A Few Different Ways To Tie Your Sneakers
http://www.popgive.com/2008/06/few-diferent-ways-to-tie-your-sneakers.html?showComment=1216975560000#c6431700317213615363
http://www.popgive.com/2008/06/few-diferent-ways-to-tie-your-sneakers.html?showComment=1216975560000#c6431700317213615363
Salt, famously the Spy Flick Rewritten for Angelina Jolie after Tom Cruise Dropped Out, has been publicized as the cinematic equivalent of the 19th Amendment: Finally, a level playing field for female action stars! This is mostly bullshit, of course — Jolie's Evelyn Salt is not the first action hero to be given a gender reassignment between initial conception and opening weekend (cough, Alien), nor is this the first stunt-heavy film Jolie has carried on her back and sold on her name. What is startling about Salt is the extent to which, in insisting on the moral ambiguity of its protagonist for most of its running time, it gives us an action-hero prototype Cruise couldn't play and Jolie was born to.
Ambiguity itself is something Cruise just doesn't do — maybe that's why, for 30 years, haters and fans have devoted so much energy to speculating about his supposed secret sex life. But Jolie is all about ambiguity, and always has been. She's an Oscar winner and an action star, a husband-stealing tattooed pin-up and an orphan-adopting mom of six. In the first scene of Salt, she is tortured by North Korean prison guards while wearing a bra and panties, her long, blond locks stained with blood like a vixen from an exploitation flick. From the start, this character plays to the star's strengths, merging subject and object, warrior and victim, ass-kicker and damsel in distress.
And hero and villain. A trusted member of a CIA team led by Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), Salt is outed as a Russian double agent by Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), her supposed comrade, who essentially strolls into a covert CIA outpost and accuses her of treason. Salt's colleagues, taking Orlov at his word, slip into '70s-film paranoia mode and initiate an all-hands manhunt; Salt runs, managing to stay a step ahead of the feds and several steps ahead of the audience, while laying waste to dozens on either side of the apparent with-us/against-us divide.
Coded by that first virtuous victim scene as the good guy, early on Salt starts acting like a bad guy, and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer and director Phillip Noyce are in no hurry to clear up the matter of their protagonist's true allegiance. Eschewing any of the usual tricks and winks to let us know we can trust her, that her moral compass renders her many crimes as collateral damage in the interest of the greater good, the filmmakers imbue what at first seem to be rote action devices with unexpected psychological gravitas. Not until the final scene does Salt unambiguously spell out how we're meant to feel about all that's come before. Compared to a film like Inception, which is forever stopping to explain to us what we've just seen, this feels like an incredible show of restraint.
If Jolie's star persona has something to do with Salt's muddling of moral binaries, her gender inspires little in the way of action-hero subversion. Her physical disadvantage as a smaller human being is ignored — in fact, when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, she seems to be the only fighter on either side who fully knows what she's doing. And the filmmakers are not above condescendingly winking at the notion of feminine wiles. When she needs to hide from a security camera, she removes her panties and tosses them over the lens; when she needs to improvise a weapon, she concocts an explosive out of everyday items any gal might find in her cleaning pantry and medicine cabinet. She may be invincible, but her ace in the hole seems to be that she can always convince smitten men they can fuck her.
So let's not give this gambit more credit than it deserves — Salt is not particularly politically or socially progressive; stylistically, the best that can be said is that Noyce elegantly mashes up post-Bourne shaky-cam POV with gilded bombast straight out of his own '90s Jack Ryan films. Its conception of world affairs would seem hopelessly retrograde if the U.S. hadn't hauled in a sleeper cell of Russian spies just last month. That this is a would-be franchise-launcher becomes clear when the first end title card interrupts Jolie mid-dash to what we presume would have been the final action set piece; it's only at that moment that we understand we've been watching an origin story, a primer on who this antihero is and how she came to be the only thing standing in the way of the nuclear annihilation of Mecca (yes, seriously). That it flatters the audience by assuming a modicum of intelligence earns points if we're grading on a curve, but this is still closer to product than art. Highly satisfying, often exhilarating, refreshingly unpretentious product.
Time and Life, Getty; John Chillingworth, Getty; Knoll; Herbert Gehr, Getty
Sweetiepie; AMC; Peter Stranks, HBO
7/19/2010 1:07 AM ET By Jerry Bonkowski
7/18/2010 7:31 PM ET By David Whitley
PARIS – Kylie Minogue proved that in the name of charity, she's capable of selling the shirt off her back.
