I'm an author of erotic romances which means you must be 18 or older to be here.
Recently The Met Costume Institute held it's annual gala and despite it's foundation in the fashion world, the clothes were kind of blah.
Safe.
The SAG 2010 awards was on Sunday and I saw some of the red carpet and some of the award show - Betty White was the bestest best recipient. As for the fashion, is was all right. Again, no out there's, and no wow's. Shame, but I did have a few I liked.
Kate Hudson's white dress by Emilio Pucci was great, on her, however, it isn't so good when it looked great from behind - not many women could carry that one off. Designer Alexander McQueen had two dresses that caught my attention, Anna Paquin's and Sandra Bullock's - I liked those two. As for color, who looked really good in the bold choices? Christina Hendricks [red] and Mariska Hargitay [pink/fuscia] - they looked great!
However, my favorite gown had to be Diane Kruger's by Jason Wu. While I didn't care for the color, it suited her, and it worked on the red. Yup, I liked this one - it was a bit daring [as in it may or may not have worked, but she took the challenge and won]. And, because the SAG's go that way, the ladies can also choose to wear short dresses, I liked Katrina Bowden in Tadashi Shoji - I could so wear this one!
There was one that I thought, no, no way! No, I won't name who wore it, but this from Coco Perez is what it reminded me of - not good.
Looked at E! Online, MyStyle and Coquette for reminders of who wore what and the latter two for the pics above.
Award Season!
No, not because I care who won what, but more along the lines of who wore what! That's right, it's time to focus on fashion. Here's a few things I came away with from watching last night's Red Carpet coverage and the Golden Globes broadcast.
First off, for me, there was no wow or wonderful dresses. Yes, I thought some actresses had chosen well [as in they wore the dress, not the other way around].
Glenn Close, Carey Mulligan, Tea Leoni [liked the casual dress shirt and formal skirt thing, I would wear that], and Marion Cotillard with the saucy lace peeking out from the slit, also looked great. Now, while I liked the gown Colin Farrell's girlfriend (?) Alicja Bachleda wore, it looked like it was going to slip down with her next breath. Ooops.
In the end, the best all around for for me was Courtney Cox. Simply elegant, not over accessorized, and suited her very well. The belt and slight train were yummy. By the way, the dress is from Victoria Beckham's Spring/Summer 2010 line.
Something else that drew my attention was color. Often safe color choices are made and I totally get that, my safe color is black. However, last night there was everything from soft pastels to rich jewel tones. The more unique standouts were Sandra Bullock and Diane Kruger, ooo, also Diana Agron and Sofia Vergara with that grey dress and single burgandy twist - nice], but the one I thought was spectacular was the one Zoe Saldana chose. While the dress was a bit too much, the color looked divine on her.
And finally, there was another thing I found interesting today while I looked at all the pics. There's one of Kate Hudson [by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images] that reminds me of a book, Soulless by Gail Carriger. I keep seeing and totally love that cover, to such an extent, I know nothing about [only because of lack of time] and still might buy it based on the cover alone.
So, my conclusion of the Golden Globe attire: It was a safe night [maybe because it was hard to focus on anything other than how to help Haiti] where everyone looked fairly good, and came across only one I saw that caused me to shout, "NO!". I won't share a picture because I'm not in to the trashing aspect of fashion, although this one was trully horrible.
Oh, and here's a little Gerard Butler eyecandy to end on a good note!
By the way, while I had an idea of who I liked from watching last night, I perused the galleries on both Skinny vs Curvy, Just Jared, and E! Online - thank you for posting them.
Judith Leiber has been making unique, fun, and stunningly beautiful handbags for years, and she still creates the must have handbag! Well, to celebrate self-publishing her biography [which I'd love to read], she's hitting the road. Alongside her travel mini-museum exhibition of her bags, she'll be signing her book "No Mere Bagatelles: Telling the Story of Handbag Genius Judith Leiber & Modernist Artist Gerson Leiber".
While it doesn't appear as if the book will be widely available, it would definitely be worth it to attend one of her retrospectives at either Neiman Marcus or Bergdorf Goodman, view the exhibit and purchase a book for her to sign. If you live near East Hampton NY, you can always stop by the Leiber Museum on Old Stone Highway, check out her bag collection, and most likely pick up a copy of her book there as well.
On a side note: Did you know that there are a couple of white peacocks in "An Invitation to the World: China"? There are and they're called George and Gracie.
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| © Getty Images |
This past Tuesday was The Costume Institute's Gala event held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. There's an exhibition on now until August 9 and I know I'll be attending.
If you're into fashion, then this is the event for you. The gowns are always top-notch, from the fabulous to the funky. This year, I liked a few dresses, but wasn't wowed by any of them.
However, what did catch my attention was Melania Trump.
Now, I admit that when I write about a female character wearing an evening gown, it's often with her nipples being barely covered. Hey, I write EROTIC ROMANCES and feel comfortable dressing them in this extremely sexy way, but here, it looks to me like an act of desperation for attention - not so sexy. I think Trump must have been worried if his wife took too deep of a breath, there'd be some serious flesh flashing.
For $1.5 million dollars, you can buy a wedding dress that took eight people two months to make - using 2,009 peacock feathers.
To be honest, upon hearing about this dress, I built an image in my mind of what to expect, only it isn't this.
This past week I received some fabulous news, Highland Heat will soon be released in paperback - woohoo! As you can guess, my mind right back to Scotland and, well, I forgot I had this gem in my files.
There's still a nip in the air, do you need something to keep your nipples warm? These tartan pasties can be had through Etsy, along with a cute knitted set.
Low-rider jeans that are so low the designers added a bikini [and some have thongs] to them.
