The best Rachel Zoe parody ever

I've been having a hell of a time trying to watch the new season of The Rachel Zoe Project. The new season is only airing in the U.S. and is not available on iTunes Canada. Therefore I have had to resort to more sinister means of acquiring the series. You all know what I mean. And in the process, my poor computer has come in contact with several viruses, some of which are still lingering. But it's all worth it because I finally discovered how to get the show.

This season is really different from the last one; Rachel has moved her studio to a loft, there are a lot more employees, Taylor and Brad actually get along and there is even more drama.

But I think I have found my new favourite pastime: watching Rachel Zoe parodies.

Comedian Beth Crosby writes, produces and stars in The Rachel Zoe Project Parody and she is brilliant. She enunciates "may-jor" with the right Zoe flair, she wears the huge sunnies and she even bats her eyelashes in the exact same way Zoe does.

The people who play Taylor and Brad are also hilarious; "Brad" has an awesome meltdown and Taylor feigns disinterest at everything.

Watch it!

Pretty young things

I'm sure most of you have seen the cover of I-D's Sept. issue starring Chanel Iman, Sessilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Arlenis Sosa. But since we don't see covers featuring black models often, I wanted to post the cover here.

And WHAT a cover it is! i-D's covers are usually really saucy, with models winking and giving smoldering looks. This one is no exception.

The colours really catch my eye. I love the metallic makeup on the models' skin contrasted with the graffiti background. It's such a sexy cover.

I haven't bought the issue yet so I don't know what's inside or whether the girls give interviews (I hope they do) but the cover alone makes me want to buy it.

i-D usually has that effect on me; the covers always lure me in. Like this one. Models winking! They get me everytime!





So here is a behind-the-scenes video of the girls at the i-D shoot:

The devil she doth appear

I just watched the Anna Wintour interview for 60 Minutes and it left me a little disappointed.

We see very little of Anna's creative process is making Vogue or her opinion of style and the recession.

What really comes through is how much of an influence she is in the creative process of all designers.

We see how she tells designers what colours to use for their collections (Dolce and Gabbana); we see how she picks which designers get to head which labels (John Galliano for Dior) and her complete power over new designers by featuring them in her magazine (Alexander Wang.)

It makes you realize that Anna Wintour really does control a lot of the fashion industry in all aspects. All designers owe their jobs to her and in return she controls them. Even Balenciaga creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere is scared of her!

It made me wonder whether that is really good for the fashion industry; the fact that this one person has so much power and is able to dictate her opinion to everyone and they obey.

But anyway, it was still fascinating to watch her. This woman scares me and I love her.

Here is the video:


Watch CBS Videos Online

Watch outtakes here.

We are not worthy!

"Vogue is the best of everything that fashion can offer...we are a glamorous girlfriend." - Anna Wintour.

60 Minutes is airing an Anna Wintour special this weekend and they have released a sneak-peek of what's in store for us.

The clip shows Anna conducting a staff meeting, editing layouts and photos, choosing clothes for photo shoots and talking about how the magazine is dealing with the recession. The best part is when she sternly tells a Vogue staffer to "keep thinking."

I cannot stress how excited I am see this. I would be her foot stool just to have the honour to be in her presence.

Natalia and Carine on CNN

As you know, Natalia Vodianova is one of my all-time favourite models. I love the way shes comes alive in front of a camera. She has this soft, innocence about her but there is wisdom there as well.

And her life story (at 25 years old) is pretty incredible; she's a real-life Cinderella who was one day selling fruit in her native Russia and within a year, after arriving in Paris at 17, was one of the hottest models in the business.

She also snagged her very own Prince Charming; she married Justin Portman, a British real-estate heir. The couple have three children together.

Yet still after all the incredible changes her life has gone through, Natalia remains very down-to-earth and sweet-natured. She's not a diva at all despite her success.

She appears on the cover of this month's UK Vogue as part of their Body Issue.

CNN ran a feature on her where she takes us to Moscow with her family and shows us her favourite spots to hang out. You actually learn a lot about Russian culture and traditions from her; she's really knowledgeable about her country which is refreshing.

One of my favourite parts is when she pulls out a pink t-shirt with flowers surrounding a portrait of Vladmir Putin and giggles saying "A very important man."

P.S. Not sure why some of the videos are showing double. I tried to sub in YouTube vids instead but they aren't showing up. So please excuse my poor knowledge of HTML!

