Tribute Top and Getting Ready For Fall

I was in Saifi Village yesterday, and I decided to look around at the stores. When in Cream, I found this really cute thing they were doing, where they had some really nice tank tops with flags of different countries on them for the World Cup. Amidst those tank tops, I found another one I really liked… and so had to pick up. It’s a white tank top with the British flag on it, and on the flag it says “Tribute to McQueen”. I absolutely adored it, tried it on, and adored it even more. The nice thing about it is that it’s not a standard tank top, and therefore can be worn in different ways to create different looks. It can even be worn as bar casual, or dressed up for a chilled out lounge. Here it is!

I also picked up British Vogue, and saw that regardless of the scorching heat outside, designers already released their pre-collections for fall, and I am going to share the new (or recycled) trends for fall 2010.

Seeing Red…

No, they’re not talking about a deep blood-red, we’re talking about bright, flashy, red carpet-red. It’s back for the colder seasons, and even brighter than ever. I think everyone should own something red this Fall, this way we can all contribute by adding colour to the dark tones of Fall and Winter.

Michael Kors

Valentino

Pull Them Up…

High-waist trousers are still in, so don’t throw them out just yet! I remember very clearly when I would refuse to wear anything but my low-rise jeans, specifically the ones that had only one button. Now, most of my pants are high-waist. What’s the plus side of high-waist trousers? They give you length.

Celine

At Ease…

One more thing that doesn’t need to be stashed in the back of your closet this Fall: the Military trend. It’s back, and it looks like it’s going to make quite a statement. The jackets, the pencil skirts, the earthy colours… I love them! So if you missed out on the trend last time, here’s your chance to sport the look before it dies out for another 9 years.

 Burberry Prorsum

Dior

Roll Them Down…

You better wear your miniskirts every day of this summer, because come fall, they’re not the skirts to be sporting. This fall, it’s the midi length that’s going to be taking over the fashion scene. I know this length doesn’t suit everyone, especially someone who’s my height, but there are ways to pull it off. Note to all my short girls out there: when it comes to midi length skirts, bu6y the pencil skirts, not the loose ones. Buy the high-waist skirts, not the regular ones. And finally, never leave the house without your heels if you’ve decided to wear a midi skirt!

Bottega Veneta

Alberta Ferretti

Jungle Fever…

Unfortunately for me, Leopard Prints are back. I have never owned anything with leopard print, and I doubt I will be doing so any time soon. I usually give in to trends shortly after I’ve seen enough of them to grow fond of them, but my fashion sense will definitely be putting up a fight with this one. From what I’ve seen so far, I’m not that impressed.

Emilio Pucci

 Lanvin

Now that we've followed the fashion industry's rules, and took a quick look at what's in store for Fall, the next few posts will be dedicated to summer, as I'm sure we are all feeling the heat at the moment.

"Happy, happy fashion - there is not much more to it than that." - Marc Jacobs

CFDA 2010 Fashion Awards : Winners

For those of you who remember, I had previously posted the CFDA Fashion Awards nominees. Well, on the 7th of June the awards were given out, and here are the winners!

Women's Designer of the Year:

Marc Jacobs

Men's Designer of the Year:

David Neville & Marcus Wainwright (Rag & Bone)

Accessory Designer of the Year:

Alexis Bittar

Swarovski Young Design (for women) Award:

Jason Wu

Swarovski Young Design (for men) Award:

Richard Chai

Swarovski Young Accessory Design Award:

Alexander Wang

2010 MTV Movie Awards

For those of you who don't know, the MTV Movie Awards took place last night. As always, when we have big celebrity events, we have an endless number of stars who fall victim to fashion-analysis. So here we go with some of the attendees of the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.