Hmmm, there'll be no plumber pant problems that's for sure.
The trailer can be seen here.
Just think, pull this out at any time, put it on with a simple but short black skirt and there's no way your Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock will be able to keep their hands off you. Remember, their mission was "to boldly go where no man has gone before."
Okay, maybe not where no man has gone...never mind, it's a fun fashion statement! Pick yours up here.
I've been highlighting some fabulous fashion lately and thought I'd put one out there that I thought was interesting, but not for me.
How did I come across these? I found them while doing research for the next intallment in the A Passion for Fashion series is a shoemaker in Milan.
The Oscars were on this past Sunday and as might have guessed, I was watching the red carpet and looking for that gown!
First, yes, I was disappointed. The designs were tame and often in the same color range [white, black and red]. However, there was one dress I saw walk down and knew, hands down, that was the best dress of the night. While there were a few others that were intersting, none struck me as better than the one Taraji P Henson wore.
The tiers and fabric were stunning, the white was okay, at least it didn't look like a wedding gown. And the fit was perfect for her, definitely not so tight you knew she'd have trouble sitting down in it. The necklace was pretty stunning as well, although I think I would've preferred a large cuff.
Marisa Tomei's was definitely unique, it was my second choice, but it was too much. Yes, Natalie Portman looked wonderful in pink, an actual color, but the gown was eh. I also liked Anne Hathaway's dress but she had trouble walking in the decorated column so passed.
On a side, fashion related, note, I'm on the TRS Blue Blog talking about where I think the wet t-shirt look started. It's interesting, honest.
Right now is fashion week in NYC and because of the economy, some designers have opted out of doing runway shows. However, there is one who is working on a high note and that would be Jason Wu.
The formal white gown Michelle Obama wore to all the inagural balls was by Wu. The pink dress she wore on the cover of this months Vogue was by Wu - from her own closet.
In my opinion, based on what I've seen from past shows and the current one for Fall 2009, he's good. His style is accessible and in some cases, I could see myself in a couple of pieces.
It was the Grammy's this past weekend. This event should run the gambit of fashion: from classics to seriously out there rock-n-roll, only it didn't. Don't get me wrong, there were some gorgeous dresses there, but far too Oscarish for this event.
Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Hudson, LeAnn Rimes and Kate Perry looked lovely, but nothing they wore said "I'm outside the mainstream", but who did this for me and still looked great was: Adele
I think it's the green satin coat over a simple black dress that made this young lady stand out. It was both formal and a touch sassy.
Yes, this was definitely the standout outfit for me.
The SAG [Screen Actors Guild] Awards took place this past Sunday and I haven't listened to any pundits to see who they thought looked best, worst and everything in between. Opinions are personal.
So, while I thought most of the gowns were just so-so, there was one I remembered as looking fabulous. Maybe it was her personality shining through, she had one!
Taraji P. Henson, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Simple, slightly skims her shape without giving it all away. She looks like a star. From head to toe, Taraji is allowed to shine through. Not because of the dress, but because of who she is. The hair is perfect, the makeup wasn't over done - everything suits both the woman and the moment.
How did she do it? By not allowing herself to be overstylized!
On a side note, one thing I noticed, besides the copious amounts of second skin dresses, was that while Angelina Joile is beautiful, her gown seriously didn't work. Turns out she chose to wear it backwards for a "more blouson" affect. Points for thinking for herself and trying to do something different, unfortunately, it didn't work.
That's right, I watch award shows to see who is wearing what. What can I say, I have a passion for fashion :-)
Anyway, the Golden Globes was on recently and while I missed the red carpet bit, but I did catch a few shows that reported what they liked and didn't like. For me there were some pretty gowns worn, but the one I liked best was dissed by almost everyone. Okay, to be fair to the pundits, the dress wasn't what they complained about. It was overlooked because of the hairdo and I actually liked the hair as well. Suited the woman and the gown.
Who was it?
Drew Barrymore!
I love the dress.
See how it skims along her figure, a woman's figure - no skin and bones. The sheer is sexy, yet not really see through. The color is not my favorite, but looks good on her. I think John Galliano for Dior Couture designed a gown just right for Drew Barrymore.
I was happy with the jewels, hair and makeup. The clutch, I thought was so-so.
She looked divine. End of story.
Phrew, what a day - let me tell you about my two new releases :-)
My 'A Passion for Fashion' series is all about women with some place in the fashion world who experience a once in a lifetime opportunity in the field they love. The first three tales have been brought together to form "Hot Couture" [available in both paperback and ebook].
Who are these women? Well, there's a muse who makes an unusual walk down the runway in "The Leather Bride" [New York], a graduate student hosts her dissertation project...a Haute Couture exhibition...in "Taming Marie Antoinette" [Paris] and a jeweler is offered a place in an world-renowned museum in "The Gilded Cage" [London].
Did I mention they're each located in a different fashion capital? They are and this takes the reader on a trip.
Now, the one thing I have mentioned as yet is the men in these women's lives. They are gorgeous, successful, and have a passion for their lovers that is unmatched. Oh, I almost forgot [not likely :-)]. These couples have a varied taste when it comes to sex...they play!
I'm HOME! Basically we've been gone since before Christmas and I fell in love with my bed all over again last night.
While I was away there was some great news on the publishing front...The Leather Bride, Taming Marie Antoinette and The Gilded Cage are going to be put together and published as Hot Couture, with a simultaneous ebook/print release! How fabulous is that! And, dare I say, what interesting timing because while in Milan I did plenty of research for the fourth book in the series.
That's right, I was in Milan and tomorrow will take the opportunity of TT to share the incredible place we stayed...let's just say Villa, frescoes and plenty of cioccolata calda! So hope to see you all tomorrow!
