Photos: Models.com / Click here for the first 4 covers!

Fashion of His Love : Lady Gaga : This bouncy and all the way uppity tribute to McQueen inspires fabulosity. But really, you could listen to every track ever laid by Mother Monster and have an excellent getting ready sesh.

Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag : James Brown : Get funky. He might even inspire you to wear that brand new purchase.

Wondaland : Janelle Monáe : Ethereally uplifting, it’ll get you ready for the wonderland you’re about to party at.

Flashing Lights : Kanye West : Prepare for the flashes from your personal (or professional) paparazzi.

Fancy : Drake : You fancy, huh?

Filthy and Gorgeous : Scissor Sisters : Cause you’re filthy and I’m gorgeous.

Young Hearts Run Free : Kym Mazelle : This might impede your getting ready process, unless your process involves spinning ’round in raining glitter.

Free Your Mind : En Vogue : And the rest will follow.

On Point : Electrik Red : Get an education on How To Be a Lady.

Hot for You : Brainstorm : Ten minutes of disco heaven.

Sexi Bitch : David Guetta ft Akon : Damn, they’ve laid out your getting ready aspirations.

Flashback : Calvin Harris : Reminisce about a great night while getting ready for another.

Bad Habits : Maxwell : Take a moment to slow it down a touch – good for eye makeup application.

Sleigh Bells : Kids : Dub steppin’ metal move.

Electric Feel : MGMT : Jolt some voltage into your body.

Just Can’t Get Enough : Depeche Mode : But remember Chanel’s golden rule, take off the last thing you put on.

Give Me Everything : Pitbull ft Ne Yo : Know what you want and sieze it all in the night.

Run the World : Beyoncé : B has started a revolution ‘pon de floor. Dress accordingly.

Don’t Wanna Go Home : Jason Derulo : Daylight come when you get home.

We R Who We R : Ke$ha : For the kinda night that’ll end all sloppy. You won’t remember, and it’s probably for the best.

You Make My Dreams Come True : Hall & Oates : Stay with the eighties for a moment more because, and I quote a Youtube comment, “This is exactly how I feel after sex? ……….. Every time.”

Just Dance : Lady Gaga : Gaga fittingly makes the list again with her epic first anthem to partying.

Revolver (one love remix) : Madonna & David Guetta : This one’s killer.

Not Myself Tonight : Christina Aguilera : Prepare yourself for a night where anything is possible.

Milkshake : Kelis : It’s not exactly the pre-game we had in mind, but if it brings all the boys to the yard…

Dancing On My Own : Robyn : What else would you be doing whilst getting dressed?

Ooh Yeah : Moby : Oh yeah, this song will get you pumped on the upbeat.

Prendre L’Air : Shy’m : Everything sounds better in French.

What do YOU listen to while getting all glam for an evening?

Fabulous photo courtesy of Flying Saucer

Having just completed her first full European tour with Kelis she will resume touring this Fall but this time with pop pixie Robyn in North America. Natalia’s forthcoming album “The Perfectionist” will be making a quick pit stop in record stores all around the world this January. In December of 2009, she released hype track “Zombie” that was employed with vampiric lyrics and an intriguing beat, which created massive Internet buzz. In early 2010 her “LoveKills” series hit the Internet via her label’s Vevo that gave us a visual look inside Natalia’s mind and ideas.  Months later “Activate My Heart” and leading single “Mirrors” dropped along with an album track listing with exciting credits from Dr. Dre’s prodigy and super pop producer Fernando Garibay.  With all the anticipation for her debut record I had decided to call up Natalia hours before her Pop Justice x CMJ event where she would perform samples from her new album exclusively for one night only.  It’s safe to say, she is ready to kill.

Alex Kazemi:   Hi Natalia, How are you?

Natalia Kills:  Hi! I’m fine, thank you! How are you?

Kazemi: I’m good!  I know you just got off tour with Kelis. How was it performing the new material?

