Madame X

In Harper's Bazaar of 2006 was this photo by Anton Ismail. It belonged to a series showing women with masks.

I don't know if the photographer knows this painting by John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), but I think so, because Sargent and especially this painting are really famous.

And then I think that there are enough similarities. The elegant style, the pose, the illumination.

Madame X (1884)

New Moon...

I am willing to admit that I jumped onto the Twilight bandwagon- because who doesn't love a band wagon?

And as soon as I read the first book (because you have to read the book before you see the film) I was 100% in love with Edward Cullen. Yes just like every other girl in the world it seems.

The fact that they cast Robert Pattinson as the vampire just re-inforced the love.

The 15 second teaser for New Moon:

Unsticky

I have just finished reading 'Unsticky' by Sarra Manning.

I bought it in a Waterstones on the way to Mull and since I got my hands on it I could not put it down.

It was the perfect fashion filled, funny and fabulous page turner to read with a cuppa tea while rain was pounding on the window.

I have read most of the teenage books she has written such as 'Guitar Girl' and 'Pretty Things' which I really enjoyed but I think this one, her debut adult novel, is her best yet.

Evo Festival

Wowee this years Evolution festival was the best yet.
In the end we saw White Lies, Human League, The Wombats, Nouvelle Vague, Little Boots, The Maccabees, The View and Dizzee Rascal.
Unfortunately Ladyhawke, Mystery Jets and more importantly Friendly Fires clashed with the headliners who were on the other stage so we had to miss them but it was all good because the bands we did see were brilliant.
Even the weather was amazing for most of the weekend (it did rain for a bit on Monday but I bought a fetching yellow waterproof cape which more than made up for it!)
Amazing weekend...

Me (left) and Emma :)

Little Boots- sorry about the rubbish quality...

Holiday Holiday Holiday

Sorry for my short absence I have been on a short family holiday to the Isle of Mull.
"Where the hell is Mull?" I hear you ask.
Well it is a remote Scottish Island where you can "drive for hours and not see a single soul."

Which I am sure lots of people might like the sound of, you know going on long walks and generally "getting away from it all" but it's not really my thing.

I still had a really good time though even if it is nice to be back home, catching up on Facebook and Britain's Got Talent...

Star Trend: Bag Tod's. Style Lesson.

Celebrities want to carry much stuff with them as normal people do.But they have to stay fashionable and elegant.

That's why Carla Bruni, Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts and many other celebrities chose G-bag Tod's like they made plans with each other to to it together. It suits casual attire and austere style as well. All the bags are hand made and made of soft genuine leather.




1. Kxenia Sukhinova 2. Halle Berry 3. Freida Pinto 4. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy 5. Anne Hathaway 6. Katherine Heigl 7. Kate Winslet 8. Julia Roberts 9. Ingeboga Dapkunaite

Man Fashion: What is Cost Per Wear?

As I shared with you before, in this economy turmoil, We’ve all been faced with the dilemma of finding the right clothing to add to our wardrobe as well as justification to spend the amount of cash, more so for these days, fashionable items can cost a pretty penny. So, the great way is to adopt the mathematic calculation that I shared with you previously, cost per wear (CPW). To figure out how to save money with the CPW formula, simply divide the original cost of the item by the estimated number of times you will wear that item. When you look at it this way, you’re looking at a way to save money with the CPW formula.


Let’s take a pair of pricey men’s jeans for example: High-end jeans have become pretty commonplace and are now a necessary item to have in your closet. For the average man, a $150 pair of jeans will probably yield 40 wears over the course of a year. We’d apply the CPW formula by taking the price divided by the number of wears — in this case it’s $150/50. Suddenly, the $200 pair of jeans that you’ve been eyeing becomes a sensible purchase once you apply the CPW formula and realize you’re essentially paying $3 per wear.


Keep in mind, an acceptable cost per wear will vary from person to person. A few factors should go into determining a CPW that is right for you. Start by calculating your annual clothing budget and the number of garments you are likely to buy over the course of a year. Try to cover the following categories:


So keep in mind that this article is not trying to ask you to spend more. Rather, more about spending wisely. Make your dollars make sense and use the CPW formula to save money and set your mind at ease the next time you’re face-to-face with a hefty price point.

Pictures of Real Products

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Item#: K127 (Red)

K128 (Brown)

K129(Hotpink)

K130(White)

Measurement: (18cm*13.5*2.5)

Price: S$32S$23

Man Fashion: Trousers of Best Fit?

So why is the generally recommended length for men’s trousers? Because it creates a clean line at the back of the trouser, adding to the lengthening silhouette that is the suit’s main aesthetic advantage. Because when a man is walking it looks more elegant if his suit trousers flap less and expose less of his ankle.


If the trouser were longer, it would create a puddle of folds that could ruin the silhouette of a suit, dragging the eye down and making a man look shorter. If the trouser were shorter, it would flap around the ankle and remove any elegance – probably reminding the viewer of a schoolboy in short pants.


To quote one famous Italian “I don’t necessarily want people to see my socks, but I want to make sure they can see my shoes.”

Now, if men on the continent simply wore their trousers shorter, they would encounter the aforementioned problem with flapping. But they aware of the rules and why they exist. So they wear their trousers narrower as well, fitting them closer to the ankle and minimizing any flapping.

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Technorati Tags: Men Fashio, Men Trousers, Men Pants, Designer Trousers

Men Fashion: Top 5 Colognes for Men in this Summer

Whether the Night out is formal black tie or casual cocktail, your cologne should be just as elegant and match your style. Find out the five of the season's top special-occasion fragrances.


