November, 2009

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23
Nov 09

A champagne clearout

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Last Saturday a close friend invited me to a “closet clearout party” in Chelsea. I’ve been to several of these events over the years but they have mostly taken place in girlfriends’ bedrooms and consisted of a group of no more than five to ten women. 

Times have definitely changed. 

Saturday’s clearout came complete with an invitation and promises of freshly baked goodies and oodles of champagne. So not only do you get to enjoy fantastic nibbles and bubbly in the company of glamorous women and their doting husbands, but you also have the opportunity to shop a closet (or office space as this party went) full of designer clothes at next-to-nothing prices. The host was relaxed, immaculately dressed and happy to see her once-treasured possessions find new homes with fellow fashion followers. 

Whereas so many of the sales I’ve attended have been held to raise a quick bit of cash, this one was completely for charity. So I didn’t feel bad when eyeing up Prada bags, Burberry jackets and Marni dresses. I was doing a good turn. I was contributing to the wellbeing of mankind, not to mention recycling at the same time. Really, I think we should be rewarded for such honorable deeds.

I’m actually thinking a day might come when I will do the same thing. My closet space is becoming a bit ridiculous and I’m convinced no man is ever going to put a diamond on my right hand if he sees the wardrobe that comes with it – space is a serious issue in London!

So stay tuned, as perhaps you will be getting a glossy invite to a fabulous sale in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, if you are looking for a Christmas fix but money is tight, why not try flipping through the search pages on eBay? There are some amazing deals to be had in the designer arena.

  

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4
Nov 09

Proud Fashion

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Since moving to London several years ago (too many to mention now) I have attended various events at Proud Galleries in Camden and Central London. I have yet to leave an event put on by Alex Proud without having first put a fashion note in my pocket.  And the opening of his new club in the City of London, Proud Cabaret, was no exception. Although it was apparent that a disturbing trend is finding its feet once again with the younger generation – grunge!

Who will forget the early 90s when flannel and ripped clothing was all the rage. The more you looked like you just crawled out from under a rock the more in style you were.  Could this trend once again be taking the cities by storm?  Will Ralph Lauren flannel force Dolce and Gabbana corsets into the back of the closet?

I guess we aren’t quite there yet.  But the celebrities found at Proud Cabaret were showing that our wardrobes might be headed in that direction. Both Alice Dellal and Helena Christensen (both pictured above) were sporting a look that is both relaxed yet incredibly time consuming. This is grunge. You work for hours to look like you just crawled out of bed. Go figure.

That being said, the women at Proud Cabaret would have all the men in London lining the streets waiting to get in. The corset is definitely an idea that is not lost on the performers or on several women in attendance for that matter.

This place is worth a visit, not only for the excellent cocktails, shows, food and decor but also for the wonderful fashion displayed by those in attendance. Young, urban and chic very rarely place their finally manicured feet incorrectly.

More party news later…     

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3
Nov 09

Is Cindy Crawford too healthy-looking to model? Unfortunately, it’s true

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She is perhaps the “super-est” of all supermodels today. Cindy Crawford is a legend and considered a great beauty by both men and women.

Women dream of looking like her and men dream of what they would look like walking into a room with her.

Last week Cindy created a media frenzy when an interview she’d given to a German celebrity magazine was released into the public domain. In the interview she was quoted as saying the following:

“I would not have become a supermodel in 2009. I look too healthy.”

“A body like mine with big breasts, normal thighs and toned upper arms is no longer what the industry is looking for.”

She went on to stress how happy and relaxed she was in her body now at 40. And really who wouldn’t be – have you seen her lately? She looks just as gorgeous as she did at 20.  We should all hope to age as well!

Cindy has been criticized by several media outlets for appearing to have low self esteem because of this article. The critics that wrote these pieces obviously didn’t read the article but merely “quote grabbed”.  Cindy was not criticizing herself, she was criticizing what the industry has become, and rightfully so.

She speaks the truth. If she walked into any of the leading agencies in NYC, London, Paris or Milan they would all show her the door and tell her not to come back until she has lost at least 40 lbs, which of course is ridiculous. This certainly wasn’t the case of 20 years ago.

Since Cindy was discovered at the age of 16 she has graced the covers of various magazines over 400 times. She constantly tops ‘most beautiful’ lists. She’s also managed to find the time to host a TV show, star in fitness videos and raise two beautiful children.  This is a woman that has made a name, and a fortune, for herself from her stellar face and body.

Cindy was not only a supermodel, she was a universal sex symbol.  Hardly any of the women we see modelling fashion in Vogue today are attractive to men. How do I know this? Well I asked every man I could find to flip through last month’s issue and point out one woman they liked. 

There was not one page (bar the advertisements of celebrities or articles on celebrities) that warranted a second glance. The men said “they look scary”, “I’d feed them a steak on the first sitting”, “I’d take her out just to save her from starving and then immediately rush her to a rehab clinic”, “She’d break in two.” I could go on forever but there weren’t very nice things said, that is for sure. 

I then displayed some images I had on my blackberry of supermodel legends Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Christie Brinkley, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schieffer. Talk about some gaga eyes and drool. And to think that these women were all size eight when modeling, which is incidentally twice the size, sometimes four times the size of today’s fashion model.

Cindy Crawford simpy raised awareness of a growing problem with the fashion world today. At what point do we stop asking women to shrink and just start using actual clothes hangers to run clothes down a catwalk.  It’s not physically possible for any of these girls to get any smaller! Bring back the Cindys, Claudias, and Christies.

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