I love her, but ...

Has Britney been replaced by a man??
She's not looking (or sounding) good.

Lusting over Lykke

Do you remember Lykke Li - she was Sweden's answer to Bjork back in the day.

I'm really liking her new album Wounded Rhymes. Its harder edged than her previous effort Youth Novels, with catchy lyrics like:

I'm your prostitute/you gonna get some

The album art is great too. I wonder if that's her inside that giant black balloon? It reminds me of a scene from The Ring.

The first singles I Follow Rivers and Get Some were in my head for days. Here is my favourite track from the album, Love Out of Lust:

Sarah: It's such a great album! It's very dark so I am taking it in small doses, but she is just stunning. I love that she is physically stunning too - double the fun!

Steven Miesel makes me smile

Sarah, I know you enjoy some great photo porn (similar to food porn, not real porn, although in some case they can overlap ...) so I recommend you spend your morning looking through the Steven Miesel portfolios over at Art and Commerce - I did! It features his classic photography for Italian Vogue.
 

From an all black issue, to an Iraq themed orgy in Make Love Not War and the Britney reference in Supermodels go to Rehab, these editorials are genius!! Surely the best must be the plastic surgery patients in Makeover Madness which I can only describe as pure joy.

Jonas vs. Johan

Ok, Sarah, what do you think of this? It is a teaser of Britney's second single. It is sounding really good, much better than Hold It Against Me. I'm counting on this being solid. I was disappointed by the HIAM video - it's a mess, nowhere as good as her previous videos. And Britney is all about the video. (Don't get me started on the product placement for dating website Plenty of Fish. WTF? I thought it was bad when I saw it in a Kesha video. When did this sh-t become common place?) I blame Jonas Akerland who is destroying the world one video at a time. Akelrand directed HIAM. He is a Swedish music video director not to be confused with Johan Renck, another Swedish music video director, but one who makes awesome videos. (The two started a production company together in Sweden) Reck has directed some of my all time favourite videos including Tripping, Love at First Sight and Nothing Really Matters. Akerland is famous for directing Ray of Light for Madonna, but what people forget is he is also responsible for Jump, American Life and Celebration. He directed Lady Gaga's Paparazzi and Telephone and I just discovered he is to blame for the latest Rhianna/David Guetta mess. Love the song, hate the video. I mean, Rhianna looks amazing but she just sits on her ass for the entire song. It's criminal. Shame. Remember the days when you would have amazing videos directed by Herb Ritts or Jean-Baptiste Mondino. Now were lucky if we get a video by David LaChappelle Melina. I'm glad you are loving Miike Snow as much as I do. They were awesome at Good Vibrations.

Sarah: SO interesting! I love your breadth of knowledge about directors and film clips. You are a walking cultural reference guide! I agree with you about the death of good music videos = The Foo Fighters' new clip is shot in Dave Grohls garage on a hand held. That's just lazy. I used to wake up early to watch Film Clips and now I don't even make it through a whole song on You Tube (Rhianna and David Guetta - wtf? Snoreville for sure. and why is David Guetta working out? I can't figure out the link).

Don't even get me started on product placement... grrr....

x

Queen of Porno Chic to launch magazine

This is too exciting not to post straight away.

Olivier Zahm Says Carine Roitfeld Will Launch Another Magazine

Can we work there?

Even better:

"Zahm said that the book [Roitfeld is] working on with Rizzoli will come out next fall and be a "scrapbook" of all things Carine, including pictures from shoots she worked on and letters. "It's a biography," he explained. "We just went into her apartment and took everything that happened — every kind of little element about her life, her style, her obsessions. It will be nice."

Sarah: ARGH!!!! I need to get my hands ont hat as soon as it comes out! Amazing... I'm so glad she is staying in print :)

Happy Valentine's Day Sarah

Here are some cute videos to make you feel all warm and fuzzy!





Sarah: Oh, Thank You, Thank You! I love that Kate Spade video - how charming!

The Lanvin one is so fashion and a bit more conceptual, but I love the clothes and I love Alber Elbaz so I love that he is in it! He kind of looks like a hedgehog.
I wish I could purchase some of the Lanvin for H&M range! When I was living in London I was lucky enough to get my hands on an amazing coat by Viktor & Rolf for H&M - bliss!

