Sunday, January 31, 2010

Vogue; Cambridge "Pahhk the Cahh in the Hahhvad yahhd"


For our most recent photoshoot, Miss Stephanie Norris and I decided to hop on the T, dressed in the most preppy outfits we could find and venture to the most prestigious University in the world. Yup, that's right...HARVARD. Our goal was to somehow get into the library but the security was pretty intense, just as we suspected it would be. It might as well have been surrounded by a moat and fire-breathing dragons. We did however make it into another room that was very Harvard-esque and managed to take a few good pictures...that is until security finally caught on to what we were doing and kicked us out...


Oh, hello there Harvard. I've seemed to misplace my calculator.

And the blog welcomes our newest model...Miss Stephanie Norris!!



She's pretty much the next Elle Woods.


Katie-Lu gets Nerdy...er.



I can conjugate in Latin. -o -s -t -mus -tis -nt... Wut?! WUT?!

Katie-Lu and Miss Stephanie wear glasses from The Garment District.


Miss Stephanie wears a plaid, blue and green dress a-la Marshalls.

Katie-Lu takes a stand at the podium.




Katie-Lu wears a brown and pink plaid skirt and cardigan from the Gap, a white, button down shirt from Martin and Osa, and brown Tahari heals.




Oh, don't you worry this is not the end. We are determined to get into the ACTUAL Harvard library.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Miranda Kerr goes High Fash

For fashion models, the ideal career path is to start out in the high fashion scene, walking for shows during fashion week and getting as much quality editorial (magazine) work as possible. Once the model has established a credible reputation for herself as a high fashion model, she can eventually switch over to commercial modeling and earn the big bucks.

For Miranda Kerr, her career path has been just the opposite.

Known for being "The perfect commercial model" with her beautiful face, petite yet healthy frame and adorable dimples, Miranda has always dominated the commercial modeling scene, winning over highly coveted commercial contracts such as Victoria's Secret.



Miranda Kerr walking for the Victoria's Secret show, 2008 in Miami. She's go the smile, the tan, the windblown hair, her hands on hips, dimples, polka dots, colors...commercial, commercial, commercial!

This fall, Miranda surprised us all by walking in the Givenchy show during Paris Fashion Week.


She's got the Death Stare, pale skin, slicked hair, edgy makeup, dull colors....NOT COMMERCIAL AT ALL. Verrry high fash.

But that's not all, this girl is on fire as her career makes a total 360.....shooting for editorials in V magazine and most recently, Russian Vogue.


Miranda for V magazine's November 2009 issue shot by Willy Vanderperre.


Miranda for Russian Vogue's February2010 issue shot by Willy Vanderperre.

We're both curious to see how far Miranda can go in high fashion...generally, once someone is dubbed as "commercial" their chances of making it in the high fashion world are slim. Seeing as Willy Vanderperre shot Miranda for both of these editorials, I'm guessing he is one of those people who are behind her switch to high fashion.... Willy's no Steven but it just goes to prove that all it takes is for one or two influential people to believe in you and your high fash career can be set.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Spring 2010 Campaigns are Lacking Creativity

Booking the only-girl Prada campaign is probably the most exciting news any fashion model could possibly receive. From that moment on, everyone in the fashion world knows that model's face.....and historically, she rockets to super-stardom. So, imagine you are Rasa Zukaustskaite, a young, generally unknown, model from Lithuania who just shot the coveted campaign with Steven Meisel. To the general public, the fact you shot this campaign is a mystery until it is seen in print. As the campaign's debut approaches, you are anxious to see the final images that will change your career.

When the day finally approaches, you see this:

Ummmm where's her face?

The poor girl couldn't even be identified in the campaign when the image above appeared on the web. The ad's only focus is on the bag and her vibrant red lipcolor. Unfortunately for Rasa, the model photographed in this campaign could have been virtually any blonde model.

Here were the next few images that emerged onto the web, which finally led to the confirmation of Rasa's identity.Well, at least her face is in one of the shots. (but she's still wearing sunglasses...wtf)

Anyways, I guess what I'm leading to is the fact that many of the campaigns have gone back to basics this season. They have been stripped down to nothing but clothes, makeup and hair. Just simple studio shots with a plain background.... the most recent Celine ads don't even show the face of the model.
I'm guessing the recession has something to do with the "simplistic" trend in the spring/summer 2010 ads. Not only is simplicity a good way to cut costs for designers, but when it's all said and done a clean, plain ad will always sell. Classic, fresh, refined beauty will always appeal more to the masses than something "edgy" or over the top. And when money is tight, why take any chances? Here are a few more campaigns that are also quite plain.

