Many of our favorite Indies were out last night including: Sir Ben Kingsley, Shenae Grimes, Famke Janssen, Rebecca Minkoff, Billy Burke, Scott Campbell, Arlenis Sosa, Genevieve Jones, Waris Ahluwalia, Lance Bass, & Sky Ferreira

The exhibition was itself  fantastic.  Some of the films included in the exhibtion were Taxi Driver, The Aviator, & Vertigo. Our personal favorite attraction happened to be costumes from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. (Featured below)

The exhibition, which will be open to the public (FOR FREE!) starting today until June 19th 2011 at  Center 548 in New York City, celebrates the stories of obsessive craftsmanship behind some of cinema’s most iconic on-screen moments.  It takes 30 manual steps to create the perfect pair of Persol frames and  similarly this exhibit showcases how each instance of what appears on the silver screen  can take hours, weeks or even months of painstaking research and craftsmanship to develop and comes for a place of passion.

For some more art check out this video of Sam & I doing a wave in a flipbook we made at the event (below)

attends Persol Magnificent Obsessions: 30 Stories of Craftsmanship in Film at Center 548 on June 16, 2011 in New York City.

attends Persol Magnificent Obsessions: 30 Stories of Craftsmanship in Film at Center 548 on June 16, 2011 in New York City.

Photographer John Fisher shares his Rant on the Celebrity Boom in Fashion

What follows is an opinion in the form of a rant, a very emotional rant. As Deep Throat said during Watergate, “follow the money!”

Celebrities (and they are not celebrities, they are actresses, plain and simple) are the crack cocaine of the magazine business, and withdrawal will be painful. Let’s understand what has happened, and I repeat these are not “celebrity” covers. In the day, the fashion models WERE the celebrities, and Hollywood hated this. They were spending millions to make movies, and more people (a lot more people) could name a famous model (Cindy, Linda, Naomi, Christy, Tatyana, Claudia, et al. ……….) than could name a movie actress. How to solve this problem? Go to the big fashion magazines (one in particular) and buy the cover. The cover of the big (for the most part, American) fashion magazines are now an advertising page, sold for big money to pimp a movie. Check this out, when you see an actress  (so called celebrity) on the cover, look to see what movie is opening that month, and who is the lead actress.

If these were “celebrity covers”, driven by an intense interest in “celebrity culture”, then they would be random celebrities. But they never are (or Angelina would be on every cover!), it is always a movie actress opening a movie that month. Is this just a coincidence? Oh sure, movies cost millions to make, and more is spent on the advertising then is spent to make the movie. So it’s just a “coincidence” that Reece Witherspoon (a celebrity that everyone is just so interested in!, Like, didn’t her name come up in a conversation just this morning?) is on the cover of Vogue the same month that “Water for Elephants” is opening? For God’s sake, I picked up a “fashion” magazine several months ago and Tina Fey was on the cover. Surprise surprise, Tina was opening a movie that month (I didn’t even know she did movies).

These covers are no longer editorial content, they are paid advertising posters for the movie industry, and have nothing to do with fashion. Watch “September Issue”, the documentary about making the September issue of American Vogue. Five months out they already know who is going to be on the cover. Best picture? Best editorial? No, some uncooperative actress who refuses to even fix her hair and doesn’t fit the dress. But when the movie company pulls the money strings, the magazine jumps. Disgusting. The amount of (obvious) retouching that had to be done to get a cover shot that was even remotely acceptable was simply mind boggling (and remember, this the September Issue, the most important issue and cover of the year).

I could go on and on about how this is affecting fashion and it’s place in our popular culture, why this is a disaster pure and simple. But it is the crack cocaine of the industry, once the magazines got hooked on the revenue stream, it may be impossible to move away. Someone is leaving (and soon won’t be soon enough), when this happens it’s possible that the painful withdrawal will begin, and fashion in America will reclaim it’s covers, and it’s rightful place in our culture.

by: John Fisher

Source Benjamin Kanarek Blog

ANGELINA JOLIE ARRIVE A L'HOTEL MEURICE POUR FAIRE LA PROMOTION DE SON FILM "THE TOURIST" ANGELINA JOLIE SEEN ARRIVING AT THE MEURICE HOTEL IN PARIS TO PROMOTE HER FILM "THE TOURIST"

I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks DC is best when he’s bloody and battered.

His new flick Cowboys & Aliens should not disappoint.

Wait! The plot is different from what you think.

Arizona settlers team with Apache Indians to fight the aliens.

…Okay, maybe it is what you thought.

See the new teaser HERE.