Katy Perry

I'm not that fond of the dress, but it's not that bad. The whole "nothing but diamonds" look is getting a little bit boring, if you ask me, because more and more celebrities are going for it, and now it's just a tad over done. The blue hair is an interesting change, and I like the way it makes her eyes pop. The one thing I absolutely HATE about this whole thing has to be her nails. Yellow should not be put on nails in the first place, and matching it with this outfit is just a horrible disaster.

Jessica Biel

She looks absolutely beautiful, as usual. At a first glance, it looks like a very simple and classy outfit: a white shirt tucked in under a black, high-waist skirt. However, when you look closer you see all the fun little quirks about the outfit. I have to say that my favorite part is the belt, it adds a little colour to the outfit while able to stay subtle.

Lindsay Lohan

Her outfit makes me feel like I'm back in the 70's, and someone had a very bad encounter with a disco ball. It's not that bad, honestly, but I don't think it's something to be worn to the MTV Movie Awards, it's more like something you would save for Halloween. I don't really like how there's a very obvious like between the colours, I would have preferred it more if it faded from grey to white

Vanessa Hudgens

I really like this dress on her. It's very cute and feminine, it goes perfectly with her look and personality. I really like the silver on the sides and the embroidery. I can't find anything about this dress that I don't like (except for the fact that I'm not too fond of Ms. Hudgens, but the dress shouldn't suffer for that) so I'm going to leave it with a two thumbs up.

Scarlett Johansson

There is no doubt that Scarlett Johansson is absolutely stunning, and that she always dresses to impress. While this dress is simple and elegant, I'm not a fan of it on her. I feel like it takes away from her height. The dress makes her look like she's being cut off at the knee. Conclusion: the dress and Johansson are both stunning, but separately.

Christina Aguilera

The chains are interesting, and the top of the dress is beautiful. It's the bottom that's bothering me. It's not the style, I really like dresses that are short at the front and long at the bottom, it's the material of the skirt. I don't like how it's shiny, and at some parts multi-coloured. Great top, horrible bottom. But the shoes are great!

Those were the most interesting dresses that I've seen so far, if I come across any more, I'll be sure to post them!

Pictures from: thisis50.com

Fashion is not frivolous. It is a part of being alive today. - Mary Quant

Celebrity Focus: Lady Gaga. News on McQueen's label.

For a while now, I’ve been trying to avoid talking about Lady Gaga when it comes to fashion. The reason behind this is that sometimes I’m not even sure if I like what she’s wearing, or if I think it’s absolutely horrible. However, Gaga is showing up more and more on the news because of her fashion sense, and the Brit Awards in February were the starting factor of me considering finally taking on Lady Gaga’s fashion. So here I am, and here are the dresses:

I decided to start with this outfit, as it was the most simple out of all the ones I picked out. I really like it; I love the low v-neckline and the very fresh pink. The shoes provide the dark, solid colour needed to break the pink, making sure that it’s not too overwhelming. So far, so good for Ms. Gaga.

Although this dress has the basic structure of the previous, including the low neckline and hints of the same pink colour, I am not a fan of this outfit at all. I’m not sure if she was trying to look cute by wearing a Muppet head, but it just looks a bit frightening to me.

Since we’re on the topic of frightening, here’s another one. It’s great that Lady Gaga is unconventional when it comes to fashion, and that she does really well when trying to make a statement. But bondage? Really? Maybe the dress would look alright, but that mask makes her looks like a potential serial killer.

Frightening outfit number 3 consists of a ‘hair-skirt’. First of all, the dress looks like it’s cutting all circulation from her upper body… someone needs to make sure her dress fits before wearing it out in public. Secondly, the hair is really creepy. This isn’t even creative; this just makes my skin crawl.

I really like this dress. I love the origami feel of it. Now this is a bold, statement that I am glad Lady Gaga made, because she pulls it off and looks fabulous without looking plain and boring. This is the Lady Gaga that I would like to see more of.

This outfit confuses me. She looks like she’s naked, and someone wrapped her in bubble-wrap to save her the embarrassment of being nude on stage. I’m not too fond of this one. Some may look at it as art, but to me it just looks like Gaga was trying too hard to shock the world with her outfit.

