September 24, 2006, 11:21 AM CT

New York Fashion Week

One of my favourites strutting their stuff on the catwalk at last week's premier US showcase for fashion was Sass and Bide, one of Australia's hottest design labels. The collection included outfits inspired from themes of the late 1920s to early 40s but a number of with an Egyptian influence having designs that followed the sharp geometry of the pyramids as well as the simple black, gold and white colours of that country's ancient art.

The absolute favorite for me on the New York fashion Week catwalk is Sass and Bide's her voice was lost panelled dress shown here in this picture taken at the September New York fashion Week.........

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September 24, 2006, 11:13 AM CT

What to Buy Fall 2006

Last week I had the pleasure of viewing Isaac Mizrahi's Fall and Holiday 2006 collections at the offices of their NY publicists. The collections represent a new maturity in mass market market fashions- better fabrics, solid construction, and affordable prices.

The Holiday collection was especially impressive, with long flowing empire waist evening gowns in chiffon like materials (perfect for spring 2007 as well) and a black tafetta evening coat dress that looked like something from Calvin Klein's Fall 2006 line (unfortunately, these items won't be available until early November/December, so they aren't feature in this post). Here's some of my favorite picks from the collections.........

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September 20, 2006, 5:02 AM CT

Breast Implants and suicide rates

Women who have breast implants might not have a higher mortality rate, but they have a higher risk of dying from suicide as per new research findings. In this by the Canadian Public Health Agency and Cancer Care Ontario which evaluated 24,600 women found that having breast implants is not a cause of increased mortality. Nevertheless they found that suicide rate among women with breast implants is 73% higher than in the general population. These study findings are published these findings in a recent issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Reserchers Universit Laval's Jacques Brisson and Louis Latulippe and their colleagues collected data on 17,400 women from the province of Quebec and 7,200 from Ontario who had received breast implants for cosmetic purposes between 1974 and 1989. These women, who had undergone the surgery at an average age of 32, were followed regularly during a 15-year period. The scientists observed that a total of 480 women with breast implants died during that period, comparable to the mortality rate of the general population.

Scientists found mortality rate in women with breast implant to be 26% lower than in the control group. Fewer deaths occurred from breast cancer and heart occurred in this group. The scientists say that this lower mortality rate is not the result of the breast augmentation procedure itself, but rather of a double selection bias. "First, a woman must be in relatively good health to undergo breast implant surgery," points out Dr. Brisson. "Also, women who receive breast implants tend to be of higher-than-average socioeconomic status. Thus, women who undergo breast augmentation surgery are more likely to be in better health than the general population".........

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September 14, 2006, 9:16 PM CT

Celeb Cast-offs For The Larger Sizes

I've often written about the Clothes Off Our Backs auctions over on Luxist. A number of of the clothes worn at awards shows and other red carpet events are auctioned off online for a variety of worthy causes. Great gowns, celeb buzz, good causes, what could be sweeter right? One problem, most of the gowns are tiny (most of Hollywood is around a size 2 or 4). That's why it thrilled me to see a couple of larger gowns on sale.

If you are a size 20, Mo"Nique's gown from her Oxygen TV special is up for bid. Or if you are a size 8, you can have Jean Smart's Nicole Miller gown from the Emmys. Neither one of these gowns has any bids on it last time I checked and bidding ends soon which means that you could own Mo'Nique's gown for only $300 (Jean Smart's wrinkled look Emmy gown has an opening bid of $1,000).........

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September 13, 2006, 8:16 PM CT

Bijou Blanche

After visiting London Fashion Week, the French model now based in London, Laure Brosson, decided to create her own online boutique with sexy and feminine accessories from inspiring designers. Laure named her boutique, Bijou Blanche, a name inspired by the movie, Seven Sinners in which Marlene Dietrich plays a beautiful cabaret singer; "it's such a beautiful cliche," says Laure Brosson.

In creating her online boutique, Laure says "I wanted to give customers a unique,and special choice, not so mainstream in accessories. I believe it's all about accessories in fashion, wearing a simple shirt or t-shirt, with the right handbag or the right necklace make a woman look great. And the idea is with my modelling work, I have the chance to travel, and see different influences or styles, to create a chic and original selection."

As you will see when you visit Bijou Blanche, this online boutique carries a wide range of classy accessories from talented designers including Martine Sitbon, Wilbur & Gussie whose bags are sold in some of London's most exclusive stores, Franziska Hubener, Eric Lopez, R&Y Augousti, Babette Wasserman, and Johnny Loves Rosie, the well recognised brand located in the fashion district of London's East End.........

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September 13, 2006, 8:10 PM CT

Spring Fashion Week 2007 Day 4

New American designer Hilton Hollis has been getting quite a bit of press lately, so when I received an email from a reader about his collection, I decided to take a peek. From a design perspective, the line doesn't look like anything new, but from a pr, branding and overall marketing perspective, what's interesting about Hollis' line is that he is directly targeting those who purchase in the mid price range-skipping higher end customers all together.

This is an interesting approach because it has the possiblity of challenging fashion's hierachy. So what's this hierachy? As per the wonderful blog, Fashion Incubator (who also evaluated the Hollis line), here's the basic breakdown of the hierachy (I added in the mass market category) and my very rough definitions of each category:

Fashion Hierachy

• Haute Couture- "High Fashion" (Chanel, Dior, made to wear items from top, commonly Parisian designers). A much over used term.
• Designer RTW (Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, pre -made and sold on the racks).
• Bridge (not quite Chanel, but not quite Jones New York. This term is used a lot and the line between bridge and contemporary seems to be blurred).
• Contemporary ( Basically the stuff sold at the department stores and includes designers like Tracey Reese and Nanette Lepore to Ellen Tracy and Dana Buchman).
........

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September 13, 2006, 8:03 PM CT

Oh Kirsten

Most of the online chatter about these pictures have been about how silly she looks flipping off the photographers or about Spiderman reshoots, but I am more concerned about the bag she is carrying.

Why on earth would Kirsten Dunst be carrying around almost the exact same Vera Bradley bag (or worse, a Vera knock off) that I myself had circa 2000? Now at the time I was pleased as punch with my little cotton bag. It cost me a bundle of my recent college grad salary, had fantastic pockets, and at the time it was the height of Boston preppy fashion.

But it is now 2006 and Kirsten must today have a WAY larger bank account then I did back then. And while I will admit to still having a soft spot for the Vera's (my weekend bag is a Miller in Java Blue) this is really unacceptable for someone rich and famous. Kirsten needs to get herself into Louis Vuitton or Prada store ASAP!

From the bag blog........

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September 10, 2006, 10:11 PM CT

Bendy spoon

I can appreciate the whimsy of pizza forks and knorks from afar, I don't need them in my kitchen. But I could definitely use a set of these bendy spoons. Sticky spoons on tables and countertops drive me crazy.

These would be great for serving iced tea or ice cream. They're pounds 3.90 each from Mocha.........

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