Now, on to our Feature Presentation...
Ducking, Dodging, Pillaging and Plundering, Stunting and Stealing...
Since we've last spoken, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been ducking and dodging calls for his resignation and/or impeachment while President Bush has been ducking and dodging size 10 shoes being hurled at him by an Iraqi reporter during a press conference abroad. Also ducking and dodging the press (among others) is ex- NASDAQ chairman Bernard Madoff who- by bilking his investors of over $50 billion- has apparently orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in American history.
Among those that would line up to throw shoes (and probably, bullets) at Madoff are filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz (co-owners of the New York Mets), charities such as Dress for success (who clothe battered women for job interviews), a lot of Palm Beach millionaires, and French billionaire Thierry de la Villehuchet (who comitted suicide this week after learning that he'd lost over $1.4 billion due to Madoff's shenanigans). If only the SEC had listened to Harry Markopolos, who had written to the organization in 1999 that "Madoff Securities is the world's largest Ponzi scheme.". Guess hindsight is 20/20 vision...
These days the news is chock full of stories of recent millionaires who's only current asset they own is the home in which they live (forcing some of them to sell said homes). All of this makes THE REAL RE-EDIT question why we should feel sorry for the people who lost their life's savings due to Madoff's greedy scam, but not sympathize with those who lost their homes based on the Ponzi scheme that major banks and investment firms perpetrated in the adjustable rate mortgage debacle. But we digress...
However, Madoff has company in the "Stunt Of The Year" category. In serious contention for that award are that coterie of cross-dressing men who robbed Harry Winston's storefront on the Avenue Montaigne in Paris of $80 million in necklaces, rings, watches and earrings, apparently pulling off the most spectacular jewel heist in France since LAST YEAR- when that same storefront was relieved of more than $25 million in baubles. Of course this shouldn't be confused with the 2004 heist of about $15 million worth of diamonds from Chopard during the Biennale des Antiquaires. As impressive as the most current Harry Winston stunt was, it still wasn’t the largest-ever jewelry heist; that was in February ’03, where $100M euros worth of diamonds were stolen from Antwerp’s Diamond Exchange....Now, if they were all done by the same group, THAT would be the stunt of the decade...Anyway...
Speaking of robberies, it looks like struggling New Yorker's pockets are going to be raided AGAIN! On the heels of proposals from the NYCMTA to raise single trip subway fares from a ridiculous two dollars to an unconscionable $2.50, Gov. David A. Paterson on Tuesday proposed an additional 5 percent sales tax on luxury goods, such as jewelry and furs costing more than $20,000, as one of scores of tax and fee boosts intended to close a widening gap in New York’s budget. However -as is customary- the lower class citizens of this state don't escape his wrath, as he has also proposed repealing legislation that allowed for tax-free sale of clothing and footwear for less than $110 dollars. Increasing taxes on luxury goods are one thing (guess that would also include taxing that pair of turkish rugs he recently purchased for $27,000, huh?), but snatching back a law that has helped many a single mother struggling to clothe and feed their child(ren) is cruel and unusual punishment . In the interest of fairness, he WOULD replace it with two one-week exemption periods on clothing and footwear purchases of less than $500. I guess poorer New Yorkers only deserve to shop twice a year. Way to go, Governor! THE REAL RE-Edit thought that the 'Saturday Night Live"'sketch that lampooned you was tasteless, but it seems funnier and funnier now...
THE SOAPBOX
-Moderation and Modern Living
Seems like more and more people could use $80 million in diamond-encrusted bangles these days. I've come across a couple of friends in recent weeks that have been either laid off, let go, or are no longer doing what they used to do in order to make ends meet. In addition, some of us lucky ones with a steady income are finding that it is becoming necessary to do more with less. But what exactly is LESS? In order to address the topic of deficiency, we must first look at what areas in our lives are being led in excess. Applying this to the REAL world, it seems that moderation should be the order of the day in one's material acquisitions, in the food that feeds one's body and any of the various vices that some of us partake in (often to the point of excess).
I mean really, how many high-end bags in your closet and Basquiat prints on your walls do you need before you realize that you have enough? (The answer: 3 high-end bags and no more than two Basquiat prints, mixed in with a nice Kehinde Wiley oil painting, a Barkley L. Hendricks portrait, and one or two Kara Walker paper machier offerings thrown in for good measure! Now you see why I need to practice moderation, right?). How many mother-of-pearl teaspoonfuls of beluga do you need to taste before The Law of Diminishing Returns takes effect, and the third and fourth helping of caviar begins tasting less and less appetizing than the first and second?
