Saturday

FALL FASHION 101

FALL FASHION 101
BY: JENÉ LUCIANI
WAG FASHION COLUMNIST


Leaf peepers listen up! While the leaves are turning an array of gorgeous autumn colors, there should be a revolution of another kind happening - in your closets!! It’s time for fall’s new fashions and luckily this season it’s all about adding on to what you already have.

Runway wrap-up

Whether you shop at Neimans, Bloomies or the local boutiques along Greenwich Avenue, chances are most of the trends you’ll see came from the runways of New York, Paris and Milan. There, you’ll find the seasonal wares of famed designers like Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Valentino and Oscar de la Renta. Designers find inspiration in many ways: from past eras, other cultures, people, and of course, nature.

This fall, it’s all about reminiscing, with fashion coming full circle featuring trends from times past. The New York runways played much like a history book, with nearly every decade making an appearance. This inspired designers to make what’s old, new again. Carolina Herrera tells Women’s Wear Daily her fall collection is inspired by the late Fifties in Europe. Jennifer Lopez’ Sweetface line has influences from that same era, but more Americanized with Rock n’ roll touches. Temperley London time travels back to the forties in old Hollywood glamour while Nanette Lepore, who launched her first shoe collection this fall, takes it back even further, to the Victorian Era and Edwardian England. But forget the corsets and crinoline. Flowing silks, cashmere, dolman sleeves and embroidery make these period pieces “now.” Design duo Badgley Mischka says it was inspired by “17th Century Flemish paintings,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. What does that mean for the consumer? Lots of intricate embroidery, plush fabrics and pleating – with a side of funkiness just to remind us all that we are in the 21st century after all. Even Euro-retailer H & M, which offers top trends at a discount, found unique inspiration: “This season, we look at ancient Scandinavian Peasant Romanticism or Catholic Drama, with contradictory chaste and sensual undertones,” says spokesperson Jennifer Uglialoro.

Locally based designer Nova Lorraine, recently launched her flagship store in Mt. Kisco. Her influences for her fall collection? “An autumn basket filled with traditional fall fruits on a bed of multicolored leaves,” says Lorraine. That means we’ll be seeing rich autumn colors, earth tones and jewel tones, like olive green, burgundy and chocolate brown – the new black. Purple also pops in fall’s palette, in plush fabrics fit for a princess, like velvet and brocade. Designer J.R. Morrissey, who has his flagship store for his line called Y? in Katonah, highlights a fall palette that’s almost good enough to eat: “Pumpkin, Cognac and Olive are important colors in our fall collection,” says Morrissey. According to the Pantone Color Institute, the top colors we’ll be seeing are an array of blues, grays, reds and purples.

Other common threads in all of the designer’s displays: Layers, leggings, fur, mix and match textures and prints and minimalist, menswear-inspired pieces with just the daintiest of feminine touches. So from the tents at Bryant Park to store shelves near you, here’s a rundown of the season’s hottest trends and how to incorporate them into your wardrobe.

Get a leg up on fall

Get ready to show some ankle. One word can sum up fall’s biggest trend: layers. The good news? You’ll be able to take those fabulous Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dresses you wore all summer and wear them right into December. Bad news? If you’re not a fan of tights and leggings (with visions of “Flashdance” dancing in our heads, this can be a scary thought for some) this major seasonal staple will have you heading for the hills. The bright side is you can leave the legwarmers back in the 1980’s-those thankfully have not returned. Try Lisli’s wool leggings or Donna Karan’s cashmere footless tights. According to Stephanie Solomon, Operating VP and Fashion Director of Women’s Ready-to-Wear at Bloomingdales in White Plains, “It’s really all about layering for fall. Your new uniform should be a sleek jersey wrap dress or sweater and mini-skirt worn over leggings with flats” she adds. Or forego the flats – leggings will even work with sandals and stilettos! Top off the look with a bolero jacket or sweater.

Another chic layering option: a sweater-coat worn over skinny pants or jeans with a great belt. Ken Downing, Senior Vice President and Fashion Director at Neiman Marcus in White Plains, says “a knit cardigan replaces the jacket for a very fresh way of dressing, especially when belted. Multiple pieces worn together create a look that is modern and individual.” Ellen Tracy makes great chunky knitwear pieces you can mix and match and wear with everything. The point is making sure the pieces you use to layer with are clean and minimal. According to Solomon, “it’s a season of toning down the looks we’ve seen in the past.” That means keep your ruffles contained to cuffs and collars – less is more. The feminine trend from spring has faded to make way for menswear inspired looks. Pairing a ruffled collar blouse with menswear style pants is a great marriage of the two trends.

