Fashion Week: Movin On Up, To The West Side

So after meeting with Samara, but before the MAC dinner at Indochine, I made a pit stop at the Lancôme Boutique on the Upper West Side for an evening of fashion and beauty. Julia, Marina, Amber, Erika, and I sipped on mocktails, picked up copies of Violet by Design, and got our hands on the limited-edition (but not yet released) Christopher Kane Juicy Tubes. Amber picked up a tube of the Tokyo Plum Blossom gloss, while Julia couldn’t decide to wear, smell, or eat the butterscotch scented/flavored Grand Café Crème Brulee.

My favorite part of the event was the opportunity to meet Kerry Diamond, Vice President of Global Communications at Lancôme (she is the former Beauty Editor of Harper’s Bazaar). I talked with her for at least ten minutes - and she was absolutely delightful.

We vowed to warn younger generations against plucking their eyebrows, and chatted about the plight of the nearsighted. While on the topic of contact lenses/glasses/Lasik surgery, Kerry told Amber and me the cutest/funniest story. Not too long ago, she fell asleep without removing her contacts – which she says she never does. The next morning when she woke up, she turned to look at the alarm clock and was shocked by how clearly she could read the time. She said that, for about 45 seconds, she thought it was a miracle and that her eyesight had been restored. How hilarious is that? I enjoyed talking to Kerry so much; I was a little in awe of her, to be quite honest. She’s so chic and successful, but completely unpretentious and personable!


Erika and Kerry Diamond


Me and Lancôme Spokesmodel Selena Breed

Fashion Week: Movin On Up, To The West Side

So after meeting with Samara, but before the MAC dinner at Indochine, I made a pit stop at the Lancôme Boutique on the Upper West Side for an evening of fashion and beauty. Julia, Marina, Amber, Erika, and I sipped on mocktails, picked up copies of Violet by Design, and got our hands on the limited-edition (but not yet released) Christopher Kane Juicy Tubes. Amber picked up a tube of the Tokyo Plum Blossom gloss, while Julia couldn’t decide to wear, smell, or eat the butterscotch scented/flavored Grand Café Crème Brulee.

My favorite part of the event was the opportunity to meet Kerry Diamond, Vice President of Global Communications at Lancôme (she is the former Beauty Editor of Harper’s Bazaar). I talked with her for at least ten minutes - and she was absolutely delightful.

We vowed to warn younger generations against plucking their eyebrows, and chatted about the plight of the nearsighted. While on the topic of contact lenses/glasses/Lasik surgery, Kerry told Amber and me the cutest/funniest story. Not too long ago, she fell asleep without removing her contacts – which she says she never does. The next morning when she woke up, she turned to look at the alarm clock and was shocked by how clearly she could read the time. She said that, for about 45 seconds, she thought it was a miracle and that her eyesight had been restored. How hilarious is that? I enjoyed talking to Kerry so much; I was a little in awe of her, to be quite honest. She’s so chic and successful, but completely unpretentious and personable!


Erika and Kerry Diamond


Me and Lancôme Spokesmodel Selena Breed

Fashion Week Part Deux: Thuy Fall 2008 Collection

I woke up on Saturday morning and headed to the Exit Art Building for the Thuy Fall 2008 Collection presentation. A presentation is different from a runway show, in that there’s no actual runway – just models strutting their stuff amongst us mere mortals. The show was very impromptu, which I really enjoyed. Though after waiting almost an hour, it began without warning (I attended with Amber and Marina – Marina was somewhere getting juice when the show finally began).

Romero Jennings, Head Makeup Artist for MAC, was responsible for the models’ ethereal eyes and lengthy lashes; he lined the inner rims with shimmery white pencil and applied a few coats of black mascara for definition. Jennings polished off the look with a strong matte mouth. Lips were lined and filled in with Brick Lip Pencil (intense golden red), then Brown Lipmix (a MAC Pro product) was applied on top of the pencil.

To balance the bold lip, Liam Carey, Senior Stylist for Ted Gibson, pin-curled the models’ hair. Then, keeping it soft, he styled tresses into dreamy side-ponys and updos*.

Amber, Marina, and I walked away from the Thuy show with a goodie bag filled with, well, goodies. Of the beauty treats, I am most excited to try Ted Gibson’s Beautiful Hold Hairspray; its fool-proof formula allows it to be layered depending on hair styling needs, and it has a sophisticated gardenia fragrance.

*Marina was so enamored with the models’ curly tresses, she accompanied me back to my hotel so she could use my T3 Medium Duality to re-create the look. Unfortunately, in the short period of time she had before her next appointment, she couldn’t figure out how to curl with the flat iron – so she straightened her hair instead. And it looked fabulous nonetheless.

Look at the models giving me face. I felt like Mario Testino.

Fashion Week Part Deux: Thuy Fall 2008 Collection

I woke up on Saturday morning and headed to the Exit Art Building for the Thuy Fall 2008 Collection presentation. A presentation is different from a runway show, in that there’s no actual runway – just models strutting their stuff amongst us mere mortals. The show was very impromptu, which I really enjoyed. Though after waiting almost an hour, it began without warning (I attended with Amber and Marina – Marina was somewhere getting juice when the show finally began).

Romero Jennings, Head Makeup Artist for MAC, was responsible for the models’ ethereal eyes and lengthy lashes; he lined the inner rims with shimmery white pencil and applied a few coats of black mascara for definition. Jennings polished off the look with a strong matte mouth. Lips were lined and filled in with Brick Lip Pencil (intense golden red), then Brown Lipmix (a MAC Pro product) was applied on top of the pencil.

To balance the bold lip, Liam Carey, Senior Stylist for Ted Gibson, pin-curled the models’ hair. Then, keeping it soft, he styled tresses into dreamy side-ponys and updos*.

