Model of the month: Agyness Deyn

A model who has been highly popular this year is British Agyness Deyn. Through out the entire year she has been a catwalk favorite, mainly because of her short hair. None of the other top models have short hair like she does but they might not want to either. Short hair is equal too little versatility and in Agyness’s case she doesn’t have the sensual and typical feminine look like the other models she works with.

She doesn’t present the romantic look with evening dresses in the best way, and looks best in funky t-shirts, jeans and colourful clothes. And the way she looks in those types of clothes is the reason why she is popular. We love Agyness for her hip, cool and fresh looks straight from the MTV era. Modeling is all about standing out and that’s what she’s doing, she’s seizing the moment. Her style is unquestionably unique and lovable. On the other hand she’ll most likely not become a super model. I think she looks a little old(24 years old!) and her current funky look will be yesterday’s news in a matter of months. Unfortunately she’s a girl of the moment and not a girl of the future. I lovethe way she looks with longer hair though, hope she'll let it grow out soon.

SS08: Z Zegna Men's wear

This year I came a cross an Ermenegildo Zegna store for the first time and stepped inside but ended up leaving it after 2 minutes. First of all I didn’t like that the stores had no people in it, leaving me and my buddy with 5 store assistance with their eyes on us. Secondly the store wasn’t very much different from the typical well sorted men’s store selling suits, ties, shirts, cufflinks, belts and a few accessories. Lastly the prices were off the roof. When I flipped over a tag attached to shirt to find out the price I silently said “oh shit”, $450 for a plain white shirt is way out of my league. On the other hand I knew that Zegna was high quality Italian tailor and didn’t expect their prices to be on the low side.

It seems like Zegna don’t find their fine reputation to be enough for them. They want to be respected and looked up on like the Armani and Valentino. Therefore they launched a new sister brand a few years ago named Z Zegna which targets the fashion crowd rather than wealthy sugar daddies with a tooth for expensive suits.

The 2007 fall collection wasn’t an eye brow raiser and was almost a yawn. Z Zegna has taken a 180 degree turn with their 2008 SS collection which is radically different from what any of the other fashionable tailors have shown to the world. Surprisingly the brand exhibits their collections during women’s NY fashion week instead of during Milano’s fashion week, quite odd if you ask me.

I instantly feel in love when I saw the first outfits and it only got better and better as I scrolled down the computer screen and saw the rest of the outfits. This one is a home run and shows that Z Zegna in going in the right direction. Grace Jones is the name that can be used to describe the style of this collection. The style and execution is simple but yet bold and avantgarde. Z Zegna is one brand to look out for in the near future.

+

MC Hammer shorts

Gladiator sandals

Everything else

-

Capri pants for men? No thanks, too feminine.

Grade: 5/5 Bravissimo!

More trouble for Britney.

Next in line to join the Britney Spear mob is fashion giant Louis Vuitton which slapped Britney with a law suit and won. Apparently LV isn’t too happy about the pink Hummer H2 with fake LV monogram upholstery, featured in the music video “Do something”. Naturally Britney isn’t responsible for the video and it’s her record label that will fork over €80 000 to LV for the violation. Not only that but the video has been, so you’ll most likely never see it on MTV again.

As a Hiphop/Rap fanatic I can assure you that Britney isn’t the first artist to feature products with fake LV monogram fabric in a music video. This law suit to be nothing but a witch hunt attach against Britney. I know of several rapper who have done the same thing as Britney but haven’t faced any lawsuits what so ever. So I find this to be rather peculiar. Now where is my “Leave Britney alone T-shirt”?

You don’t feel good if you don’t eat good.

There are very few better ways to demonstrate good hospitality than serving your guests with home made bakery. Put your Martha Stewart skills to the test by baking gingerbread cookies looking like these and your guests will remember you for many years to come.

Street style frenzy!

While hustling on eBay for a Microsoft Zune 80 last night my boredom directed me to various blogs with outfits from the streets. Although I didn't see anything out of the ordinary I liked some more than others. Especially the outfit you see below. The lady above looks like my ex-psychology professor who was a 60-70 years old woman who was quite hip, had a young state of mind and loved dressing up.

