Thursday, December 3, 2009
Livin' It Up in LA LA Land: Day 2
That's right people. Day 2 of Livin' It Up in LA was spent shopping. Lots and lots of shopping.
Which was fine by me, as I had a hangover from the night before which I'm sure could have claimed my life had I not been hell-bent on burning up some serious cash-ola. I was lucky enough to attend the V Australia Official Launch party where I drank pomegranate martinis, saw Human Nature perform live and caught Vince Colossimo quite obviously staring at my breasts (but I mean... who could blame him?) But the real icing on this doozy of a Crispy Cream is that I saw Kellen Lutz. That's right kiddy-winks. Emmett from Twilight and I were partying at the same LA hot spot. And yes, he is all the more outlandishly gorgeous in real life. Thankfully, I didn't drool all over his feet.
But I did drink quite a few of the pomegranate martinis and therefore, felt like roadkill this morning. However, the wonderful thing about shopping is that it requires little energy apart from signing on the dotted credit line which I did...repeatedly. My highlight was Santa Monica where I discovered the all-time greatest vintage store - 'Wasteland'. My tip for future travellers, make this a pit stop! Awesome clothes, awesome bargains and you may just spy yourself a celebrity. The Olsen twins have been known to buy their ridiculously over-sized ponchos from this very place.
Well kids, I'm off to kiss my new leopard-print heels goodnight and crawl into bed. Stay tuned for tomorrow where I venture into the heart of Beverly Hills to see what I can find.
Ciao for now. xo
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Livin' It Up in LA LA Land: Day 1
Here strictly for work purposes, I will be spending the next 10 days experiencing Los Angeles, the OC and Palm Springs and taking in as much sight-seeing, shopping and celebrities as possible. Flying over on the inaugural V Australia flight from Melbourne to LA, I've already seen my fair share of Aussie A-listers - Pippa Black, Vince Colossimo and Michael Klim. But with the itinerary I've got lined up over the next few weeks, I have a feeling the celebrity sight-seeing is about to get a whole lot more interesting.
Will try and touch base each day to fill you in on my adventures, but internet is pricey and I'm seriously time-poor - who has time for blogging when you've living it up in Beverly Hills?
Ciao for now! xo
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
PRESS RELEASE: Cleaning Up the College Conduct
While under no circumstances do I condone the actions of these young gentleman who set up a 'pro-rape' Facebook group earlier this week, I don't appreciate the minority of collegians who do the wrong thing and spoil the reputation of colleges around the country.
Where is their headline in the newspaper?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
PRESS RELEASE: Syncing their teeth into Brits
So why are we so determined to make it more difficult for her?
There's plenty more celebs who've walked Britney's path and met considerably stickier ends. Where's the Aussie spirit in celebrating the fact that she's managed to get herself back in the ring?
(Image Credit: Bryan Bedder-Geddy Images)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
KH COMMENTARY: There is a season...
And it's hard battle out there. A battle of mind games; the constant balance of confidence and reserve, honesty and mystery, independence and desperation. And it takes one wrong step, one wrong revelation of your character, one too many stupid words and you're out. Dismissed. Sidelined as you watch the other players who've worked out how to play the game.
(Image Credit: The Drifter and The Gypsy)
KH COMMENTARY: Excuses Excuses
That would be me....
I know I have been MIA slash AWOL slash just plain lazy over the last few weeks (oh my gosh it's been weeks now!) and have not posted any delightful snippets of cynicsm and I wish there was some profound excuse behind my tardiness, but there isn't. I'm just plain lazy and have let my readership down.
But never fear - I'm whipping the poor old blog off the back-burner and putting it back on high priority. Daily posts coming your way once again, pinky promise.
xo
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
TOP SHELF: On the tweeting fence
(I'm afraid you'll have to click the link as the video refused to embed properly)
http://media.smh.com.au/national/breaking-news/twitterature-or-literature-815266.html&from=strap
Published by Viking/Penguin
Due to be released UK November 2009 / US December 2009
http://www.twitterature.us/uk/index.htm
Thursday, October 22, 2009
KH COMMENTARY: Who's Line Is It Anyway?
"Indeed, adults don't say those kinds of things to each other. Instead, we just get drunk and hook up with our 'friends' at parties."
"For the record...I can't stop thinking about you."
While I know Televisionland is this mythical place where all the things we wished happened in real life do in fact happen, I still maintain that these shows - Sex in the City and Home and Away - are based on real people, real situations and real life (as unreal as they may be). Which means somewhere, some man is delivering a some warm line to some eye-lash batting, heart-melting-into-her-Jimmy-Choo-shoes woman.
