Style Bust
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American Idol Top 8
13 years ago
Many of the contestants took their performances to another level this week with songs from the 80’s. The mentor was Gwen Stefani and did she look phenomenal, or what? My dear lord. Her and her bassist, and Tony Kanal were an awesome addition to the show. They had some great ideas when it came to the arrangement and they were just super cool. Here’s the breakdown on the performances this week:
DeAndre Brackensick – Yes, yes, yes. First song by him that I actually enjoyed from beginning to end. He covered Debarge’s ‘I Like It.’ A little raspy and low in sections and then he pulled out the falsetto in all the right places. The performance should have been tolerable even for people that generally don’t like him.
Elise Testone – I really wanted to hear her version of ‘Hallelujah.’ I think it would have been sick. We are so used to that song sounding angelic & soft but she could have made it into an awesome rock song with her style. Instead she did Foreigner’s ‘I Want to Know What Love I'” & I think it was slow from the start and hard to get into. The only thing remotely rememberable about the performance was the little run at the end, but even that is not comparable to what the other contestants accomplished this week. Elise is always going to be fighting an uphill battle to get votes. She has got to bring it every week to make it through. I’m thinking this one just wasn’t enough.
Phillip Phillips – ‘That’s All’ by Genesis has such a cool vibe to it. I thought the brother in law on guitar was a nice touch. I have some concerns that he is doing the same thing week after week. It’s not a bad thing, I like him and I won’t get sick of him ever. He’s one of the only contestants that has a clear cut direction, and knows who he is as an artist. But his style is most likely not the best fit for American Idol and his time is more limited than what I want to even think about. I highly doubt he will be leaving the show this week but I have a hunch that he will be encouraged to reach out of his element on next weeks performance to garner support from the masses. Now, if he will listen, who knows? He’s hell bent on staying true to himself, which is great but what would be even better if the show and him could find some happy medium.
Joshua Ledet performed Simply Red’s, ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ and sadly all I can think about is this has already been done before. He does so many traditional songs and unfortunately because of all the music competition shows there are certain songs I don’t need or want to hear anymore. This happened to be one of them. Stefano Langone just did this last season on American Idol. Which even though Joshua’s performance completely out-shined and exceeded anything Stefano did last season, I’m distracted by the past. It’s such a petty thing to complain about but my point is… it’s been done. I can’t sit here and deny his talent but I do not get excited by him. There is something missing for me. The power in his voice is all there but I want more ‘wow’ moments from him like his ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ performance.
Jessica Sanchez – This girl and her alter ego talk about puts me over the edge. But she has such a big voice and performs so well. So, if she insists on accrediting her stage presence to her alter ego, I will just have to deal with it. She did the uptempo ‘I Wanna Know’ by Whitney Houston. Personally I appreciated the change of pace from last week. Definitely not her strongest performance but the constant praise from the judges should put her through to next week. It’s tough for the girls because viewers tend to vote for the guys but I’m really hoping the girls get to stick around this season because the ones that are left are pretty darn good.
Hollie Cavanagh – I wished for something like this performance, a little more movement, energy, some excitement. She performed ‘Flashdance (What A Feeling)’ by Irene Cara. I have a hard time criticizing her because she is putting in the effort. I guess it just seemed so forced. I hope she just gets some sympathy votes because the girl is trying. If she is the one voted out I have a feeling the judges would use their save on her. She has potential, definitely the biggest voice in the competition and deserves to hang around.
Colton Dixon – ‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper seems like an odd pairing but it worked. The harmonies between him and Gwen during rehearsal were to die for, I wanted more of that. Truly the minute they announced what he was performing, I knew it was going to be in the direction of Quietdrive. Their cover is definitely worth checking out here. It used to be one of my favorites. I also thought it was cool that he credited the band for being his inspiration on the song. Very cool, I dug the arrangement and it’s one of my favorite performances from Colton.
Skylar Laine decided it’s power ballad time and performed ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ by Bette Midler. I think this was perfect timing for a ballad. I think her high energy was getting just a tiny bit overwhelming the past couple weeks so slowing it down was smart, really great song choice. I thought it was captivating beginning to end. It showed her vocal range, it was excellent.
The highlights this week have got to be the duets. I enjoyed each and every one of them, I think they showcased the contestants talent, not to mention they were entertaining. The contestants seem much more relaxed, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because the viewers at home at this point are judging their every move. Stand out solo performances I would say; Joshua (even though I really didn’t dig it) and Skylar. My prediction of the bottom three is Hollie, Elise, & DeAndre. I think Phillip is a possibility for bottom three this week, but I’m having a hard time uttering the words (but it’s bound to happen sometime). If you’re going to watch anything from 80’s week just check out the duets, they are pretty darn rocking.
