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Saturday, July 31, 2010

From The Mailbox



Project Runway Seasons collide as Althea Harper meets Nick Verreos in Italy. Click here for details.

Season 6 designer Louise Black will be showing her latest collection at Austin Fashion Week on August 18th. Click here for details.

CNN.com looks at reality shows and why we love them.

Click here to meet the winners of a fashion consultation with Tim Gunn from "Addressing Psoriasis."

Babble.com selects the "Top 5 Coolest Gifts for Aspiring Fashionistas."

A.J. reminds The New York Post's Jarett Wieselman of Daniel Vosovic. What do you think?

Fashion rocks

As summertime is festival time, it�s high time to make your wardrobe ready for raucous parties.


But don�t think it is as easy as it seems. Musical festivals demand a thorough preparation. From tip to toe.

If you�re a total rookie in terms of open-air concerts, the best way to get inspiration is taking a leaf out of the star�s books. �Cause some of them are real experts.

Since I am desirous of showing you the European way of styling and partying, I instance Bianca Vaitl. She�s is a world-league-dj�s wife, a designer from Munich and she vacations in Interlaken (CH) at the Greenfield festival.

Her personal styling advices: �Only take a minimum of clothes along with you! And don�t forget about rubber boots, a rain cape, warm socks and a scarf which can be perfectly used as a sunscreen too.� Moreover, you need some basics, otherwise you would be in a fix: a bottle opener, a fixing pin, flashlight & earplugs .

Mischa Barton for Philipp Plein

We all know Mischa�s body-weight fluctuations. She literally goes through thick and thin but she�s back on track if there are new shoots. After her chubby timeout from business, she could land a job for Philipp Plein.


The German designer began his fashion career in 2004. With his street-fashion collection he set the stage for his first store in the high-end club �P1� in Munich. With his �Heavy metal collection� in 2008, he outfitted Heidi Klum�s �Germany�s next top models� in Barcelona & contracted Naomi Campbell & Marcus Schenkenberg for a �Vogue� campaign. Not till then, he made his career.


For the most of us, his clothing is probably prohibitive. But this amazing collection & Mischa Barton are really worth a look.




Episode 2 Sneak Peek

Episode 1 Online - "And Sew It Begins"


Don't forget that you can watch Project Runway Episode 1 Online by clicking here at myLifetime.com or On Demand with your cable provider.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Season 8 Premiere - Empire Hotel NYC



Project Runway Designers from several seasons joined Heidi Klum on Wednesday night at The Empire Hotel for the Season 8 Premiere. All photos Killian/WireImage.


Logan Neitzel - Season 6


Carol Hannah Whitfield - Season 6


Ben Chmura - Season 7


Althea Harper - Season 6


Christopher Straub - Season 6


Ivy Higa - Season 8


Nicolas Putvinsky - Season 6

Welcome to Be Beautiful

Welcome to Be Beautiful which is a one month special that focuses on all things beautiful. I am talking about beauty products, brands and events and I will be featuring some great beauty bloggers to get things from their perspectives. We will kick off with Blogger of the Month featuring Erin Bailey from Scandalous Beauty and then there will be the usual My Space specials with four bloggers who are whipping blogsphere into a frenzy. I will also be featuring a special series called 'How I Get Pretty' which will be about a beauty blogger discussing all the products that she uses everyday that makes her feel wonderful. On top of that there will be a post about the marketing and branding of beauty brands as well as a review of Accidental Diva by Tia Williams which is a tale about a beauty editor living the high life in New York. So August will be a pretty packed month here on London Fashion Trends, also there is a special event that I am involved in called You're Beautiful, Woman! which celebrate Black beauty in all forms. It takes place on Saturday 7th August in London and will be packed full of seminars, workshops as well as a vibrant marketplace. Topics such as fashion, hair, fitness and health will be covered and it will be hosted by TV presenter, Rhoda Wilson who has a slot on SKY.  Tickets are �5 online and �7.50 on the door.

For more information about You're Beautiful, Woman! just check out the website.