Natalia Kills:  It’s wonderful! A few of my song leaked but it actually worked out to be a good thing because people were singing along right from the beginning to the end of the show. It’s really nice to be discovered and to be able to create a world that I can really invite people into in a live environment. It’s brilliant!

Kazemi: Ah yes! I saw some of your songs leaked, I really refuse to listen because I usually wait for the album. How do you feel about what the whole music industry has come to with this whole viral epidemic?

Natalia Kills: I think it’s wonderful, I feel that the world is acting so immediately to everything that we should be more appreciative of what’s going on. It’s amazing to me that I can express myself on something like Twitter and five thousand people (my followers) can tell me their opinion and give me their thoughts back and then it becomes a much more, personal and intimate relationship that you have with your audience. You become more unified. You get to grow with them and let them express what they like and what they’re enthusiastic about which gives you a good way to directly know what direction to continue in  to make people happy and to keep expressing yourself in the most productive way, I love it.

Kazemi: Isn’t it kind of a facade? Don’t you want them to still buy the music they’re listening too?

Natalia Kills: Yeah…. I guess so!  I don’t make music to make money; I was making albums when I was a waitress… I was literally making songs when I was thirteen, when I didn’t have or need to have job. It’s just my method of expression and this is how I survive by expressing myself and getting all my opinions and frustrations out there in a way that can be celebrated by people who have similar feelings. So for me it goes this way, I simply want people to have my music, if they can’t afford to buy it, I want you to have it anyway.  It is a sad world that we live in that we need money to make things work and if people don’t buy it, it means I’m less likely to have a second album, it’s probably going to take away from a video budget, and the video might not be as good. All the other unfortunate things that go with it, it will be sold in less places, people will hear about it and less people will spend money on marketing it then different countries might not have access to it, it’s a big shame we need money to make music to continue to survive but I want people to listen to my music anyway, regardless. If they choose to listen to illegally, that’s the way they want the music. It’s their decision!  I’m just happy they’re listening to it.

Kazemi: I’m still going to purchases songs and I encourage other people to buy music as well! It’s beautiful how you are so appreciative of people even getting a chance to listen to the music!  I know before the “kills” came into the picture, you were known as “Natalia Capuccini” the MySpace music star who created electro pop music about what a perfect woman would be… I know the robot influence has still stuck, where did you make the transition from being Natalia Cappuccini to Natalia Kills? Was this when you met Will.Iam?

Natalia: I’m so glad you know all of this… It’s funny, it’s really a transition like you said, and it’s not really a change. I made the Womannequin- EP. It was kinda like a demo cd for me and that’s when I met Will.  It was all about the perfect women and it was Electronic and it was pop and that’s exactly what I’m doing now, my album is called “The Perfectionist” and it’s about seeking through the struggle and celebrating the imperfections of life, for example: heartbreak, betrayal, being broke, being lost. That’s exactly what my album is about, now it’s just the evolution from my beginning. My real name is Natalia Cappucini and the kills came into it when I first signed with Cherry Tree and people encouraged me to be extremely direct about who I am, so people immediately get to know me and as perfection. What do you do when you’re looking for the best?

Kazemi: Oh yeah! I get it now [laughs]

Natalia: [laughs] it’s when you want to kill it. Yeah! So it’s Natalia Kills

Kazemi: Did you catch Will when he was working on the Black Eyed Peas record “The E.N.D?” When his whole futuristic/electric inspiration era came in…

Natalia:  Before that. Way before that! It was right after he had done his solo album, after the Fergie album… So before he was going to start working on the Black Eyed Peas album, he had decided he wanted to have a new alias/DJ. He worked on a project called Zuper Blahq, he was really getting into house and electro before it was even that popular. I’d been listening to at the time a lot of Sebastian, Daft Punk and that kind of music and we really just gelled together… My music has a very electronic feel in the moment in a kind of reference Giorgio Romoda. It’s not house music, it’s not even dance music to be honest but it still has a very euphoric feel.

Kazemi: Yeah, the production brings that.

