Friday, December 26, 2008

Happy, Merry ChristmaHanuKwanzaaKah

In the interest of being politically correct in extending our best hopes to EVERYONE for a wonderful Holiday season, THE REAL RE-Edit wishes you a Happy Merry ChristmaHanuKwanzaaKah...



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"?

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy Turkey Day!!!The RE-turn of the REAL RE-Edit...







No, we're NOT dead...REAL-ly!!!

Many folks were inquisitive as to the apparent demise of THE REAL RE-Edit which- while it stroked my ego somewhat to get email after email expressing concern and having people ask about it at almost every social affair I attended- made me realize that now is as good a time as any for the its resurgence. I was going to sit out the remainder of the year, targeting January 1st 2009 as the "relaunch date". But how could I sit idly by while history was being made in the White House, beauty was being made on the runways and in art galleries, and pop culture grew even more interesting with every passing day? With the stock market plunging lower and lower, many more folks in foreclosure than even six months ago, and with no real economic uptick in sight, a lot of us have seen the demise of a lot of businesses, jobs, and perks. So why should THE REAL RE-Edit follow that trend? It shouldn't. So... here ya go- some things to ponder as we gorge ourselves with turkey and all the dressings this week...


Some things to be thankful for this weekend
1-Be thankful you didn't take that "dream" Thanksgiving holiday trip to India...
Because you didn't (or couldn't), you are sitting comfortably at home reading THE REAL RE-Edit while gasping at the coverage of the Mumbai massacre on CNN...

2- Be thankful you chose to forego playing a part in the obscene consumerism that the day after Thanksgiving brings out in some people at most retail outlets...
Because of that decision, you weren't in the Toys R Us parking lot in Palm Desert, CA. when two men exhanged gunfire, nor where you at the Walmart in Valley Stream, NY when people stampeded the doors, causing the death of a Walmart employee.



3- Be thankful you don't have an infant to feed (or that you choose to breastfeed!), given the levels of melamine found in infant formula products lately...
Months after baby formula imported from China was found to be tainted with the kidney-damaging chemical melamine, the FDA still cannot guarantee the absence of the chemical from the three major formula makers in the U.S, which produce 90% of the country's product.

4- Be thankful that a senseless tragedy hasn't robbed you of the opportunity to spend the holidays with your mother just as your music career was beginning to flourish...
We can't imagine what Thanksgiving must feel like for Jennifer Hudson this year.

5- Be thankful that a senseless tragedy hasn't robbed you of the opportuntry to spend the holidays with your mother just as you were blossoming into a beautiful little girl...
Casey Anthony, mother of Caylee Anthony, has been indicted on seven criminal counts-including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to police. While Casey Anthony has been arrested, the death of 3 year-old Caylee Anthony makes us look at our own children with much more love this season.

















Questions for the Zeitgeist- the THANKS for GIVING edition!!!
1- Pardon me, Mr. President...
Shouldn't rapper/Fugees producer John Forte (and his manager Carly Simon) offer his THANKS to President Bush for commuting the remaining 7 years of his 14-year cocaine distribution conviction, thereby GIVING him a second chance at a viable music career?

2- Madge's SECOND "Ray of Light"...
Shouldn't Madonna extend her THANKS to Guy Ritchie for GIVING her a divorce without resorting to the accusations of adultery that everyone else is accusing her of?



3-From the blonde who's lovelife EVERYONE seemingly cares about to the blonde who's lovelife NO ONE seems to cares about...
Bets are being settled across the country, as Paris Hilton and her "brother-in-law-by-proxy" Benji Madden announce their breakup. Should Benji proffer THANKS to Paris for GIVING him his freedom while also proffering his THANKS to her for GIVING him the sexually-transmitted disease that the majority of gossipmongers intimate she has?





4- While we're on this theme of Thanksgiving...
Isn't candied cranberry sauce the nastiest thing you can put on your dinner plate?







5-Missy's misses...
Should Jazmine Sullivan give THANKS to Tweet for GIVING her both her producer AND her sound? And what happened to the Tweet CD that was supposed to come out this past September?








6-'Foxy Brown' not necessarily The Baddest Chick"...
70's Blactress Pam Grier to release a memoir through Grand Central Publishing in 2010chronicling her rise through the blaxploitation movie era while managing not to get pigeonholed. That's great, but...shouldn't JUDY PACE do the same???




























