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Sunday, February 28, 2010

High Society

"I used to be a socialite and now I just write a lot" is a certainly a statement that makes you sit up and take notice. It was one of the first things that drew me to the blog and after reading a few posts I was hooked. Social Writers contains everything that I need in a blog; music (lots of it), films, TV, sport and entertainment news and it is also written from a lighthearted perspective but minus the snark.  It is produced by a close knit team of four people, three of which are freelance journalists and one who is a bloggert. The socialites aka Kaydine, Reah, Richard and Karlito who collate their stories from various sources in an attempt to keep us all entertained. I caught up with the four of them to find out what life is like post socialite life.

What is the concept behind Social Writers and how did you come up with the name? 
Kaydine: The concept behind Social Writers was that I am a freelance journalist and many people call me a socialite/social butterfly - so I combined the two terms and created Social Writers. So the blog combines the things we encounter whilst out socialising, whether it be at an event or on Twitter, and things we want to write about. 

What made you start blogging?
Kaydine: I started blogging to keep my creative juices flowing as I was making the transition from journalism to PR as my choice of career. A lot of publications were shutting down, so I decided blogging was a way for me to continue writing, and it gave me an opportunity to write about topics I was passionate about.
Reah: I wanted to write about the things that interest me, on a regular basis, in the hope that others would also find it interesting

Richard: I was introduced to blogging at University and took a short course in it which I enjoyed. The idea of giving anybody a platform for which they can tackle issues that affect society, culture or whatever their particular interest is, excites me.
Karlito: I've had an overly keen interest in everything to do with entertainment, and a very creative and over-active imagination. I also have no kind of journalism training whatsoever but I think sometimes you are presented with opportunites that you can't let pass by, so I decided to take a chance with Social Writers and I haven't looked back since. 

How many people are behind Social Writers?
Kaydine: There are four people behind Social Writers; Karlito, who turned into a blogger overnight with no experience in blogging or journalism, and two of my friends, Reah and Richard, that I went to university with who are also freelance journalists. 

How do you think bloggers have made an impact on the media?
Karlito: I think it gives a wider range of people a voice and also reaches out to more consumers as not everyone watches the news or picks up papers and magazines on a daily basis. I also think it keeps established writers in major companies on their toes as a lot of independent writers are better than them but just didn't get the same lucky break(s). I guess you could say bloggers (should) have one ear to the 'street' as they say and therefore could be more in touch.
Kaydine: Bloggers have become a big part of the media: people no longer have to turn to traditional media outlets to read a story, they can read a story on a blog seconds after the story has been broken. Blogs allow people to have a voice and to share views.Richard: Bloggers have had a major impact on media due to the fact blogging offers something quite rewarding that a newspaper cannot. There�s a true sense of freedom of speech when it comes to blogging because  when given a PC, a web page, YouTube, and some pictures, you can truly let the mind run free without anybody telling you cannot share your views.  The views can sometimes dangerous, and may not be everyones cup of tea but hey that�s the fun of it all.
Reah: Bloggers have made an incredible impact on the media. Blogging has created user generated content, people no longer have to rely on tradition forms of media outlets ( newspapers, the evening news ect) to inform them on worldly events. Anyone can become a blogger and write about things that interests them and other like minded people, that you may not find in your daily newspaper.  Thus creating the 'citizen journalist'. Therefore this has created a huge pressure on the media, because blogging has created an increase in the speed of how people actively receive news and as such, has placed a level of power in the hands of the average blogger. Not that I would want to go on any further... 

What do you do when you are not blogging?
Reah: Looking for things to blog, ( if I don't write, then I aint right! lol), listening to music, reading, eating, partake in the usual Facebook and Twitter banter,oh and I do a spot of living in between.
Kaydine: When I'm not blogging I'm getting on with my job as a Digital Liaison Officer (Online Publicist), tweeting away, or I'm catching up on all the TV shows that I've missed, dining out or socializing with friends. 
Karlito: I'm a youth and community worker so I do a lot of programme planning/activity organising for young people and help families with day-to-day problems/queries. Also partake in everything i write about, i.e.- music, films, theatre, fashion/shopping, clubbing & socialising etc...
Richard: When im not blogging im busy studying sports journalism, playing football, training at the gym, politicking about artists music and fashion, writing about artists music and fashion and generally living life like its golden. 

Describe a typical day.
Kaydine: Wake up, check my Blackberry for emails or Blackberry Messenger messages, make my way to work. Check my emails again, Twitter, Facebook etc and then I spend the rest of my day working on client projects, emailing/ringing bloggers, attending meetings and brainstorms and stuffing my face with food. After work if I don't have an event to work at or attend, I'll either go home and put my feet up in front of the TV, or you'll find me somewhere in central London dining out.Reah: I am up by 9.00am and washed and dressed. I check and reply to my emails. In between work, I roam the internet and hound my trusted news sources for the latest scoop. Check my favourite blogs and news site. Download music sent to me by my music affiliates via emails and blog links. Eventually I blog.
Richard: Wake up. Check the BBC site email accounts and media outlets for press releases. Try to write a to do list. Go for a 3 mile run. Return. Go to school. Read papers on the way for stories and depending on if those stories hold weight, blog in between lectures. Read more on train home. Hit the gym, then come home. Check email accounts. Sleep.
Karlito: A typical day usually consists of keeping up to date with the entertainment and gossip world, work deadlines and meetings, tweeting, catching up with friends. Going to sleep and do it all again the next day. 

