Head Candy

From movies, to pop culture, to famous works of art, The Bowler Hat is tucked firmly into the ever-changing timeline of fashion history.

Thanks to Jean Paul Gaultier for Hermes (A/W 2010), The Bowler is back--for a lot of people, it never left.

For the rest of us, it's nice to know they're not just for that Cabaret Halloween outfit that we pull out every other year.

I think I'll go dust mine off now.

10 Reasons To Watch ALT on America's Next Top Model

André Leon Talley, Editor-at-large (no pun intended) for Vogue magazine will debut as the new judge of ANTM tonight.

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched the show—I wasn’t impressed with it since Janice Dickinson left.

However, with ALT on board, who knows what kind of shenanigans will ensue!


Here are 10 reasons why you need to watch:

1.    He just may use the word "dreckitude" which he define’s as, “the lowest point in the lowest ebb. It  could be your look. It could be your shoes. It could be that you’re standing wrong. Drek is a total, total, total hot mess."

2.    He may make a joke about that whole ‘lunch in the car’ scene that was deleted from The September Issue. Fun!



3.    There is a good possibility that a big cat fight between him and just about anyone on the panel could break out at any time. At least, that’s what we’re hoping. However, the best cat fight of all would be between ALT and Miss J. Le Sigh.

4.    He may wear a turban

5.    He could say things like, "Most of the Vogue girls are so thin, tremendously thin, because Miss Anna don't like fat people" and “there’s a famine of beauty in the U.S”  He’s very quotable.

6.    We will see, first-hand, how he gets along with Kimora Lee Simmons who is supposedly going to guest judge this season. What a mix: high-fashion vs. no-fashion.

7.    Chado Ralph Rucci is designing a different ‘cloak’ for each episode!

8.    However, there is a possibility that he could show up looking like this:

9.    One of the models will not know who he is…and he’ll have to explain.

And best of all.....

10.  He’s going to scare the shit out of conservative, homophobes across the globe!


Like you needed 10 reasons to watch!


ANTM Season Premier airs Wednesday, March 10, 2010 @ 8pm/7pm C

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards: Post Mortem

Well, it’s come and gone and it’s left me wanting more fashion disasters to blog about. It seems like Hollywood is catching on and stepping up their game; there were not many disasters last night.

However, you can always count on Mariah Carey to fuck up a beautiful dress. More on that later.

I would like to first express how shocked I am that nobody wore Alexander McQueen.
These celebrities were the first to come out and release statements of how devastated they were about McQueen’s death. SJP was the most vociferous but decided to wear (badly) Chanel Couture.

Whatever. Just goes to show that it’s all press. Most actresses know nothing about fashion and wouldn’t know a McQueen gown from a Galliano gown from a gown from the local department store. They just want us to think that they do.


Worst Dressed: (Caution: Fashion massacres are ahead)

Only Mariah can make Valentino look like a Wal-Mart brand.  Her main problem?  She doesn't know what size she is.

Next up, Sarah Jessica Parker: a fashion icon, or so that’s what we’re being sold.

She looked like Ann Bancroft last night and not in a good way. Her dress and hair had this weird 60’s/Valley of the Dolls thing going on. Looks like she was trying to channel the runway but channelled Old Lady instead.

Gabourey wore Marchesa and just like I thought, it ended up being too much.

Those jewels taped to her bodice make her look even bigger. Too bad because the cut of the dress is perfect for her.

Vera, Vera, Vera. So gorgeous so this makes her dress choice even more tragic.

A lot of bloggers and the media seem to love what she was wearing last night. To each their own. I think she looked ridiculous—like she’s wearing fans. When you’re as gorgeous and tall as she is, simplicity with a twist is best. She should take lessons from Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore.

Charlize Theron loves Christian Dior—she wears it often. Unfortunately, the dresses usually wear her.

The color and the cut of the dress is perfect for her. It’s those damn cupcakes on her chest that make it a fashion miss. Certain dresses are better left on the runway.

Nicole Ritchie in Reem Acra: a massacre from head to toe

Sorry Maggie G. I love you but this Dries Van Noten dress looks like one of those tacky beach towels you buy at all-inclusive vacations.

Best Dressed:

Sandra Bullock’s Marchesa gown first scared me on the Red Carpet but under the lights of the Kodak Theater, she looked lovely.

It looked even better when she accepted her Oscar. The lighting from the stage made her glow.  However, will we still like this years from now?  This dress is going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Glad she did the strong lip—that dress needed that lipstick.

Out of all the nominees, she came closest to what I wanted her to wear.

Carey Mulligan surprised me a bit last night with her choice. Didn’t expect so much black from her but that doesn’t matter, she still looked beautiful in her Prada gown.