7- Proposition "LATE"?...
Seeming to fume over the outcome of Proposition 8 (the California constitutional amendment that effectively banned gay marriage in the state), comedian Wanda Sykes came out as gay, saying "Everybody that knows me personally they know I'm gay". Sykes (who is funny as HELL and whose recent October marriage was recognized by California's municipalities until it was NOT recognized the day after Election Day) said the passage of Proposition 8 made her feel like she was being (personally)attacked. Wait a minute...Wanda Sykes is GAY and came out last week???!!! Should we even feign surprise?







8- BARACK-STARs???
He's been on the cover of Rolling Stone twice in the past year. He has garnered good will across the world, from Berlin to Brooklyn. He is one of GQ magazine's 'Man of the Year', as well as the darling of the majority of the American electorate (at least for now). We are confident in his abilities, but... is President-Elect Barack Obama being marketed as 'The Last American Superhero', able to leap tall budgets with a single veto? Are people unfairly looking at him as "the second coming", able to turn water to wine and fix foreclosures overnight?








8a- She has rocked everything from Alexander McQueen and Thakoon Panichgul to J. Crew and H&M- to RAVE reviews (mostly! That Election night ensemble was questionable at best!). She eschews harrowing high-heeled stilettos (mostly!) for flattering flats or subtle sabrina heels. Avon Cosmetics is publishing a Michelle Obama Style Guide due out this spring. Which continues to beg the question...Is Michelle O. "the second coming" of Jacki O.?













9- Speaking of all things presidential...
What if John Edwards had won the Democratic nomination before the press had uncovered the secret of his infidelity (and rumored love-child)? Would John McCain be en route to the White House? Was that the REAL reason Edwards dropped out of the race so soon? Moreover, why hasn't Edwards submitted to a DNA paternity test to quiet claims that he's the father of his former mistress' child?

10-Aren't we happy that singer/actress/performance-artist/activist/beauty ICON Grace Jones has a new CD out, 'The Hurricane' ?(http://www.thehurricaneiscoming.com/)






















11- Speaking of DIVAS with new music projects...Aren't we glad that the talented trio Labelle have finally reunited and put out a new project, 'Back to NOW", as well?
11a- Shouldn't Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, and Fantasia get together and do a remake of Labelle's classic, 'What Can I do For You'?














11b- How do we feel about Jennifer Hudson's "The-Boy-Is-Mine-meets-any-Betty-Wright-song"-like duet with Fantasia, 'I'm His Only Woman', on her debut CD?














12- The Dreamgirl's nightmare...
Why haven't we heard about any news in the Jennifer Hudson family tragedy? The arrest of Jennifer's estranged brother-in-law aside, why hasn't the "Spotlight" been put on the Chicago Police Department to find, arrest and formally charge whoever perpetrated the murders?
(UPDATE: As of Tuesday, December 2nd, Chicago police have formally charged Hudson's brother-in-law, William Balfour, with all three crimes)

13- If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit right on it...
While some of us are scrambling with two (or three!) jobs to make ends meet, shouldn't we bow down to NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury, who has figured out how to make money without doing a damn thing? Due to his public squabble with The New York Knicks, Marbury was fined $400,000 and excised from the team's opening rotation indefinitely. However, because of his untradeable $21.9 million contract, he gets an estimated $4100.00 for every second he sits on his ass on the bench...So who's REALLY getting f*()_CKed???


14- Don't Sleep on Dave...
Though not a hearthrob and never voted one of People magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive", he continues to get the choice cuts of Hollywood tuna. Past conquests include Lara Flynn Boyle, blonde bombshells Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson, girl-next-door Jennifer Love Hewitt, 'Desperate Housewives' star Teri Hatcher, and sexpot Carmen Electra. His new chick, plucked right out of Michael Bolton's arms, is none other than (Teri's 'Desperate Housewives' co-star)Nicolette Sheridan. Exactly what does comedian David Spade have swinging between his legs?



15- Are you not Entertained???
Cedric The Entertainer
, John Leguizamo and Haley Joel Osment will need to find new gigs, as their Broadway play, the revival of the David Mamet- penned "American Buffalo" recently closed...after a week's run of eight performances!!! Did Cedric choose the wrong Mamet revival, as "Speed-the-Plow," starring Jeremy Piven, Elisabeth Moss and Raul Esparza, continues to run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre?








Recession? What recession?
THE REAL RE-Edit
gets economically medieval on your asses for a few minutes...

