Buy a piece of Zoe

If you've been a follower of this blog than you know that I am a huge fan of Rachel Zoe and her show The Rachel Zoe Project which I am happy to say is renewed for a second season.
If you watched the show you would remember that Zoe said she thinking about starting her own line of clothes and accessories. This was more than a year ago and I never heard a whisper about this actually coming to fruition. Until now!
People magazine has confirmed with Zoe that she is working on her own affordable fashion line which includes clothes, jewelry, bags and fragrances. Details about the line is still secret but I really hope that it reflects her style: glamorous and fun. Her motto is all about dressing up everyday even if you're just going to work or to a casual lunch; it's all about having a red carpet moment.
I really hope she does shoes because her taste in footwear is amazing; always super high heels (at least 5 inches) that really stand out.
For clothes I hope she does a mix of fun Cali wear like flirty dresses but also tailored suits that you can wear to work or to a party.

But my question to you is: Would you buy from the Rachel Zoe fashion line?

There are a lot of people who don't like her style specifically the bug sunnies, the leggings, the platforms and the flowy shirts; but Rachel understands that women have all kinds of body shapes and she doesn't dress her clients in just one style.

So I'm excited to see what she comes up with.

In other Zoe news, she is selling off a ton of her own jewelry on ebay and on the Decades Two website; so if you saw a cuff or huge ring you loved on the show it might be up for grabs. Check out the auction here. This could be your only chance to own a piece of Zoe!

Here are some of my favourite pieces up for auction:


Beaded cuff

Glass blue cuff

Chandelier necklace


Fringe choker necklace
Pearl cuff

Resin cuff
Snake cuff

In an artsy mood

Even though I haven't moved out yet, and haven't even picked out an apartment, I am planning the art that's going up on the walls.

I've become obsessed with comic books the last couple of months; graphic novels like Fables, Y: The Last Man, V for Vendetta, Batman and Watchmen have captured my imagination.

But Fables, specifically their covers, have really caught my attention. Artist James Jean draws fantastically beautiful art for the cover of Fables. You may recognize his name because he drew the haunting nymph/fairies from the Prada S/S 08 collection.
His drawings evoke feelings of pleasure, fantasy and danger.

Look at these:




While many comic book covers are very straight-forward and cartoonish; Jean's covers are intelligent and thought-provoking; you have to look closely to see all the details and the full story.

These are some of my favourite which I plan on putting up in my future apartment:

This is probably my favourite cover. I love the soft colours combined with Cinderella's sex appeal and her fatalness. It's just a sexy drawing.

My second favourite cover is called "Suffer Not." The drawing shoes Hansel (of Hansel and Gretel fame) drowning two so-called witches. The image is so powerful to me because it is frightning. It makes me uncomfortable to look at because it is at once a beautiful drawing but it depicts murder. I love that.

A noose, a flying monkey and a soldier's helmet. What's going on in this drawing? If you've read the story you would know, but on its own, it's a mystery. I like the sense of lonliness and isolation I get when I look at it.

I just really like the wolf in this picture. It's a bit Asian in the drawing with the long, curvy brushstrokes and the green eyes.

Kick ass women in revealing dresses trying to kill each other? What's not to love?

I am a huge fan of Scheherazade's One Thousand and One Nights, so this genie drawing really excites me because it evokes all of those ancient stories of Aladin and his magic lamp.


Since I'm a huge Watchmen fan, I was so excited when I learned that Jean painted a portrait of Sally Jupiter that was used in the movie (it can be seen in the Comedian's room.)

I was even more excited when I learned that I could buy a print replica of it. And so I did. Along with a beautiful alien-like Christmas print.

Here they are:

It's done in the 50's pin-up girl style. You can buy it here.


I'm attracted to this drawing because there are many elements which I love about it. First of all, it's about Christmas which is my favourite time of the year, and secondly, it has weird alien-like beings in it. That combimation makes it awesome. You can buy it here.

Anyways I'm really excited to frame them and hang them up. Once I get that apartment of course.

My favourite movie costumes

I've been watching a lot of movies lately; mostly period pieces such as Atonement, Brideshead Revisited (and for the record, it is excellent) and Pride and Prejudice. I realized that a lot of their allure has to do with the costumes and that I am a huge fan of clothing from the 20s and 30s.
If I hadn't chosen journalism as my profession, I think I would have liked to be a costume designer for movies (If I had the talent of course.)

