Tuesday, June 22, 2010

SHE'S A GIRL

Meryl Streep turns 61 today.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, I think her greatest asset has been her versatility as an actress, it has been essential to becoming the icon she is today.  With so many movies to choose from, here's a clip from one of my favorites:

Monday, June 21, 2010

BEAUTY IS WHERE YOU FIND IT PART II



Part II of the show:

BEAUTY IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

Or sometimes it's in your face, unavoidable and overwhelming. Such was the case at the Dolce & Gabbana Men's Spring show this week. It is rarely often that we see a men's show that is beautifully staged and that manages to carry the drama a women's show usually does, though, in comparison, a women's couture show is a very difficult rival when it comes to showtime. Unlike the lucky ones who managed to view the show LIVE through the Italian duo's website, I managed to catch it on youtube later on that day, but we were all witness to a moving show that was exquisitely orchestrated both visually and musically.
Opening the show to Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana was probably the best way to have the audience on the verge of tears. Those strings manage to strike every nerve in a person's body, and if it doesn't, have you asked yourself if you're alive at all? I hold this musical piece as one of my favorites and I've had it on repeat after the show. It brings memories from a recent trip to Buenos Aires, when I watched Raging Bull with a close friend (though we never made it to the end of the film). The movie opens with the same music, so when I heard it on the show, it immediately made me think of Italian immigrants in the U.S. and their background, and how Dolce&Gabbana have always worked on the heritage of Italian culture.

After this extremely touching introduction with the screens flashing images of Domenico and Stefano giving the finishing touches on the gorgeous models that were about to walk the runway, the curtains opened and there was Annie Lennox, sitting majestically at the piano, seconds before playing No More I Love You's. Later came Why, A Whiter Shade Of Pale and Must Be Talking To An Angel for the finale. Not only was the music beautiful, but everyone participating in this event, be it front row or backstage, was being treated to the presence of a great musical icon. As you can tell, this show was definitely designed to touch our hearts from beginning to end.
This gives you a clue on the musical beauty of the show, but then visually, the clothes, the models, everything was perfect. It was great to see Evandro Soldati (gorgeous), David Gandy (godly), André Ziehe though the major highlight for me was Enrique Palacios walking down the runway after quite a long time. They all strutted wearing outfits that just breathed ease. Who can resist such beauty?


ENRIQUE PALACIOS




EVANDRO SOLDATI




ANDRÉ ZIEHE






DAVID GANDY









JUSTIFY MY TONY WARD






STEFANO GABBANA AND DOMENICO DOLCE


I have written about beauty before, and it's power, and the thought struck me again. Here are these kids, young models, selected because of their physical features, becoming part of a memorable moment in fashion history where Annie Lennox was playing live while celebrating the 20th anniversary of the design team's men's line.
It has been a VERY touching show (and a true inspiration to working to be fit this summer). Here's the link to the show on the official Dolce & Gabbana website. The videos on youtube follow.
http://www.dolcegabbana.com/dg/fashion-show/man/video_runway

(Pics via style.com)





Part II of the show is in the next post.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY

So, I've been listening to a lot of Marilyn Monroe songs lately, I don't know why, but I've been in the mood for them, especially in the mornings. I think I first became aware of who she was after watching Madonna's Material Girl video back in the day and my parents explained where my beloved M had drawn the idea of wearing that pink dress and choreography. Given the recent controversy in the blogosphere regarding what is an "homage" and what is simply ripping-off another artist after Lady GaGa's Alejandro video, all I can say is Material Girl was definitely an homage, and a great one too.




To me the biggest difference between ripping-off and taking inspiration is that the first one uses/copies similar imagery just for the sake of a visual effect while taking actual inspiration requires further work and effort so that there is an actual purpose/message from this "borrowing of ideas". Material Girl wasn't based on just any Marilyn Monroe performance, it was based on her rendition of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend in her 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The reference to that song was a perfect match and essential to the final message in the video : Boys may come and boys may go but that's alright you see, experience has made me rich and now they're after me.




