Those are my favorite looks at the Met Gala in no particular order:
The Cartier jewelry Sofia Coppola wore was perfect with that shimmery gold Marc Jacobs gown.
Alexa Chung wore a classic polka-dot dress by Diane von Furstenberg
That beaded Stella McCartney dress looked stunning on Gisele Bündchen
Emmy Rossum wore my absolute favorite jewelry design!… I think that Art deco jewelry designs are the most beautiful designs. The diamond earrings were by Ashoka , the watch and bracelet were by Fred Leighton… She wore a custom Carolina Herrera outfit and Christian Louboutin heels.
I am thrilled that the 90s velvet trend is back! I felt so nostalgic when I saw all the FW collections… I loved this trend back in the 90s…. I still remember Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s long black velvet gloves she wore with her Yohji Yamamoto dress like it was yesterday!
Designers like Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren (below), Valentino and much more, have included velvet in their Fall/Winter collections. I honestly haven’t seen this much velvet since the 90s… I’m loving it! I’m loving the wide range of colours and the wide range of designs from those extra wide pants to the victorian style dresses…
There are many dos and dont’s on the net of how to wear velvets… None really make much sense to me… One particular “dont’s” that I’ve been reading everywhere and that made no sense to me at all don’t wear velvet on velvet!… I personally think that velvet on velvet can look great if done right! I’m on the hunt now for the perfect velvet heels to wear with a matching colour velvet dress! Those Gianvito Rossi signature heels in velvet are one of my favorite out there!
The Exhibition is the first major exhibition dedicated to the greatest soprano of all time Maria Callas. Curated by Massimiliano Capella, the presentation marks the 40th anniversary of the death La Divina. It includes costumes and props jewelry, Private clothes, especially those by Biki, the Milanese stylist who fashioned the ‘Callas look’ during the Milan years, as well as several opera costumes; there are personal treasures and stage jewellery; hats, wigs and glasses; telegrams, letters, newspaper articles and photographs illustrating the successes, the scandals, and her loves.
The exhibition is on display until September 18, 2016, in Verona and will soon begin its international tour, from Athens to New York, from Paris to Mexico City…. I don’t have information about the international tour yet but I’ll add it at the bottom of this post as soon as I find some!
The Curator Massimiliano Capella has used 2200 mannequins and has divided the exhibition into fourteen sections starting with America and Greece and ends in a small dark room with a video of Callas’s ashes being scattered on the Aegean Sea.
Here’s a quick background of her life for those of you who are interested:
I’m going to start from her “Milan years” because to me that’s where she rose and gave her greatest performances and, of course, it was at La Scala where she recorded many of the EMI recordings. On 17 September 1947 Callas had auditioned for La Scala with Casta Diva and O Patria mia, but the Artistic Director, Mario Labroca, didn’t think she was suitable. However, a substitution for Renata Tebaldi on 12 April 1950 in Aida launched a relationship that would continue for more than a decade. Between 1950 and 1962 she would sing 23 different operas, appearing on the Milanese stage 181 times.
Although critics and public were mostly enthusiastic about her vocal performances between 1947 and 1953, comments about her physical aspect were less favourable. Although she was quite tall at 1.73 meters (5’ 8”) she weighed almost 100 kilos (220 lbs); quite a large girl. In 1952 a tactless critic wrote, “It was impossible to distinguish between the elephants’ feet and those of Aida.”
So between the summer of 1952 and the spring of 1954, she lost 35 kilos, and in doing so – with the help of Biki – transformed herself into a style icon. Many of her outfits are reunited for the Callas exhibition. (The iconic portrait by Jerry Tiffany in New York for EMI in 1958 demonstrates how the transformation was complete).
In 1952 she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London as Norma. London would later be the place of her last appearance in a complete opera, in 1965, and one of the dates of her final concert tour with Giuseppe di Stefano in 1973. But London was to also be the setting for a famous… infamous encounter.
In 1959, when Callas was one of the core members of the international jet set, a party was held at London’s Dorchester Hotel after the opening of Medea at Covent Garden on 17 June 1959. The event was held at London’s Dorchester Hotel after the opening of Medea at Covent Garden on 17 June 1959. The event was hosted by Aristotle Onassis. the picture above was taken at the event!!!! The next month Callas and her husband were already guests aboard his yacht Christina and the fatal relationship began.
Her relationship with Onassis ended in 1968 when he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy.
In 1969 she did interpret one of her opera characters again for Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film of Medea; though on this occasion she wasn’t required to sing. Piero Tosi’s magnificent costume for the film is part of the exhibition, so is the favourite black leather jacket that Callas wore during this period. Various documents on show illustrate the intimate nature of the friendship between the director and his leading lady.