Natalia: Yeah in the production, exactly. It has a drama to it, suspense, and emotion.  That’s how I have interpreted the whole movement me and Will initially met through.

Kazemi:  You met Justin Timberlake and Timbaland too right? Was that for album sessions or only on label terms?

Natalia:   It was on label terms, a lot of artists that are looking to develop and expand into every area of music because they want to give back and they want to see the qualities in new artists that they’ve obviously had in themselves and they want to give fresh people opportunities. Even though it was great, it was wonderful. Timbaland flew me to Miami; we met in London before and hung out there first. Same with Justin Timberlake. It was really nice but when I met Will, I said to myself this is the guy. He’s really not about making a sound for you, he’s about making the sound that already exists within you, so its true to you and unique and personal to you.

Kazemi: Would you say you guys are chemically alike?

Natalia: I believe so; we share the same view point. Music is a celebration and the honesty that exists within all of us and how you want to express it should be the way you approach music. Will loved the party scene, he loved the LA scene that’s how he expresses his music with The Black Eyed Peas and it’s very fun but with me, it’s much darker and at the same it’s still a celebration and still fun in the music but I approach it  in a much more dramatic way!

Kazemi: Yes, the top 40 stuff is nice sometimes but having a break from it is always good.  I am going to be quite honest with you, I was shocked when I found out “Mirrors” was produced by Akon as he does so much generic top 40 stuff, it’s very dark and fresh and exotic and something that was really cleansing to listen to as everything else on the radio sounds the same, same chord progressions, same party-lets-get-fucking-drunk-and-have-sex lyrics. I can’t figure out what the song is about, does it fall into the ‘everyone is a perfectionist’ muse?

Natalia: Being a perfectionist is about vanity and the self obsession and control and I really wanted to express this on the track “Mirrors.”   It’s not just self obsession, its also self critique. When you do have a certain level of self analysis, you know you really want control over everything like a perfectionist does, it can over lap into intimate situations and more hedonistic situations, I really wanted to make a celebration about desire, control and vanity in a song. When I first started working on the song, I was really inspired by the Eurhythmics and when I was expressing that to Akon, we really pushed it in that direction and a lot of people were comparing it to [Natalia sings "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by the Eurhythmics.] It’s very moody.

Kazemi: It takes you to a realm.

Natalia: Yeah! It’s hypnotic but at the same time it’s just me being myself within that parameter, I had a lot of fun with that song.

Kazemi: Was it a bit more explicit in its early stages?

Natalia: Totally! I don’t know if that version leaked but Akon was like “It would be so funny, if this was this lyric.”  Of course, we were having a laugh it was probably 5:30 in the morning, so I was like “Hahaha!  Ok! Why not!”   There is always more provocative versions because you’re in the studio and you’re expressing so quickly. With some of my songs I’ve changed the lyrics fifty  million times because I don’t rest until I’m satisfied  and you know just because I’m a song-writer doesn’t mean I get it right absolutely every single time… So I’m pretty sure, a million versions of everything will eventually explode into the world but that was a really fun moment with Akon, it was just as crazy as possible.

Kazemi: Did you write most of the album during the night?

Natalia: Definitely, I don’t think I can write in the day.

Kazemi:   So the rest of the album must rub off from “Mirrors?”  Lyrically, what inspired you and how did you become obsessed with perfection and how did one word, idea, goal become such a creative galaxy in your dimension?

