Posted by admin on Aug 19, 2010 in
books,
geekery,
style 
As a voracious consumer of any type of fiction, I have a particular soft spot for science fiction, the fantasy end to be specific. Sure, I love Ben Bova, Philip K. Dick and Greg Bear, but my heart belongs to the wizarding worlds of Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, Piers Anthony (hey, his puns rule), Pratchett and Anne McAfferty. The list goes on, as I feel that Mercedes Lackey must get a mention, Simon R.Green, Ray Bradbury, Craig Shaw Gardner, Robert Aspirin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, Melanie Rawn-Ok, I’m going to stop now, as I’m getting carried away.
Suffice to say, I really LOVE the genre, and with it, the cover art. A lot of fantasy features the usual dragons, castles, and damsels wearing thin strips of clothing, but the trend for the sexualized fantasy females has changed in the last year. I’m happy to note that a recent survey by Orbit Books showed that the way women are portrayed in cover art has drastically changed over the last year. Forget about the heroine teetering in impossibly high heels whilst wearing next to nothing, now we’re getting kick ass women wearing practical, OK more practical items of clothing.
The research shows that the clothes they are pictured in are now more appropriate to their activities, such as sensible footwear, loose clothes, and a sneer rather than a pout. We also have strong female characters taking center stage in many novels, who aren’t just nymphettes. Read more…
Tags: fantasy art, Orbit Books, science fiction women
Posted by admin on Aug 18, 2010 in
style 
The latest handbags by designer Helen Rochfort take childhood whimsy into the realms of high fashion. The designer has created a limited edition range of handbags that feature three juicy looking pieces of fruit. The silver frame Fruit machine bags will emit the scent of the portrayed fruit by a simple scratch. This means you’ll no longer be accessorizing purely by colour or style, you now have to think about whether strawberry or cherry would complement your wardrobe best. Argh! It’s another step towards coolness such as the scratch and sniff wallpaper, and this is a fun portable way of adding some quirk to your everyday outfits. Get them for £69 each from Helen Rochfort here.
Tags: handbags, Helen Rochfort, scratch and sniff
Posted by admin on Aug 2, 2010 in
beauty,
opinion,
style 
Society today places a hell of a lot of importance on the physical appearance. Airbrushing runs rampant in the media, celebrity bikini pictures are a surefire way of selling magazines, and everywhere the notion that attractiveness equals happiness is forced upon us- perhaps most obviously displayed in the TV show Next Top Model. As well as the ’slim is pretty’ line, we’re also fed the one that ‘it’s about being healthy and happy with who you are’. This one may seem more responsible, if it weren’t for the fact that this can be interpreted with many shades of grey.
Sure, it’s good to be healthy, eat well and cut down on saturated fats. The problem is that this lifestyle gets confused with the variety of conflicting messages we receive from varying sources. There’s a constant barrage of misinformation from people purporting to advocate this lifestyle, such as ’eat healthy breakfast cereals’ (to lose weight) or snack on high sugar cereal bars to stay trim, so it’s no wonder people are confused and anxious. In the last couple of years we’ve seen a huge rise in eating disorders amongst young people, with kids as young as five years old starting to become obsessed with their appearance and suffer from anorexia and bulimia.
Considering these statistics I think it’s very irresponsible for FitFlop to create footwear targeting the youth market, especially considering all their advertising features leggy looking models with impossibly slender thighs, the kind of images that will have impressionable tweens running to the mirror in tears. Read more…
Tags: FitFlop, FitFlops, FitFlops Kids, Fitness Shoes, MBT, Reebok EasyTone, Skechers Shape Ups
Posted by admin on Jun 19, 2010 in
news,
style,
technology 
As a journalist I get asked all too frequently what I think of this ‘3D rubbish’. The statement is then normally qualified with ‘well, I know it takes a lot in the box office,’ and then I’m looked at expectantly like I’m suddenly going to drop some amazing secret or share my wisdom on what the next big thing to replace the ‘3D phenomena’ is.
