Michael Jackson’s Greatest (Fashion) Hits

One year after his untimely death, it’s clear that Michael Jackson’s legacy lives on: His influence over the worlds of music and fashion is still such that Lady Gaga—currently both the reigning queen of the charts and an undisputed master in the Jackson-pioneered art of generating buzz—recently raised her own star even higher by announcing that she’d been asked to open for (and duet with) the King of Pop on his ill-fated “This Is It” tour. Last year, we celebrated him with a gallery of his most frequently copied fashion innovations; this year, we’ve decided to toast his inimitable style by compiling a slide show of his top ten looks.

#1: Psychedelic Prints

At just thirteen, Michael already had a handful of #1 hits...and a deeply groovy on-stage wardrobe. In this shot from December 1, 1971, the pint-size pop star demonstrated his adeptness at mixing patterns, pairing a Missoni-style shirt with a pair of kaleidoscopic green-on-green bell-bottoms.

#2: Sparkling Separates

Off the Wall was Michael’s fifth solo album, but it was his first with the producer Quincy Jones; self-penned smash-hits like “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” provided the first glimpse of the hybrid pop/soul/funk/disco sound for which he became known. In January 1979, eight months before the record was released, Michael donned an ensemble that likewise presaged his future signature look: Menswear basics (in this case, a sweater-style shirt paired with black pants, a white collar shirt, and an oversize bow-tie) rendered with maximum sparkle.

#3: The Red Leather Jacket

The zipper-bedecked red leather jacket that Jackson wore in 1983's “Beat It” video quickly became iconic and widely copied. (Michael himself opted for a similar tomato-colored style in his subsequent “Thriller” clip.)

#4: The Sequined Glove

Performing at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium in 1984, the King of Pop wore an outfit that combined several of his favorite trends: abundant shine, a military-style jacket (complete with golden epaulets), and most notably, his famous single, sequined white glove

#5: Zippers, Buckles, and Chains

In many ways, the Martin Scorcese-directed video for “Bad” functioned as a kind of sequel to the earlier “Beat It” clip: Both were inspired by West Side Story, and the heavily-ornamented black leather Jackson wore in the 1987 video looked like a tougher version of his old red jacket.

#6: The Classic Suit—with a Twist

This look from 1988's “Smooth Criminal” video—a sharp white suit, worn with a blue shirt, white tie and a white-and-black fedora—was an explicit homage to his dance idol, Fred Astaire, who donned an almost-identical outfit in the 1953 musical The Band Wagon. (Astaire admired Jackson, too: “That’s the greatest dancer of the century,” he said of the pop star.) But the armband was all MJ: It’s been reported that the oft-present accessory was his way of remembering suffering children around the world.

#7: Attention-Getting Accessories

High-water pants—paired with white, often-sparkly socks—were another favorite of Michael’s, and they served a purpose, drawing attention to his fancy footwork (seen here in the groundbreaking 1991 video for "Black or White"). The cast-like brace he often wore functioned the same way: It accentuated his awesome movements. (His wrist was reportedly fine.)

#8: The Space-Age Suit

For 1995's multimillion-dollar, spaceship-set “Scream” video, Michael’s style took a futuristic, club-kid bent—he and sister Janet donned matching spiked shirts and black pleather pants. The song featured some of the singer’s angriest lyrics ever, but it was pure fun to watch him sing, dance, and goof around with his little sis.

#9: Upscale Armor

Knee pads were an MJ staple. He wore this gold-accented pair, which were reminiscent of the lowest quadrant of a suit of armor, with a sequined white bandleader jacket while performing in 2002 at New York City’s Apollo Theater, after the release of his last full album of new material, Invincible. (The frequently seen finger bandages also make an appearance here.)

#10: High-Fashion Labels

Fashion designers had long been influenced by Michael’s aesthetic, but it wasn’t until the last year of his life that the singer began to reciprocate, regularly stepping out in recognizable, straight-from-the-runway styles. Always a rule-breaker, Michael frequently opted for tops, jackets, and even pants that were originally shown on female models. In this picture from 2009, he wears a jacket and vest by Givenchy; Balmain was another favorite.

