celebrity fashion style

Friday at the office are considered business casual day.  What does  that exactly mean? Business is business and casual so how do you combined the two styles? Friday is a dress down day so you know that business casual does not mean a suit but it does  mean that you have look nice and neat but can be a little but casual at the same time.

Let’s examine what Business Casual isn’t. Save the following items for your weekend or at-home wardrobe: zip-front hooded sweatshirts, team jackets, jeans jackets, T-shirts with slogans, midriff-baring tops, tank tops, well-worn jeans, spandex pants, stirrup pants, overalls, biking shorts, sweat pants, mini skirts, see-through tops, halter tops, flip-flops, sneakers and sandals. Never forget that the forst word in business casual is “business” and casual does not mean a dat at the beach.

Business casual must always include high-quality pieces, hose or socks, appropriate underwear, footwear in good repair, coordinated accessories, clean, styled hair and makeup for women. Whit that in mind, lets take a look at the type of footwear is considered business casual to finish off outfit.

Slingbacks, women’s shoes with a cutout heel and a trap spanning the back of the ankle, defy simple categorization as they once did. Years ago, slingbacks were appropriate only during the summer months, and they were considered a casual shoe. Certainly, no self-respecting woman south of the Mason-Dixon Line would be caught dead in a slingbacks, you can find a pair for every season and every occasion-from stay-at-home clothes to wedding attire. What determines the slingbacks suitability is the design of the shoe, the material, the embellishments, and whether it contributes to the overall desired look with the outfit?

You need to look athe entire spectrum of occasions, and the offer suggestions for pairing slingbacks with outfits for the each occasion. If you feel the shoes complement your outfit and you feel comfortable wearing them, let your personal sense of style guide you. People judge others by first impressions, and watches, handbags and shoes play an important role in first impressions. Cut corners elsewhere, but never with your shoes. Regardless of the style you wear, ensure that your shoe are A-1 condition, with perfect sol. Casual shoes should be kept  in the same tip-top, shined-up and scuff-free shape as their dressier counterparts. Do not wear 4 inch heels with a pair of dress pants and sweater. Those types of shoes look better with a dress suit or pant suit.

The most frustrating part of travelling isn’t long lines in the airport or race car drivers who moonlight wheeling taxis around the city. By far, the most frustrating part of travelling is trying to fit your entire wardrobe into a tiny suitcase! If you find yourself looking forward to the trip but dreading packing, never fear. You only need a few key items to complete your travelling wardrobe, so let’s get packing!

The first thing you should know about packing isn’t what to pack but how to pack. These simple packing techniques can save you a ton of room for that extra pair of shoes or souvenirs along the way, in addition to saving your clothes from ending up hopelessly wrinkled. First, take any long items, including pants, skirts, or dresses, and lay them flat in your suitcases with the excess hanging out of both ends. Second, roll the rest of your wardrobe, making compact tubes of clothing. Rolling will not only save your room, but your clothes are less likely to end up wrinkled. Line up your rolled items in your suitcase, filling in all available space. Consider investing in shoe bags to protect your shoes along the route, being careful to stuff the insides of your kicks with socks, undies, slips, or any other garment to prevent them from becoming flattened along the way. If you are bringing cosmetics or toiletries, be sure to pack all items in plastic bags-a simple Ziploc baggie will do-to protect your clothing in case of leakage.

Now that you know how to pack, let’s discuss what to pack. Unless you are planning on attending state dinners or extravagant functions each night, lose the formal wear. Instead, invest in one simple dress-the perfect Little Black Dress will work-and bring along accessories to dress it up or down. Consider bringing a colorful silk scarf, and exquisite embroidered shawl, chunky jewelry, or a lovely corsage pin to create several different outfits out of the same garment. Similarly, choose a simple pair of black heels that are comfortable enough to walk in if you find yourself trudging down blocks of urban jungle. These shoes, like the dress, should have capacity to be worn with a dress, suit, or your favorite pair of blue jeans. For the rest of your wardrobe, consider purchasing clothing made with nylon, tencel, or any other travel friendly material to avoid wrinkles.

