Runway to Red Carpet

Whether it’s the red carpet of an awards show, movie premiere or fashion show, the celebrities and the designers they are wearing have a tendency to define each other. Actresses, as well as models, are legitimized when they are wearing certain designers. Major high-fashion designers have the ability to define whether or not someone is a true celebrity by asking them to wear their creations.

Many designers are credited for bringing their models into the world of fame. For example, Victoria Beckham is not known for her singing days in the Spice Girls or being married to David Beckham, but instead she is coveted for her appearance in the Roberto Cavalli Fashion Week shows and being his walking easel on the red carpets.

Now that the award-show mania months, January through August, and fashion weeks have passed, we can focus on, well, a different type of fashion show. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is an annual, international event in late November featuring some of the most beautiful women in the world wearing the least clothing of any runway in the world.

Although the Victoria’s Secret fashion show may not be what you think of when it comes to “fashion,” the designers of the line produce their creations in the same way as most other high-fashion designers. They begin with sketches, handpick their models, which portray the image they desire, and create not just a runway but an entertaining performance. 

2010 Victoria's Secret Sketches

Compliments of Sassybella.com

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is well known for its dazzling lingerie creations, along with the performances of famous celebrities including, Justin Timberlake, Seal and Usher, but the runway is most famous for its star models that walk the catwalk. 

These women come from all around the world and are recognized as the sexiest women alive by both men and women. They are regarded as sex icons in the eyes of men and women strive to achieve their beauty.  They are not just models of extravagant lingerie designs but they have also become celebrities throughout society. 

 Tyra Banks

Photo by Alexander Tamargo

 Heidi Klum

Photo by Alexander Tamargo

 Miranda Kerr

Photo by Alexander Tamargo

Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Alesssandra Ambrosio, Miranda Kerr and Marissa Miller, are all examples of women who began their journey of fashion and fame as models but are now considered celebrities whose faces are identified globally. Because of the recognition Victoria’s Secret has provided them with, more and more high fashion designers are asking these legendary models to take part in their fashion weeks and red carpet designs.

These women, like other loyal models, will forever represent the designer they showcase and will continue to be recognized interchangeably with the brand. Be sure to watch the 2010 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Nov. 30, 2010 and see the incredible designs represented by the beautiful Victoria’s Secret Angels. It’s one of my favorite events of the year and will be sure to get you ready for the holiday season.

H&M Lanvin Hearts? Yes please!

Still haven’t found those show-stopping pieces for the fall? Not to worry, H&M has released their looks for their new seasonal partnership with Lanvin and man, do we love them. Like many previous high-end designers who have partnered with H&M, Alber Elbaz, a top-designer at Lanvin, was intrigued by the idea of H&M going luxurious instead of him having to go public. Let me tell you, the results are exquisite. Elbaz, in explaining his attempt to supply mass markets with high fashion told Vogue UK, “Ninety-five percent of women cannot afford [Lanvin], so let them have a little taste.”

Previous conjunctions with H&M and high-end designers include: Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf. Seasonal partnerships have proven to be a success in the mass markets, making it more than ever, an exciting trend and challenge for designers to produce a high-class look for a small fraction of the price.

Although images of the entire collection, called Lanvin Hearts, will not be released until tomorrow, Nov. 4, and will not be for sale until Nov. 23, so far things are looking good and the inexpensive prices are even more impressive. Even though the looks are priced at much lesser values than the normal Lanvin pieces, which usually sell for thousands of dollars, the quality and value of the designs do not seem to be depreciating.

Unlike the majority of H&M apparel, once the Lanvin Hearts line is released, that is it. There will be no re-orders or restocking once they are sold out and the sale is projected to last only the first 24 hours. In order to protect the designer and his creations, each customer will be limited to only two of the same style in order to prevent the reselling of the apparel on other websites and auctions.

The line includes signature pieces of the original Paris Lanvin line including: embroidery, ruffles, beading and bright colors. Designs range from cocktail dresses to party-goer apparel, shoes, jewelry, handbags and lingerie, also hitting every essential necessity in between. The Lanvin Hearts apparel and accessories, ranging from $39 to $349, may be a little pricier than the usual cost of H&M fashion but are well worth the splurge for the holiday season. My thoughts…with the ruffled red strapless dress and the faux-fur jacket, you can't go wrong.