Why? Because we feel bullet-proof and when we stumble out of bed the next morning nursing the world's worst hangover, only to remember what we did the night before, we have our drunken stupidity to blame it all on.
It's crazy that we rely on a few stiff drinks to feel in control of our out-of-control behaviour. We need to down a quick vodka and tonic before that blind date or that bottle of champagne before we can say the things we've always thought. It seems like we're taking action because we think we've got nothing to lose, but really, whatever gets lost can be easily reclaimed by simply 'blaiming it on the booze' the following day.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
DISCOVER ME: PostSecret
It's finding a safe place to reveal one's inner thoughts that proves the real hurdle. Some times, there's just some things you can't bring yourself to say or to hear yourself declare. It's from this principal, or perhaps fear, that Frank Warren developed the salacious yet captivating website, PostSecret - a global online forum for people to air their dirty laundry.
Secreters write their private truths on the back of a postcard and then mail it through to Warren who publishes a select few on his daily blog. The bearers remain completely anonymous, with nothing but their postcard-sized secret to represent them. And we're not talking your average, everyday postcard bought from the cornerstore while on a trip through Rockhampton. Warren receives intricately designed cards which are often as creative as the content is controversial.
Whether or not it's a result of these beautifully constructed cards or the premise of posting and reading your own home truths, the website has taken on a life of its own. PostSecret currently sits at 276,135,144 site views, not to mention 209,799 Twitter followers and 495,438 Facebook friends. Warren's website has become so popular the postcards have been turned into a published work called PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God, which has reached #1 on the New York Bestseller List.
I will never cease to be surprised by society, hence why I love the occassional trip to PostSecret. There's nothing like a public declaration to gain a spot of self-remedy - here's a few of my faves:
(Image Credit: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54703&id=21977955239#/pages/PostSecret/21977955239)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
GO.SEE: Pocket Bar
The latest to pop its head out of the brick work is Darlinghurst's Pocket Bar. Tucked away on the corner of Crown and Burton St, this cafe, bar and restaurant is a jack-of-all-trades with an art-deco design which suits the breakfast crowd as much as it does those wanting a night cap.
T 02 9380 7002
W http://www.pocketsydney.com.au/
Menu must-have: Goat Cheese and Fresh Spinach Crepe - $10
(Image Credit: www.totalvenue.com.au/.../pocketbar.html)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
PRESS RELEASE: Bank on a Celebrity
Unless of course, you take a trip to your friendly, neighbourhood sperm bank.
California Cryobank have started a look-a-like service where donors are described as having remarkable resemblances to Hollywood hotties - Ben Affleck, Hugh Grant and even our own rugged rough-diamond, Russel Crowe. As donors must remain anonymous by American law, the bank staff decide which celebrity the donor looks most like and write up a description accordingly. The system is meant to allow prospective mothers to visualise what the father of their baby looks like.
For example, donar 11385 is said to be a dead-ringer for David Beckham and to be a "blonde haired dreamboat".
Sure would keep the ladies in the retirement home entertained.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
KH COMMENTARY: The Feel Good Stuff
1. High School Musical - 1, 2 and 3.
"High...School....Musical, who says we have to let it go?"
This underage sex-god (not that he's all that underage anymore) is so deploringly delicious he gets a rung on the Feel Good ladder all to himself. The man's a Ken Doll - that immaculately positioned fringe, that all-too-perfect jawline and he's a dancing, singing songbird to boot. It's just such a pity Vanessa Hudgen's swiped him off the market before anyone could start bidding.
Tell me one person you know who can't have a good time dancing to Abba hits and I'll give you Bjorn's head on a silver platter. They were Eurovision-tastic and they took over the globe with their retro-pop songs and sequined pants. When I saw Mamma Mia: The Musical, I almost cried and when watching the movie-make, it took all my power to curb wetting my pants out of sheer enthusiasm. Without fail, Abba plunge me into happiness at the mere sound of the opening riff of Dancing Queen.
"- 'Excuse me Miss Dionne. Street slang is an increasingly valid form of expression. Most of the feminine pronouns do have mocking, but not necessarily in misogynistic undertones.'
- 'Wow, you guys talk like grown-ups.
Anyone who knows two-cents about me knows that I have an unhealthy and unwavering addiction to Sex In The City. I will watch the whole series over and over again in constant rotation. I have psychoanalysed every one of Carrie's committment-restricted relationships and can quote the script on cue. It's unhealthy, but yet as satisfying as a Christmas feast.
