NY Times critic
Cathy Horyn reviews the Metropolitan Museum of Art's
Costume Institute's latest exhibit, "
Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" in today's paper. Her take? Speed of lightning, roar of thunder — it's a hit: "The ideas that dominate fashion — identity, performance, gender, body shapes, sexuality, logos and the quest for state-of-the-art materials — pretty well describe the world of the superhero...The magnified, supercharged body runs through fashion, from the hyper-athlete (cleverly evoked by Alexander McQueen in a 2005 silk ensemble with pretty football pads) to the sexy pinup, and is well represented in the exhibition... Dolce & Gabbana's corseted minidress from 2007 looks as if it were molded from Tiffany silver. It is actually made of leather...it would have been nice to see more clothing examples from the 1960s and '70s, and more abstract takes on transformation — where is Comme des Garçons, the avant-garde label of Rei Kawakubo?" [
NY Times]
rag trade
- "It's out of control. There's always a different boy and everyone is worried he's going to pull a Halston." That's an anonymous friend of Marc Jacobs on the increasingly-erratic fashion designer. [Page Six]
- Ouch: David Lauren was not invited to his girlfriend (of three years) Lauren Bush's cousin Jenna's wedding. You know, Jenna Bush: Daughter of the POTUS. Apparently the Bush clan think David is too old for Lauren. Oh, and also too Jewish? Awkward. [Rush & Molloy]
- Kristin Davis is pissed about the injustices she faced making the Sex and the City movie: "It's in the contract that we get to keep our outfits, which is a fantastic thing, except that, for me, all of my outfits were samples. I kept my running pants, which I love and wear them a lot, but I was like, Where are my clothes?" [E!]
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critical mass
The
Metropolitan Museum of Art's
Costume Institute's annual gala: Oh, it happened all right. And though you now know who made it into the
the Good,
the Bad, and
the Ugly category of "fashion's Oscars," we know you're just dying to know what the media themselves had to say about the yearly orgy of fashion and fame. (At the very last you're dying to know what hoity-toity critic-types had to say about
Anna Wintour's Princess Amadala outfit, right? Right.) The best of the press'
bon mots, after the jump.
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rag trade
- Stella McCartney calls dibs on bride-to-be Scarlett Johansson: "I'm definitely doing her wedding dress. She doesn't know it yet." Awkward. [People]
- Says Marc Jacobs on the bride-to-be, "I'm really happy for her. She's a great girl. I just think Scarlett is great and I hope she is very, very happy. She's super funny. I love a smart, ballsy, New Yorker and that's what she is. I wish her the best." And by "the best" he clearly means, "Do why didn't that bitch ask me to design her wedding dress?" [Vogue UK]
- Chris "Mr. Big" Noth has some strong feelings about Victoria's Secret, "I'm not into Victoria's Secret so much. I find it over the top. I like subtlety and I like elegance. I think their things are gaudy and they are really trying too hard. If I could make a fashion statement, I think that Victoria's Secret looks to me like somebody who is putting on too much make-up. It's too gaudy, man. I mean, come on take it easy, you don't have to have a fuckin' bouquet of flowers on your underwear. Sorry Victoria's Secret; I hope they're not one of our sponsors!" [Oh No They Didn't]
- "You can get diamonds cheap," says Heidi Klum, which is why she's going to start sewing them into the pockets of her Jordache jeans line. Clearly, she has not seen Blood Diamond. [WWD, 9th item]
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the good, the bad & the ugly
In case you need a refresher: Last night. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Costume Institute. Superhero theme. Every celebrity and fashion designer in the world. Some people looked Good, some people looked Ugly. But in between there were
the Bad, which included
Sarah Silverman, left, Beyonce,
Blake Lively,
Eva Amurri,
Eva Longoria,
Jennifer Connolly,
Kristin Davis,
Jennifer Lopez,
Tamara Mellon,
Mary J. Blige, and
Kate Bosworth. All those and others, after the jump.
