This week’s In the Mood For is dedicated to wedding dresses for everybody but the bride—the guests, the bridesmaids, and the bridal party. But while I was working on the story in the office, my co-workers couldn’t believe that I’d suggest such bright, showstopping frocks for the bridal party. In my native Brazil, that’s par for the course. At my wedding in 2004, my bridesmaids got to pick their own dresses—even printed gowns. I didn’t pick a color, a style, a length, nothing! They all decided to wear gowns, and each accessorized the way she wanted. A bride in Brazil can be more picky than I was and decide the colors of her bridal party’s dresses, but it’s rare that everyone will wear the same dress. Gowns tend to be more popular than cocktail-length dresses (for an evening event), and black and white are not appropriate colors. My sister (and maid of honor) wore an amazing printed Dior gown to my wedding (above). And she and I both wore it many times after.
Would you be open to trying something new at your wedding and letting your bridesmaids decide what to wear? Or would you rather call the shots?
Click here to check out In the Mood For…Exceptional Dresses For Wedding Guests >
—Marina Larroude
Sat, May 19 2012 » handbags » No Comments
The look in Burlesque may be all rhinestones, all the time—thanks to a little help from Swarovski, of course—but the look at Burlesque’s London premiere was a hint more demure. Cher may have gone all-out for the London carpet with a bright orange wig and lacy, black Julien MacDonald, but co-star Kristen Bell played a more ladylike card: this sweet, back-pleated, floral-print dress from Stella McCartney’s Resort ‘11 collection. With stick-straight hair and satin Ferragamo pumps, Bell lets the print do the work. We’d say the shift is a little short for January temperatures—it’s been hovering around 30 degrees Fahrenheit in London—but she’s putting on a brave face. What do you think of her blossoming look: yea, nay, or eh?
Photo: David Fisher/Rex/Rex USA
Fri, May 18 2012 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Despite a private and public rehabilitation, at the end of 2010, her lawyers failed to overturn the ruling that gave her father full control over her affairs.
Madonna and Britney also collaborated on the single Me Against The Music
Her meltdown came after eight years as the archetypal modern pop starlet – "Miss American Dream since I was 17," as she put it in her 2007 single Piece of Me.
She found sudden fame as the blonde girl with pigtails and a school uniform in the video of her debut single …Baby One More Time, a massive global hit.
A former bodyguard claimed the singer was a danger to her children. She was charged with hit-and-run after an incident in an LA car park, and was dropped by her management company.
The shaved head shocked her fans and Spears went back into rehab, this time staying for a month.
Her parents blamed manager Sam Lutfi, whom they accused of controlling their daughter's life by drugging her and taking control of her finances. He has denied the claims.
In July the same year she got engaged to her backing dancer Kevin Federline, just three months after meeting him.
The couple tied the knot in September 2004 and the couple had two children.
The turning point in her personal life is regarded as coming the following year, when her father Jamie took control over decisions regarding her personal life, including food, clothing and medical care and finances.
Her personal life was in chaos. After a 10-month custody battle, Federline won sole custody of the couple's children Sean Preston and Jayden James.
After her solo breakthrough, she became a fixture in the charts and in the gossip columns, but carefully cultivated a squeaky-clean image.
Britney Spears was the all-American pop princess who shot to superstardom in her teens before a very public breakdown. Now, her appointment as a judge on the US X Factor represents a full return to the media spotlight.
The act of shaving her head was a clear rejection of her former persona and of her life as a pop starlet in the public gaze.
But this April, her fiance and former agent Jason Trawick became her joint guardian – with her father's blessing.
Despite the MTV incident, she continued to win musical plaudits. Her fifth album Blackout, largely created by a crack team of pop producers, was sonically adventurous and a hit with fans.
Spears achieved overnight success with her debut single in 1998
But perhaps more controversial was her union with childhood friend Jason Alexander, who she wed in a Las Vegas wedding chapel in January 2004.
When she attempted a live comeback, performing at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2007, she stumbled through a lip-synced performance and was universally panned.
In 2011, MTV presented Spears with the Video Vanguard award, its equivalent of a lifetime achievement prize
Now 30, the X Factor deal should provide an opportunity for the star to show that she has put her troubled past behind her.
It was not to be.
As Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong put it at the time, it was like "watching a public execution".
The marriage was annulled after 55 hours, with Spears later explaining: "I really wanted to see what it was like to be married."
Her first taste of the spotlight had come as one of the young cast of Disney's TV show All New Mickey Mouse Club alongside Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake in 1994.
Restraining orders were obtained against Lutfi and Spears' ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib and her former manager Larry Rudolph was reinstated.
The star has been criticised for lip-syncing at her concerts
Spears and Federline were married for just over two years
Spears focused on her career, ditching her songwriting team to work with stars such as R Kelly and Moby on her fourth album In The Zone in 2003.
