The girl in the photo above is one of the coolest people I never got the opportunity to really get to know. Her name is Hammah (according to her Facebook) but I have called her Hannah since the first day we met, lol. She's one of those people who's aura you can automatically feel, and her beautiful spirit radiates with positive energy. These may seem like over-the-top compliments, but it's true. I've wanted to post this photo for a while, but I couldn't think of an appropriate song, until now, lol. This is my anthem, it's my favorite song, and I could talk about it forever, but that's reserved for its own post. So, in short, Hannah, I miss you babe, and I am genuinely bummed we didn't really get to kick it before I left, but October is just around the corner, and I hope we get to dance together in the streets of San Francisco for LoveFest!
While all the national spotlight was on Chelsea Clinton's wedding; the fashion world was turned to another... Mademoiselle Madame Mikhaila 'Coco' Rocha. The model, as you can see in the trailer, looked stunning in Zac Posen; she and her husband, interior designerer James Conran looked like such a happy couple. Personally, I'm pretty anti-marriage, but I can't deny that this video got me all excited. Not sure if this is to be a legitimate piece of work, but whatever it is, it has me wishing all wedding videos were this epic.
eta: kudos to villain_garcon for this one: i didn't like that song they used so i played this with it instead—I love that it actually makes the video even better [music: Let's Get Married - Jagged Edge]
[sidenote: this is my 250th post... how awesome is that?]
The Challenge: Be a good samaritan, whatever that means for you; the love you give will most certainly return to you.
I appolgize for the lack of an update last week; I was under the weather... still kinda am, but it's getting better—slowly, lol. School is just around the corner (Aug30) and I am beyond excited... it's going to be a new beginning for me; a new school, new school year, new people... new newnew... anyways, I'm so ready to tackle my new environment; I hold my head high with confidence, and without a lot of the emotional BS that has plagued me up to this point. Can't say I'm mister nothing-anyone-says-bothers-me-I-am-so-confident-just-try-to-test-me, but I can say that I am a lot more sure of myself than when I was at the start of this summer... I've caught sight again of the thing that helped me to love myself and enjoy BEING myself throughout last school year.
With all of that said, having a heightened sense of self, and a positive one at that, as enabled me to start to open my eyes to the struggles and insecurities of others. Someone told me once (about insecurities) that while we are stressing over what others are thinking of us, they too are wondering the same for themselves. I've now taken to giving people compliments, a smile, a kind word, a token of appreciation, etc in lieu of giving myself negative criticism, doubting myself, and closing myself off to others. As I let the focus fall off of me, and onto other people, I'm noticing more and more the impact it has—not to mention, I've been accumulating karma points, lol. So this week, the challenge is to be a good samaritan, whatever that means for you; the love you give will most certainly return to you... it has for me, I'm loving myself more and more everyday, and finding joy in the life I lead. "The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give." ~Oprah Winfrey
Don't forget to share your testimonials in the comment section.
Milan x Marie Claire South Africa (Sep10) [shot by Steven Tanchel]
I'm going to be totally honest, I'm not all that impressed with this, but Milan's a newcomer so it doesn't really bother me. I pulled this because a) a beautiful dark skinned model is hard to come by, esp in a solo editorial, and b) because she totally reminids me of Karlie Kloss early in her career, just not asian white, lol. The editorial features looks from some of South Africa's most notable designers.
Not much info is given about this film, or its director... what I do know is that it was created for NYU's TSOA Summer High School Filmmakers Workshop... so the best assumption would be that some high-schooler made it for their summer program. Whatever the origins, it's kinda comical to watch people bash on hipsters, yet, on the surface they themselves appear hipster. I'm going to attempt to read between the lines here, and say the director may have been aiming to point out how there is no such thing as a hipster, it's only a commercialized image of the 18-27 set, and that actually, this is just the style for young people, not some movemenst acken to the hippie or punk movement. If anything, young feminists and eco-heads are the new hippies, and that the audiophonic similarities between hippie and hipster are the only reason for such a misappropriation of social movement status. Or maybe this is all what I gathered from the film, and the director was simply making a film about Those F-cking Hipsters, lol.
[sidenote: as for myself, like the one chick in the video said, I don't think I'm really all that cool enough to be a hipster, but ionno, people may look at me and say that... but I've never gotten it, lol]
Take four minutes out of your day to experience this exploration into the relationship of words and sounds. If you like what you see, head on over to Everynone's website (linkage above) for other short films with a similar format, yet very different subject matter. Thanks Nylon for the head's word up.
Two years ago today, The Fame was released in Canada, and the world was introduced to Lady Gaga. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was not a fan in the beginning; it took a bit of 'Bad Romance' to get me on board... now I'm a faitful little mons†er.
