east of milan

I can't call myself an internationalista without looking at designers east of Milan, and what did I find you might ask? .....voila! The Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) is currently hosting its third ever Pakistan Fashion Week 2011. Take a look at photos from Day 1, with collections from labels Nickie & Nina, Mohsin Ali, and more. As expected, the emphasis is on rich embroideries, sumptuous fabrics, and east-meets-west looks, but perhaps more surprising are the elegant headpieces. The question is... can I wear those with jeans?

cowboy

Red leather Balmain jacket, studded, zippered, and safety-pinned to perfection.

Python cowboy hat, weathered skin, and grizzled hair.
Black leather pants, knotted silk scarf.

Who is this midnight cowboy?

the game

A typical Sunday in San Francisco: kung fu-fighting with Elvis and hanging with truck-drivin' divas? Maybe... but we were playing The Go Game to benefit Project Open Hand, a charity that provides nutritious meals to people suffering from HIV and other serious illnesses. Along the way we got to go on a city-wide scavenger hunt, meet "Sarah Palin," reenact Super Mario Brothers, and model some HOT yellow ponchos. ;) Take a look!

No, it wasn't raining. But Bowser just called for a yellow poncho

Ola! the famous Brett of amtrekker.com

Elvis has definitely left the building.

kitschy kitschy koo

Some of the... cuter things I saw in Hong Kong. And they certainly like cute over there. And color. And kitsch. But then who doesn't?

Hello Kitty graffitied on the wall, and then edited with paper. That's what I call dedication to an icon.

i heart hk

H M blouse
hm.com

Burberry skinny cropped pants
$1,295 - net-a-porter.com

Cut out shoes
610 GBP - unique-way.de

Tote bag
$43 - ebags.com

Sweet Co mirror jewelry
$60 - yesstyle.com

color splash

After my short stay in Hong Kong, I'm definitely inspired to try for more color in my wardrobe-- especially of the hot pink, neon green, and canary yellow variety. I'm surprised they're not on the state flag because they are pretty much everywhere else!

These extra-narrow double-decker trams (called "ding-dings" because of the sound they make) were painted all sorts of colors, this one brighter than most. And for about 25 cents, it takes you all over Hong Kong Island.

The view from Langham Mall-- even the buildings are colorful in HK. With all the pinks, greens, and turquoise exteriors, you would think I was in Miami!

givenchy: aflame

When this bag whizzed by me, with its shock of orange and flash of heavy-duty silver, everything else was a blur (...or maybe that's just my camera playing tricks on me). Regardless, I too would cradle this clutch like the precious pet it is.

paradis(e)

Not a new cover, but I came across it recently and I can't stop staring. This stunning vision is French star Vanessa Paradis (Johnny Depp's real-life leading lady). Guess some women can look good in swim caps!

French Vogue November 2008

a study in neutrals

Who said neutrals have to be boring? Layer in unexpected ways, vary the proportions and the tones, and carry a knock-out accessory.

because he can

How can I say this eloquently? I need these shoes.

fox

Simple. Elegant. Luxe. She makes looking good and matching your outfit to your skin tone seem easy.

twin furs

Ever notice how friends tend to dress the same? It's probably an unconscious style influence rather than overt copy-catting. Either way, I love to see it in action!

love

The multiple covers of Love magazine issue 4. Not surprisingly Gisele is "The Bombshell." But what about Alessandra and the barely recognizable Sienna?

h to the k

We arrived in Hong Kong Sunday night after a 15 hour flight-- the longest direct I've ever taken! But Cathay Pacific took good care of us, offering about 50 movie selections ranging from Avatar to Raging Bull. I watched The Importance of Being Earnest (with Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon: decent but you must, must, must rent the old version!) Like the proper English major nerd that I am, I read my Time Out Hong Kong book from cover to cover, with highlighter and post-its in hand. I had a whole itinerary mapped out but then we got to our hotel, and it all went downhill from there. In a good way. I got too distracted by the views, the amenities, and the pampering. Sigh.


The view from our 37th floor room looks out to Hong Kong island. A gorgeous concrete jungle cityscape, isn't it? Can't wait to take nighttime pics.

lil red

"I would always hesitate to recommend as a life's companion a young lady with quite such a vivid shade of red hair. Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous." ~ Jeeves in Very Good, Jeeves. PG Wodehouse

a moveable feast

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast. -Ernest Hemingway

photo courtesy of londonlives (aka my travel companion with the fascinator)

the kids

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. ~ Pablo Picasso

"She had no mother and no father, and that was of course very nice because there was no one to tell her to go bed just when she was having the most fun, and no one who could make her take cod liver oil when she much preferred caramel candy." Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

girl with the chanel

The classic Chanel 2.55 bag-- chugging away, engendering lust, fulfilling fantasies since February 1955 (hence the name). Here she pairs it with a a navy military blazer and knit mini-dress.

caped crusade

There's something about a boy in a bow-tie.
And that hooded cape, on him-- brilliant.

french sole

What's your flavour?

to shag

The look of love... captured at the Grand Hotel, rue de Scribe, Paris. 
And by shag I mean the vest of course-- dirty minds!

patchwork

Classic outfit, crazy bag. That combo usually works even if you're not a rail-thin Scandinavian model toting Balenciaga. Promise.

mohawk and studs

Ode to a style rebel

The mohawk, the classic RayBans, the lip ring.

