Festive Silver - Decor for the Holidays

RELIGION - Whether you're into Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, the Winter Solstice, Yuletide or New Years the "in colour" this year isn't really a colour. Its silver.

Move over red and green – neutrals, metallics and peacock shades are the hot holiday hues of 2008.

This year’s decor is taking a cue from the runways. PARA Paints chose a royal-inspired festive palette of plumy purple, flat silver, icy white and cream and, the season’s rising star, cobalt blue.

For traditionalists, deep blue paired with silver and white is stepping up as a wintry alternative for the now oh-so-passé combo of red and green.

Metallics, including classics like silver, gold and bronze, are also popular again this season. Metallics in a not-too-shiny, midtone finish are particularly hot this year and mixing metallics isn't as hard as it sounds.

For the more adventurous host or hostess you may want to embrace the monochromatic trend. A combination of white, cream and silver can evoke a warm but wintry feel, while copper, beige and brown creates a natural-yet-chic atmosphere.

You don’t have to spend a gazillion dollars

When money is tight, holiday decorating doesn’t have to mean placing a single white candle on the table. Getting the house ready for the holidays on a budget simply means being a little resourceful, decorating experts say.

Carefully revamping or creatively using what you already own can create lush looks in lean economic times. Objects found in the home can be used to create a sense of richness and warmth in a family room. The idea is to convey a sense of abundance.

ie. Find a clear glass bowl and fill it with ornaments of a single bright colour for an eye-catching display.

Set a budget and follow it closely, reuse your stash of decorations, bring in the great outdoors, and remember that it’s supposed to be fun. Paint or glitter can refresh the decorations pulled out of closets and basements and spray paint can be your best friend.

Try buying a large roll of wide ribbon and making bows that can be placed on trees, garlands on staircases and gifts. Making your own bows is cheaper than buying new ones.

You can make wreaths look new by attaching new fake berries, sprigs or pine cones.

Try using nature to update your decor, for example, by gathering twigs, pine cones, branches and pine boughs and arranging the items in a vase, as though they are part of a flower arrangement. Spray painting the cones festive silver can also work wonders.

Teenagers cutting back on Fashion

FASHION - American teenagers are being forced to cutback on fashion this holiday shopping season. Why? Because their parents are cutting back on spending, and this means allowances are being cut, parents are reining in on their children's credit cards and teens are being told to GET A JOB whenever they ask their parents for more money.

All of this is the result of the current recession and credit crisis in the United States.

THE GOOD NEWS: The holiday sales this season are EXTREME. All the companies are DESPERATE for cash, afraid of going bankrupt and are offering 70% sales or better. This means for those of us who do have spending money we can stretch our budget a bit farther and buy more clothes (or more quality) than we normally do.

Australian Fashion Week dumps 14-year-old model

FASHION - Last April 14-year-old Polish girl was dumped from Australian Fashion Week (AFW) after organizers bowed to public pressure to adopt a minimum age of 16 for its fashion models.

The controversial decision to feature 14-year-old Monika Jagaciak in the major Sydney fashion event was reversed "in light of industry and community concern regarding the acceptable age for models".

"Effective immediately, both male and female models participating in Rosemount Australian Fashion Week will need to be at least 16 years of age and must be represented by a model agency," AFW said in a statement.

Monika, who was to have been flown to Sydney for the event which begins on April 28, has previously fronted a campaign for French fashion house Hermes and has been photographed in a white swimsuit being sprayed by a shower jet.

Vogue magazine added to the pressure for an age limit of 16 to be adopted, saying it would not feature Monika in its AFW coverage.

BUT WHAT ARE THE AGE STANDARDS IN OTHER FASHION SHOWS???

Obamachic and Obamamania

FASHION/POLITICS - Like Barack and Michelle Obama's fashion sense? You're not alone.

Barack Obama is not just the next president of the United States. He's also the new face of fashion.

Thanks in part to sightings of A-listers like Ryan Phillippe, Brad Pitt, Beyoncé and Kanye West wearing Obama T-shirts, as well as the constant and prominent display of the politician's handsome face on the big screen at the recent MTV Europe awards, his image has reached the status of an international pop culture icon.

