Posts from — June 2010

I think every girl in America swoons when she sees Matthew Morrison.  Well known for his performances in Hairspray and Light In The Piazza on The Great White Way, Morrison now stars on the hit Fox television series Glee as Mr. Will Schuester as William McKlinley High School’s dedicated glee club director.

Aside from his great singing voice (if you need any kind of convincing, listen to this) and incredible good looks, I think that Morrison also has great style- both on and off the set.  I think that he’s always dressed in stylish clothes that fit and flatter him very well.

(All photos from Fox)

[From left to right: Morrison at the April premiere for Glee; Morrison (right) with Jane Lynch on the set of Glee; Morrison (left) with Kristin Chenoweth on the set of Glee; Morrison (left) with Neil Patrick Harris on the set of Glee; Morrison (right) on the set of Glee; Morrison on the set of Glee; Morrison in a promotional picture for Glee; Morrison (left) with Neil Patrick Harris again; Morrison (right) with cast members at the April premiere of Glee; Morrison (right) again with Neil Patrick Harris.]

As you can see, when Morrison works the red carpet, he sports a great suit with an even better shirt and tie to go with it.  I especially love the color of the red stripped one pictured below.  It’s so bright and really pops with the blue shirt and navy blue suit.  I’m glad to see that he’s not afraid of a little color!

I especially love the clothes he wears on Glee.  As Mr. Schu, Morrison is consistently dressed in a great button up or simple (but APPROPRIATELY fitting) t-shirt paired with a blazer or sweater and a pair of jeans or pants, which I absolutely love.  It’s so work appropriate, for business casual settings, and the button up/blazer combination is great at night, whether out with your friends or on a date.

Fellas: recreating Morrison’s look on Glee is really easy, since you (as a man) probably have these pieces in your closet already.  You just need some nice jeans, a button up, a casual blazer and a belt!  It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how put together and great this outfit looks together.  Trust me.  I even did it for you!

INC International Concepts Jacket, Miles Blazer from Macy’s, on sale for $34.99 (photo from Macys.com)
Merona Washed Poplin Shirt from Target, $19.99 (photo from target.com)
UO Saddle Leather Belt from Urban Outfitters, $24 (photo from urbanoutfitters.com)
Bootcut Jeans from American Eagle Outfitters, $29.50 (photo from ae.com)

Image courtesy of nymag.com (via Dove)

Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign is well known for promoting “real” beauty in women everywhere and disprove the unrealistic images of “beauty” in our society today.  In the campaign, he models in the ads are real women, not models or actresses.  This video shows the world how skewed images can be in regards to beauty:

After watching this video, you can image my confusion when I read a post on The Cut today about the next round of this campaign.  Dove posted an ad on Craigslist for an open casting call for women, aged 25-45 of all nationalities.  Sounds “real” enough, right?

As you read further down, the ad calls for women with:

“Flawless skin, no tattoos or scars. Well groomed and cleaned.  Nice bodies.  Naturally fit.  Not too curvy, not too athletic.”

That is only one line out of a 6 paragraph casting call advertisement, and as the ad goes on, the requirements for these “real women” get more and more specific.  You can read the whole casting call here.

Sounds a little contradictory to me.

Editor’s note: Dove released a statement on June 29 stating that the Craigslist ad was not approved before posting.

The Tony Awards combine two of my most favorite things in the world: theatre and fashion.  This year’s awards show, which aired on Sunday, June 13, didn’t disappoint…for the most part. Here are some of my favorite- and not so favorite- looks of the night.

All photos are from Broadway.com, which is the only place I could find photos of attendees other than Scarlett Johansson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and other movie stars on Broadway right now.  For full-length pictures of [most] of these looks, click here for the New York Times Red Carpet slideshow.

Now, there are some looks where I liked some elements, but not others.  Those ones are included in the favorites and not-so-favorite categories, depending on how much of the look I liked or didn’t like.

Here are my favorites:

Angela Lansbury; Bernadette Peters; Helen Mirren; Catherine Zeta-Jones (Michael Douglas just looks old); Idina Menzel and her mother (can you believe that?!); Ryan Reynolds and Lucy Liu; Matthew Morrison SWOON; Paula Abdul; Scarlett Johansson; Sean Hayes (adorable, as always); Montego Glover; Laura Linney

Seriously, how classy and handsome are all of these looks?  Especially Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters and Helen Mirren.  All three women are so beautiful for their age (all are over 60, at least).  The men looked dapper in their fancy tuxedos, and it’s always nice to see them dressed up once in a while.  Idina Menzel looks amazing for a new mom- she gave birth to her son, Walker, only last September! I love the red nail polish paired with the black and white in the dress.  While the dress isn’t as flattering as other gowns she’s worn in the past (and is a little prom-y), I think the ensemble works as a whole.  It is age-appropriate, the make-up/hair/dress work for the style.  And hey, first big red carpet appearance less than a year after her son was born?  I gotta give her props for that.