LINK:http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/51316411.html

We're all rooting for Lindsay Lohan to come out of rehab a changed woman.  There is no denying the young actress' talent and potential.  Despite the train wreck of a life she's led since her incarceration, she has the business sense to turn a profit in her 6126 clothing collection.  Let's just erase the whole stint at Emmanuel Ungaro out of our minds.  We all know she isn't ready to design high fashion but contemporary styles is her thing.

The actress shot the fall 2010 advertising campaign for 6126 prior to jail and rehab.  We're wishing for her complete recovery and great success in her movie career as well as her clothing line. Check out Lindsay in her provocative 6126 advertising campaign.

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The trailer for Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky’s latest mind f—k, was released online yesterday. Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte designed some 40 costumes for the avian thriller and judging from the still shots, Natalie Portman’s ballerina character sports some lovely plumage.

Coming off the wild success of The Wrestler, Aronofsky seems once again to focus on and magnify the tormented human condition. In this particular instance, Portman’s protagonist must compete against Mila Kunis in an attempt to remain the principal of her ballet company. Out of this, the girls develop a strangely close relationship that appears detrimental to Portman’s well-being, or maybe she’s just going bat, uh,er, bird sh-t crazy. The last two seconds of the trailer suggest that Portman eventually morphs into an actual swan.
Certainly, this movie is one that will leave viewers open jawed and slightly befuddled come December 1^st. Fingers crossed that the erotic scenes between Portman and Kunis leave out the double-sided dildo from yet another of Aronofsky’s films, Requiem for a Dream.

LINK LOVE:Natalie Portman Portrays a Swan, Thankfully not a Canadian Goose

The looks, drawn from the limited-edition Collection line for Fall 2010, are part of J.Crew’s wardrobe contribution to the movie. For the photos, Holmes and Duhamel dance around with Malin Åkerman, Adam Brody, Jeremy Strong, and Rebecca Lawrence.

The missing pieces are “True Blood”‘s Anna Paquin, who plays the bride, and Elijah Wood.
Source: LelaLondon.Com – The Romantics for J Crew

LINK LOVE:The Romantics Cast for J Crew

Angelina Jolie made an appearance at her Salt premiere with her husband at her side and Ferragamo on her toes. The actress showed up to the event in London wearing Ferragamo’s nude peep-toe pumps with a gold heel. The shoes were made specifically for the star upon request and were worn to the LA premiere of her movie as well.

Angelina Jolie was in Cancun last month to promote her movie Salt, and while there she made time for an interview with the British fashion publication Stylist. Her kids Shiloh, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara also made the trip to Mexico, and they later joined her for the rest of her worldwide press tour. The family is now in Northern California for a few weeks as Brad Pitt works on Moneyball. Angelina spoke to the magazine about her family life, how she and Brad manage to fit in alone time, and Shiloh’s much-discussed style. She said:

On date nights and alone time with Brad:

  “Yeah, we just have
to schedule it. We don’t normally have anyone spend the night with our
family, so once every week or two weeks, we’ll ask somebody to spend the
night, so we can go and be alone together. We just go to another part
of the house and lock the door. We have date nights, absolutely, you
have to if you have children! Sometimes we go out, but we both miss the
kids so we don’t like to go far.”

On Shiloh’s style:

“It’s not my choice. I have a very strong
willed four-year-old girl who tells me what she wants to wear and I let
her be who she is. People look at kids and think they should wear
certain types of clothes; I think children should wear what they want
and express themselves, so we give them different options of things.
Zahara dresses very much like a girl, very pink and flowery, very
feminine. Shiloh cried and said, ‘Please cut my hair off, I don’t want
to have long hair.’ I’m not going to leave it long because somebody
thinks I should,” she says “I want to do what’s in her head and what’s
in her heart is to dress like that. I think it’s beautiful.”

On meeting Brad during Mr. and Mrs. Smith:

  “It didn’t begin
on the film set; we became friends on the film set, but it began after.
And at a certain age, having gone through enough experiences, I think
you know. It wasn’t courageous, it was more comforting to have found my
family.”

On learning from her kids:

“They’re so knowledgeable, so
self-aware, gracious. And they’re all different. One of them is a
natural leader and has this kind of strength, and one of them has
extraordinary grace and elegance and femininity that I didn’t realize
you could be born with. Like every mother, I’m learning patience and all
these wonderful things from them and I’m just so curious to see who
they’re going to be when they get older.”

 READ MORE  Here…

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PHOTOS:

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Ryan Reynolds says he took the title role in “Green Lantern” to play a hero that can “throw a punch, tell a joke and kiss a girl.”