Part One:



Part Two




CNN also did a feature on legendary French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld. There's only one thing that I thought of while watching her: Fabulous. See for yourself!

Part one:



Part two:



Part three:

Inside the Met ball

Style.com posted this great video of the "Model as Muse" party at the Met. They interview everyone from Marc Jacobs, Kate Moss, Anne Hathaway, Gisele Bundchen, Victoria Beckham, Leighton Meester and tons more. The most common question asked is "Who was your model muse growing up?" and many of them chose Kate as their inspirations but others named Lauren Hutton, Stephanie Seymour (who was apparently the inspiration for Anne Hathway's poofy hair), Twiggy and Cindy Crawford.

Great moments:

- Seeing the dresses up close. It made me fall even more in love with Kate's Marc Jacobs dress and turban.

- Kate Hudson's husky voice.

- Kiefer Sutherland and Brooke Shields interviewed (separately) hours before the story broke that Sutherland allegedly head-butted Proenza Schouler designer Jack McCollough over Shields. I tried to see whether Kiefer was drunk but I couldn't tell.

- Victoria Beckham posing her ass off hoping that Anna Wintour will see and give her a Vogue cover.

- Josh Hartnett declaring his boyhood crush on Heidi Klum.

- Anne Hathaway trying to justify her ugly big hair.

A model roundtable of delights

This video is a treat to watch. In tribute of Vogue's model issue, the magazine gathered a bunch of models (and supermodels) at a table to talk about modeling; how it has changed, what they like about the job and their frustrations with the industry.

My facourite part is hearing Iman's delicious voice talk about how her favourite career moment was being the African Queen muse for Yves Saint Laurent. Other interesting tidbits include Caroline Trentini admitting she has insecurities about her body; 16-year-old Karlie Kloss' frustrations with being a "blank slate" and Naomi Campbell being, well, Naomi Campbell.

Please watch:

Would this be considered torture?

The VIP members only Pirelli Calendar has just come out and it features old pros like Daria Werbowy and Isabeli Fontana posing nude and smoking cigarettes alongside wild animals. As if posing with potentially dangerous animals who could trample your head at any second isn't scary enough, the girls had to pose with humongous scary bugs on their face.
See here:
That's Isabeli Fontana, one of the world's top models, crying. Now this made me think, what if, at your job, the boss told you to put a potentially harmful bug on your face or dance around with mammoth-sized, head-crushing elephants? You would say no, right? Ok, I know that that probably wouldn't happen in the office, but you get the idea: Sometimes you get asked to do ridiculous things at work that could be borderline illegal/inhumane.

But models have to put up with a lot of crazy requests and can't really say no because they need to make money or be in a "prestigious" calendar. Where is the models union when they need one? Should there be a limit on what models can be asked to do? Who's standing up for their rights?
The thing about models is that if they get really hurt, their modeling career could be over. Or if they take a long time to heal, they could miss fashion weeks, ad campaigns, editorials; opportunities for their face to be seen. If they are out of circulation, they might not be in demand next season.

"Tatiana the anonymous model" over at Jezebel wrote a great piece (which I can't find anymore) about models' rights (or lack of.) She says that sometimes models go through excruciating pain just so that photographers can get a pretty photo. Her example is her model roommate who had to put shards of glass on her eyelids and eat sand for a photoshoot and ended up vomiting the whole night. If one of us non-models were vomiting from work, I think we would do something about it. But models can't.

Here's a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the calendar where you can see Isabeli crying and the fear in the models' eyes as they frolic with elephants and dead birds.

Falling down at Prada

Remember at the Prada S/S 09 show the big kafuffle over the models falling down in those impossibly high and impractical shoes?

Here's a great Fashion Television clip that shows the models tripping and falling. I wonder how many careers were ruined that night?

The reactions to the show are really funny and varied from "I felt sorry for the models" to "that's the price you pay for being a supermodel."

Model.Live episode 10 recap

On this week's Model.live...


The girls are finishing up Paris Fashion Week and IMG is deciding whether they have what it takes to be long-term successful models.

Madeline books one show - she closes for Manish Arora and looks beautiful. But even though she finally got to walk on the runway, she still doesn't feel confident about her abilities to be a model. So she decides to let her hair grow out. I guess all those nasty comments from casting directors finally got to her.