Now, a few of my not-so-favorites (and why):

Kristin Chenoweth: As much as I want to like the dress, I think it’s a little young looking and too short (ven for her, and she’s pocket sized!). When she pretended to faint on stage and fell over, though, I was worried that we might see a little too much.  If only it was an inch or 2 longer.  And the shoes are a disaster, they don’t match the dress at all.  Better luck next time, Cheno.
Christopher Walken: He looks a little creepy if you ask me :-/
Melanie Griffith: She’s had WAYY too much plastic surgery in the past.  It looks like her face will melt off at any second and I think it looks a little scary…
Lea Michele: Let me say that I LOVE the Zac Posen dress and the color.  And Lea is beautiful, but I don’t think she pulled this off.  If I were her (or her stylist), I would’ve worn the hair down in soft curls or waves with this dress, as the flows and sweetheart neckline give it a romantic feel.  I don’t like those harsh, straight bangs across her forehead and the lipstick color is not right.  And if you look on the New York Times slideshow of pics above, she looks frumpy in the dress by herself.  Her posture wasn’t flattering at all.  Just didn’t do it for me.  Jonathan Groff is nice as arm candy, though…
Cate Blanchett: I’m not sure how I feel about her new haircut, but the shiny tuxedo has to go.  (On a separate note: I LOVE Daniel Radcliffe and think he looked great).
Jada Pinkett-Smith: I just have to ask, “What is going on here?” the dress is really short, and I don’t think I understand it.  The dress is too big and too busy for her little frame.  Plus, her hair is pulled back so tightly.  I don’t think it’s flattering for her.

What are some of your favorite and least favorite looks from the night?  Who did I leave out on either list?

Ok.  It seems as though buying Longchamp bags when I go to Europe is going to be my “thing” that I bring back with me.

This trend started by accident when I was in Rome 2 years ago.  My bags were over weight for a 2 week trip- of course- so my mom told me that it was my job to find another carry on bag for the flight home so we wouldn’t have to pay the overweight fee again.  Naturally I forgot about this until the last stop on my trip, in Rome.  So I went into the first baggage/luggage store I found and saw a beautiful lime green Longchamp bag, decently priced (considering the Euro was MUCH higher then) and everyone was happy.

Flash forward to my recent trip to Paris in April.  The Euro was down about 20 cents since the last time I went, and since Longchamp bags are made in Paris and therefore cheaper to buy there even with the exchange rate, how could I not pick one up then?  It was still $40-50 cheaper than here in America, like at Nordstrom’s or another high end department store.

It would be economically inefficient if I didn’t.  Just saying.

Now we’re at the present time.  My mom and sister just returned from Paris not even a week ago and guess what their “souvenir” for me was?  You guessed it.  A Longchamp bag.  But this one is special.  Can you guess why?

If you said “because it has the Eiffel Tower on it and it’s amazing,” then you are correct.  I wish I could say that it’s special because you can only get it in France, but I would be lying.  I’d say it’s more special BECAUSE it has the Eiffel Tower on it AND it was bought in France.  It would not have as much meaning if I bought it here in the United States, now would it?

Maybe this is a little excessive, but vacation is about all indulgence.  Indulgences that are not part of your every day life.

But hey, when in Rome (or Paris) right?

What’s your favorite indulgence while on vacation?

In Style.com‘s weekly newsletter, I saw this amazingly beautiful turquoise stone necklace from Catherine Malandrino.  Naturally, I fell in love.  The perfect accessory for a white t-shirt, cute denim shorts and a great pair of sandals, wedges or espadrilles.

The only downside?  It’s $850.  I definitely can’t swing that with 5 student loans in repayment.

Luckily, I found a few variations of the necklace at much cheaper prices.  While they’re not exactly like the Catherine Malandrino piece above, they have similar characteristics: that awesome blue color, the earthy tones in the chain, and the bold size that makes you say wow.  See for yourself below!

Pastel Drapped Necklace from Forever21, $6.80 (image from Forever21)
Chandelier Turquoise Bib Necklace from Target, $49.99 (image from Target)
Beaded Warrior Necklace from Forever21, $8.80 (image from Forever21)
Turquoise Fringe Necklace from American Eagle Outfitters, $19.99 (image from American Eagle Outfitters)

Ladies, your friends’ and relatives’ closets are about to become your best friend.  I learned that this weekend, when my aunt gave me a beautiful, barely touched silk dress from Banana Republic dress that doesn’t fit her anymore.

Back story on this dress: my family threw a fancy party for my mom’s 50th birthday in July of 2008.  My aunt, her older sister, bought a beautiful dress from Banana Republic for this party.  I immediately fell in love with it the minute I saw it.  After the party, I search all over for the dress but unfortunately, no Banana Republic in the area had it in my size.  I gave up on finding this dress and found all of my hopes and dreams crushed.  Not really, but I really wanted to buy this dress.

Flash forward to Memorial Day 2010.  I go over to my aunt’s house for lunch and to go to her pool and she gave me the dress since it doesn’t fit her anymore.  I was shocked!  And I was so thankful that she thought to give it to me.  Helllo, new favorite summer 2010 dress!

(pictures taken by me and my new Canon Rebel)

So my point is that your friends’ or relatives’ hand-me-downs can bring something new to your wardrobe!

Here’s an idea: once a season, you and your friends or relatives should go through your closets and have a swap of all the clothes you don’t want or don’t wear anymore.  You never know what you’re going to find!