TV Tuesday: Feeling Nostalgic

Now that all of my favourite TV shows are on a hiatus for summer, I find myself without a regular glamour fix from the likes of Gossip Girl and 90210. Thank goodness for my trusty Sex and the City shoebox set! After the disaster that was Sex and the City 2 (less said about that, the better), I'm greatfull that I have seasons 1-6 to look back over. I like to remind myself that these characters were once well written pieces of TV gold.
Also, as I was looking for photos to use alongside this blog, I remembered how even more awesome Carrie's fashion got when she met Alexander Petrovski and moved to Paris with him. Don't you think? Especially the bubblegum pink Oscar De La Renta prom style dress.

If you could bring back a much missed TV show, what would it be?

Style on Saturday

I read a super interesting interview on Style.com yesterday. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen truely seem to know their stuff when it comes to their fashion empire (which incorporate the labels Olsenboye, Elizabeth & James and The Row). This interview really sets them apart from other celebrities who have released 'their own' fashion line, when really they just seem to have stuck their name and face on the media campaign. MK&A come across as two young designers who know all about the design, the fabrics and the business side of what it takes to make it in the fashion world. Click here to read the article.

A Thought for Thursday

Whatever happened to class? I’m not talking working class, middle class, upper class etc... I’m talking about class as a mannerism. As I do most mornings, I clicked onto my guilty pleasure of choice; the Daily Mail’s gossip pages this morning, only to be met THREE separate stories about the The Only Way Is Essex cast on holiday in Marbella. A review of Michelle Obama’s choice of gown for a state banquette (the first sign of something other than reality show ‘stars’) was, I kid you not, SEVENTEEN stories down! I had to wade through stories of MTV’s new show Geordie Shore (Newcastle’s chavtastic finest on display), Kerry Katona on the beach (did we really need to see that?) and Jordan’s newest tattoo (to cover up a previous ink tribute to her now ex-husband), amongst plenty other pointless articles.

Maybe I’ve just had an overdose of glamour after pawing over photographs from Cannes, but I seriously can’t stand our nation’s obsession with these talentless muppets. Every week the gossip rags use photos of them in various stages of drunken disorder, weightloss/ gain or lovelife strife to sell their copies. And the weirdest thing is, they DO sell! I see more people walking around with a copy of Heat sticking out of their bags than I do people with newspapers.

I wish I had been around to experience the Golden Age of Hollywood, the days where Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Audrey Hepburn were the women in the spotlight. Although I’m sure there will have been many scandals amongst them, and the rest of the actresses from these days, it is not the scandals that have made them icons. It is their beauty, style, elegance and grace, as well as a hint of mystery, that keeps their memory alive after so many years.

Mystery is the key element that is missing from the people we refer to as ‘D Listers’ nowadays. We know everything about everyone, and thanks to the increasingly intrusive paparazzi and their super zoom camera lenses, we have seen just about every inch of these people too. They court the media, and are so over exposed and over hyped that they have a very short shelf life. This is the one thing for which we can be grateful for in this scenario. In a few short years, these famous-for-being-famous types will disappear, and hopefully we will grow out of the phenomenon and get back to focusing on celebrities with actual talent and something worth celebrating.

Until then, I shall console myself with my Audrey Hepburn boxset, and wait for the tide of talentless tripe to drift back to the place whence they came.

The Man About Cannes

Without a shadow of a doubt, Ryan Gosling was the best dressed dude at this year's Cannes Film Festival. I particularly loved his PJ-esque shirt and his Robert Pattinson inspired maroon tuxedo. It makes such a nice change to see a guy on the red carpet not wearing the usual boring colours of black and white.

I wonder what Rachel McAdams thought of her dashing ex?

Music Monday: A Heap of Humour Never Hurt Anyone

Those Who Can...Go To Cannes

Once a year, the rich and famous from the worlds of film and fashion flock to the French seaside resort of Cannes for its annual Film Festival. There are many things you are guaranteed to see at Cannes, including MEGA yachts, MEGA jewels (on the MEGA beautiful young women married to the MEGA wealthy older men), MEGA celebrities and, of course, MEGA fashion.
The crème-de-la-crème of the A List world have showcased some stunning looks over the last 11 days, many of which I wouldn’t be surprised to see in the fashion press’ Best Dressed of the Year lists come December.

The Golden Girls
My favourites from this year’s event were Rachel McAdams (in that Marchesa dress, she was always going to be hard to beat), Zoe Saldana (who is always a breath of fresh air) and Kirsten Dusnt (with Karl Lagerfeld and the Mulleavy sister’s as fashion friends, it’s not really a surprise). But there were many other women who looked consistently good as they arrived for various events, that includes; Fan Bing Bing, Gwen Stefani, Karolina Kurkova, Mia Wasikowska, and Uma Thurman.

