robin givhan

i had the distinct pleasure of getting to meet and speak with ms. robin givhan, former vogue contributor (she informed us that yes she knows anna wintour, and yes she calls her anna) and current fashion editor of the washington post, last week. warm, funny, and filled with wonderful, fabulous stories, she was a true delight to meet, and shared some vital words of wisdom - we bonded over our being journalists (her, established...me, studying to be - i also assualted her with the first question while sitting in the front row) and she even took the time to email with me.

check out an interview she did with timeout chicago, as well as her articles for the washington post. they're highly relevant, and pose serious questions and observations regarding the place of fashion today.

en vogue

An open air exhibition celebrating 90 years of Paris Vogue will take place in Avenue des Champs-Elysées from October 1st to November 1st 2009. Besides some of the latest Vogue photographers, you'll be able to view cover photography by legends such as Andy Warhol, Helmu Newton, Salvador Dali, Robert Doisneau, David Hockney, Joan Miró and many more. Entitled Vogue Covers, this retrospective will also get a photo book interpretation.

featured covers:









meanwhile, in the us...



get ready for november folks. a big 'ole celebrity orgy featuring four actresses from the feature film "nine." and, i mean COME ON. if you're going to, once again, throw some terrible pictures of celebrities in my face, at least pick ones of note! kate hudson? both sophia loren and dame judy dench also star in nine, where are they?

all of these women look terrible, and so blatantly photoshopped, it's a joke. after seeing the september issue and the painstaking care taken with the decision making process of which cover photo they choose...i have a very difficult time believing that was the best option.

although i very much want to see "nine," i'd rather just stick to seeing these actresses in the theatre. in the meantime, sign me up for paris.

photo credits: vogue.com, vogue.fr

fashion's night out

BRUCE!!! honest to god...a top 5 reason why i would have loved to be there.

JILL ZARIN! oh my god. this picture just made me happier than that of the olsen's bartending at bergdorf's.

thanks to the cut for these truly sensational images. i would literally kill to have amy and jessica's job.

it's september

i absolutely love this poster, and can't wait to see the film when it wide releases on sept 11. apparently la wintour stood in line with the rest of the commonfolk during its ny premiere in this adorable little 'fit:


what a fierce, unyielding personality packed into such a spritely little figure.

...although, i'm starting to develop an increasing beef with us vogue. after perusing the sept vogue italia covers, and then perusing vogue uk at barnes and noble this afternoon (which has free wi-fi now...score!), i'm just so disappointed with the stagnant, non-conceptual, aged aesthetic that has become us vogue. anna wintour is such a brilliant mind, and her eye for design and fashion is truly impeccable...yet us vogue just doesn't seem to be moving forward. not in its layout, not in its editorials, and, for the love of god, not with its covers. i'm so tired of these celebrity beauty shots that continually grace each cover...and i don't think that it's just me being a 20-something, wanting some edge. i want fashion! i want models, and designers, and beautiful, styled coverage of fashion's key players. not jennifer aniston, not charlize theron. i'll, of course, always love vogue. it's vogue. it's the visual and literary staple of every ardent fashion lover, and it's an unwavering and legendary institution. i just wish that anna wintour would transfer some of the brilliant energy she's put into "the september issue," and her collaboration with fashion's night out into keeping vogue us fresh, exciting and new.

agree? disagree? let's start a revolution.

letterman and the bob

after the break...



she is so freaking smart, so freaking funny, and so goddamn perfect it just kills me. i could watch her all day everyday.

>> Anna Wintour walked out to David Letterman's couch last night, Madonna's "Vogue" playing in the background, wearing Carolina Herrera and her trademark sunglasses — she subsequently took them off to give Dave a hard time about his socks, referring him to Thom Browne, since the designer's elevated pant hemlines show off a man's socks.

She definitely brought her witty side out last night — when Letterman asked if it was a fair assessment to say she's bigger than what she does for a living, she referred to Maureen Dowd's recent column: “I read in the New York Times this week that I'm an ice queen, I'm the Sun King, I'm an alien fleeing from District 9 and I'm a dominatrix. So I reckon that makes me a lukewarm royalty with a whip from outer space. What do you think?"

Later, Letterman compared fashion models on the runway to "beautiful women who look like the Neptunians have released them. But nobody buys that stuff, do they? Is somebody walking around like they’re from Neptune?” Wintour laughed: "Lots of people. I'm an alien, remember?"

She suppressed giggles after the clip from The September Issue in which she berates Vogue style director Elissa Santisi was played, and chastises Letterman for calling her last-minute to appear on the show. When he asked if The Devil Wears Prada was made about her, she was coy: “Well, I seem to remember that actually the movie was a work of fiction and we really like fiction at Vogue.” When prompted about what percentage of decisions she makes at the magazine, she replies: "100 percent." And when Letterman notes that The September Issue leaves Vogue seeming as if it's run by people his age, she quips: "Vogue is not only run by senior citizens."

fashionologie.com

muses, photographed

le fashion

the september issue

i love fall. i love it more than any other season, and if my life was fated to be stuck in some sort of groundhog day-esque rotation, i'd love for it to be the september issue. over and over and over again. fortunately, our lives need not be at stake for such a terrible fate because "the september issue" hits theatres quite soon, after having premiered tonight in nyc at MoMA. two more clips have been released today, and frankly, i'm excited for the excruciating levels of brutal honesty the film seems to explore. we all know that photoshopping and other sorts of digital corruption occur when it comes to putting together a magazine editorial, and i find it exceedingly refreshing that anna wintour is willing to admit these realities and henceforth share such processes with the general public. i'm all about fakin' it till you make it. just be willing to own the fallacies once they come to the surface.

check out these clips...i could watch anna wintour everyday of my life. so fascinated by this powerful, shades-eternally-drawn, bobbed woman.







please tell me you're all planning your project runway parties...erin (and i, only because...gasp, i was able to get it off work. i about died when i realized my mistake) has planned a brilliant appetizer menu for ours, and i'll provide the things i do best: salad in a bag from trader joe's, hummus, and a year's worth of red wine. it will be spectacular. i'm excited to engage in elaborate post-show discussions. and don't worry, i've already called my mother, lori, tonight to alert her of the event, and she'll be calling my grandmother asap in the morning. we take project runway very seriously in my family.