TOM FORD EXTREME
$125, Saks Fifth Avenue
This cologne, with Thai basil and Italian black fig, will last until you loosen your bow tie.

DSQUARED HE WOOD
$59, Sephora
Vetiver and musk make this powerful fragrance best for parties that don't start until well after cocktail hour.

BECKHAM SIGNATURE FOR HIM
$50, Macy's
The spicy juniper-berry-and-patchouli blend is meant to stand out—a good thing when everyone's wearing the same suit.

GUCCI BY GUCCI POUR HOMME
$70, Bloomingdale's
A mix of violet and cedarwood, this scent is as classic as barrel cuff links.

ARMANI/PRIVÉ
Oranger Alhambra ($115), Giorgio Armani Beauty
If you're a skip-the-vest guy, try this lighter scent with bitter orange and rosemary.

THE CLASSIC: CREED, GREEN IRISH TWEED
$250, Neiman Marcus
The iris-and-sandalwood scent doesn't guarantee you pretty young things, but it might give you some of Grant's legendary ease in eveningwear. Just ask Russell Crowe and Tom Hanks, who've tried it out.

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Technorati Tags: Man Fashion, Men Cologne, Men Scent, Tom Ford, Gucci, Men Fragrances

The search for the ultimate pair of jeans...

So I went into TopShop on Thursday after school in the hope that I would find a nice new pair of jeans to where to Evolution (which is today- excited!)
How wrong I was.

All the jeans they had were 80's throwback, ripped and torn bleached denim. Or lots of pairs of jeggings (the jeans/leggings hybrid)
It's not even that I have a problem with these style jeans it's just that I don't like them on me.
So I picked out 6 pairs of what seemed like decent jeans but they all were either too big/too small/too baggy in the wrong places/too tight in the wrong places/wrong colour etc.

On one particular pair of "What was I thinking even picking these off he rack" jeans, which had everything going on (buttons, zips up the leg, bleached, ripped, the whole shebang) I refused to come out of the changing room in them. When my friend demanded to see them and I denied she tore open the curtain in front of the whole TopShop changing room and laughed out loud at the sight of me.
Not exactly the look I was going for (even though I can't blame her; I looked ridiculous)

But seriously is it that hard to find a pair of dark blue skinny (but not drainpipe cut-off-all-the-circulation-to-your-calves-tight) jeans?

Beth's search for the perfect pair of jeans continues...

Academic Art by Leibovitz

These two images are by the famous American portrait photographer Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz.

She made them for the Lavazza Calendar 2009.


Despite I got no special paintings as model for this images, I find them very typical in the style of 19th century academic painting.

There is the narrative arrangement, the perfect surface, the cool colors and the subjects: a couple on a bridge over the Tiber and Romulus and Remus in the Colosseum.

Sure that Leibovitz got more irony than these academic painters but anyhow it’s a kind of quotation, not of a special painting but of a style.

Evolution Festival 09

Sooo excited about the Evolution Festival this weekend!

It is from Sunday to Bank Holiday Monday and Dizzee Rascal, Little Boots, White Lies, Mystery Jets, Friendly Fires, Ladyhawke and VV Brown are among the people performing even though there will be an indoor stage with loads of unsigned bands playing on top of that.

Festivals like this hardly ever happen in Newcastle so I am really looking forward to it.

Friends + Music (+ hopefully some sunshine) = Perfect Bank Holiday Weekend!
Now I just need to figure out what I am going to wear...

Ladyhawke

VV Brown

Little Boots

Le Jean Destroy...

"Déchirant" cette tendance du jean destroy !

Balmain, Dsquared, Ruffian, Diesel etc...les ont fait défiler...

Balmain


Ruffian

William Rast

Les people s'en parent et nous on cherche par tous les moyens à dénicher la perle rare à moindre coût, car au prix du coût de couteau sur le denim, on n'a pas vraiment droit à l'erreur...on peut toujours s'amuser à le lacérer nous même, mais forcément il y aura toujours quelque chose qui ne tournera pas rond !! la petite étiquette qui fait défaut, la forme qui déforme, les trous mal troués ou mal placés...alors il faut se rendre à l'évidence le jean déglingué c'est tout un art...



J'avoue avoir eu ma période jean troué, pour mes années du bac...incompréhension totale de mes parents....ébahis par tous ces outrages que mes jeans avaient subi.




Puis je me suis assagie, revenant à un style plus sage, avec de l'APC bien brut...Mais voilà qu'aujourd'hui , mes créateurs chéris me ressortent le denim de mes 20 ans...il va bien falloir que je m'y remette...


Du Current Elliott, j'adhère...




Du Citizens of Humanity, c'est pas mal non plus !



Une fois l'heureux élu entré dans ma penderie,c'est un peu comme la Belle et la bête...du destroy ne peut aller qu'avec du sophistiqué et du beau. Du loose avec du loose...ne m'emballe pas vraiment...c'est définitivement too much. Alors on opte pour une belle chemise, un beau blazer ou encore une blouse en dentelle, côté accesoire, un seul mot d'ordre...du haut, du très haut talon !!



L'histoire se termine...il ne reste plus qu'à expliquer tout cela à mon entourrage, mais non je ne suis pas tombée ce matin, mais non je ne suis pas une "fashion- victim", je suis juste une fille dans le vent , ah ah ah!!!

Fairy Tales and Fantasy...

Photograph by the great Cecil Beaton

Nina Ricci S/S 09

Cavalli S/S 09

Dolce and Gabbana S/S 09

And sorry I cannot remember whose work is the following but they are pretty pictures so I will post them anyway...

Sweet Dreams...

B xx