of events is so important to the person. Even though most of the memoir is true, some details are fictional because it would be impossible for a person to remember every single detail of an event and may not recall exactly how he was feeling and exaggerate a bit. An autobiography is when a person writes about every little fact of his life as a whole and it is not as detailed as a memoir. An autobiography is usually longer then a memoir and contains a lot of information about the person’s life.

New Designers

When you think of fallout boy , what words come to mind? Probably something along the lines of , ROCKSTARS , great music , and etc but surely fashion designer doesnt come to mind. Well think again ,the fashion industry has a new designer , Pete Wentz. His new line is called Clandestine Industries (for DKNY Jeans) which has come out earlier this month. His line is chic and afordable with prices ranging around $40-250 for tops and bottoms. Another unexpected designer is , the Girls Gone Wild company. Do i really have to say more? The line is pretty much just tiny t-shirts , underwear and stilletos. Well i really dont expect more from a company whose tag line is , "when clothing isnt optional." So my advice is if you dont want to look like a cheap hooker then your better of with Pete Wentz.

You can view his line here:http://www.dknyjeanspromo.com/clandestineindustries/

The Louis Vuitton Tribute Patchwork Bag

When you think of a bag , do you expect it to be worth more then your car? Louis Vuitton seems to think so. His newest creation is the "The Louis Vuitton Tribute Patchwork Bag." The bag costs about $42,000! For $42,000 i expect that bag to have diamonds or even gold on it. i mean i guarantee that theyve already started reproducing it undergroud and will be sold on every corner of the city in a matter of a few weeks for $20. The bag is made of recycled patterns from 15 different past styles. Not only does it cost so much , but its pretty damn ugly. This bag belongs in a thrift store and should be worth about $5 at most. Just because its hideous doesnt mean that every celebrity and socialite wont be carrying it around until the next hideous bag comes out. The thing that bothers me the most is that instead of spending all the money on a ridiculous bag , that will be thrown into the back of a closet anyway , why not donate the money to charity , at least then you can write it off on taxes.

Kate Moss designs for Topshop

We’ve been through it all, actors turned singers, singers turned models, singers turned fashion designers and the newest trend of all, models turned designers. Kate Moss has launched her clothing line that will be in Barney’s stores nationwide. I know what you’re thinking this is either a stupid joke, or if I'm not joking this is going to be a disaster. I mean we are talking about the ex cocaine addict who got dropped from most of her endorsements after pictures of her sniffing a white powder leaked on the internet. Surprisingly I've seen all the clothes and they look more then decent. The prices are also affordable ranging from $20 - $300. The collection varies from dresses, to pants to more casual attire it has clothes for just about anyone, well anyone that wears smaller then a size 10 that is.

check out her clothing line : http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=19551&storeId=12556&categoryId=75401&parent_category_rn=74921&langId=-1&top=Y

Something to think about

When you step into Abercrombie & Fitch and you pick up a pair of jeans , do you ever wonder where the jeans came from or who made them , I'm 100% sure you don’t. What if I told you that the $100 pair of jeans that u just picked out were made by Saipan workers that made less then $3.00 an hour? Thousands of Chinese migrant workers were paid $7,000 to come to America and work for Abercrombie on the promise of getting a good job and getting paid well. When they got to America they became indentured servants that had to repay that debt by sewing clothes 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many were forced to sign contracts forbidding them from participating in religious or political activity, asking for a raise, falling in love, getting married or having a baby.

The workers lived under Chinese law in a territory of the United States, where they lived in rat-infested barracks where the toilets did not work and water was contaminated. There were over 1000 OSHA violations that were found in the factory including, locked fire exits. Also consider this the company made $1.2 billion this year alone and profits equaled to $158 million and the wage of a worker in Saipan is less then $3.00 an hour which they don’t keep anyway. Maybe they should write on the label that the clothes were in fact not made in America and made by people forced to be slaves, because kids buying these clothes are not aware under the conditions that they were made. So next time you walk into Abercrombie just consider the conditions under which people have to work to produce that sweater or that pair or jeans and by buying it you’re being just as guilty as the CEO Michael S. Jeffries.

Is it really worth it?

If you live in New York, you see it everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. No I'm not talking about homeless people or taxis; I’m talking about the Louis Vuitton Speedy bag. My personal favorite, 1 out of every 4 women are walking the streets of New York with this bag and I can guarantee that out of those 4 women only 1 is carrying the real thing. Louis Vuitton is one of the most replicated bags in Canal Street. Why cough up $700, if you can pay $20 for an “almost exact” copy? Considering that it is uses branding, Louis Vuitton is considered one of the best but poorly imitated. It is an ultra-luxury holding company which includes companies and brands such as, Dom Prignon, Veuve Clicquot, Tag Huer, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, and Kenzo among many others.
Believe me I understand not everyone can afford one of these bags, but why fake it? Buy a bag from Target for $20 instead, since the fake bag youre holding was illegally sold to you and illegally made and the real company doesn’t make any money from you buying this bag. Then again I can probably answer that question myself, for most people that have the real thing its about the quality its about the envy from others , the feeling of success and accomplishment and the people that have the fake it’s about the envy you get from others that don’t know you bought the bag off Canal Street.