Leave-In Conditioners
13 years ago
Now that summer is coming, it’s a good idea to start taking care of your hair with leave-in conditioners. The sun, heat and pool or ocean water can make your hair look dry and limp.
The following are a few leave-in conditioners I’ve personally tried out, they all left my hair easy to manage, soft to the touch, cut down on the frizz, did not weigh it down and left a very pleasant clean scent.
OuidadMoisture Lock™ Leave-In Conditioner instantly defines and hydrates curls while keeping frizz at bay. Inspired by skincare science, this haircare essential creates a “moisture foundation” by infusing hair with vital conditioning proteins.
This product works is designed for curly or wavy hair, Ouidad has a great selection of products to make curls rock!
Ojon Dry Recovery Revitalizing Moisture Mist
This lightweight mist has the hair-repairing power of Ojon oil, nature’s golden elixir, Blue Agave, lemongrass, and ginseng to instantly revitalize, rehydrate, and detangle hair. It tames frizz and flyaways and makes the perfect prep spray before a blow-out.
Ojon’s Moisture Mist is great for all types of hair, especially before you start your daily styling routine.
Phytomist Instant Hydrating Conditioner
With mist of this spray-on conditioner, color-treated hair’s moisture levels and brilliance are restored. Sunflower extract prevents color from fading by protecting hair against oxidation. Lotus flower hydrates and softens while red algae protects hair from environmental stresses.
While I’m a big fan of Phyto, for some people the smell might be too much. This is one product that’s better to try out first before purchasing. But if you do like the smell, you’ll be rewarded with great results!
Fashion Incubator SF: reignites the fashion industry
13 years ago
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the unveiling of Fashion Incubator San Francisco at Macy’s Union Square, where six carefully selected designers have the opportunity to work in a professional workspace – with all the tools and guidance they’ll need to create a successful clothing line.
It was quite inspiring to walk through the 3,500 square-foot space, touring the designers office spaces, mood boards and their workroom – among fellow bloggers, local designers and members of San Francisco’s fashion community.
Meet this years Designers in Residence:
Tony Sananikone designs both couture and women’s ready-to-wear, focusing on empowerment and beauty.
Bethany Meuleners and Sabah Monsoor Husain work together to create a bohemian-luxe women’s wear collection, with artisan handcrafts and global influences.
Justin designs progressive urban-wear for men, taking inspirations from around the globe and architectural designs.
Tamara Jaric & Paloma Von Broadley
Tamara (left) designs women’s urban outerwear, with couture embellishments. Paloma (right) designs jewelry and women’s wear, embracing “slow fashion” through handmade patterning, sewing and knitting.
*All photos courtesy Fashion Incubator SF
Men Are Rocking Funny T-Shirts
13 years ago
There are quite a few different variations on men’s t-shirt designs; with prints, graphics, slogans, and your average plain tees. If the men out there like making statements with their fashion, then funny t-shirts are a wardrobe must-have. Funny, and pop culture graphic tees are sure to get the men in your life recognized.
T-shirts certainly have come a long way since their humble beginnings, when they used as underwear, never to be seen or noticed. Today men and women alike wear them as part of an outfit, to be seen and be noticed. This piece of clothing has been utilized by many as a form of self-promotion, especially t-shirts with slogans, logos and brand names. They have been used in popular culture, sports and even politics to get a message across. My point is, t-shirts have become a great tool for sending messages about oneself.
UK based Lush T Shirts prides itself on designing and creating some of the best funny t shirts around, with well-known, yet hilarious slogans that will get noticed. Using a variety of colors, fonts and printing techniques they have some designs which really stand out. In both men’s and women’s styles there are hundreds to choose from, in categories such as geek, offensive and tv. Unisex hoodies are available too. Their latest bromance collection is amusing (especially if you watch hit shows like How I Met Your Mother). Shop online today!
Retro Decor For Your Home
13 years ago
Creating a Hollywood Glamour / Mad Men Era / Retro home environment is a great way to add excitement to your home thanks to the bright colors, engaging patterns and the funky feel that are pertinent to the style of the 1960’s. Don’t be shy, show your nostalgia for one of they greatest decades…here are some ideas for how you can get the retro look at home.
Incorporate curved period style furniture into your home. Curved upholstery in bold colors or geographic prints fit right into the 1960’s period design scheme. A curved headboard is a great way to accomplish the 60’s vibe. This bedroom is made complete with the graphic print bedding, side chairs, graphic artworks and honeycomb decorative details.
Add feature furniture to your living room. Buy a retro sofa and side chair that are so brilliant they deserve to be the center of attention. Play down all surrounding decor and furnishing to help ‘feature’ the furniture. Keep walls and rugs neutral in color to complete the look.
