The Web 4 People Of World
Do Choose a Sophisticated Monochromatic Look
Charlize Theron attends a dinner in New York
It takes a blast of cold air to get me in the mood for sweater shopping, but once the temps drop I’m a diehard sweater fan. My favorites (of course) are yummy cashmere because they are so soft and warm. This year I’m on the lookout for longer tunic-type sweaters to wear with my leggings (the ultimate in cozy chic). I also love giving sweaters as gifts, because there are so many great styles to choose from and something for every woman’s body and lifestyle.
The easiest way to balance a bottom-heavy figure is to choose a little black dress that skims over the lower half of the body. Fuller skirts, like this Eliza J dress, disguise heavy hips, while showing off the waist. A fitted halter or strapless silhouette — which accents a trim upper body — is very flattering for bottom-heavy figures.
Clothing is like a second skin. Everywhere you go, you have to wear clothes. It’s the law. After all, how many times have you seen the sign “No shirt. No shoes. No service” while you were out shopping? Granted it’s usually a convenience store sign, but the same basic principle applies everywhere. And even though you can shop online in your underwear, you’ll eventually have to leave the house. Trust us, your neighbors are hoping you’ll be wearing, at the very least, some Tommy Bahama® shorts and a Diesel® tank top.
And since they make stuff for just about any lifestyle, you’ll be hard pressed to find a reason why you don’t have to wear clothes. Some women keep their wardrobe as simple as a pair of 7 for All Mankind Jeans® and a Lucky Brand® t-shirt while other women glam it up with a fancy Calvin Klein® dress. Then, there are the men who love nothing more than an awesome suit or blazer by HUGO BOSS® while other dudes would rather wear Columbia® and Reef® cargo shorts and a …Lost® or O’Neill® hoodie.
When you look through the clothing stores, you’ll find a litany of men’s clothing, women’s clothing, kids’ clothing, boys’ clothing, and girls’ clothing. You’ll probably even find clothes for a dog. It is truly a dizzying assortment of shirts, pants, shorts, skirts, graphic t-shirts, jackets, coats, skinny jeans, regular jeans, maxi dresses, and oodles of kids clothes. Fortunately, you know your own style and can zone in on the perfect pair of cargos, khakis, or polos for whatever you have planned.
Clothes offer you the unique opportunity to say a little something about yourself. A summer dress could say you’re flirty, and a pant suit could say you’re serious about your job. Whatever you wear, make sure it says something about you and the lifestyle you lead. It’s a chance to let others in on who you are!
The night’s two most powerful nomination magnets—Mad Men and John Adams—both plumb American history, albeit about 200 years apart. It’s not unfitting then that there was a touch of nostalgia on the red carpet at the Emmys, as many actresses worked a no-fail formula for old Hollywood glamour: chandelier earrings, loose waves, and vivid siren gowns. Though Christian Siriano decried an absence of drama to E!, bold colors were in ample supply with Brooke Shields in fuchsia Badgley Mischka, Mariska Hargitay in marigold Carolina Herrera, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in salmon Narciso Rodriguez. Heidi Klum was one of the few to play against the type in an understated gunmetal gown by Armani Privé.
Some nabbed frocks piping hot from New York’s Spring runways. Kyra Sedgwick wore a L’Wren Scott slim white sheath with jeweled straps, while Tamara Mellon (who arrived with boyfriend Christian Slater) stayed true to her allegiances in breezy sapphire Halston. Eva Longoria Parker’s fringed and beaded number, just seen at Marchesa, was one of the few risks of the evening due to its sky-high hem. America Ferrera and Rachel Griffiths, who wore eighties Bob Mackie from Decades, opted for bona fide vintage. Others were merely vintage-inspired—witness Laura Dern’s seventies-inflected plum halter dress from Bill Blass or Marcia Cross’ fifties-style, full-skirted Elie Saab. Mad Men’s January Jones, a girl who’s spent enough time in a circle skirt, wore a white corseted Dolce & Gabbana, which gets points for being one of the night’s more unexpected choices. Shades of Madonna’s Like a Virgin tour? Perhaps—just call it a siren dress of a different kind.