In that same vein, it also occurs to THE REAL RE-Edit that in order for something to be enjoyed, something else must be put down. This was borne out of the realization that my cramped closet can no longer accept "just one more" beautifully crafted woven shirt without first getting rid of at least one of the older beautifully crafted wovens that I fell in love with in season's past. So here's to the NEW, which doesn't necessarily negate the OLD but instead melds itself into it, and here's also to sometimes replacing things that have either reached their apogee or should be retired in the interest of the NEWNOWNEXT...
QUESTIONS FOR THE ZEITGEIST- LEADERS OF THE "NEW" SCHOOL?
Now that the soapbox has been put away...
In the interest of saluting the NEW, the NOW, and the NEXT, here are a couple of pop-culture questions to ponder this week...
The NEW
The NEW "sexy"?
1- Never mind 'Cashmere Mafia' and the recently-cancelled 'Lipstick Jungle'. It seems the 'Sex and the City' pendulum has swung back the other way, in a hilarious new comedy that eschews the latest fashion-forward frock and stiletto via Manolo Blahnik for uber-tacky 80's fashion and blue-collar comedy a la John Waters. Gone is the metrosexually cosmopolitan investment banker named Mr. Big, being replaced by a new-age, pleated-khaki-wearing sandwich-shop owner named Phil. Who else is loving Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as the title characters in NBC's newest retro-comedic smash, 'Kath and Kim'?
The NEW "Harajuku"?
2- Post-Partum Expressions and the emergence of Lady Gaga...
Christina Aguilera, fresh off of her marriage and the birth of her son Max, releases 'Keeps Gettin' Better- A Decade of Hits'. However, the general public doesn't bite. Why hasn't anyone purchased Aguilera's "post-partum expression"? Or Gwen Stefani's? Did Xtina and Gwen's post-knockup knockoff's open the door for new pop sensation Lady Gaga to tell the world to "Just Dance"?
The NEW King(s) of Late-nite?
3- Television executives are poised to try a new and different prime-time business model, as the reigning king of late-nite talk Jay Leno moves into a new show vehicle at 10 pm, while Conan O
'Brien becomes the new Leno as he hosts 'The Tonight Show' at 11:30. That, of course, opens the spot for a 'NEW" Conan O'Brien. Ready to step in will be Jimmy Fallon, who tapped Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and The Roots to supplant Kevin Eubanks and The Tonight Show Band by serving as his house band- how cool is that?
The NEW Black Man?
4- How completely on target is this new PSA currently making the rounds on Youtube?
The NEW Frank Sinatra?
5-Speaking of the NEW Black Man...Whether its his new campaign for Ciroc Vodka (where he's donning a black tux somewhere on the French Riviera at a dinner party) or his new commercial for his I AM KING fragrance (where he's donning a black tux while on a waterscooter in Monte Carlo or decamping from a helicopoter with racially-ambiguous models in tow as usual )... Is Puffy doing a good job in revamping his image from a jeans-and-Timberlands "Bad Boy" into a sophisticated "Brat Pack" wannabe? Is this his latest campaign to become "The Black James Bond"?
The "NEW" Halle Berry?
6- She can play Terence Howard's prostitute, Alicia Keyes' lesbian hitwoman, Tyrese's girlfriend, Tyler Perry's wife and Brad Pitt's mother...With her performance in the Brad Pitt vehicle 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' getting Oscar buzz, did anybody see Taraji P. Hensen coming? 
The "NEW" Oprah?
7- For those who criticize Oprah Winfrey as being too haughty...How humble and REAL is it for her to admit that, frankly, she's embarassed by her recent weight (re)gain?
The "NEW" 'Planet Rock'?
8- How HOT is Common's newest single, the Afrika Bambaataa-inspired 'Universal Mind Control'?
9- The "NEW" Beef?
Rapper Jim Jones makes Ne-Yo and company taste his Kool-Aid last week at Louis Vuitton on 57th Street in NYC...Isn't Ne-Yo too much of a "gentleman" to get involved in a ghetto melee?
The NOW
The Governor's Ball(s)...
1- Can you believe the NERVE of Illinois Governor Blagojevich? Can you believe his STUPIDITY, being caught on tape trying to sell Obama's Senate seat???? C'mon, Blago...
O Christmas Tree...
2- Do you prefer to mount and decorate a "live" tree during the Christmas holidays, or a "fake" one? (I guess it depends on whether you are vigilant about your carbon footprint, as a recent report finds that you would have to re-use a "fake" tree 20 times to compete with the low resource depletion and environtal cost of using a live tree just once)
How ya like me NOW?