So it shouldn't be surprising that Toronto designer Kingi Carpenter, of the quirky label Peach Berserk, is making stuff emblazoned with Obama's face. Carpenter makes silkscreened hoodies, dresses, T-shirts, skirts and scarves... all with Obama on them. One woman even bought Obama pillows for her house.

The designer, a self-admitted political junkie, follows American politics obsessively and is an Obama fan. But her inspiration for the Obama items arose out of Canadian history. She once saw a dress from the Trudeaumania era emblazoned with the image of the famously attractive prime minister and was fascinated with what it meant.


MICHELLE OBAMA

Every time Michelle Obama wears one of her unusual dress selections on television, the item flies off the shelves.

The famous $148 sundress she wore on The View and the J.Crew yellow suit she wore on Letterman were huge hits with shoppers, while the red dress she wore on her first visit to the White House sold out within a week.

For women it will be Michelle who will be setting fashion and cultural trends when the couple reaches the White House.

Michelle Obama also nixed getting a designer pooch like a stupid chihuahua, saying her kids would adopt a rescue dog, and will continue this thrifty, socially conscious pattern throughout the term.

Obama's American-made family car, a Ford Escape hybrid, is a perfect example of this, as it is both patriotic and environmentally responsible. It sets an example Americans can live by.

This doesn't always work: Jimmy Carter tried to get Americans to wear sweaters during the energy crisis of the '70s and, even though he happily sported a cardigan, the style was only adopted by a few. On the other hand, he says, Ronald Reagan's love affair with the colour brown was widely adopted in men's clothing.

When fashions were adopted, such as Jackie Kennedy's clothes and J.F.K's refusal to wear a hat, the fashion fads were widespread throughout the U.S., regardless of political affiliation.

Michelle Obama's wardrobe differs greatly from the "very European and Anglo Saxon" outfits worn by Cindy McCain and Laura Bush, but instead features a more globalized chic.

Barack Obama's preference for white shirts and dark suits sends a message that he's honest and straightforward. We can expect white dress shirts to get a popular surge. Everything about the new First Family will be scrutinized and copied by an adoring public. Together their White House style will fit in with the new era of austerity, but will still have sparkle and energy.

Its definitely an improvement over George W. Bush and his shoulder pads.

Fashion Riot for Comme des Garçons

FASHION - Imagine if you will going to an H&M store at Toronto's Eaton Centre and standing in line for 12 hours waiting for the store to open... and then when the store does open a riot breaks out and people start fighting over the clothes.

That is what on November 13th 2008.

210 people + Limited edition designs by avant garde Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo for fashion label Comme des Garçons = RIOT.

Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garçons, is often credited with being one of the first to introduce a predominant use of black, asymmetrical hems and frays seams when she first launched the label in Paris in the early 1980s.

Rei Kawakubo is untrained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University. After graduation, Kawakubo worked in a textile company and began working as a freelance stylist in 1967.

In 1973, Rei Kawakubo established her own company, Comme des Garçons Co. Ltd in Tokyo and opened up her first boutique in Tokyo in 1975. Starting out with women's clothes, Kawakubo added a men's line in 1978. Three years later, she started presenting her fashion lines in Paris each season, opening up a boutique in Paris in 1982.

Comme des Garçons specialises in anti-fashion, austere, sometimes deconstructed garments. During the 1980s, Rei Kawakubo's garments were primarily in black, dark grey or white. The materials were often draped around the body and featured frayed, unfinished edges along with holes and a general asymmetrical shape. Challenging the established notions of beauty she created an uproar at her debut Paris fashion show where journalists labeled her clothes 'Hiroshima chic' amongst other things. Since the late 1980s her colour palette has grown somewhat.

Rei Kawakubo likes to have input in all the various aspects of her business. Rather than just focussing on clothes and accessories. She is greatly involved in graphic design, advertising and shop interiors believing that all these things are a part of one vision and are inextricably linked. Her Aoyama, Tokyo store is known for its sloping glass facade decorated with little blue dots. This was designed in collaboration between Rei and a Japanese architect. Rei published her own bi-annual magazine, 'Six' (standing for 'sixth sense'), in the early 1990s. It featured very little text and consisted mainly for photographs and images that she deemed inspiring. In 1996 Rei was guest editor of the high art publication Visionaire.