Up the street from the tents at Bryant Park last night was another sartorial spectacle: the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. And whereas hemlines may fluctuate from season to season at the collections, any length will do at the VMAs, as long as it’s short.
Minidresses were practically de rigueur: The City’s Whitney Port wore sheer Christopher Kane, and Katy Perry poured herself into a sequins-and-spikes body-con Thierry Mugler. VJ Alexa Chung worked her signature prim-but-playful look in a Luella Fall 2007 dress featuring doily-like appliqués and a peekaboo black petticoat. Rose Byrne looked smashing in floral Marc Jacobs, and Leighton Meester looked shiny in a metallic Christian Cota frock.
And what’s a red carpet without Balmain these days? Shakira and Pink hammed it up together for the cameras upon realizing they had both shown up in look 16 from the Fall collection. The stage-crashing Kanye West, meanwhile, sported Balmain Homme, which he accessorized with a bottle of Hennessy and his date, Amber Rose (in a spandex python bodysuit).
Oh, and Lady Gaga came, too. In case you missed her, she arrived, accompanied by Kermit the Frog, in a feathers-and-lace Jean Paul Gaultier ensemble replete with a gold Phantom of the Opera-style mask. How, we wonder, will she manage to top this for tonight’s Marc Jacobs festivities?
We had high hopes for the 61st annual Emmy Awards red carpet—what with Mad Men, Grey Gardens, and the small-screen Coco Chanel movie garnering nominations, not to mention a pair of Gossip Girls on the list of presenters. But TV’s biggest stars mostly played it safe, falling into sartorial categories as distinct as the show’s new sectioned broadcast.
Fashion & Style
Shades of red dominated: Debra Messing looked stately in a Michael Kors column, House star Jennifer Morrison shone in minimal raspberry Calvin Klein Collection, and Blake Lively turned heads in a plunging fire-engine red Versace gown. The celebs for the most part bypassed asymmetric one-shoulder gowns, their ubiquity on the Spring runways notwithstanding, and opted instead for tried-and-true strapless looks, discreetly accentuated with bare necks. A very pregnant Heidi Klum glowed in skintight custom Marchesa, Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks was va-va-voom in L’Wren Scott, Hendricks’ co-star January Jones went with a dramatic Versace peplum gown, and Sandra Oh accessorized her gold metallic Marchesa with—you guessed it—red peep-toe pumps.
And while no one went to Gaga extremes, the usual suspects showed off their quirky individuality: Big Love’s Chloë Sevigny turned up in cheery polka-dot Isaac Mizrahi, while Grey Gardens’ Drew Barrymore subverted expectations by tucking away the jet-black tips she’s been sporting on her coif and channeling ladylike glamour in a chiffon-trimmed Monique Lhuillier ball gown. We think Little Edie would have approved.
“Everything is being downsized because of the recession; next year I’m starring in a movie called New Zealand,” said Oscars host and Australia leading man Hugh Jackman before his opening number at the 81st annual Academy Awards. But Jackman, performing with David Rockwell’s intimate-yet-swanky new stage set as a backdrop, brought a big dose of good old-fashioned showmanship to the task. And the recession didn’t do much to tone down the fashions or the jewels on the red carpet, either. Best Supporting Actress winner Penélope Cruz donned a Balmain couture gown circa 1950 that was worthy of a fairy-tale princess. “Has anyone ever fainted up here?” she asked from the podium. “I might be the first.” (The strapless Dior Couture Sarah Jessica Parker wore actually was tight enough to make the SATC star swoon.) Kate Winslet, who won Best Actress for The Reader, channeled the fifties as well, choosing a one-shoulder gray and black Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati number and doing up her blond locks Grace Kelly style.