BCBG Max Azaria ss/s 2010 shot by Raymond Meier, model Anastasia K.

Moschino S/S 2010 by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, model Isabeli Fonatana.

Did anyone notice that Anstasia and Isabeli are striking almost identical poses? Where's the creativity?

Oh, and here's this season's Stefanel ad, taken by Mario Testino.

Sooo plain! The models here look beautiful, but the angle of the light makes sketchy shadows in the photograph that make me think they were taken in a someone's basement or something.

And just for fun, compare the most recent Donna Karen campaign below to the fall/winter campaign of 2008 shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott with Kate Moss.


Donna Karen S/S 2010 shot by Partick Demarchelier, model Anna Jagodsinska.



What a difference a few seasons make! There is a lot going on in the older campaign....Kate moss, bright colors, two bags, two big armchairs.....not so simple! Personally, I prefer the more 'exciting' campaigns that project some sort of story of situation...not just a model jumping in a studio with wind blowing in their hair. Let's hope they put some spice back into the ad campaigns next season!

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Vogue Commonwealth Ave; "Frat House Shenanigans"

A couple days ago I decided to celebrate my first Thursday night of the new semester at my favorite frat house to chill with our newest blog contributor Miss Stephanie Norris and with some of the frat brothers. This frat house is one of those old fashioned, Bostonian mansions complete with high ceilings, crown molding, dark wood floors, and a spiral staircase. My goal is to eventually find a secret passageway in the house... its just one of those places that HAS to have one somewhere... Or at least a trap door. It has a very classy atmosphere if you ignore the little things like what I found in the cabinet when I was snooping in the bathroom.

Luckily, Miss Stephanie Norris brought her camera and we were able to have an impromptu editorial photoshoot for the blog in this unique setting. Please take note of what Miss Stephanie likes to call the sporadic "fraternity ambiance" hidden throughout the pictures...
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I love how that picture frame in the background of the last one is so crooked. Pshh frat boys.






So I grabbed the only book sitting on the desk and decided to use it as a prop. It ended up being the Holy Bible. Go figure. High fashion loves controversy, so I went with it

Those frat brothers need to learn to pick up those soda cans they leave lying around...

This next picture isn't anything special. I just wanted to point out the kid's head in the bottom left corner...once again this was a very public shoot.


This editorial is dedicated to the Pelgi brothers. Yup, both of them.

Friday, January 22, 2010

A Diamond in the Rough...


Ok so this was taken that day back at the thrift store… Now, I know this outfit is nothing special…I put it together in literally 30 seconds. The reason why this pic is making it onto the blog is because of the purple skinny jeans. Over the years I have tried on hundreds of pairs of skinny jeans and I never can seem to find a pair that fits quite as well as I want them too… That is until our little trip to the thrift store.

The best part is that they were $3.99! Now I know what you are thinking…SWEET DEAL! But it gets better… This pair of jeans had a little red tag, meaning it was part of the 50% off sale..meaning they were only $1.99! I dare you to try to find a pair of purple skinny jeans that cost less than that. If you do, points to you. Don’t get me wrong, I know the importance of buying quality pieces of clothing rather than quantity, but every now and then I recommend venturing over to your local second hand store and you might be lucky enough to find a diamond in the rough.

Just in case you are curious, the jacket only cost $5.99. To be honest, this was a little more on the pricy end for the thrift store. I didn’t buy it. It’s obviously too big for me. However, I liked the idea of it. Very 90’s grunge.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Wake up in the Morning Feelin' Like P.Diddy

Maybe it's the popularity of Kesha's hit song "Tik Tok" that made Anna Wintour choose to put P. Diddy in the February 2010 issue of US Vogue alongside supermodel Natalia Vondianova. This editorial, shot by Annie Leibovitz, highlights the exact reason why we love fashion photography...and that is because it tells a story through the images. Take a look!

Watch as Diddy and Natalia "Go all abroad a classic Hollywood love story"

Diddy takes a double take.

The quote by Diddy on the bottom left of the photosays "Natalia has these intense eyes; she plays this game...she can definitely make you blink first."


The relationship gets....err, closer.


Time for Natalia to say farewell...so sad.



Natalia and Diddy's brief encounter comes to an end as the train pulls away.
The End.

Now, on a side note, has anyone noticed US Vogue is featuring more celebs alongside models for the most recent editorials? We looooooove this one featuring P.Diddy, but the December 2009 editorial with Lady Gaga as the evil witch in Hansel and Gretal was not HALF as amazing...


In all honesty, Lady Gaga looks Ga-God AWFUL! But we still love her anyways!