The final rooms contain some of her hats, bags, shoes, turbans and other accessories which Biki so carefully labelled in the early years to help her young protégé coordinate the right hat with the right gown. Biki continued to dress her when she lived in Paris, as well as Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Hérmes and Alexander for her wigs.
In the early ‘70s she appeared at Juilliard for the legendary workshops, directed I Vespri Siciliani together with Di Stefano in Turin, and Di Stefano convinced her to join him on an around-the-world concert tour which finished in 1974.
27 November 1973: Maria Callas gives a farewell concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
In 1975, Onassis died in a Paris hospital, a few months later Pasolini’s murdered body was found on the beach at Ostia near Rome, and the following year saw the death of another friend and mentor Luchino Visconti, who once said that he’d only started directing opera because of Callas.
She died of a heart attack on 16 September 1977. She was 53.
It’s been almost 2 weeks since the Dame Zaha Hadid has passed away and I still am in shock!!!
It’s not often an architect makes international headlines…But this Iraqi/British architect was often part of controversies. She was the first woman to win the Pritzker Award for architects. Some of her unforgettable works include the London Aquatics Centre (used in the 2012 Summer Olympics), the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein in Germany, China’s Guangzhou Opera House, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London, and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.
In addition to her breathtaking buildings, she designed furniture, cutlery, shoes and jewelry with a similar modern aesthetic in mind, most recently she designed a beautiful cuff (that’s on my wishlist!) in partnership with the Danish firm Georg Jensen shown below.
I must say that what I loved most about her was her style!! I thought (and still do think) that it was as unique as her designs and architecture … She was a fan of fashion designers like Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, and Miuccia Prada…. She could be spotted in the front row of Christopher Kane shows during London Fashion Week .. she loved the fashion world and the fashion world loved her back!. Her many friends and fans included Stella McCartney, Donna Karan, and Karl Lagerfeld, who held his Chanel Resort 2016 show in her DDP building in Seoul.
“I like things that when you wear them, the form becomes very different from when it’s flat. I was fascinated first by Yohji Yamamoto and his asymmetry, or Comme des Garçons in the ’80s. There is a connection between architecture and fashion because of the way the body is placed within that space. I’m interested in fashion because it’s the immediate thing that shows you the temper of a particular moment”.
I personally loved seeing her in black capes, particularly ones by Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake…
I love creative people, I love people who create their style and lifestyle rather than copy others! Daphne Guinness is one of those creative people whose style I have always admired. She has a truly unique and artistic expression when it comes to how she dresses and how she decorates her home….. It’s really true to who she is… no stylist no interior designers… it’s purely her!
There were so many beautiful gowns in this year’s Punk Theme Met Ball…. And I was tempted to put at least 10 of those pictures them, but then I thought that I should only put what I would see myself in!
Marion Cotillard looked stunning on the red carpet in a blue and white Dior Haute Couture silk gown at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. I love how the central ruffle of the bottom part of the gown ended just high enough so that we could catch a glimpse of her classic black pumps. Her make-up and sleek hairstyle complemented her sophisticated look…. This is the french style at its best… J’adore!
I love award season… love everything about it … especially The Fashion and Glamour part of it… I must say that there were a lot of “Blaa” dresses on the red carpet, and a lot of actresses wore the same style gowns that they usually wear…. However, there were 3 outfits that I felt were fashion forward and inspiring:
The Alexander McQueen gown that Kate Hudson wore just took my breath away….she looked like a modern Goddess!!! I just wish that she brushed her hair backward or something so that the embroidery would stand out more!
I don’t think that I have ever seen Amy Poehler look this good before!!!. She looked ultra chic and modern in that Stella McCartney suit and her Chopard necklace was just stunning.
Julianne Moore won a Golden Globe for her role in Game Change…. I would have given her an award just for wearing that beautiful minimalist, monochrome Tom Ford gown!!!
It isn’t over yet but Diane Kruger has already made her fashion mark on the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival. She was trés chic in a Giambatista Valli couture gown for the opening ceremony and premiere of “Moonrise Kingdom”…. Diane put the finishing touches on her look with a sleek up ‘do, beautiful diamonds and a crystal Judith Leiber clutch….I love that she wore pink satin, peep toe platform sandals instead of something excepted like silver!
I must say that this dress brought back childhood memories!!!… It reminded me of a dress that my mom had when I was little. It was a mint green chiffon flawy gown…. She looked so elegant in it and I remember thinking that I want to look just like that when I grow up!
Running In Heelz 