3- Last thing we heard from Stephon Marbury was that he was hugging the Knicks bench. But, given his new workout DVD, is there any doubt that he DOES keep his ass in the gym?
4- Do you think Jennifer Aniston is laughing her ass of, as she beat out Brad Pitt (her movie, 'Marley And Me' took in $14.6M on Christmas, while Pitt's 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' made $11.8M.)as well as movie powerhouses Will Smith, Meryl Streep AND Tom Cruise in this year's Christmas Day debut opening battle?
5- Did anyone catch Kanye's HOT performance on last week's 'Saturday Night Live'? Looks like "Yeezy" is well on his way to escaping the "rapper" pidgeonhole and becoming a "performance artist", no?...
The NEXT
Put your "hands" up...
1- Michael Jackson to auction off the glove worn in the 1983 video "Billie Jean"...How much will it fetch? Does this mean that 25 years from now, Beyonce will be auctioning off the Thierry Mugler/Lorraine Schwartz glove she wears in the "Single Ladies" video? And how much will IT fetch?
2- I mean, her daughters Ming and Aoki are cute and everything, but...if Kimora Lee and Djimon Hounsou decided to push out a kid, is there anybody out there who doubts that the child would be simply GORGEOUS???
THE FASHIONISTA FILES
The NEW
1- Does the Devil REALLY wear Prada?
The fashion elite are all abuzz with the news that the Anna Wintour documentary will be showing at Sundance. The name of the R.J. Cutler-directed doc? "The September Issue", which will follow Vogue magazine Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and her crew as they scramble to get the September 2007 issue of Vogue on the newstands. Will Anna Wintour be a better Anna Wintour than Meryl Streep?
2- Coty has to have Faith...
Faith Hill joins other singers (including her husband) in developing her own perfume. Coty's Beauty division told let it be known that it has signed the country and pop superstar to do her own fragrance, which is expected to launch in late fall 2009 in mass distribution. She seems to be well-liked. Will she outsell Paris, Mariah, and Britney?
The NOW
1- By now we've ALL seen the sketches and renderings, which begs the question: Who should President Barack Obama and first Lady Michelle Obama wear to the inauguration ceremony? (The REAL RE-EDIT's picks are below)
President Barack Obama
Sean John
or Nautica
First Lady Michelle Obama
Oscar de la Renta
2- Have The Pussycat Dolls jacked Marc Jacobs' idea to bring back the Stephen Sprouse aesthetic (see The Fashionista Files: NEXT below) with their rather lowbrow collection of lingerie- some with graffiti-printed tanks and panties?
(The collection, Pussycat Dolls…Shhh by Robin Antin, will be sold at 55 Bebe stores and online at bebe.com, as well as at Fred Segal in Los Angeles and the La Sensa lingerie chain in Canada and the U.K. Merchandise will be in stores around the end of this week, executives said.") 
2- Didn't THE REAL RE-EDIT predict, in our last post, that the Thierry Mugler line would find its way back into the popular sphere?. According to Women's Wear Daily magazine:
BEYONCE [HEARTS] THIERRY: Fragrances have been his main pursuit since shuttering his couture line in 2003, but Thierry Mugler is diving — or rather, dancing — back into fashion via an ambitious collaboration with Beyoncé Knowles. The French designer will take on myriad roles for the singer’s upcoming world tour, which launches in March in Canada. In addition to serving as “creative adviser,” with input on everything from set lighting to choreography, Mugler will direct three segments of the show, called “Dangerously in Love,” “Ave Maria” and the finale. He’ll also costume the production with approximately 58 Mugler creations designed for Beyoncé, the band, back-up dancers and singers. Knowles, who donned a vintage 1997 Mugler dress for the album shoot of her newly released two-disc “I Am Sasha Fierce,” became enamored with the designer after seeing several Mugler pieces exhibited at the Costume Institute’s “Superheroes” exhibit in May".
There seems to be a method to THE REAL RE-Edit's madness...
PLEASE come back, Mr. Garivani...
3- The Valentino line will NOT show during Men's fashion week in January, not in Paris nor in Milan...
The Roman luxury label will not present its men’s wear collection this season in either city, opting solely for commercial appointments (WOW!), according to a Valentino spokeswoman. Although Valentino declined further comment, it’s clear the company, like a lot of other labels, is facing financial pressures.