The following rant was borne out of a conversation I was having at a recent brunch (which turned into a dinner party!). As I sat devouring the tastiest crepes I think I've ever had, one of the party's attendees was trying to make the case that the United States was in better economic shape than the mainstream media would lead us to believe. I damn-near choked as he gave his version of John McCain's "the U.S. economy is basically strong" presidential campaign gaffe.

It is painfully obvious that the United States IS in a recession. While I don't pretend to know any more about economics than the average American citizen who relies on CNN and the BBC for information, I think I've figured out how a world superpower like the U.S.A., who had a surplus under the last Democratic president, could take a turn for the economic worse in a little more than 8 short years. The upshot of it is that we fell prey to American arrogance. Even as terrorists tried to shake us from our collective phantasm on 9/11, we continued to think we could just shop through our domestic and economic problems- even though we were using the next generation's money.

But how did we get HERE? The credit-card-backed shopping sprees and sheisty mortgage-backed securities didn't necessarily start this mess; I submit that it was the selling off of American companies and culture itself- the "fleecing" of America if you will- that started the ball rolling toward two straight quarters where the Gross National Product has contracted. Today America finds itself deeper and deeper indebted to other countries, specifically China. This past summer, we even found ourselves on their very soil- not besting them in technology or scientfic development, but competing for gold, silver, and bronze.

However, while the Olympians battled in Beijing (well, at least those who weren't doping, Marion Jones and Antonio Pettigrew!), America's economic veneer was slowly being stripped away, fleeced even, by the very countries that we've sold our economic soul to. China, the Middle East, and every other part of the world that takes advantage of our trade policies, oil dependence, domestic product inferiority and military preoccupations, all participated in the grand march of the Olypic's opening ceremony, while the collapse of the American dollar against the Euro and other currency forms laid the foundation for some of these countries -who were strapped with billions of dollars and a need for some very high-end retail therapy- to take advantage of what amounted to American red-light specials. Even four years ago, no one thought about the absurdity of living way beyond our national economic means, borrowing future money from the very countries that we were simultaneously liquidating our present American assets to.
Consider:
-Chrysler Building bought by Dubai...

Even as we are slaves to oil from the Middle East, we continued to hand over our assets to the oil-producing country of Dubai. Now, in addition to charging us ridiculous amounts of money to ship oil from overseas, we can now pay exorbitant amounts of money to rent the very office/retail space in American that we sold to them. BRILLIANT, huh? (get the full story here)










-Dunkin Doughnuts owned by The Carlyle Group...

Remember back in the day we smiled at that quintessential Dunkin Doughnuts commercial where our trusty baker fumbled his way out of bed in his tiny home in Anytown, U.S.A at the crack of dawn, mumbling "It's time to make the doughnuts"? Those days are over. Now, we are so incensed over Rachael Ray appearing in a commercial for Dunkin Doughnuts wearing a simple, lack-and-white printed scarf that we declare her wardrobe an affront to American ideals. In a ridiculously unbridled (and might I add, completely unfounded)) case of American moral outrage, some levied accusations of subliminal terrorist ties at a company trying to push coffee and doughnuts just because Ray's scarf (if u strained your eyes really hard) supposedly resembled a Palestinian kaffiyeh. Surely she (and by default, Dunkin Doughnuts) were supporting Palestinian hate and terrorism by her wearing it in nation-wide ads, they surmised.











It never occurred to those hurling those untruths that the article of clothing in question wasn't in fact a kaffiyeh (which is worn primarily as a show of solidarity by Palestinian men), but rather a scarf that you can get on any street corner in New York City (and so what if it was a kaffiyeh- isn't Ray entitled to her political views- if she had any- in this country?). It also never occurred to those "concerned citizens" that instead of participating in what could only be described as a ridiculous post 9/11 attempt at modern-day McCarthyism, they ought to instead be concerned with the idea that key americana (and jobs) were being supplanted by foreign interests. I find it interesting that there can be such misdirected uproar over Ray's "scarf", but no outcry over the business acquisitions and practices of the OWNERS of Dunkin Doughnuts- part investment firm, part U.S. defense contractor The Carlyle Group. In September 2007, Mubadala Development Company- an investment vehicle for the government of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates- purchased a 7.5% stake of the company for $1.35 billion. Under the auspices of the UAE-owned Mubadala Development Company- if you believe filmmaker Michael Moore's claims in his documentary Farenheit 911- The Carlyle Group had close business ties with the bin Laden family prior to the World Trade Center collapse and conflict of interest issues with The Bush family and several U.S government officials. But no one's screaming over that. Brilliant, huh?



