Britain's Next Top Model

The cult of America's Next Top Model seems to be ever growing. A simple search online for "top models" yields results for Australia, Britain, Thailand and probably a lot more if I keep on searching. I recently managed to get my hands on a few episodes of Britain's Next Top Model, and I must say, they must not be very well funded! I was quite disappointed. Where to start. . .

YES, houses! While America's Next Top Model gets to live in a house in Beverly Hills, especially designed for them to resemble a department store with themed bedrooms. .

Britain's Next Top Model gets to live in a spacious and very simply but chic-ly designed apartment with one room as living quarters filled with metal bunk beds. Not exactly up to the ANTM's standards. Although I do understand the London is very cramped and all, I'd like to point out that when it was held in New York they stilled lived in very awesome places with funky designs and more rooms. Maybe its the British stlye, who knows?

The photoshoots didn't seem very well equipped either, with very cramped make shift work space and well. . utter chaos. Not quite the well organised chaos we are used to seeing on ANTM.

The photos itself were not very impressive either. The models usually all have a very united theme, wearing very similar clothes and posed behind very simple backgrounds. Not very exciting at all- as you can see from this model's expression.

This one has waaay too much intensity. She just looks downright mean. And I'm must say, this outfit does not look very flattering on her. She's definitely not doing anything for me. *yawns*

This is actually one of the most interesting photos they have. And the judges actually said it was good! For me, so used the ANTM, this photo lacks intensity and connection with the audience. Still not tempted to buy that outfit.

Speaking of which, the judges themselves are pretty dull as well. Their comments were repetitive, dull and so not funny. They need to find a balance between serious and fun. Otherwise, its just boring. As if the show itself was not dragging enough, they add another 40 minutes afterwards devoted to the evictee! And if that is still not enough to put you to sleep, they have another 20 minutes devoted to confessions.That ought to do the work. Although personally I've not needed to watch the confessions in order to fall asleep. The evictee story really does the trick ;).

It makes me wonder what the quality of the show in the other countries are like.

Billion Dollar Babes in London

Last Saturday, I woke up bright and early at *gasps* 7am to go to Billion Dollar Babes. To those of you who don't know what Billion Dollar Babes is, it's a sample sale. Now normally, I'm not one to go get crushed by a mad crowd of crazy bargain shopping hopefuls, but since the Vogue website kept on mentioning it, I decided to check out the Babes website and was very impressed. The list of brands the sample sale carried was quite alluring -Catherine Malandrino, Diane Von Furstenberg, Cacherel, Joes Jeans, Missoni handbags and Philip Tracey, just to name a few.

Billion Dollar Babes actually first started in America and became big in New York and LA. Then this June, Babes had its first overseas sale in London. I was busy in June so didn't manage to make it, but I was so glad I went to this one! When I arrived at eightish, it was already crazy packed. Shoppers were all frantically going through clothing racks, taking things to try on. There were also jewellery stalls such as funky jewellery brand Mawi and beautiful jewellery label Carolina Bucci for the accessories-lovers. Women around were all trying on shoes, jewellery, hats and bags.

Completely soaking up the fantastic shopping atmosphere around me, I got into my serious shopping mood and got to work. First I went through the racks of clothing and tried them on. The changing room is not like normal changing rooms in shops -it's simply one big room with mirrors in it. It's no time to be shy and find a hidden corner to change. But I actually quite liked it because you can actually ask the woman next to you what they think, or like when I helped the woman next to me pull up the zippers at the back of her dress. At the end, I decided to buy an Ella Moss long sleeve top (£35) and a beads-embellished Pink Soda halter top (£15). Definitely much cheaper than they would usually cost!

After the clothes, I walked around the accessories stalls and found a really pretty embellished pink scarf at the Pink Soda stall for £15. But my happiest moment there was when I found this pair of Georgina Goodman flats:

These Georgina Goodman shoes are called Kizzy. Originally £320, I got them for £62! They're actually made of snake skin and the bronze fabric really adds style to the flats. OK, so they're from the SS05 collection, but I figured I could totally wear them next summer too, esp with so much white seen in the SS06 catwalks. As the Georgina Goodman website describes them: "never out of season, always to be worn, forever young and utterly gorgeous"!

Before I left, I went to their refreshment stall to get a complimentary bottle of Perrier, (they also offered Diet Coke.) What an amazingly spirit lifting sample sale!

Detny by Shane & Shawn

So the other day randomly shopping, we can across one of those special ladies shopping nights at a department store and happily walked around with our gift bags, trying on shoes while sipping our mocktails. Then we came across the highlight of the shoe department: Detny by Shane and Shawn shoes.
I was first interested in these very classical looking kitten pumps called Jodi,thinking it would be perfect for everyday campus walking and they DO look comfortable. Imagine my delight when I tried them on and found that they actually ARE comfortable!

So I carried on looking and found that these sexy silver stilettos were actually comfortable too! Oh the delight for a girl to find heels that don't make her feet hurt. We can probably dance all night in them! They even had these awesome boots that are actually based on the design of these heels there. Like you can actually see the skeleton of these heels on those boots. Too bad I couldn't find a picture. They were cool.

And we have these two charming gentlemen to thank for-Shane and Shawn. Identical twin brothers. How cute is that? They were actually at the event that night as well. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to meet them since they were crowded by ladies vying for their attention, making it a little hard for me to approach. So I'll just have to take this chance to thank and commend two gentlemens for bring us great shoes that our feet love.

The Return of the OC

FINALLY. The OC is back on Thursday nights. Congratulations to the White Sox for such a timely win. I don't know what I would do on Thursday nights if they carried on playinf for any longer stopping the OC. I actually don't quite understand why they had to cancel the OC in favor of the world series. I know its a big thing in America and all, but remember that time last year when Bush made a public announcement during the OC timeslot and people complained so much he apologized for his ill timed announcement? They could also have rescheduled it at another time. I don't see why we would need to see another rerun of Seinfeld. Anywho, its over now. The OC successfully aired last night and as usual it was as awesome and fashion inspiring as always.