It's no secret that I consider the 80s to be a highly under-valued era. All that big hair and those highwaisted outfits. I love everything about the 80s and any kind of reference to it makes me divinely happy. The films - The Breakfast Club, Some Kind of Wonderful, Sixteen Candles, Heathers, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, 9 to 5. The music - Wham, Blondie, Madonna, Michael Jackson. The TV - The Cosby Show, Full House, Family Ties. I love it. I love it all.
If you've got something embarrassingly Feel Good which you want to own up to, feel free to share with the class. xo
Monday, October 12, 2009
GLOSS-ARY: Karl, curves and claws on the catwalk
The comments come after German glossy magazine, Brigitte announced they intended to no longer promote skinny models in their pages and instead, publish images of "real women" which their readership can identiy with. The magazine has even invited its readers to audition for modelling roles, aiming to abolish skinny models from the magazine by 2010.
As a dedicated lover of fashion and having worked for fashion magazines before, my opinion is biased, yet informed. I've seen the original images from a fashion shoot and seen the images they become upon publication. Hell, I've even giving advice to photo-touchers about where more detailing needs to be applied to make a model look better. I don't excuse myself for this, because it is a factor of the industry. Whether this is a factor that needs to be changed is yet to be seen, but my personal opinion stands that while Lagerfeld could have been more considerate in his comments, they do hold an element of truth."I applaud Brigitte's decision and hope Australian magazines follow suit - at least by using more realistic looking models in their shoots. I am in total shock about Karl Lagerfeld's outrageous comments."
"I agree with Karl. Women on the catwalk are walking clotheshorses; fabric hangs better off a frame with no bulges. For presentation of clothes as art, curvy women are not appropriate. Questions of body image shouldn't even come into it.
"Why are models not regarded as "real women"? I think this is offensive to thin beautiful women. It is rediculous that overweight, unattractive women refer to theselves as "real women".
"Bottom line is: if I want to see "real women", I will go for a walk up my street or go to the supermarket. If I want to see someone looking fabulous and dressed beautifully, I will buy a high fashion magazine."
"Women are meant to have curves, bust and hips that is what makes us women. I for one am tired of seeing unrealistic and unattainable body shapes being held up as the ideal and warping the minds of your girls to think a size 12 is a plus size. Mind you, most of the clothes seen on these skeletal models are not every day wear and are unaffordable for the real women they are not designed for."
The 'dream and illusion' Lagerfeld refers to is the reason we buy magazines in the first place. Magazines are not meant to reflect what humans have. They are designed to reflect what humans want. Whether its luxury holidays, car parts, kitchen appliances or beauty products, magazines are about selling a lifestyle to people. Fashion and beauty magazines revolve around this premise specifically, as do the designers, suppliers and advertisers that essentially determine what is 'in fashion' to begin with. Magazines must sell 'the perfect life' or there is no reason to read them in the first place. It may not be an attractive scruple and it in no way condones the use of stick-thin anorexic models, but fashion magazines rely on this human desire for perfection and hence they employ the models who can deliver it.
These women are as immaculate and beautiful as the clothes they promote because that. is. their. job. They are models, walking clotheshangers and once the designer pushes them onto the catwalk or in front of a camera, it is their job to sell what they are wearing. The names behind the clothes on these girls' backs are the best-of-the-best of the fashion industry; the designers that dictate the styles that will eventually trickle down into Target and Big W. Their clothes are not your average every-day wear. They are pieces of art, and when you buy an orginal Monet or Matisse painting, you don't hang it on the wall in your average every-day frame.
I am by no means the epitome of a model, (I have a gut on me that could rival Homer Simpson) and I do find myself staring at the women in the pages of my magazines wishing I looked a little more like I belonged in their magazine world, but I accept that I am never going to look like that. Because I know those women don't look like that all the time. Kate Moss looks in the mirror and has the craving to pop the occasional pimple and I'm sure Gemma Ward needs a few cups of coffee and a beauty team before she looks any good in the morning. The point being, we all have our flaws and these pristine women we look to for our fashion forecasts are no exception. Whether they are the models of the 50s with their big boobs and big hips or the beanpole girls that currently march the runway, models are simply playing the role they were given.
What are your thoughts? Is Karl Lagerfeld overstepping the runway? Do we need to reinstate what is considered 'perfection' by introducing curvy women to the catwalk or should models remain as they are in their world of 'dreams and illusions?' Click to post a comment and share your opinion.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
FASHIONISTA: The High and Mighty
The latest issue being the increasing size of stiletto heels and the six, seven possibly eight-inch heights they are reaching. All well and good when you see them sitting on the shelf, but if you walk on the taller side of the size scale, adding an extra eight inches to your already generous height makes you look like The BFG. Not to mention increasing the difficulty of maneuvering through most door frames. And don't even mention a set of stairs.