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rag trade
- God bless Vivienne Westwood for being so undeniably herself. Says the fashion designer-cum-philosopher: "I'd like to do less, but there are people dependent on me now. My thing has always been, just let me finish this pair of trousers and then I can read my book. We've all got to wear something, I suppose. So my advice would be to buy quality. Choose well. I think there's a certain status in seeing someone wearing the same thing over and over again." [Vogue UK]
- God bless Heidi Klum. She's just so wise: "[Take] time out for yourself so you can engage in an activity that you really enjoy. [Also, don't] neglect the romance in your life. [And] wear pretty lingerie if you don't want to feel schlumpy." [Vogue UK]
- God bless Donatella Versace for saying at the Times Talks on Sunday that her fashion motto is "Don't let the rappers wear more bling than you do!" and that she hopes to be reincarnated as Maya Rudolph. [Fashion Week Daily]
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the good, the bad & the ugly
Okay let's cut to the chase: Last night. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Costume Institute Gala. Theme was "Superheroes." Everyone and their brother was there. I've broken the photos down into Good, Bad, and Ugly for your viewing pleasure.
The Good — including
Victoria Beckham,
Christina Ricci,
Diane Kruger, Iman, Mischa Barton,
Amanda Peet, Scarlett Johansson,
Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Tilda Swinton and
Claire Danes — begins after the jump; the Bad and Ugly to come later.
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rag trade
- More rumored changes for The Greatest Show On Earth, Project Runway: Season 6 of the show, the first to be broadcast on Lifetime, may feature "More Than A Pretty Face" magazine Marie Claire in lieu of Elle as the affiliated fashion magazine sponsor. [WWD, 1st item]
- Whoah: Are New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn and Skeletor/stylist Rachel Zoe more similar than we could have ever imagined? Possibly, if it's true that Cathy Horyn was also mysteriously not invited to the dinner and dancing portion of tonight's Costume Institute festivities. [Fashion Week Daily]
- And what does legendary costume designer Bob Mackie not like about the fashion industry? "Doing a fashion show that's on for 20 minutes and then it's over and everybody runs to the next one. Nobody sings, nobody dances, nobody tells jokes. I found it quite unsatisfying." I second that emotion. [WWD, sub req'd]
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rag trade
- Who is Tory Burch's elusive 23-year old stepdaughter Pookie? On Mondays, Pookie interns for Bruce Weber, and the rest of the week she works as the assistant to the president of Carolina Herrera, and she was (allegedly) responsible for the magical pairing of New York's leading faux-WASP ice princess with Princess Coldstare, but alas, we have scoured the Google and cannot find a picture of her. So this will have to do. [Fashion Week Daily]
- M.I.A has designed her own eponymous clothing line, which is really brightly colored so that, "if you lose it or someone steals it, you can see it from miles away and you can be like, 'Oy! Give me my shirt back!'" Oy is right! [WWD, 3rd item]
- Tinsley Mortimer, you see, is not a bad designer of handbags, it's just that she made the mistake of trying to sell them in Japan. "Japanese girls have no use for clutches because they just go to the clubs right after work. They are so different from New York. Stylewise, colorwise, stylewise. It's very youth-oriented. I'm designing for women between the ages of 20 and 40... But in Japan, after 25, it's like, basically, you're dead." [NYMag]
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rag trade
- Frances Bean Cobain is rumored to be the next face of Chanel. That's hot. And also crazy. Oh, Karl. [Vogue UK]
- Louis Vuitton has postponed indefinitely its "China Run" car rally, which was originally scheduled to take place in late May with a route from Chengdu and Kunming. Reason? Um, it's not exactly cool to be supporting China's blatant disregard for human rights right now and France is all pissed re: the Olympics etc etc. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Also, Yohji Yamamoto wants to teach China about Peace and improve relations though the country and his native Japan through his new Yohji Yamamoto Fund For Peace. This will mainly involve fashion shows. Of course. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Also China's on the warning list for counterfeiting shit. Oh, China. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Tommy Hilfiger, ambiguously racist? Says the designer, "[W]e feel that with our European-influenced approach, the sophisticated and higher level of quality and fashion somehow reaches the type of people who represent the brand very well... Ten years ago it was positioned with a lot of red, white and blue and a lot of logos and you would look at these street kids wearing the clothes as billboards." [FT]