Rei Kawakubo is known to be quite reclusive and media shy, preferring her innovative creations to speak for themselves.

How to Convert a T-shirt into a Dress

FASHION - Ever wanted to turn an old t-shirt into a dress? Well, with a little help from a Fashion MacGyver (GiannyL.com) you can, and its not that hard.




OR A BIKINI



OR A BABY-DOLL SHIRT



OR A MINI-SKIRT

Chocolate Fashion

CANADA - Using pounds and mounds of chocolate, 10 local designers created outfits – ranging from a hat, to a bikini, to a wedding dress to jeans – incorporating the decadent dark stuff for a runway show at the Carlu in Toronto on Wednesday night.

It was the fourth annual Cadbury Chocolate Couture Collection that sees the confectionery company invite fashion designers to each create an outfit – under the direction of a chocolate artist – comprised of 70 per cent of the sweet stuff.

This year's theme was the global passion for chocolate and each look referenced a different international culture.

Some of the designers seemed to subscribe to the true chocolate aficionado's credo: go with gusto and eat the whole bar, and choose only the really good stuff. While some creations looked merely spray- painted with Dairy Milk, others seemed gleefully and wonderfully overindulged.

Izzy Camilleri's African Queen was influenced by the continent's royal tribes, with a costume featuring a bodice made of twigs executed entirely of chocolate. Even stacks of arm bracelets were chocolate-dipped.

Design duo Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong, of red-hot label Greta Constantine, took the silk route with their Thai Temptress, which incorporated six metres of stringed, solid-chocolate beadwork.

Milliner Karyn Gingras of Lilliput Hats fashioned a towering chapeau in the shape of the famed Sydney Opera House.

At the reception that followed chocolate fountains and chocolate martinis helped soothe chocolate cravings.

Spa and Masseuse Do's and Don'ts

When visiting a spa to get a massage here are some helpful do's and don'ts when it comes to spa etiquette.

HEALTH/FASHION - Arrive at least fifteen minutes early for your appointment, to give yourself time to check in and get into your robe. If the spa has special facilities like steam or sauna or whirlpool baths, you should arrive even earlier to enjoy them.

You will usually undress completely for massage and body treatments, but your therapist will keep your body draped in dry services and only expose area to be worked upon. Some spas use draping in wet treatments like body scrubs, while others do not.

Give the therapist feedback as to your comfort and special troubled areas. You can talk or be quiet, and he she should follow your lead

Relax, enjoy and allow others to care for you.

Understand that you are getting therapeutic massage, which is not a sensual experience.

Don't talk loudly in the public areas.

Do not bring children and leave them unattended.

Gratuities of 15-20% are typical.

If the therapist says, "take your time getting up," it means not to get up so fast that you get woozy. You generally have five or so minutes. The room must be prepared for the next client unless she or he says otherwise.

Give honest feedback to the therapist, owner, receptionist, etc., as operation personnel cares to know if your spa experiences was as expected.

Finally, and this is a big must, avoid eating gassy foods before getting your massage! The last thing the masseuse wants is for you to break wind in their face.

United States Election T-Shirts

These shirts must have been designed by a man, but whatever. I like them.

Palin's Shopping Frenzy worse

Sarah Palin Fashion - Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported.

While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost.

An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Regardless, Sarah Palin's horrible fashion sense and overspending provides us with amusement and a reminder of how NOT to dress.

Election Map looks like Red High Heels

Is it just me or does the election map of the United States look like red high heels?

Obama Wins US Presidency

Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning the US Presidency!

He was always well-dressed, as opposed to McCain who frequently sported some fashion don'ts and Sarah Palin who just plain dressed like trailer trash.

Voter turnout has been very low in recent years, but this year has seen a huge boost to voter turnout. Left is a dress made by a Japanese designer out of voter cards.