But they divorced in 2006 and many fans, who had barely concealed their contempt for Federline, thought the split would mark a re-birth for Spears – whose recording career had been on hold since the marriage.
Spears shaved her own head with a set of clippers while onlookers watched through the window of a Los Angeles tattoo parlour
Shortly before her divorce, Spears gave a rambling television interview, in which she tearfully proclaimed her marriage "awesome" and blamed the media for making her an "emotional wreck".
She also courted the tabloids at the 2003 MTV Awards, where she locked lips with Madonna during a risque performance of Like A Virgin.
The most stark illustration of how far Britney Spears had fallen came on 16 February 2007 when, after she spent just 24 hours in a rehabilitation clinic, the paparazzi tracked her down to a Los Angeles tattoo parlour – and discovered she was completely bald.
Spears' parenting skills were called into question when a judge in Los Angeles ordered her to undergo drug and alcohol tests twice a week.
She had a three-year relationship with fellow Mouseketeer and pop star Justin Timberlake, but they split in 2002, with Timberlake's single Cry Me A River apparently an angry kiss-off to his former partner.
Spears' behaviour became more erratic and she embarked on a prolonged period of partying with other young celebrities, including heiress Paris Hilton.
Her next album, Circus, included the track Womanizer, which became her first US number one single since …Baby One More Time and an accompanying world tour earned $131m (£82m).
Thu, May 17 2012 » game gold » No Comments
Once a universally acknowledged style disaster, the socks-with-sandals look is experiencing a curious (if surprisingly rather chic) resurgence. Stylists at Alexander Wang, Derek Lam, and Prada (below, left to right) all showed peep-toe and strappy sandals with high socks. (At the Spring men’s shows, a few labels, like Bottega Veneta, even experimented with the pairing for dudes.) As Gawker points out, M.I.A. tried the look out at her Letterman appearance in New York this week—she even put her phalanx of look-alike backup dancers in identical sandal-and-sock combos. Her look is a perfect occasion for a styling public service announcement: If you’re going to brave the trend, please, please don’t do it with sweat socks.
Photo:Ray Tamarra / Everett Collection (M.I.A.); Courtesy of Alexander Wang; Courtesy of Derek Lam; Courtesy of Prada
Wed, May 16 2012 » Weddings » No Comments
The New York Times Co. says print and digital advertising revenue declined amid what CEO Arthur Sulzberger Jr. called “the uneven U.S. economic environment and uncertain global conditions.” Advertising revenue fell 8 percent to $237.9 million, from $258.9 million a year ago.
Omnicom Group Inc., which owns marketing agencies, says its domestic revenue climbed 4 percent in the latest quarter, while international revenue increased nearly 6 percent.
April 19: Microsoft Corp. says it reduced losses in its online services division, which includes the ad-supported Bing search engine. The division’s operating loss was $479 million, compared with $776 million a year ago. The division had $707 million in revenue, up 6 percent from $667 million.
May 1: CBS Corp. says advertising revenue grew 5 percent to $2.4 billion.
April 17: Yahoo Inc. says that after subtracting commissions paid to its advertising partners, revenue was $1.08 billion in the first quarter, up slightly from last year. It marked the first time since the third quarter of 2008 that Yahoo’s quarterly net revenue has increased from the previous year.
April 25: The McClatchy Co. reports a slightly larger net loss due to declining advertising revenue. Meanwhile, compensation and other costs at the nation’s third-largest newspaper company fell while digital advertising increased.
Online games company Zynga Inc. says revenue from advertising more than doubled to $28.2 million, from $13 million a year earlier.
Discovery Communications Inc., operator of channels such as Animal Planet, says ad revenue rose 16 percent to $453 million.
May 2: Time Warner Inc. says advertising revenue at its cable TV networks grew 6 percent, or $64 million, on stronger rates and better timing of March Madness basketball games. Ad revenue at the Time Inc. magazine business fell 5 percent, or $19 million.
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. says revenue was virtually flat at $651 million.
April 16: Gannett Co. reports a 25 percent drop in first-quarter net income, as advertising in its newspapers continued to decline. Broadcasting revenue rose, helped by advertising related to autos, the Super Bowl and political campaigns.
May 3: Viacom Inc., owner of MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, says domestic advertising revenue increased 1 percent, while worldwide ad revenue was flat at $1.07 billion.
Time Warner Cable Inc. says advertising revenue grew 7 percent to $211 million in the quarter.
Comcast Corp. says its NBCUniversal cable TV networks saw a 6 percent increase in advertising revenue. It did not break out ad revenue figures for the NBC broadcast network and stations, but says revenue grew from higher ratings and from carrying the Super Bowl, which was on Fox last year. Ad revenue at Comcast’s cable-distribution division grew 5 percent.
April 27: WPP Group PLC, another owner of ad agencies, says revenue grew 4 percent after excluding acquisitions and changes in currency exchange rates.
