Recently, I got three new books and a magazine. First, I got Chanel: A Woman Of Her Own by Axel Madsen. This is a long biography about Coco Chanel's life. It is a little hard to follow because of the many names and large words but it is still very interesting! The second book I got was Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century. I also am getting a subscription to Elle. :) The last book I got was 101 Things I Learned In Fashion School. I'm learning a lot from these books! 

 Fashion Quote #5

"I think there is beauty in everything: What 'normal' people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it."

-Alexander McQueen 

      For a social studies competition at school we had to get a little dressed up. I made this lace top and fuchsia skirt for this occasion. What do you think of it?

Google released their Zeitgeist list for the UK. These are lists showing what is searched for the most. The most searched for fashion labels are in the following order:

1. Stella McCartney

2. Karl Lagerfeld

3. Victoria's Secret

4. Alice Temperley

5. Versace

6. Mulberry

7. Marks and Spencer

8. Ossie Clark

9. Burberry

10. LK Bennett

Stella McCartney holding her awards.

     At this year's British Fashion awards, Stella McCartney won the Designer Brand Award and the Designer of the Year Award. Cara Delevingne won the Model Award. 

Cara Delevingne with her award.

     Two nights ago was the American Music Awards. We saw some of our favorite singers in stunning outfits. Many outfits stood out to me. (This is a LONG post, so I hope you've got time!)

First off, we have Heidi Klum. She is best known for her modeling and being the host of Project Runway. She looks beautiful in this Alexander Vauthier dress.










I absolutely love Carrie Underwood. While she sparkles in this Abed Mahfouz gown, I think she is slightly over-covered. I would have loved to see some cutouts.







     Hayden Panettiere could have looked better in this Giorgio Armani dress if she chose to do something else with her gorgeous hair. She has looked better, but this  outfit is not her worst.






Wow. Taylor Swift is rocking the straight hair. She looks amazing in this Zuhair Murad dress. The deep back makes up for the long sleeves. She is classy and elegant. This may be favorite outfit of the AMA's!

I also loved her outfit change during her performance. She went from an outfit that showed her innocence to an outfit that showed an edge. 

     Who knew Ke$ha had a sweet side? To maintain control of her not-so-sweet side, she added an earring that goes along the side of her ear. This outfit has the perfect balance of girly and edgy. It's so nice to see Ke$ha in something new. 

I think Justin Bieber could have gone dressier. His mother looks pretty though. I thought it was really sweet of him to bring his mother up to the stage with him when he won an award.

 Nicki Minaj looks great but I'm not sure how her stylists didn't notice that Julie Bowen wore this exact same Monique Lhuiller (She is one of my top 5 favorite designers) gown a couple months ago to the Emmy's. Who wore it better?

Christina Aguilera's Pamella Roland gown looked great on her. Her hair and makeup pulled the look together and made it look very sleek. 

    



       

Although this is unrelated to fashion, Pink's performance was spectacular. The reenacting of the music video for "Try" was very creative. Every move they made was jaw-dropping. Her outfit during the performance and her Catherine Deane gown on the red carpet were not nearly as great as her performance. 

Carly Rae Jepsen looked beautiful and sophisticated in this Gomez-Gracia gown. She looked stunning!














     The AMA's had some unexpected but pleasing outfit choices. Whose outfit was your favorite? (Mine has to be Taylor Swift's!) Whose outfit was your least favorite? (Mine would be Hayden Panettiere or Justin Bieber) Who wore the Monique Lhuiller gown better? Tell me your thoughts! :)

      The fashion articles in newspapers are surprisingly interesting. To the right, we see an article from The Wall Street Journal. Below, we see a picture from this article. I am not really into menswear but this article still interested me. A couple weeks ago, I was arguing with my dad about how the pieces of his suit did not match. The author of this article, Darrell Hartman, says, "...spezzato literally translates as 'broken in two'. Quite simply, it describes a combination of jacket and trousers that's not a matching suit." I believe the jacket and trousers must be very different in order for them to cooperate, if that makes any sense. For example, in the picture below, we see two men who pair grey or black jackets with green pants. Do you think this trend is classy or trashy?

    Yesterday, I sewed this chiffon skirt for the Youth Symphony concert. It is a circle skirt (like the yellow dress from earlier posts), so it looks really cool when it is spun! :)

     I'm glad I was a superhero for Halloween because capes are trendy right now according to this newspaper. Capes are a really hard trend to follow so don't expect to see me in one on any day but Halloween! My favorite cape so far is Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford at the Oscars. 

Fashion Quote #4

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

-Coco Chanel  

     This is my Halloween costume! I decided to make it simpler this year. I am Super Veena! I sewed the top and the cape. The sequin shorts are from Forever 21. 