-Coors Breweries owned (in part) by Canadian Molson
Even the national pastime of sitting back and chugging back a beer has economic ramifications these days, depending on what you drink. The USA is the world’s most profitable beer market. With the U.S.-Canada NAFTA trade policies undoubtedly benefitting them, The Molson company of Canada, and Coors of the United States- two of North America's largest breweries , merged to become the Molson Coors Brewing Company on February 9, 2005- headquartered out of Montreal Canada.

Then on October 9, 2007, South African-founded SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced a joint venture to be known as MillerCoors for their U.S. operations that will market all of their products. SABMiller is headquartered in London, England, and even though the MillerCoors venture will be headquartered in Chicago, it still makes the inevitable fleecing of American jobs hard to swallow, no matter how good the hops are. Think about that the next time you take a swig of your Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, Olde English 800, Milwaukee’s Best, and Miller Chill.


All of this while the some of the US railroads were on the selling blocks. CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of the nation's leading transportation companies, providing rail-based transportation services through its approximately 21,000 route mile rail network, which serves every major population center in 23 states east of the Mississippi River, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces on Ontario and Quebec. It serves 70 ocean, river and lake ports along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway with track connections to more than 230 short-line and regional railroads. Now this important entity, which provides the undeniable nuts-and-bolts that make it possible for government and private businesses to transport goods and services throughout the East Coast of the United States, was reportedly up for grabs.

American real estate, doughnuts and beer are one thing, but transportation?

In that same vein, a while back the management of some of the United States' most important maritime ports were up for sale to- wait for it- Dubai Ports World, before widespread outrage over national security effectively led to a veto on legislation which President George Bush and former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole tried, ineffectively, to push through congress. Although Dubai wasn't brazen enough to think that they would be able to just walk into a deal wherein they would manage a major aspect of American security just by asking for it, they took the back way in. Disturbingly enough, American ports are not stevedored, or managed, by American companies. At that time, they were managed by London firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O); Dubai Ports World simply acquired P&O, thinking that they would assume all P&O contracts. In February 2006, came reports that there were 22 U.S. ports in the deal, including Portland, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; Davisville, Rhode Island; New York City; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Camden, New Jersey; Wilmington, Delaware; Baltimore, Maryland; and Virginia locations at Newport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth we well as nine ports along the Gulf of Mexico .

In a movement spearheaded by New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the national community was galvanized and the public outcry against the sale proved too much. Dubai Ports World eventually sold P&O's American operations to American International Group's (AIG) asset management division for an undisclosed sum. Yeah, that AIG...

And those are just the ones I can think of offhand...


THEN the subprime foreclosure mess comes along, with its fine print at the bottom of loan applications and its grossly maladjusted adjustable-rate mortgages. Many new homeowners found they couldn't afford the homes they bought once the interest rate rose on the legally-sanctioned (but rather criminal) loans they were approved for. The issue of foreclosure starting budding its ugly head in a real way around 2006. Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac (who were already on the brink of a Federal takeover by virtue of a well-intentioned but ultimately flawed legislatively backed plan to put lower-income families into homes), then have their bad business decisions underwritten by the U.S government, opening the floodgates for other major U.S. businesses to put their hands out for help. Wall Street investment firms (including AIG), in the biggest legal pyramid scheme this country has probably ever seen, collapse because they purchased Fannie and Freddie's ill-gotten gains in the form of mortgage-backed securities- but not before rewarding their CEOs with unspeakable bonuses for their questionable business acumen. Automakers fly in (on their private jets, mind you), asking for a piece of the taxpayer-bankrolled pie.


Congress will eventually relent and release even more of the fear-ridden $700 billion bailout piggy bank, correctly rationalizing that not helping these all-important monopolies (which the government is supposed to regulate and protect consumers from) would result in even more adversely-affected employment levels and consumer spending. Thus begins the whole horrible cycle of borrowing from other countries on credit to pay our domestic bills all over again ...

Couple all of this with trade policies that don't benefit the average American worker, record new unemployment claims and an unwillingness for the mortgage-holders to negotiate with struggling borrowers, and you have the perfect storm for the road to the recession...

