Today show anchor Ann Curry

When “Today” show news anchor Ann Curry delivered the commencement speech at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, she named a list of distinguished alumni, including the Rev. Billy Graham, Wes Craven and Dennis Hastert.

The problem is the evangelist, the horror movie director and the former U.S. House Speaker all attended the Wheaton College in Illinois, not the one in Massachusetts.

The NBC newswoman on Monday sent an apology letter to Massachusetts school’s president, Ron Crutcher, and the college community. “I am mortified by my mistake,” she wrote, “and can only hope the purity of my motive, to find a way to connect with the graduates and encourage them to a life of service, will allow you to forgive me.”
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Serena Williams wardrobe malfunction

Venus Williams has done will to keep the fashion industry on their toes during her reign as one of the top tennis professionals in the world. And, with her high profile sister, Serena, the two are always a treat for the fans.

Serena faced hefty fines after her tirade at the U.S. Open against a lineman and she heads to the French Open where her sister was wowing the tennis world with her fashion. In the meantime, Serena Williams wardrobe malfunction came between the two events at the beach.
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Security and Politics at Cannes

 CANNES, France – At 8:30 a.m. on Friday at the Cannes Film Festival, just before the first daily screening, attendees were greeted with a disquieting sight: four police vans were parked in front of the festival headquarters and numerous gendarmes, some in riot gear, had taken up position on the street and even next to the red carpet. We festival-goers are used to security checks at Cannes.

 Guards electronically check your bags whenever you enter the headquarters, a massive building called the Palais.

 Another guard checks or rather glances at the contents of your bags, while a third passes an electronic wand over your body, rituals that grow lax as the festival wears on. (Similar security checks are common at studio screenings in the United States.)

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Kim Kardashian’s Twitter cat

The socialite recently uploaded a photo on Twitter holding a cat by the scruff of its neck, reports the Daily Telegraph.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) slammed Kardashian,

stating that she mishandled the kitten by not supporting her with the other hand.

“The cat was not harmed in any way and is perfectly fine! I love animals and would never do anything to harm any animals,” Kardashian responded on Twitter . (more…)

Kate Gosselin abandoned kids

Kate Gosselin spent her first full day back in Pennsylvania after getting the boot from Dancing With the Stars… at the tanning salon! Leaving her eight children behind at their $1.1 million home with their father Jon, she hit up her fave local fake bake joint and also made time for a pedicure.

Watch Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 19, Watch Episode Online, Justin Bieber Nude

Natasha Richardson was beloved Broadway star

Natasha Richardson leaves behind a legacy of performances from film and television dating back a quarter of a century. However, it was on the stage that this star truly shone. And Broadway will pay the ultimate tribute to Richardson tonight when the lights of all the theaters along the rialto are dimmed for one minute at curtain time.

For her 1986 stage debut opposite her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, in Chekov ’s “The Seagull,” Natasha Richardson won the London Drama Critics’ Circle award as most promising newcomer at age 23. And for her 1993 Broadway debut in the third rialto revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie,” she won the equivalent award from Theatre World.

Natasha Richardson was the first actress to be nominated for a Drama Desk award for playing that title role. She lost that race to Jane Alexander for “The Sisters Rosensweig.” And like Liv Ullmann, star of the second revival of “Anna Christie” in 1977,  Richardson was also nominated for a Tony Award as lead actress in a play. That category pitted niece against aunt, as Lynn Redgrave was nominated for her tribute to Richardson’s grandfather, Sir Michael Redgrave, in “Shakespeare for My Father.” They and Alexander lost to the latter’s costar Madeline Kahn.
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Confessions of a Shopaholic

When I began studying film, I discovered more than a few lessons translated nicely from the English literature degree. Beginning classes in both disciplines emphasized the “educate, enlighten and entertain” mantra of “art.”