When the mercury drops…

One thing’s for sure when you’re heading into October in the Northeast: the crisp, fall air quickly turns to bone-chilling cold and suddenly you’re wistfully wishing for the dog days of summer again. The important thing is to stay warm, but look chic while you’re doing it. Once again this year the fall runways were a fur-fest, with everything from Sable to Shearling, ON everything from jackets to handbags. Oscar de la Renta showed short shearling coats, sable-trimmings and olive colored Chinchilla! If you’re looking for luxury, a new fur has just been unveiled that’s even swankier than mink and chinchilla. Musi-Furs are now debuting their Swakara fur collection, also known as Persian Lamb, which is available at Neiman Marcus. Whether or not you wear fur is a personal choice – but there’s some great faux options available for those who choose not to.

Mix and Match

Want to get this season’s trends down to a “t?” Then think “texture”– and lots of it. Whether it is tweeds, corduroy or hounds tooth mixed with silks and velvets, or prints like argyle and stripes. Celebrity stylist Wayne Scot Lukas – who has worked with Halle Berry, Janet Jackson and Westchester resident Glenn Close - recommends “mixing textures you wouldn’t expect, like typical evening fabrics with daytime ones. For example, wear velvet with denim for day or cottons with silk for evening.” Speaking of prints, plaid is here in a huge way. Designers doted on scholarly looks but it’s not the schoolgirl-look Britney Spears once made popular. This year, catwalks were collegiate covered with Ivy League touches like tartan plaid/wool mini-dresses, cardigans, shirt-dresses and pencil skirts.


Give fall the boot on a budget!

Your ‘puppies’ will be grateful for the new silhouette in fall’s hottest boots: round toes! Thankfully those painful pointy toes of season’s past are making an exit. As always, The Wag is doing the bargain hunting for you and we’ve discovered a runway option that works for every budget. Payless ShoeSource – known for emulating designer looks and turning them into affordable footwear- made its debut on the catwalks of New York Fashion Week during the fall 2006 collection of designer Lela Rose. Now, the company is bringing designer looks to its stores. Who needs Manolo when Payless is unveiling its first ever designer collection this season called “Abaeté for Payless” footwear, with styles by famed designer Laura Poretsky featuring all the latest trends? For mere pocket change (at $20-$45 a pair), look for flats and pumps in leather and suede with embellishments like bows and buckles. Elsewhere at Payless, you’ll find staples like suede peep-toe pumps and wedges, stacked suede boots lined with faux fur and lace-up leather boots that meet the ankle or if you prefer riding-boot style at the knee! Remember those fabulous slouchy suede boots from Coach last year that retailed for about $500 a pop? They were sold-out for months and seen on the fashionable feet of Eva Longoria, Jessica Simpson and just about every other hot Hollywood celeb. Now, Payless has a great imitation that looks exactly like the real deal – no one will know you didn’t pay full-price!! But don’t wait too long – select styles are only available through the end of the month!


It’s in the bag

Bigger is better when it comes to bags!! This season’s “it” bag? Anything that’s big and red! Salvatore Ferragamo makes a great leather tote that’s perfect for work or play. Want the look without the designer price tag? Lukas says “Spiegel has a great copy of a Balenciaga [“Motorcycle”] bag that is huge!! I have it myself and use it for travel!” he adds. Besides big, think embellishments. Women’s Wear Daily reports that brass locks, chains, jewelry and exotic skins are all key elements in fall’s hottest handbag styles.

New York based handbag designer Judith Leiber is collaborating with Hollywood stylist Rachel Zoe for a collection available at Neiman Marcus in White Plains this month. Zoe – who has dressed everyone from Lindsay Lohan to Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie- will incorporate all of those trends in her collection, “Rachel Zoe for Judith Leiber.” Bloomingdales in White Plains is about to offer even more options for couture carry-alls with the opening of a new floor dedicated to high-end handbags. Lindsay Fredricks, Public Relations Manager at Bloomingdales says they’ll now offer choices from Kooba, Salvatore Ferragamo, Longchamp and Dolce and Gabbana, to name a few. Fredericks says the collections will launch there in late October. You’ll be sure to find me, in line at the door!