Meanwhile IMG is deciding whether Austria should take a year off to grow up and mature a little bit. But Austria shows surprising conviction that she wants to still be a model and refuses to go back home to her "old life and friends." I think the girl just needs to clean up a bit- put on some makeup and smile with confidence. She seemed lackluster at castings and didn't show much personality. She ends up booking one show at Paris Fashion Week.

Cato was clearly the most successful of three, having walked for major shows such as Prada, Dolce and Gabanna and Louis Vuitton. But she is aware that this could all be over tomorrow so she revels in her success.

This episode really highlighted the fact that models have to work very hard to get to the top, but it's even harder to stay there. It also shows how precarious their jobs are. They are expected not only to book shows but to book editorials, then campaigns and then long-term contracts. It's a never-ending job and I feel for them; especially the young ones.

Next week: Life after Fashion Week

Model.Live episode 9 recap

The girls are in Paris for Fashion Week. For Madeline and Austria, this is a crucial time because they didn't get casted in Milan and are hoping to ramp up their careers in the fashion capital of the world. Cato has it so easy because she has "the look."

I guess black women and short hair are out in Paris too because Austria and Madeline just can't get a break. Austria is coached by IMG to act confident when meeting casting directors. They must be getting worried because Austria looks tired and haggard; not very attractive to designers.

The girl sits there mutely and tries to comprehend what is going on; if she doesn't get casted for shows, she doesn't get paid which means she can't pay IMG which means she will be in a lot of debt. Her manager muses that she might be a bit young to handle all this but defends IMG by saying that the girls aren't forced to work in the "model army." Austria realizes that she is on a short leash but looks too tired to care.

Madeline on the other hand is trying her hardest to impress the casting directors. She jokes around with them, gives them hugs and acts happy and confident. She feels like Paris will be her break because she has been here before and knows people.

Unfortunately even though the designers like her and act really friends, she doesn't get cast for any shows. This often happens in fashion; a girl might be gorgeous but if she doesn't fit in with the show's "look" of the season (it changes all the time. Short hair is in one season and out the next) then she won't get booked.

Poor Madeline tries on seven dresses for Fatima Lopes and still doesn't get booked. And even though she "looked gorgeous" at Vivienne Westwood and Issey Miyake, they don't book her either.

This is one of the frustrations of being a new model because there isn't much they can do when they don't fit the vision of a casting director. Madeline cries a few times in frustration and says "Everybody's so sorry, and they love me, but everyone wants Cato." My heart. It breaks.
But at least she gets to do an editorial shoot.

Cato has a pretty easy time; she books a show and gets to see her boyfriend. Life is so easy isn't it Cato?

Next week will show how the rest of Paris Fashion Week shapes up for the trio: Will Cato book a big show? Will Austria and Madeline book any?

Sasha Baron Cohen storms Milan runway

Sasha Baron Cohen caused a panic when he leap on the runway at the Agatha Ruiz de la Prada show in Milan. Apparently he was playing his character Bruno for his new movie Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male.

Can you imagine what the pandemonium it would have caused had this been a huge show like Prada or Gucci? I would love to see Anna Wintour's horrified face.

I love what he's wearing: a mixture of MK Olsen and disowned royal. And look at the expression on his face! Zoolander! God, this guy has guts. Fashion Week definitely needs some humour in it.

He looks like the evil queen in Snow White. I die for that cape.

Update: Now with video!



(Photo: Getty Images, Reuters)

Model.Live episode 7 recap

On this episode of Model.Live, the girls are headed straight to London for Fashion Week, with barely enough time to recuperate from the New York shows. Did I say "the girls"? Well only two of them made it into the UK. Madeline isn't allowed to board the plane when it's discovered that her work visa isn't stamped. She tells her agency that she kept the visa in a safe place because that's what the instructions said. She didn't know that she was supposed to get it stamped. I feel for her. Why didn't IMG tell her? Why didn't anyone tell her? The guy at the agency gets defensive and puts the blame on her saying: "You traveled all over the world..." as if she should have known better. And she's paying them too. I shake my head.

But for Cato and Austra, the show(s) must go on! Both girls seem exhausted. Austria spends most of her time sleeping in the car that's supposed to take her to castings but the driver gets them lost and she misses crucial casting opportunities. No one, not even her mother agent seems to know where they are supposed to be going, and he makes Austria take down instructions even though the girl struggles with English.