Happy V Day lover! x

Film Review: 127 Hours

(Re-posted from me email to you earlier today by popular demand).

"It was great – if not a little long (well, it felt long i guess). It’s not necessary to see it at the movies, I could easily have seen it on DVD.
There was one part where I felt a bit queasy – which was when he was cutting his nerve (Danny Boyle is great at attacking all your senses at once, like in “Millionaire”, so he accompanied the gory visuals with excellent sound effects and close up camera shots). It was really full on – but the rest of the film was not that shocking.
I felt a bit unsympathetic towards him in the end, and I don’t think he is a hero. I think his story is amazing and what he did was extreme, but he should never have been so selfish as to be out there on his own, and he should know better as he was a rescue worker!

Anyway, it’s a good film but I wouldn’t give it any awards. I give it 3 stars"

Peter: I haven't seen a trailer for this film but have read lots about it. Is there really enough material here to fill an entire movie? I imagine it would be a little predictable.

When you start mentioning cutting nerves I feel a bit sick. How was James Franco - Oscar deserving?

Sarah: You know, James Franco is a great actor and I think he did a brilliant job in this, but I wouldn't vote for him to win the Oscar. I don't think his category is particularly strong, but I would rather see Jeff Bridges or Colin Firth (you know I absolutely loved him in The Kings Speech - and I enjoyed that film much more than 127 Hours). Maybe I am being to personal about my choice? I think the reason I am finding it hard to love this movie is because I didn't like Aron Ralston!

You should still go and see it though, I would love to read your review Peter...

David LaChapelle sues Rihanna

First Lady Gaga gets accused of rehashing Madonna, now Rhianna is being sued for stealing her latest video. Bad week for slutty female pop singers. Katy Perry next?

David LaChapelle is suing Rihanna over her S&M video, which turns out is not just boring but plagerised!

According to Entertainment Weekly:

His suit claims that “the music video is directly derived from and substantially similar to the LaChapelle works.” He goes on to say that Rihanna stole eight images for the video, which copied the “composition, total concept, feel, tone, mood, theme, colors, props, settings, decors, wardrobe and lighting of his work.”

While I'm certain this practice happens a lot (I've seen it first hand), director Melina has been reckless in borrowing too directly from LaChapelle's back catalog and unlucky enough to get caught.

Maybe this is payback after camera's caught Rhianna laughing right after Christina Aguilera took a dive after performing an Aretha tribute at yesterday's Grammys.

Sarah: I'm glad that he stuck up for himself! Artist integrity needs to be enforced - good on LaChappelle! FAIL Rhi Rhi.
Meanwhile I don't think Gaga's new song is like "Express Yourself". For starters it's nowhere near as good...

The Usual Suspects

I watched the Bafta’s red carpet last night. Mostly out of curiosity. If you thought American red carpets are boring (which I do), wait until you see British ones where there are literally NO celebrities to interview. I’m not joking. They had to pad the first hour with small talk about other award shows before finally asking Tim Burton if parent classes have tamed him.

Mark Ruffalo’s wife, however, looked amazing. I thought for a minute he might have been married to Patricia Arquette, before remembering she always looks like her boobs are about to pop out of her dress. I googled and found out in fact it is French-American actress Sunrise Coigney. Much more fun than any of the actual nominees.

It must be hard to turn up and consistently loose. I wish Mark, who was up against Geoffrey Rush and Christian Bale, would have had a shot at winning (in fact he hilariously joked on the evening that the award was his). And not just because I loved Kids so much but because it would have brought some fun back to what is always a very predictable race. As New York noted: 'In an era in which a dozen bloggers chronicle every who’s-up-who’s-down microtwitch, the Oscar race has become a year-round phenomenon.' With so much attention paid to so many minor awards and with the voters usually overlaping you have a good idea walking in who will win.

Which is what makes Melissa Leo's tacky Oscar campaign so fantastic. If you hadn't heard, the respected actress was clearing up the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in The Fighter and was a shoe-in for the Oscar until she got greedy and took out ads for herself asking the industry to "consider" her. Wtf? No one likes desperate (except Jackie Weaver and Helena Bonham Carter).

