From Converse to Stilettos - Kristen Stewart's Style Evolution

Although "style icon" may not be the first word that comes to mind when it comes to our favourite buzz worthy celeb Kristen Stewart, we are always curious and on the look out of what her next red carpet look will be.

Seemingly nonchalant, Kristen has stated in her interview with Vogue Magazine that she isn't keen on actresses who are "more concerned about looking pretty in your heels, and so you're walking slowly down the line. Put a pair of sneakers on." From one extreme to the other, we soon find Kristen rocking sexy high heels and body hugging outfits! Lets take a closer look at her style, and how its evolved over the years with some honorable mentions...

In 2009, Kristen attended a red carpet event sporting a Yigal Azrouël dress with beat-up sneakers, creating a youthful, edgy, and non traditional look.
















Again in 2009, this time at the teen choice awards Kristen has gone for a super punk rock ensemble with a spiked metal skirt, wonder what the Volturi would think of this look? One plus, heels!

Kristen is taking on a more sophisticated glam look at the premier of Snow White and the Huntsman , but oh wait...take a closer look...Sneakers!!! Quite a strange combination to say the least.                                       

This outfit is to die for, Kristen looks stunning at the TIFF festival this year - feminine, sexy, and sophisticated. Once she called it a night however, on came the sneakers, this might be her signature look after all!

VA-VA-VOOM!! She sure knows how to make a statement, confidently wearing a sheer Zuhair Murad jumpsuit, all eyes were on her at the Twilight Breaking Dawn 2 premier.
















One this is for sure, the red carpet would be a boring place, without the young and rebellious fashion flare of the only woman who can rock a sheer gown and kicks - Kristen Stewart.

For more on Kristen's interview with Vogue Magazine visit:
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news

Written by: Karolina Swietoniowska

Getting The 1D Look For Less

One Direction released their newest album Take Me Home just this month, and have had all the tweens worldwide swooning over the boys and their music since their discovery on X Factor in 2010. 

Their fashion choices have had girls and boys all over the world asking, “Where and how can I get that look?!” Let’s have a look into what their stylist, Caroline Watson put together for the boys in the past, and how everyone can get a similar look for much cheaper than 1D.

Caroline Watson's choices:

Our Picks:

Checking out these designer finds with the same 1D look, you can save big time and still get that same preppy, boy band look for less!

For more great finds, shop online at:
http://www.franklinandmarshall.com/en
http://www.topman.com
http://www.fredperry.com
http://www.converse.com
http://www.usc.co.uk



Written by: Nicole Grisell

Lady Gaga's Stage Costumes: From Armani to Versace

By Angela Cole

Aside from her famous creativity in pop music, we all know Lady Gaga for her remarkable theatrics and wild fashion sense; her Born This Way Ball Tour being an obvious example of these characteristics.

In April of this year, Giorgio Armani was announced as the artist’s costume designer for her tour. He stated that:

"Collaborating with Lady Gaga is always an exciting experience for me. I admire the way she uses fashion as a scenic element and as a means to build a character."

Sketch for Lady Gaga costume by Armani

The designer created diverse stage outfits for the performer, including a long-sleeved, floor-length shift dress, as well as a black and white hat shaped like a keyboard. The Armani team used PVC, metal studs, and jet-black Swarovski crystals to create the outfits.

Sketch for Lady Gaga costume by Armani

 

But, watch out Armani! Lady Gaga is spreading her own rumors, and if proved to be true, Versace will be designing the tour’s costumes for America.

On November 13, 2012 at 3:17am, the singer tweeted:

"THE BORN THIS WAY BALL is getting a face-lift for America. I heard rumors @VERSACE IS CUSTOM DESIGNING ALL THE CLOTHES AND NEW LOOKS."

Lady Gaga’s passion for Versace clothes is no secret to anyone. She recently made headlines wearing THE safety-pin dress which was originally made famous by Elizabeth Hurley in 1994.

Lady Gaga (2012) vs. Elizabeth Hurley (1994)
Versace's safety-pin dress

The singer has also become pals with Donatella Versace, the brand’s chief designer. This past September, during Paris Fashion Week, the two posed for photographer Terry Richardson – Gaga topless.

Donatella Versace and Lady Gaga - Paris Fashion Week 2012
Photo by Terry Richardson

Versace’s costume designs for Lady Gaga will surely be translated into stylish, bold and risqué pieces that the brand has always been recognized for.

Magic Mirror – Which Eye Glasses Frame Looks Best?

By LI DAI (LILY)

What is the common problem when choosing a pair of new eye glasses frame?