One of my discoveries is the way the French women differ from the Sweds. What I noticed is that the French dress very..............*make a guess*...........French! I know that sounds a bit weird, but it's a bit difficult to explain. Their style is quite late 80s/early 90s influenced with boxy clothes, over size, dark colours and pleats. It's very avantgarde and does reflect the designs of the big French fashion houses like Lanvin, Chloe and K.Lagerfeldt. Short hair is also is typical of French women. Unlike women from other Western nations they have the balls to wear short hair cuts. I'm a fan of short hair cuts on women, some women look amazing in short hair. The young lady below is a symbol of French fashion, it's individual, mature and seductive.

Next in line is an outfit which might not look like much to some of you but I find it to be brilliant. She clearly followed the golden rule of wearing plain and simple trouser or skirt if you're dressed in a fancy top/jacket. By wearing a short colorful jacket, black jeans and high heels she has accentuated her long legs and slender body to the max. The pony tail and noble body posture further adds to the much attractive look. Totally amazing.

I've never seen someone wear a wing collared shirt by itself without a bow tie. Neither do I believe that many would be able to pull it off like the neat looking fella below. He looks like one of them educated alcoholics who love wine, and enjoy eating oysters on the last Thursday of every month together with Andrew and Edward. You know, the type that collects stamps and think democracy sucks. Regardless of what his interests and hobbies are his appearance is very sophisticated. Big thumb up from me.

Victoria's Secret Show 2007.

After the commemoration of the birth of Christ and new years celebration, the annual Victoria’s secret show is probably the third biggest event in winter. Like always we sitting in front of the telly letting our eyes and minds get sucked into a world of gorgeous women dressed in teasing outfits, which can make married fathers wish they were young and single again.

This year’s show seen no different and took place on Thursday this week. Heidi Klum couldn’t participate on the runway last year because had taken delivery of her child but this year she’s back. He’s black and he’s back too, and obviously it’s Seal I’m talking about. Along with Klum he sang a song and even had a solo performance of his own. The Spice Girls have also had the privilege of performing at the show which you can imagine is very beneficial for their comeback. Kanye West was schedule to perform but didn't, most likely because he is still greeving for his mother who died earlier this week. Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas was on the other han quick to fill his spot.

A model I’m surprised to see this year is dark skinned and light green eyed French model/actor Noémie Lenoir, who played in Rush Hour 3. Me + her + hotel room + honey + redbull = magic.

Worth mentioning as well is that VS have also received their own star on the walk of fame. This year’s show will be aired in the US on the 4^th December and will one or two days after that be available for illegal download on the internet. Until then let the Neanderthal inside you enlighten itself with these high resolution images.

Don't make me go medieval on your ass

Time for some inspiration. This editorial is outstanding and you don’t often see good male editorials. The dirty mechanic/bold hitman look combined with the black/white photography gives the editorial a depth which makes you fall in love with it. What’s missing in the pictures is shoot gun in the lap of the dude sitting down and perhaps a rat on the floor.

All the clothes themselves and perfectly matched together and the outfits are absolutely flawless all though the guys obviously need to cover their upper bodies a bit more. I love the heavy duty boots which are low maintenance and can be worn without having to worry about keeping them clean. Great shoes to wear during the winter and autumn. Last month it even stroke me that I have 6 pair of shoes!! Can you believe that, 6 pair of shoes, I’m becoming a woman. This hasn’t happened beyond my conscious mind since I’ve never been a shoe whore or had any particular interest in shoes. On the other hand, the more shoes you wear the longer each pair last.

Lagerfeld Confidential.

If you live in Stockholm you'll get a chance to watch Lagerfeld Confidential on the big screen at Stockholm film festival in about two weeks. You others who live outside Sweden might have already watched it since it shown in NY, Paris and London last month.

Lagerfeld is a very secretive man but has launched this documentary to tell the story about himself, and give us a glimpse of how he live his life. The living icon is incredibly narcissistic, and from the interviews and quotes he think very high of himself. So it will probably be very repulsive and entertaining to see the documentary. Regardless of his character I look forward to watching it. BTW Has anyone of you readers seen it? If so pop a little impression or review in the comment section.

Too sexy for my shirt.