Private Sale - Get Them Before They're Gone

The sale is on and pieces are selling out fast. There is only one day left of the SeenON sale featuring collections by Project Runway winner Seth Aaron Henderson and the top designers of Season 7.

Jay Nicolas Sario, Anthony Williams, Janeane Marie Ceccanti, Amy Sarabi, Ben Chmura and Jesse LeNoir each had collections walk the runway at NY Fashion week in February. Now these one-of-a-kind pieces are available at SeenON.com until tomorrow night at 6pm, when they�ll be gone forever. This is your chance to get a piece of the runway. Click here to start shopping.

Under the Gunn: Episode 1

Designers Dish: Episode 1

Fashion Camp comes to Nigeria

You would have to be under a rock not to be aware of the drama surrounding the newly appointed fashion director of Essence magazine. The outcry is that Essence which is aimed at Black women has decided to hire a white lady to head up the fashion department. A huge number of African Americans feel that it is hard enough for people of colour to break into the mainstream fashion/magazine industry so publications like Essence offered an alternative route. I can see both sides of the argument but my opinion is that if she is the best person for the job then she should be left to get on with it.  Of course this is an idealistic stance and we all know that the world we live in is far from ideal, so in order to combat this some people have created their own initiatives in order for us to get to an even platform.

Take Arieta Mujay who has founded Fashion Camp which is an event based in Nigeria that sets out to nurture budding fashionistas. It takes place in Lagos over a week and will be full of seminars on styling, photography, the art of design, fashion PR, blogging, visuals and graphics. The aim is to equip teenagers with information on the ins and outs of the fashion industry. Arieta who is a well respected stylist has enrolled the help of successful fashionistas such as Biki John who is a stylist and fashion writer, Deola Sagoe who is one of Nigeria's celebrated fashion designers and Bella Naija which is one of Nigeria's most popular blogs.

Fashion Camp takes place from 2nd to 8th August.

The Best Concert of my Life - as seen in The Cocoa Diaries

Last week the lovely, Keysha from The Cocoa Diaries featured me in her blog. She is running a series called 'The Best Concert of my Life' where different writers and bloggers talk about the concert that had the most impact on them. Over the last few weeks she has featured author, Lola Jaye, Janice Spence from Mad News and more recently Adenike Adenitire from I Miss the Old School. Lola's favorite concert was Ledisi, Janice's was Mary J Blige and Adenike's was New Kids on the Block. Click here to find out who I chose.

Poll - Episode 1 - Your Turn to be the Judge




Photos: 1). A.J., 2). Andy, 3). April, 4). Casanova, 5). Christopher
6). Gretchen, 7). Ivy, 8). Jason, 9). Kristin, 10). McKell, 11). Michael C.
12). Michael D., 13). Mondo, 14). Nicholas, 15). Peach, 16). Sarah and
17). Valerie
Photos courtesy of ProjectRunway.com. Click to see a larger view.


You've seen the designs on the runway and now it's your turn to be the judges. This week you are Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors and Selma Blair.

Click here to tell us who you thought should have won the challenge.

Click here to tell us who you thought should have been auf'd.

a top tenner

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One significant benefit of keeping a blog is that, unlike a kitten or a tomato plant, it doesn't actually die if you neglect it. Not that it flourishes either, but at least it doesn't develop abandonment issues and simply stop calling. Or whatever. I've been too busy, blah, blah, blah, to write here lately and what with organising the Filling Station feast and the SALON (LONDON) Secret exhibition, working at my mag job and trying to finish my PhD by the end of September, regularly updating here has sadly been relegated to the bottom of my list of priorities. Thankfully, the lovely art team at Spoonfed have included RoWS on their top-ten London art bloggers list and kicked my ass into gear about posting here again.