Whatever they will show, it won't be Alexandra Facchinetti's creations, as the House of Valentino recently apprised her that her services as head designer/creative director are no longer needed. Facchinetti exited both the houses of Gucci, Moncler and (recently) Valentino, which leads THE REAL RE-Edit to question...Maybe its HER???
Its always hard to take over a venerated fashion house and still maintain your own identity. After all, Alber Elbaz was asked to exit the houses of Guy Laroche and of Yves Saint Laurent before landing at Lanvin. Ricardo Tischi had a couple of stumbling blocks over a couple of seasons before he was firmly ensconsed at Givenchy. However, it can be done; the guys at Ferre get good reviews, Stefano Pilati is well-accepted at YSL, Francisco Costa has successfully taken the reigns at Calvin Klein (not to mention Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, and John Galliano at Christian Dior). But Facchinetti, rumored to be difficult to work with and unable to make decisions that slowed the production process, had her designer career fashionably eulogized by Mr. Valentino himself in December's W Magazine:
"There is an existing archive with thousands of dresses where they can draw and take inspiration from to create a Valentino product that is relevant today. It is a shame that (Facchinetti) didn’t feel this need".
So... maybe it IS her???
Linda, you might have to lower your booking fees...
4-Valentino isn't the only label tightening its Obi belt...Looks like the queen of prom dresses, Betsey Johnson, will be designing a diffusion line for for Target, Chanel has discontinued its traveling "Mobile Art" exhibit, with its last stop being New York's Central Park (it was incredible, by the way), and Alice Temperley set to do a video installation in place of a full-on fashion show for Fall 2009. Additionally, the CFDA is also encouraging designers with "similar markets" to not just change their shows to presentations, but to do dual (or even triple?) presentations to cut down on travel time and costs. Which leads THE REAL RE-Edit to wonder...Are the days of the $10,000-a-day supermodel officially over?
Pay the Minimum at "The Maxx"...
5- Smart Fashionistas will eschew Fifth Avenue for super-retailer TJ Maxx this year, according to fashion insiders. ...In explaining the sudden surge in high-end designer goods in stores like TJ Maxx and Filene's Basement, a TJ Maxx spokesperson said, "With department stores canceling orders, we're getting additional brands. They have excess product. They know we pay our bills on time and we can't return the product."
So, will we be able to get Hermes and Hanes in the same place?
6- Karl Lagerfeld made his directorial debut in a grainy, silent 10-minute film about Coco Chanel (and based on the teaser, it was STILL better than the TERRIBLE biopic the Lifetime network did this past September with Shirley McClain being uncharacteristically awful in the lead role)...
The film was shown alongside the new Paris-Moscow pre-fall 2009 collection in Paris. The work tells the story of a love affair between Chanel and Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, played by Edita Vikeviciute and Brad Koenig, respectively.
Yet the movie, cast from Lagerfeld's entourage of models (shamefully NONE of whom, as usual, were BLACK!), muses and seamstresses, did not at all overshadow the designer's formidable faculties on the runway. It was only natural that Lagerfeld muse and Russian beauty Sasha Pivovarova opened Chanel's Paris-Moscow pre-fall show, presented at the Ranelagh Theater in Paris. Onion-domed gold heels and astrakhan muffs held up fantasy folkloric headdresses by Japanese wizard Kamo. Lagerfeld also sent out sloping babushka shoulders, tweed suits with military airs and geometric trim, fluffy knits, tiered silhouettes, gold-dazzled boots, metallic Cossack trousers, glimmering brocades, fur trims and luscious embroideries (again, NONE of these ensembles were on BLACK models!). “I love Imperial Russia, from Catherine the Great to Fabergé. I love constructivism, of course. And I love Russian folklore, which is very special. What was fun was to mix it all.” Is THIS what Kimora Lee wanted to do a couple of seasons ago with her "To Russia, With Love" Phat Farm collection? 
In Kimora's defense...Although Simmons' show fell way short of Lagerfeld's, at least she used some ETHNIC models!)
The NEXT
1- Remember the Louis Vuitton"graffiti" purses a couple of years ago? Well, Marc Jacobs brings back Stephen Sprouse at Louis Vuitton just in time (January 9th, 2009) for the Sprouse retrospective, "Rock on Mars", which will be on exhibit from January 9. 2009 to February 28th, 2009 at Deitch Projects in NYC. (Look for a review in THE REAL RE-Edit soon. In the meantime, visit www.welovesprouse.com)
With Vuitton bringing that conspicuous bag back so soon, will The Zeitgeist bite? With the economic downturn, will those fashionistas that put that bag in the back of their closet a couple of years ago walk past the Vuitton counter, saving some ducats next season by bringing their "old" bag out of retirement rather than buying a new one?
