Spotted: Little J Taylor Momsen once again climbing the ranks amongst New York City's fashion Elite. Well, make that Next--the Gossip Girl star-turned-rock star has just been signed to Next Model Management.
It's official: The series finale of Gossip Girl is a mere eleven episodes away. While many a cynic may argue that the show actually ended sometime during the second season, for us die-hard Upper East Side wannabes, this news is harder hitting than a Nairtini to the head. Of course, what we'll miss most of all is the fashion. Gossip Girl has been on top of the fashion game since its first "XOXO" way back in early 2007, and as the series progressed, the characters' signature styles arguably surpassed the plot development in terms of critical praise. Between Blair's preppy headbands, Chuck's dandy suits, and Serena's gravity-defying cleavage, the influence the kids of Constance have had on street style and fashion spreads alike is undeniable. So, as a tearful ode to our favorite CW soap, here's a look back at some of the style stand-outs that have made the last five years of impossible-to-follow plot lines a little more bearable.
The world really is coming to an end. Between the economy tanking and London burning we have more sad news to report: Taylor Momsen has quit acting. The 18-year-old told Elle in an interview, "I quit acting, actually. I quit Gossip Girl and now tour and am in a band and that’s pretty much all I want to do. Hopefully I’ll be able to only do that for the rest of my life." Now I know for many of you this comes as a shock, what with all the acting Taylor's been doing lately--and all the rumors flying that Gossip Girl cancelled their contract with her--but be strong.
After Taylor Momsen was dropped from IMG, it was no surprise to learn her reign as the face of Madonna and Lourdes' Material Girl line for Macy's was coming to an end. The homepage of the Material Girl website still says that they are "desperately seeking" a new Material Girl to be the face of the brand, and has been asking readers to write in who they think should be the next Material Girl since January 11. But the search is over. Material Girl has just announced on their twitter and then on their blog that they've selected Kelly Osbourne as the new face of Material Girl for 2011. "We’ve had a long time crush on Kelly and featured her as one of our “cool peeps” over the summer," the blog reads, "We are so thrilled." Apparently the crush is mutual. After being featured as one of Material Girl's "cool peeps" last summer, Kelly responded by writing, "to be thought of as an inspiration in that way is brilliant… I hope little girls look up to Lourdes because she doesn’t dress too grown up and she always looks so stylish," Grazia is reporting. Osbourne is a great (read: safer) choice to be the face of Material Girl.
Take that, IMG. Independent contractor Taylor Momsen is the face of the new John Galliano fragrance Parlez-Moi d'Amour, according to the Daily Mail.
While Dakota Fanning may have suddenly appeared on IMG's model board, another starlet has fallen off. The "troubled" Taylor Momsen, who signed with IMG in 2008, is no longer with the firm. This morning, an IMG employee confirmed to Fashionista that they no long represent the actress/singer/pseudo-trouble maker. We're guessing their last big deal with Momsen was the Material Girl campaign, which was inked long before she flashed her bandaged boobs to an audience at Don Hill's.
We never said she was cute now. Momsen is a gun-toting, flashing, gothed-out, black eye-linered former shell of her adorable three-year-old Shake n'
A little background: John is our go-to menswear writer. We like to write about Taylor Momsen a bit too frequently. He's annoyed. We respect his opinion. That's why we're publishing it. Also, it's just another reason to bring up Taylor. To the editors of Fashionista (Lauren and Leah, let’s not pretend we don’t know each other), This letter is difficult for me to write, not because my heart isn’t in it, but because the subject—Taylor Momsen—has already had far too much attention from media outlets, including this one, and I am reluctant to keep feeding the beast. I am greatly disappointed and a little disgusted at Fashionista’s continued coverage of Taylor Momsen and her band, The Pretty Reckless. Momsen’s cultivated, “shocking” antics and irresponsible behavior should earn the starlet anonymity, not attention. I am not someone who normally goes around telling people what they should or shouldn’t say, but I write about young Hollywood, and I am particularly concerned with the current celebration of this fabricated, irresponsible little phony. Originally, I wrote off her new rocker adventure as just another starlet, accompanied by legions of producers and songwriters, taking her irrepressible talent to the recording studio—just like Lindsay Lohan, Jared Leto and Heidi Montag before her—and I paid her no mind.
Paper Magazine and Express threw a party last night at fashion hot spot du jour Don Hill's to celebrate the wrap of the brand's Spring 2011 spring campaign and runway show. Never mind how Paper and Express make sense together (they don't really)--Taylor Momsen's band, "The Pretty Reckless," performed. So we had to go. The expectations for Momsen were high: She recently told Revolver that she likes a good sex tape but "wouldn't fuck Tommy Lee," so we were counting on her to do something obscene. And she didn't disappoint. During "Make Me Wanna Die," she caressed herself and then pulled down her low-cut shredded rock concert tee down to flash the audience. Don't worry, her nipples were covered by duct tape x-es (it might have been electrical tape--either way, ouch). Which also means this was a premeditated move. Unless Tay just walks around with duct tape x-es over her nipples, which, considering her proclivity for stripper-wear, is entirely possible. Either way, I was a bit taken aback. I know she's trying to be super punk rock right now but she is only 17. The models however, the ones who walked in the Express show earlier (including Jessica Hart, Eniko Mihalik, and Erin Heatherton), were completely unfazed. Probably because they're all the around the same age as Momsen, have to get naked a lot for their work, and mostly because the handful crowded in front of us (we're not sure which ones) were too busy smoking a joint.
Taylor Momsen gracefully covered Revolver magazine's October issue sporting a garter belt, stripper-esque platforms, and knee-high stockings. When we saw Anna Chapman, the Russian spy who was caught and deported from the US, on the cover of Russian Maxim, we couldn't help but notice a striking similarity. Which of these two classy ladies would you like protecting you from the bad guys?