Natalia:  Wow! Amazing! Well it’s interesting; I just really believe were all perfectionists. You know what it’s like when you’re a kid and your teacher asks you “Oh! What do you want to be when you grow up?” You are told stories and fairy tales, the prince and the princess and the knight fought the battle and the king and the queen and they won and everything is “I want to be an astronaut or I want to be a model.” We are all taught from day one  of our existence to follow an ideal  and good is good and that’s an ideal you should have and evil is bad and you shouldn’t  want to surround yourself around  anything bad.. Crime is bad, marriage and love is good… Don’t be too ambitious or you’ll get disappointed! Don’t try to get an artist job and get a degree and don’t be a singer and move to Hollywood [Laughs.] Were filled with this train of ideas and then were told “Don’t be too idealistic.”  My album and perfectionism is really about all of us, we all want the ideal… You know when you go on a date or you look for a job interview! You really are looking for the best! You go shopping, you don’t want the crappy coat, and you want the fresh coat. You don’t want the crappy shoes that have no style, you want the sick ones. That’s what it is, were all perfectionists were all looking for the ideal. Now the only thing I have to tell you are the album has nothing to do with perfection, perfectionism and perfection are absolutely separate.  It’s about dealing with things that have gone horribly wrong, dealing with struggle in the most perfect way and finding happiness through imperfection, through heartache, through betrayal, through being broke and not being successful. That’s what perfectionism is about to me, finding happiness through the disappointment.

Kazemi: It’s extremely fascinating and exciting! It’s incredible what inspiration can create!    As a debut album your songwriting/producing credits stand out nicely, you have Fernando Garibay covering the super pop, Akon, Jeff Bhasker and Ron Feemster, who did Early 2000 Brandy, the last Michael Jackson record and worked for Dr. Dre covering the R&B light. Working on this album, did you go into the project intentionally knowing you would oblige from having all these different sounds on one record or did it happen organically?

Natalia: I don’t know if you know I don’t just write my own songs, I co produce. So when I went into the studio with all these producers, I played exactly how I needed my sound to be like. What was wonderful is that they are all incredible musicians as well as incredible producers. So, they literally interpreted my idea in their most expressive way, the album only has one sound and that’s the Natalia Kills sound, it’s my sound. It’s because when we working on the music, everyone gave their own interpretation of their experience of being in my presence, working with me and being friends with me and laughing… I knew what I wanted and I was very specific, it’s my sound and it has to be dramatic and suspenseful, it’s inspired by film, Kate Bush, Queen, Depeche Mode. Everything, even rock bands Hendrix, Sex Pistol… When I went in the studio and had the opportunity to really explain to people my specific desires, they really did a wonderful job on interoperating a vision and sound that was created together!

Kazemi: What do you want a listener to get out of listening to your music? Do you want them to become robots and start to think that someone needs to activate someones heart; boys are zombies, mirrors cracks? If someone who has never heard of your music and they listen to it, what would you want their first impression and thought in their mind to be?

Natalia:  My music is honest, it’s a celebration of every situation and every emotion and that’s how I want people to feel. I don’t want people to feel like “Oh I can only be happy and dance to a dance track that’s talking about I’m drinking in a club and taking shots and shaking my body.” I want people to dance through the pain and through the suffering and if you don’t even have money to buy a drink, you are still dancing and having fun through that. It’s not necessarily about dancing; it’s about enjoyment and relating.  So, for my music it’s really about a celebration of everything! “Love Is A Suicide!”  The darkness of wonderland, the hedonism of mirrors, it’s about being able to celebrate every-situation. The heartbreak, the defeat, the disappointment, the betrayal and being able to really fist pump and dance through that!

Catch Natalia on tour with Robyn this fall:

11/5 – The Fillmore in Miami Beach, FL
11/6 – Club Firestone in Orlando, FL
11/7 – The Ritza Ybor in Tampa,FL
11/8 – Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, GA
11/10 – Terminal 5 in New York, NY
11/12 – The Sound Academy in Toronto, ON
11/13 – Metro in Chicago, IL
11/14 – Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis, MN
11/17 – Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA
11/19 – Venue Vancouver in Vancouver, BC
11/20 – Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR
11/21 – Neumos in Seattle, WA
11/23 – The Warfield in San Francisco, CA

and buy her Remix EP of her debut single, Mirrors, on iTunes tomorrow.

LINK LOVE: Alex Kazemi

Kelis gyrates to her techno driven song in everything from one shoulder gold sequined dresses with high slits to white fringed gowns worn with Native American inspired headpieces:

Kelis can go a little over the top at times, but in this video she was spot on. Her lashes were poppin, her face was beat, and her wardrobe married disco and funk–perfect for you to try in these last days of summer.

