Wednesday 14 November 2012

Friday 9 November 2012

FASHION ON TV: Once Upon A Time

     Once Upon a Time is a wonderful ABC show about the classical fairy tales we know and love but with a really interesting new twist. The Evil Queen, Snow White's step mother, vanishes all fairytale creatures to our world in order to find her happy ending. The show takes place in a little town in Maine called Storybrook, where all the fairy tale characters live but have forgotten who they are and they live normal human lives with struggles that resemble those of their real lives. When Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, Emma is brought to town by her biological son Henry, things begin to change in town. On the first episode it is revealed that Henry was adopted by Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrook and the evil queen who made it all happen. Henry knows the truth and is desperately seeking to reveal it, but knowing that he is just a kid, it would be too hard to convince regular adults that his story is not just the imagination of a child gone wild. He also knows that his real mother, Emma, is the "savior", the only one who can make things right. Regina is not pleased with Emma's prescience in Storybrook and will use all her "connections" and her power to keep things in her fantasy world as she always wanted them to be, where she is happy and in control of everything and everyone.
     Regina Mills/Evil Queen is played by the beautiful and talented actress Lana Parrilla. Parrilla is fit to be queen, she is poised and graceful and she is so good at being bad that you just really hate her character. I love it! Of course, the acting is very important, but the wardrobe! Oh, the wardrobe! I absolutely love what the costume designers and stylists for the show have done. Keeping in sync with the theme of evil, they dress up the queen in dark colors, deep purples, shades of reds and black most of the time, but they give her very elaborate prints and textures that make her look expensive. Accessories are nice statement pieces like big hats, capes, crowns, tall neck pieces/collars and extravagant jewelry. Her Make up is also done up to go with the character's feel: very black false eyelashes, bold berry lip colors and winged eye liner. For her hair she often wears extensions and creative up-dos with pins or feathers, they tend to get creative to match the outfit.
     When we see Parrilla as the mayor she is very modern and conservative, but still elegant. Her "everyday" wardrobe mostly consists of neutral colors like gray, black, white and beige most of the time. She wears well tailored suits and fitted dresses that show off her nice figure. I would say most of her wardrobe as mayor is very Calvin Klein-ish. Her make up is a lot more subtle, as she is suppose to blend in to her role as a town official, but her lips are always a variation of red.
   
Shows like this make fashion fun on TV, they have very little restrictions when it comes to wardrobe because the storyline allows for it, they can go crazy with what they give us on screen:


 As the Evil Queen Regina:
Incredible lace head piece with a very detailed cape and leather outfit.
Long velvet dress with metallic thread.

Feather coat with organza high collar.



Photoshoot for Entertainment Weekly showing off her style and evil queen ways.


Leather outfit complete with musketeer style hat, small cape, gloves and pants.
I love this purple and black tapestry-looking riding coat.

As Mayor Regina Mills:

Conservative outfit with deep green coat, gray blouse and black pencil skirt complete with black pumps.

Belted gray extended shoulder dress with front drape at waist.

I guess you can say that bad girls do have more fun...at least with their wardrobe in Once Upon a Time.

Saturday 3 November 2012

POST SERIES: MUSES


Muse: America Ferrera
Occupation: Actress
Origin: Los Angeles, CA - USA
Best Known for: Her roles in "Real Women Have Curves", "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and "Ugly Betty"
Age: 28










    America Ferrera has transformed herself in front of our eyes. She started out as an unknown chubby girl with real talent. As usual people just took notice of her appearance before her skills, but she broke through and mad a name for herself just as she was. She was first noticed when she starred in the film "Real Women Have Curves" a coming of age story about a girl who struggles with her self image. After the movie she was casted in other films and on her own TV show "Ugly Betty" an adaptation of a Colombian telenovela. The show was a hit and so was America. 

Her transformation from Betty to America now.
     America, like many actresses in Hollywood, changed her image as she grew famous. As many actresses when they hit the big time decided to change her diet and exercise routine to slim down to fit in to the scene. She did however stay healthy, unlike many other actresses. If you look at her, she still has her curves and she remains a down-to-earth gal. I like her attitude and her sense of style. Big girls can take a look at her and get inspiration. She knows her body and knows how to dress in a way that favors her shape and shows off what she's got.