Award Season always reminds me how wrong people always get it.

Look at I Am Love which not only consistently missed out on Best Actress nominations but also nominations for also Art Direction, Costume and Make Up. Unbelievable. Is it just us Sarah?

A shout out to Sade who deservedly won a Grammy last night. Soldier might have just overtaken Here Lies Love as my favorite album of 2010. 

Sarah: I so hear you! I watched a bit of the Grammy red carpet "Live" online yesterday and was so bored I actually elected to get back to work! What the?! I was so dissappointed by the outfits - how bland.

And I can't believe this Melissa Leo scoop - the height of tacky because she is not even slightly joking!

Bleugh, Celebrities are so uncool. Imagine what they would be doing if they didn't have a team of Managers, Publicists and Stylists preparing their every move... I'd rather get back to my data entry thanks!

Open Letter to Lady Gaga re: The Egg.

I couldn't help but reblog this - my sentiments exactly! (from NYmag's "The Cut")

Dear Lady Gaga,

It's been awhile since we touched base. (And no, that poke you never returned doesn't count.) But watching you since then has been thrilling, and we say this sincerely since the last thing you need after that Vogue profile is more puffed-up compliments. But your presence as one to be stared at has been unfailingly awesome — until you arrived at the Grammys last night.

We love how you still run around without pants when you buy scarves at Gap-esque stores in Paris. We believe you are an especially commendably committed individual to do this when the temperature is around the freezing mark, and we actually don't even find it that worrisome because we know that your priority in life is not to be comfortable, and you've come so far because of it. We love that journalists have still yet to find quite the right turns of phrase to describe your ever-elevating shoes. We at once love and don't love that you can convince the masses that "dresses" made from meat are a thing of fashion. We love that you started hyping "Born This Way" with a unicorn. We love that we never know what to expect from you, in instances such as last night, when you arrived at the Grammys being carried in an egg.

Now, you've done a lot with your fashions. The public may see this as you running out of things to do, but we don't doubt your potential to innovate. Mostly because you have an incredible team of stylists, not to mention the couture team at Armani Privé (if you're still under contract), who last year put you in some of the most amazing outfits ever worn to the Grammys. So, we have to ask: WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THEM? We have been looking forward to this moment (because we are bloggers, and they can provide us with weeks of material) for weeks. What will Gaga wear to the Grammys? we think in the middle of yoga class, mostly when we are in a very uncomfortable position. We sure hope we get to do a slideshow like the one we did last year!

But no.

You showed up in a piece of Tupperware. We couldn't even see your head, which you could have stuck out through a hole, so at least it might look like you were WEARING the so-called egg. And we get the metaphor. You were born this way, and so you made your first public exit from the egg onstage as you performed "Born This Way." But that's the thing: You were BORN this way. You weren't HATCHED this way. Accuse us of being "words people," but so be it.

Once you hatched from the egg, we loved it. Your ponytail was probably thick enough to hold a sloth, and your hat made about as much sense as fur pants. Your abs were as sculpted as your pointy shoulders. And the hospital gowns you and all the dancers wore were simple enough to keep the focus on the song, but interesting enough for us to think about them. Were they meant to mimic the yolk of an egg? Make you look like you emerged from the shower curtain section of Bed Bath & Beyond after a rollicking round of shrooming? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you wore clothes for us to overanalyze. Not eggs.

But please, stop wearing foods. Thinking about you is fun, but we don't want to every time we eat an egg and cheese sandwich.

Keep on keepin' on, girlfriend. Your feet are in our prayers, always.

Air kiss air kiss,

The Cut

(p.s. - LOVED the pointy shoulders!) 

Peter: What can I say, I'm bored with Lady Gaga. The music is no longer good and the rest is pretty desperate. 

Sarah, what are your thoughts on the argument Born This Way is a copy of Express Yourself. I think its pretty convincing.

Happy Friday

Looks like i'll be holding my breath for one whole month, as I wait (with other Carine-O-Philes) for the news on her next step! (Which the details of, will be revealed in one month, apparently. Hurry up!)

Please let it be something I can afford, collect and wear. I heart you Carine, and your impeccable spawn.

The end.

Shut UP Kim Kardashian, you are in the presence of Greatness!