We've all tottered round on a pair of heels the size of the Empire State Building and felt the burning pain being injected into our feet, but it still doesn't stop us from buying what I like to refer to as 'stupid shoes' - shoes only Carrie Bradshaw would buy, shoes which are flamboyant and over-the-top, often with an utterly ridulous heel. Shoes which are not just shoes but lavish works of art, a combination of colour and crafting, with the occasional touch of impracticality but which we buy anyway because they are fabulous and they make us look and feel fabulous.
I argued with this source for some time that, subconsciously, men do notice and that high heels attribute to a woman's physical attractiveness; that the way they shape and flaunt the legs and act as a frame for the body is all a part of what sucks men in in the first place. I stood behind my argument 100 percent and pushed my point until I was blue in the face, but he wouldn't budge. He resounded strongly that men don't care and that high heels are meaningless.
And upon reconnecting with this truth, I realised that shoes - even the ridiculously high and the fashionably flamboyant - are still a solid investment. Because there ain't nothing that exists in a man's world that can make him feel nearly as confident, attractive and fabulous as a woman does in a pair of stupid, towering high heels.
It's just like Carrie said - "It's a woman's right to shoes".
KH COMMENTARY: The Blame Game
"I can't let my parents/best friend/boyfriend down."
Excuses excuses excuses! These statements are like pain-killers. They'll numb the hurt and regrets for awhile, but their effects are only temporary. Soon enough, that sick feeling will fill your gut once again and you'll self-diagnose your problems with excuses that you know aren't really true.
Society loves the old adage 'No regrets' or if you're going to regret, 'that it's better to regret something you did, than something you didn't'. But either way, I think if you're going to do something or not do something, you have to do it or not do it off your own bat. You have to take responsibility for your own life, so if 20 years down the track, you find yourself regretting a life you're unhappy with and you begin pointing the finger of blame, the only person on the short-list should be yourself.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
KH COMMENTARY: Who's Bad?
It's a tale as old as time. Just as our inner damsel-in-distress is begging to be saved, there's nothing quite so attractive to a woman as finding a man who needs to be saved right back. We like to be needed and wanted and most of all, 'as a result of' because it feeds directly into our own little pot of self-importance. Women love the delusion of thinking we can be the change we want to see in a man, we can be the one who makes a difference in their lives and puts them back on the path to perfection. Our heads get so filled up with this beautiful idea of having a bad boy reform for our benefit that we continue to let them walk all over us like a welcome mat in the hope that one day they'll see the cosmic light.
Because all the books and the movies and the songs tell us that it can happen. Like Richard Gere who gave up his womanising ways in Pretty Woman to pursue the zealous Julia Roberts or Baby in Dirty Dancing who convinces Johnny to give up his sex, drugs and rock'n'rolling ways in exchange for a lifestyle he deserves. And greatest of all, Sex and the City's Carrie and her committment-phobe, Mr Big who ride the rollercoaster of heartache for six seasons and a movie before he finally comes around and puts a ring on her finger. It all reinforces the subliminal hope that one day our bad boy might give up his bigoting ways for a happily ever after with yours truly.
Monday, October 5, 2009
KH COMMENTARY: The Day When Technology Takes Over the World
While I'd like to think I am one of those balanced people who doesn't rely on technology like an addict relies on a hourly hit, I know that would be a lie. The first thing I do in the morning is check my emails, followed by my Facebook, followed by a quick trip to the Sydney Morning Herald website before putting together my blog post for the day. To my credit, I don't own an iPhone but even that won't save me. Like the other six billion people who wake up each morning reaching for the start button on their computer, I am inarguably technologically-reliant.
I live in fear of the day when there are no longer paper back books or glossy magazines or newpaper print. When all copy and editorial content is accessed online, when I can no longer hold the product of my blood, sweat and tears in my very own hands. When books become spectacles in a muesum and people simply download Pride and Prejudice to their mobile phone and scroll while they're sitting on the train. When rather than flicking through page after glossy page of Vogue, I'll receive an email notification to download the new issue to my portable electronic publishing system.
Even as we speak, or as I write, developments in technology and science are dictating what literature and publishing will become. Electronic paper (or e-paper) will totally redefine how we read and access editorial material. Rather than spend hours in the library or the bookstore moving between the shelves, we will simply download the content to an e-paper device which mimics all the pages and appearance of book, but can be easily updated with new titles and content. Bookstores will become a place of the past, guttered and rebuilt into tech stores and Apple Mac distributors.