My mother bought me the book Dressing a Galaxy last Christmas. It provides the history of all of the costumes used in the Star Wars trilogy (the new one) which I find fascinating. It made me appreciate how much work goes into picking costumes for actors; and not just the leads, but for the potentially dozens or hundreds of extras. It made me realize that the costume could make or break the experience for a viewer. If the costume fits; the viewer will believe the actor playing a character and will be transported to that world. But if the costume doesn't work; then the whole movie fails.

I picked out a few movies which I enjoy and happen to have my favourite costumes.
In no particular order:

1. Marie Antoinette
I think that the main reason I love this movie is solely based on the costumes. They are so extravagant and regal that I could just stare at them for hours. They really transport me back in time to 18th century France.

2. The Duchess

I posted about this movie a while ago before I saw the movie because I was excited about the costumes. Watching the movie made me love the costumes even more when they came to life. It's probably no coincidence that the time period is exactly the same as Marie Atoinette so many of Keira Knightley's dresses are in the same style as France's queen; however there are several clothes, such as the one pictured, which are more masculine. The tailoring and the details are exquisite.

3. Pride and Prejudice
Right now this is my favourite movie. The beautiful piano music, the lush scenery, the obvious love between the cast and of course, the costumes, make it a joy to watch.
Keira's Elizabeth Bennett wears simple yet elegant dresses. They are very floaty and look comfortable to wear. Very pretty. And I love Mr. Darcy's high collared and stiff coats.

4. Vertigo
I love Hitchcock films but I think Vertigo is in my top three. I love this suit. I love how it flatters Kim Novak's hourglass figure, I love the neckline and the front pockets. It's formal but sexy.

5. The Devil Wears Prada
This is an obvious one. There is so much eye candy in this movie. Costume designer Patricia Field could have gone really crazy a la Carrie Bradshaw here and thank God she didn't. This is my favourite outfit in the movie. Those high leather boots and that schoolboy blazer make me die.

6. The Great Race
I just bought this on DVD because I haven't seen it for 10 years and I remember how much it used to make me laugh. But now I can appreciate the clothes! Natalie Wood makes many costume changes; from equestrian to outrageous ball gowns; it's a real treat to watch.
Tony Curtis' 'The Great Leslie' also has great sartorial moments with white suits.

7. The Godfather

Ok I'm just going to come out and say it: Michael Corleone looks damn hot in this suit.

8. Gattaca
The characters in this movie aren't supposed to be fashionistas; they're all trying to fit in and look the same and so the costumer put them in black suits for the men, and high-collared, black jackets and pants for the women. These clothes only enhanced the emotions of the movie and the characters; very stiff, formal and clone-like on the outside, but really they are putting on a mask. Love this movie.

9. Casino
Al Pacino's Sam Rothstein stole the show. Correction: his clothes stole the show. He got to wear very flamboyant suits; lots of bright colours like pink and yellow; stripes and checkers. It was really fun just watching all the cool suits he got to wear.

10. Titanic
Say what you will about the film but Rose got to wear freaking awesome clothes, even if she could barely breathe in them. This one is my favourite. I love the buttons and the diagonal cut of the skirt. It's a little nautical but completely regal. Love the hat.

11. Brideshead Revisited (The TV series and the movie)


Before I saw this movie I blogged about my excitement over the costumes. I just finished watching Brideshead Revisited the movie and I loved it. It's hard to watch it without comparing it to the much-beloved mini-series, but it definitely suceeded. And the costumes are gorgeous. The movie went all out with exotic clothing for Julia Flyte (see the Oriental dress) and put religious Lady Marchmain in furs. Sebastian in both the TV series and the movie is always wearing a well-cut suit with a dash of something saucy- whether it be a spotted scarf, a colourful tie or a flower in his breast pocket. Charles Ryder wears beautiful suits; very English and very proper.

Cheers to beautiful movies!

Can I wear these to work?