Her footwear choice was a disaster, though. Way too heavy for the already heavy gown.

I thought Oprah looked the best she’s looked in a long time in this Carolina Herrara gown.

Perfect color, perfect fit. Beautiful.

Elizabeth Banks in Versace .

That’s all I can say about her as she’s incredibly boring. Good dress choice, though.

Demi Moore also chose Versace. Gorgeous.

Not sure why everyone was hating on Diane Kruger’s Chanel dress. I thought it looked lovely on her.

Sure, there’s a lot going on here but it’s ok because of the color. The nude tone makes it soft. I thought she looked unique and very French. I like unique and very French.

Anna Kendrick and Rachel McAdams chose the flowing gowns of Elie Saab (always goes from the runway to the Red Carpet, effortlessly)

I wish Anna would have chosen a brighter color. Also, she mentioned in a Red Carpet interview that this gown was her second choice because her first choice gown wasn’t ready on time. Makes us wonder what could have been! Also, Elie Saab should never let her wear her designs ever again for that comment. Red Carpet Newbies!

Rachel looked stunning. Nothing more can be said. Just look at that dress.

I think Cameron Diaz is one of my favorite’s from last night. 

You really can’t go wrong with Oscar de la Renta—ever. Why don’t more celebs know this yet?

J Lo in Armani Prive was lovely—just a little over-done. The dress is kind of wearing her.

Queen Latifah was another one of my fave’s last night. The cut, the color the accessories = Red Carpet Perfection

She wore Badgley Mischka.  Like Oscar de la Renta, you really can’t go wrong with BM.

Kristen Stewart in Monique Lhuillier—a midnight blue color. Gorgeous dress.

Would be even more gorgeous of Kristen didn’t slouch and look so unimpressed all night.

Her appeal is lost on me.

Mariska Hargitay also chose a dark tone last night.

She wore black (or it could be a charcoal) Vera Wang—the dress lays beautifully. 

Julianne Moore in Calvin Klein.

Don’t get me started. I can talk about her all day. (Note that hint of green again! She loves green)

Julianne’s partner in crime these days; Tom Ford.

I want to be his friend. Why is he so cool? Ugh.

Kathryn Bigelow in YSL. She’s a beautiful woman. Most pictures of her on the net are of her working so it’s nice to see her all glammed-up! And she kicked serious ass last night which makes her even hotter, non?

Jeff Bridges wife, Susan Geston looked stunning in black Monique Lhuillier last night.

I love the contrast of the blue jewelry. She knew exactly (or her stylist knew) what she was doing with that jewelry. I love it when people think about their accessories. They really are important and can make or break an outfit.

Zoe Saldana chose Givenchy Couture and cyberspace went mad when they first saw her. My Twitter page was filled with negativity towards the dress. Not sure why.  During fashion week when Givenchy showed, everyone was loving the collection.

I think she wore the dress well—its not an easy dress to pull off. I think the lavender color and those jewels on the bodice were perfect with Zoe’s skin tone. I thought she looked beautiful and I don’t care what anyone says; that Givenchy dress is magnificent.

All in all, the show was boring last night. It’s weird having two hosts and the dance sequences underwhelmed as did the costumes.
The good news is, there's always next year to either improve the show or make it worse.

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BRING BILLY CRYSTAL BACK!!!!!!

-Sher @ FA

In Fashion, Nepotism Can Work

Jasmine Al Fayed, daughter of Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, faced a ton of criticism when she opened her store in the Harrods fashion department back in 2003.
A lot of critics thought her decision to do a one year apprenticeship in the Harrods sewing room rather than completing her degree at the London College of Fashion was just plain silly.

Then came the inevitable accusations of nepotism.....and that terrible label that still follows her today: Daddy's Little Girl.

Here we are in 2010 and she's totally proven her critics wrong.  (don't you love when that happens?)
Her line, Jasmine Di Milo is regularly seen on the Red Carpet and what's even better?  Her collections are always chic, creative and wearable.  Very wearable.  I want EVERYTHING in her A/W 2010 collection:

This collection is called The Puzzle Factory. 

This gown is gorgeous...

Looks like the Romper is sticking around for Fall

I want this entire outfit

Ok, so the cut-out dress isn't reinventing the wheel but she knows her customer

This is my fave. 

You can find her collection on her website (check out her Spring 2010 lineup):
http://www.jasminedimilo.com/
 
 

Our Red Carpet Wish for the Oscar Nominees

The Oscars are fast approaching and we are hoping to see some seriously scrumptious frocks on the red carpet, especially from Newbies like Anna Kendrick, Gabourey Sibide and Carey Mulligan.