(instyle.com)

Sex and the city (SATC) movie 2 Review by Loire

Mình đã mong chờ movie từ lâu lắm rồi... xem đi xem lại trailler, nghe album sound track, soi poster, đọc báo nói về SATC và thậm chí xem lại cả series và movie 1. Mà tính ra thì cũng đã coi đi coi lại series SATC gần cả chục lần chứ đâu có ít gì :))

Movie 2 lần này, ngay từ đầu đã cảm thấy choáng ngợp và very excited. NY quá đẹp, quá quyến rũ. Rất thích cách mở đầu, rất SATC...flash back những năm 80 vừa bất ngờ vừa vui. Rồi sau này mình cũng sẽ tự nhìn lại bản thân mình bằng con mắt đó xem, chắc cũng thú vị lắm.
Stanford & Antony's wedding cũng quá cute nữa...wedding theme không quá phức tạp, thích idea Carrie trở thành bestman của Stanford .. bài hát thì tuyệt vời !!

Phải nói là SATC movie lần này khiến khán giả đi từ trầm trồ này sang ngạc nhiên khác, không chỉ vì mấy món đồ hiệu hay xe hơi đắt tiền, những chi tiết thú vị (chủ yếu là liên quan tới Samatha) những câu nói chơi chữ rất "quái chiêu" khiến khán giả phấn khích và không thể không la hét và vỗ tay haha, mọi tình tiết trong movie 2 này cũng dường như xoay quanh Samatha. Vai trò của Samatha trong phần này gần như ngang với Carrie (thậm chí có phần trội hơn ấy chứ). Miranda cũng đẹp hơn, mặc đồ đẹp bất ngờ, gần như là một sự thay đổi hoàn toàn. Charlotte thì có vẻ già hơn, mập hơn chút...Carrie thì vẫn vậy, hình như cũng hơi mập chút thì phải :D

Trong phần này khi Carrie gặp lại Aidan thì có chút vô duyên, nhưng bộ đồ khi cô ấy đi ăn tối với Aidan thì thật là stunning !!! Và tất cả bọn họ vẫn vậy... vẫn thật fabulous, đặc biệt là khi họ hát karaoke bài I'm a woman ( Samatha lại một lần nữa cực kỳ ấn tượng haha)

Ah, ko thể ko nhắc đến Mr Big, he's absofuckinglutely charming and handsome and sexy ... time go by...so sánh với tập đầu tiên, Mr Big ngồi trong xe màu đen, kéo cửa xuống, nụ cười và câu trả lời cho "have you been in love ?" - "absofuckinglutely" với lúc Big ngồi trong xe gọi cho Carrie khi cô ấy về nhà cũ...12 năm trôi qua rồi tại sao người ta lại không già đi mà lại càng hấp dẫn hơn vậy nhỉ ??!!


Ah cái moment đó, Carrie lại mặc bộ đầm Christian Dior (newspaper print dress) mà cô ấy mặc ở SS3 khi đi ăn trưa với Natalie (vợ lúc đó của Big) to apologize for the affair she was having with him ... một sự recycle rất hợp lý...và sau 10 năm thì Christian Dior vẫn rất hot :X

Nếu nhìn SATC movie 2 này dưới một bộ phim thời trang, hẳn những ai sành hàng hiệu sẽ phải choáng ngợp. Ví dụ như trong cảnh này:


Chiếc quần Jeans của Carrie hiệu Blonds (4000$) với chiếc đầm Chanel lấp lánh có giá tới 47 190 $ . Chiếc đầm đỏ của Samatha cũng hiệu Blonds có giá 5000$ - nhân thể bộ đầm lấp lánh mà Samatha và Miley Cyrus mặc giống nhau tại buổi ra mắt film là của Matthew Williamson (3500$) cùng với đôi bốt Dolce Vita (300$)
Charlotte làm bánh tại nhà trong bộ đầm vintage của Valentino và tạp dề hiệu Anthropologie. Miranda cũng đâu có thua kém gì, cảnh đầu tiên khi Miranda mặc chiếc đầm cocktail màu vàng nghệ của Yves Saint Laurent, giày cũng Yves Saint Laurent luôn. Miranda phần này mặc đẹp và thực sự rất ấn tượng !
Tuy nhiên, bên cạnh những tên tuổi lớn thì vẫn có những nhãn hiệu mới, ít tiếng tăm xuất hiện trong phim. Có thể điểm qua một số bộ áo váy và phụ kiện mà các cô gái Fab four đã diện:

(To be continue...)

Women and Shoes: A Love Story

First there was Cinderella, then there was Carrie Bradshaw. We explain the fascinating reasons why footwear is seducing our imaginations — and emptying our wallets — more than ever.