Back to Monroe now, it is Father's Day today, and like every year, I can't help but start singing My Heart Belongs To Daddy. Though this Cole Porter piece has been sung by many artists, the only version I've ever heard is Marilyn's.  I remember how much my mom despised her singing skills when my dad used to play this when I was a kid, but there is such charm to her performance of this song that you just can't help but love it, especially because of the double-entendre and more so after you see the bit where she sings it in the movie Let's Make Love.
I love her outfit. I love the simplicity of it.  60's chic. A sweater and black tights. Isn't a sweater the typical Fathers' Day gift?




Here's the video, enjoy.



Tuesday, June 15, 2010

THE FUR THAT MURDERED LOVE PART II

Here's a live performance of the song at The Graham Norton Show.
Enjoy.

THE FUR THAT MURDERED LOVE

The former obnoxious environmentalist in me has appeared in the last couple of posts and apparently he's here to stay for a bit.  I've been thinking about how difficult it is to draw an artist and his/her talents away from the person they really are.  I know this is nothing new, and it's a fact we tend to want to know more and more about the pop stars, actors, and other kind of performers we admire, in order to sympathize more with them or just from plain curiosity.
I have never been too fond of Kelis, to be honest the only song I ever heard from her was Milkshake (and now that I remember, her vocal contribution to Timo Maas's Help Me some years ago), but after her recent comments to the press regarding the letters she received from PETA asking her not to wear fur, and her ridiculous, mocking, aggressive and tactless answers ("I would have fur walls if I could") stating her love of it (and therefore obvious insensitivity to animal suffering), have made me want to ignore and not even give a chance to her new album though I know it's been getting some good reviews.  Personally, I hope it TANKS, no matter how childish that might sound, I just can't help the feeling.  She really gets on my nerves.  Too bad Robyn has decided to tour with her.



                                         

Well, while we're on the subject, there's this new catchy, poppy song that I've had on repeat since I downloaded it.  I'm kind of infatuated with the lyrics and even though I was not seduced by the performer's voice at first, I'm liking it more and more each time.  It's The Boy Who Murdered Love, by Diana Vickers, a British singer who was a semi-finalist in The X Factor two years ago.



She's VERY young, she'll be turning 19 at the end of July, and though I love the song, like I stated before, I can't get over the fact that she's wearing a fur jacket towards the end of the video (which has a pretty cute aesthetic to it involving a cartoon-interfered reality and a hard-to-ingore cute male model). I'm hoping it's fake, though I doubt it, just so that I don't have to hate her.  I sound thirteen now, I know.
Here's the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1wKCXbrK74


Thursday, June 3, 2010

UNITED COLORS OF THE FUTURE

I was recently called to have my picture taken for a magazine article on fashion bloggers in Lima. I was quite surprised I was actually chosen because I don't consider my blog to be solely about fashion, but as I was beginning to think about this entry, I realized most of my posts are inevitably fashion-related.
When I was about 11, I began a long-term love affair with Benetton. I think I still remember my first item from this brand, it was a green polo shirt, with UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON written in tiny fuchsia letters in the front. I had fallen in love with it at the store for some reason and had not been bothered by the fact that it was a size or two big. Suddenly, 90% of my wardrobe came from this brand and then most of my personal belongings: my wallet, my agenda, my cologne, my walkman-case, keychain, etc. It had become an unexplainable obsession. I mean, some people from high school remember my colorful Benetton backpack more than they remember me (of course, I did weigh about a ton back then too).
I also fell in love with their ad campaigns. LOVED THEM. I loved their thought-provoking, shocking, controversial images addressing social issues such as racism, AIDS, discrimination in general, and above all -at that period in my life- enviromental issues. I became a fan of Oliviero Toscani, the creative mind and photographer behind the ads, then wrote Luciano Benetton expressing my admiration and was happily surprised when I received a package containing poster-sized images of the campaigns from 1989 to 1995. I actually got to meet Luciano Benetton later on when he came to Lima to open a store.
It was at 12 that I became a vegetarian and that I got involved in school activities that promoted recycling and other eco-conscious activities. That is probably why one of the images that struck me the most back then, was that of the bird covered in thick, black oil, it's eyes red with irritation, swimming in the middle of a huge oil spill, and looking like something out of this world.