The check shirt buttoned all the way up, oh-so-nerdy-chic. 

The rockstar's olive studded jacket. 

The printed carrot-shaped pants tucked into black patent high-tops. 

The schoolboy's cognac messenger bag. 

Nothing goes together. But it's perfect together.

urban warrior

We weren't exactly sure what was going on here, but this girl had some major swag. She wore her purple tights over her shoes (a look I've never seen in all my trendspotting days), brought her own personal stylist to fashion week (see diminutive-looking but actually normal sized woman adjusting our Amazonian goddess below), and mooned us. Yes, you read correctly: she mooned us. And might I add it was the most lovely mooning of my life-- a flurry of crimson taffeta and sheer plum modesty. Only in Paris.

pink feathers, red ruffles

These headpieces are called fascinators I learned recently. And the Paris street style photogs were fascinated indeed! They couldn't get enough of her.

sweet thing

The second best hot chocolate in the world exists in Paris at the quaint Cafe Angelina on the rue de Rivoli. (The first is in Prague, so check in with me before you go!) A bowl of whipped cream on the side certainly doesn't hurt. As for macaroons, I hear you can't skip Laduree on a jaunt to Paris... and so we didn't. Our raspberry rose petal macaroon tasted quite as exquisite as it looks. Bon appetit!

a macaroon as big as a fist, with a lychee surprise in the middle

Marie Antoinette tea service

je mange, therefore i am

I didn't realize how much I like taking pictures of food… almost as much as I like eating it. Wish I'd taken more food pics while in Paris because everything was both de-lish and served beautifully. Here are a couple photos and granted, pizza and salmon salad are as French as the Italian restaurant we went to, but hey at least they look tres jolie!

braided beauties

Constantly surrounded by amazing clothes, designers, stylists and photographers, models have their finger on the pulse of all the hottest fashions. At Paris fashion week they showed off various trends happening right now, from hairstyles to accessories.


Braided locks
 

siri

Norwegian model Siri Tollerod rushing out the tents past photogs and bloggers (including moi) post-Lanvin. Is it just me or does the poor girl look a bit fatigued? It's been a long month...

the scramble

...mad dash to make it.

Sasha Pivavarova

model crush

Catching up with models is half the fun of fashion week. I love seeing them rush in and out of shows, frazzled, late-- wearing crazy makeup, hip street wear, and teetering heels. Today I'm posting a few beauties we captured at the Isabel Marant show in Paris. 

I never claimed to be unbiased, so I'm starting with one of my favorites, Brazilian bombshell Isabeli Fontana. You may know her from Victoria's Secret? She's not only striking, she's also very gracious and good-humoured; she willingly hammed it up for us us and even posed with a few different outfit options at the Balmain show.

louis fetish

Louis Vuitton Fall Fashion 2011  The article below from the UK Guardian by Jess Cartner-Morley perfectly captures the Louis Vuitton show:

Marc Jacobs captures spirit of Paris fashion week with whiff of scandal

Designer says he was inspired by Claridge's in London where he regularly observes 'exquisite creatures' coming and going

...Marc Jacobs, the designer of Louis Vuitton, presented an appropriately scandalous finale to a Paris fashion week riven by rumour and disgrace, with a collection inspired by fetish and a show themed around the "hookers, chambermaids, wives, mistresses and other exquisite creatures" whom Jacobs sees when he stays at Claridge's hotel in London.  

The audience were seated around four ornate, gilded elevators, each manned by a uniformed bellboy. As the show began, the first lift opened and a model emerged dressed in a monogrammed chauffeur's cap and smartly buttoned jacket over a patent corset and a sheer skirt which revealed stockings beneath. The elevators descended out of sight and returned, each delivering a model in a fetishised, high-gloss fantasy of uniform: knee boots in sex-shop latex, tight trousers with the leather patches used on jodhpurs pulling the focus to the inner thigh and demure knee-length printed dresses embroidered with gloves, masks and high heels.

As the collection segued from daywear into evening wear, the uniform references shifted from bellboys and chauffeurs to French maids, with sheer black cocktail dresses bibbed with starched white collars and venetian masks worn in the hair as Alice bands. Last to appear was Kate Moss, who strode the catwalk in tight jacket, black knickers and boots, smoking a cigarette.

Backstage, Jacobs said the idea for this season's show came from Claridge's hotel in London. "Whenever I stay there, I see all these incredible women, coming and going in the morning and the afternoon and at night. I love looking at what they are wearing trying to guess who they're with – husbands, lovers, clients."

..."It was about fetish, but it wasn't dark," Jacobs insisted. Although some models had their wrists bound by handcuffs to their handbags, the cuffs were linked by fragile crystal beads instead of binding chains.

"At Vuitton, it always starts with the bags. I kept thinking about this inexplicable passion and obsession women have for bags, and how the bag becomes a fetishised object. I wanted to celebrate the love and desire that is part of that fetish," Jacobs said.  "We associate uniforms with fetish because uniforms suggest roles that require effort and commitment, whether that's a maid's dress or a dressage jacket."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/09/paris-fashion-marc-jacobs-scandal?CMP=twt_gu