By Mina Azodi (www.cosmopolitan.com)

Long before spiked heels with exotic names (Louboutin, anyone?) became objects of desire, chicks have been shoe-crazy. But recently, we got proof of exactly how crazy: While sales of most things have plummeted thanks to the recession, footwear sales have gone up compared to the same period last year. Yes, buying a pair of shoes has always had near-supernatural effects — like instantly updating an outfit from last year or just making you feel hotter than hell — but that doesn't fully explain how footwear is beating the odds in sales. Trust science to have the answer: Turns out, we've always been wired for shoe lust, even when the going gets tough.

Happy Feet

First of all, there's some serious mood-boosting going on when you try on any kind of apparel. "The neurotransmitter dopamine is released, providing a feel-good high, similar to taking a drug," says Martin Lindstrom, a branding expert for Fortune 100 companies and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. "The dopamine increases until you swipe your debit card." Usually, the high then flatlines, and guilt starts creeping in...except, that is, when the item you're purchasing is a pair of shoes. "Shoppers rationalize shoes as a practical buy — something they can wear multiple times a week — so they hold on to that pleasurable feeling longer," says Lindstrom.

But it's not just dopamine at work. Shoes' mood-altering traits also come from another brain reaction, says Lindstrom. Buying new footwear stimulates an area of the brain's prefrontal cortex termed the collecting spot. "Shoes are a collector's item, whether women realize they perceive them that way or not," says Suzanne Ferriss, PhD, editor of Footnotes: On Shoes. Just think of how they're often stored artfully on shoe trees and shelves. "They're like sculptures," says Ferriss. As a result, collecting each type provides a mini-adrenaline rush similar to the satisfaction a stamp collector gets when he acquires a rare find.

A Higher Power

All those wonderful feelings are intensified when you choose high heels...but again, it's biology, not Jimmy Choo, at work. "Like most animals, we're wired to associate height with power," says Helen Fisher, PhD, professor of anthropology at Rutgers University. "High heels can literally raise your status because you're taller when you wear them."

Heels carry historical significance as well, adding to their appeal. In previous centuries, only the wealthy wore high heels — everyone else had practical footwear to do manual labor. "Shoes were a measure of class," says Fisher, "and we still have a bit of that mind-set ingrained in us."

Sexual Heeling

Now go even higher — to stilettos — and another element rears its head: sex. Stilettos are undoubtedly foxy, but why, exactly? "When a woman wears them, she assumes a primal mating pose called lordosis," says Fisher. "Her butt lifts, and her back arches."

But there's more to it than how hot your ass looks. According to Daniel Amen, MD, author of The Brain in Love, our minds are structured in a way that may associate feet with sex. "The area of the brain that communicates with the genitals is right next to the area that deals with the feet," says Dr. Amen. "These regions share neural crosstalk, which may be why shoes can be erotic." And we thought it was just our lust for high style talking.

Carrie's Best Looks Ever (part 3 - The Best of the rest)

Carrie’s Fur Coat

Carrie's fur coat, which she first wore in season 1, became a go-to layering piece for the costume designers. "When you love something, like that coat, you say, 'Okay, this is something Carrie is going to rotate a lot,'" Weinberg explained. At first, though, she and Field weren't even sure if Sarah Jessica would agree to wear it, "because it's raccoon, and it stank." The New York City designer consignment store Ina allowed Weinberg to borrow the coat at first, and ultimately sold it for the bargain price of $200.

The "Meet Carrie!" Outfit

"This is Carrie's ‘How do you do?’ moment,” Rubenstein said of the demure Romeo Gigli dress Carrie wore early on in Season 1. “This show wouldn’t have been a success if we didn’t fall in love with Carrie." As for Weinberg? “I think she looks like a candy striper,” she said.

The Entrance-Maker

Weinberg didn't recognize Carrie's season 1 mini-dress: "It's kind of generic, just a sexy, close-fitting dress. Was it spectacular? No, but you could put SJP in a pair of inside-out sweatpants and a pair of Manolo Blahniks and she’d look good,” she said. Offered Rubenstein, “This is how you dress to go to a club. There's a little bit of sparkle, because the lighting is dim. Carrie wouldn't wear jeans to a club because she'd want to make an entrance.”

The Masterfully Mixed Outfit

“The mix of the heavy metal belt and the soft, feminine floral print is so Carrie,” said Daman of this colorful ensemble from Season 2. “She changed fashion by showing you can belt almost anything, and her mixing of metals—the gold bag with the sterling belt—was very fashion forward.” The look also struck Rubenstein as directional, although in a slightly different way: “Carrie taught us that you don’t go shopping in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, you go shopping dressed as if you’ve already bought something.”