Cato shows her weariness by lashing out at the camera, telling them not to film her as she freaks out about how much work she has to do in a day.

In the end, it's worth it. Cato walks for 10 shows and Austria does three. But their agency says this is just the beginning for the girls. There's still Milan and then Paris. Let's hope the girls can stay awake long enough.

Did Coco Rocha wear my hair?

Style.com has this awesome video of Coco Rocha backstage at Matthew Williamson talking about her "model secrets." These little tidbits include: Where models hide from photographers/videographers, what to say to a casting agent who hasn't had his caffeine fix and how they get all that gorgeous hair. Apparently their extensions are real hair, meaning that if you have recently cut off long locks of hair and donated it, it could be on the head of your favorite model right now.

Coco Rocha shows us her faces

Thought Tyra's seven ways to smile was great modeling? Think again. Coco Rocha shows us all the poses she can think of in 38 seconds for New York magazine. And this is just off the top of her head. The girl is a natural.

t.A.T.u. for Marc Jacobs. What the?

Marc Jacobs advertisements are known for being unconventional, a bit weird and for featuring models and celebrities who are not the prettiest of the bunch. But this bit of news is still baffling. Word is that the fake lesbian pop duo t.A.T.u. are the new faces of the Marc Jacobs F/W campaign. Do people even remember them? I thought that one of the chicks for knocked up. But I'm sure Marc Jacobs photographer Juergen Teller will be able to come up with amazing photos. I trust in Marc.

Here's a behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot:

The Rachel Zoe Project: A reality show I actually want to watch

Rachel Zoe has been given a lot of flack for her appearance (ahem, Perez Hilton) but the woman sure knows how to dress celebrities, and they don't all wear Nicole Richie sacks.
The celeb stylist has a new reality show premiering on Bravo on Sept. 8 called The Rachel Zoe Project, where the cameras follow her around as she dresses her clients, picks out dresses, shoes, handbags and jewelry and baby-talks to her husband, Rodger.
Initially I was hesitant about this show because I've heard so much negative comments about Zoe's personality (she's a crazy, mean bitch, allegedly), and I was never into the bug-eye glasses, sack dresses and leggings as seen on Zoe clones Nicole, Lindsay and Mischa. But she also dresses Joy Bryant who always looks effortlessly beautiful as well as Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Garner, and those ladies always look chic and confident.

The preview for the show has me hooked. Not only does it feature fabulous people such as Peter Som, Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen, but Zoe is actually a likable person. She seems...human! Her love of fashion is endearing and cute to watch as she gasps over finding a gorgeous ring or giggling over a too-tight dress. I think many women will be able to relate to her, and if not, at least be able to ogle mega celebrities and gorgeous clothes.
And if you don't like Zoe, her airtime is shared with her two assistants, Taylor and the Ralph Lauren-loving Brad who bicker like school girls and get to do glamorous tasks such as find the right shade of nipple covers.
It's funny, it's cute, it's got fabulous clothes and cool characters. Watch it.

Click on the image for the 20-minute preview:

James Franco is sexy

James is the unlikely star of the Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme ad and he looks damn fine doing it. I especially love the way he fits in that suit. It makes me tingle. Down there. It's refreshing to see him look all brooding when I last saw him a couple days ago as a lovable but dirty stoner in Pineapple Express. Perhaps he could be the next Bond after Daniel Craig fulfills his duties. Mmmm. Daniel Craig.

The ANTM tranny talks

Yesterday when I heard that the new season/cycle of America's Next Top Model has a transgendered contestant I thought "Thank God. Finally the show will get interesting." The last, oh, eight seasons have bored me. Bring back the Evas, Brittanys and all the other crazy bitches. Isis was born male but feels that she was "born in the wrong body." She looks pretty enough but when she talks, it is pretty obvious that this chick is a dude. I cannot wait for the ensuing drama. Tyra sure knows how to pick 'em.

Ever wondered what it's like to be a costume designer?

Michael Wilkinson is the costume designer for the new movie Watchmen which looks freaking amazing. The movie is based on the graphic novel which explores the meaning of what it means to be a "super hero," the end of the world and the deteriorating morals of mankind.
The video clip shows costume sketches, the warehouse that holds all of the clothes, the research, the decisions on how they chose the fabrics and colours and tons of behind-the-scenes set action.