At the VMAs last night, Lady Gaga spent the entire evening as her “male counterpart” Jo Calderone (which she first broke out on the September 2010 Vogue Hommes Japan cover, left) vehemently refusing to break character. Perhaps she felt she’d exhausted all womenswear options? Ran out of Versace? Couldn’t get to the costume store because of Irene? (I’m done now).
Whatever the reason, it made us think of some other famous gender-bending moments in fashion. Take a peek at who passed the best as the opposite sex (hint: there’s one designer who really loves his drag).
Katy Perry is the undisputed queen of nail art, and she never disappoints with her manicures. Last night at the VMA’s was no exception. In a move that had everyone’s head spinning, she changed her nails along with her outfits (thanks to MTV Style for spotting the change up). She started out with a lovely pastel and yellow mani to coordinate with her Atelier Versace dress, then switched to a checkerboard emblazoned with the word “Katy” in pastel.
If anyone deserves a nail retrospective, it’s Katy Perry. In honor of her stellar looks at the VMA’s last night, we’ve rounded up her best manicures. Click through to see them all.
Forget about Match.com or meeting someone in a bar. Buy your lady a pair of shoes instead, and be guaranteed a date! Winning for “weirdest press release of the day” is Chocolate Sole Lounge, who promises you will “Get a Man and Get a Gorgeous Shoe.”
First some background on the company. Chocolate Sole Lounge is a direct selling company, sort of like Tupperware or those sex toy parties. Women who have a Chocolate Sole biz have the option of having live “shoe parties” or an online shoe boutique. Start-up costs are anywhere from $299 to $1,000. The company advertises that it sells “designer shoes,” but when we checked out the site the prices range from $55 to $136 and include the likes of Vince Camuto (at the high end) and Dollhouse.
Now this is where it gets strange. According to the press release:
Not surprisingly, one of the MTV Video Music Awards‘ most over-the-top ensembles belonged to best hip hop video winner Nicki Minaj. As you may have noticed, there was a lot going on and very little of it made any sense.
Was Queens-bred Nicki Minaj paying homage to this weekend’s hurricane by dressing like one…that took place in, I don’t know, a four-year old Japanese girl’s bedroom? We’re pretty sure Minaj’s strategy was to pile on as many Harajuku-esque accessories she could find–perhaps with the goal of outdoing Gaga, who, dressed as Jo Calderone, actually wore the most simple outfit of the night and therefore couldn’t be outdone. Still, Minaj gave us lots to talk about with the eclectic assortment of things that comprised what we guess can be called an outfit. So, we did a breakdown of every decipherable thing that was on the self-proclaimed Harajuku Barbie’s body last night (we counted 15 but we’re sure there’s more):
Summer still isn’t over, people. And even when it is, sunscreen is a year-round proposition–sun damage can occur even with winter sun exposure. So imagine my pleasure to discover that two of my favorite things, red wine and caffeine, may be protective against skin cancer.
Well, sort of. A scientific study out of the University of Barcelona found that some chemicals in the grapes used in red wine may help prevent skin cancer. While this study was gleefully touted in a lot of media outlets, be careful of the conclusions you draw. The scientists studied a concentrated compound in a petri dish (“in vitro”) and looked at its effects on cell changes which may be responsible for causing cancer. The wine compound showed promise, but potentially as a topical agent (not as a jug of sangria), and only after a lot more studies are completed. (Go here for a great explanation of the limitations of this study, written in lay terms by a PhD student, via HuffPo.)
I’m sure some have wanted to ‘tie me up and tie me down’ and perhaps others wanted to tape my mouth shut! But this is something I would only permit for this issue dedicated to Pedro [Almodovar] as he always does everything “tongue-in-cheek.” I only know Pedro socially. However, what I have always liked about Pedro is that his films perfectly combine passion, intelligence and style with a twist of humor – leaving his indelible mark on everything he does. I think that was the essence Sebastian [Faena] drew upon for our cover photo shoot.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell, who’s not exactly known for her submissiveness, explains to V Spain why she agreed to be tied up and have her mouth taped for a shoot inspired by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s acclaimed movie Tie Me Up Tie Me Down, photographed by Sebastian Faena.
While the New York fashion week schedule is not set in stone, Marc Jacobs generally shows on the Monday night of fashion week at 8 p.m. But this year he’s making a last minute shift to show on Thursday, September 15 due to hurricane Irene.
Jacobs’ sample room did not sustain any hurricane damage but the time lost when employees could not work through the weekend was enough to prompt the designer to push back his show.
“We lost the weekend with the hurricane,” Marc Jacobs CEO Robert Duffy told WWD. “That lost time is impossible to make up without pushing the show back. Our entire sample room – most of the people live outside the city and they couldn’t get in here this weekend, nor would we have wanted them to.”
Apparently New York’s mini-quake also took a toll.
As we countdown to September 13, when Missoni for Target finally hits stores, Target continues to build hype by dropping little tidbits about the collection. In this just-released video, campaign star and brand ambassadress Margherita Missoni walks and talks us through the making of the campaign in Milan, and gives us a little background about the family label. The collection looks even better styled to perfection on Ms. Missoni on the piazzas of Milano and we can’t wait to shop it ourselves.
Still haven’t figured out what you’re getting yet? Here’s the full collection.
Rebecca Minkoff Is Doing Jewelry and Eyewear! Minkoff fever is going to reach an all-time high. The It-Bag designer is expanding her brand to include eyewear, jewelry and cold weather scarves starting at the very affordable $50. The new merch debuts September 12 during her NYFW show. {WWD}
Stella Tennant Looks Deliciously Creepy On Vogue Italia: Steven Meisel shot Stella Tennant for this pretty but slightly creepy Hitchcock-esque September cover of Vogue Italia. {Fashion Gone Rogue}
Get Ready For The Iris Apfel Documentary: Directed by Albert Maysles of the original Grey Gardens, the film will highlight the 90-year-old’s career and eccentric style, from her time at WWD to her work as an interior designer and jewelry collaborator. {Telegraph}
Tommy Hilfiger To Show On The High Line: Hilfiger will show his Spring 2011 line on NYC’s ready-made runway on September 9th at 5:30pm (dusk at the High Line is gorgeous), making him the first to do so for an official Fashion Week show. {WWD}
Gwyneth Paltrow Sans Makeup!: The actress showed up to her East Hampton book signing just hours before Irene hit wearing a bathing suit, flip flops, and totally makeup free. She’s just like us! Only she looks flawless without makeup! {NY Daily News}
In what may be another piece to the Marc Jacobs-to-Dior puzzle, Louis Vuitton has just announced that they are planning to unveil an exhibition during Milan Fashion Week that will pay tribute to their artistic director of 14 years, Marc Jacobs.
This news comes on the heels of several legitimate-sounding reports that Marc is as good as in as John Galliano’s permanent replacement at Dior. Of course, his position at Dior would mean having to say goodbye to Vuitton, where he successfully created the house’s first ready-to-wear line. And this exhibition, which sounds a lot like a retrospective to us, will be a great way to do it.
From the good to the bad to the full-on crazy, we always appreciate VMA fashion for entertainment’s sake at the least. And of course this year’s show did not disappoint in that category. Here we break down last night’s sartorial choices by the numbers.
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Alessandra Ambrosio Walks the Runway 5 Months Pregnant for Colcci 