Short But Sweet
The majority of the women above stayed in Cannes for the duration of the Festival, and so gave us plenty of opportunity to see them in all their red carpet glory. There were a few brief appearances made by some of my favourite Red Carpet ladies, however, that definitely deserve a mention. Penelope Cruz, who was in town with Johnny Depp (lucky girl) to promote Pirates of the Caribbean 4, looked fabulous in a lilac lace Marchesa number. Diane Kruger, on the arm of her equally well dressed beau Joshua Jackson, arrived in town for the premiere of Sleeping Beauty wearing a gorgeous Calvin Klein metallic sheath dress. The other Olsen sister, Elizabeth, came out in support of her new film Martha Marcy May Marlene, she looked gorgeous in The Row at both the daytime photocall and the evening premiere. Sarah Jessica Parker looked amazing wearing one of my favourite Elie Saab gowns from the SS11 collection, and her white Dolce and Gabanna number looked lovely too.

Colour Me Surprised
I always find Vanessa Hudgens trying-to-be-trademark BoHo looks completely over the top, and I think they make her look like she’s in costume rather than casuals. But I shall give credit where credit is due (although this is more aimed at her stylist than her personally) as she looked very cute at a party hosted by Vitamin Water. I’m still confused as to why she was in Cannes though, anyone else? Someone else who made me do a double take as they looked so good, was Mischa Barton. Yes, I know she was just in a black dress and yes, on anyone else it would have been a lookover-able ensemble. But I honestly can’t remember the last time I looked at a photo of Mischa and didn’t feel sad. Michelle Rodriguez left her ‘look how butch I am, did you know that I’m a lesbian?’ look at home for her brief appearance on the Cannes red carpet. Her shockingly girly gown looked lovely on her, I’m impressed. I’m actually so impressed that I will look over the fact that she forgot to do something with her hair before she left her hotel room. Jane Fonda is 73, SEVENTY THREE! Trust me, I just Wikipedia’ed it. If this picture + her age, doesn’t colour you surprised too then I give up.

Beauty Inspiration: Diane Kruger

Not only was Diane Kruger wearing my favourite dress of the night at the Costume Institute Met Gala, she also sported my favourite beauty look.
The blonde bombshell kept her eye make up fresh and light by using a metallic cream eye shadow and fluttery lashes to frame her peepers. Her porcelain complexion was buffed to perfection and she had just a hint of blush on the apples of her cheeks (oh to have Diane's killer bone structure!) The perfect finishing touch to this timeless look was a precision applied swipe of rouge on her lips. I love the combination of blonde hair, blue eyes and red lips, it's such a classically beautiful look.

I was so inspired by Diane's ruby red pout that I treated myself at the Mac counter the other day to a brand new red lipstick. I purchased their Russian Red, which has a matte finish and is what I assume beauty aficionados refer to as a 'True Red'. I was actually looking for a satin finish to get a replica of Diane's look, but it turns out that Mac don't do reds in a satin finish, how odd? I thought satin would be the most popular texture of lipstick in our 'obsessed with lip gloss' age. Anyway, I'm sure it's nothing a base of lip balm can't solve. I plan road test this look out tomorrow night, although I'm going out for a meal so I'm not sure how long the colour will last against the power of tapas. I will make sure to report back on how the road test went. Wish me luck!

Also getting Power Pout Points (try saying that after one too many cocktails) is Emma Stone. A hot blonde in hot pink is always going to be a winner in my book.

Princesses on Parade

Monday night saw the 2011 Met Gala take place in New York. This year, The Met has chosen Alexander McQueen as its exhibition subject, and, as expected, the fashion A List came out in force to celebrate.

In alphabetical order, as there are too many lovely looks to choose from, here are my favourites from the night...

Ashley Greene

Blake Lively

Brooklyn Decker

Caroline Trentini

Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson (Best Dressed Duo by far. Sorry Blake and Karl...)

Dianna Agron

Emma Roberts

Emma Stone

Karlie Kloss (right)

Lily Donaldson

Mary-Kate Olsen

Naomi Watts

Nicole Richie

Sarah Jessica Parker

Zoe Saldana

If forced to choose a favourite, I would have to go with Diane Kruger in Jason Wu. Closely followed by Sarah Jessica Parker in Alexander McQueen and Ashley Greene in Donna Karan.