Get an inspired look with these items:

More Herve Leger…

And if you haven’t seen the video, watch it here:

What do you think of the song, video, and Kelis’ Look?

LINK LOVE:Style Inspiration: Kelis’ Video for 4th of July

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With the heat wave this summer reaching an all time high, many celebs are walking into salons asking for shorter cuts. With the hair off their backs it’s suddenly more manageable and easier to take a stroll down the street in the hot summer sun. Kristen Stewart, Rihanna, Janet Jackson, and Hayden Panettiere, are some of the most noted individuals to receive a shorter cut. From edgy colors to softer side bangs, these celebs all took a pretty bold plunge. To learn more about the short hair phenomenon I talked a bit with Latrice Strader, stylist and owner of Destiny De’ve hair salon and spa. Latrice, known for delivering vibrant colors and the latest styles, weighed in on summer’s newest trend:

Some girls avoid cutting their hair too short because they feel they aren’t edgy enough to pull it off. Do you think most girls can pull off a short hair do?

I believe there is a short style for every shaped face. Some face shapes allow you to go shorter than others. When considering a short cut you should consider the shape of your face, head, your hair texture and personality.

Out of Kristen, Rhianna, Hayden, and Janet, whose summer hairstyle do you like the best?

Kristen is my favorite.  I love fun styles and her haircut is very choppy and playful.  It is also the most flexible cut.

What’s the most popular hairstyle you’ve seen this season?

Layered bobs are frequently requested in my salon in addition to shaved sides similar to Rhianna’s latest style.  Long loose wave styles similar to what Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Kardashian wear are also very popular.

Have a lot of girls walked into your salon, Destiny De’ve, asking for a shorter hair cut for the summer?

We get tons of requests for shorter hair cuts in the summer months as well as throughout the year. My salons, Destiny De’Ve, is located close to a popular college and surrounded by young urban and trendy individuals. Most requests are for short pixie cuts, shave sides, generally fun and creative looks.  Most of our clients are inspired by celebrities when it comes to short hair styles like Rhianna, Victoria Beckham, Halle Berry and Kelis.  These are the top four celebrity style requests I receive year round.

What do you think is the biggest “hair don’t”, a style that most people are better off without?

A huge “hair don’t” in my book is greasy hair.  Hair should have body and movement. Too much oil weighs the hair down causing it to stick to your face. Hair lack luster serums and gloss should be used to avoid this problem.  When hair is oily and greasy, it’s time to shampoo and re-style your hair.

caption id=”attachment_2084″ align=”aligncenter” width=”355″ caption=”Kelis”/caption

Singer Kelis, who is known for her wild style and pop-tart lyrics celebrated the release of her new album with frien… Read more..

LINK LOVE:Kelis Parties Hard for New Album Celebration

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GALLERY: Glastonbury Festival 2010

Alexa Chung is always on top.

Emma Watson and her boyfriend. I like the first look better.

Kate Moss can do so much better.

Sienna Miller is comfortable chic.

Henry Holland is an amazingly well dressed man.

Pixie Geldof is pretty in dark.

Kelis looks great with these high waisted shorts.

I’m not sure about the cloak for Kylie Minogue on stage.

I love La Roux in this Viktor & Rolf jacket.

British Fashion brand Mulberry, was so taken with photographer Venetia Dearden‘s work that they have sponsored the publication of her new book- ‘Glastonbury- Another Stage‘. To celebrate the launch of this book Venetia and the brands Creative Director, Emma Hill, hosted a party at Milk Studios in New York on Tuesday 25th May. Keep reading…

From the press release:

Guests enjoyed mini festival foods including mini angus beef sliders with Somerdale cheddar cheese, fish and chips, falafel pittas and mini nutella and banana crepes. They drank the ‘Mulberry Festival’ cocktail, Doc’s apple cider and ‘Mulberry Bellinis’.