Paint walls with bold stripes, creating a two-tone effect using one dramatic hue for pure impact (black and white is solid choice). Finish the look by adding statement decor, and solid color furniture.
Mix and match patterns to successfully complete the vintage family room scheme. Make sure the mix and match color palette is complementary. Geographic prints should be mixed with other graphic prints, stripes and solid colors. While florals should be mixed with other florals, stripes and solids.
Choose large scale floral prints for your walls and fabric. The floral wallpaper effect is best pulled off on high-ceiling rooms because they have more space to display the pattern. Keep color palettes simple in rooms with colorful floral prints.
Give your wall a 3D effect with textured wallpapers. Textures create the perfect amount of stylishness without looking over done. This is my favorite look from the 60’s. Someday my house will be covered with textured walls (and hopefully leather walls).
Incorporate a statement chandelier for the ultimate Hollywood glamour lighting.
To make your home decor interesting, learn about more Hollywood Glamour styles at UKTV and try to reinterpret them with help of modern materials. Or you can do the opposite and try and make modern things look a bit retro!
American Idol Top 9
13 years ago
This week the contestants chose songs from their Idols. I loved seeing Stevie Nicks as the mentor, and getting to hear her sing in the rehearsals just melted my little heart. Anyway, back to the competition, I think it’s always fascinating to see which artists the contestants take on. What they decide to do this week gives us a chance to see what inspires their musical style and the direction that they might take after Idol. And so it begins with…
Colton Dixon – A decent rendition of Lifehouse’s “Everything.” It didn’t blow me away or anything crazy. I’m familiar with Lifehouse, but I’m assuming the general AI audience doesn’t know this song, as I think I’ve only heard it a couple times. What I find most interesting is the buzz going around saying that Idol has encouraged Colton to tone down his religion and yet he still makes it very clear that this is his favorite worship song. I can certainly respect that and think its amazing that he is so open about his faith. Not sure how that translates to a general audience, so we’ll see. With the Tim Tebow-esque ending of the song with him down on both knees, I wanted to hate it but, I felt something real. Colton is the first AI has seen with the Christian-rock music background that I can remember, which is totally cool and could definitely play into his favor.
Skylar Laine – No surprise here that her Idol is Miranda Lambert and she took on “Gun Powder & Lead.” I didn’t think the opening was very strong, I thought it was pitchy. I thought she was drowned out by the background singers and band during the chorus. She does have a lot of energy and I’m sure the live crowd felt that performance way more than we could at home. She did nothing to make this song her own and I was not thrilled by this performance. But she is a great performer and fun to watch. I’m hoping she makes it through to another week.
Heejun Han – Zzzzz … He did Donny Hathaway’s “A Song for You” and this may have been his best vocal performance of the season, but this was a total snoozefest for me.
Hollie Cavanagh – I was surprised that she chose a country artist as her Idol. Her cover of Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take The Wheel” was underwhelming and unusually pitchy for Hollie. They finally dressed her a little better so she has that going for her. The snow was slightly ridiculous, I get that the idea behind the song is the girl driving on an icy road, but I could definitely do without the snow. I live in the midwest, it’s the end of March, I’m over the snow, come on.
DeAndre Brackensick – I was looking forward to this because I think he had a lot of potential with Eric Benet. I had to go back and listen to the original “Sometimes I Cry” track because I don’t remember Eric Benet ever overwhelming me with his falsetto. I don’t need a falsetto throughout a whole entire song. And after awhile it starts to lose it’s value for me. When I hear it I want to feel like I’m hearing something special. DeAndre has got to be the most frustrating artist for me to watch in this competition. It’s like I hear these crazy beautiful notes come from him & sometimes they are truly unbelievable. I just think this kid hasn’t found his niche. I think he went a step in the right direction this week but he’s still lost, and sadly I don’t think he’s going to find himself before the competition ends.
Jessica Sanchez – She belts out Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams”. She talks about Beyonce’s alter ego and divulges the information that she has her own; B.B. Chez? Ooook girl, whatever you say.
Phillip Phillips – Cannot even begin to say how ridiculously happy I am that he did not go through with a DMB song because that was all the predictions for him this week. Jonny Lang is one of my favorite artists of all time so I was super stoked to see Phillip take this on. The arrangement of the song left something to be desired. I have a hard time objectively critiquing Phillip because I am completely enamored with him. When he takes the stage, I feel him. His voice & style was perfect for this song but the arrangement warped this into more of a pop song. The original has the coolest piano runs & fills and that was lacking in this performance. So I was turned off by the way the track was arranged for Idol. I also want to see him do more with his guitar, if I don’t see any exciting guitar licks that show he can play, whats the point in him having it? I don’t know at the end of the day there is nothing this kid could do to disappoint me. I just adore and love him.
