Chanel- Behind the Scenes Footage

If you ask any young girl obsessed with fashion what's her favorite designer brand, you can bet 9 times out of 10, she answers Chanel. Chanel has always been synonymous with impeccable taste and class. It's no wonder when you look at some of the intricate detailing Chanel tailors put into one dress. It's a eye squinting, finger pricking, meticulous process to get from a piece of cloth to an outfit worth of the runway.

You Sure Know How to Push My Buttons Style.com

And not in a good way this time. Usually Style.com is one of my favorite websites because it covers all of the major fashion shows. Also I sometimes go through the Style File Blog for quick fashion news. As I was skimming through the posts on Style File today, I spotted "Win A Style.com Internship". Huh, sounds like a pretty interesting sweepstakes. I read a few more lines and I go from excited to down right pissed. The whole thing is an auction where you bid to work for free and they have to audacity to value the 'opportunity' at $2500. Sure you get college credit and the money goes to charity but that's a complete rip off. Not to mention internships should be filled by people who work for them not people who can pay for them!! Style.com/Vogue is in the business of pawning off overpriced designer goods that nobody actually needs (as much as we feel we need), but to actually pawn off work is unbelievable. Also, this is a style.com internship not even a Vogue internship. To quote, you will be "assist[ing] the editors with the fashion closet, trafficking samples, requesting product, assisting photo shoots, helping out during fashion week in New York". The only people who would be willing to pay for this must be the rich parents of NY trust fund babies. Yeah, I can totally see Jessie from NYC Prep doing this.

On a complete utter tangent, Bravo put up full episodes of NYC Prep online so I can brain mush my weekend away.

Suffering from Food Shows Withdrawal, Saved by Hulu

My new apartment has everything I need- my own room, proximity to classes, a large walk-in closet, and a parking space. However, one thing I am giving up is cable TV. I was TV-less for over a month before my mom bought me a nice flat screen for my birthday. Being rather thrifty, I really didn’t want to pay $30+ for cable or dish when I only watch three channels, Food Network, Travel Channel, and Bravo. Instead I made a one time purchase of a digital antenna. Once installed, I could watch the basic network channels (ABC, NBC, CBS) and tons of PBS. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to satisfy my craving for food shows. I really missed competition food shows like Top Chef, educational shows like Good Eats, and shows that feature food from around the world (Anthony Bourdain and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern). Sure PBS has numerous cooking shows that teach you how to create simple meals, but I just like to look at good food not make them!

Then I turned to Hulu for some more variety. Unfortunately my favorite networks had many snippets but few episodes, which makes sense because who would pay if they could watch everything online. With some browsing, I found several shows that are giving me my food show fix. One of them is called Great Cocktails.


The premise of the show is to teach viewers how to make great cocktail intertwined with a bit of history and tips from professional bartenders. It has Alton Brown’s fun facts (of Good Eats) and Iron Chef’s flair. I mean they lit alcohol on fire within the first 2 minutes of the first episode! I’m really excited about this show because I’ve always wanted to learn how to make cocktails. Now that I’m 21, I can finally make and enjoy some tasty alcoholic beverages.



PBS has a show called Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie. Like Anthony Bourdain and Bizarre foods, Diary of a Foodie takes a look at the foods found around the globe. People eat some marvelously strange things and I drool while watching them. I mentally tally all the things I have to try when I travel.



Another show on my 'To-Watch' list is Three Sheets. To my surprise, Hulu offers full episodes of several Mojo shows. I’ve actually watched Three Sheets before, but not regularly. My Dad remarked it was a good show but I usually stuck with my Food Network. Three Sheets follows Zane Lamprey, the human alcohol processor, around the world as he samples the local beers, wines, gins, whiskey- you name it, he’s tried it. It’s really funny to watch more than anything, and it helps that Zane is a comedian. A great show for the 20s crowd.




It's really sad that I finally have a nice big TV but nothing good to watch. I'm waiting for the fall prime time to start up so I can at least watch Grey's Anatomy. In the meantime, food shows on Hulu will be how I spend my evenings. The hard part is limiting how much I watch. Must not watch 20 episodes in one night!