For some reason, every time I see this picture, I get an image of Chanel’s little black dress. I’m not trying to compare Lady Gaga’s style to Chanel though. It’s just that to me, this picture looks like a more modern spin-off of the traditional Chanel cocktail dress. Very nicely done.

I am absolutely loving this outfit on Gaga. It just oozes this rock star feeling. I think she carries herself really well in this, despite the fact that it’s quite plain compared to the rest of her wardrobe. Sometimes it’s alright to go simple.

I am actually not going to comment on her dress here, because it looks like something anyone would choose to wear, but her hair. The hair looks like it’s ready for appetizers to be put on top of it and served to the audience. I got used to Lady Gaga tying her hair into a bow, but this is too much for me to get used to.

Who wouldn’t want an outfit that shot flames out of the chest? But that’s not the worst part of the dress, moving downwards, it disturbs me how little this outfit covers. Gaga, very few of us are interested in seeing what you’re willing to show, please put it away.

As if that was bad, this is the outfit that drove me to put Lady Gaga in the spotlight for this post. The infamous outfit worn to the Brit Awards. This outfit is obviously trying to make a statement as a response to people gossiping about Lady Gaga being a man. Alright Gaga, we believe that you’re a real woman, head to toe. Honestly, she needs to save a little something for the imagination.

Also, I just thought it would be interesting to mention this: I’ve heard a lot of people comparing Lady Gaga to Christina Aguilera, calling her a Christina look-alike. But has no one else noticed how similar she looks to Judith Light (Who’s the Boss)?

For some closing news, for those of you who didn’t already know, Alexander McQueen’s replacement has been announced. His long-time colleague of 12 years, Sarah Burton, will be taking over the McQueen label. When rumors first surfaced about who his replacement was going to be, I was definitely rooting for Ms Burton, as she had been around McQueen the most, and would definitely do a good job in carrying on with the label.

Also, if you enjoyed my Celebrity Focus post, you’ll be glad to know that I am going to post a Celebrity Focus piece every Tuesday and Thursday, picking different celebrities each time. If you didn’t enjoy the post, however, let me know in the comment box so as to avoid me boring away any readers that I have!

Picutres from thefablife.com

"I don't design clothes. I design dreams." - Ralph Lauren

Back.. again. Birthday Bargain Shopping, and THE Dress!

Alright, so I might have lied a little bit in my last post by saying that I was going to be more active, but I’m almost done with my finals which means that it’s going to become a reality very soon!

I will be having a very refreshing break from my finals though, as it’s my birthday on Saturday! The only reason I am mentioning this is because… I obviously went shopping for the occasion!

Before I went shopping, I sat down and thought about what exactly it was that I was looking for. I ended up deciding that I want a simple dress that looked a little different from what I would usually wear. Additionally, as this birthday is my 21^st, I knew for a fact that something would either be spilled on or burn my dress in the celebration process (I’m very clumsy), and therefore I did not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a birthday dress. What does that mean? That’s right, another ‘bargain shopping’ post for Beirut!

I found my dress on Hamra, in a store called Duroc (I’m guessing because that’s what the bag says, but I’ll update it if I’m mistaken), it’s next to Starbucks. The funny thing is, it was the store with the worst display I have ever seen. I normally would not have gone in, but after looking at so many horrible stores with sad excuses for dresses (I tried on a white dress in one store, and it was completely see through!!) I was desperate enough to give it a chance. The front of the shop slightly depressed me, until I got to the back where the dresses were. I actually pulled out 6 great dresses to try on out of that little hole-in-the-wall. The prices are very reasonable, my dress was only LL 92,000, and my goal was to find a dress under $100 so that if anything were to happen to it, it wouldn’t be that much of a loss. I am very much considering going back for another dress that I really liked. So, I have a message to send: don’t judge a store by its window display; it is very possible that the old woman who owns it just has really bad taste.

