Hi again!

Come September, and the anticipation begins, excitement mounts and we wait with baited breath for the festive season to come engulf in its mood of celebration.

End of the year is marked by the festive spirit in all cultures and India is no exception. With the confluence of varied elements of varied cultures that India is, our festivities take on a whole new dimension.

There is hardly ever a lull period in the Indian festive calender but this period is usually packed to the brim. It begins with Navratras, which are week or longer affair marked by fasts, dandiya raas and vibrant clothes. It is followed almost immediately by Dusshera and Durga Puja.

Diwali soon follows to fill our lives with light, fireworks and excitement. The year culminates in the celebration of the birth of Christ and the birth of a whole new year.

The mood for all festivities is set by spirit which takes over one and all. The refulgent colours, the bright clothes, exquisite accessories, mouth watering delicacies... it is endless.

This season is considered most auspicious and so it coincides with wedding season.

The individual expression of all this celebration is the attire. We dress in our best clothes and accessories to join in the jubiliation.

This festive season try out the beautiful collection Kurtis at CarmaWorld. Adorn yourself with exquisite jewelry in Polki, Cubic Zircons and Faux Gold or accessorise with a beautiful clutch bag.

Bedeck yourself in clothes and accessories from CarmaWorld and be in the spotlight at all weddings and festivities.

 http://www.carmaworld.com 

As I perused designer's websites online, Nicole Miller's site caught my eye out of all of them. Her designs were very edgy yet chic to me, an elegant yet artsy design. Her fall collection falls between vintage indie and trendy, and her '09 resort line is very bright, and fun, definitely something I'd wear come spring.

Vogue Paris August 2006
Model: Carmen Kass
Fotograf: Terry Richardson

Vogue Paris dec - ian 05/06
Model: Freja Beha

Vogue UK Mai 2004
Model: Gemma Ward

Vogue Aprilie 2007

Fotograf: Lachlan Bailey

Fashion editor: Charlotte Stockdale

Sursa foto: www.flickr.com

]]> http://vianaturae.wordpress.com/?p=207 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:41:19 +0000 vianaturae http://vianaturae.wordpress.com/?p=207

"I would rather take a picture than be one."

~ Lee Miller

Anna Wintour, for two decades the editrix behind Vogue, is known for helping fledgling talent become fashion stars.

By nominating them for scholarships like the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund, Wintour has helped designers fund runway shows and grow their businesses. Phillip Lim, Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders and Gap's (nyse: GPS - news - people ) Patrick Robinson have credited Wintour with boosting their careers.

Still, this clout doesn't afford Wintour the top spot on our list of America's influential fashion editors. That title goes to Cindi Leive (pictured above), editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine. Wintour ties for second with Elle's Roberta (Robbie) Myers. Cosmopolitan's Kate White is in fourth, and Charla Lawhon, who edits In Style, ranks fifth.

In Depth: Most Powerful U.S. Fashion Magazine Editors

To compile our list of the America's most influential fashion editors, we considered every editor of every monthly U.S.-based magazine that includes a significant amount of fashion editorial, including teen magazines, and we used nine data points to rank them.

see this amazing slideshow

read more...

Es una modelo brasileña, nacida en Itabira, pero crecio en Río de Janeiro.  Fue descubierta como muchas otras modelos, un importante director de una revista estaba de vacaciones en su país cuando la vio y la convenció. Ganadora del concurso imágen del año ELITE de Brasil en 1998 no ha parado de trabajar siendo una de las modelos más importantes del mundo.

Entre sus trabajos destacan: Victoria Secret, Sport Illustraited, Guess, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Zara.

GALERIA 1

]]> http://katieoneal.wordpress.com/?p=601 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:09:45 +0000 katieblu http://katieoneal.wordpress.com/?p=601 I was reading through some old emails today at work.  One was from my husband, from Sept. 5th of last year.  I remember getting the email.  He had been in NY for work, and wrote to me that he was on the train and couldn't wait to get home to see me.  He called me by one of his nicknames for me.  Reading it made me so incredibly sad.  Here he was, on his way home to see me, so excited to see me and I remember wanting to see him, but not feeling the excitement he apparently did.  I'm at least glad to say that while I'd spent the entire summer doing things behind his back, I hadn't done anything while he was out of town that night.  Because  that would just make me feel even worse.  We haven't really talked in almost two weeks now.  It's so weird.  We talked for a few minutes today, and I told him I'd like to catch up with him over the weekend.  We'll see if he calls me.  I'm not talking to him with hopes of getting back together.  I just want to know what's going on with him.  

