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7/11/2010

Couture’s reality check, Shoppers pull back, Primark scores, Tesco’s F&F coming soon, Renzo Rosso hits India

Full Spectrum, Less Spectacle (NY Times)


“Don’t be fooled by the giant lion at Chanel… Most of the remaining half-dozen or so houses that show haute couture scaled down their presentations… a nip here, a tuck there and a P.R. man explaining in a hushed tone that the designer wanted to ‘return to couture’s roots.’”


Luxury shoppers pull back in June (Bloomberg)

“MasterCard Advisor’s SpendingPulse reported late Wednesday that luxury spending dropped 3.9 percent in June from a year earlier, the first decline since November.”


Primark’s sales boosted by £12 dresses and £10 shoes (Guardian)

“Its £12 floral dresses and court shoes for a tenner pulled in shoppers, with analysts estimating like-for-like sales increased 7% in the 16 weeks to 19 June. That is just shy of the 8% figure reported for the first six months and better than high street rivals.”


Tesco to make its West End fashion debut (Telegraph)

“The supermarket… has already looked at potential sites on Oxford Street and High Street Kensington. The store would be branded F&F after Tesco’s own-label clothing range, previously called Florence & Fred.”


In Fashion, Lifestyle, Not Age, Defines a Consumer Group (Forbes India)

“Renzo Rosso looks every bit the rebel. His graying curls peep out of a baseball cap and tattoos pop out from under his T-shirt as he animatedly talks about the denim brand he started fresh out of college and his fashion philosophy.”

Links We Love: Blake Sketches & Rihanna Goes Extra Bold

Rihanna Rihanna continues her recent black and white clothing obsession, this time upping the shock factor with inflatable shoulders. Guess the bold shoulder just wasn't enough for the red head. ...

Eye Candy of the Week: Jake "Pitcher" Pavelka

"Jake PavelkaAfter his controversial breakup with Vienna Girardi, reality star Jake Pavelka is back to being a bachelor. And boy does he look good single.

The former Bachelor, threw the first pitch...

Lady Gaga Continues Her Vanilla Fashion Streak

Lady GagaWe never thought we'd say this, but we want our lobster head-wearin', hairy costume-lovin', talcum powder-splatterin' little monster back! Lady Gaga's, for lack of a better...

"Best 2K I Ever Spent!" Accidents Waiting To Happen At Ella Lounge

We've all seen a disaster happening in slow motion - especially in a crowded nightspot - and been powerless to stop it. Ella Wednesdays this week was like one long, awesome accident, and we could predict every problem before it happened.



A breakup is barreling down on the lovers.They coordinated their outfits and now he's spending all his time talking to someone else.




Beard burn is coming.




Someone's shortly going to misinterpret the way she's drinking that bottle and insult her honor. A duel will ensue.




Cupcakes on the floor.




Someone's going to mistake him for an inept pedophile. Fisticuffs will ensue.




See?




Uh oh! A comedy of errors. Also, those man-bracelets will get caught in her golden locks.




Immediately post-photo: tongue stud gets hooked on earring; blood.




Have you seen the movie "Teeth"? Maybe you should.




Lost balance; concussion.




Tripping/ankle-biting hazard.




Whiskey in the eye!




There are too many things that could go wrong to count.


[All photos courtesy of NickyDigital]

One More Reason Not To Get Pregnant

Newsflash: Forever 21 is launching a maternity line. Awesome! Now a baby taking up space in your abdomen won't prevent you from indulging in awkward cuts and sequined animal prints, right? Wrong.

Sorry for the bad news preggos, but Forever 21's new maternity offshoot of its Love 21 Contemporary line is painfully boring. Observe:


Forever 21Forever 21


Gray leggings. White tanks. Generic jeans. That's about it. To be fair, those jeans are $13.80. And yes, they look great for $13.80 jeans. But here's what you're missing out on, you baby-making, neutral-colors-wearing, future-haggard-fatsies:



So don't get pregnant. It'll make you dull and tasteful.