The actor, along with castmates Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong and director Martin Campbell, presented a clip from the film at Comic-Con Saturday for some 6,000 ecstatic fans, many of whom camped out overnight for a chance to see the presentation.

Campbell says the 3-D movie blends realistic action with humor and an otherworldly trip to the planet Oa, home of the Green Lanterns. He added that while the hero’s costume is “a work in progress,” his cinematic story is set: He is joined by his fellow Green Lanterns for a face-off against Parallax, whom Reynolds describes as “the physical manifestation of fear in our movie.”

The clip showed Reynolds as Hal Jordan, who, after a fight with street thugs, takes the Green Lantern oath and uses his new powers to blow them away. Reynolds recited the oath for the Comic-Con crowd, which rewarded him with cheers.

The cast seemed to embrace the Comic-Con energy, and revealed which characters they’d dress up with if they could walk the convention floor. Reynolds would go as a Wookie because he likes to “be cute and dangerous.” Lively would dress as Harry Potter and Sarsgaard would go as Captain America. Strong said he’d dress as his “Green Lantern” character, Sinestro.

DC Comics chief Geoff Johns hinted that other Green Lantern films, and a Justice League movie, could follow: “The success of ‘Green Lantern’ will lead the charge for everything DC does.”

“Green Lantern” opens in June.

LINK LOVE:Blake Lively Busts Out At Comic Con (PHOTOS)

Bips this colour is so not you.

LINK LOVE:BIPS LOOKING DRAB AT LAMHAA SCREENING

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Glamour's November Plus Size Cover

In the mainstream media, when we usually see a plus size woman, unfortunately we ONLY see one dimension, one voice, one side of the community. While gorgeous and beautiful, I have always noticed a difference how the individual plus sized woman treats her ample cushions, and I have also noticed the disparity amongst racial lines when it comes to celebrating the curves.

Do black and Latina women embrace their curves more than white women, or is it in our heads? Well, imagine my surprise when Cassy of Daily Venus Divas and Elisa of Mad Fashionista sit down to talk about the race issue and the plus size woman. As part of a series, these women will chat about their personal experiences, observations, and ideals within their own communities.

Please read on!

An honest conversation addressing diversity and cultural differences in the fight For Plus Size Acceptance.

I had the extreme pleasure of attending Full Figured Fashion Week™ (FFF Week) again this year in New York. FFF Week and positive events of its kind clearly are never solely about fashion. With the fact that the United States is predominately plus and still under served, not represented and often times disrespected, the need exists to create events that would cultivate the overall discussion of size acceptance from the inside out. This was well achieved by FFF Week with the addition of panel discussions that took the cause off the runway and brought to relevance the full plight of the plus size woman.

As I glanced around the room during the opening night fashion showcase , I was excited to see so many people in attendance. What surprised me was that there wasn’t a larger cultural mix of plus sized women in attendance. We are all beautiful at any size, any race and the message of size acceptance is universal. I glanced around the room and noticed Elisa DeCarlo, creator of “Diary of a Mad Fashionista”, a blog where Elisa honestly details her perspective on life as a confident and stylish fashionista. She was the only Caucasian that was part of the “Curvy Collective”, a group of bloggers that report on the events surrounding FFF Week. Elisa sat beautiful and proud, visibly excited about the fashion show she was witnessing unfold.

What I didn’t know was while I was pleased to see women at the event that looked like me-plus sized and African American, Elisa was pondering, why wasn’t there more women that looked like her- plus-sized and Caucasian? Are there truly cultural differences when it comes to size acceptance? Is just being plus sized enough to unify us? To examine these questions, I invited Elisa to a candid conversation about cultural diversity in the fight for size acceptance, the perceived historical shift in the size debate and what we can do to bridge the gap. *Please keep in mind these are the perceptions of 2 women, we are not professing to speak for any one race as a whole.

Cassy: OK so lets get started!! How did you feel about “The State of the Curvy Community” panel discussion that you were apart of?

Elisa: I felt pretty good about it. My only wish is that we had concentrated less on fashion and more on “what IS the curvy community”?
I saw at FFF Week that the ratio of black women to white women was about 80/20%. That puzzled me. It raises a host of issues.

Cassy: That was how it was last year too! I don’t know why that is. Why do you think that it wasn’t more white people involved as participants?

Elisa: There is a LOT of shame about weight in the white world. Being 25 pounds overweight is a terrible thing. I found that some people I told about it thought it was a joke. The idea of celebrating your body as it is, which I found so joyous and liberating, is not encouraged in white culture. There are a lot of activists out there, but they aren’t heard–they’re looked at and judged. Our role models are unrealistic–when JLo is considered “curvy”, you know you’re in trouble.