Damn, this male model Marcus Hill has made me feel guilty about not having spent time in the gym this year. Since I have been travelling and been busy with studies I haven’t been able to dedicate 3-5 hours per week to my body the recent 12 months. It all feels very unusual because prior to that I have had been a gym-a-holic since I was 14 years old. Weight lifting had basically been a part of my life and next year I’ll make sure I’m back in the gym working towards the uber sexy body I want to have.

I’ve never been interested in growing big muscles. All I’ve every wanted is that sexy body with reasonable amount of mass and good body definition, attracting him, her and it. There’s nothing greater than spending 2 minutes every night checking yourself out in the batchroom mirror. Thankfully I have a good ground and haven’t lost too much of the mass I had back in 05 when I was a Spartan warrior lifting weights and playing American football. On the good side I have lost come fat on the stomach which I gained during my muscle building period. Also my butt is smaller. It was really big and hard when I was in high gear working out 3-4 times a week, making it a bit of a challenge to find slim jeans which fit perfectly. Here’s a 2 years old picture of me after a football practice.

Vickie in Ugly Betty.

Like always I brighten up Fridays with an episode of Ugly Betty. This week we finally got to see the much hyped episode featuring our favourite MILF, Victoria Beckham. Not that I expected a Natalie Portman like performance from her side but her acting is terrible. Just like most celebrity guest actors in Ugly Betty, Posh played herself, but in a slight exaggerated manner. What funny is that the exaggerated projection of herself in the episode is close to how she behaves in the “The Beckhams coming to America” documentary. The appearance in Ugly Betty has done absolutely nothing for her career or image. She’s still looks like an overly self-conscious, non-intelligent and lonely desperate housewife. It was nice to see Vera Wang in the episode though, I love her HP Pavilion ad.

Materialistic desires.

I stumbled across this rather nifty perpetual calendar the other day, which is find post worthy. As you can see it's a manual calendar which is run using good old man power. My lazy ass would most likely get tired of changing the date after two or three days. Despite that it's very cool, colourful and will give you something to fiddle with when you're bored. Don't ask me where it's sold because I want to know that myself.

We all know that Kanye West is a creative musician. Apparently his creativity stretches as far as interior decor. When I saw pictures of one of his apartment I instantly fell in love with his living room/lounge. The use of Jetsons paintings/posters is charming. Together with the thick rug and the other furniture(including the B&O speaker) project a very joyful and homely sensation.

Look of the month: November

Marc by Marc Jacobs S/S 2008

I recall watching a Boys II Men music video with my sister and mommy mocking the outfit the four amazing singers were wearing. They had on a pair of blue jeans, black blazer and a white shirt. We were wondering what the hell they were doing wearing a jeans together with a blazer, had they been smoking bad weed from Miami or what?? Back then that combination was as wrong as putting ketchup on vanilla ice cream.

Ten somewhat years later, the blazer is the most important piece in the wardrobe and is a must have for any man or woman. Therefore the outfit of the month is a tribute to the blazer. What has made me choose this Marc outfit is that with the use of primary colored shoes and tie the stylist has managed to create a proper, nerdy but yet hip and chic outfit. Everything is right about it, even the young American boy band hair cut.

The jeans + blazer works in all sorts of occasions depending on you wardrobe and creativity. A plain black one is the most versatile but I recommend also having one odd looking one made out of cotton or wood with stripes, that type of blazer tend to look less formal and is often more durable. What’s most important is that the blazer perfectly fits on your body. If it’s too large, especially in the waist, the whole look will be ruined.

For a relaxed look you wear sneakers, a striped shirt, wear the blazer unbuttoned. Going to a fancy dinner, date or party you might want to wear black jeans, white shirt, cuff links, pocket square. If you going to a job interview you a stripped blazer + plain shirt or vice versa and a tie is suitable. Posh or over fancy pieces should be avoided if invited to an interview. But in general the sky is the limits and there are infinite ways of creating a blazer + jeans outfit for the right occasion and with a personal touch as well.

Layout/design update.

Today I felt that it was time for a not-so-extreme makeover. Since my HTML and Photoshop nerd days were over tree years ago the update isn’t as big and creative as I want it to be.

Nonetheless I like simple and very readable layout of the blog so I decided to only change the banner and make other minor adjustments. I don’t want it to look cluttered with too many colours, html gizmos and ads like some blogs I have encountered.

I hope that you dig the new banner which is a larger and bolder than the previous one.

Have a nice weekend!