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Britt Aboutaleb

Posts by Britt Aboutaleb

News

Tavi’s Blog Is Down. Has the 14-Year old Blogger Run Afoul of Google?

By Monday, Apr 26, 2010 / 1:39 PM

Someone sent us an email this morning, “Oh no! Tavi’s blog is down!”

We guessed it’d been hit with too much traffic (or some other sort of technical difficulty on par with our recent troubles).

But no, if you go to stylerookie.com, you’re hit with this:

This blog is under review due to possible Blogger Terms of Service violations and is open to authors only.

It’s the same thing that happened to LOVE‘s original blog and they ended up moving over to another host. Tavi’s probably at school right now, and we imagine it’ll be back up this afternoon, but seriously, who sent Blogger (which is owned by Google) a complaint? And over what?

    Fashion News Roundup

    Fashion News Roundup: Marc & Lorenzo Call it Quits, Daphne Faces Off Against Green Porn for a Webby

    By Monday, Apr 26, 2010 / 12:01 PM

    The Redcoats: Laura Bailey will wear Stella McCartney to the Met Ball—a “spanking new creamy-nude” gown. Guess the Brits are eschewing this year’s American Women theme. {VogueUK}

    Perfume Porn: Daphne Guinness’ short film, Mnemosyne, has been nominated for a Webby in the Weird & Experimental category. It’s up against Green Porn and Piglet Squid. We’re sure Daphne love that. {Webby}

    Say It Ain’t So:     Have Marc and Lorenzo really broken up? The same weekend that Robert Duffy tied the knot? We hope Page Six is wrong. {NYPost}

    Mouse Hats: Did you love Billy Reid’s fur caps? How about those fur collars? Meet the nutria, a rodent-like creature making its fashion debut next season. {VanityFair} Read more »

      Magazines

      What Happens When You Read Vogue Cover to Cover

      By Monday, Apr 26, 2010 / 11:11 AM

      It rained yesterday, which means I took the time to read American Vogue cover to cover (that hasn’t happened since college) and oh the things I discovered!

      1. Gap’s pairing with Thakoon, Rodarte, Alexander Wang and Sophie Theallet to make gowns for next month’s Met Ball guests including Natalie Portman, Jessica Alba and M.I.A. And for credit purposes they’ll be called Alexander Wang for Gap etc., just like the CFDA’s annual white shirt initiative. Though based on The September Issue, the only person collaborating with the winners is Anna Wintour, not Patrick Robinson.

      2. Apparently, blue and white Breton stripes are in—at least according to William Norwich on page 122. And on page 116, where celebrities pay tribute to Alexander McQueen, Drew Barrymore’s pictured from September, when McQueen was still very much alive. Read more »

        News

        Giles Deacon’s Officially in at Ungaro

        By Sunday, Apr 25, 2010 / 3:15 PM

        Giles Deacon was spotted lunching with a table full of Ungaro executives just last week and Estrella Archs, the Spanish unknown brought on to design with Lindsay Lohan left the company the next day.

        This morning, JCReport editor Jason Campbell tweeted:

        It’s official Giles Deacon is in at Ungaro.

        Giles marks the fifth designer for the troubled house in as many years, following Giambattista Valli, Peter Dundas, Vincent Darre, Esteban Cortazar and then Lindsay and Estrella. Asim Abdullah, Ungaro’s owner, hopes to make the label sustainable (and profitable) by 2011.

        We’re sure Giles will do a brilliant job, but it is reassuring to know that he can’t possibly make things worse.

          Would You Wear

          Would You Wear A Shaved Head?

          By Alyssa Vingan Friday, Apr 23, 2010 / 5:49 PM

          Confession time–When I moved to New York last August, I was completely bald. (Full disclosure: It wasn’t by choice. I had just finished seven months of chemotherapy treatments, and I made an industrious effort to cover it up.)

          So seeing this picture of Agyness Deyn at Coachella brought back some powerful feelings, since my hair was exactly that length when I decided to lose the wig and go au natural.

          Agyness looks perfectly girlie in her pink sundress, but the biggest problem I had with my buzzed hair was feeling less feminine and put together than I did with long hair. Even if I was heavily made-up or wearing the most figure flattering dress, it felt like there was something missing. My boyfriend would cringe when I wore my leather jacket or a pair of biker boots because, let’s face it, I looked a bit like a skinhead.

          My family and friends repeatedly assured me that they loved my new look, and a good number of them even suggested that I keep it short. I’ve been known for my impossibly thick, curly hair my whole life, and it was hard adjusting to life without it. Between being young, and new to the big city, my lack of self-assurance caused me to walk around in fear that everyone was staring at me, judging. Read more »

            Quote of the Day

            Bloggers Are People, Too

            “Well, my first reaction was I absolutely hate them. Ha! I have to say now, you’ve got to love them, I’m just a little old-fashioned and old. It takes me a little while to come around to it. I mean—I don’t like it if they sit in my seat. But I’m getting used to it. They’ve grown on me. Some of them hang out at Vogue and stuff, so when you get to know them, at the end of the day, they are people, and then it’s OK. It’s when they’re not people that you don’t like them so much, when they’re strangers with cameras.” –Grace Coddington talks to Gawker about bloggers.