 Compliments of InStyle magazine

Ruffle Strapless Dress $199

 Compliments of InStyle magazine

Faux-fur Jacket $

Elbaz has also created a menswear section of the Lanvin Hearts line which will reflect his sophisticated and sharp taste, making it easy for you and that special someone to make a wow couple at all the holiday parties. Just be sure to both be ready to buy fast. Quick decisions and knowing what you want will come in handy when purchasing Lanvin Hearts. The sale is going to flash by and you don’t want to miss out.

Check out the more of the new looks below, compliments of InStyle magazine.

Yellow One-Shoulder $199

Jacket $149

Floral Party Dress $ 199

Zebra Jacket $ 199

Eggplant One-Shoulder $ 199

Fall Fashion Survival

No matter where in the world you are this fall, there are a few closet staples that are sure to never steer you wrong: leggings, lace, leopard and leather. Each of these individual pieces can be paired with countless ensembles to provide you with a stylish look, no matter the occasion. Adding these pieces to your wardrobe will provide you with quick and, for the most part, inexpensive way to make an outfit go from drab to fab.

Jean leggings, also known as “jeggings,” are personally one of my fall favorites. Leggings' versatility allow you to wear them with a multitude of looks, ranging from rolling out of bed to a night out on the town. Cotton leggings, which can be bought at about any clothing retailer, provide a comfier and more casual option. I mean what college girl doesn’t need a pair of leggings to sport with UGGs and a XL t-shirt on a cold wintery day? I think we may owe the start of this leggings trend to them. 

J Brand Leggings $169

Target Leggings $10

Lace is the new addition to your closet that will “sexify” your outfits while still remaining classy and sophisticated. Lace is no longer a material only associated with lingerie or wedding dresses, although I would not suggest a 12 year old to make this addition to her wardrobe. Lace has become such a popular trend this fall that pretty much any designer has a lace collection of apparel and accessories to mix and match. 

Free People $78

Steve Madden $89.95

  For all those animal print lovers, it is true, leopard print has the ability to make any outfit’s style rating go up about ten points. Leopard print has recently been seen all over New York Fashion Week’s runways as well as in pretty much every store you pass by. Beware: mixing too many leopard prints can get wild…in a bad way. Leopard print has become quite popular in the accessory department (shoes, handbags, etc.) making it useful in quickly sprucing up jeans and a black tee into a ready to go outfit.

BCBG $418

Dolce & Gabana $1, 595

And for our final fall necessity…

Congratulations biker babes, no more fashion faux pas for you, you are finally IN STYLE. Leather jackets are the hottest trend this fall and are paired with well, pretty much everything. If you are going to make one splurge this season, believe me, this is it! As most of you probably know, leather is one of the hardest materials to shop for. Sometimes, if you aren’t willing to spend that extra bit of cash it may not be worth spending it at all. Fake leather, or “pleather,” is one of the easiest ways to spot someone who has committed a style offense. Spend a little extra on yourself this time. It will pay off in the long run. Plus, a nice leather jacket never goes out of style. 

Nordstroms Kenna T $298

BCBG $198

BCBG, Express, Nordstroms and Forever21 are some fairly inexpensive stores where I’ve purchased these latest trends. Hopefully this weather will cool down so my fall wardrobe additions can make their debut! Be sure to check out some of my favorite looks and similar ones to those pictured above on their websites.

A Frugal Fashionista's Fantasy

High fashion and retail have two things in common: their outrageous designs and their even more outrageous price tags. To put it plainly, dressing in high fashion is not synonymous with having a budget; especially if you are struggling with a strict, starting salary or college budget, aka you are lacking in sufficient funds for anything but the necessary. New and upcoming businesses are beginning to prove this conventional idea, the inability to afford fabulous things, wrong.

The price to dress to the nines is getting more expensive by the minute. With more focus now than ever on labor laws, sufficient funds to pay workers an adequate paycheck for the amount of time devoted to their labor is more than necessary. Also, the price of cotton has begun to rise after the non-profit organization, War on Want, warned designers and producers at London’s Fashion Week of the decreasing amount of available cotton. Pakistan and China, two of the largest cotton producing areas, have suffered from torrential downpours and flooding killing a vast majority of their crops.

Regardless of the reasoning for skyrocketing prices, fashion is becoming a burden, but fortunately society has found a solution. The new craze in the fashion world are two free websites, RentTheRunway.com and Gilt.com, who have devoted themselves to providing the consumer with a high-fashion look for about a fourth of the price.