America's weight loss, before and after.

America in a modest Rachel Roy gown at a red carpet event.

America was featured in the cover of Cosmopolitan for Latinas in Nov 2012.

Ferrera slimmed down to a very healthy weight and she looks fantastic.

POST SERIES: MUSES


Muse: Kat Dennings
Occupation: Actress
Origin: Philadelphia PA, USA
Best Known for: Her roles in the movies "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist", "The House Bunny", "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "2 Broke Girls"
Age: 26









     Kat Dennings is known for her roles where she is the girl everyone wants to be: sexy, outspoken and cool. If there was ever a movie about my life, I'd want her to play me. (Not that I even look like her at all, but she would make me seem so cool, haha). She is just a really awesome girl. I love how she is proud of her body. She has a big chest and she dresses up to show what she's got. She is not afraid to accentuate her assets. I feel that Kat is a lot like the roles she picks in real life, so she is able to play the characters effortlessly.


Dennings as "Max" in the sitcom  "2 Broke Girls"



Another one of Kat's prominent features are her sultry lips.


Red carpet event, rocking a white low cut dress.

Bold choice of a dress, showing off her chest but still classy.

POST SERIES: MUSES


Muse: Ginnifer Goodwin
Occupation: Actress
Origin: Memphis Tennessee, USA
Best Known for: Her roles in the movies "Walk The Line", "Mona Lisa Smile", "He is just not that into you" and currently Snow White in the TV series "Once Upon a Time"
Age: 34









Ginnifer Goodwin is an amazing actress, I think she is underrated. She unfortunately has been type casted for a very long time, always playing the friend who is deeply in love with the handsome guy who is in love with her best friend. She is always the character that is good and the girl next door. I still love her regardless. She has been able to break a bit from that in "Once Upon A Time" as Snow White:


Goodwin as the kick-ass Snow White on ABC'S "Once Upon A Time"

For the show she sports a cute dark pixie cut that makes her look super edgy.
   

      I love that she has some meat on her bones, she is a normal girl, she is not a size 0 or looks like she is starving. I love her for that too. Ginnifer is a very cool stylish chick. She has good taste. She tends to stick to feminine looks, she is very on trend wearing looks that are right off the runway. She has a classic style. I like that she is not afraid to rock some bold looks, she makes them look even better than they did on the runway.











Sunday 28 October 2012

Halloween Costumes 2012: Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

   Another cartoon character that I really like is Sally from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"(1993). Sally is Jack's love interest. A lovely caring rag doll who is imprisoned by her creator Doctor Finkelstein. She often falls apart and sews herself back together. She is a very interesting character, her costume is really funky:

Sally has stitches all over her body.

The make up for this costume is all about the skin color and the stitching.


Sally's dress is just a bunch of scraps sewn together with short sleeves and uneven edges.

If you don't want to make a dress out of scraps you can always buy one:

Costume:
The Nightmare Before Christmas Sexy Sally Adult Costume
The Nightmare Before Christmas Sally Plus Adult Costume

Make Up:
Sally Nightmare Before Christmas Make-Up Tutorial by Promise Phan
Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas Make-Up Tutorial by Jessica Harlow




Saturday 27 October 2012

Halloween Costumes 2012: Wednesday Addams

   Possibly one of my all time favorite characters. Wednesday Addams is famously portrayed by Christina Ricci in the movies "The Addams Family" (1991) and "The Addams Family Values" (1993). If you are looking for a more conservative and creepy-er costume, this is your girl. Wednesday is a pale, black haired, grim girl, who like her family, is fascinated with death and gore. She rarely smiles and her idea of fun is trying to find ways to kill her brother Pugsley:



Wednesday is very pale with long dark hair that she keeps in two braids.


You can do very simple make up, make sure to make your skin light and have dark circles.

Her outfits are always black and covered up. She is a little girl, so a black schoolgirl looking dress  with a white collar paired up with tights will do the trick.