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New Years Eve is the one night

New Year's Eve Fashion Wrap
New Years Eve is the one night of the year where you can wear a dress that looks like a disco ball and stripper heels and it's totally okay. The celebs were out and about at their various NYE bashes and some were dressed to impress, while others, well, they had clothes on and I'll leave it at that. Here's the best and worst dresses from New Years Eve.

Fergie: Fergie hosted the NYE fete at 1 OAK nightclub in Las Vegas and for the occasion she wore a metal tube dress and Gio Diev sandals. She looked great! Her dress was literally a work of art, and while it looked like the most uncomfortable creation she wore it with ease. Also, she can probably recycle the party dress as a table centerpiece or hook it up to make a water fountain!

Sofia Vergara: Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara also rang in the new year in Vegas and hit the red carpet at Hyde Nightclub at the Bellagio in a curve-hugging white strapless Bulmarine sheath and paired in with nude pumps. Sofia Vergara really knows what her best assets are, and by that I mean, her best ASSets.

Kim Kardashian: Kim K partied at Tao in Las Vegas and wore a white mindress with key-hole cutout. She also debuted a new haircut with thick blunt bangs, though with the money she makes she could have afforded some better clip on bangs. C'mon Kim K, those Barbie bangs weren't fooling anyone.

Rihanna: Rihanna always looks flawless (well, except when she wears no pants) but otherwise she looked stunning in a Tom Ford Wild Side leopard print sheer dress at a CIROC bash in Miami. The dress had a plunging keyhole cutout and she paired it with bright red lips.

Vanessa Hudgens: Hudgens struck out this New Years. Staring off 2012 with a whole lot of sparkle, the actress attended a party at Miami's Fontainebleau in a glittery tank and glittery mini skirt plus lace-up oxford sandals and a bold and gold headpiece. Okay, I said you can dress like a disco ball on New Years, but this is a little too much.

Leona Lewis: Leona Lewis is usually so pretty, but this New Years Eve she was pretty ridiculous. She also went out at Hyde Bellagio and looked like a mess in a feathery wrap, full pink tutu and a bold choker. Didn't anyone tell her that the Black Swan halloween costumes happened two months ago?all about fashion model trend in USA

New Year's Eve Fashion WrapNew Year's Eve Fashion WrapNew Year's Eve Fashion WrapNew Year's Eve Fashion WrapNew Year's Eve Fashion Wrap

LADY GAGA STYLE: Gaga Style 2012 Shopping Guide

Thursday

Dame Elizabeth Taylor dies

Dame Elizabeth was born in north London in 1932. Dame Elizabeth Taylor, one of the 20th Century's biggest movie stars, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 79.
The double Oscar-winning actress had a long history of ill health and was being treated for symptoms of congestive heart failure. Her four children were with her when she died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, her publicist said. In a statement, her son Michael Wilding called her "an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest". "We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it," he continued. "Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts." Dame Elizabeth's most famous films included National Velvet, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She was equally well-known for her glamour and film partnership with Richard Burton, one of seven husbands. In her prime, she was arguably one of the world's greatest actresses and most beautiful women.
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Her colourful private life, screen success and Aids charity work ensured she was never far from the spotlight since finding fame at the age of 12. The peak of her film career came in the 1950s and 1960s, with four Oscar nominations in a row from 1958 to 1961. She lost out in her first three attempts - for Raintree County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer - but triumphed at her fourth attempt with Butterfield 8. Her second Oscar came in 1967 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, one of 12 films with Burton.Dame Elizabeth reflects on life in spotlight. She met the actor while filming 1963's Cleopatra - which became notorious as one of the most expensive films of all time, but which also sparked one of Hollywood's greatest romances.Taylor had already been married four times - to Conrad Hilton Jr, Michael Wilding, Michael Todd and Eddie Fisher - before she wed Burton in 1964. Their tempestuous relationship saw them divorce and remarry in 1975 before she moved on to further marriages with John W Warner and Larry Fortensky. Her health problems began with a fall while filming her first hit film, National Velvet, which led to a lifetime of back problems. A rare strain of pneumonia almost killed her in 1961 and she also battled addictions to alcohol and painkillers. In the 1990s, she endured two hip replacement operations and another near-fatal bout of pneumonia and survived surgery for a benign brain tumour in 1997. In 2004, it was revealed that she was suffering from congestive heart failure, with symptoms including fatigue and shortness of breath, and scoliosis, which twisted her spine. Angela Lansbury: "Her appearance, even as a little girl was absolutely stunning" But she continued to campaign for her Aids charity, which she set up in 1991 after the death of her friend and co-star Rock Hudson. In addition to her four children - Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Maria Burton-Carson and Liza Todd-Tivey - Dame Elizabeth is survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A private family funeral will be held later this week. Instead of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation. British actress Joan Collins, who starred alongside Dame Elizabeth in the 2001 TV film These Old Broads, called her "the last of the True Hollywood Icons". "A great beauty, a great actress and continually fascinating to the World throughout her tumultuous life and career. She will be missed," she added. Singer George Michael said: "She also did a great deal in the last 25 yrs [sic] to help the world deal with the HIV epidemic. I am proud to have known her if only a little." One-time co-star Sir Michael Caine also paid tribute, remembering her as "a beautiful woman, a wonderful actress, and a great human being."