Summer and Marissa looking gorgeous in a pretty skirt and very cute dress both by Burning Torch. Note the thin gold belt Marissa is sporting to emphasize her waist, making it more ladylike.

Only Julie Cooper can carry off this spunky leopard dress from Nanette Lepore.

Taking charge very adorably in an Anthropologie dress. I am definitely getting one for Spring 06!

If only we all looked so effortlessly put together for school. Girly pretty on the left and more rocker chick on the right.

Oh and here's another brilliant idea for a school bag- a cute little Chanel!

Now THIS is being exiled in style. Anyway, going to go before this blog turns into another Mischa-Barton-can-wear-a-sack-gorgouesly-and-stylishly-post. Got to save that for next time right? ;)

Happy Birthday Gemma!

Todays is 'it' model, Gemma Ward's 18th birthday! Seriously, she's appeared on so many magazines, ads and catwalks, and she's only 18 -sometimes it's hard to believe. The lucky girl got herself a whole issue of Australian Vogue all to herself, (see yesterday's post.) I read it yesterday, and the whole Vogue is basically a 'sneak-peek into Gemma's life' book. What more could a girl ask for her birthday?

Anyways I digress, so to celebrate my favourite model's birthday, today's post will be random things about her. Gemma is really quite a controversial model -there are fans (like me) who absolutely love her look, while there are others who think she is plain unattractive. It all really lies in whether you like that alien, baby-faced look which Gemma is so famous for.

Here are some brilliant photos that not only show Gemma as a model, but also as a teenager:

Gemma first burst into the international fashion scene when Miuccia Prada featured her in the Prada and Miu Miu S/S04 shows. The first words Ms. Prada said when she first saw Gemma: Bella!

Prada F/W04 ad. Gemma is seriously photoshopped here, but doesn't she look so much like a grown-up yet baby-faced porcelain doll here?

One of Gemma's most recent ads, Burberry F/W05. The main female models were her and Kate, but I guess now it only has Gemma.

Gemma is really good friends with Lily Cole and Lily Donaldson, two models who started at about the same time she did. Unlike the catfights and rivalry some may imagine the models would have, they are actually true friends and even hang out together out of work!

And suprise! Gemma reads! Here, she's reading backstage at one of the fashion shows. (The book looks like it's The Alchemist, but I'm not 100% sure.)

The innocent, alien face that made her famous.

Gemma featured in the Dec.05 issue of Vogue Australia. You can actually see that she has grown up -obviously she has always been this tall, but you can see that her facial features are more mature now.

Happy Birthday Gemma!

Supermodels Turned Editors: Gemma and Kate

This December's magazines are turning out to be EXTREMELY brilliant. I got so excited when I found out that my favourite model, Gemma Ward will be guest-editing Vogue Australia. And then previews of the Australian Vogue started appearing in fan forums and I got even more hyper!

Here's a sneak peek into the Backstage Diary that Gemma kept for Vogue:

"I turn up to Versace and have to refit my dress again, they are changing around looks, and still haven't seemed to figure out the running order. By the time I am done, backstage is awash with panic. I put my head in my hands and take a moment while they glue in the 500 mandatory hair extensions.

"When the entire contents of my make-up artist's bag seems to have been dumped on my face, I get into my first look and try desperately to hear the new directions over the excess of Italian screaming. Since the running order has been changed I have no idea who I'm doing the group walk with anymore but before I can ask the show is under way. Girls are clambering over each other to get into their second looks and all I can see are hands flying in all directions, one putting more blush on me, one tugging from behind, one pulling my dress down, one pulling my leg up and shoving a shoe on my foot. Milan is killing me."

This issue of Vogue AU is available for sale starting yesterday. I can't wait to buy it!

Moving on to Kate...

After Kate Moss was caught taking drugs about a month ago, a LOT has happened already:

• Kate apologised.
• Chanel, Burberry and H&M dropped Kate, while Dior and Rimmel kept her.
• Kate went to rehab for a 'one month intensive treatment'.
• During this time, Kate still managed to grace fashion magazine, W's Nov. cover and fashion spreads. (see above)
• Just out of rehab, Kate is already making headlines with the new Dec. Vanity Fair cover and eleven page editorial inside. The photos were taken last year but were never used until now. She is wearing Chloe in the cover photo.
• 
• Rumour has it that Kate will be guest-editing the Dec. issue of French Vogue. Although I really am not so excited about this because it's not like I can read French. Actually, I didn't even know Kate knew French. Oh well, in our books, fabulous style is an international language!

Winter Cropped Pants

Now we can take cropped pants with us into fall. They have been given the makeover with heavy winter materials, darker shades and plaid patterns-perfect for fall. And the way to wear it? With boots of course. So essentially it would be as if you'd tucked your pants into your boots-minus the hassle of actually doing so!

And no one does it better than Daria in this Zara shoot. She looks absolutely amazing and casually chic.
Other options would be this one from Top Shop, which looks really similar to the one Daria's wearing, except with more subtle stripes.

But it is actually really hard to wear this cropped pants/boots combo properly. I saw this girl on the streets wearing it, and it just did not look right. I didn't take a picture, but her problem is very aptly displayed in the Urban Outfitters catalog above. Does this model look stumpy and short to anyone else?

So to clarify, this cropped pants/boots combo should only be done with fitted cropped pants and sleek heeled boots. It also helps if you are tall, but thats not an absolute requirement. So please stop wearing gauchos with boots. But if you must, wear something fitted on top to balance it out.