      Throughout the day, I saw tons of red denim. Many people (including me) decided red jeans was their way of showing support for being drug free. I saw 21 people wearing red denim. That's a whole lot of red! :)

      The second most popular colored denim I have seen is turquoise. The order of the most popular denim I have seen lately are:
1. Red
2. Turquoise
3. Pink

     Besides a few patterned denim, I've rarely seen any colors besides these three. If you want to follow the crowd, get these three colors. If you want to follow the trend, but not in the same way as everyone else, try different colors. Two years ago, I had red, pink, blue, purple, and yellow jeans. I'll keep my eyes open for different colored denim!

      Also, tomorrow, at school, is red day. This whole week is dedicated to being drug free. It just so happens that red is the color for being drug free.  I'm expecting to see lots of red jeans. How many people do you think I will catch in fiery red denim? I'll let you know in the next couple of days how many red jeans I saw. :)

     I've almost completed my Halloween costume. (I'll post a picture when I am done!) Are you buying your costume or are you making your own personalized costume? :)

      I have been obsessing over the different ways lace is used. In my opinion, lace is the perfect way to make anything classier. To the right, my friend is wearing a lace peplum top. Below, I am wearing a lace vest. I know a girl who has an adorable lace blazer. What is your favorite use of lace?

 

What is peplum? https://www.google.com/search?q=peplum&aq=0&oq=peplum&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&q=peplum&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=aBSHUMfKBcLTiwLV-4CADQ&sqi=2&ved=0CBsQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=bb2e79c6c9080287&bpcl=35466521&biw=1366&bih=600

Fashion Quote #3

"What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language."

-Miuccia Prada

     For my birthday a few weeks ago, I sewed this yellow dress. The bottom is a circle skirt so it is a lot of fun to spin in! I can style it with the coral blazer or the lace vest. Which do you prefer? 

Halloween is approaching quickly! What are you going to be for Halloween?

Colored denim is everywhere this season! Of course, I had to get a couple of my own. :) The most popular color I've seen so far is red. What color jeans are your favorite?

          Front of outfit                                          Back of outfit

Today, I sewed the white top with the bow in the back. The skirt is from Kohl's. It was originally a high-low skirt, but since I already have a high-low, I adjusted it. Honestly, I think the outfit looks better on Célia than on me! :)   

      A little while ago, I sewed this floral top.  What do you think of it? :)

      Fashion week began on September 5th, and ends September 13th. On Youtube, you can watch live runway shows. Here's the link: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/LiveRunway/custom

Also, here is a calendar for the fashion shows seen on Youtube. They are by Eastern time. 

September 8	September 9	September 10	September 11	September 12
10:00 AM Lacoste   11:00 AM Jill Stuart   2:00 PM Mara Hoffman   3:00 PM Hervé Léger by Max Azria   7:00 PM Monique Lhuillier   8:00 PM Rebroadcast: Day 3	11:00 AM            Lela Rose                        2:00 PM                    Tracy Reese             3:00 PM        Custo Barcelona                       4:00 PM             Diane Von Furstenberg                              5:00 PM                      Y-3                         6:00 PM                     Timo Weiland                         8:00 PM           Chado Ralph Rucci                        9:00 PM               Rebroadcast: Day 4	10:00 AM                     Carolina Herrera                         11:00 AM            Carlos Miele                        3:00 PM              Reem Acra                      4:00 PM              Rebroadcast: Day 5	9:00 AM            Tory Burch            10:00 AM          Badgley Mischka               11:00 AM        Vera Wang                       1:00 PM           Jenny Packham                      2:00 PM           Rebroadcast: Day 6	9:00 AM            Bibhu Mohapatra             10:00 AM          Michael Kors                        1:00 PM           Rachel Zoe                     2:00 PM            J. Mendel                      3:00 PM          Milly by Michelle Smith                         6:00 PM           Anna Sui                       7:00 PM           Vivienne Tam                         8:00 PM          Rebroadcast: Day 7

Fashion Quote #2

"The most beautiful makeup of a women is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy."

-Yves Saint Laurent
*Copyright not intended

     I've been wanting a dress form for a little while, and I finally got one! I will probably be using her to display any clothing from now on. I'm naming her Célia. :) Isn't she just wonderful? 

Fashion Quote #1

"Whoever said that money can't buy happiness, simply didn't know where to go shopping." 

-Bo Derek
*Copyright not intended

Regarding my last post, here are the numbers:

13 High-Low Dresses/Skirts

17 Tribal Print Clothing

49 Maxi Dresses/Skirts

16 Crop Tops

11 Rompers/Jumpers

8 Lace Clothing

6 Sleeve Cut Outs

15 Printed Pants/Shorts (anything from floral to stripes)

Maxi dresses/skirts were clearly the most popular outfit!

      The last two days we went on vacation to an island. I picked a few styles and counted how many people wore those styles. Out of the following categories, which do you think was the most popular? When somebody guesses the correct category, I will reveal how many people I saw wearing each of the styles. Here are the categories:

High-Low Dresses/Skirts

Tribal Print Clothing

Maxi Dresses/Skirts

Crop Tops

Rompers/Jumpers

Lace Clothing

Sleeve Cut Outs

Printed Pants/Shorts (anything from floral to stripes)