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Dame Elizabeth Taylor Dies at Age 79

Hollywood has lost one of its brightest stars.


Dame Elizabeth Taylor died at Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. Wednesday. She was 79.

Elizabeth Taylor's last chat with Us Weekly: "25 Things You Don't Know About Me"

"She was surrounded by her children -- Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton," her publicist said of the star, who suffered congestive heart failure six weeks ago and had been ailing ever since.

The movie icon is survived by four children, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Born in Hempstead, England, the legendary beauty (famous for her violet eyes) debuted on the big screen in 1942's There's One Born Every Minute, and became a tween star two years later at age 12 in National Velvet. Her most notable roles included Father of the Bride, A Place in the Sun, Giant and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. On her mantle are two Best Actress Oscars (for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Butterfield 8), plus a Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Academy Award for her tireless, early work fighting the AIDS epidemic. (Taylor grieved the early HIV-related death of movie star pal Rock Hudson in the 1980s).

In 1999, the British-born star was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

In her heyday, Taylor was as closely watched as stars like Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez -- and her love life was endlessly followed in the press.

She was famously married to seven different men throughout her life: Conrad Hilton from 1950 to 1951, Michael Wilding from 1952 to 1957, Mike Todd from 1957 to 1958, actor Eddie Fisher from 1959 to 1964, John Warner from 1976 to 1982, and Larry Fortensky from 1991 to 1996. Many would say that the love of her life, however, was actor Richard Burton, to whom she was married twice (from 1964 to 1974, and from 1975 to 1976).

Taylor was also one of the first celebrity moguls, who used her star power to market hugely successful jewelry and fragrance lines.

Her final interview was in the March issue of Harper's Bazaar (where cover girl Kim Kardashian recreated Taylor's Cleopatra look from the 1963 film).

"I never planned to acquire a lot of jewels or a lot of husbands," Taylor said. "I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love, and of course, I am the temporary custodian of some incredible and beautiful things."

Speaking to Us Weekly in 2010, Taylor revealed more about her storied life.

"Before I made films, I had a lemonade stand in Southern California," she said. "I didn't go on a date until I was 16. I never tried to act until A Place in the Sun...I believe you can be close to God anywhere. My family and people with HIV/AIDS are my life."


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Accessories guide : girl boy - vintage - animal - max out -lady like - heritage

Of course, no look would be complete without some great accessories. A good rule of thumb no matter the season? Accessorize away and then before you leave the house, take one item off, says Bloomingdale’s Solomon. She advises wearing “just one important piece of jewelry and if you have an ornate handbag, let THAT be your jewelry!” Lukas states that this season’s adornments should be “layered and personal with a feeling of ‘earthy realness.’ He says to look for “gold, silver and pewter vintage pieces” and toss out those plastic pieces that were popular last year.

Model turned mogul Kathy Ireland has teamed up with Elizabeth Taylor’s line, “House of Taylor” Jewelry, for pieces that are inspired by other cultures. Ireland says “this fall, we have diamonds, chunky rings with matching earrings, colored stones, necklaces with moveable parts, lots of gold and legendary crosses.”

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Final fashion note


Whether you choose to travel on the trend-train or not, Lukas has this tip for you: “believe in your body and know who you are.” He adds “it’s [fashion is] about dressing for your life not dressing for a trend or a look. If you do that, you’ll spend too much money and be unhappy. If someone says you look great in a color or an outfit, buy more like that and you are on your way to creating your own uniform. It’s that simple!” Uglialoro, of H & M, echoes that sentiment: “well-dressed is an important concept right now. Chic and coordinated is ‘the look,’ but with personality and humor- no rules apply! After all, it’s only fashion!”all about fashion model trend in USA