Social Writers focuses on a lot of entertainment, where do you get your stories from?
Richard: There's a saying that once its happened, no news is news. We live in an age where its actually pretty hard to get �exclusives� because those in the public are are so media prone that they will try their best not to step out of line. With this in mind I recycle stories in mainsteam media, press releases help as well. Furthermore I work as a freelance journalist interviewing artists, and so forth so I usually get the scoop from that angle as well. Kaydine knows her industry wise, Reah's got the scoop on music and me and Karlito do too. Trending topics on Twitter help as well. 
Karlito: Reading a lot of papers, the net, chasing up rumors and hearsay, friends and associates, friends in significant places and listening to music.
Kaydine: Some stories I get from press releases I'm sent, others are from newspapers and observations of my own, e.g. watching an awards show, and others are from people's discussions on Twitter
Reah: 
We blog about anything that interests us or what we feel may interest our reader, whether it be entertainment, culture, world news or fashion. Therefore where we get our stories from, varies. 

Name five blogs that you read religiously
Kaydine: Mad News, The Musings of Ondo Lady (every Friday), necolebitchie.com, mashable.com and Social Writers.
Karlito: 
Social Writers, Bossip, Necole Bitchie, Milk and 2 Sugars, hithiphop.com
Richard:
RealTalkNY, Bossip, WorldstarHiphop, Football 365, The VF Blog
Reah:
Pinboard, Necole Bitchie, Eminence Grise, CWHATEYEC, Mad News 


How do you see Social Writers evolving over the next two years?

Reah: I want our passion for writing and our love for creativity to propel us to unimaginable heights!  
Kaydine: Maybe an addition to the team, with more of our own video content and hopefully we'll get out own website to host from.
Richard: 
Evolving to a .com site and eventually being the public�s first stop for all things entertainment. Simple.
 

You can check out Social Writers here.

You can follow them on Twitter here.

Sassa Salutes Summer 2010 Event

Sassa Swimwear 2010 Collection


Sassa salutes Summer 2010 by presenting its Summer Swimwear Collection last February 24, 2010 at ThreeSixty Resto Bar.

As soon as we arrived at the venue we were greeted with free gift certificates so we can shop for swimsuits along this tunnel.



Before the fashion show started we were offered great food and cocktail drinks. The swimwear showcasing began with Juddha Paolo as host.

The sunset beach party theme inspired this year's swimwear collection. Concentrating on bright solid colors with print accents, this collection radiates a real "beach" feel.

Ms. Gertie Hermanos, the designer, made pieces in color sets so that it will be easy to just mix and match bikini tops, bottoms, tank tops, swimsuits, and board shorts.

For beach lovers, their rash guards now come with UV Protection Factor 50+! Talk about looking fab and feeling protected against the sun's harmful rays.








Sponsors for the Sassa Salutes Summer 2010 show include Hawaiian Tropic, Sue�o de Espadrilles, and Lay Bare Waxing Salon.

Surprisingly, I won the grand prize for the raffle and got a free accommodation at Caylabne Bay Resort. Yay!

From the Mailbox



The Project Runway Season Six DVD is now available. Click here to order from Amazon.com.

Click here for a new interview with Ben Chmura from Tampa's Creative Loafing.

Click here for a new interview with Anthony Williams.

Click here for a great review of the Malan Breton Fall 2010 show from NY1.

Krakow: not so good for a play on words, but frickin awesome for a holiday

I visited Krakow for the very first time this weekend, however the chain of events that started the wheels of this visit in motion began in early 2004. In the Spring of that year, my first UK visa ran out and I was looking for something to occupy my time until I went back to the States to start law school in NYC. I was deciding between a field research trip to Bolivia, something else that I now can't seem to remember, or walking the Camino de Santiago. The latter ultimately won out and so it was I found myself in V�zelay, France about to walk the length of France and the breadth of Spain over the following two months (you can check out the map here - V�zelay is in the sort of middlish bit of France, not too far from Paris by train, and is incidentally a very lovely town and a quite nice place to visit).