I got rather sick of trying to explain that 3D probably wasn’t going anywhere and that the main reason people get frustrated by 3D was the WAY they had to view it, as both anaglyph and active shutter glasses require -you got it, glasses. Then there are the EXTREMELY PRICEY TV’s that require no specs, but hey, you can only view them from a really small field of vision, so that’s not too helpful now.
Having given this topic a rather huge amount of thought, I’ve now come up with what I feel is a reasonable, if vaguely Matrixy conclusion.
It’s the glasses folks. It’s not about replacing them, it’s about creating some which become so essential to everyday life that they’re part of the shower and shave routine- wake, teeth, glasses, breakfast.
Read more…
Tags: 3D, 3D glasses, 3DTV, designer 3D glasses, future of 3D, Gucci 3D glasses, RealID, Vuzix glasses
Posted by admin on May 3, 2010 in
beauty,
random,
style 
I love a good Japanese beauty gadget, as they have pioneered some of the strangest products in the world. The Beau Bust Roller is the latest in a long line up of uncomfortable looking products designed to help you increase your bust size. Forget about Wonderbra’s and chicken fillets, this is an electronic breast stimulator which is designed to be rolled across the boobs. This torturous looking device is designed to react with a gel used across the area, and together this machine is meant to promote growth and firmness.
Quite apart from thefact that the BODY DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT, it looks like it would be pretty painful as well. I’m not sure how desperate you would have to be to invest in one of these, but it would have to be verging on insane, as not only is this unlikely to make any difference, it’s also pricey and fricking HUGE- you couldn’t just leave it lying around the room! Get it for $116 from the Japan Trend Shop.
Tags: Beau Bust Roller, increase bust size
Posted by admin on Apr 24, 2010 in
lists,
style I like shoes. Who doesn’t like shoes? I defy anyone to say they actively hate the things, as after all, they’re well shaped items of apparel that protect your feet from the cold, the ground, and all sorts of bugs. Loving shoes is another matter, entirely, and as someone who once spent her months rent on buying a beautiful pair of shoes that were THREE SIZES TO SMALL I can attest that love isn’t always logical or necessarily sane. However my love for footwear has grown, and equally my hatred of feet (as I’ve said- love is not a logical being).
I adore a sleek curved heel, I go gaga over colour block shoes and extra applique, and the right embellishments can literally can make me swoon. Due to a recent cull of old shoes, I’m now down to around 40. Whilst browsing for my shoe fix online I came across a large number of lovely shoe related products that would not suffer wear and tear like the casual stiletto and I’m now considering what kind of loan I’d need to purchase the below (Joke. Sort of.) After all, why should you celebrate shoes on the feet alone- the design works equally well for home furnishings or crockery! Enjoy the following ( I know I did).
Read more…
Tags: sexy stilettos, shoe bath, shoe deign, shoes, shoes that are cool, slietto bathy, stilettos designs, strange shoes
Posted by admin on Mar 19, 2010 in
Celebrity,
style 
A disused vault filled with rat droppings and crumbling masonry may have put some people off, but Sara Blonstein saw only the potential of the space. The ‘Dead House’ vaults are located under Somerset House and had remained disused for many years, with the walls featuring gravestones of people who had come to rest there. To turn this rather grotty looking cavern into a space worthy of hosting London’s fashion elite was a monumental task, but something Sara saw as a challenge. ‘My first thoughts were, ‘Oh my god- what a natural catwalk!’ she said, and the space is now firmly established as the venue to be at LFW, hosting the Fashion East show.
I went backstage with Sara to see how things worked behind the scenes, and with a show scheduled to start at 1pm, we had an early start of 7am. Her crew were already hard at work, prepping the stage area, planning security and going over the music, and it was intriguing to get a sense of how something like the show is created, as there’s far more than just aesthetics involved. Sara swept in, a vision in a leopard print coat and pink lipstick. Read more…
Tags: Blonstein & Associates, Fashion East, London Fashion week, Sara Blonstein