Good Lord! I usually laugh (with) more than cringe (at) Kim Kardashian when she speaks, but when I read her interview of her "Idol" Elizabeth Taylor in this months US Harper's Bazaar Magazine I kept wishing I was there so I could slap her in the face!

Elizabeth Taylor might come accross as a nut case these days (she probably is) but she is very old and therefore she is wise (I think that is one of the great blessings of age - wisdom). The questions KK was asking her were so dumb ("For this story we were inspired by Cleopatra - what's your advice on how to be a Queen?") Argh!. Liz Taylor probably wanted to take off one of her huge diamond earrings and peg it right at her!

Peter, you will like the shoot - it was done by Terry Richardson, and as usual, KK looks like a total babe. Its no secret that she can't look ugly - she is pretty close to visual perfection, but the cat is out of the bag about her being a massive dumb ass! How dissappointing (I know, I am acting as is this is a surprise, but it is a surprise to me because I find her quite entertaining on Keeping Up With...). Just because she's beautiful doesn't mean she has to be vacant, right? Surely she could have thought of a better way to ask

"It is coming up on the 20th anniversary of your classic fragrance, White Diamonds. Could you have imagined it would do so well? How does a lady smell good for life?"

WTF? What does that question even mean?

Liz Taylor (in all her wisodm - yes, I am also a fan - clearly) was a good sport and gave some graceful answers to the most braindead of questions. This is the mark or a real Star. Bring back old Hollywood, with it's talented and beautiful starlets who also had real gumption!
My favourite question and answer from the interview:

KIM KARDASHIAN: You are my idol. But I'm six husbands and some big jewels behind. What should I do?

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: I never planned to acquire a lot of jewels or a lot of husbands. For me, life happened, just as it does for anyone else. I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love, and of course I am the temporary custodian of some incredible and beautiful things. But I have never felt more alive than when I watched my children delight in something, never more alive than when I have watched a great artist perform, and never richer than when I have scored a big check to fight AIDS. Follow your passion, follow your heart, and the things you need will come.

Love it.

What is Kiel?

I had to post this because I can't figure out from this ad who or what is Kiel? I read about him (name is pronounced Kyle) on a fashion blog I was just reading, which was discussing how he was debuting his menswear collection... but I can't find anything about it online?

I had to post it because his ad keeps cracking me up. Totally efFective!

Lady Gaga or Agyness Deyn?

Bloody Lady Gaga. It took me a very long time to understand why anyone would want to listen to her music, and even longer to appreciate her as a Pop artist (sorry, but I am from the Old School where we realise that Madonna has been there, done that and did it better the first time around!).

I'm now trying to digest this awful American Vogue cover, where she has been "Wintourised" to within an inch of her life and still looks so... Gaga!

Maybe it's because i'm not a fan and therefore I have no interest in her being on the cover of my magazine. Or maybe it's because she is a walking contradiction and it's getting annoying? Or maybe it';s just because it's not a pretty cover. Who knows? I quite like the Terry Richardson "Meat as a Dress" Gaga cover for Vogue Nippon better than this. Sorry Wintour, this to me is a a FAIL.

I read a brilliant article about it here: http://girlwithasatchel.blogspot.com/2011/02/glossy-talk-lady-gaga-in-vogues-image.html
What do you think?

Peter: Lady Gaga can't really do pretty. I must agree I'm not liking this new Vogue cover or the bleached eyebrows. But then I don't think celebrities are ever good on fashion magazine covers.

Can you explain where the Nippon comes from??

Good Morning, Good Vogue Covers!

As I am pathetically pressed for time right now, I can't blog anything of witty significance (sorry!) but I do have to share these two excellent March Vogue covers - from Vogue Italia and Vogue Australia.

I do love a good cover, and I will be buying these purely based on their covers alone! Evidently, I am the target market.

x

Lainey said it

"As I said last night on Twitter, I love this dress so much I’d actually consider hitting up a fraud marriage for 9 years, employing a philandering country singer to be my husband, walking around with a pillow during my pregnancy, and botoxing the sh-t of out my face if I could look like Nicole Kidman in this Nina Ricci."

Sarah: Yeeeouch! Hahah, funny though!