Faux tan is a great invention but there are a few simple rules you have to follow if you don’t want to look like Lindsey Lohan below; and by that I mean unnaturally orange and streaky:

Tip 1: Skin has to be really soft and smooth when you smear this stuff on. So, do yourself a favor and exfoliate. I use Bliss’s antioxidant Sleeping Peel for my face, chest and neck to dissolve the dry skin. If you’re doing the whole monty make sure your elbows and ankles are dead-cell free. If you leave them dry you’ll look like you have leprosy.

Tip 2: Don’t get a bronzer that is too dark for you. If you’re naturally pale you were never meant to look Brazilian. Don’t force it. Get a medium-to-light tint.

Tip 3: To avoid the Carrot Effect, mix your tanner with some moistrizer. (Lohan should pay me for this one.)

Tip 4: If you are getting it done in a salon make sure your feet are covered up when they are spraying you. After your whole body is done have them give your feet and hands one coat. They should be a tint lighter than the rest of your body or you’ll look dirty.

Tip 5: Fake tan is totally ridiculous if you forget to apply it on your ears. Don’t ask me how I know this.

Tip 6. Your Glow will start peeling off in a few days. So, use a tinted moistrizer to avoid the leopard complexion.

I really don’t want to beat up on her New Jersey looking outfit but this violent mohogany dye job was obviously done by a disgruntled stylist. Fire everyone, girl.

I’m so happy Donatella’s dopamine level is back to normal. Each peice in her Fall’05 collection is sexier and shapelier than the next. After all when did it become a cliche to just look gorgeous?

Take that, Miuccia.

… and cancels out the Age of Overdesign. I know why other designers hate her. They can’t keep up. Unlike them Miuccia obviously had it with patterns and bling. There isn’t a brooch in sight here:

Sweaters, dresses and coats are belted. Everything comes with gloves. The look is very Catherine Deneuve. Structured, feminine and demure.

The Fashion District is the area where all the clothing factories (read sweatshops) are in the West 30’s in Manhattan. I’d say it starts right around the Fashion Institute of Technology at Seventh Avenue & 27th Street. I used to work around there and see the fashion students at lunch all the time. If you think Patricia Feilds is a crazy dresser you haven’t seen those girls. But the real interesting part is where they get their supplies. The clothing factories that make stuff for boutiques sell it out the back door for extra reasonable prices. And a friend of a friend who’s a russian and works in one of those places swears that Oscar de la Renta bought one of their dresses to use as his own design for Spring 2005.

They also have a ridiculous variety of imported chachkas there. Beads, stones, buttons, strings of all sizes and shapes that you can pick and make your own “jewelry”. It’s pretty cool if you’re into designing stuff. The fashion students buy it, rework it and then sell it to tourists in Soho for $100 a pop.

I’m amazed. Today’s Fashion of the Times magazine wasn’t dissapointing even for those of us under fifty five! A highly recommended read. Here’s a crucial excerpt:

That 70’s Shoe Step back in time with the tied-and-true wedge. From top to bottom: Emporio Armani leather logo wedge sandal, $278. At Emporio Armani stores; Tod’s suede wedge sandal, $345. At Tod’s stores; Giuseppe Zanotti Design suede and cork wedge sandal, $450. At Giuseppe Zanotti Design stores; Christian Louboutin linen and cotton espadrille, $285. At Christian Louboutin stores.

I’m told those blue beads on MK’s neck are only $20 in the Fashion District! I might have to take a stroll up there this weekend.

Forget the dresses for now. The distinct look of this coming spring is the Boy Look. It doesn’t matter who you get your inspiration from – your thirteen year old brother or a cute boi girl from a downtown lesbian bar. Think shorts, flats and a polo shirt.

Prada and Miu Miu set the trend with these boyish looks:

Chloe and Marc Jacobs take it a notch girlier:

Marc Jacobs collection was trashed by the media and rightfully so. After all, if 75-pound models look fat and dowdy in this clothes what are the regular people to do?

I don’t know what MJ & Co were thinking. It’s literally a potato sack she’s wearing.

And a word of advice from The Village Voice:

“Still, of all the American designers, he [Marc Jacobs] is the one who comes closest to evincing a European sensibility, in the sense that he might actually show pieces that could be considered “directional”… But, truth be told, American fashion shows were never really a big whoop. Our great strength is sportswear, which tends to wilt on a catwalk. The real runway action has always been, and remains, in Europe, and if you have any doubt, the people at Zara and H&M don’t—it’s Prada they’ll be knocking off, not DKNY”.

Mary Kate Olsen’s looking really full-lipped at the Imitation of Christ show. IoC collection was so so but Mary Kate was very cute. I like her IoC beaded dress and that Balenciaga purse that EVERYONE already has. I would have gone for different boots but I’ll let her slide this time.

[from People.com]

A splendid city collection full of wearable things. Business was in the front, center and back of this clothes. Models were strutting to Stefani’s “Million Dollar Contract” tune.

Dominant colors: contrasting black&white with red or blue accessories. The collection would seem to be really utilitarian if it weren’t for the fur elements that give it a note of luxury.

Ana Sui is as true to herself as ever. That is one of the reasons I dig her. She’s sticking to metallics, fur, chunky jewelry and thick knee high boots.

Truly a fall collection. Colors are of the turning leaves.

Loved this outfit by Tuleh. Faux pink fur jacket, gloves and a printed silk trumpet skirt.

Her entire collection was very flirtasious and girly.

- Those of us who didn’t go for the “tweedy” secretary look were right. It’s totally out.

- Keep all your metallic bags, shoes and jackets. In fact, get more of those.

- Fur stoles are staying!!!

- Keep your knee high boots and open toe shoes.

- Stock up on cute skirts like this one, seen on Madame Wintour:



[via Vogue]

Diane Von Furstenberg’s collection is inspired by Anna Karenina and the Cossacs. Whatever. Colors she used were great. I really liked this metallic jacket:

and the ornamented kaftan with that necklace:

This plunging neckline dress is very cool too:

For the second season in a row I see these mismatched ornaments that look so good together.



[cortesy of Vogue]

Anna Piaggi of Italian Vogue

and Isabella Blow, fashion director of Tatler Magazine.

Is that how one must look to make it into a respectable fashion publication ..?

… and what drugs do people take to achieve such state of mind?

God, I need to know.

Fashion Week Starts Today!

The designer lineup includes Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Kenneth Cole, Marc Jacobs, Jeremy Scott, Donna Karan and Lela Rose.

“Designers talk about an ongoing support of luxury, mixed textures and metallics. After the recent explosion of color, they are now pairing muted colors with rich, strong tones. The palette runs a broad gamut from mulberry red and loden green to a renewed interest in a black-and-white combination.”

I’m off to Bryant Park now. Meow.

I know why Kate Beckinsale looks so happy. She saved a lot of money on this dress. Merlin the Magician costume is on sale at Ricky’s for just $9.99!

Kate Beckinsale is also a proud winner of “The Ugliest Breasts in Hollywood Award”. I forgive her for the dress but saving money on a boob job?!! That makes we wonna spank her.