              News

              Lori Goldstein’s Styling Vogue‘s CFDA Editorial

              By Friday, Apr 23, 2010 / 3:13 PM

              Super stylist Lori Goldstein just tweeted about next week’s CFDA shoot.

              She’s assembling her racks of clothes and what looks like rows of Converse, for what we can only assume is Vogue‘s big CFDA-centric editorial.

              Sasha starred in their Fashion Fund editorial last fall, while Karlie landed last summer’s portfolio shot by Norman Jean Roy. As much as we’d love Vogue to mix things up and stick a new girl in the mix wearing Michael Kors and Eddie Borgo, we’d be happy with Raquel or Daria (because really, they always make us happy).

                News

                Teen Vogue‘s Coming Back to TV

                By Friday, Apr 23, 2010 / 2:29 PM

                Teen Vogue has a new TV show in the works.

                I sat on a panel with Amy Astley and Andy Hilfiger yesterday, to talk to students at City College about careers in fashion, and she mentioned how much has changed since she started Teen Vogue seven years ago and how magazines have to work ten times harder to stay relevant.

                The magazine’s Editor-in-Chief mentioned engaging readers and establishing a brand and their successful participation in The Hills before mentioning the “new TV show we’re developing.”

                They won’t spill more details, but knowing how lovely (and pretty) the whole Teen Vogue staff is, a reality show could actually be different from everything currently on TV.

                  Beauty

                  Lily Donaldson & Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Will Front Burberry’s New Beauty Line

                  By Friday, Apr 23, 2010 / 11:29 AM

                  Burberry may have scaled back much of their licensing over the past two years, but now they’re launching something new, Burberry Beauty, with their fragrance partner Inter Parfums.

                  Christopher Bailey tells WWD, “It started because I felt that…the whole [Burberry] attitude is epitomized through the shoes, the bags, the clothes, the accessories, but then the face was the one thing I really struggled with. When we were doing makeup, I felt like we weren’t able to get the right attitude. It was either caked-on makeup or then just the wrong colors, the wrong tones, the wrong spirit for makeup. I wanted it to be this kind of effortless elegance.”

                  We don’t really agree. The Burberry girl, whether on the runway or in the campaigns, always looks fresh faced with just enough color in her lip, but we understand why they’re launching the range, especially now given Burberry’s insane success these past two years. Harrod’s will have it exclusively in the UK, Nordstrom in the States, and the 96-piece collection won’t change with the seasons, but introduce “novelty” items when they feel the time is right. Read more »

                    Fashion Is Fun

                    Banana Republic Votes Camel for Fall

                    By Friday, Apr 23, 2010 / 10:20 AM

                    Remember when we said the thing that worried us most about all of the velvet on fall’s runways is what was bound to happen when it hit the high streets? Well that’s started.

                    Banana Republic just staged their Fall 2010 show at Cedar Lake in New York, and they’ve reproduced this season’s trends pretty well.

                    About half of the runway was covered in camel—silk, knits, jersey blazers, leggings, socks, suede booties—with touches of fur and a couple of clog boots. A chocolate brown satchel for men and a feathered cross-body bag for women both looked great, as did the thick leopard belts and flouncy skirts. It was an easy look for fall, with just the right trends—like J.Crew before it (though without the oomph).

                    But the velvet suit didn’t work, and neither did the velvet dress we spotted at Zara the other day or the velvet jacket at H&M. If you’re determined to wear velvet this fall, it’s worth splurging. Read more »

                      People We Like

                      Going, Going, Green: Advice From Dana Lorenz, Sophie Buhai & More

                      It’s pretty easy to be green living in New York. Most people don’t have cars, there’s not a lot of space to light, sometimes it’s harder to find not-organic groceries, but when Earth Day rolls around—and when it’s the 40th anniversary of Earth Day—there’s added pressure.

                      A few designers sent us their tips on going green.

                      Dana Lorenz of FENTON & FALLON

                      “You don’t have to put a solar panel on your roof to do you part. Little things add up if everyone does them. Unrelated to jewelry, I have vowed NEVER to buy those little pre-packed dog-walking bags. When things I buy come in plastic packaging or if I have a bag from the deli, I use those. There are just some products that are not at all necessary!” Read more »

                        News

                        Is the New: Lane Bryant & Calvin Klein

                        By Thursday, Apr 22, 2010 / 11:07 AM

                        Between Garance Dore’s comments regarding the health of plus size models, Francisco Costa’s alleged vow to stop using size zero models for Calvin Klein, and Crystal Renn’s sort of shocking French Vogue editorial, I don’t think anyone’s mentioned the name of a skinny model all week.

                        But even if fashion’s ready for Mark Fast’s lineup, America apparently is not. We’ve heard grumbling over the past few days about the Lane Bryant commercial Fox refused to air during American Idol, because they thought it too racy. We’ve finally seen the commercial, and the most obvious thing to compare it to is Victoria’s Secret, which gets to air spots like this and like this, in which Giselle spreads her legs, girls are handcuffed to the bed and Heidi Klum begs, “Bring me to my knees,” whenever they want.

                        Lane Bryant says the network complained because their model has, “too much cleavage.” While fashion fills its pages with plus size models and untouched celebrities (this month at least), a major network won’t air the above commercial, so who’s not to blame for worshipping skinny?