MAW of the Moment

Actress Scarlett Johansson rehearses for her singing (?!) performance with the band, 'The Jesus And Mary Chain' at cool kid music festival Coachella.

Scarlett Jo has been everything from the face/body of Louis Vuitton adverts to an actress in Woody Allen flicks, and now apparently, she's a singer too. I think that she's less of a renaissance woman than she is, just the MAW (Model, Actress, Whatever) of the moment. She should try out for American Idol next season.

Reduce, recycle, and RE-USE!

"I know this is an environmentally friendly shopping bag aimed at encouraging people to ditch their plastic bags for this more eco-friendly option, but the truth is I won't," said one would-be fashionista."The bottom line is it looks great and I don't want to any squashed tomatoes, cracked eggs or spilt milk on it." Source

Now that the £5 Anya Hindmarch re-usable cloth bags have completely sold out (besides the ones available on eBay for £200), let's hope that these precious bags actually get used and re-used for what they were meant to - carrying grocery, books etc., and not just as a coveted fashionista symbol.

Mom jeans

Fabulous image comes to you via HipCandy.
The verdict on high-waisted jeans is that they are officially "in"; a trend legitimated from designer apparel all the way down the fashion food chain to TopShop, H&M, and Zara. I'm of two minds on this trend: I love the high-waisted and wide-legged sailor pant, but the skinny pant version is unflattering; creating what I refer to as "long-bum syndrome". Are you in on this trend?

Wild maximalism

The exuberant Björk is back! Here she is photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for her upcoming new album, Volta.

A Smart Start

Leisa Barnett from Vogue reports that the best designer boutique in East London, Start, is finally selling its clothes online; making them available to international customers. A favorite of designer, Sadie Frost, the Shoreditch locale provides unique and bespoke men's and women's wear with a rock n' roll edge, featuring designers from Phillip Lim to Miu Miu, and "quirkier" independent labels. When I recently interviewed Start shopkeeper, Ross, for a "Hidden Gems of East London" promotional piece I produced for the television program Fashion File, I was criticized by one of the judges, Bronwyn Cosgrave, for incorrectly identifying Start as a hip East End haunt. Cosgrave said that Start was run-of-the-mill and boring, and yet, now the magazine she used to write for, British Vogue, is calling Start, "a secret weapon in the armoury of celebrities, fashionistas and musos alike." Hmm... may I offer you some humble pie, Mrs. Cosgrave?

"Artist" plagiarises artist

“William, why did you create this mess for Galliano?” This is the question posed to photographer William Klein by a friend after he saw the artist's trademark "painted contacts" technique with lacquered streaks of brush color, used on a Galliano ad featuring English model Agyness Deyn. In an industry where copycatting runs rampant and true originality is a rare commodity, I'm glad Galliano has been forced by the courts to pay out $271,000 USD for trespassing on Klein's intellectual property.

Denim or Bust

An award-winning denim ball gown by Ingrid Steinmetz.
For those of us who have trouble finding a good pair of jeans... how about a dress made out of a bunch of pairs of jeans?

Salut encore!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but I was on My Scottish Holiday (sounds like a film title, doesn't it?), and then, when I begrudgingly returned to freezing and slushy Montréal I fell sick with a flu. Anyway, I'm back and back at it. I should feature a fashion post about Glasgow but the majority of my time there was spent taking in the gothic and medieaval architecture, pastoral landscapes, and the feel of lush green grass in the sun. Ahhh... printemps est finalement arrivé!