Last night I read the most interseting article in Vogue.  It was written by a 75-year old woman who'd been having an affair with a married man for 5 years.  I could relate to so much of what she said. Granted, I've only been seeing Mr. Married for almost a year - and for over 1/2 of that time I was married myself - but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of what she said rang true.  Some ideas are those that I've had myself - that part of the reason why we "work" is that it's a relationship almost outside of the real world.  When we see each other, we're always on our best behavior - in a year of dating, I've yet to hear him fart.  We burped in front of each other for the first time the other night (I'm embarrassed to say I did it first.  I actually kind of forgot I wasn't by myself, and it just came out).  We're unfailingly polite.  The sex is absolutely amazing, and we never seem to tire of it.  If we were a year in to dating under "normal" circumstances, I have to assume things would be different.  But as it stands, we're grateful for the time we get to spend together, and so make the most of it.

Maybe that's the secret to relationship success.  We haven't gotten too comfortable yet.  We don't take each other for granted.  Would I like to not have him be a secret in my life, and I in his?  Of course.  But for now, I think that I'm happy enough with the way things are.  I'm fortunate enough to have a best friend I can talk to about him.  She doesn't judge me - at least not to my face, and if she disapproves of the fact that I'm seeing someone that is married to someone else, she doesn't tell me.  She sounds genuinely happy for me when I tell her my stories of the things we've done, or are going to do.

Speaking of - he and I are going to Lake Placid for a long weekend next month. I'm so excited!  We planned it out last night - we know where we're going to stay, where we're going to eat dinner, the vineyard we're going to stop at on our drive up.  It's the most time we're going to spend together, and I know we're both looking forward to it.

Brits do not get the same treatment.  Is Vogue assuming that much of us won't be able to spell the URL? To that I scoff; for the magazine has been widely circulated for over 100 years.  Are they trying to sound less pompous to the North American market? I've never guessed that a maga

zine for luxury products would want to shed their elite image and become comfortable with the masses.

I can't tell you for sure, but this is making me have a less than godly view of the Vogue marketing department.  Give us Vogue.com!

Hi everybody.

I just came back from a quick visit to Seattle and the Bumbershoot Festival. It was really nice and what FANTASTIC people there!! I had a really good time chatting to people at the festival. Sometimes we europeans think that we are all alone - we certainly have some good pals over there! Cheers!

Well, apart from the festival and visiting historic landmarks as the house where Kurt Cobain shot himself one major thing had an impact on me. Well two actually - counting Obamas speech at the democratic convention in Denver that is. The appearance of Sarah Palin. The govenor from Alaska, and now crown princess of McCains potential chair in the oval office. WOW! What a gal! Yihaa!

And what a fantastic moron she is. She held a very special speech, when she was revealed as the vice presidential candidate. I made a song about, what it sounded like in my ears.

(The song will come up for direct download - i just have a little problems with wordpress.)

Pro-Fight
[audio http://www.reverbnation.com/controller/audio_player/download_song/1088510]
It's funnier to be a vice president
in a republican government
than to have a teenage girl who is pregnant
singin' ooh-la-di-lah
singin' ooh-la-di-lah

Confess to the maker
Confess every microscope
The truth lies in babies that have not yet been born
The net beneath Darwin is about to be torn

Somehow, Vogue India editors thought that a fashion spread using every day regular citizens to model accessories was a good idea. Now, on the base of it, this doesn't seem so bad. We like real people in fashion spreads. But as Jossip pointed out: we usually reserve our "thanks for not using anorexic models" applause for those who don't substitute them with "skinny because of malnourishment" persons. And on top of that you then realize that the majority of the Indian population subsists on just over $1 a day and there isn't a single item in the spread that is under $100. Meaning that to actually own any of the items in the fashion spread the people pictured would have to save months to years to actually purchase any of them.

Yes, India does have a burgeoning middle class. Yes, Vogue is doing some branding. Yes, there are numbers of people in India that can afford these items. I get capitalism. But why not use 'real' Indians from this middle class instead of individuals who appear to be from a much more working class background. I'm not even going to go into stereotypes and appropriation here (the magazine may be Indian, but the products aren't).

But I guess another reason I don't actually buy 'high fashion' is that I just don't understand why if you have enough money to actually purchase such items you would when there are about a bajillion other things that the money could go to and actually do some good. Sigh.

- suse

P.S. Watched the Palin speech last night. Don't remember which reporter it was, but she was talking to delegates and remarked about how women at the convention and across the nation seemed to be having a visceral reaction (meant in a positive way) to Sarah Palin's speech. I know I can be counted in that category, as long as barfiness is a visceral reaction.