We’re sick of sitting around playing with our Barbie’s so we decided to dress the lovely ladies nominated for Best Lead & Supporting Actress—whether they like it or not!

And the nominees are:

Gabourey Sidibide for Precious:
We want to see Gabourey in something youthful but sexy but it hasn’t been easy finding something great for her. Designers really need to start designing for average/plus size women—seriously.
We chose this Reem Acra gown for her because of the cut mostly but that taupy color will look awesome against her skin.  Also, we love this little caplet sleeves.

Last week, we heard that Gabourey has chosen Marchesa for the Oscars.  Let's hope it's not too OTT.


Carey Mulligan for An Education:
Carey is radiant. She has such a bright future ahead of her so we couldn’t resist putting her in something soft and airy. It’s like she could take flight in this dress by Alberta Ferretti with all those flowing layers falling in all the right places.  Also, this dress with look hot with her new blonde, pixie cut.

Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia:
Meryl always chooses comfort over trend. She sticks to the classics but likes to show a lot of shoulder. We chose this Elie Saab number in cobalt blue. We think this color will be sublime against the fairness of her skin and those blonde locks. It falls beautifully over the shoulders.

It also has a cinched waist—she likes to wear dresses with belts or cinched waists to accentuate her figure.



Mo’Nique for Precious:
Like Gabourey, Mon’ique is not a size 0, therefore it was difficult to find something great for her. We knew we wanted to see her in red or a deep fuschia as it would look lovely with her skin tone.
We picture her hair down with this dress to add to the softness.

Designer: Carmen Marc Valvo

Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side:
Sandra has the kind of skin tone/hair color that works so well with the nude trend we’ve been seeing this season.
We chose this Elie Saab dress for her. We picture her hair up, minimal eye makeup but bright red lips. Hot!

Penelope Cruz for Nine:
It’s no secret; Penelope is gorgeous in just about anything. She tends to stick to neutral colors on the red carpet but she’s been known to surprise us with reds or pinks.
We searched high & low for something perfect (we had a lot of options for her) but kept coming back to this dress by Nina Ricci.

Helen Mirren for The Last Station:
Helen Mirran likes neutrals so we want to see her in something with color. We chose this Carolina Herrara dress because we think it will look gorgeous with her hair color which is a silvery-blonde. 

Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air:
Vera is so beautiful but she does have this edge to her looks. She’s different. Like Penelope Cruz, she was difficult to dress because everything we chose could work for her. We ended up choosing this soft, peachy-pink dress from Christian Dior because it has interesting details. Much like Vera.

Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart:
Maggie has great style because she takes risks. She doesn’t seem to fear fashion in any way and that confidence comes through, even if she chooses the wrong dress. She knows how to ‘work it’.
We chose a buttery-colored dress from Bottega Veneta for Maggie as it’s soft and flowing. We think the color will make her look as though she’s glowing. We picture her hair down, strong lips and a statement necklace. Preferably some major diamonds from Harry Winston.

Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air:
We want to see Anna in something risky. She’s young and hot right now so we want her in a short dress.
We originally chose an Alexander McQueen dress with a nice poufy skirt—very 50’s. But, we changed our minds. We thought it was too risky for her first time out. Plus, Drew Barrymore wore the dress already and we wouldn’t want Anna to feel anything less than original.
Looking back at her recent Red Carpet choices, she's not a risk-taker, at all.  So, if she won't dress her age, hopefully she chooses something black, chic and sexy like this dress by Badgley Mischka.

Happy Oscars, everyone!

Jean Pool

Denim has become a more and more popular piece of clothing as we've become more and more casual.  For Spring/Summer 2010, denim was EVERYWHERE on the runways.

Most corporations across the globe have embraced Business-Casual and Casual Fridays so we can get a lot of use out of our beloved jeans.
It used to be that you could only wear your jeans on the weekends--not anymore.  This is probably why denim companies can charge us astronomical prices for a little cotton/spandex...and we don't compain! (we complain, sometimes)

We thought it would be fun (and we're really curious) to find the most expensive jeans on the planet right now. We searched far and wide (well, our fingers on the keyboard searched far and wide) to find them and here's what we've discovered:

Dussault Apparel Inc. currently have the most expensive jeans on the market ($250,000 USD) and they're absolutely hideous.

Check out the website
http://www.dussaultapparel.com/press/
To say this line is tacky is being nice.

So, once we figured out that these were (probably) the most expensive jeans out there, we wanted to see if we could find any images of people actually wearing these in public.

No surprise here--Tommy Lee and Chris Angel are fans.

We're assuming (and hoping) that they are the only customers.

Dussault $250,000 jeans are proof that money can't buy class.


If anyone knows of an even more expensive pair of jeans, let us know! (Retail only--not collectables)

Sher @ FA