The petite Australian pop star auctioned off her black halter dress at a swanky AIDS benefit Friday night on the margins of Paris' menswear week. The Jean Paul Gaultier number, which bristled with little plissed spikes, fetched euro20,000 ($24,770).
Other lots included a lambskin vest by California-born designer Rick Owens and a 1980 photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe titled "Leather Crotch."
The soiree raised $180,000 for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a nonprofit organization that supports HIV/AIDS research.
Held in Chez Maxim's restaurant and club in central Paris, the dinner auction attracted top names in the French fashion scene, including underwear designer Chantal Thomass, model Mark Vanderloo and Gaultier — the one-time enfant terrible who gave the world Madonna's pointy cone bra.
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Online:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100626/ap_on_en_ot/eu_france_fashion_aids_benefit
PARIS – Stephane Rolland looked to the ocean for a fall-winter 2011 haute couture collection Tuesday of sculptural gowns in deep sea blue adorned by oblong appliques that evoked the smooth, wave-caressed shapes of beach stones.
It was a pared-down collection for Rolland, who last season delivered dresses that bristled with mosaics of plexiglass spikes, like a dinosaur's armor. Where that collection was all hard lines and edges, Tuesday's was about fluidity and liquidity.
Floor-length capes that were built into the long-sleeve sheath dresses fluttered like gently running water as the models walked. The train on a slate-colored evening gown jiggled like liquid mercury.
A short navy dress covered at the hemline and the cuffs by glinting black oblong shapes — made from rhinestone-studded plexiglass — looked like the deep blue sea washing up on a volcanic beach.
Rolland, who is among the most artistic of Paris couturiers, said he looked for inspiration to dancer Martha Graham and to the rounded, hermetic creations of Indian-born sculptor Anish Kapoor, as well as to memories of a youth spent on France's Cote d'Azur.
"As a kid, I collected everything, and I used to come back from trips to the beach with my pockets full of these round stones, whose smoothness I really liked," he told The Associated Press in a preview in his atelier.
Asked if a recent trip to the sea had brought back the childhood memories, Rolland responded. "It's in me, so deep inside me that I don't need anything to jog my memory."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100706/ap_on_en_ot/eu_france_fashion_stephane_rolland
Berlin – Hugo Boss, Germany's biggest fashion label, staged a mammoth runway show in Berlin Thursday, July 8, building a runway and a restaurant for 1,300 in two massive circus marquees.
The double big tops were a fitting symbol for Boss, by far the most important luxury brand in Europe's biggest economy. Completely white outside, the two tents were entirely black in their interiors, aptly so since the large crowd had gathered to witness the spring 2011 collection of Boss Black, the house's top line, featuring both men and women on the enormous catwalk. And, in a curious example of symmetry, the show marked the first by Boss Black's new creative consultant Graeme Black, who previously worked for Giorgio Armani prior to launching his own signature label in London.
The models rolled out in a collection where, at least for women, the key was fluid use of volume. Using a print-free choice of fabrics and focusing on soft mono-color hues like coral, beige and cobalt, the collection largely waved aside recent global runway seasons, which have been dominated by floral and abstract prints.
What worked best were the Japanese style pants in subtle checks, volume and dimpled skirts, and long, sinuous caftans.
"To my mind, Boss creates clothes that flatter a lady. This collection certainly does," said Jessica Alba, the American actress on something of a European fashion tour. On Monday, she sat front-row at Christian Dior and on Tuesday attended Chanel, both in Paris, then winged into Berlin for this huge event.
For guys, Boss Black wants to see them next spring in a newly proportioned suit. Cut with a short jacket and large back vents, yet also with large shoulders and forgiving pants, the look played with the modern micro jacket, yet gave it a more plausibly commercial twist. Made in some great powder blue seersucker, and off-the-moment ginghams, the choice was conventional but also cool.
Post-show, Boss wined and dined its guests in the second charmingly lit marquee, in rough-hewn tables placed around old olive trees.
"I have to say I enjoyed the evening immensely," said Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit. "The show and party were both chic. Berlin is on the move in fashion terms, which makes us happy."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/fwd/20100709/en_fashion_fwd/bossblacksbigtopmoment
Berlin – Local fashion star Michael Michalsky staged Berlin's biggest bumper fashion event on Friday, July 9, with a multiple runway show, opera performance and mini sketch from the local equivalent of a Broadway show.