Imagens: Myitthings.com e do Fabsugar.com

OK, so let me get this straight. Use people who make about $1.25 a day, as models for nonessential items that sell for hundreds ($100 for that Fendi bib to the right) or thousands. And we're not talking food, clothing, shelter or other essentials. They are modeling accessories that retail for more than one family makes in a year. No, make that over 400,000 Indian families. And the point is to appeal to a new class of Indians who are a potential market for these things?

Here's what the editor of Vogue India Priya Tanna said (from the NYT article): “Lighten up,” she said in a telephone interview. Vogue is about realizing the “power of fashion” she said, and the shoot was saying that “fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful,” she said.

The only way I can see an upside to this insulting, patronizing and demeaning display is if Vogue and the companies that produced the items created some kind of social program or opportunities that would significantly help the very people they have used (as models). Even with that the concept is simply tasteless.

Was it really necessary to use the poor boy and his family to 'prove' the reachability of fashion? Wasn't it making fun of the family which probably can't even provide basic meals to its children?

Photo: NY Times

The NY Times featured an article this week about a photo shoot for Vogue India that uses the country's poor as models for its luxury brands. 

Vogue India editor Priya Tanna’s message to critics of the August shoot: “Lighten up,” she said in a telephone interview. Vogue is about realizing the “power of fashion” she said, and the shoot was saying that “fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful,” she said.

“You have to remember with fashion, you can’t take it that seriously,” Ms. Tanna said. “We weren’t trying to make a political statement or save the world,” she said.

Throwing a $3,000 shawl on a peasant woman who will never earn that much in a lifetime seems a bit unfair, no? As a papaya seller on the side of the road modeling a luxury umbrella for an ad, I'd be wondering, Where's my cut? Actually, I'd probably be wondering if I could have half of the photographer's sandwich, but moving on - to be an advertiser asserting that you're democratizing fashion while neglecting the reality, the social contexts, surrounding the spread itself demonstrates poor taste if not sheer ignorance and exploitation - to say that fashion is for everyone, while stating that your publication is neither making a political statement nor helping the world is contradictory. Surely, a publication of Vogue's caliber is not ignorant. More importantly, capitalism is not that ignorant. Or is it? Statements are made whether or not they're intended; fashion at its core is a statement whether you wear nothing or couture.

There are ethics that extend beyond the prerogative of a high profile shoot, certain things that one simply does not do - impoverished citizens, making $1.25 a day, are not the same as struggling models paying their dues, people.

The small documentary on Free the Children moved me. I was trying to figure out how to incorporate it into my media blog but couldn't completely justify the use of broadband or media celebrities to create awareness for a good cause. However, after reading Vogue’s Fashion Photos Spark Debate in India on New York Times I again had my eyes opened at how the use of modern media can truly educate the Western World. I was beginning to think Entertainment might start ruling completely over Education. 

Jessi's video showed us the typical housework done by young girls pulled out of school and child labour on a construction site. To be honest I always thought the woman was all perk and no substance on the Hills Aftershow. She showed us a different side. She was passionate, warm and overall caring. Free the Children is lucky to have her as an ambassador and I hope her video and work with the group inspires others to make a difference in the education of children. By posting the video on MTV.ca the station is showing forward thinking and the "want" to do something with the power of their media. 

Vogue's Fashion Photos Spark Debate in India was published on August 31, 2008. 

 This is one of the images that has caused some controversy. See poverty family. Now see Fendi Bib. Price: $100. All images show average Indian people wearing luxury. Vogue believes that fashion is no longer just a rich man's privilege. Anyone can wear it and pull it off. Fashion in this case was not meant to be taken seriously. They are not trying to then sell the publication to the poor and force them to buy luxury. 

However, the crux of the controversy is that India is torn with the very rich and the very poor. The country is consumed with suicides because of overwhelming debt. So the image of a poor family having something that costs more than they might make in a year is definitely upsetting. 

In my opinion the use of print in this case was more to be an eye-opener to the upper class. If it causes controversy then people are talking about it and therefore word of mouth is educating their wealthy class as well as our Western World. 

As India develops and the new money increases in their economy one would hope that awareness of the poor is something that is used for the good and not exploited as some may believe. 

Don't send me hate mail because I'm looking for the good in this article. Before this week, I had barely even had India on my radar. And now my awareness has increased by 200%.

Thanks to Mass Media and MTV and Vogue.

O fotógrafo Hélio Félix prepara-se para a realização e apresentação do seu portfólio para 2009.

Hélio Félix fotografa de uma forma original com a fotografia muito estilizada em fotografia de moda.