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It's funny because a lot of other bloggers I know say they go through periods of not posting because they haven't got anything to write about. This is most definitely not my problem: in the last few weeks I've experienced my first F�te Nationale in Paris, rocked out at my first party in a fire station, seen the Nederlands Dans Theater TWICE, had my bike rescued by three firemen in a big fire truck, cooed over baby goats at the Lambeth Country Fair, danced my legs off at Lovebox, sipped a Campari and soda on top of Hannah Barry's car park cum sculpture exhibition in Peckham, spent three glorious days at Secret Garden Party, checked out the latest in digital art at the Creators Project, learned about the Complete History of Food with Bompas and Parr, hit up a bowling alley in West London, been mesmerised by Antony Gormley's Breathing Room III at the White Cube, printed my own t-shirt with the super cute Hit + Run boys, seen Toro y Moi jam out all bass-heavy-like, and tasted earl grey and victoria sponge ice cream made with liquid nitrogen. Quite a backlog, right? Right. So, I'll endeavour to get back on a semi-regular posting regime.  Especially seeing as this Saturday I'm going to Glyndebourne to see Don Giovanni, followed by the boys' -  my mates who run the We Are Not a Rock Band music blog - summer warehouse party in Hoxton. Mozart meets electro/disco! Even I don't understand myself sometimes.

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To the power of fun.

berlin: khakis


REYKJAV�K - sunna, s�braut, 07/08/10




The photos of the two first days at LungA Festival in Iceland are up on my visual diary.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Reactions To The Season 8 Premiere

Photo: Barbara Nitke/Lifetime Television

Project Runway returned for its 8th season tonight, bigger than ever before. But was it better? Post your reactions to Episode 1 here.

Season 8 Premiere Party!

Photo: Courtesy of Lifetime Television

Greetings BPR party people - we're back! Project Runway kicks off Season 8 tonight and the BPR party room is ready for action. Join friends and fans from across the land as we watch Episode 1 together.

Season 8 comes to us super-sized, now 50% bigger! We will keep the party room open all episode long and keep it running for those of you who hang around for "On the Road with Austin & Santino" which airs immediately afterward. The fun has just begun so just click on the comments and come on in!

BPR Live Play-By-Play: Season 8 Premiere

Bat for Lashes - I'm on fire

Florence & The Machine � Heavy in Your Arms

Private Sale Live NOW



The Season 7 Private Sale is live now with the 'secret collection' of winner Seth Aaron Henderson and six of the top designers from season 7! These are one-of-a-kind designs and are gone when sold. Unlike auctions, waiting is not recommended! But you must be a member of SeenON to shop. Not a SeenON member yet? Click here for your exclusive invitation.

Sia - My Love

Tonight On BPR

Photo: Barbara Nitke/Lifetime Television

Welcome home Runway fans! Tonight is the big Season 8 premiere of Project Runway. And just look at all of those harried, fresh faces. Why in the world are they frantically rifling through their suitcases?

Eight seasons, can you believe it? Team BPR is still here, ready for another round of fashion and fun. Here's the plan for Episode 1:

  • The party room is back and bigger than ever! We'll be covering all 90 minutes of the S8 premiere and keep the room open for all of you who want to hang around for "On the Road with Austin & Santino" right after. New starting time of 9:00 p.m. means the party room opens at 8:30 p.m. Come say hello to all of your old BPR friends and make some new ones, too.
  • Tbone and suzq are back and will be providing live play by play coverage all season long. For those without access to Lifetime or can't wait for the show in your timezone, we'll describe all the action as it airs live from the east coast.
  • After the show, stop in and share your thoughts in our weekly reactions thread.
We're getting excited - see you tonight on BPR!

Happy Birthday Tim Gunn!



(Our thanks to The Minx for this fabulous image!)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Private Sale of Season 7 Collections


Need another reason to get excited about the Project Runway Season 8 premiere tomorrow? How about access to an exclusive members-only sale featuring runway collections by winner Seth Aaron Henderson and six of the top designers from season 7!

Seth Aaron created a runway-ready collection that has never been seen by the public ... a collection full of eye-catching graphics and modern cuts that is being made exclusively to you.