Cassy: That is really shocking to me. There are powerhouse organizations that are ran by predominately white people that touch on issues of size acceptance. I wonder if mixing fashion and activism is the issue?

Elisa: You have a point there. Traditional fashion means stick thin, anorexic, whatever the color of the model. I’ve seen many of these models while working NY Fashion Week, and believe me, they are scary! But they’re held up as role models to women. The traditional fashion world thinks size 6 is a plus size!

Cassy: It is very true to an extent. In my community, hips, thighs, curves are generally celebrated! I remember my mother told me when she was young that she couldn’t wait to grow up to have big legs like everybody else. I do have a hard time understanding why the white community looks down on having curves or am I assuming wrong?

Elisa: No, you’re not. Women with virtually no body fat say, “I need to lose weight.” I have yet to meet a white woman who doesn’t think she needs to lose weight. And often it’s so far from the reality it is shocking. You mention plus size and you get the same damn argument thrown back at you: fat is unhealthy, fat people are a drag on the health care industry, fat people are disgusting. Particularly fat women.

Cassy:…. and the argument that it is easier for a designer to dress a hanger than a woman of size. Like Yuliya of IGIGI said on the panel, it does cost more to create garments for a larger frame.

Elisa: I interviewed the fashion designer Vassilios Kostetsos (it’s on my blog) at NY Fashion Week, and he said plus size women should not be allowed to wear his clothes! Most of the designers are disgusted by larger women–he just said what many of them think. Believe me, I’ve seen the looks on their faces when I ask, “Would you ever design for a woman my size?” Too bad, because we have the money to spend on clothing! I don’t want to let designers off the hook (this rant doesn’t include Yuliya). Mid-price designers are perfectly capable of designing clothes for larger bodies. If you look at small-size websites like Newport News, or Spiegel, or Talbots, you’ll see that their clothes are made cheaply with a “one-size-fits-all mentality”. To say it drives up the cost is pure BS. Manufacturers know that plus-sized women will pay more for the same clothes in a larger size because they have fewer choices.

Cassy: Where did the perception of “thin is better” begin I wonder? In the 20?s and 30?s curves were considered sexy. In the 50’s, Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 and she is considered the sexiest, most alluring woman of all time. Then in the 60?s and 70?s Twiggy emerged and the super model began to take shape. It seems that the white community has been driven by the media’s portrayal of beauty. Since blacks rarely saw many people of color in the media, we were not fully swayed by what we saw to a large extent.

Elisa:You make a very good point. I think your community should be proud of not trying to imitate the media images.

Cassy: It has not always been a easy journey to size acceptance for those in the black community either. We

Queen Latifah Oscars Dress

didn’t see anyone of color in mainstream media unless we were in service to someone else or performing. Many felt they had no chance of being whatever was portrayed positively in the media because we didn’t look like that image. I am Black and Curvy? I might as well not even try….

Elisa: Women talk about the “diet culture.” Let me ask you, besides Queen Latifah, who DID NOT specify how much weight she lost, how many celebrities of color have you seen on those countless diet commercials? No, it’s Valerie Bertinelli, Marie Osmond, and all of the testimonials, if you look at it, are white women. I never thought about that before. Huh.

There is also the economic point of view that, in cultures where scarcity is the norm, weight is a status symbol. It’s no coincidence that Twiggy became a star in the 1960s, a period of tremendous economic prosperity. When prosperity is the norm, being thin is a status symbol.

Cassy: Maybe that is where the difference lies. Status or lifestyle choice.

Elisa: Yes, the thinner, the better. There’s the old Duchess of Windsor line: “you can never be too rich or too thin.” Now THAT’s a white point of view! In order to imitate the movie stars, models, rich women, we have to be THIN. Really thin.

Cassy: In the black community we celebrate, grieve and sometimes communicate by feeding each other, that closeness feeds the soul.

Elisa: God, I envy that. These days, most white people don’t cook! I cook, and people think I’m strange for actually making my own food. But my Italian parents did it, and to my father, spaghetti and meatballs equaled love. What you are describing is a beautiful thing, and definitely something missing in the white culture. If we all started cooking, Marie Callender and Healthy Choice would go out of business!

Cassy: I have always felt that white people have had more power to effect change when it comes to size acceptance than anyone in the black community. By power I mean since white people are perceived to have control over mainstream media, they have power to change the worlds view of size acceptance.

