Happy Monday Darlings! I hope you had a great weekend. Unfortunately on Saturday, I came down with a serious head cold, which I hope is not the flu {it’s getting worse as I write this on Sunday} therefore, my outing to the movies to see “The Great Gatsby” and give you my thoughts about it, has been put on hold until next weekend.
In the meantime, here are some absolutely gorgeous images of Carey Mulligan, who plays Daisy Buchanan in the movie. The Australian costume designer, Catherine Martin who is a two-time Oscar winner, dressed her well!
All images courtesy of Vogue
I want every single dress in these images, I think Ms. Mulligan looks stunning.
Have yourselves a fantastic Monday and a fabulous week.
I’ve always loved the photography of Irving Penn. I love to admire the black and white sharpness of most of his work; the poses of his subjects against a white or grey background. Everything is sharp and angular. For me, the one of Miles Davis above, captures it all; the darkness of his skin against the whites of his nails, makes for such a strong and powerful image. Irving Penn was able to capture the heart and soul of this complicated and spirited musician.
You really cannot mistake a Irving Penn photograph for any other. He was one of the top photographers of his time. Irving Penn photographed his first cover for Vogue magazine in 1943 and continued to work at the magazine throughout his career, shooting covers, portraits, still life, fashion, and photographic essays. Irving Penn passed away in 2009 at the age of 92.
Here is a small collection of some of my favourites.
I hope you have an amazing weekend, I’m finally going to start packing for my trip to London on Tuesday, it’s time to move everything I’m taking, from the sofa to the suitcase!
Do you want everyone to know you’re an elegant book-worm? If you’re like me, you always have a book in your bag {though some prefer Kindles or Nooks, I still prefer paper}; well you can with these beautiful quirky reinterpretations of hardcover literary classics; recreated as book clutches by Parisian designer, Olympia Le-Tan. Chanel and Kate Spade also have their own versions {I love the Chanel one above}. For those of us who’ve been around a while, we know this trend is not new.
I remember the Vogue magazine clutches of the 80’s, glossy elongated envelopes created with classic Vogue covers. I wish I had one now! These unique treasures have lately been seen on the red carpet of various events. The clutches are retailing between $1120 – $1420. What I do love about the Olympia Le-Tan clutches is that they are lined in beautiful Liberty of London fabric.
It appears the Olympia Le-Tan clutches, which appeared around 2009 are becoming collectors items, because the more popular titles have become hard to come by, and of course are selling on eBay at ridiculous prices. If you are DIY inclined (the route I would go!), here is a link by Scibbit which shows you step by step how to create your own book clutch for a fraction of the price. click here; and here’s another tutorial from the Huffington Post; creating a clutch from an actual book.click here
To view the lovely Olympia Le-Tan collection click here
I just received my Fashion’s Night Out tote bag from QVC {Ordered it on Thursday}, who powered the fashionsnightout.com website for last week’s event. I must say I am surprised that the quality is as good as it is {which it should be for $50!}.
It’s manufactured by Brahmin {pricey handbag company} from heavy-duty cotton, with really nice quality soft leather handles and side accents; not the cheap crappy stuff.
The best thing about this tote is, that the net proceeds raised from the sale of this Vogue designed bag, will benefit “Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, the charitable initiative of the CFDA Foundation, Inc.
Well my Harper’s Bazaar arrived in the mail yesterday and was not forced into my mail box, but placed nicely on the stairs by Ms. Mail Lady. I’ve got one more to go (Elle) and then I’ll do my homework to see what trends I’ll incorporate into my wardrobe this season.
I must say the Harper’s Bazaar magazine is less impressive in size then Vogue’s 916 pages; coming in at a wimpy 550 pages, (yes I know Vogue has a gazillion more ads). I could swear there were more pages in Harper’s last year; although I remember reading somewhere, that all the September issues are 20% bigger this year. I’ll let it slide though, because Harper’s really is my all time favourite of all the fashion magazines. What’s yours?
It’s not very often I write 2 blog posts in one day, but I just had to acknowledge the fact that it’s already August. Where did July go??? It seems to me that 2012 is going by in a flash. Wasn’t it just recently we were freezing to death in winter, then we were baking to death a couple of weeks ago; and now we’re already more than half way through the year. We’re going to blink and it’s going to be Thanksgiving… Wow!
I hope you’re enjoying your summer and still accomplishing your new year’s resolutions… Are they even still in effect; did you create new ones; or abandon them altogether?
Above is the beautiful Joan Smalls, on the cover of the August 2012 issue of Vogue Korea; and below is Julia Stegner on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar UK, fitting don’t you think?
There is an exhibit in the southeast gallery at the Grand Palais in Paris for the photographer Helmut Newton, who is well-known for his sensual and racy photos. Do you remember a fabulously naked Grace Jones curved around a body builder; the stark contrast in skin tones creating a brain searing image to remember; or a smoking Linda Evangelista standing in the middle of a NYC street, among many others. A lot of Newtons work appeared in publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and other high-end media. Well to coincide with this exhibit; the most gorgeous red lipstick has been created, you know I’m in heaven.
The lipstick named Funky Ruby by Terry is only being sold exclusively in the US at Barney’s, and retailing for $49. A strong red pout always screams “I’m sexy and I’m confident” so, with its elegant casing, scripted monogram and beautiful colour this is the ideal match for a Helmut Newton exhibition; after all the man was all about sexuality in all of its many forms.
I think I’m going to satisfy my red lipstick fetish and order one!
My sister alerted me that my original image above wasn’t clear (the chance you take when you blog from your iPhone), so here is a repost. While I was at it, I decided to post this beautiful photo too. As you may know, this was the cover of the January issue of Vogue magazine in 2009 , shot by the famous Annie Leibovitz.
Simply Stunning!!!
Original post – At the doctor’s office staring at a blank wall so I decided to post this. Here’s the First Lady rocking her Reed Krakoff dress at a fundraiser which was held at the Greenwich Hotel in my favourite city, NYC. she looks gorgeous as always.
Yes, the redesigned March 2012 issue was just delivered, with an absolutely stunning cover of Gwyneth Paltrow. The cover is so stark and crisp, I don’t even want to open it. The redesign is gorgeous, it’s a little bigger (more square), paper slightly thicker and they’re using a larger font for the masthead, I didn’t think this magazine could get any more fabulous but it has! What’s inside??? Stay tuned and I’ll let you know. Bazaar is my absolute favourite fashion magazine, then Elle, then Vogue. Being a fashionista/Diva is hard work and requires very intense and important reading. When you have a Ph.D. in fashion it’s important to keep up!
On a quick note, Barbie‘s wardrobe was celebrated at New York Fashion Week , yes Barbie! The Mattel marketing machine has really kept this doll going for the last half century and she’s still a best seller today! What else can I say ladies? Happy Saturday to you!
P.s. Click on the “New York Fashion Week” link to be taken to the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week site! Actually click on any of the links in any of my posts to get more tidbits and info, you never know what you might find out!
Maylana's Chronicles 