A list of achievements and milestones of The Fame (and The Fame Monster):
13 million copies sold worldwide Number one in more than ten countries Top 10 in more than thirty countries Over 45 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 Over 75 weeks at number one on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic albums Six weeks at number one on the UK albums chart Double platinum in France, Japan and New Zealand Triple platinum in the United States, Australia and Canada Four times platinum in the UK, Russia and Germany Nine times platinum and best selling album of 2009 in Ireland Best-selling digital album of all time in the United States Most digital track downloads of all time in the United States First album to spawn two 5 million-selling singles in the United States Seven consecutive top 10 singles in the United States Six consecutive number one singles on pop radio in the United States Six number ones on Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs Seven top 10 hits in the UK, Australia and Canada Best selling female digital single of all time in the United States (“Just Dance”) Second best selling female digital single in the United States (“Poker Face”) Best selling digital single of all time in the UK (“Poker Face”)
First debut album since 2000 to collect four number ones in the UK Two Grammy Awards, six nominations Eight Billboard Year End Chart Awards Three Teen Choice Awards Five World Music Awards Three BRIT Awards
Happy Anniversary Mo†her Mons†er ... you are indeed a Free B-tch Baby!!!
[sidenote: 90 years—and a day—ago, the 19th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting the states & federal government to denying citizens the right to vote based on their sex]
I'm slowly but surely getting super excited for Vogue's September issue... first it was the Halle Berry cover (kinda meh, but it's not bad), then it was the Lara Stone editorial shot by Mert & Marcus (very reminiscent of her and Edita's Sep09 W Magazine editorial, also shot by M&M), and now this. In celebration of the second annual Fashion's Night Out event, Grace Coddington styled a gaggle of models and celebrities (athletes, actors/actresses, artists) for this celebration of fashion and celebrity. Steven Meisel shot the ed which was spread out over four days on the roof of 30 Rockefeller Center.
The cast is as follows... get ready, it's a doozy—models: Guinevere van Seenus, Carolyn Murphy, Liya Kebede, Kristen McMenamy, Stella Tennant, Kirsi Pyrhonen, Karlie Kloss, Joan Smalls, Mirte Maas, Daria Strokus, Jourdan Dunn, Miranda Kerr, Lara Stone, Valerija Kelava, Eliza Cummings; celebs: Robert Fairchild, Kathryn Morgan, Pharrell Williams, Christina Ricci, Yi Jianlian, Usher, Rachel Weisz, Terence Koh, Carolina Herrera, Ryan McNamara, Elly Jackson, Dakota Fanning, Hayden Christensen, Eddie Redmayne, David Chang, Tony Vincent, the Olsen twins, Henrik Lundquvist, and Naomi Watts.
eta: Something that didn't strike me at first, but is worth mentioning, the number of great models in this are so under used; it could have become a larger production; either way, I'm still satisfied and excited for the results... I just hope this fits in my mail slot when it arrives.
[sidenote: no surprise, but this year's September issue is the size of a phonebook; unfortunately, 80% of that is ad content (532pages)—that's a 25% increase from last year's, in case you were wondering]
Sony recently hired Süperfad to create a video for its global “make.believe” campaign, the results can only be described as a visual orgasmic experience—I'm serious, your eyes will be begging for more. Using only a Phantom HD cinema camera shooting at 1,000 frames per second, Süperfad mixes together live action and CGI effects to create an art masterpiece. Eye Candy is such a fitting name for exactly what this is, so press play and soak it up.
Not going to go into too much here, mainly because it would sound incredibly redundant, lol... so, in short, here are the finalized images for A.Wang's f/w10 campaign for T... Enjoy!
From the September issue of Dazed & Confused (yah, the one with Dakota Fanning on the cover) is attempting to take the fashion editorial, and make it be more than just about the clothes and the the models. The Outsiders, directed by Sharif Hamza and styled by Dazed's Senior Menswear Editor, Robbie Spencer, is a mix of teen agnst, rebel mentality, and of course, fashion. The film features f/w10 collections by McQ, Benetton, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Woo Young Mi, J Lindeberg, and Levis.
[sidenote: the Sep10 issue of Dazed & Confused is on newstands now, and for free for Apple's iPad]
Learning to be Alone... this video is for anyone who ever felt as if lonliness was a negative; because realistically, there is no reason to feel such a way. I've been learning to be lonely, but in a way, not completely; I still have friends and family that are more than willing to fill my empty spaces. This video gives me strength, hopefully the same for you. Thanks Feministing.
I'm not really wanting to hype this editorial, I'm more so posting this to highlight the fact that Liya reminds me so much of Omahyra Mota, a face we haven't seen around in some time. Liya's a model that has been around the block a few times, and has paid her dues—she's a legit talent—I just don't have the same reaction to her form of tough androgyny. Omahrya, who you may remember most from the video for Jay-Z's Change Clothes, had an agressivness about her that I can't quite describe—Grace Jones and Gia Carangi had it—which is absent from this editorial. Liya comes off as pretending to be tough, her body looks good, but she comes off looking drag-in-prep...