Imagine you have to take off your existing glasses, put on the new pair and ask your friend, family or salesperson how you look. To see yourself clearly, you need to put your nose close the mirror! You need to repeat this process a dozen times to try on different styles. Shopping for glasses can be a frustrating experience since many customers cannot actually see what they look like with the new frame on. The Lenscrafter innovation enables a new experience. In a Lenscrafters store, a customer can simply stand in front of a special digitally enabled mirror. It takes photographs of customer’s face wearing the new frames from different angles. The Magic Mirror can catalog the looks as many frames the customers try on. Afterwards, the customer can review all the looks from the Magic Mirror to see which one looks best. Not only that, the Magic Mirror is also social-media friendly where it can send the pictures to customer’s friends and family for second opinion. The Magic Mirror has been tested in select locations and will be launched to 1,000 stores in US in 2013. Here is more information.

Politics and Petticoats...Why we Love the Whitehouse

By, Lauralee Talbot



First ladies, leaders in their own right. They speak. They are aware. They influence the world they influence fashion. People remember them, Eleanor Roosevelt for being classy and smart. Jackie Kennedy for being beautiful and intelligent. Now there is Michelle Obama, poised, tall, well dressed toned and black.



Jackie Kennedy




Eleanor Roosevelt

Michelle Obama

First Ladies are sometimes thought of as a mere hostess at the White house and arm candy for the President, but behind every handsome charismatic president is a First lady carrying him forward into the eyes of the world with flair and fashion. First Ladies thru the ages have shown they are much more. Their preferred fashions has had influences on the fashion world and the general population. However these fashion statements were not mindless coincidental fancies. The dressing of a first lady has always been well thought out and purposeful. The elegance and allure of the First Lady (Edith Wilson) who was the pioneer visitor of OVERSEAS countries resulted in first real attention paid to the President and his entourage. She was invaluable in exciting the newspapers and reporters at the time. Other First Ladies have used their glamour and style to win them publicity when campaigning for their various charities. Long before charities caught on to acquiring rock star endorsements First Ladies knew that the people who give profusely likes to associate their donations to a charity endorsed by an influential well-dressed public figure. First Ladies were among the first to realize this. First Ladies entertain very influential world figures. They see what they wear as not only a reflection of their fashion taste but most importantly the dress the jewelry the accessories are symbolic of a country, its strength and its position. Politically savvy people may think of fashion as merely frilly useless pomp ...but used smartly as the first ladies have done it’s much more.                                                 



Edith Wilson



One must be very intelligent to figure out how fashion will make a favourable statement without offending.

                  

The President and his First Lady

                        



Trend Alert: Spring 2013 by BLAK-I

By Cintia Lopez de Freitas

Diego Fuchs and Helder Aguiar met at the Academy of Design while studying Fashion Design in 2003. Their brand BLAK-I was created in 2010 and it has evolved throughout the years into a lifestyle for women that know what they want and “don’t really give a damn”.

The new Spring 2013 “#theNüBLAKI” collection was shown on October 15, at Brennen Demelo Studios, a very intimate and cozy venue. While waiting for the show to start, I noticed two ladies sitting patiently close to a wall, quietly watching the excited crowd. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get their take on what was about to happen.

Turns out the two ladies were respectively the mother and aunt of Helder Aguiar. They were happy to tell me a little about their Portuguese background and how proud they are of both Helder and Fuchs’ work. When the show began, I rushed to the front of the runway space to get some photos and as I was leaving, they called and asked me to come back after the show so they could introduce me to the designers.  How cute, seriously?!

The collection was beautiful. It was great to see trends such as asymmetry and transparency in clothes that every downtown girl will need to have in their wardrobes. The fact most looks were quite basic made the collection that much more interesting to me, probably because I find “basic” to be my personal style. In terms of colors, there was a lot of black and blush pink – a combination that can’t really go wrong. What I loved the most was the way the draped dresses and tops would flow as the models walked. Truly stunning.

After the show, as promised, I got to meet both designers. As most students, when Diego and Helder graduated from the Academy, they knew the direction they wanted to go, but decided to work with local designers first so they could build their knowledge in the business before starting their own.

When BLAK-I was created, the target of the brand wasn’t directly on women as it is now, but both women and men. Soon, the designers understood that it would be better to drop the menswear and put all efforts into womens’, at least as a starting point. A smart move, in my point of view, because according to Helder, this decision allowed them to focus on producing and delivering exactly what they wanted to as a brand. So for all desperate last-term students: things can change and evolve! We don’t need to have everything figured out all the time!

Fashion's Biggest Names Bring Disney to Life at Harrod's

A Tale as Old as Time.