It's highlight was the spring 2011 collection by Michalsky, who showed both menswear and women's looks on a circular runway in Tempodrom, a massive, tepee-shaped concrete concert hall.
The designer said his inspiration was concern for extinct species, so a striking puffin print was used in great jersey material, featured in guy's street-style "hoodies" and clubbing tops, while a big cat lynx print starred in a couple of swirling dresses that climaxed the show.
For women, what worked best were a series of glove leather biker jackets paired with wrap pants that had poise yet also punch; and delightful flowing djellaba-style overalls with gold cuffs.
Primarily made in mono-colors of ecru, black, deep blue and orange, the collection also had great injections of gold sequins, used in boyish military pants and stacked heels on women.
But the standout image was a great bright orange overall outfit with gold brocade cuffs and breastplate, which drew a burst of applause led by Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit.
The Michalsky-organized evening had opened with a militarist inspired collection by Mahirishi, the famed party label, continued with a one-tune operatic slot and finished with three numbers performed by a troupe of dancers from Friedrichstadtpalast theatre, where Michalsky had staged his runway show one year ago.
"The deal with the Friedrichstadtpalast was they lent me their space last year and I created their costumes, which was fun and a challenge. Plus it got a lot out of my system - wigs, feathers, whips, chains, you name it," said Michalsky, who has a deserved reputation as Berlin's best fashion showman.
Though Michalsky has always been great at staging shows, his signature collection underlined he is no design slouch - sending out a slick and sophisticated take on modern dressing. This was very much a growing up moment for the man.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/fwd/20100711/en_fashion_fwd/michalskyconservationistchic
SHANGHAI (AFP) – A Chinese tycoon has been quietly buying up shares in Italian fashion house Prada SpA in a bid to become its largest shareholder, his company confirmed Monday.
However, Lu Qiang, chairman of Shanghai-based fashion factory outlet Foxtown may abandon the plans, saying Prada had raised its price for the additional stake after learning of his involvement.
Lu's bid was reported by China's Economic Observer newspaper on Monday.
"We had not planned to make the bid public. But somehow one media got the news and had a report on this. The price then became very high and therefore we are considering dropping the idea," FoxTown spokeswoman Irene Dou told AFP.
She confirmed Lu gave an interview to the Economic Observer and did not dispute its report.
The newspaper said Lu had indirectly acquired 13 percent of Prada over the past two years and aimed to become its biggest shareholder with the planned acquisition of an additional stake of up to 20 percent.
Lu had been buying shares through an unidentified Italian consulting firm, which he acquired for 20 million euros (25 million dollars), the newspaper said.
But Prada has since upped its price.
"(Prada thought) handing over the company to the Chinese will hurt the quality and taste," Lu was quoted as saying.
Lu's acquisition team had planned to invest 450 million euros (566 million dollars) in Prada by buying shares from the Italian fashion icon's creditors, the newspaper said.
But the cost of the acquisition had risen between 600 million and 700 million euros, the newspaper said.
He was quoted as saying he would sell his existing Prada shares if he fails to buy the additional stake in the coming week.
"I would sell all my current holdings," Lu was quoted as saying.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100712/bs_afp/lifestylechinaitalyfashioncompanypradainvest
161 Hudson St., nr. Laight St. 212-226-0345
Moomah offers a killer parent-kid recipe: It’s part café (pouring Counter Culture coffee), part gymnasium, part art gallery, and part ecoexploratorium, all housed in the old Wetlands rock club in Tribeca. Kids go especially crazy for the Funky Forest, an interactive virtual ecosystem with infrared motion projectors that make imaginary trees grow and water ripple. In glow-in-the-dark-yoga (gloga?) classes, white-clad young yogis are illuminated by black light. Birthday parties come in three themes: princesses in space, superheroes go camping, and on the farm. The brainchild of Tracey Stewart (wife of The Daily Show’s Jon), Moomah invites drop-ins and keeps entrance rates relatively affordable. A new art playdate is $40, including supervision, lunch, and materials.
125 E. 57th St., nr. Lexington Ave. 212-376-4477
Extreme bargains (including the Clayeux dress, $20) are here for the digging; pieces are often marked down by 40 to 80 percent.
1094 Madison Ave., at 82nd St. 212-988-8884
The French retailer’s supersoft onesies ($16) can withstand as many washings as a newborn can throw down.