That's how I see it. How about YOU???...
(UPDATE!!! A couple of days after this went to press came news from the National Bureau of Economic Research, stating that not only is the U.S currently in a recession, but that we've BEEN in a recession since last December!!! Take that, Mr. __________; (you know who you are!)






THE RECESSION-PROOF CLUB
Are we REALLY in tough times, because some of us aren't acting like it.
Some situations to ponder as we "debate" whether or not we can afford that $388.00 flat screen LCD television from Walmart...

THOSE WHO ARE ACTING AS THOUGH THEY HAVE MONEY TO BURN...

- On the heels of the biggest deficit NY State has seen in decades (which might result in a trip on the NYC subway being raised to TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS!!!!), it seems Governor David Paterson is living by the old adage "Do what I say, not what I do". Recent reports surfaced that $21,000 of taxpayer money was spent on a pair of antique Turkish patchwork rugs for the Governor's upstate mansion. Which explains a lot...Why would it seem ridiculous to force the people of New York City to cough up TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS FOR A SINGLE TRIP on the subway or to deny the city's employees raises to keep up with the cost of inflation if we have an administration that feels its okay to spend the equivalent of a half-year's salary for a low-level NY government staffer ON A RUG(that, by the way, he can't even SEE!)?


AND THOSE WHO ARE PAINFULLY AWARE THAT WE ARE IN A RECESSION...


1- First Lady-Elect and fabulous fashionista Michelle Obama in J. Crew...enough said.











2- One "Fugee" out of a mess, one "Fugee" in...While Fugees producer John Forte enjoys his new-found freedom, it seems Wyclef Jean has found himself imprisoned by foreclosure, for failing to satisfactorily repay a 2.4 million loan on his as-yet unfinished Miami mansion. Looks like the bank is telling Wyclef "Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide..."
























3- Ed McMahon is reportedly having his own home (which he lost to foreclosure) leased to him by Donald Trump...Shouldn't he enter the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes?
















4- Guess which 'Real Housewives of Atlanta" star is in foreclosure? Guess which one reportedly filed for bankruptcy?














5- Yeah, he still has $35.1 billion to work with, but...
Even one of the richest men in the world is cutting back. Reports surfaced this week that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the most famous charitable foundation which doles out grants to address global health initiatives, is decreasing the amount they are releasing from their coffers in the next year...Next thing you know, Bill will be asking for his old Microsoft job back...


5a- Microsoft plans to avoid the Fannie/Freddie/Bear Stearns/ fiaso by buying back $40 million in its own stock. Now if only they can get all the kinks out of Windows Vista...






The CULTURE Club


Even as our bank accounts grow smaller, there's still no reason to shortchange our patronage of the fine arts. This summer, NYC residents were treated to danish-born Olafur Eliasson's visions of fluidity around the city. Although the installations have been removed (they were disassembled in October), Eliasson's gigantic "water sculptures" under the Brooklyn Bridge and other points on NYC's East River demonstrated New York's biggest commitment to a public work since The Gates, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artistic statement which ran for two weeks in Central Park back in 2005.As THE REAL RE-Edit is still trying to get its collective head around the creative energy of South-African born artist Robin Rhode , there are still great artistic offerings out there for your consumption.

Consider...
-Robin Rhode's street art seems at once allegorical, basic and graphic, his urban narratives expressive in the same way that Jean-Michele Basquiat's seemed abstract, and his mixed media is both playful and thought-provoking...

-Khalif Kelly (and company)at The Studio Museum in Harlem...
Ever since redefining what it means to truly support emerging black artistic talent with three artistically erudite exhibitions- namely 'Frequency', 'Freestyle' and then 'Flow'- The Studio Museum In Harlem has redefined the vibration of the space they inhabit on 125th Street. Always ahead of the curve, Studio brought celebrated artists like Kehinde Wiley and Kara Walker to the forefront, while still showcasing lesser-known (and lesser-celebrated) artists in their hallowed halls. This season brings even more heavyweights; of particular excitement to THE REAL RE-Edit is Khalif Kelly's works . Currently one of three artists-in-residence at The Studio for 2008 (joining Adam Pendleton and Dawit L. Petros), Kelly melds pop culture with classical references shown through the eyes of beautiful black children. Add to that the incredibly prolific Barkley L. Hendricks, the extremely expressive and intellectual visual artist George E. Lewis (who won a MacArthur "Genius" award in 2002), Shinique Smith, and a host of others doing their thing and you have a great museum experience. Best of all, The Studio is continuing their commitment to the community by extending free admission to everyone on the first Saturday of every month, and- through sponsorship underwritten by Target- Sundays at The Studio are FREE as well!