And I want to hold on to them, in my own two hands, for as long as possible.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
SILVER SCREEN: Some Kind of erm... Wonderful?
Sometimes I reflect on my life in the 80s with remorse that I was in nappies for most of it. I love everything about the era - the fashion, the hair, the music - the more eccentric and out of whack you were, the more you fitted in. It had all the 'feel good' lovin' of the 70s with all the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll of the 60s. It was the love child of pop and grunge, the goody-goody gone bad on the weekend. Had I lived through it as I should of, I would have been your Converse-wearing, baggy-t-shirt teamed with a leather jacket teenager, with a boombox on my shoulder which pumped out The Sex Pistols while I self-peirced my ears in detention. That's just the kinda girl I am, or should have been.
Needless to say, Keith finally sees the error of his ways and realises Watts is the girl of his dreams, but with absolutely no thanks to her. She doesn't fight for him, she doesn't pull out a soap box and make a grand declaration of her love, she doesn't even use her bad-ass tomboy skills to rumble with Amanda Brown! Keith just suddenly realises and it's all happy families. It's completely uncharacteristic to who Watts is. She gets exactly what she wants or "was hoping for" without having to do anything to get it. And we all know it doesn't work that way.
Friday, October 2, 2009
FASHIONISTA: Access Accessories
If you're still looking for spare change in the couch in hope that you can buy some new items for your summer collection, don't despair, as there are still some among us that can relate to your pain (I being one of them). But as I shop or more realistically - look and not purchase - I've come to discover you don't need to buy entire outfits to freshen up your wardrobe. A simple, well-chosen accessory can make all the difference and spice up the saddest of out-dated outfits without costing you next month's rent.
While summer is about shedding your old skin and tanning up the new one, it doesn't mean the clothes you kicked around in last year don't still have some potential. Basics are a girl's best friend and sometimes they just need a little encouragement and fresh new shade of nail colour to become bright and shiny again.
If you're an accessory advocate with some design skills to boot, get out your sketch pad and start doodling your winning design for the Diva and Grazia Jewellery Design competition. The lucky winner scores $1000 cash, $1000 Diva gift voucher, 12 month Grazia subscription and work experience with Diva not to mention their range will be designed and sold in Diva stores around the country.
For more information and entry submissions, visit http://www.diva.net.au/.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
KH COMMENTARY: Embrace Thy Boobies
But what met Brynne the next morning, apart from her own boobs being splashed across every newspaper, magazine and media vehicle in the country, was a firestorm of opinion over her fashion faux pa. While Brynne appears less than concerned over the matter, her boobs continue to cause a controversial stir.
Mia Freedman on her webiste, Mama Mia, posted a story by The Age's fashion editor, Janice Breen Burns which explored the prejudice behind big boobed women and their inability to flaunt through fashion like their A and B-cupped counterparts. Janice writes:
"It's double-D cup standard that Susie Elelman,
WIN television presenter and regular butt of public criticism for her own ''fashion faux pas'' knows only too well.'If [Brynne Gordon] were one of those teensy weensy young women in barely a bit of cloth, they'd say, 'Doesn't she look elegant, doesn't she look knockout?' '' Elelman complains. ''I thought she looked elegant; she didn't show anything that was inappropriate. She looked beautiful.
But, I suppose people would expect me to say that."
As a fairly buxom blonde myself, (not that I trot around showing them off in Swarovski-infused underwear) I think it's about time someone gave voice to those big-breasted among us and good on Brynne Gordon for using her actions, rather than her words. As cliche a WAG as she looked, Brynne is being ridiculed for the same crime the little-breasted WAGs get away with every year - wearing a slip of clothing which covers only what is has to and is later deemed as 'elegant'.
For big-breasted women, the situation is not as sheer. When you're carrying around a pair of C or D-cupped boobs beneath your T-shirt, you're going to look like a porn-star no matter what you wear. It's a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation as Brynne clearly discovered. If she had arrived wearing a full-length parachuting jumpsuit, her boobs would have still been big enough to poke out an eye and cause a similar media sensation.
So as someone who often hides her boobs away out of an attempt to minimise wandering eyes, I say, good on you Brynne Gordon for having the confidence and the self-esteem to visually say, "Here are my boobs. If you're going to look at them, you may as well have a damn good look."
(Image Credit: Brynne Gordon at the 2009 Brownlow Medal at Crown Picture: Fiona Hamilton - http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/gallery-fn422eni-1225777750118?page=9)