2- Just like Christmas, Fashion week will now be the same time every year...
The CFDA's been figuring out the Fashion Week schedule for seasons to come, and they've finally come to a conclusion:
Since nobody wants to attend shows so close to their Labor Day vacation plans, they've made it so that New York Fashion Week will always start the second Thursday of every September, and it'll be the same for the Fall shows in February, too, beginning with the Spring 2010 shows (September 10-17th 2009). Now can true fashionistas take their vacations from their day jobs at the same time each year in order to crash the shows at Bryant Park?
3-YSL goes from one 90's supermodel to another for its Spring 2009 campaign...
Slated to break in February fashion magazines, the new YSL campaign (shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin under the direction of YSL creative director Stefano Pilati) will feature not Naomi Campbell, but the blonde bombshell Claudia Schiffer. Schiffer’s “Y’s up” pose is slated for the cover of YSL’s manifesto, the French fashion house’s seasonal newspaper-style advertising flyer, which is to be handed out on Valentine’s Day...
We've seen the resurgence of Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington (who looks STUNNING on the January issue of W magazine), while Naomi Campbell NEVER went away. Does this mark the official comeback of Claudia Schiffer?
Harry Winston getting robbed is bad, but wait until David hears about Fred...
4- Right after becoming the face of jeweler David Yurman's Fall 2008 campaign (shot by Peter Linbergh), Kate Moss cashes in on another jeweler. Fred, the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned jewelry brand, has tapped Kate to star in its next yearly campaign with rising French actor Melvil Poupaud, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier. What's next, Moss for Calvin Klein-competitor Michael Kors?
Kate for David Yurman, Fall 2008:
Kate for Fred, Spring 2009:
-With Katie Holmes for Miu Miu, Madonna for Louis Vuitton and Scarlett Johannson rumored to be doing Dolce and Gabanna, are real models still going to have to fight capped-tooth-and-manicured-nail for the remaining campaigns?...
COVER WARS
Usually, we at THE REAL RE-Edit profile some of the magazine covers that were either stylish, erudite, or both. We hardly EVER dish on covers that we don't like, but why do we get the feeling that the fashion/beauty editors at ELLE magazine are laughing their asses off this month because they managed to make two very high-profile R&B divas look like CLOWNS?
-I AM SASHA (NOT-SO) FIERCE...
1- We LOVE Beyonce. She has DEFINITELY changed the game for all of the sexpot songstresses out there, but...Has anyone seen the January 2009 issue of Elle magazine? There she is, with a YSL leather cage coat covering a silk and lycra bra, looking, errr, STRANGE. Now, THE REAL RE-Edit won't say that the editorial was completely cheesy- lets just say it was "somewhat artesanal". She needs to make sure she has last approval on the magazine covers she does (hasn't anyone learned anything from the Mary J. Blige/Vibe magazine cover debacle?) Although she has developed an affinity for Gareth Pugh and Thierry Mugler,
it is also apparent that she also has an addiction to eyeliner. We loved the way her face was painted in the "Single Ladies" video; though no one in their right mind could wear that makeup on the streets, it made sense within the context of her 4-minute "J-Setting" routine. However, it appears that she has taken the look from the video and ran with it. Did she have to look like a drag-queen martian? Definitely a misstep, B...
HOWEVER, Bey brings it back with her newest video "Diva"!!! Although the beat was obviously jacked from Lil Wayne's last album, She STILL brings it like the baddest chick in the game...
- DON'T GO GIRL...
Beyonce wasn't the only one that was clowned by Elle's lens this month. There's no doubt that Ciara is a beautiful woman. Her latest video, the T-Pain-powered "Go Girl", made fashionistas do a double take, as she took a page out of the current Yves Saint Laurent collection and made it urban AND sexy while still managing to affect a high-style aesthetic. Well, imagine our surprise (and profound disappointment) when we flipped through the last pages of Elle magazine to find these:
Though we commend Ciara's PR machine for orchestrating what should have been a coup for her, the end-product made her look like a little girl playing dress-up in her mommy's clothes.
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, ELLE!
Meanwhile, Jourdan Dunn and Chanel Iman prove in January's issue of American VOGUE why high-fashion editorial spreads should be left to the professionals...
FANTASTIC!!!
FLASHBACK...Beyonce's "Diva" is DEFINITELY the hottest video out right now, but...Remember when she duetted with the ORIGINAL First Lady of Rockafella, Amil, on "I Got That"?
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