Starting at noon (Eastern/9am PST) on premiere day (July 29th), Seth�s secret collection, along with the entire runway collections shown by Season 7 designers Jay Nicolas Sario, Anthony Williams, Janeane Marie Ceccanti, Amy Sarabi, Ben Chmura and Jesse LeNoir, will go on sale at SeenON.com. But you must be a member of SeenON and sign in early to get one of these hand-made, one-of-a-kind pieces, because once sold, they�ll be gone forever. Not a SeenON member yet? Click here for your exclusive invitation.

REYKJAV�K - l�f, gunnarbraut & elisabeth, grasagar�urinn, 07/11-12/10



Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Video - Season 8 Designers Speak Up

Our friends at Popsugar tv have a video featuring the Project Runway Season 8 designers:

Fine feathers make fine birds

Intro to the new style guide
 

Whatever they wear - their clothes are stylish. No matter what they do - they're hip.  It's almost a matter of common knowledge: Stars have the right touch what concerns fashion. Is it just because of their fashion adviser?
I think everybody knows the problem: Every morning you stand helpless in front of your closet not knowing what to don. And although the wardrobe is jam-packed, it seems if there's no wearable outfit at all. An issue of the average folk? Sometimes I do think so. 
Stars have a walk-over: They are lousy with cash & are able to purchase the latest fashion trends. And what has to be added: Almost every garment they don mutates into the next it-piece. That's so unfair. So, I started grappling about their secret. And I cracked it. The following article will enlighten you.

How to find your personal style

As I already mentioned it's hard for "the average joe" to find the personal distinctive style.
A glance at the wardrobe reveals ...

... the problems:

  1. too many cloths
  2. various different styles
  3. no semblance of order 
  4. no leitmotif
The solution:

As I rank among these (pretty) lost causes, I conducted an experiment on my own and serve as a guinea pig. In recent years, I gathered lots of pieces of clothing: ready-made garment, loose fit, custom garment, glad rags & total mispurchases. In a nutshell, all and nothing. No way to find a continuous style. So I started to tidy up my wardrobe. (Attention should be paid to the fact that my wardrobe was chock-full so I needed a clothes rail for the leftovers)

Step one: Take stock

 











Attend to my words:
It doesn't make sense to go immediately shopping & to purchase new garments while not knowing what exactly stores in the most remote corners of your wardrobe.

Step two: Sorting


After you got a first overview of your clothes, try to seperate the articles of clothing you personal like from those you have never worn or which are quite honestly as ugly as sin and old-fashioned. But stand firm! And do really try to part with those things you would probably never ever wear. Then, make two decks. One for the things which are probably wearable and the other one for a sale to giving-away prices (at jumble sales or somewhere else.) Don't expect to make big bugs, be happy to earn some peanuts out of your sortings.




Step 3: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?

After the sorting out, please don't think you have not a rag to put on. There will be enough left, believe me. So now, it's time to don the remnants and to realise  what suits you and what not! It's helpful to use a big mirror & be honest to yourself. Make use of photographs, if you need them & take a picture of you wearing the outfit. A photograph never lies and unearths the truth.



Step 4: Regroup suitable outfits


As your wardrobe is mucked out now, you'll see it's much easier to create new outfits. Believe me, as time is money, the result is really time-saving. Now, you got a general idea of your favored garments & you can filter out which style you unconsciously trend to.



My personal result:
Lots of residual clothes hanger (as I sorted so many out)


And a much more tidy clothes rail (the rest is ready for jumble sale and stores in my wardrobe.)



My preliminary conclusion:
Much to my regret & I didn't find my ultimate personal style. I pretty much tend towards black-and-white outfits & the marine style & with a distinct tendency to rock chic (a result of my other clothing which is not shown on the photographs).

This sorting really disburdended me and helped a lot to get to know my style better. This experience has taught me one thing: Before purchasing a new garment I will deliberate whete I really need this article of clothing to avoid further bad buys.
Finally, I hope I could give you a little instruction if you're such a lost cause like I was.


Now it's your turn: Have you already identified your personal style? Or are you still straying around in the big, wide world of fashion?

OSLO - marianne, hegdehaugsveien, 07/24/10