April 12: Google Inc. says its revenue, after subtracting ad commissions, totaled $8.14 billion in the first quarter. Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.09 billion on this basis. Google’s revenue was helped by a 39 percent increase in “paid clicks,” but the prices of its search-driven text ads continued to decline. The so-called “cost-per-click” for these ads declined 12 percent from the same time a year earlier.
May 4: The Washington Post Co. says print advertising at its namesake newspaper fell 17 percent to $53 million. The division’s online revenue, primarily from the Post’s website and Slate magazine, fell 7 percent to $24 million. That reflects an 11 percent decline in display online advertising revenue in the unit and a 1 percent decline in online classified ad revenue at the Post’s website.
Here are highlights of recent quarterly earnings reports from selected Internet and media companies and what they say about the state of spending on advertising:
April 26: The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc., one of the world’s largest advertising agency conglomerates, says revenue rose 2 percent to $1.51 billion, beating the $1.49 billion expected by analysts.
May 8: The Walt Disney Co. says ESPN ad sales rose 14 percent, or 6 percent when excluding the timing of events such as the Rose Bowl and the impact of the NBA lockout. Disney says ESPN got a boost from higher rates. At the ABC television operations, network ad revenue rose 6 percent, but ad revenue at the eight TV stations it owns fell 8 percent
May 9: AOL Inc. says advertising revenue grew 5 percent to $330 million, helped by higher international display advertising sales and third-party network ads. Display ads are the Internet advertisements people commonly see on Web pages, as opposed to the search ads that Google Inc. is best known for. These are more profitable for AOL than the third-party ads, so they’re a more closely watched metric.
Tue, May 15 2012 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Michael Cera’s new romantic comedy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, had its European premiere in London last night, and though most of the film’s leading ladies (from Anna Kendrick to newcomers Ellen Wong and Mary Elizabeth Winstead) made an appearance, all eyes were on Florence Welch, the fiery front woman of the rising pop act Florence and the Machine. Welch has a solid history of supporting independent designers (she often wears Hannah Marshall, and has done turns in Roksanda Illincic, too), and for the occasion she picked a Fall ‘10 tattoo dress by the Australian label Willow, paired with chunky wedge booties. The combination—a bold, printed mini paired with ankle boots—is one we’ve been seeing more and more of lately, and Welch is the perfect example of why: She looks red-carpet ready but not fussy or prissy. What do you think of the look—is this one that should be turning Scott Pilgrim’s head?
Photo: Rex USA
Mon, May 14 2012 » game gold » No Comments
For a limited time you can buy a pair of Gap 1969 Premium Jeans and get $20 off! They’re available in several styles and washes. I have always loved The Gap and these jeans are no exception.
When I’ve been in several stores on the same day, I often wander into The Gap like I’ve never seen the product before. And like many people, I own more pairs of jeans than anything else.
Purchase information: Buy it here.
I am so happy to finally spend some money on jeans that stay true to me as opposed to jeans that are close to $350, ripped, shredded and spat on.
I wear one brand: The Gap — I love them and have stayed true blue after being suckered into trends and washes that didn’t work. Maybe the other jeans could make a great beanbag later!
Sat, May 12 2012 » Weddings » No Comments
Prada announced yesterday that a new capsule collection of jewelry is set to launch in November. Now comes your first look—almost. Prada lovers will recognize the jewelry, in patent, resin, crocodile, and studs, from the label’s Spring ‘12 runway, but you won’t need to wait until next year for it. The chokers, pendants, oversized bangles, brooches, and earrings will be exclusively in Prada stores in time for the holiday season. Actress Léa Seydoux, Prada’s Resort face, got an early preview when she shot the brand’s new campaign, above, and campaign film, debuting exclusively below, with Steven Meisel.
Photo: Steven Meisel / Courtesy of Prada
Fri, May 11 2012 » game gold » No Comments
“I Love America”—that’s the song Paul & Joe creative director Sophie Albou was singing for Spring 2012. Her American adoration came through in her latest collection in the form of jeans, fringed ponchos, and reworked army surplus looks. Style.com’s Tim Blanks went backstage at the Paul & Joe Paris show to find out more about the inspiration behind Albou’s American girl. Watch the video now.
Fri, May 11 2012 » Weddings » No Comments
EDressMe.com created their replica of this dress and I have to say, I really, really love it and want it. It’s super cute, available in sizes extra-small to large, 100 percent polyester, and the bodice is super slinky and completely sexy. Is it possible to have too much Sex? I think not!
By Sasha Charnin Morrison for UsMagazine.com. To read more of the Recessionista blog, click here
Sex and the City 2 style makes me mental. I mean, I can’t get enough and the movie hasn’t even opened yet! I was a lucky one who got a golden ticket to the movie premiere and I was so blown away. I love the Halston Heritage one shoulder dress Sarah Jessica Parker wears when she arrives in Abu Dhabi.
Thu, May 10 2012 » Weddings » No Comments