While the performances of Christian Bale and Melissa Leo are, deservedly so, sweeping the awards circuit and may do so again at the Oscars this Sunday, it’s the hair and makeup achievements of Leo’s Alice Ward and her seven scrappy daughters that I haven’t been able to stop lauding. A study in blue-collar beauty, the big hair and unflattering makeup was absolutely mesmerizing. Obsessed, I tracked down the head of the hair and makeup departments for the film: Johnny Villanueva and Donald Mowat—a Canadian—to grill them on the looks of the real life ladies from Lowell, Massachusetts.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ALLIANCE FILMS.

Q&A with Johnny Villanueva

What direction were you given for the hair?

I drew from the real Alice Ward. Lowell is a great place but in a lot of ways, the hair stood still. David (O. Russell, the director) and I did a lot of research on that time period in Lowell. Alice had to be right on. I met with her and had pictures of her back in the day and Alice still pretty much wears her hair like that.

I heard that it was totally Melissa’s hair.

Totally. I had met with her before and she had never cut her hair before. She’s always had it long so it was a big thing for her to cut it. And let me tell you, it was a work in progress, cutting her hair. We cut it one way and then we needed to cut it more. She was game and then we did the colour.

As for the sisters, how did you come up their hair and approach styling them?

Each sister was an Alice. That’s how David and I approached it. Each one had a personality so we went through family photos. They had one sister who did all their hair, and it was horrible. It was my job to get them to look over processed and to look… how do I word this? Horribly great.

Once the colour was done, how did you come up with cuts? Did you look back to the 80s?

I worked in a salon in the 80s so I knew what I had to do to get those bangs up four feet high, or getting volume and leaving the back flat. Back then all the girls cared about was the front. Honestly, it’s not an easy look to do.  You think all you need to do is throw in some rollers and away you go but you really need to know when to stop, know when it should come down. And it’s hard to train your eye to get good at doing bad work.

How did you know when to stop?

It was more about the individual, about how she would do it. These girls were their own people. They didn’t care about the ‘80s or ‘90s. They were concerned with what they liked. And they were tough. That’s what inspired me.

WHAT: Vivienne Westwood’s diffusion line,Anglomania, is now available exclusively in the city at Rac Boutique (124 Cumberland St., 647-352-4433, racboutique.com).

“Anglomania is the most accessible line she has in terms of price point. It’s affordable luxury,” says Rac co-owner Glenna Weddle. Be sure to also check out the store’s Westwood installation during March and April, which features this designer Dame’s home decor collection (Union Jack pillows, wall hangings and rugs), a collab with The Rug Company. This artful display is courtesy of upscale design store Avenue Road(avenue-road.com), where the home decor items are sold.

BEST BUYS: Anglomania’s black-and-white pinstriped pieces, floor-grazing dresses and quirky T-shirts.

Do you remember when the scent of Satsuma sweetened the air around your locker?The Body Shop must be well aware that students are huge supporters of the brand. So much so, that they’ve given one lucky pupil the chance to put her mark on it.

In collaboration with the London College of Fashion⎯the launching pad for such fashion luminaries as Jimmy Choo⎯the company gave students the opportunity to vie for the chance at having their illustrations featured on their spring line of cosmetics entitled Brush With Fashion. The winner, 21 year-old Katarina Voloder, created a graffiti-inspired sketch of an eye, lips and brush to adorn the 5-piece collection that features built-in brushes for application on the go. The end result: an ultra-cool selection of collector’s items that launch in stores next week.

As for what’s inside the packaging, choose between shadow two palettes: peachy brown or edgy silver and matte black. The collection also includes a glossy illuminator and a self-adjusting cheek tint that will make your skin appear flushed and vibrant.

There are many reasons why it is so much more enriching to be here in Paris seeing the fall 2011 collections firsthand, rather than simply viewing them on the web. Being alongside buyers and press from around the world puts everything in context.

While I might have found Riccardo Tisci’s black panther and Betty Page prints, veiled thighs, and cat-eared hats for Givenchy obvious, the fashion editor from Moscow or buyer from Shanghai might feel quite differently. Taste is not only an individual thing but also a cultural thing. I am sure we would all agree, however, that the caliber of Tisci’s satin suits, patent varsity jackets and silk prints is unquestionable and that, along with his understanding of luxury, make him a frontrunner forGalliano’s job at Dior.