On to the shoes! Another hole in the wall, or rather hole in the ground. This store is slightly more eye-catching on Hamra, it’s called Rubi and it is a store which sells bags, shoes, and faux bijoux. I saw a pair of shoes in the window and thought they looked amazing, and so I went inside. I have to admit, there are a whole bunch of “hooker shoes”, as I’ve heard them being called, but there is an equal balance of shoes that people would actually wear. I tried the shoes on and loved them. Now came the moment of truth, finding out how much it cost. I definitely wasn’t going to spend more money on shoes than I did on the dress, because I was more than certain that by the end of the night, knowing me, something would go terribly wrong with the shoes on my feet. Imagine my excitement when I was told that the shoes were only $50! Obviously, I bought them immediately.

Moving away from bargain shopping, I finally picked up the dress that I bought for my cousin’s wedding. (This is my proof that I have been very busy, as I bought the dress in April, and only picked it up last week). It is perfect. They tailored it to fit me exactly, and I love it even more that I did when I first bought it, so here it is!

Dress: 5th Avenue, Le Mall

Gaza: investigate the raid, end the blockage. Sign the petition

Dressing is a way of life - Yves Saint Laurent

Feels Like Summer!

I know that I haven’t been blogging as frequently, in fact I haven’t posted anything in a while. There is a very good reason for this though. It’s almost the end of the semester, so I have heaps of work to get done. Another thing is that I’ve joined a gym. I never thought it would be possible, but I did. So those are the factors in my life that are taking away from my blogging time. I am not giving up though, I’m going to try and make some time from now on.

Whether the weather likes it or not, summer is here. Everyone is tanned again, and Riviera is back to its old self: filled with oiled up university students standing in the pool with a drink in hand, while slightly moving to the music. As summer so obviously comes with beach time, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to summer 2010’s swimsuit trends.

Cutaway Monokinis

Gottex

Max Azria

Max Azria

Note: if you’re a tanning junkie, these swimsuits are NOT for you! Cutaway “monokinis” are for those who like to go to the beach in style. They’re really funky, and can give off a very sexy vibe. You have to be careful picking yours out though, because a little extra flesh exposed can turn that sexy look into a skanky one.

One-shoulder bikinis

Marios Schwab

Victoria's Secret

I personally love the “off the shoulder” look when it comes to clothes, and now we can get this look with swimwear. These one-shoulder bikinis are very cute, and come in a number of different styles. The only thing I would worry about is how supportive that one strap is, as I have a very bad history with bikini tops slipping off. If I can find a way to secure that this style of swimwear will stay on me at all times, I am definitely buying myself one!

Colours, colours, colours!

Ed Hardy

Forever 21

Forget that simple black bikini, this summer it’s all about standing out in vibrant colours. I don’t know how well that’s going to work with me, since I’m someone who is very dedicated to black, but I’m willing to give it a shot because the colourful bikinis that I’ve been seeing at the beach are too cute for words.

Plunging necklines

Hurley

Jessica Simpson Swimwear

Poko Pano

They were in for a while, and now they’re back. Again, this is not the best choice for sun soaking girls, as it will leave you with a very awkward tan line. However, these will d great for beach parties, which come pouring in with the summer heat. There are many different styles and these are often accessorized, making them not so practical for swimming, yet perfect for partying.

Vests?

True Religion

I’m unsure about this trend. I’m actually leaning heavily towards disliking this trend, but I night grow into it. For now, all I’m going to say is: it looks like it would be quite hard trying to swim in a vest. What do you guys think about this trend?

Stay tuned, as I will be searching the streets of Beirut (and possibly beyond) throughout the week for stores that hold all of these very in and very stylish swimsuits!!

And finally, check me out on Chanty's Blog. And definitely check out Beirut Beauty, the other blog mentioned with mine!!

Sources:

Fashionising.com

About.com: Petite Fashion