The Fendi Baguette

“This is the beginning of the Fendi metamorphosis, when every bag she carried was a Fendi. The store was really great to us at that time. They would just be like, ‘Take whatever!’” explained Weinberg. “Eventually, the Baguette became a status symbol; in that moment, we were literally creating around outfits around the Fendi bag.”

Carrie’s “Cover-Up”

“Shazam! Who else could make a sequined caftan so sexy?” asked Daman of the sheer vintage tunic Carrie wore on a girls weekend in Los Angeles in Season 3. “The elegance and simplicity of her black bikini with the flash and sheer dash of the cover-up are a perfect demonstration of Carrie's take on fabulous—a timeless mix of class and sass!”

The Engagement Ring Necklace

In Season 4, Carrie paired a classic white Badgley Mischka gown with her engagement ring (worn as a necklace much to Aidan’s dismay). “This look doesn’t really characterize the beginning of Carrie. This is what she evolved to—it was a symbolic time,” said Weinberg. “This is real New York sophistication,” agreed Rubenstein. “Every girl would love to be Audrey Hepburn for just one scene, and this is SJP’s.”

The Forgotten Sweater

“This is Roberto Cavalli. We had that top for years in our wardrobe: I think we bought it at a sample sale,” said Weinberg. And fittingly, the plot followed their lead—Carrie stumbled upon the forgotten sweater while cleaning out her closet in Season 4. “I didn’t love this then, but I do love it now,” added Rubenstein.

Carrie’s Statement-Making Coat

Of the nude Calvin Klein dress and colorful vintage coat Carrie wore in Season 6, Weinberg said, “That’s another one of those ‘I threw it on’ kind of looks, but she totally made it work!” Indeed, fans everywhere took inspiration from Carrie's style. “This is the Carrie where you start taking notes,” said Rubenstein. “In other cities a coat is just used for warmth, but in N.Y.C. we see your outerwear, so your outerwear really needs to make a statement.”

The "Date With The Russian" Dress

“Late in Seasons 6, Carrie fell in love with Petrovsky, the Russian artist who wanted her to live in Paris. All of a sudden her world became about ballet, art, and once again the clothes make a shift,” said Rubenstein. Here Carrie wore an Oscar de la Renta dress to the Met . . . and McDonalds. “The clothes became more serious.”

The Compromising Boots

Shopping in Paris, Carrie wore a pink Betsey Johnson bustier, Lanvin coat and knee-high boots (which were to blame for a horrifying tumble in the exclusive Dior boutique). Said Weinberg: “The boots compromised the outfit's sophistication, and the bustier stood out. This all looks a little bit mismatched to me, which was obviously purposeful.” Agreed Rubenstein: “Carrie never did anything accidentally—she knows exactly what she’s doing!”

Carrie’s Home-Again Fur

“This is Carrie shaking off whatever she left in Paris,” said Rubenstein of the colorful vintage outfit she topped with her signature coat after Big rescued her in Season 6. “She’s back in N.Y.C. which is all about a series of clashing: mixing high and low, uptown and downtown. This is when Carrie’s real style takes over again.”

The Very Carrie Suit

"There's an exuberance here," Rubenstein said, referring to the cream Ralph Lauren suit and pink button-down that Carrie wore in the first movie. "She is so happy to be in New York City and in love with Big."

The Westwood Wedding Dress

"Carrie was always the eclectic girl," said Pat Field, so when it came time for her to wed Big, she chose an anything-but-ordinary Vivienne Westwood gown. “Pat created the ultimate look for the ultimate day,” explained Rubenstein. “I would never want to see anyone in real life wear that blue-green feather head-dress on their veil, but if Carrie didn’t have something so out of the ordinary, I would’ve been incredibly disappointed!”

Carrie’s Vintage Prints

“I do love labels, but I love all kinds of intelligent clothing,” Field said, and her continual use of vintage in the first film proved it. Fields must love intelligent accessories too: She added an Eiffel Tower bag by Timmy Woods to the one-of-a-kind outfit—a subtle homage to the city that brought Big and Carrie together (again).

The Mesh Pumps

“The '80s were always important to Pat,” said Weinberg. “She came from the nightlife and club scene and has always been influenced by that.” For Carrie, Field paired an edgy, punk belt with a simple pink shift and pearls, masterfully mixing downtown cool with uptown chic. "Carrie had the ability to switch," Weinberg explained. "That, to me, makes fashion."

Tutu Number 2!

The purple ballgown skirt Carrie wore when she ran into Aidan in the second movie started it's life as a slip, Field said. "It actually under gown, but it was so pretty. I was like, let's make this a skirt and put it with a t-shirt. It had that same quirkiness as that short tutu from the series’ intro scene.”