The always highly-anticipated Oscars red carpet never disappoints, with plenty of high-fashion glamour and general all-round shockers to keep most fashion watchers entertained. Black, white and red were key colours on the carpet, and embellishments and a focus on the waist were stand out trends. Here are my picks for the best and worst dressed of this year’s event:
Best Dressed
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Eyebrows are easily the most underrated facial feature. We all know that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and that clear skin is the basis of any good look, but it is the eyebrows that structurally frame your face and can be the determining factor in whether you are perceived as happy, pretty, grumpy, or dopey person.
A well-groomed pair of brows should open up your face, accentuate your eyes, and follow the natural bone structure of your face.
Probably due to Hollywood’s ever-increasing obsession with youth and beauty comes the slightly uncomfortable but also intriguing rise of the teen (or pre-teen) it girl, or what Grazia Magazine has appropriately coined, the ‘chadult’.
It seems everywhere you look these young ingénues (aka children-who-look-like-adults-and-often-better-than-me) are gracing the red carpet, hardly ever putting a Gucci-clad foot wrong, and winning rave reviews from style bibles including Elle and Vogue.
It’s completely unjust that these 14 year olds look like stunning, graceful swans at an age when most of us were spotty-faced, still in braces and carrying puppy fat. Yet at the same time, is it wrong I find myself looking to them for style inspiration?
With big name designers like Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs scrabbling to get them to front their campaigns directed at adult women, it’s probably no wonder.
All that aside, and not forgetting the fact that they’ve all got top stylists working day and night to disguise any teenaged awkwardness that might accidentally slip out, and as weird as it is given I’m 10 years older than most of them, these girls are fast on their way to becoming fashion icons.
Here are my favourite annoying yet beautiful little fashion plates (sorry Willow Smith, but you don’t make the cut):
Chloe Grace Moretz
Despite the fact that she’s not even 15 yet, this young actress has got talent, attitude and style, and is becoming quite the dab-hand at mastering classic, ladylike style.
Elle Fanning
Not going to lie, kind of obsessed with Elle Fanning’s whimsical, yet age-appropriatestyle. She’s definitely got more panache than Dakota, choosing bold, quirky pieces and looking a lot cooler than a 13 year old ever should.
Hailee Steinfeld
Hailee is the face of the controversial Miu Miu AW ’11 campaign, which was eventually banned for being ‘obscene’ and apparently encouraging teens to put themselves in ‘dangerous situations’ (see the image of Hailee sitting on the railway tracks, crying below).As a side note, Hailee was eventually replaced by a model 20 years her senior (i.e. 34). Weird juxtaposition.
Aside from that though, she has rather enviable red carpet style, including this knockout colourful Prada dress she wore at last year’s Golden Globes.
- Natalie Cosgrove
The DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship has been one of New Zealand's richest fashion prizes on the scene and we salute them for standing by fashion talent and encouraging new talent.
The fourth awards is now open for entries for emerging fashion exporters to enter. Not this is for fashion designers who are ready to export, not ready to start locally, so is suited to those wanting to take it to the next level and needing a helpful boost.
The scholarship is open to New Zealand designers who have been exporting for less than four years.
The winner of the scholarship will receive international freight to the value of NZ$10,000, as well as coaching in freight and logistics from DHL Express. All three finalists will receive individual export mentoring and an annual membership subscription from Fashion Industry New Zealand (FINZ).
In a new addition to the scholarship this year, all three finalists will also be invited to join the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) Path to Market programme for apparel exporters, which aims to improve the rate and speed of market entry to Australia.
Judging the 2011 DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship are Margarita Robertson of NOM*D, Erica Crawford; co-founder of Kim Crawford Wines, Megan Wildermoth, national strategic account manager (fashion and textiles) at DHL Express and Mapihi Opai, executive officer at Fashion Industry New Zealand (FINZ).
2010 winner Twenty-Seven Names' Anjali Stewart says,,“Previously, we only showed sample ranges in Australasia. But, this year, we were able to send samples to Japan, Europe and the U.S. Increasing the number of agents and buyers able to physically view the collections has helped grow our export sales and raise our profile.”
Entrants are required to complete an official application form and submit lookbooks from previous collections. Applications will be judged across several categories, including ‘brand and design’, ‘sales and marketing’ and ‘export strategy’.
DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship opens for entries on Wednesday, 19 October, 2011, and closes on Monday, 14 November, 2011. Application forms are available from the FINZ website: www.finz.co.nz
Photos: Anahita Paul
On Friday I went to the U N D O N E launch and fashion show. Although we only caught the latter of the show due to arriving unfashionably late, we hung around for the end.
Later this month The Cloud will play host to a glamorous showcase of New Zealand's current and future fashions from more than 50 of the country's top designers thanks to New Zealand Fashion Week.
A total of six shows will be held over the 19th and 20th of October as part of REAL NZ Festival and as a special showcase of New Zealand fashion innovation.
As Rugby World Cup fever grips the nation, the people of Marlborough indulge in a bit of food, fashion and wine.
A procession of wine carriers accompanied by classical violinist Vicky Mack and a group of Maori warriors cut a line through the crowd bringing with them the first of the 2011 Marlborough sauvignon blanc and officially kicking off Indulge Marlborough.
Hot off the back of her much buzzed-about NZFW show, Kathryn Wilson debuted her A/W 12 collection to a select group of Australian media in an intimate, candlelit setting at Tokonama, a sushi bar in the ultra-hip Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.
New Zealand fashion has long been labeled "dark and intellectual" which as a country we have still not completely shaken. Throughout the decades we have become accustomed to wearing black which has become a national uniform.
Spring-Summer 2012 is nearly upon us and many international designers have already showcased their collections at fashion weeks around the world. We're looking at a season of vast ambition, taking inspiration from the 1950's with classic lines, flowing, wearable lightweight dresses and voluminous skirts.
Nude, nude, nude! Think neutral tones paired with bright colour blocks - a must have for your Summer wardrobe.
Dark and moody, or have we moved on? Two experts examine our New Zealand fashion identity.
Contemporary New Zealand fashion was once defined by the "dark and intellectual" label given to us by the international press in 1999, after the "New Zealand Four" presented their clothes at London Fashion Week. It was a term eventually so overused it began to mean nothing; a description that the industry both embraced and resented. Dark and intellectual? What a cliché. We're all unique. Yet despite protests that one size, or label, didn't fit all - designers like World and Karen Walker use heaps of colour, people would argue, and where's the intellectualism in a pretty floral dress from Trelise Cooper? - underneath it all there still lies a darker mood, whether it be Karen Walker's angsty outsider tendencies, Kate Sylvester's smarty-pants muse, or Nom*D's long-lasting penchant for black.