And although savvier teachers hung bolder missions/verbs on art later in my education, the three E’s still aren’t a bad place to start, especially when you’re dealing with something as fluffy as “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

I learned all kinds of things from P.J. Hogan’s mashup of Sophie Kinsella’s books “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and “Shopaholic Takes Manhattan.” I learned America’s economy is in the toilet! I learned Scandinavian men enjoy being slapped! And I learned the Cinderella story will always be marketable as long as pretty people, pretty clothes and pretty endings give us what we really want — escapism. (The fourth E-word you learn after you graduate!) Read more from he Source  (more…)

Oscar fashion preview

Charcoal gray, platinum and white gowns paired with diamonds dominated a preview of red carpet Oscar fashions on Tuesday, recalling the glamour and understated elegance of old Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, focused its annual preview on seven up-and-coming designers who are vying to have their original gowns worn onstage at the Academy Awards on February 22.

The contestants were not instructed to use particular colors, but Oscar fashion coordinator Patty Fox said a palette emerged from the group that she called “Hollywood Silver.”

“Maybe it’s like silver screen. We’ve got a lot of platinums, we’ve got charcoal grays, light grays, ice colors, some black touches for definition,” Fox said.

Fox declined, however, to link the muted colors to the economic recession that has many Americans pinching pennies.

“I hope the economy does not reflect on Oscar night because it is just one night to feel great,” she said. (more…)

Hello Kitty and Barbie

Hello Kitty is taking on Barbie for the title of most fashionable plaything. There is not a designer worth his polyester who hasn’t spent a little too much time obsessing over dolls, so it is perhaps less surprising than tasteless to find fashion folk falling all over themselves to dress Barbie and Ms. Kitty for Fashion Week events.

Barbie, who turns 50 next month, is having a runway show on Feb. 14 in Bryant Park, with Barbie-inspired clothes by one group of designers.

Hello Kitty was set to show off looks by another group at a party Thursday night given by MAC, which has also created a new Hello Kitty cosmetics collection.

Marketing ploys, indeed, but they do raise the question: Who’s the bigger fashionista? (more…)

Paris auction falls short

A benchmark Paris sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings that belonged to French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin fell well short of pre-sale expectations Monday, in a clear signal the financial crisis is hitting the previously resilient art market.
Christie’s auction house said in a statement it raised euro7.67 million ($9.67 million) at its evening sale of works by artists including Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It had originally valued the collection at euro20 million ($25.2 million).

The highest-selling work in the sale was Renoir’s “Woman with a Parasol Sitting in the Garden,” which fetched euro1.16 million ($1.46 million) below its estimate of euro1.2 million ($1.51 million) to euro1.8 million ($2.27 million), according to Christie’s.

Only 23 of the 31 lots were sold, it said. Among the paintings that failed to find a buyer was Renoir’s “The Tapestry in the Park (Presumed Portrait of Camille Monet),” which had been estimated at euro2.5 million ($3.15 million) to euro3.5 million ($4.41 million). (more…)

Tom Ford fashions

  Fashion designer Tom Ford is getting the cast in place for his long-awaited move into features.
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode are set to star in “A Single Man,” Ford’s adaptation of the Christopher Isherwood novel.

Published in 1964, the novel centers on a gay man who, after the sudden death of his partner, is determined to persist in his usual routine, which is seen in the span of a single, ordinary day in southern California.

Firth is the gay man, an Englishman and professor who feels like an outsider in Los Angeles. Goode is the boyfriend who dies in a car accident and appears in flashbacks. Moore plays a friend of the professor.

Ford adapted the screenplay for the independently financed project with David Scearce. A Monday start date is being eyed.

Ford rose to the top of the fashion world with a 10-year run at Gucci, a period that turned around the fortunes of the fashion house. He stepped down in 2004, signing on with CAA with the aim to slide into the director’s chair.

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Moscow fashion week

 Moscow showed uncharacteristic reserve at its 20th fashion week with models strutting in diaphanous gowns and soft colors as the financial gloom of the credit crunch nipped at its stiletto heels.
The sushi-nibbling Moscow elite descended on Gostiny Dvor this week, a revamped 19th century exhibit hall near the Kremlin to see home-grown designs and catch a glimpse of Hollywood star and ex-Bond girl Denise Richards.