At least, once the baby is born, you can make little clothes for it out of Forever 21 accessories stock. How cute will it look papoose'd up in some of these wicked leggings?!


Too bad Forever 21 doesn't sell jeggings. Yet.


(Sidebar: As Boing-Boing points out, Forever 21 is one of the many businesses that prints "John 3:16" on their products or packaging [in the case of Forever 21, it's on their yellow plastic bags]. Boing-boing wonders if the maternity clothes are related to the missionary message; we're pretty sure the maternity extension is just because it's cheap to add elastic to stuff, and because dummies keep getting knocked up.)


[all photos courtesy of Forever21]

Dancing In The Sculpture Hall, Drinks On The Roof At Met Party


Go HERE for more photos by Sunny Norton, and tag yourself and your friends!


Usually, when an event invitation reads "cocktails and dancing", it really means "cocktails and standing around while music plays." Not so at the Met's Young Members Party, held last night in the European Sculpture Court. Maybe it was because the heat finally broke last night. Maybe being surrounded by sculptures of frolicking gods was inspiring. Maybe people were really taking advantage of the open bar. For whatever the reason, guests at last night's party let their inhibitions go and danced.-


Too often at parties (especially museum parties), people feel pressured to stand around stiffly and look at the art. At last night's party, people looked at the art, interacted with it, downed another drink and celebrated it.


Afterwards, tired of dancing up a storm, guests headed up to the Met's roofdeck, wandered through Doug and Mike Starn's Big Bambu installation (a 100 by 50 ft bamboo structure), and enjoyed the breeze, the cityscape, the treetops that surrounded them.



If the goal of the Young Members Society is to encourage young art patrons between the ages of 21 and 35 to actively participate in the museum's exhibitions and benefits, while giving the museum a younger, fresher image, then the organizers of last night's party must have been thrilled with the outcome.


Today's Giveaway: Tickets To Lilith Fair!

Want to rock out at Lilith this summer? We’re giving away two tickets to one lucky reader, courtesy of tour sponsors Carefree, Stayfree and o.b. so SIGN UP NOW to win, and see below for details!-

If you were too young for Lilith Fair the first time around or just want to relive your glory days for free when they hit NYC you can do it on us with a friend!


If you aren't today's winner, be sure and check out each day's Gift Bag giveaways in our newsletter. Besides the top stories and best events going on in NYC, we are giving you the chance to be a true Guest of a Guest with tickets or treats. Nothing could make us happier. Go HERE to sign up!

Net-A-Porter's Naughty 10th Birthday

Net-A-Porter celebrated its 10th Birthday last night at Westfield's shopping centre in West London. The event started innocently enough, with guests honoring the shopping site by remembering their very first N-A-P purchases. Guests sipped on yummy cocktails, nibbled on canapés and then things started to get creepy.. By the end of the night the real Net-A-Party began…

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With an impressive guest list including: Victoria Beckham, Antonio Berardi, Jacqueeta Wheeler and Jade Parfitt, we were expecting a pretty tame evening of snobbish fashion elite behavior. But fear not! The young faces of the model world showed up ready to rage…



Supermodel Ben Grimes and Designer Henry Holland get the party started by pulling out their best seductive maneuvers. Finger to the mouth. Check. Undressing with the eyes. Check. Slow inhale of the cigarette. Check…



Rocking out in the name of online shopping…



Model behavior meets suggestive posing.



Model Amber Le Bon does her poppa (Duran Duran front man Simon Le Bon) proud proving she can be hungry like the wolf for some lady action..



The last party-goers standing. Backing it up and breaking it down, all in the name of fashion..


Who knew a ten-year old's birthday party could be so provocative?


Happy Birthday Net-A-Porter, you did not disappoint! Can't wait to see what you have in store for your next soiree!