Valerá a pena ficar a conhecer o portfólio de Hélio Félix, que se assume fotógrafo de nova geração, depois de algum tempo de ausência de forma a se restruturar está de volta com um trabalho surpreendente e já para o ano de 2009.

Portfólio social de Hélio Félix

Contacto: info@heliopaulofelix.pt ( contacto igual para o sistema “messenger”)

BIO Hélio Paulo Félix (fotógrafo)
Hélio Paulo Félix está neste momento em fase de licenciatura em Cinema, irá iníciar estudos superiores em cinema.

Hélio Paulo Félix começou a sua formação inicial através do instituto Português de fotografia, de onde retirou a formação base de forma a exercer fotografia de forma profissional, ”o Curso Profissional de Fotografia do Instituto Português de Fotografia visa a formação cultural, visual e técnica de quem procura a Fotografia como profissão ou como meio de expressão pessoal. É, também, fundamental para a formação crítica e analítica dos profissionais que trabalham com imagens. “

Depois de estar de forma profissional na fotografia, já faz perto de 10 anos, continuou a obter formação de forma constante, a sua maioria através de formação em formato workshop, de entre muitos outros faz parte do seu curriculo,
- Workshop com o fotógrafo João Raul ( moda/noiva /editorial)
- Workshop com o fotógrafo Jorge Divo e Mark Broussard (Fotografia de moda / iluminação / editorial)
- Tendo tido a oportunidade de partilhar em formato workshop momentos e expriências com Douglas Kirkland, conhecido mundialmente pelo seu reconhecido trabalho em fotografia, sendo um dos seu trabalhos mais visíveis o realizado com Marilyn Monroe, entre outros como é o caso de Elizabeth Taylor, Coco Chanel, Pierre Cardin .

“Hélio Paulo Félix, fotógrafo, tem como formação de base a formação ministrada pelo Instituto Português de Fotografia, tendo frequentado vários workshop´s em especialização de fotografia de noivas e moda, como é o caso do Worshop ministrado pelo fotógrafo nacional/internacional em moda, João Raul, entre outros como é o caso dos fotógrafos, JORGE DIVO e MARK BROUSSARD. Tendo tido a oportunidade de partilhar em formato workshop momentos e expriências com Douglas Kirkland, conhecido mundialmente pelo seu reconhecido trabalho em fotografia, sendo um dos seu trabalhos mais visíveis o realizado com Marilyn Monroe, entre outros como é o caso de Elizabeth Taylor, Coco Chanel, Pierre Cardin “

http://heliopaulofelix.wordpress.com

i'm not sure how i would feel if they did that here. in one way, i think it would be great for some of the street kids to be exposed to some of the finer things in life (following that theory of giving your kids a taste of the good life so they covet and aspire to it and work harder at school to get it and do hugs not drugs etc etc) but on the other hand i think it might make some really pretty clothes very smelly and covered in sticky glue residue. ew.

Apesar de todas críticas o mercado diverge para um crescimento nos artigos de luxo. A editora da revista, Priya Tanna, respondeu as acusações apenas dizendo que na moda não pode ser levar tudo a sério.
Santo consumismo !

Namely, poor Ms Palin junior. Perez seems to want to burn her at the proverbial stake - but where does this all fit in with privacy? Are we not entitled to respect for our private and family lives? Because her mother is a public figure, is she? EU law would say no; American law has more respect for freedom of expression which, confronted with these kinds of "reporting", may not be all that great a thing.

Vogue India has come under fire for publishing images, in a fashion spread, of ordinary Indians wearing extraordinary clothing - clothing that costs upwards of 1000% of their daily incomes. Vogue claims that it is not attempting to make any kind of statement; that the clothing speaks for itself, and that fashion now transcends class divides. But the Vogue family (see Steven Meisel of Vogue Italia fame) are not necessarily new to controversy, nor to attempts to split popular opinion at the seams. It will be interesting to see where this leads; here they have used not only ordinary people, instead of models - they have left them in their ordinary habitats, we see their ordinary lives, their ordinary faces. And really, there's nothing ordinary about them at all, even when juxtaposed with Hermes' latest creation.

And that's pretty much it. My lazy linking begins here - in that, I shan't be linking. But this Sunday's Sunday Times had a hilarious article by Mr Gill on the Democratic convention, and Ariel Leve had a (as usual) thought-provoking piece about women on death row. Una's had a makeover in the "new-look" Tribune magazine (style, little substance....) and Duffy's in there, again, being "cute". Does she ever do anything else?

In other news, watch this space for Star Little Thing's latest release (come on, buy Irish!), and for me to get back on the blogging track and hopefully offend a few more people. Fingers crossed, loike.