“I am extremely proud to open the 20th jubilee of our city’s fashion week, Moscow is a true European capital,” Moscow mayor of 15 years Yuri Luzhkov said sitting two seats down from Richards at the show of celebrated designer Valentin Yudashkin.

Luzkhov later presented a huge bouquet of colorful flowers to the raven-haired designer, who has boutiques in Europe and was commissioned to dress the Russian military.

Muted, neutral colors featured heavily in his spring and summer collection for next year, reminiscent of Milan shows last month where designers stuck to simple clothes in what fashion experts said was an attempt to keep cautious buyers keen with clothes that can work through several seasons.

The token Hollywood star for the event — birthdays of billionaires and gallery openings in Moscow usually have one — was Richards, who did her best to overcome the language barrier with an ear-to-ear smile.

“I love it, it’s wonderful,” she said of the Russian capital. “The show was amazing, it was fantastic,” she added, teetering on gold high heels and wrapped in a short shiny dress.

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Jennifer Lopez and Donatella Versace

 Prince didn’t say a word - nor did he sing - at Fashion Group International’s annual Night of Stars on Thursday, Oct. 23, but he did function as arm candy for Jennifer Lopez on stage as she introduced the evening’s big honoree, Donatella Versace, who took home the “Superstar” award.
Lopez may have done all the talking, but when Versace came out to accept her award (a few seconds too early - the Prince song that was supposed to play as she made her entrance started late), she made sure to thank Prince for “being a superstar.”

But Versace’s timing gaffe wasn’t an isolated incident - after a lengthy back and forth between friends Philippe Starck and Christian Louboutin, who both picked up awards (Starck for architecture and Louboutin as a “Star Honoree”) - the announcer accidentally introduced presenter Ashley Olsen (there to salute Francisco Costa) in the midst of Louboutin’s acceptance speech. Call it “Night of False Starts.”

Hosted by Barneys New York’s Simon Doonan, he opened the night by humorously urging honorees and presenters to keep the speeches short, “Donatella has to get to Katz’s deli in the Lower East Side by 11, she’s judging a pickle-eating competition,” he quipped.

Karl Lagerfeld eschewed the unofficial time limit rule with his introduction of Harold Koda, the curator of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and recipient of the “Fashion Oracle” award, with a speech that elaborated on fashion’s relevance to the history books. “He is the future of fashion,” said Lagerfeld about Koda. “He will decide what will be remembered from today,” to which Koda responded, “I feel I should be handing Karl the award.”

Night of Stars also honored fashion designers Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein and Christopher Bailey of Burberry, Italian Vogue’s Franca Sozzani and her sister Carla Sozzani, Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massenet and Harvey Weinstein. John Paul Dejoria of Paul Mitchell was given the “Sustainability” award and Bill McComb of the Liz Clairborne Foundation received the “Humanitarian” honors.

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Madonna & Guy Ritchie split

The actual announcement about Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s split may be yesterday’s news, but the obsession over the marriage’s demise is anything but—with no less than three mags making it their cover stories this week. And given some of the nastier details being reported, we can certainly understand why.
“She would taunt Guy, saying, ‘I should have married someone like me: strong, hot-blooded, intelligent, ambitious, spiritual,’ ” a source for Guy tells Us Weekly. “Their fights would often get heated. A few times Madonna slapped him or poked him.”

Well, Guy apparently didn’t take very kindly to such comments and is said to have had a few choice words of his own…

“Guy called her old, fat, ugly and wrinkled and said that she was stupid and couldn’t sing,” a friend from the Madonna camp reveals to Us.

Over at OK!, a source close to Guy thinks Madonna has “instructed her team to start a hate campaign” against her soon-to-be ex. (Although it’s probably safe to assume the pop icon had nothing to do with the report in the U.K.’s News of the World about Guy supposedly admitting that sex with her was like “cuddling up to a piece of gristle.”)