Elisa: I don’t think that’s quite true, but it’s probably mostly true. Sometimes I think Christina Hendricks is our token “curvy woman.” She has an amazing 1950s body, but for magazine covers and photo shoots they Photoshop her into being thinner. You can contrast and compare by looking at runway candids. I mean, look at those tabloids that have “best and worst beach bodies”! Who cares if Jennifer Aniston has cellulite? She’s middle-aged, for God’s sake! Demi Moore had her KNEES lipo suctioned!

True story: I had a breast reduction. I was a GG/H. The plastic surgeon brought out an album, then looked and said, “This is the wrong album.” He got another album of before and afters, and every woman in it was either black and hispanic. When I asked him why, he said, “white women don’t have breasts like yours.” WHAT??? This white woman did! Lots of white women have naturally really big breasts! The doctors I saw all advised me to go down to a C cup, but you’ve seen me. That was ridiculous. I went for DD. I mean, I’m big, I’m tall, I need big breasts!

Cassy: That is crazy!!! And that was a doctor??

Elisa: Totally serious!! I don’t tell that story too often because I don’t want to be misunderstood, but it was utterly shocking.

Cassy: There are thinner black stars that we aspire to be like also. Music videos didn’t show women with curves until the late 90?s but it is a particular curve that is featured. As long as you had hips you were good but you couldn’t be sizable all over. You only saw women of size in parody for a long time. Thank goodness that is changing!

Coming soon Part 2 with Elisa DeCarlo:  What is culture of plus activism? What is the plan of action to unify all of us? You can catch more of this discussion and more here, at the Plus Size Digital Magazine, Daily Venus Divas

What do you think? Do you see race differences when it comes to accepting your curves? I would love to hear your thoughts!

LINK LOVE:Embracing your curves: The Black and White perspective

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But, with all the twits in a twibble over Back to the Future, why not explore the future of fashion?

Did I say explore? I meant have our MINDS BLOWN.

(Warning: There is nudity after the 2:00 mark)

LINK LOVE:All waxed up ready for tonight.

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Everyone who watched the movie has to admit that the four women are gorgeous and sexy in their dresses. Every time these actresses appear on the screen, I was greatly impressed by their individual styles. You have to admit, they seem fabulous in their dresses, especially when Carrier and her three girl friends go on a vocation to the desert.

As four adult women and some of them already mothers, they are not young any longer. People tend to believe that the younger the movie stars especially the female stars are, the more popular they will become. But after watching the movie, I believe most of the audience will like the four adult women, though each of them has their own shortcomings. But no one is perfect, is it? In fact, I’d like to say that these women are fabulous not because they are wearing gorgeous dresses, but because they are confident and positive in their deep heart. As four women who love life so deep in their heart, it is not strange at all that these adult women look so fabulous and gorgeous to the audience.

In this sense, Sex and the City 2 is more than a fabulous fashion show. It shows that women want to be impressive to others, appearance is important. Loving the life you live with is more important than that.

LINK LOVE:Sex and The City 2—-A Fabulous Fashion Show

Everyone who watched the movie has to admit that the four women are gorgeous and sexy in their dresses. Every time these actresses appear on the screen, I was greatly impressed by their individual styles. You have to admit, they seem fabulous in their dresses, especially when Carrier and her three girl friends go on a vocation to the desert.

As four adult women and some of them already mothers, they are not young any longer. People tend to believe that the younger the movie stars especially the female stars are, the more popular they will become. But after watching the movie, I believe most of the audience will like the four adult women, though each of them has their own shortcomings. But no one is perfect, is it? In fact, I’d like to say that these women are fabulous not because they are wearing gorgeous dresses, but because they are confident and positive in their deep heart. As four women who love life so deep in their heart, it is not strange at all that these adult women look so fabulous and gorgeous to the audience.

In this sense, Sex and the City 2 is more than a fabulous fashion show. It shows that women want to be impressive to others, appearance is important. Loving the life you live with is more important than that.

LINK LOVE:Sex and The City 2—-A Fabulous Fashion Show

‘The Man Who Laughs’ (1928)

Bob Kane (the creator of Batman) used still of Conrad Veidt from this silent film as the intial inspiration for the Joker. In the silent film Veidt played disrespect prince, who’s father carves a smile into his face.

Batman #1 (1940)

The Joker’s first apperance.

Batman-The TV Series (1960′s)

The gayest Joker of them all!

The Killing Joke (1986)

In 1986 Alan Moore gave the Joker some balls back, returning him to the morose, amoral villan he was always mean’t to be. This version of the Joker would have the most impact on Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan’s versions of the Joker

Joker in the movies (1989 & 2008)

If you haven’t seen the film, go see it!

[source]