-David LaChapelle is due to be exhibited at the Hôtel de la Monnaie in Paris, Feb. 5 to May 31, 2009. Whether its his version of the Mona Lisa (featuring the paripatetic Madonna clutching a thorny heart) or a new series of 3-D photo installations he's been working on, LaChapelle is slated to attend the opening of 'Going to LaChapelle', his biggest show in France to date.













The(Budget???)Fashionista Files

-More evidence that Isaac Mizrahi was onto something when he introduced the concept of "high/low" via his line at Target department stores...Mass retailer H&M is turning it for their designer collaborations! Rei Kawakubo for Comme Des Garcons joins Roberto Cavalli, Marimekko, Kylie Minogue, Viktor and Rolf, Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, and Madonna as the latest sensation to hock a lower-priced collection to the masses.




Word on the street is the next designer to make his debut at the retailer will be none other than Matthew Williamson, who will make his mens and women's collections for the chain available in April 2009...

-Seems that fashion collaborations can't save EVERY retailer...Steve and Barry's (which narrowly escaped bankruptcy back in September by closing some stores while simultaneously finding a $168 million benefactor in Bay Harbour Management) recently announced that they would liquidate the merchandise in their remaining stores (which include Bitten by Sarah Jessica Parker, Dear by Amanda Bynes, Eleven by Venus Williams and Starbury by Stephon Marbury) and close up shop completely. Those who raided Steve and Barry's a couple of months ago for those $5 "Sex and the City" t-shirts (from SJP's line) are probably glad they did...


-Steve and Barry's is just one of the many destinations that shoppers will have to take off of their list for their "Black Friday" retail therapy...
Those closing completely include Mervyns and Linens 'N Things, while popular retail stores like Circuit City, Mattress Discounters, Dillards, Limited Too, Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Ann Taylor,The Disney Store,The Sprint Store, Home Depot, and Ethan Allen are closing a significant number of their stores. Depending on where you live, you won't be able to eat at Bennigans or grab a latte at Starbucks, as a good portion of these stores are closing as well. Kohl's and Walmart, which remain solid ,economy notwithstanding, are geared up to take your money with Black Friday deals that seem like giveaways. Old Navy, though, takes the cake with across-the-board 50% discounts on everything in the store...




Chicks that we love...
-First we divorce, then we shop...

Not one to let something like the public dissolution of her marriage get in the way of her cash, Madonna has a NEW fashion collaboration on the way---starring in the new Louis Vuitton ad campaign for 2009 (the stylist for the session was Marie Amelie Sauve, fashion editor for Vogue Paris and consultant for Balenciaga, by the way!) . She was rumored to have been paid $10 million for the images (shot by Vogue magazine wunderkind photographer Steven Meisel-whom she worked with on her "Sex" book)- which would fatten her post-divorce pursestrings now that she won't have fork over a single cent to her ex-husband in their divorce settlement...Love that chick..
(UPDATE: On Monday, December 15, came reports that Madonna will probably fork over $75 million to Mr. Ciccone Ritchie in a post-marriage settlement. Looks like she might want to invest some of that Vuitton cash!)


Told y'all She was gonna bump like this...

-You model chicks better watch your backs!!!! Many of you scoffed when THE REAL RE-Edit profiled Arlenis waaaaaay back in the day (well, this past Spring!). With her recent "coronation" in this past summer's Italian Vogue, her recent profile in November's American Vogue, her complete domination of runways both domestic and abroad over the last two seasons (she opened and closed Oscar de la Renta's Spring 2009 show, and ramped in countless others), and her recent coup in landing a cosmetics contract as one of the newest faces of Lancome just six months after being whisked off the streets of Santo Domingo, should Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn start bowing down to the Dominican super-chica?


















(P.S....There are always one (or two) waiting in the wings...)


- Her editorial in this past summer's Italian Vogue etched her face into the cerebral cortex of every fashionista from Milan to Manhattan (including Kanye West, who she's rumored to be dating). She possesses the savage beauty of androgynous masculoid Omahyra and the burnt cafe au lait skin of the late Katoucha. All of this while STILL being able to book Victoria's Secret.



Is there any doubt that Sessilee Lopez is the face of the future?





















-Donning the boyish pixie cut remniscent of 90's supermodel Nadege, the aesthetic of a "modelized" Nia Long and the ultra-feminized features of the prettiest of pretty boys, she opened the Dominique Sirop Fall 2008 couture show in Paris.