Meanwhile, People reports that for Guy, being with someone like Madonna was, quite simply, draining.

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McGraw book on dads and daughters

 As the father of three girls, Tim McGraw understands the challenges that face dads who want to please their daughters.
So the children’s book he’s co-written with Tom Douglas has some simple advice: As long as you’re spending time with them, it doesn’t really matter what you do.

“My Little Girl,” to be published Tuesday by Thomas Nelson, tells the story of a father — in a dark cowboy hat, of course — who spends a fun day with his little girl Katie doing … nothing in particular.

They stop by the farm co-op, gaze up at the clouds and play on a tire swing.

The 41-year-old country singer said he enjoys spending time with his daughters — ages 11, 10 and 6 — but if he did what they liked doing, he’d be spending a lot of time shopping at the mall or getting pedicures.

“It’s something that as a father you kind of have to sacrifice what you want to do, because boys do what you want to do. If I want to go to the farm and shoot guns or ride four-wheelers in the mud when it’s 40 degrees … the girls aren’t really interested in doing that,” he said.

But McGraw said he’s found that his daughters like coming along while he does simple, everyday stuff, like running to the grocery store or stopping by the office.

“Do what you have to do in your regular routine and take them with you. It makes all the difference in the world,” he said.

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Vera Wang Bridal

 New York – An ethereal bridal collection from Vera Wang for Fall 2009 evoked wood sprites and forest creatures for “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” wedding. Taking cues from Wang’s ready-to-wear collections - barely-there, painterly color palette, layered hand-cut tulle and asymmetrical draping - challenging the notion that bridal couture needs to stick to a white duchess satin ball gown formula. “I like to think outside the box with these collections,” said Wang after the show.
One of the keys to Wang’s re-imaging of bridal is to take the traditional silhouette, but soften or update it for a more modern, fashion-conscious customer. The “ball gown” turns into a cloud of softly folded tulle with a bodice like whipped frosting, accented with a simple lavender grosgrain sash. A “mermaid” gown softly flares into oversized layers of watercolor-like, earthy chestnut organza, while sequined straps suspend a slip dress from bare shoulders for a look that is as seductive as vintage lingerie.

Here, the way Wang manipulates fabric takes a starring roll rather than the usual beaded embellishment. Instead of using beading or embroidery to detail her gowns, she will twist and pleat tulle into a dramatic train, or line a hem with hand-cut rosettes. Necklaces or bracelets of sequins and beads sewn to ribbon provided just enough sparkle.

The show had editors buzzing for its creativity and advanced take on the bridal gown, but one editor was overheard asking a buyer whether the colorful gowns would be on their lists. “As long as they come in white!” remarked the buyer. Still, the collection inspired a bohemian, return-to-mother-nature narrative that will likely appeal to brides looking to avoid the conspicuousness of bling in favor of something soft and romantic.

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Ukrainian Fashion Week

Kiev – Turns out there is one perfectly good designer in the Ukraine, and she is Lilla Poustovit, a romantic figure whose collections already retail in some of Europe’s best boutiques. Her dreamy, yet elegantly practical collection shown Wednesday night, opened Ukrainian fashion Week, a 41-show season staged in leafy and historic Kiev.
Poustovit’s spring summer 2009 collection had lots of virtues, from its crumpled chic silk dresses, forgivingly cut yet cunningly draped, great graphic print tops and some very charming polka dot sheaths, draped with aplomb and finished with sophisticated lace detailing. Though clearly influenced by her country’s ethnic traditions, Poustovit is a smart enough designer to know its best to use small doses of tradition leavened in a contemporary silhouette and mood.

“I had in mind an image of an Adriatic sunset when making this collection. So I wanted something romantic, yet clothes women could understand and wear easily,” explained Poustovit backstage.

Lilla also injected an architectural element into her cocktail dresses, with vertical pleats that evoked Grecian columns.

Like all the shows here, Poustovit’s collection was staged in a conference center in Pushkin Park, where TV hosts, actresses, Kievan rappers and local politicians all made the scene.