Thinking it was a species from another planet would have probably been the more comforting way of looking at it than knowing it belonged to our own planet Earth, and that the reason why this poor animal was condemned to such a horrific situation that would lead to it's premature death, was caused by our own kind. Or maybe it was a new species. Were we being witness to the birth of a new type of bird that would soon be populating our planet? I know this sounds a bit dramatic, but after seeing the following pictures from the affected wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico due to the UNBELIEVABLE irresponsibility of BRITISH PETROLEUM, one can only wonder if we will ever learn. Things haven't changed much.




(Pictures via Towleroad)

À LA FIN DE LA RUE

I remember visually "quoting" the scene from the following video a few weeks ago. It is probably my favorite moment from GOLDEN GIRLS. Though I wasn't a die-hard fan of the show, I do have fond memories of watching it and having many laughs at Rose's stories of Saint Olaf and at the way Blanche Deveraux charmingly managed to address the vanity in each and everyone of us.
I have turned 30, I've said this over a million times, I know, and as "the physical interferes, everyday more..." (your daily dose of musical drama here), I couldn't help but recreate this scene in front of a couple of friends some time ago, like I said at the beginning of this short post.
I just found out Rue McLanahan has passed away today, leaving Betty White as the only living Golden Girl. I simply felt the need to post this video in her memory and as a tribute to her most memorable character. Simple and HYSTERICAL. Love it. Enjoy:

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

CELEBRITY SKIN

My initial title for this post was BROOKE SHIELDS YOU SUCK, but then I decided I could be a bit more elaborate. Brooke Shields is probably a celebrity many people that belong to my generation hold as a childhood icon. Her 80's beauty, her star-status at such an early age and watching her grow in the limelight made her one VERY fascinating person. Fascination faded a bit, as she grew up and grew older but she still holds a strong place among other Hollywood stars.




I remember having dinner once at Cipriani's in Soho, back in 2008, with one of my closest friends from my high school in Montevideo, and minutes after we sat down, someone went by behind me. My friend is not as celebrity obsessed as I am (I had already recognized Carine Roitfeld's son when we entered but that's just because I'm a freak), but she did mention something along the lines of "hey, I think the girl that just went by you is kind of famous, she looks familiar" in her priceless Uruguayan accent in Spanish (she is from Taiwan so, visually, it's pretty surreal). As I turned to my right, two tables away from us it was her, Ms. Brooke Shields herself. I couldn't help but squeal to my friend "Those EYEBROWS!!! They're part of HISTORY!!!". She looked way prettier in person, slimmer too, and though I was immediately starstruck when I saw her, I didn't dare to go up to her and say hello. Two other people had already done that and asked for a picture, and she seemed rather annoyed by it. To tell you the truth however, there was a HUGE turn off : she was wearing a long fur vest. My initial excitement faded a bit, not completely, I have to be honest. I had been in NYC for about a week, LIPSTICK JUNGLE was about to premiere that weekend, and I remembered seeing Hilary Rhoda backstage at the Michael Kors show and thinking how the 80's were back EVEN when it came to physical features, so running into her seemed like a pretty cool way to end that trip.
Unfortunately, today, Brooke Shields has been the source of major disappointment. I just checked one of my favorite blogs and came across the following picture:



Has she no heart? Not only does Brooke Shields wear fur, she will actually be promoting the use of it by designing a fur coat herself together with a Danish fur company. I could soooooooooort of understand when people are just hypnotized by the texture of a fur coat and enjoy wearing one because they are able to ignore what goes into making one (I won't excuse them though), but to still be into it while being a witness to the process and to actually see the bodies of dead animals and to not be moved by it is beyond me. She has been quoted to say: "My only true love, darling. I live for furs. I worship furs! After all, is there a woman in all this wretched world who doesn't? ". PATHETIC. Could someone PLEASE slap some sense into her? I really hope PETA gets her.