26

Jun

The Haute List: 6/26/12

It’s time to see and be seen!  Mark your social calendars, fab ones: the ‘Ham has several haute events happening this week:

Sinbad – appearing June 28 through July 1 at the Comedy Club Stardome; tickets are $35 plus applicable fees

Magic City Live After 5 [**Free!!**] – June 28 in Linn Park.  Will feature live entertainment, libations and treats from various food trucks (NOLA Ice will be on deck at the first event!).  This week’s musical guest is Todd Simpson & Mojo Child; Just a Few Cats are scheduled to perform July 5.

Art on the Rocks – kicks off its 8th season this Friday, June 28 at the Birmingham Museum of Art.  The event will celebrate the Museum’s new Warhol and Cars: American Icons exhibit (which opened June 22).  Sip cocktails, nibble on treats from Oscar’s and enjoy a scavenger hunt, a photo booth and the musical stylings of Ponderosa.  Tickets are $20 for non-members and $10 for members.

Don’t forget about the Summer Film Series at the Alabama Theatre, and Free Friday Flicks at Homewood Park!

14 years ago Short URL Comments

Birmingham Live!/If We Weren't There It Didn't Happen/Scene and Heard

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25

Jun

LOVE this: Katie Holmes

How easy breezy is this lovely floral frock?  Mrs. Tom Cruise was spotted in this blue silk dress in New York on Wednesday.

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Gotta have it for your own closet?  A similar printed tunic with cap sleeves is  available at Zara for $79.90 (standard shipping is free!).  Pair this tunic with flat sandals or wedges and an envelope clutch and you’re done!  And for those of you who like to shop around (not just on the interweb), Zara can be found at Perimeter Mall and Lenox Mall in Atlanta.

Known for their fast and well-made fashion, Zara offers separates, dresses, shoes and accessories, as well as menswear, at very accessible prices.  Clothing for kids is available online as well.  Just how do they get the clothes to consumers so quickly? Check out this article from Slate.

Images via People and Zara

14 years ago Short URL Comments

C'est Si Bon

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23

Jun

Saks Off 5th Friends and Family Sale on NOW

Calling all shoppers!  Saks Off 5th Friends and Family Event is in full swing, offering “an extra 40% Off: Men’s Suits, Fine Jewelry and Watches, and Women’s Premier Designer Sportswear.  Plus, More! Members enjoy exclusive coupons to save 30% Off everything else in the store.”  Some exclusions apply; the event concludes June 26.  Off 5th locations can be found at Silver Sands Factory Stores in Destin  and Discover Mills in Lawrenceville, GA.

Click HERE for More! Members Info.  Membership is free!

Special thanks to chic reader T. Chestang-Beville for the heads up!

Image via Saks Off 5th

14 years ago Short URL Comments

Champagne Taste Beer Budget/Shopping is My Cardio

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22

Jun

‘American Tapestry’ author to visit Birmingham June 25

From the Birmingham Public Library:

“Birmingham Bound: Writers and Writing from the Birmingham Public Library Archives Presents Rachel Swarns

New York Times correspondent Rachel Swarns will discuss her book American Tapestry. This family saga is a remarkable, quintessentially American story—a journey from slavery to the White House in five generations. Yet, until now, little has been reported on the First Lady’s roots. Using the collections of the Birmingham Public Library Archives and many other sources, American Tapestry traces the complex and fascinating tale of Michelle Obama’s ancestors, a history that the First Lady did not even know herself.  Books will be available for purchase and signing. ”

American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama was released June 19 by Amistad. 

Interested in researching your roots? Swarns’ website has links to helpful resources such as the National Archives, Family Search and DNA testing.

14 years ago Short URL Comments

Birmingham Live!/Reading is FUNdamental (and sexy!)/Scene and Heard

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22

Jun

Halston remains an enigmatic icon in ‘Ultrasuede’

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston is Whitney Smith’s 2010 ode to Roy Halston Frowick, better known  simply as “Halston.”  Known for his modern, pared-down yet uber glam take on womenswear, Halston owned the seventies and proved that American design was as relevant as those from Europe.  Smith – in a Smokey and The Bandit-type Trans Am and various hairstyles – sets out to uncover more about the designer’s life and legacy.

Along the way, he meets up with the imperious and formidable André Leon Talley, a chatty Liza Minelli (who was close friends with the designer), former model Anjelica Huston and legendary model Pat Cleveland, a favorite of Halston’s (she was known as The Moth, because she strutted toward the light.  She also modeled in his triumphant  “Battle of Versailles” show.)  We also get a peek at the Halston archives, located at Lipscomb University in Nashville (who knew!) and a crash course in 70s era decadent music and nighlife.

The documentary, which is as light and airy as a swath of chiffon, provides something akin to a Cliff Notes version of Halston’s life and legacy.  Although we get a glimpse into his posh home, posh friends (including Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger), his archives (located at Nashville’s Lipscomb University) and his decadent and ultimately tragic life, we don’t get much else.  Smith touches on Halston’s significant influence – the Iowa boy became a milliner who put new First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in a pillbox and simple cloth coat and influenced the likes of Calvin Klein – but Smith fails to go deeper into the material.  He also hits the highlights of Halston’s business ventures: the licensing of his name and his partnership with JC Penney (which led to his line being dropped by Bergdorf Goodman) and sort of tainted his brand, but yet which set the stage for the current democratization of fashion (e.g. Isaac Mizrahi at Target and Versace at H&M).  Halston was ahead of his time in realizing that women wanted high fashion even if they didn’t have deep pockets, and he attempted to cash in on that idea before it was popular.