Also impressing was a cool club girl collection called NB Karavay, a display of posh hippie duds for spring that had sass and humor. Ranging from natty multi-flap and pleated cocktails to street chic short sleeve coats, this collection showed that Ukrainians can make commercial collections that connect with young consumers.  (more…)

Guy Pearce

Hollywood made Guy Pearce so anxious he left for the quiet life back home, writes Donna Walker-Mitchell.It’s not often someone stands up to Harvey Weinstein, the bombastic, cigar-chomping, Hollywood studio boss whose rants can reduce men to tears. But Weinstein met his match in Guy Pearce. “You’re one tough bastard,” the former head of the Miramax movie studio and current boss of The Weinstein Company, once told the Australian actor.

When you meet Pearce it’s hard to fathom why the tyrannical Weinstein would offer up such a description.

On a recent afternoon in a third-floor suite in New York’s hip W hotel in Union Square, Pearce, slight-framed and 40, is quietly spoken, gracious and relaxed.

The former Neighbours star lives with little fanfare in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda, with his wife of 11 years and childhood sweetheart, psychologist Kate Mestitz, and their two basenji dogs.

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Kevan Hall

 You know you are doing something right when a star-studded packed house repeatedly breaks out in cheers and applause in the midst of your runway show; that’s what happened to designer Kevan Hall as his latest womenswear collection launched this season’s Los Angeles Fashion Week on Sunday.

Hall, showing his Spring 2009 designs, as usual did not disappoint his legions of fashionista fans with this show, his “Stage Door” homage to the classic, movie-star ready designs of the legendary Adrian. And, as usual, Kevan Hall set the standard that all other designers showing this week will be hard-pressed to match.”I was a little nervous about this show,”

Hall revealed after receiving a standing ovation from his diverse fans, including actresses Dana Delany, Rachel Griffiths, Tia Mowry, Gina Torres, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, stylist George Blodwell, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Hall’s brother, actor-director Vondie Curtis-Hall. “It was a bit different for me, this show, because I changed up the feel of the show, and went more for a classic vibe.”
Which meant evoking the gorgeous looks of yesteryear. Think of the most beautiful clothes that stars like Grace Kelly, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, or Jean Harlow wore in their heyday, and that’s what Hall presented on the runway.

From the slim, sleeveless “Garbo” double-breasted black-and-white belted dress that began the show to the stunning navy and black “Filmstrip” gown that closed it, Hall sent 54 exemplary red-carpet-ready looks down the runway.

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Beach Bunny Swimwear

 . The Spring 2009 show began with a nautical theme, with a bikini in navy lace paired with a tiny white cheerleader-skirt bottom; then a navy leather bikini wowed the crowd, with its gold chain embellishments on both tiny top and bottom.

The audience in the also tiny Lightbox Stage at Smashbox Studios noticed immediately that while the suits were mostly minuscule, the models were not, at least not on top, where they were busting out all over, many with a less-than-natural look to them.

The look was perfect, however, when paired with the slightly trashy theme of the Beach Bunny line, of bringing “the boudoir to the beach.” It was hard to tell the difference sometimes, like with the “Need You Tonight” suit, a white triangle top paired with white-and-fuchsia lace “skimpy” bottoms; that is a bedroom-only suit, for sure, as is the “Lady Marmalade,” a pink satin bikini trimmed in vintage black lace.

More wearable for public display are the cute “Wicked Games” black croc buckle bikini, the groovy “Can’t Buy Me Love” trapezoid one shoulder bikini done in aqua, and the “Stop and Stare” zebra bandeau, a suit covered in chains and embellishments. That one does look like it might get awfully hot in the sun, however, with all that metal to heat up.

Chittenden also threw in a few bathing suit cover-ups, including a form-fitting fuchsia romper with ruffles, a low-cut silk chiffon tunic studded with large stones, and the “French Kiss,” a satin underwire bubble dress that again would look a bit odd on the beach, but great in the bedroom.

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