If you rather buy the costume there are several options out there:

Costume:
Adult Wednesday Addams Costume

Make Up:
Wednesday Addams Make-Up Tutorial

Halloween Costumes 2012: Jessica Rabbit

    Jessica Rabbit is the beautiful, glamorous, sexy and desirable cartoon wife of Roger Rabbit in the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".  She is a seductive songstress at the "Ink and Paint Club" in Toontown in Los Angeles. In the movie, she is one of the main suspects to have framed her husband Roger. The character was inspired by the classical damsel in distress and popular old hollywood actresses like Veronica Lake. This is a great costume, very simple and sultry that you can have a lot of fun with because she is a cartoon:

Since Jessica is a cartoon, you can go a bit wild with her make up. Her look cannot be completed without her signature purple eyeshadow,  round arched brows and pouty red lips. To make the look dramatic I recommend applying false eyelashes.
Her signature outfit is a sweetheart top long sparkly dress with a really high slit.
Accessorize with long red hair wig, purple gloves, red heels and garters.

There are some costumes out there if you can't put it together yourself:

Costume:

Make Up:


Halloween Costumes 2012: Poison Ivy

    My favorite female villain of all times is Poison Ivy, portrayed by Uma Thurman in "Batman & Robin" (1997). Uma Thurman transforms herself into the ex botanical scientist turned Batman and Robin's sexy arch-nemises. Dr. Pamela Isely becomes Poison Ivy after confronting a co-worker who is using her research for another purpose she did not intend, he attacks her and pushes her agains plat poisons and toxins that transform her into a deadly vixen.

    Poison Ivy has really great wardrobe in the movie. Some of the looks are not too complicated to re-create if you have the imagination and time to work on them for your costume:

Pair a lon sleeve tight green top with a pair of black leather leggings (currently on trend), a pair of Fall high leather boots and long gloves. You can paint the tips of the gloves red to get the same look. Find a wide black belt and decorate the buckle with plastic leafs to complete the look.

Attach green plastic leafs to a body suit, pair with green tights and a super hero cape.

Get a long red hair wig and style it to look like Poison Ivy's look. Using eyelash glue and green plastic leafs create the leaf arches around your eye after doing your make up.

If you don't have the time or the imagination to make the costume yourself then you can always buy one:

Costume:


Halloween Costumes 2012: Queen Ravenna

     I have always loved Halloween. Choosing a costume, dressing up in unusual ways and doing elaborate make-up are my ideas of good fun. I love it when people are very into it and come up with some creative costumes. At the beginning of my search, I had no idea what I wanted to be. Stores tend to carry popular costumes of the season as well as the classics like witch, cat, zombie, doctor, cowboy, princess and all the usual. I personally prefer a costume you come up with, rather than choosing a generic one that someone else might be wearing at the costume party I'll be attending.

     I love to find inspiration in movies and this year one particular character stood out for me , I absolutely loved Queen Ravenna from "Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)", character portrayed by the beautiful and talented Charlize Theron. The movie had a very dark and goth-like feel to it and it made it delivered a very different version to the classic Snow White we grew up with. Ravenna, Snow White's step mother,  is a vain woman who wants youth and power. She is as evil as she is elegant and poised. Not only was the role magnificently portrayed by Theron, but the make up and wardrobe elevated the character to a whole new level. The wardrobe included dark colors, amazing textures, feathers and chains. All her outfits were elegant, sophisticated and sexy. Overall, it had an Alexander McQueen look to it.

Silver and black with feathers and metal bits seems to have been inspired by crows. It is extremely elegant.

I loved this black and gold dress paired with the very modern looking accessories.


All her crowns and headdresses were amazingly elaborate and so unique.

The wardrobe for the movie was amazing and they must have cost a fortune but here are a few links to help you achieve the look:

Costume:

Deluxe Ravenna Skull Dress Women's Costume

Deluxe Queen Ravenna Women's Costume


Make up:

Queen Ravenna Make Up Tutorial

HAVE FUN!

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Red Carpet Fashion

I'm highly disappointed with this year's red carpet fashion, but I did have some dresses that I liked a lot.  This year I really liked these ladies:

Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford


Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji


Octavia Spencer in Zac Posen


Mila Jovovich in Elie Saab