610 Sixth Ave., at 18th St. 212-645-0663
Funky basics like patchwork shorts ($19.50) look more expensive than they are. The 18th Street store is the easiest to shop.
101 Fifth Ave., nr. 17th St. 212-741-0555
Excels at basics with a little added flair, like purple jeans and gingham tops for boys and flowy dresses ($32.90) with chic cover-ups ($29.90) for girls.
150 E. 86th St., at Lexington Ave. 212-289-1724
There’s no better spot for approximating the celebrity- scion look, starting with Hello Kitty tanks ($12.95) and party skirts ($4.95).
1190 Madison Ave., at 87th St. 212-348-9803
The J.Crew progeny’s separates fit the full range of kid life: play, school, and okay-I’ll-wear-a-blazer special occasions ($138).
5100 Kings Plz., at Flatbush Ave., Marine Park; 718-252-2188
Their suitably funky preadolescent line, HTG81, just launched in January (zip-up jacket, $16.90) with pieces starting at $2.90.
15 Gansevoort St., nr. Hudson St.; 212-242-5511
Splurge on well-made imports like Australia’s Munster Kids and Belgium’s BelleRose (top, $85, skirt $98).
Rodarte's MAC collection, which launches on September 15, is inspired by Mexico's colors and culture, and the products are named accordingly. For example, one pink blush is called Quinceañera, while a sheer white lipstick is called Ghost Town. However, the frosty pink nail polish called Juarez isn't sitting well with blogger the Frisky, who finds it "tasteless":
Why’s it tasteless? Juarez is an impoverished Mexican factory town notorious for the number of women between the ages of 12 and 22 who have been raped and murdered with little or no response from police.
Most of the young women are employees at the border town’s factories, called maquiladoras, and disappeared on the way to or from work. Activists have been applying constant pressure on Mexican police, who have shown little response to properly investigating the murders, allegedly because the victims are poor women. The crime channel TruTV even called Juarez a “serial killers’ playground”! And it’s not like the Juarez murders are some big secret: Jennifer Lopez even starred in a film,“Bordertown,” playing a reporter who writes about the rapes and murders.
However, plenty of blogs haven't made this same connection politicizing the nail polish, and are just plain excited about the line. We've reached out to MAC for a comment and will update when that comes through.
MAC/Rodarte Makeup Collaboration Names Nail Polish After Impoverished, Murdered Women [Frisky]
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/07/rodartes_mac_line_sparks_contr.html
The holiday weekend is fast approaching, and those of you headed out of town will most likely bring makeup cases along for the ride. Skip the "grab-and-stuff" packing approach this year (do you really need five purple eye-shadow palettes, "just in case"?) and travel light with advice from Pat McGrath. The makeup guru creates runway-ready looks for the likes of Balenciaga, Miu Miu, and Comme des Garçons, and also serves as global creative director for Procter & Gamble, where her latest project involved teaming up with CoverGirl and LeSportSac on a line of makeup cases inspired by Steven Meisel’s ad for LashBlast mascara. So what's in McGrath's makeup case? Click through to read about the nine travel essentials she absolutely won't leave home without.
SKII Signs Eye Mask: I carry these to pop on during long-haul flights. They plump the skin around the eye and get rid of dark circles and simply feel refreshing when in the drying environment of the plane.
Olay Regenerist UV Defense Regenerating Lotion: A nice, rich moisturizer with the anti-aging benefits of the Regenerist line.
CoverGirl Queen Collection Natural Hue Minerals Bronzer: I brush this onto my cheeks and brow bone to warm up my complexion. The formulation has a subtle highlighting sheen which will give the face a radiant look.
Eyelash curler: I always curl my lashes before adding mascara. It makes my eyes really stand out and look naturally gorgeous.
Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Reviver Balm: This lip balm appears to be colorless, but when applied gives the lips a healthy color and slight sheen. It works on all skin tones.
Emergen-C Packets: To keep colds at bay. They also provide a nice natural source of energy.
CoverGirl Queen Collection Natural Hue Concealer: Perfectly camouflages imperfections for a smooth finish. The coverage is natural and blends with your skin tone.
Espa Soothing Body Oil: Helps me relax and overcome jet lag when flying to Europe.
Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Color Quad in Champagne: I love [using] the smoky-brown shade to create a tone on the lid and add depth to my eyes.
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/07/post_27.html