Written by: Billy Vasilios


Guy or girl, we've all wanted to be a Disney princess, or be with a Disney princess. Needless to say, we've all been surrounded by these beautiful characters for as long as we can remember. They are apart of our culture and they are a significant part of our childhood. As children, I remember sitting in front of the television with my cousins and watching Disney movies for hours. We would even go as far as dressing up and bringing these enchanted characters to life, and on November 1st, 2012, Harrod's specialty department store did just that. They brought these princesses to life. Harrod's unveiled their Christmas windows which coincide with a 7,000 square-foot Disney pop-up boutique on the fourth floor. There is nothing more magical than walking by your department stores' Christmas windows and feeling that sparkle of warmth ignite inside of you on that cool winter night. This year, the Christmas windows have been taken over by some of fashion's biggest names, re-creating their imaginings of the iconic fairy tale dresses. Designers such as Valentino, Marchesa, Oscar de la Renta and Versace have all come together to bring our childhood to life. 

Below are a few of the window displays I love.

Cinderella by Versace

Ariel from The Little Mermaid by Marchesa




Jasmin from Aladdin by Escada

Snow White by Oscar de la Renta

 

Belle from Beauty and the Beast in Valentino

 

Rapunzel by Jenny Packham




Which window is your favourite?

Happy Christmas, and always remember, it's never too late for your own fairy tale.

Sourced from: http://www.vogue.co.uk/

X Factor Fashion Face-Off: Britney Spears vs. Demi Lovato

Written by: Nicole Grisell

We all know the new season of X Factor has a number of singing talents taking the stage each week, but let’s look on the other end of it all - the judges. Which female host/mentor is winning the hearts of all fashion lovers watching at home? Can Britney Spears or Demi Lovato make these outfits from the runways look just as fabulous off the runways? You be the judge!

Round 1

Britney Spears in a Brian Lichtenberg bright pink dress.

Demi Lovato in a TOPSHOP lime green dress and metallic motorcycle jacket.














Who wins this round? Comment and let us know what you think! 

Round 2

Britney Spears in a Stella McCartney cobalt blue knee length dress.

Demi Lovato in a black embellished cap-sleeve TOPSHOP dress.














 Demi really loves her TOPSHOP but is it enough for her to win this fashion face-off round?

And now for our final round. Will we Hold It Against Britney with another knock out outfit? Or will Demi's outfits have us screaming for more All Night Long?

Round 3
 

Here we have Britney in a tight black Herve Leger dress.

Last but not least, we have Demi in yet another TOPSHOP bright orange lace dress.














After having a look of the fashion choices of X Factor's female judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, it is now time to decide who wins the fashion face-off battle. Will it be Britney with her form fitting knee length dresses? Or will it be Demi and her favorite TOPSHOP outfits?

For more fashion debates, check out The Fashion Court at http://thefashion-court.com/.

Celebrity Halloween Costumes of 2012

By: Karolina Swietoniowska

What do celebrities love more than dressing up in outrageous costumes for Halloween? Dressing up like each other. The aftermath of Halloween has gone viral - from Twitter, Facebook, to Instagram, the best and the worst celeb costumes are out there and sure to be noticed. One of the most popular being Kim Kardashian dressed up as a blonde mermaid, not too original but stunning to say the least!

But what's with celebrities dressing up as each other? It seems that this year dressing up as your ex, freinemy, or arch rival was a popular choice.

Spooky? I'd say so, although I'm not sure I understand the connection, but Fergie can definitely pull of a believable Lindsay Lohan. Very well executed!

After adding a little va-va-voom Miley Cyrus does a great Nikki Minaj - considering Halloween costumes are not far off from her daily wardrobe.

Not sure how I would like dressing up as my ex and her new hubby, but I must admit, Derek looks very comfortable being Avril this Halloween.

Finally, and perhaps my favourite celeb inspired costume, is Ellen Degeneres as Sofia Vergara - now that's original!

For more celeb costumes check out:
http://perezhilton.com/galleries/halloween-night-2012/?id=283104

Zombie Boy Keeps Halloween All Year Round

by LI DAI (LILY)

Now that Halloween has just passed and costume parties are finished, do you still want to continue the Halloween mood? Someone liked the theme so much that he made himself look like a zombie 365 days. He tattooed his entire body and face, which ends up looking like a zombie. His name is Rick Genest, a Canadian artist as well as a fashion model born in Montreal. He is also known as Rico the Zombie Boy in the fashion industry, featured in TV series, movies, fashion shows, ads and magazines like GQ. He also appeared in Lady Gaga’s music video, “Born This Way”.

At the age of 15, Rick developed a brain tumor which required surgery to remove it. Since 16 year-old, Rick has gradually added tattoos on his body which expressed his struggle between good and evil, life and death. Someone discovered him on the street to shoot for a magazine, and then later for the Bazaar Magazine, followed by more appearances in movies and other shows.

In 2011, Rick became part of the Dermablend campaign titled “Go Beyond the Cover”, promoting their professional make-up products. In the following video, the makeup team covered up all of his tattoos from head to body with its concealer product.

I think the true Halloween costume for Rick is to look normal for a change!