US Voter Turnout by Year

1980: 52.56%
1984: 53.11%
1988: 50.15%
1992: 55.23%
1996: 49.08%
2000: 51.30%
2004: 55.27%

I think the dress is pretty kewl and it stresses the importance that EVERYONE should vote. I know people think we fashionistas are a bunch of dumb blondes/etc, but its not about intelligence. Its about loving your country and wanting to make a difference. Sometimes only 1 vote can make a difference.

My dress is Ringing

TECHNOLOGY - The '60s TV sitcom Get Smart brought us the shoe phone, but what about a dress phone?

It's the M-Dress – a silk garment that doubles as a mobile phone. Produced by UK firm CuteCircuit, the M-Dress works with a standard SIM card. When the dress rings, you raise your hand to your head to answer the call.

This futuristic fusion of fashion and technology is becoming more common as clothing designers are increasingly incorporating electronics into their garments.

Jane McCann, director of Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology at the University of Wales, says the clothing and electronics industries are collaborating in an unprecedented way – what she describes as "a new industrial revolution."

McCann predicts that, in the next 10 years, clothes will have all kinds of functionality. "A garment might have devices on it to help you find your way somewhere, or to tell you how fit you are. It could tell you where someone is to help you meet them, or tell you what's on at a museum or club."

She notes the sports and fitness industries have led the way in wearable technology, producing shoes with built-in pedometers and active wear with iPod controls.

"Wearable technology is coming through into useful everyday clothing more than it is on the catwalk. The catwalk still treats wearable tech as flashing earrings or sensational things," McCann says.

While high fashion may be slow to adopt practical technology, designers have been quick to embrace technology in order to create dazzling new styles. Hussein Chalayan, twice selected as British Designer of the Year, has used his shows to experiment with dresses that glow with built-in LEDs or emit spectacular red lasers.

Others, like Angel Chang, have produced beautiful designs using thermochromic inks that change colour when you touch or breathe on them, while Montreal's XS Labs has used a shape-memory alloy called Nitinol to produce extraordinary dresses that change shape while you wear them.

As well as functionality, McCann believes mass customization will emerge as a major trend in clothing. "You can already go into a sizing booth and get measurements of your size and shape."

Perhaps you could store that information on a card and that could be used to customize clothing.

"In theory, if you've got technology that's cutting out garments one at a time it could produce clothes informed by your own size requirements," she says.

But mass customization could extend beyond getting the perfect fit – you might also be able to customize the technology in your clothes.

Says McCann: "You might want built-in controls for an MP3 player but I might like heartbeat monitoring."

"I'd like mine to have a digital print of the (album) sleeve but my friend wants a picture of her boyfriend on the back."

"Some of that could happen in the next 10 years."

Fashion for Neglectful Fathers

CANADA - Check out the shirt of the guy to the right who is currently pleading guilty to criminal negligence in the deaths of his two daughters. Christopher Pauchay, 24, is being charged in deaths of daughters Kaydance Pauchay, 3, and her 1-year-old sister, Santana, who became separated from their father after they left their house on the Yellow Quill First Nation reserve in the early morning of January 29 2008. The temperature would have felt like -50 C because of the wind. They froze to death.

The single charge of criminal negligence causing the deaths of both children was laid to address a failure "to provide protection from exposure to the elements."

And here he is, the "grieving father", dressed like he's going to a rock and roll concert. You'd think he would at least find a suit and tie to wear. Its believed he was drinking the night his daughters wandered out into the cold and died.

Granted, the Yellow Quill First Nation has been plagued for decades by alcohol abuse, high unemployment, a lack of suitable housing and almost no government programs to promote employment or treat addiction problems. The closest addiction centre was a 5 hour drive away.

FASHION NOTES:

WEAR PROTECTIVE CLOTHING IN THE COLD CANADIAN WINTER AND MAKE SURE YOUR CHILDREN WEAR IT TOO.

WHEN YOU'RE BEING CHARGED WITH MURDER OR CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE, AT LEAST WEAR SOMETHING PRESENTABLE.

Too Many Supermodels

Check out this post about whether we have too many supermodels in the media.