Towards the end of my trip on the Camino, I met a man who later became quite an important figure in my life. I can't remember exactly when or where the conversation took place - if it was while we were on the Camino or after, but I remember having a conversation about a book called Salt. At the time, I couldn't fathom how anyone might find a book about the history of salt even remotely interesting, but then, as now, I'm still pretty good about following up on recommendations from people I respect and so I duly went out and purchased a copy of Mark Kurlansky's "Salt". Like most good stories, this one turned out to have a happy ending - of a kind - even though unlike a fairy tale, the closure came five years later instead of only two hours. I remember enjoying "Salt" at the time, but the thing that really captivated my imagination was the section where Kurlansky talked about the salt mine in Poland where the miners carved entire chapels out of salt caves that they had previously extracted all the salt from. I put the salt mines on my travel to-do list and then sort of forgot about them.


As part of my holistic package of un-ironic new year resolutions, I decided that I would try to travel at least once a month, even if it was only to Scotland. I'd just come back from Venice for NYE and was wondering where to go to next, when I remembered the salt mines and decided I had to go to Krakow. I booked the flights and in an extension of my recently developed policy re cultural events to not find out anything before the experience, just decided to rock up and wing it - not to read anything or to look at any pictures - nothing.


I haven't developed an especially articulate theory yet, but I'd wager a guess that there's some kind of equation to be made that goes something like expectation + experience = how good a time you have. I learned again last weekend that too much expectation can kill the experience itself stone-cold dead dead dead. But if you just rock up to the new experience open and ready for whatever, with zero expectations, that's when the magic happens. So up I dully rocked. And did Krackow kick ass? Hell yes it did.


What an awesome city! Take one part Stockholm, one part Berlin, and throw in a healthy dash of Paris for good measure: volia, Krakow. The food was AMAZING, the bars/coffee shops were quickly and plentiful, and the city is just stupidly lovely, like wandering into a fairy tale. Marvellous. My only complaint - and it's a rather small one - is that I couldn't find any place to listen to live music on Friday or Saturday that wasn't jazz. Don't get me wrong, I'm crazy about jazz, but sometimes a girl just needs to rock out a bit.


And low and behold (my, we're full of cliches today), I finally made it to the salt mines, which were every bit as incredible as I suspected/hoped they would be. If you want to know more, you can Wiki or read Kurlansky's fascinating book, but if you haven't been, what I really suggest you do is high tail it to Krakow ASAP. Marvellous place...












Alien Resurrection

Get away from her you bitch! Is what I was thinking while Bora Aksu clad models were catwalking past me. I have to say however, that thing Ripley killed never looked so stylish! Although not receiving much love from the crowd I questioned after the show, I enjoyed the collection. This four-time NEWGEN grant winner is extremely imaginative, the mixed-textile layering is a huge emerging trend, and his is very complex. Off-colours made an appearance again, from pale greys to peachy beige paired with intricate black leggings. Snake skin and metallic detailing added even more flair to already complicated knits and oversized hips.

Bora Aksu AW10 Trends: Alien, pale off-colours, oversized hips, extreme knits.
See all pictures here

Worth Getting Out of Bed for

After a late night of blowing off standing in yet another line, this time for the I-D/Christopher Kane party at Shorteditch house, I was woken up by the sounds of arrivals for the Peter Pilotto show. Diane Pernet, Suzy Meknes and Yasmin Le Bon amongst the rest. Since it was right across the street, within five minutes of rolling out of bed I was trotting over there in my killer heels, dark sunglasses and an all black get-up. Selfridges car park proved a worthy venue for this fabulous show. Greys and blacks mixed with colorful prints, splashes of metallics, fur, leather and gem stone accessories inspired by the interiors dominated the catwalk of BFA Emerging Talent winners - Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos.

Peter Pilotto AW10 Trends: Off-colours, mixed textiles, blurred lines, distorted prints.
See all images here

Todd Lynn AW2010

I was lucky enough to go to the Todd Lynn AW2010 show during London Fashion Week. I know it's almost been a week since I actually went, but life sometimes gets in the way of blogging! Anywho, I met up with Audrey from Frassy, and after a few cigarettes and a couple of coffees we headed into the BFC tent at Somerset House.

I have been a fan of Todd Lynn's work for the past few seasons, and he's really helped inspire some of the design work I've been doing, so I was really excited to see his new show - and he didn't disappoint.


The blurry pictures above are ones I took on my rubbish camera at the show, but there are more detailed images from the professionals at Elle below.


I am certainly no fashion journalist, so I shall leave the review to the professionals, but the elements I particularly like in this collection are: leather strapping over the shoulders and back, the armoured leather elbows, the dramatic use of fur, leather panelling, the earthy colour palette and the warrior-like hair. It is a collection which ticks all the right boxes for me, and although there s a lot of Gothic inspired fashion around at the moment, I just can't get enough!



Milan Fashion Week: Jil Sander, Fendi, Prada, Bottega Veneta


Jil Sander Ready To Wear Fall 2010

Fendi Ready To Wear Fall 2010

Prada Ready To Wear Fall 2010

Bottega Veneta Ready To Wear Fall 2010

MILAN - fashion week aw 10, day 3, 02/26/10




More MFW voguistas on vogue.it.

berlin: spring is here