Joshua Ledet – He took on the giant, Mariah Carey and sang “Without You.” I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was flawless like the judges did. If anybody saw Kelly Clarkson from Season 1 belt this out, they wouldn’t be too impressed with Joshua’s performance. But maybe that’s just my personal opinion. When I floated around the web today to find the video to his performance I saw nothing but incredible feedback, that people were moved to tears. So good for him, maybe he’s just not my cup of tea. I couldn’t find his live performance on Youtube, but I have attached a studio version, which I am still on the fence about, I don’t know… you can tell me what you think about him.
Elise Testone – My girl Haley Reinhart was the first girl to bring Zeppelin to the Idol stage. Elise performed “Whole Lotta Love” and this was completely unexpected from her, I didn’t see it coming. I just feel like this girl is not that likable on stage. If I put on her track and don’t watch the actual performance, I totally dig it. I can’t deny that she was bringing it and she did a great job with the song. I’m not convinced it was her idea to pull the Zepp card, she said she performs it with her band, but she didn’t do anything with the performance to make me believe Zeppelin is her Idol. But either way she had a performance that was captivating, rocking and should keep her around for another week.
I really was into the group performances this week. I think Hollie excelled with the Madonna material. It would have been so much cooler this week if she did a Madonna song as her Idol choice, that would have thrown everyone off. It would have been edgy & it would have quickly changed her from boring old Pia Toscano… er, I mean Hollie to a potential contender. But that’s just a random thought I felt like throwing out.
The must see performances this week are, Elise Testone & Phillip Phillips. Nothing else, I don’t know why the judges gave five standing ovations. The bottom 3 is a bit hard. I’m going to make the strong assumption that Heejun Han is in the bottom three and out of the competition this week. Joining him in the bottom three should be DeAndre Brackensick & Skylar Laine.
Cold shoulders Spring 2012
13 years ago
As we all know, Spring weather can be unpredictable – which makes getting dressed in the morning a little tricky. But there is a trend that I’m seeing a lot of this Spring that seems to make sense (if you aren’t planning on rushing from place to place). Jackets draped over the shoulders – perfect for those days when you’re not in need of complete warmth of a jacket, but want one with for later.
I love this look – classic and polished, yet cool and nonchalant. This season we’re seeing all sorts of jackets draped over the shoulders; leather biker jackets, pea coats and blazers paired with skinny denim, tuxedo pants and even shorts. Think of it as a trendy version of something great aunt Eleanore might wear. And for those of you who love layering – this is the perfect way to add another layer of dimension to your outfit.
Yes, this trend looks cool – but it can be a little fussy (there’s an awkward balancing act that goes on with your shoulders). Try out this trend while strolling around town, and be sure to carry a clutch or top handle bag – a bag with a long strap will just get in the way.
*Photos via Street Peeper
Choosing The Right Cocktail Dress
13 years ago
This season cocktail dresses have once again been given a makeover and there are plenty of styles to choose from that will help you to stand out from the crowd. Here’s a quick lowdown on the biggest styles of the season.
Lace is hot this season with various different styles on offer. First of all there’s the classic, fine lace that’s timeless and on the other hand there’s rough and raw lace with larger mesh designs. Cocktail dresses this season will come with lace panels; pretty designs will cover an open back or a side opening. Some dresses will come with a complete lace overlay and the main colour choices will be soft creams and brooding black lace.
Gold is often given an unfair appraisal as being tacky, but this season it’s all about gold in a variety of styles. Antique gold will be an excellent accent to the pretty lace designs making a comeback, with golden studding making for a sexy, rock chick style. Meanwhile shimmering sequins and chainmail inspired pieces will add to a futuristic style.
Cocktail dresses on the catwalks for Spring/Summer 2012 and Fall 2012 are already looking to the future and it’s going to be an explosion of (fake) feathers and fur. Super short dresses will be fully feathered up or with feather hemlines. Accompany yours with a long fur (fake, of course) coat and wrap up against the inevitable cold that will be here before you know it.
Dresses will be arriving in a variety of styles, but they’ll also be coming in a variety of lengths. This year it’s a year of extremes, either super long or super short. But some designers are going one better with a hem that’s short at the front before falling into a floaty tail longer style at the back. The choice is yours!
You can find both simple, affordable and on-trend, high fashion dresses at Matalan.co.uk. They stock everything from knitted dresses, to maxis, cocktail dresses and summer dresses. All are available online with next day delivery if you order before 5pm!