Rent the runway, whose motto is “Love.Wear.Return,” is a business based on the idea of renting a dress, wearing it and then returning it for a small fee. Women of all ages and sizes have the ability to rent a dress, handbag, or jewelry for any occasion and then have it shipped straight to their door. No paying for dry cleaning, tailoring or spending endless hours searching for that perfect ensemble.

Still not sold on the idea? Not only does the website send you the dress you order, but it also sends you a second size of the same dress, just in case that first one doesn’t fit like a glove. Plus, we all know once you wear a dress to an event, it will be a while before you want to wear it again, making it extremely difficult to get your money’s worth.

Classy little black dress can be rented for $150, yet you would have to pay $1,395 to own it.

Compliments of Rent the Runway

Want something a little more casual? This $350 Milly sundress can be rented for $50.

 Compliments of Rent The Runway

Gilt Groupe provides upper-scale clothing and accessories for women, men, children and even your home. Oh and if you don’t like the idea of any of those, they also provide Jetsetter vacations to five-star hotels all around the world at a discounted price. Like Rent the Runway, Gilt.com requires a membership to the website, which sometimes may have a waitlist of about a day, but there are no fees or expenses besides your purchase.

The best thing about the site is that it is always changing. While some of the high fashion brands the website featured yesterday were Zac Posen, Judith Lieber, and Vera Wang, today the site is focusing on brands including: Kate Spade, D&G Jewelry and even a wedding gown shop. Hotel deals taking place now are located in New York, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Berlin. New sales with new designers begin everyday and continue to change every hour.

For example, Protégé Vintage Jeans regularly priced at $270 are sold for $138, and a Vera Wang sequin cocktail dress whose original price was $960 was sold on Gilt for $336. Due to the constant renovating of the site every hour, images were not available to post here but I encourage you to check out both sites and become a part of this new fashion fad.

Fame Fiasco -- How a Mix Up Resulted in Two International Stars

Seems like nowadays anything you do can make you or someone else famous, right? If you answered yes, you are absolutely correct. Surprise surprise, there is once again a new way to become an international celebrity! Not using the conventional ways of either winning a competition or being caught in a juicy scandal, but instead being publicly humiliated on live, national television.

This is the case of Kelsey Martinovich, the runner up on “Australia’s Next Top Model.” During the season finale, Martinovich was wrongly named the winner of the competition by the TV show’s host, Sarah Murdoch, and then had the title of “Australia’s Next Top Model” stripped away from her two minutes later. Amanda Ware, the actual winner of the competition, gracefully carried herself throughout the entire process, congratulating Martinovich for her win and then including her in the celebration after the fiasco.

Apparently, there had been a mix up backstage and after Sarah Murdoch was not given a name in her earpiece, she decided to go with the name of the girl who was ahead the last time she had checked the results. A letter delivered to the stage moments later resulted in an incredibly uncomfortable announcement taking away the title from Martinovich and handing it off to Ware.

Watch the sticky slip-up for yourself!

The ease and grace in which both women handled the situation proves to the Australian public and audience watching, that either girl would be an excellent candidate to represent “Australia’s Next Top Model.” Therefore, they both are.

Ware and Martinovich will share the grand prize of a cover shoot in Australian Harper’s Bazaar, an international fashion magazine. Martinovich also received a $25,000 consolation prize and all expenses paid trip to New York. If you ask me, she did pretty well for someone who was supposed to go no further than the TV show’s reveal stage. And out of all the ways to become famous, this seems like the way to go. She is viewed by the public as a classy, well-respected, and beautiful winner whether she was crowned the title or not.

Both women are now viewed as international superstars and are recognized all around the world. Their story made headlines in all major fashion and entertainment magazines including the Los Angeles Time, London’s Daily Telegraph, and New Zealand’s Entertainment Weekly.

After seeing the video, you have to ask yourself, how would I handle this situation if I were one of the models? I don’t think I would have been able to hide my disappointment even in the least bit. I’m the type of person who wears their emotion on their sleeve, and believe me….when I’m emotional about something everyone knows it.

Their composure and ability to remain ecstatic for each other exemplified great skills. This mix-up turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the “Next Top Model” production company. It not only provided the show with an abundance of publicity, but it has produced two new, well-deserving, international celebrities ready to take on the life of fame and stardom.