If Smith hadn’t been so concerned with asking shallow questions or in reliving the 70s – if he had looked deeper into Halston’s motivations and his genius – this would have been a much better documentary.  

View some of Halston’s designs HERE, and Smith’s interview with Liza HERE.

14 years ago Short URL Comments

Fashion Flashback/The Look

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21

Jun

Fashion Fair/Truly Treasured Beauty Tour hits Atlanta June 23

Here’s your opportunity to meet Fashion Fair Creative Makeup Director and celeb makeup artist Sam Fine!  He’s worked with Vanessa Williams, Tyra Banks, Iman and Naomi Campbell and is considered by Vogue to be  “the go-to makeup master for women of color.”

He’s appearing at Macy’s/Lenox Mall this Saturday, June 23.  Mr. Fine will be sharing Fashion Fair’s Truly Treasured Collection featuring “luxurious plum to warm rose for lips and cheeks specifically created to complement beautiful rich skin tones. The Fashion Fair Pro Team will also be on hand to provide Truly Treasured Collection makeovers, and spotlight Fashion Fair makeup and foundation essentials. Receive a makeover by the Fashion Fair Pro Team with a purchase of $25 gift card redeemable on Fashion Fair products.  Mr. Fine will provide makeup consultations at the Fashion Fair Counter from 12:00pm to 3:00pm.” 

I know we JUST got into summer, but I have a feeling the new lipsticks in “It Girl,” Rebel” and “First Lady” will be accenting my fall makeup palette. 

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Headed over to check out the fabulosity? Register online HERE.  Fashion Fair cosmetics are available at Belk and Macy’s.

Peep this behind-the-scenes video regarding the Truly Treasured Collection.

Image via Fashion Fair

14 years ago Short URL Comments

Random Acts of Fashion/Scene and Heard

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21

Jun

Toni Morrison takes readers ‘Home’

Several years ago, I watched Toni Morrison on HBO’s The Blacklist, which featured groundbreaking and influential African-Americans recounting their experiences in the world.  I remember (because I wrote them down), her words then: 

“Writing is the only free place; it’s the only place where I’m not doing what somebody else wants or asks or needs. Writing is mine. So [after] winning the Nobel Prize, suddenly I’m in a different league – not just out there in the world but in my head. That sort of rivalry with oneself – that is not self-generated but generated outside. The necessity [is] for me to make sure my work [is] not somebody else’s version of what I should be writing about.                                               

You know perfectly well that you’re pulling from the rest of the world of books. But what you want to make is this one little place, like the facet of a diamond. Just one little shape. And that’s where you live, and that’s yours.”

With her latest offering, Morrison polishes that diamond to a high shine and holds it up for her audience to admire.

At a narrow 150 or so pages, readers may be deceived into believing the Nobel Prize winner’s latest is an easy read.  But the story of Frank Money – a young Korean war veteran who returns to his rural home in order to rescue his younger sister – grips you from its opening pages to the conclusion. 

Frank’s odyssey – in which he saves his sister while saving his own war-ravaged self – addresses what NPR describes as the  “sickening abominations routinely inflicted on African-Americans: unsafe medical experiments, exclusion from public restrooms, [and] forced gladiatorlike knife fights for the amusement of betting spectators.”

Morrison pulls no punches, and her beautiful, lyrical prose cast a spell over me.  I could not put this book down.

Image via Amazon

14 years ago Short URL 3 Comments

Reading is FUNdamental (and sexy!)

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20

Jun

Jennifer Hudson for QVC

JHud is releasing a new line of womenswear for QVC this September. The 14 piece collection looks like comfortable knit separates and casual wear.

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“I feel like I represent every woman. I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been a big girl and now whatever this is, the average size, whatever you want to call it. But I wanted the clothes to be where any girl could wear it — no matter what size you are — and you could feel comfortable in it.” – Jennifer Hudson to WWD

Yes, but will you wear it? It’s not quite the “House of Dead Wrong”  but I’ll pass!

14 years ago Short URL 3 Comments

Haute or Not?

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19

Jun

Shackles on my feet, indeed. 

We feel this footwear – designed by Jeremy Scott – was in utterly poor taste, as did Jesse Jackson; your thoughts?

From Adidas:  “The design of the JS Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott’s outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery,” the statement said. “We apologize if people are offended by the design and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace.”

Adidas, get your life.

Think Same Chic Different Day is the ‘Best Local Blog’ in Birmingham? Then make your voice heard by voting HERE!

Image via Adidas

14 years ago Short URL Comments

Learn From My Mistakes!/Something in the Milk Ain't Clean

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19

Jun

Knowing is half the battle…

Okay, so no one wants to sashay up to a perfume counter or boutique and ask to try some of that “VURSAYSE,” right? That’s definitely not haute!  Review the videos below to brush up on your pronunciation.  (And note: “CHIC” is pronounced “sheek”).

Haute couture

Givenchy

Louboutin

Hermes

Herves Leger

Thierry Mugler

Lanvin 

We’re all self-conscious; I’m just the first to admit it…

Carry on!

14 years ago Short URL 2 Comments

C'est Si Bon/Learn From My Mistakes!

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