There was a collective gasp nine outfits into Christophe Lemaire’s first collection for Hermès when a model appeared in a fox bolero, cashmere jacket and ivory all-in-one boot pants with a falcon perched on her hand. It was a daring statement ⎯ one that said, “Even though I might have come from doing sneakers and polos at Lacoste, I am perfectly comfortable in the rarefied world of Hermès.” The scarf-print tunics, blanket coats, leather-trimmed tweeds and tassled pendants reinforced that message too.

There have been a lot of rounded and waist-evading silhouettes here in Paris for fall. But not at Celine. In an automobile-inspired collection full of leather panels and strips,Phoebe Philo used banding to nip jackets and coats in through the middle. Even when colour-blocked fur jackets were layered over coats, they had an overall slim silhouette that was very appealing. Maybe it takes a female designer to understand that women want to look sleek?

Following the annual awards shows, several designers rush to create celebrity dress replicas for cost-conscious consumers. When it comes to celebrity dress knock offs, Allen B. Schwartz has become the go-to designer for post-award show gowns. He can be seen on morning news shows and entertainment news programs the day after the Oscars or Golden Globes showing off the beginnings of the gowns that his label will create for the masses. According to Schwartz, his dress replicas become a reality if he can “make it and sketch a dress and be finished with it in three hours.”

Typically, Schwartz copies what he feels are the top four to six celebrity dresses at an awards show and then his team works quickly to create them for his A.B.S. label. This allows people to get their favorite celebrity dress for a huge discount — in most cases the dresses average $250 to $350, where the stars pay $10,000 to $15,000 or more for their one-of-a-kind gown.

These replicas have become a big hit for the prom crowd, where girls eager to look like a star for a night can do so affordably. The dresses go from sketch to computer to pattern, where the cutter and finally the seamstress create the garment and make it available within six to eight weeks.

This past Oscar season, Schwartz created copy-cat dresses of what Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz were wearing. Schwartz’s dresses are available at Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus, as well as the ABS Web site.

A little creativity and imagination can conjure a toilet paper wedding dress pretty. Although made of paper material, the dress was no less captivating than expensive wedding dress millions of dollars.

A variety of beautiful dresses and cheap will compete in the contest elections wedding dress made of toilet paper at the annual ‘Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest’ to seven in the UK.

The event which takes place every spring will pit the designers to create the most beautiful wedding dress with just a few simple tools: tape, glue and most importantly, toilet paper. Contestants can sew toilet tissue with a needle and thread, but the extent is allowed.

Cheap Chic Founder wedding sites Wedding Susan Bain said many trendy dress model that can be created from toilet paper. Winner in 2010 and then, Galit Zeiermen presents a sexy short skirts and trendy. “Inspiration from a cheerful spring,” he said as quoted by Aol.

The designers worked for six weeks to complete them and submit photos kresi dress. From there the selected finalists who will show her dress was subject to the model to select the winner. The contest which took place in early April and reached its peak in July with prizes of each U.S. $ 1,000 or Rp 8, 7 million, Rp 4, 4 million and Rp2, 2 million for the three winners.

There are no special rules such as what model of wedding dresses, or how much toilet paper is needed for a dress. To be sure, the dress can be worn like ordinary clothing without having to mess. The average wedding dress from toilet paper for U.S. $ 20 or equivalent Rp175ribu, much cheaper than the bridal gown general. “Fancy dress you only use a few hours.”

One of the dresses from the toilet is really used is the creation Hanah Kim. In 2007, this dress in a wedding ceremony in Times Square.

Natalie Portman
Grade: A

The “Black Swan” Best Actress winner showcased her burgeoning baby bump in a plum, off-the-shoulder Rodarte gown. Tiffany & Co. tassel earrings set off her dress, and though pregnant, she dared to wear Jimmy Choo heels for her walk down the red carpet.

Anne Hathaway
Grade: B

The Oscars co-host struck a pose in a red vintage Valentino bustle gown. Do you think the ruffled rose detailing is frumpy … or fabulous?

Helena Bonham Carter
Grade: C

The always eccentric Best Supporting Actress nominee for “The King’s Speech” surprised us with a relatively conservative black bustier ensemble created by “Alice in Wonderland” costume designer Colleen Atwood. Bonham Carter, who accessorized with a fan-shaped clutch, said, “I thought it would be nice to celebrate film instead of fashion.”