Amber, Marina, and I walked away from the Thuy show with a goodie bag filled with, well, goodies. Of the beauty treats, I am most excited to try Ted Gibson’s Beautiful Hold Hairspray; its fool-proof formula allows it to be layered depending on hair styling needs, and it has a sophisticated gardenia fragrance.

*Marina was so enamored with the models’ curly tresses, she accompanied me back to my hotel so she could use my T3 Medium Duality to re-create the look. Unfortunately, in the short period of time she had before her next appointment, she couldn’t figure out how to curl with the flat iron – so she straightened her hair instead. And it looked fabulous nonetheless.

Look at the models giving me face. I felt like Mario Testino.

Monochrome Models

Yesterday, the New York Times ran an astute piece about the lack of diversity among fashion models. Despite the fact that 30 percent of Americans are non-white, and although African American women in the U.S. spend more than $20 billion on apparel each year, ethnic faces have been few and far between on the runways of New York, London, Paris, and Milan; they are even more noticeably absent in magazine fashion editorials.

Jezebel.com took a thorough look at the October issues of nine of the largest American women's fashion/service magazines, and found that that black models are far more common in advertisements than fashion editorials; their report is quite alarming:

Black Models In Advertisements, October 2007:
Marie Claire: 10, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Walgreens (3), Olay (1), Johnson's Soft Lotion (1), Diesel (1), CoverGirl (1), Puma (2), JCPenney (1).
W: 3, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Target (1), L'Oreal (1), Turks & Caicos tourism board (1).
Vogue: 6, 4 of whom are celebrities: Revlon (1), American Express (1), Diesel (1), JCPenney (1), Vaseline (1), Avon (1).
Harper's Bazaar: 2, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Make-A-Wish Foundation (1), CoverGirl (1).
Glamour: 3, none of whom are celebrities : Aquafresh White Trays (1), Liz Clairborne (1), Lee Jeans (1).
Cosmopolitan: 0.
Allure: 8, 4 of whom are celebrities: Diesel (1), Revlon (1), Sephora (1), L'Oreal (1), Revlon (1), Aquafresh White Trays (1), CoverGirl (1), Olay (1),
Lucky: 9, 4 of whom are celebrities: CoverGirl (1), Target (1), American Express (1), MAC Cosmetics (1), Dillard's (1), Puma (2), Sephora (1), Avon (1)
Elle: 13, 3 of whom are celebrities: Target (1), MAC Cosmetics (1), Diesel (1), Puma (2), Benetton (1), Avon Foundation (1), House of Dereon (4), Secret (1), Botox (1).

Black Models In Fashion Editorial, October 2007:
Marie Claire: 1, starring solo in a 6-page fashion editorial
W: 1, appearing on 1 page of a 20-page fashion editorial
Vogue: 0
Harper's Bazaar: 0
Glamour: 0
Cosmopolitan: 0
Allure: 0
Lucky: 0
Elle: 0

In the wake of New York fashion week, fashion photographer and ANTM judge Nigel Barker was reported as saying, "Everyone is always talking about the weight issue, I think they should be talking about race."

To read Guy Trebay’s New York Times article, click here. For Jezebel.com’s insightful commentary, follow this link.

Monochrome Models

Yesterday, the New York Times ran an astute piece about the lack of diversity among fashion models. Despite the fact that 30 percent of Americans are non-white, and although African American women in the U.S. spend more than $20 billion on apparel each year, ethnic faces have been few and far between on the runways of New York, London, Paris, and Milan; they are even more noticeably absent in magazine fashion editorials.

Jezebel.com took a thorough look at the October issues of nine of the largest American women's fashion/service magazines, and found that that black models are far more common in advertisements than fashion editorials; their report is quite alarming:

Black Models In Advertisements, October 2007:
Marie Claire: 10, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Walgreens (3), Olay (1), Johnson's Soft Lotion (1), Diesel (1), CoverGirl (1), Puma (2), JCPenney (1).
W: 3, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Target (1), L'Oreal (1), Turks & Caicos tourism board (1).
Vogue: 6, 4 of whom are celebrities: Revlon (1), American Express (1), Diesel (1), JCPenney (1), Vaseline (1), Avon (1).
Harper's Bazaar: 2, 1 of whom is a celebrity: Make-A-Wish Foundation (1), CoverGirl (1).
Glamour: 3, none of whom are celebrities : Aquafresh White Trays (1), Liz Clairborne (1), Lee Jeans (1).
Cosmopolitan: 0.
Allure: 8, 4 of whom are celebrities: Diesel (1), Revlon (1), Sephora (1), L'Oreal (1), Revlon (1), Aquafresh White Trays (1), CoverGirl (1), Olay (1),
Lucky: 9, 4 of whom are celebrities: CoverGirl (1), Target (1), American Express (1), MAC Cosmetics (1), Dillard's (1), Puma (2), Sephora (1), Avon (1)
Elle: 13, 3 of whom are celebrities: Target (1), MAC Cosmetics (1), Diesel (1), Puma (2), Benetton (1), Avon Foundation (1), House of Dereon (4), Secret (1), Botox (1).

Black Models In Fashion Editorial, October 2007:
Marie Claire: 1, starring solo in a 6-page fashion editorial
W: 1, appearing on 1 page of a 20-page fashion editorial
Vogue: 0
Harper's Bazaar: 0
Glamour: 0
Cosmopolitan: 0
Allure: 0
Lucky: 0
Elle: 0

In the wake of New York fashion week, fashion photographer and ANTM judge Nigel Barker was reported as saying, "Everyone is always talking about the weight issue, I think they should be talking about race."

To read Guy Trebay’s New York Times article, click here. For Jezebel.com’s insightful commentary, follow this link.