Is 5'11" Celia Johnson poised to join Arlenis and Sessilee Lopez as one of the "next new" girls?
















-How HOT is Agyness Deyn's new ad and television commercial for Jean Paul Gaultier's newest fragrance, 'Madame'? So ahead of her time...















Hello... Kimmy?
-Speaking of being ahead of the curve, it seems that Kimora Lee was prescient when she incorporated Hello Kitty into the Simmons Jewelry Company line (Kimora ahead of the curve? There's something I never thought I'd say!) . However, she may have missed a great opportunity for her KLS makeup line, as Hello Kitty has teamed with the maquillage monopoly known as MAC cosmetics to produce the pop culture phonomena's first makeup line!!!












Makeup fiends, get thee to http://www.maccosmetics.com/ for online orders (which begin Jan 7th for the Feb 10th online rollout) or to the nearest MAC counter on the Feb 12th in-store rollout in North America- the line is only going to be available for a maximum of eight weeks!!!

BUT...THE REAL RE-Edit wonders aloud...Why wouldn't the kitsch pop culture company align itself with one of the most kitsch (and conspicuously consumptive) individuals in modern antiquity? My guess is that Hello Kitty owner Sanrio Global Consumer Products probably thought that if Kimora HERSELF doesn't believe in her own makeup line enough to carry it EXCLUSIVELY in her own bag, why should anyone else?




















FASHION REMIX: Mugler's Mutiny
As if taking its cue from the recently resuscitated Halson and Herve Leger lines, it seems Thierry Mugler is up next. Thierry Mugler Edition (which was designed by the line's artistic director, Rosemary Rodgriguez), made a little drop in the fashion pond when it was shown in Mugler's Paris showroom last summer. Conspicuously absent from fashion lately, monsieur Mugler busies himself with the fragrance/beauty aspect of his house (which accounts for about 80% of his total business; hence the ubiquitous "Angel" parfum/eau de toilet that seems to be EVERYWHERE once the Fall weather hits).
THE REAL RE-Edit predicts that the Mugler label, replete with the sharp lines, cutting corsetry, painfully perfect peplum, and fashion-as-fetish aesthetic it was famous for in the 80's and 90s, will make its way back onto the backs of the citizens of the fashion landcape- SOON... (don't say we didn't tell you...) REALly, if Beyonce and Ciara are up on it, can a complete 'pop culture' resurgence be far behind?...

























Remember this Mugler mini-retrospective from the 1995 Vh-1 Fashion Awards?




No, its not Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. This is a 'Gigli' most would pay to see...


-Speaking of everything old (from the 90's) being new again, Romeo Gigli will return to our closets as of Fall 2009 with his new line Ipse Idem. Although a new project for Gigli, his prices remain as steep as the old Gigli (Retail prices for the blouses range from $565 to $816, coats average $1,256 while the knitwear is about $565). We ARE in a recesssion, right?




Labouring in Louboutins? Lack of Labour at DNR?
-Seems Thierry Mugler isn't the only designer that seems obssessed with the idea of fashion as self-torture...Exactly WHO will be buying the EIGHT-INCH HEELS (sans platform!) that Christian Louboutin is rumored to be debuting next year?
Will he have women on the streets of New York doing their own version of Naomi's tumble at that infamous Vivienne Westwood show?




-The thought of eight-inch heels undoubtedly pains some women, but Menswear afficionados are feeling some pain as well, as news comes that DNR magazine- the "bible" of menswear fashion industry- is folding into Womens Wear Daily (which most credit as the "bible" of the womenswear fashion industry). Will Fairchild publications (which produces WWD) give the world of menswear the same depth of coverage it enjoyed at DNR, now that it has to share printed space?...


-While we're pondering the future of fashion...
He designed a line about 4 years ago, followed by a t-shirt line, then evaporated into fashion's very thin air. He's also rumored to be dating one of THE REAL RE-Edit's obsessions (and Vogue "Girl of the Moment") Genevieve Jones.

The question is: WHERE THE HELL is fashion heir-apparent Moises de la Renta?





FLASHBACK...
Since we are calling for the re-emergence of the Thierry Mugler line, why not take a minute to watch the video which brought Mugler to the mainstream (as well as the second time this ex-member of Wham!UK used supermodels to sell his records)... George Michael's Too Funky" video...