Like Winslet, Marisa Tomei in pearl gray Versace, Heidi Klum in carmine red RM by Roland Mouret, and budding fashion darling Freida Pinto in blue John Galliano took cues from the recent runway shows, where asymmetric necklines were an important trend. But strapless was the big silhouette of the night, with Natalie Portman, Marion Cotillard, and Amy Adams wearing bustier gowns by Rodarte, Dior Couture, and Carolina Herrera respectively. The big color? White, be it Mickey Rourke’s Jean Paul Gaultier tuxedo, Jessica Biel’s strapless Prada, Anne Hathaway’s glowing paillette-covered Armani Privé, or Taraji P. Henson’s Roberto Cavalli.
Some came over low-key, like Angelina Jolie in black Elie Saab—well, low-key, except for those drop-dead Lorraine Schwartz emerald earrings and ring. Tilda Swinton, going off script as usual, skipped a gown in favor of a sand-colored blouse that matched her blond hair from her Oscar go-to guy, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz. But there was nothing downplayed about the moment when five previous Best Actress winners—Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Shirley MacLaine, and Sophia Loren—took the stage together to announce this year’s nominees. That lineup was a game argument for the continued relevance of glamour in “times like these.” And, as Kate Winslet implied in her acceptance speech, we can all dream, can’t we? “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t made a version of this speech when I was 8 years old staring into the bathroom mirror,” the British actress said. “It was a shampoo bottle then. Well, it’s not a shampoo bottle now.”
The show must go on Red Carpet
You would need to have been living under a stone to have missed the sudden ascent of Georgia May Jagger. The 17-year-old newcomer—in case you couldn’t tell from the pillow lips and tousled blonde locks—is the second-youngest fruit to fall from the tree of Mick and Jerry. With her ridiculously famous parents, she could have easily decamped for Ibiza (hi, Jade!) and lived off of her celebrity. Instead, she is putting her genes to work in the modeling biz (see apple; tree, not falling far from) and has already been pouting like a pro for photographers from Mario Sorrenti to Patrick Demarchelier. She transformed a campaign for the denim label Hudson into a steamy, topless romp, using the Union Jack in ways that would make the Queen blush. That turn, her first in front of the camera, racked up comparisons to Brigitte Bardot, and editorials in all kinds of Vogues followed, including the cover of the U.K. edition’s November issue.
Cipriani Wall Street was packed with some of the industry’s biggest talents for the Fashion Group International’s 26th annual Night of Stars yesterday. Host Simon Doonan embraced the evening’s “Storytellers” theme, opening the program with a rundown of the evening’s honorees by means of a comic tale that involved all of them helping Oscar de la Renta open a fictional Parisian strip club called Le Sexy J’Adore.
A bit less fancifully, de la Renta later accepted the Super Star Award from Grace Coddington and Hamish Bowles. As it turns out, the Vogue editors have had a bit of practice on stage together. “Years ago we did a magic act for Jean Paul Gaultier in Paris,” Bowles recalled. “I made Grace disappear and turn into Lily Cole.” There was to be no repeat performance here, though. “Oscar’s already done the magic,” the spotlight-averse Coddington joked. “Because he got me here.”
Stage fright was a theme. Referring to her nerves—not the food, thank goodness—Gwen Stefani whipped through her introduction of Beauty Award winner Catherine Walsh, “because I’m going to throw up right now,” she informed the audience. And before presenting the Humanitarian Award to Kenneth Cole, Jon Bon Jovi admitted he wasn’t in the habit of wearing black tie: “Unless it’s a wedding or a funeral. But I don’t play a lot of weddings.”
Neither, presumably, does Dita Von Teese, who came in crowned with a spidery Stephen Jones creation that looked as though it could poke out six sets of eyes at once. Honoree Victoire de Castellane, another headwear enthusiast, opted for a set of Louis Vuitton bunny ears and told us she’ll be incorporating more animals into her brief New York visit. “I’m going to the Bronx Zoo,” she said. “I love monkeys.”