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rag trade
- Does Anna Wintour love Amy Winehouse even more than Karl Lagerfeld does? Word on the street is that the singer who wouldn't go to rehab only to go to rehab has been offered $1 million to play at the Wintour-hosted Costume Institute Gala. But a rep says that can't be true since the Costume Institute Gala is supposed to be, you know, a benefit. For the children probably! [WWD, 1st item]
- Some outfit called the New Enthusiasm is spoofing Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller, the guy who shoots all those ads of his, with John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, and now everyone is wondering what could possibly be the motive behind such a peculiar stunt. We have no earthly idea! That is why we present you with this hyperlink, so you can further ponder what it all means. [Sassybella]
- Anya Hindmarch's London flagship was burgled last night, the second robbery the store has experienced in the past year. Can you think of a handbag designer whose inventory you would covet less than Anya's? Because I'm having trouble. [Vogue UK]
- Oh god, you know, just when this industry's political statements could not get any more absurd: Agent Provacateur's "Fair Trial My Arse" underwear. [Sassybella]
- Also, the rumors aren't true: Katie Homes is not designing for Armani. [E!]
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rag trade
- Georgio Armani is co-chairing a dinner to celebrate a Vogue-sponsored Costume Institute exhibit called "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy." Which is why he gave a press conference during which he professed to be "indifferent" to Anna Wintour while standing next to her. We assume he'll be too dead to make it to dinner. [NY Mag]
- Then again: the shocking new garment industry tell-all Gomorrah says Italian fashion is really just the Mafia so maybe Georgio knows what he's doing. [WWD, sub req'd]
- Model Gemma Ward's film debut The Black Balloon takes top prize at he Berlin Festival. [Sassybella]
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rag trade
- Celebrity stylist and stylist-cum-celebrity Rachel Zoe is rumored to forbid designers who loan her pieces from loaning them out to competing clients, but Zoe denies so we're gonna give her the benefit of the doubt. [NYP]
- "I have high anxiety from having two teenagers who tell me I have no taste. I love them, and even though they insult me, and make fun of me, it is what it is," says Vera Wang. Um, who taught your daughters to talk to their mother that way? [WWD, 4th item]
- Dean and Dan Caten, the twin bros who design DSquared, are going to be exclusively styling the America's Next Top Model contestants for cycle 10. [Fashion Week Daily]
- George Clooney and Julia Roberts will be joining Anna Wintour in chairing the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual gala this year. Oh, so that's why George looks like he's lost so much weight lately? He's Anna-rexing? [Vogue UK]
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oh god, not another one
The benevolent, kind-hearted side of us wouldn't wish illness on anyone (well maybe Karl Rove). But we really, really,
really hope that temporary sickness — of a physical, not mental sort — can explain
Cate Blanchett's startlingly skeletal,
is-she-even-menstruating-at-this-point? physique at Monday's
Costume Institute Gala. Yeah, we realize that a certain other Jezebel lady
went gaga over Cate's dress. But when an amazingly talented, strong-minded and self-possessed woman like Cate Blanchett starts showing up with sharp-edged collarbones and brittle-looking hair, we just want to fucking puke. And no, not in a bulimic way.
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costume institute best & worst
In the wake of
Anna Nicole Smith's recent passing,
Jessica Simpson clearly heard the calling and decided it was her duty to assume the rose of drugged up-and-busty hot mess du jour. In true Anna Nicole style, however, we feel the blame lies not with Jessica, but with the idiots around her, who are supposed to be saving her from herself, not walking her into the lion's den.
Roberto Cavalli, in particular, should be shot.
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Jezebel