The guests danced to live performances by Spanish guitarists; Manos de Dios, the Brooklyn based band; Chairlift and a closing set by Kelis.

Attendees included Emma Hill, Venetia Dearden, Agyness Deyn, Leigh Lezark, Olivia Palmero, Mamie Gumer, Chanel Iman, Irina Lazareanu, Michelle Trachtenberg, Alex Wek and Albert Hammond Junior.

When Kelis got a $5,000 weave in Santa Monica, her hairdresser wasn’t aware that she’d be skipping out on the bill. Now several months later, the stylist made an attempt to take the star to trial. Not sure what Kelis was thinking, but after skipping out on court yesterday, she’s been forced to pay up. Finally.

LINK LOVE: NYMag

]]> http://fashionindie.com/kelis-faces-beauty-charges/feed/ 0 http://fashionindie.com/is-lady-gaga-copying-kelis/ http://fashionindie.com/is-lady-gaga-copying-kelis/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:39:09 +0000 McArthur Joseph http://fashionindie.com/?p=98820  

There are many rumors flying around that R&B singer Kelis is ripping off  Lady Gaga’s signature style.  After further review  it appears that Gaga and not Kelis may be the copy cat.

Kelis has been dressing in her avant garde garments since her first album, Kalieiscope in 1999 compared to the recent world wind popularity of Lady Gaga who first rose to fame in 2008. From the looks this fan made photo it looks like Gaga might have some explaining to do.

The last time I wore my full head of horns out I looked a hell of a lot better than Kelis, and I owe it all to two simple elements that Miss Milkshake forgot.

1) There’s nothing worse than a half assed camel toe, I can see half her crotch, and not the good half. Some words of wisdom for Kelis: if you’re going to let your crotch eat your pants, commit bitch!

And 2) A futuristic midget was NOT my acoutrament of choice, Kelis should have chosen either a dominatrix slave on a leash with a ball gag, or a mormon priest- either one would have gone better as a sidekick than the MJ/GaGa love child she was toting around with her.

Me: “Seriously, I want to know what the theme of this party was, because everyone is dressed ridiculous”

Rebecca: “Douchebags. The theme was douchbag.”

The only thing I’m okay with from Kelis is that hair. It’s cool hair, but you’re 29. Maybe 10 years ago I would’ve praised you for this, but right now I’ll just say…really?  I’m also not exactly sure why everyone is dressed so weird at this event, and I know you think your “milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,” but you’re going to be a mom now, put a bra on.

SOURCE: Concrete Loop

Her milkshake does not bring anyone to the yard when Kelis is dressed like this, in fact it makes me want to put both my hands in the blender. She has way too much shit going on here, we’ll call her a little trend happy I suppose. First and foremost what are those boots she has on? Or are those shoes and leg warmers? Either way hey look terrible. She has too much clashing going on, you can do black and white, but not so many changes and accents of each. Sorry to whoever designed it, but that is an ugly romper. The lace up front makes her look like a giant sneaker, and the random white accents on the pockets are over kill. Due to this fashion tragedy, Kelis would have to blindfold me (or poke out my eyes) before I even let her think about getting sexy on me (note the song references, I know you liked that!).

Thanks Highsnobette

It seems to me that, judging from the perplexed reception, the open-toe booties is kinda like sushi—it’s an acquired taste. I happen to like sushi, and I also happen to love these boots mostly because of its blatant contradictories and fat middle finger to convention. They’re what you would wear when you want to make a bold statement, or really want to show off that pedicure in the middle of October.

Most recently, the shoes have been making appearances on the feet of risk-taking celebs including the poor man’s Mary-Kate, Rachel Bilson. For the upcoming fall season ditch the played bootie and go calf-length like my girl Kelis, who undoubtedly rocks it best, looking ever so cool and distinct as usual. My current obsession are the Chloe Strap Wrap Open Toe Boots (as seen on Mrs. Jones above).