Wicca March

Vera Wang is nowadays synonymous to weddings, greatly due to the exquisite couture wedding and bridesmaid gowns she makes. But the Chinese American fashion designer started her career by serving Vogue for 16 years as a senior fashion editor, and left in 1985 after she was turned down for the editor-in-chief position in favor of Anna Wintour. After a 2 year stint as a design director for Ralph Lauren she opened her own design salon that features her trademark bridal gowns.Her clientele ranged from Chelsea Clinton, Avril Lavigne, Victoria Beckham and most recently Kim Kardashian who wore three different gowns from the designer on her wedding day.

Avril Lavigne's wedding dress

  Chelsea Clinton

Wang is the subject of raging debate among runway familiars and fashion fanatics due to the A/W 2012 runways show she recently presented during New York's Bridal Fashion Week. The reason behind it is because out of the 15 dresses she presented, 9 of them were black! Yes black! the same color that is worn in times of mourning.

Why black would you ask? to which the designer replied "I found black to be fresh and tongue-in-cheek, with all the big weddings that happened this year, it was fun to step out of the box."

The black dresses were subject to many discussions, on social media outlets as well as among fashion critics and experts. Looking at pictures of the gowns , I realized what strikes out the most are the details , the work and skills that went into making the gowns. The exposed corsets, the tulle in hues of gray created a very goth look with the designer agreeing "I did take it to a witchy kind of place," but she quickly added "For me, it helped build a sense of mystery that I was hungry for. And it added this sensuality and sexuality, and a little bit of severity, too."

This collection seems to have personal ringing for the New York based designer who states that "No matter what people say, black is very associated with New York" and who wishes she had not worn the traditional white on her wedding day and blamed the conservative bridal industry for it. 

It is hard to understand Vera Wang's dramatic statement; paired up with the models' make up and tasseled tresses it had a very witchy aspect to it all, and clearly brought out a mysterious feel to the show.

For some brides, it might be a way of bringing red carpet glamour to the aisle. whereas for others it might be a statement dress to show their mourning of the loss of their independent status. only time will tell, how successful the dresses will be.

I personally really loved the off white, beige gowns at the beginning of the show and was pleasantly surprised by the black ones. The detailing in the pieces have to be acknowledged and appreciated.

My favorite in the black range

Diving for McQueen...

Cathy Horyn, the fashion journalist for The New York Times managed to enter the inner sanctum of the Alexander McQueen Atelier and the result is this short film clip of a conversation she had with Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen.
Sarah Burton explains the marine-inspired Spring 2012 collection and some of the work that goes into creating the beautiful pieces.


This video gives us a glimpse of the talent of both these women, Sarah Burton as the creative director of one of the most successful fashion houses and Cathy Horyn as a fashion critic who's opinion is highly noted in the industry. They also provide invaluable advice to young people who want to craft a career in fashion or fashion journalism.


There is no denying Sarah Burton is doing great job keeping Lee McQueen's memory alive through her creativity, inspiration and talent.


Dustin Lynn the creator of this film captured not only the essence of the Spring collection but also the essence of these two women. Because after all ‘The McQueen woman has to feel powerful. She’s never a girly girl, she’s always a woman.'

Andrea Klarin- Photographer

I recently became familiar with the work of Andrea Klarin, a Fashion photographer who's work is truely inspiring. Klarin was born in Belgrade and at the age of 22 decided to pursue studies in photography at Belgium's INRACI.

Klarin describes his work as a constant need to move and evolve and this can easily be seen in his pictures; some of them being featured below. These ideologies are very representative of the Fashion world, which is always on the move and constantly evolving. Not having had a formal apprenticeship by assisting a photographer, he used fashion magazines as his main education, calling the different editions of Vogue (Italian, German & French) his Bible of Fashion Photography.

Klarin also states that he idealizes beauty and elegance, and his pictures are definite reflections of elegance,chic and glamour.

below are a few pictures of  Andrea Klarin's work that i have selected. Enjoy!

I really like how Klarin uses contrast in his Black and White pictures.

His use of Angles really draws attention, and how he uses the model's figure as a contrast to the background.

Andrea Klarin has photographed several celebrities; Christian Louboutin , pictured below with one of his famous red soled shoes is only one of them.

He has also worked with fashion brands to create Advertising campaigns. This picture for Swarovski embodies all Klarin is about- elegance, chic and movement.

For more of the Photographer's work, please click on the following link: http://www.andreaklarin.com/

Product Review 24 Oct

Being in PR, I spend a lot of time Media Monitoring and a component of this activity is, dissecting TV commercials to get new ideas and inspirations. I have seen the Maybelline Fit Me Foundation advert a few times but never really gave it a thought, as I was very satisfied with my usual brand of Clinique Perfectly real Makeup.

Link to the Maybelline advert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE1zugEQf0w

On a shopping trip last week, I came across the Maybelline Display and decided to give it a try. Already, while trying it on my hand it felt really nice and the tone blended well to my skin. The price being ridiculously good I decided to buy it...

The next morning I took a massive gamble deciding not to wear my usual foundation to work but to instead use the Maybelline one. My foundation brush dabbed into the thin liquid it easily slid on my face.The whole experience of applying foundation was very enjoyable as it felt light and airy. Looking at myself in the mirror I realized how well the product blended with my skin tone and there was no real difference, the texture was just amazing it felt light, creamy and smooth plus it gave a satin like finish to my face and neck area.
The fact that it does not cake or blotch is perfect, specially for a long day.

The only thing is, the foundation being oily, it can have a tendency of making your eye liner seem slightly runny. The best remedy for that, is to go easy on the product around the eye area and then dab your under eye with powder to give it a a mattifying effect. Upon trying this, runny eyeliner was no longer an issue.

I would recommend the product to people who have normal to dry skin. You will love the texture, the lightness of the product and the overall look. It might be a bit too much for people with oily skin types.

Maybelline Fit Me claims that it :

• Matches natural tone
• Blends seamlessly
• Lets skin breath

And that is exactly what it does!Just make sure to carefully select the right tone that will Fit You!

Inspiration

Inspirational Quote of the day!

Beautiful...

While browsing today, I inadvertently stumbled across this picture on a Graphic Design Blog. 

On a first glance it looks like nothing more than a beautiful African-American woman- who could be a celebrity/singer or performer. But on a closer look it appears that this picture is actually made of writings, with the word ' Beautiful' striking out on top of her left eye.

What I found even more 'Beautiful'; was how after carefully trying to make out the words or phrases I started to sing along. That is when I realized that this picture is made up with segments of Bob Marley lyrics and sayings. Paying close attention, one can word out phrases like 'Roots Rock Reggae', 'Open your eyes and look within, are you satisfied with the life you're living' or the famous 'Iron Lion Zion'

It is no coincidence that the word 'Beautiful' is the one striking out in Bold, because there is seriously no other word to qualify this picture.

Similar pictures can be found on the following Blog:
http://www.youthedesigner.com/2010/03/16/showcase-of-creative-and-inspiring-text-art/

New addiction!

I finally managed to get my hands on this little gem- Chanel nailpolish in Péridot!

I was like a little girl when i sat down for a home manicure session and patiently applied the golden liquid on my well shapped and buffed nails.
It is amazing how the nailpolish captures the surrounding light and shines from any angle you look at it…the Green hues give the Gold a 3D effect that never fails to attract attention.

The Péridot being my new favorite thing ever, i would highly recommend!