And The Best Costume Design Award Goes To...
Crinoline Happy: Nick Verreos at the 18Th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit, FIDM Museum and Galleries This weekend was
Super Bowl Weekend, I know. However, me and football, well, not so much...I stopped watching after
Janet Jackson and
Justin Timberlake had their now-infamous "Wardrobe Malfunction". Boy, those were the days!
Instead of going to some nacho-and-beer filled Super Bowl Pre-Party, I was invited to attend the
18TH Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit Party at the
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, the very school I teach at.
Where's Fergie? David Paul and Nick Verreos of Nikolaki, stand in front of the "Nine" CostumesI always look forward to this particular exhibit since I am a big fan of movies and obviously, fashion. Also, my
NIKOLAKI partner,
David Paul--who holds a Masters in Costume Design from UCLA and is a member of the Motion Picture Costumers Union--has educated me A LOT on the art of Costume Design and all its nuances.
Be Italian: Colleen Atwood-designed Costumes from Nine.
Costume Tidbit: One Million Swarovski crystals were used on these costumes!The exhibit,
which officially opens Tuesday February 9Th, features the costumes from four of the five Academy Award Best Costume nominated films:
Bright Star; Costumes designed by Janet Paterson, Nine; Costumes designed by Colleen Atwood, the Young Victoria; Costumes designed by Sandy Powell, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; Costumes designed by Monique Prudhomme. The only one not present were the costumes from
Coco Before Chanel.
Time Traveler: Academy Award nominated Costume Designer for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Monique Prudhomme and Nick Verreos Canadian designer
Monique Prudhomme was actually in attendance at the Gala last night receiving all the much-deserved praise for her
Academy Award Best Costume Design Nomination. I introduced myself to her and we spoke at length on such diverse subjects as how she found one of the Corsets in the film to speaking a bit of French when one goes to France and finally we even touched on how incredibly ridiculous the hotel prices at the Vancouver Olympics are ($800 for the Best Western, I checked--trust me!).
Costume Divas: Nick Verreos, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Costume Designer Monique Prudhomme, A Single Man Costume Designer Arianne Phillips, and Andrae Gonzalo Also present at the party was the fabulously talented
Arianne Phillips, who designed the costumes for Tom Ford's film
A Single Man. I was chatting with my
Season 2 Project Runway contestant-buddy,
Andrae Gonzalo, when I saw Arianne and of course, I had to say "hello" and give praise to her retro-chic designs which also happen to be in the Exhibit.
Arianne Retro: Arianne Phillips-designed Costumes for A Single ManAlso represented in the exhibition are costumes from
Inglourious Basterds,
Sherlock Holmes,
Amelia, as well as Pedro Almodovar's
Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos) among others. A highlight of this tableaux was the authentic Chanel gold-chain-detail black dress which Almodovar muse
Penelope Cruz wore in the film.
A
MUST for Trekkies around the World are the Michael Kaplan-designed costumes from
Star Trek, which are also in the exhibit.
It was great seeing the furry over-sized creatures from
Where The Wild Things Are. Andrae and I were fascinated by the life-like nap in the
faux fur.
Victorian Couture: The Young Victoria CostumesI especially loved seeing the stunning gowns from
The Young Victoria. This display is pretty grand--mirroring the costumes. It's so interesting to see Queen Victoria in something other than what we are used to: Black, drab funeral gowns.
DO NOT miss getting up close and personal (as close as you can without a security guard escorting you out!) to these
"Young Victoria" gowns. The Duchesse silk satin, the brocades, the embroideries, the cartridge pleating...Absolutely stunning!
Finally: We Are Cooking with...
the
Ann Roth-designed costumes for
Julie & Julia. I loved this film and couldn't wait to see them. David pulled me aside, as we got in front of these costumes and pointed out the wonderful play on proportion and length which Roth ingeniously devised to make actress
Meryl Streep seem as tall as the real
Julia Child,
who was six foot two, thank you very much!
Check out these wedges: On the left are when she was by herself in the film. The higher and much more stacked ones (right), were the ones Streep wore when she had to stand next to her co-stars. How can I get a pair of those??
*The
Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition runs from February 9Th to April 17Th at the
FIDM Museum and Galleries, FIDM Downtown Los Angeles. And it's FREE and Open To The Public. Click
HERE for more info.
In light of the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics (they begin THIS Friday!!!), New York Times Magazine recently published this great "Photo Essay" by Ryan McGinley entitled "The High Flyers" showing US Olympians and capturing them mid-flight in an exhilarating ski jump, or a snow-filled moment of close-up repose. Skiers, snowboarders and (my favorite) Figure Skaters. Included in this photo essay is our US Nationals Champion, Rachael Flatt, photographed mid-turn wearing a braided/crochet design by Rodarte. 
2009 World Champion Evan Lysacek (can't really see if it's a Rodarte or a Vera Wang, his current favorite) is seen from behind--in silhouette-- while he looks to be in mid-Camel Spin.
My favorite, however, is the one of Johnny Weir. Always a risk taker when it comes to fashion, Johnny is fresh off a new controversy involving PETA and for this NY Times Magazine photo essay, he is wearing a custom Rodarte "spiderweb" red and black yarn jumpsuit. The design is very similar to what the Pasadena, California-reared Mulleavy sisters showed for Spring 2010.
It's like her male partner-in-crime! Somehow I cannot see Evan Lysacek in that same ensemble...but Miss Johnny: Huney, done and done!
2) I feel like I’m really on a roll with my healthy eating and gym routine at the moment and I’m hoping for good results when I weigh myself on Wednesday. I have found a really good website called 
2) There has been a lot of complaints raised about an advert for staff for the new Hollister store in Aberdeen (sister chain of Abercrombie & Fitch). Basically the advert details that the brand/store is looking for “cool, good looking individuals with style”. Now for one thing, who the hell are they to judge how good looking or stylish their applicants are? Looks and style are based on individual preference and therefore everyone has a different take on what is attractive. Also, there are certain requirements with regards to your appearance if you want to work there...for example the male employees must be clean shaven and the females can only wear certain types of makeup/style their hair a certain way to create a ‘natural’ look. I also read an article recently about a girl who worked in an A & F store and had a prosthetic arm. They asked her not to wear short sleeved tops and have it on display…she quite rightly was disgusted and refused. She was consequently fired. The girl then went about suing the company for unfair dismissal and discrimination. A & F have also faced many discrimination charges in the US due to the fact that they predominantly featured white models in their advertising campaigns and the same applied to their staff. In the last couple of years, the advertising and employment authorities have been legally forcing the company to adhere to guidelines and promote diversity in their employment methods and in their advertising. I’m glad that the brand is FINALLY being made to face up to the fact that their idea of what is “cool and good looking” and the “A & F look” is discriminatory, narrow minded and down right unacceptable in this day and age.