The 'Anna' Documentary

First Valentino and now Anna Wintour! Looks like all the big names in fashion are getting a feature film documentary these days. I guess people can't get enough of Vogue. To be honest, I think U.S. Vogue has been getting worse and worse- haphazard or boring fashion spreads and articles that read like lists of socialite and designer names. Hardly anything catches my interest. I usually flip to the back first and browse the three pages of guest editor selected 'must haves' (you know, the ones that look like scrapbook pages). Then I check out the photo shoots and luxury brand ads. I get a 1/2 inch thick mag every month and there's nothing in there worth reading, skimming maybe but not reading- boo-hiss! I am definitely not renewing this year.

Despite my complaints with Us Vogue, it's a given I'm going to watch 'The September Issue'. I may not like Wintour's selection on recent issues, but I (and probably every fashion blogger out there) dream of being the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue. Attending fashion shows and everyone asking your opinion on what's fashionable and what not, having the power to promote young designers, putting together fashion spreads and reviewing fashion articles, what's not to like about that job? I definitely want to check out the amazing things you get to see and do as the Editor-in-Chief of one the best known fashion magazines in the world.

More Video Presentations

Looks like other designers are following Halston's video presentation. Gareth Pugh surprised its attendees with an eight minute video presentation instead of a runway show. I found the video more creepy than beautiful but that's to be expected from Gareth. And of course it's in black and white.

Fringe Fashion

I'm usually not a fan of fringe (especially the fringe boot trend last fall) because, let's be honest, sometimes it looks ridiculous. To wear it well, I think you just need some attitude. Lily and Irina know how to pull it off. Hair let down and rocking it in boots, they exude 'cool' girl or in Irina's case 'rocker's girlfriend.'


When I thought of fringe, I was reminded of the Fringe Fashion competition from last fall. The winner Eun Jeong Hong had a fantastic collection of Grecian white dresses decked with fringe. She did something elegant and romantic with fringe that I really appreciate.

Fringe can also be found on accessories. Etsy shop BabooshkaBoutique sells a variety of fringe necklaces that look amazing against a white cotton tank. A fringe necklace is a fun and unexpected addition to any wardrobe, and it only costs $30-$40. On the other hand, the completely fringed out Louboutins that border that edge between cool and ridiculous are $1,695. They take fringed shoes to a whole new level.

Lily Donaldson's picture is from a UK Vogue editorial called “Fringe Festival” that's worth checking out. Lily, being the model maverick she is, creates movement with her hair and the fringe resulting in some beautiful pictures.


Pics: Louboutins, Lily, Fashion Fringe, Irina, Fringe necklace

Glamour's NY Fashion Week Recap

Glamour.com has a surprisingly resourceful fashion section, especially considering that Glamour is a much more mainstream magazine. They've done a wonderful review of New York fashion week that's worth watching, if only for Robert Verdi's quote.



Quotes
Michael Kors- "Wear Day-Glo head to toe and you look like Barbie on acid."
Robert Verdi- "I think men have made a big mess of the world and women have to clean it. And so the female warrior is back."

Runway Walk Boot Camp

For your amusement, Modelinia has created the High Heel Boot Camp, where two models are getting a crash course in runway walk with a series of crazy challenges. Imagine walking in 5 inch skinny heels on a balance beam 4 feet off the floor. I can't even walk across a balance beam barefoot so I know this challenge is intense.


Episode 1


Episode 2


Also check out Heidi as the superhero Kluminador kick major fashion butt on Spiked Heel.

Halston Fall 2009

Halston decided to present its Fall 2009 collection through film as an alternative to a runway show or presentation. I commend its artistic posing and impeccible styling- it's truly beautiful. I loved how the yellow dress moved as the model ran through the streets (I'm glad they didn't make her run the whole way in heels), like a modern day Winged Nike of Samothrace. As much as I loved the concept and assessable medium through which even the non-fashion industry can appreciate Halston's collection, there's still something to be said about showing at Fashion Week. Fashion editors and buyers need to be three feet away from the clothes to truly appreciate the details. Nonetheless, its a beautiful video that's like a moving editorial.

CandyCast

Have you guys seen the CandyCast on Style.com? Fashion insider Candy Price gives a video blurb about the fashionable life. It’s kind of like a 5 minute version of the “Fabulous Life” series on VH1. There are seven videos in all and new ones are released every month. The newest video is about Signals- a little history and style involved. If you take a look at the archives, the ones you should really check out are episodes 4: the Collectors and 5: It's All About Color. The CandyCast offers fun bits of information and plenty of eye candy so it’s definitely worth a look. The only thing I’m not enthused about is the advertisement between videos, but that’s an expected annoyance.