I bought these shoes from Aldo a few weeks ago because I've been obsessing over those Balmain studded leather ones from last season.
They're perfect because they go with everything; skinny jeans and a casual tee and any kind of dress. Day or night you can rock these heels.
But my question to myself is: Can I wear these to work? When I showed them to my sister she immediately proclaimed that they were "hooker heels." Her words, not mine. Which led me to second-guess my idea of wearing them to work.
When I dress for work I don't have an exact formula in my mind or a standard uniform; I pretty much wear what I feel like in that moment and I'm usually too tired to try hard. I don't care if I don't match or if my heels are too tall or if I wear a large sweater. I like to mix it up a bit with cool jewelry, tartan heels, schoolboy blazers and I like experimenting with length and volume. So if I'm wearing tight pants then I'll pair it with a loose tee. I also don't like to stand out a lot and I think these shoes might stand out. Just a bit. But will my co-workers think that I'm wearing "hooker heels"? Damnit, now my sister has me quite petrified that I will be labeled the office ho. My nickname will be "Hooker Chloe" or "Hot Heeled Chloe" or something equally embarrassing.

Which leads me to think about what is appropriate to wear to the office. There are a lot of women and some men in my office who dress well but none of them take chances with their clothes or accessories. But maybe I shouldn't judge; it's not like we're working at a fashion magazine. Still, is it taboo to wear something flashy to work? Are women too scared to wear their hooker heels in the office for fear of being labeled a trollop? Maybe it is inappropriate?
But I'm not talking about dressing like you're about to go clubbing. I'm talking about wearing something unexpected like my shoes, or a jacket with big shoulders or neon pink harem pants. Just for fun. Just to challenge yourself and defy the expected way of dressing for work.

I haven't worked up the nerve to wear something unexpected and maybe it's not appropriate for an office that is non-fashion related. But maybe one day I will get the courage to wear my fabulous shoes to work and not be scared of what people will think.

It's been a while

I decided to take a break from writing on this blog because a lot of things were going on in my life that were keeping me very busy and preventing me from being inspired to write about fashion.

But it's been a while and I think I'm ready to start again and I'm regaining my excitement about fashion which means I will be posting again (hopefully) regularly.

To tell the truth I think I became a bit disillusioned about fashion and what it meant to me. I wasn't as excited about it and I felt I had nothing new to comment about. That and I've become obsessed with comics lately and I can't stop reading them and reading about them so fashion has been put on the back burner.

But in recent news, my Valentino interview was published in the Winter issue of Naked Eye magazine so grab a copy and check it out.

I've been pouring over the photos of the F/W 09 collections and I have to say that I am so over the 80s revival. 80s fashion was bad enough for a whole decade so why is it coming back? We don't need any Dynasty clones walking around.

Thankfully Paris did it (mostly) right with minimal 80s throwbacks. Loved McQueen, Givenchy, Lagerfeld and Margiela.

I spent way too much money on magazines yesterday and now have the whole weekend to drool at the photos of Lara Stone in Paris Vogue and Emily Blunt in British Harper's Bazaar. I love the clothes from the S/S 09 collections. I want to frame every photo in Paris Vogue; they are so beautiful. Peter Lindbergh's portraits of Lara are haunting. Makes me want to buy two copies so I can rip out the photos of one and put them up on my walls, and keep another pristine issue.

I've been trying to cut back on spending since I'm saving up for an apartment but it's hard. Whenever I walk past a store I see something that I must get like a giant black cocktail ring or a pair of snakeskin heels. I have to keep saying to myself that I don't need that black jacket with the diagonal zipper and I don't really need another schoolboy blazer. But it's hard.

I'm going to leave you with the Lindbergh photos of Lara. They inspired me to start blogging about fashion again.

What's wrong with Vogue?

One of my favourite fashion critics, New York Times writer Cathy Horyn, wrote a scathing piece on Vogue magazine that will likely make Anna Wintour bite her head off. In What's Wrong With Vogue? Cathy criticizes the magazine for being too compromised by their advertisers to leave room for critical analysis of fashion.

She writes:

"Vogue has become stale and predictable, and it has happened in spite of some of the best editors, writers and photographers in the business.

There are too many stories about socialites — or, at any rate, too few such stories that sufficiently demonstrate why we should care about these creatures. What once felt like a jolly skip through Bergdorf now feels like an intravenous feed. To read Vogue in recent years is to wonder about the peculiar fascination for the ‘villa in Tuscany’ story. Ditto staff-member accounts of spa treatments and haircuts.

It’s embarrassing to see how Vogue deals with the recession. For the December issue, it sent a writer off to discover the 'charms' of Wal-Mart and Target."

