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Jessica Chastain wore a green gown with lace cut-outs from Elie Saab's spring 2012 collection to a party for the 40th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s honorary Academy Award in Los Angeles last night. She looks pretty phenomenal in green, but what do you think about her affinity for cinched-in waists? Does it make her look bulgy (when she's obviously not), or does it accent her figure? Either way, we know it can't be good for her nerves.
"London Fashion Week is on the map," announces Moda Operandi fashion director Roopal Patel. "This is that sense of quirkiness and whimsy we look for in London." Many of her favorite runway looks were also the most daring: A sheer cherry-red top and skirt combo at Jonathan Saunders, a pair of electric-green printed pants at Mary Katrantzou, and a leaf-printed puffer coat at Peter Pilotto. "It's a testament that some of these designers who started out as newbies five years are now global players on the fashion scene," she says. From neon houndstooth to hit-you-over-the-head floral pants, here are Patel's 10 standout pieces from the week.
Jewelry designer Alexis Bittar always puts older women in his ads — Dynasty's Joan Collins, Lauren Hutton, and Absolutely Fabulous's Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, for example — instead of skinny young models. “Every ad features models age 16 to 22 with a blank stare, when the real consumer in luxury fashion stores is more like 35 to 65,” he tells the Times. “I hate when a woman says she’s 45 as if it’s a bad thing.”
Oscar dressing hasn’t always been the fashion equivalent of the NFL draft, complete with teams of celebrity stylists, designers, and sponsors (with pro sports-style budgets) partaking in actress' red carpet preparations. Once upon a time thespians dressed for the Academy Awards like they might for any other special event — say, a formal ball, a bar mitzvah, or Spiderman-themed wedding (Cher). Clicking through the refreshingly normal-looking women (i.e., not Cher) who populate the first half of these slides, one can practically hear the shift in 1995, when Uma Thurman's pale periwinkle Prada transformed the red carpet into a runway for designer-loaned looks. Beaded muumuus gave way to ballgowns, peaking with Gwyneth's bubble-gum pink Ralph Lauren in 1999. Since then, dresses have seemed safe by comparison, showing less of the actresses' personalities and far fewer of the singularly stylish missteps of the '80s and early '90s — which makes sense considering they're dressing by committee. The promise of Joan Rivers's criticism may also compel one to play it safe, but she would probably be the first to bring back Cher in Bob Mackie. Click through to see the Oscars' red carpet style evolution, including mother-of-the-bride dresses, top-to-toe emerald green, and what appear to be palazzo pants, on the Best Actress winners of the past 30 years.
If New York Fashion Week is the place where a model makes her catwalk debut, London is where a model picks up steam … or fizzles out. After an exclusive opening slot at Calvin Klein last week, German newcomer Franziska Müller scored the first and last looks at Erdem and closed for Aquascutum. Meanwhile, the long underrated Karlina Caune kicked off the fall collections for Paul Smith and Marios Schwab; Kolfinna Kristófersdóttir, Marc by Marc Jacobs’s recent closer, opened and closed for Christopher Kane. But the homegrown talent of Lara Mullen takes the win: The young Brit — beloved by the U.K.'s top fashion folk and represented by Premier Model Management — opened for Mulberry and Topshop Unique. Mullen also covers the spring 2012 issue of i-D magazine and stars on one of Dazed & Confused’s four March 2012 covers. See all of London’s key opening and closing looks in the slideshow ahead.
If the thought — nay, the nightmare — of Harper Seven bruising her precious chubby baby knees was keeping you up at night, fear not! Victoria Beckham tweeted this today: "Amazing! baby knee pads for when babies start crawling!! X vb http://yfrog.com/mn1azsuj" You know, just in case all you normal, non-knee-pad-owning moms out there wanted another reason to feel bad about your parenting.
Milan's first day of shows turned out sheer fabric panels at N°21, black leather skirts at Francesco Scognamiglio, and brightly-colored fur (electric blue and purple!) at Alberta Ferretti. Meanwhile, John Richmond showed black fringe dresses, crinoline-style skirts, and fabric printed with skeletons and purple roses — on a reflective runway, no less. See all the fall 2012 collections in our runway galleries.
Prince Charles will kick off London's menswear "weekend" in June — also known as London Collections: Men — with a special reception at St. James palace. With British GQ editor Dylan Jones, Tom Ford, and Burberry's Christopher Bailey already backing the new initiative to support British menswear, Charles's "beyond fashion" presence should provide extra gravitas.
Related: Donatella Versace Proclaims That Prince Charles Is ‘Beyond Fashion’
HAIR
• Michael Phelps says despite having chlorine-damaged hair he'll never shave his head. “If it falls out then it falls out," he says. In other news, as part of a new Head & Shoulders campaign, his face gets printed on the brand's shampoo bottles. [PeopleStyleWatch]
• Chloe Moretz debuted pink-streaked hair at last night’s Costume Designers Guild Awards. [InStyle]
• Gayle Giacomo, star of Style Network's Jerseylicious and owner of the Gatsby Salon, is starting her own hair care line, called “GATSBY."
[Jerseylicious]
At today's Gucci show in Milan, morose-looking models walked down a bruise-colored carpet in heavy, sinister makeup. The lighting was dim, the backdrop was dark, and the clothes were almost all black. Which reminded some critics of another lugubrious topic: the European economy. Writes the Telegraph's Luke Leitch:
This is set to be a gloomy year for Italian fashion — analysts suggest sales will decline by 5.2 per cent in 2012 — and Gucci's opening show today captured that mood perfectly.
View the slideshow
Burberry
Alberta Ferretti
N°21
Lara Mullen Is London Fashion Week’s Top Model
Chloe Moretz Has Pink Hair; Jerseylicious Star Starts Haircare Line
See All the Marni for H&M Ads
Kate Middleton’s Puppy Name Revealed; Poppy Delevigne Says Brits Embrace Curves
Andrej Pejic Got a Beauty Contract With Jean Paul Gaultier
Nicki Minaj Goes Smurf Blue for Vogue; Estée Lauder Teams Up With Mad Men
What Do Tight Pants, Tutus, and Gun Belts Have in Common?
Slideshow: Roxanne Lowit’s Iconic Photographs of Iman, Kate Moss, Pamela Anderson, and More
Italian Vogue Makes Weird GIFs of Coco Rocha and Abbey Lee
Mary Katrantzou Will Have You Know That Prints Are Flattering; Roland Mouret to Debut Shoes
See the New Top Model Cast
Wet ‘n’ Wild Went and Got Itself a Celebrity Spokesperson
Nicolas Ghesquière Taps Kristen Stewart as the New Balenciaga Face
This Creepy Picture Is Some Folks’ Idea of the ‘Perfect’ Woman
Madonna’s First Perfume Ad Stars Herself, Twice
Taylor Swift’s CoverGirl Mascara Ad Banned
Pat McGrath on Rooney Mara’s Dragon Tattoo Makeup; Sofia Vergara Has Worn Lipstick Since She Was 14
Givenchy Convinced Liv Tyler to Sing in Their New Ad
Dakota Fanning’s Ad for Marc Jacobs Perfume Banned in the U.K.
Tom Ford Sold $52,000 Worth of Makeup in One Night
First Looks: Gareth Pugh’s Makeup Collection for MAC
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