I have been a subscriber of American Vogue for two years now and I have noticed that in the past year the issues have become boring, predictable and unimaginative. It has nothing on the titillating French Vogue.

Editorials have the same photographers and models, wearing the same (advertisers') clothes. It makes for boring and repetitive photography.

And the articles...well their attempt at covering the anorexic crisis was pitiful at best; coming up with no answers and unaware of their own hypocrisy of fueling bad body image.

The same "house in the hamptons" article appears in every issue. Boring!

And I just skip over their beauty section because I can't relate to any of the issues (botox gone wrong, creepy laser treatments) and I'm sure most women who read the magazine can't relate either.

Let's face it: American Vogue has become irrelevant to women of this generation. We deserve more from a magazine which used to define the word groundbreaking.


Jezebel also has a great post about Cathy's article from a model's point of view.

Romeo and Coco

I always look forward to the December issue of Vogue because they usually include a fairy tale editorial (ie. Alice in Wonderland) filled with beautiful costumes, a large cast that includes actors or designers, and a romantic setting. This year they went with Romeo and Juliet, starring model Coco Rocha as Juliet and dancer Roberto Bolle as Romeo. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the photos are very romantic with soft lighting, thick tapestries, draped flowers, haunting stone sets and gorgeous long gowns by Christian Lacroix, Nina Ricci, Alexander McQueen and Vera Wang. Actors John Lithgow and Estelle Parsons play Friar Laurence and the Nurse, respectivelly.

I love Coco's expressions; this woman should be an actress. You can see the angst, the longing, the passion and the pain on her face. She makes me want to fall in love with someone forbidden.



Prince: A glooming peace this morning with it brings,/The sun for sorrow will not show his head./Go hence to have more talk of these sad things;/Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:/For never was there a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. (Act V, Sc. 3)

(Photos: Vogue)

Obsessed with Boyd

Boyd Holbrook is a model who made his acting debut in Milk. I'm usually not into blondes but I think I can make an exception this time. I don't know what it is, maybe it's a phase, but I am finding myself attracted to men who look really young (ahem, Rob Pattinson) although Boyd is actually three years older than me.
A little info on Boyd:
- Discovered while working as a carpenter at a theater
- Signed with Wilhelmina Models
- Steven Klein photographed him in his first campaign, for Bill Blass
- Walked for Calvin Klein, Dior Homme, Burberry, Fendi, Gucci, D&G and Helmut Lang and lots more
- Has appeared in V, Numéro, Details, GQ, i-D and many more mags
- Appeared in the now-iconic W editorial titled “Asexual Revolution,” photographed by Steven Meisel
- Quoted as saying “I still don't believe that I am a ‘model’…. Hopefully just a person that people enjoy being around.”

What I know is that he is undeniably hot and I'll be looking for him on the runways at the men's show for the F/W 09 season. Yum!

Thank. God.

Fashionista is reporting that the Rachel Zoe Project is coming out with a Season 2 starting mid-next year.
Now I want to know when Season 1 is coming out on DVD.

The L.A. Times says:

I die. I die. Our favorite fashionista is coming back.

Bravo tells us exclusively that the network has ordered up a second season of "The Rachel Zoe Project," the behind-the-scenes reality show following Zoe as she styles celebs, keeps the peace between her feuding assistants and goes on mad vintage-store shopping sprees.

Production has not yet begun, but expect new episodes of "Rachel Zoe," produced by Original Media, to air in mid-2009.

No word yet on whether on-and-off-again rivals Brad and Taylor will be back, but as of October, when I last spoke to Zoe, both were still happily employed.

At the time, Zoe thought Taylor was getting "a bad rap" from viewers, who took issue with Taylor talking back to the boss lady. "Taylor's tough, she keeps me focused. She's there to tell me no, because I'm really bad at saying no," Zoe said. "But I need her to do that. I'd be lost without her."

Bravo also will be unveiling several new series on Thursday.

Now all the network needs to do is tell us when "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" comes back and my Christmas wish list will be complete. And that would be, as Zoe might say, "bananas amazing."

I can't wait to see Taylor and Brad duking it out over nipple covers and garment bags. And will Rachel hire a third assistant like she promised Taylor? Will Rodger be able to pay off all of Rachel's debt? I need these questions answered!