Changing mindset of young designers.
FEDERAL Youth Minister Peter Garrett has thrown his support behind The Daily Telegraph’s Get Real campaign for healthier-looking models.”This is an important issue and one that The Telegraph is right to highlight,” Mr Garrett said. “We want the fashion industry to support the use of healthy, positive role models.”

Currently there are only voluntary guidelines for the fashion industry relating to the use of unhealthily-thin models, but these are not regulated.Compliance with the Voluntary Industry Code of Conduct is rewarded through the government’s Positive Body Image Awards. “I support the work that is being done to portray realistic body images in media and advertising, and the industry should be commended for their work,” Mr Garrett said.

Mr Garrett’s backing comes as a leading fashion teacher warned the next generation of designers had to be persuaded to change their preference for ultra-skinny clothes horses.

TAFE NSW Sydney Institute’s Nicholas Huxley, who nurtured the careers of designers Dion Lee and Akira Isogawa, said despite encouraging his students to make larger samples, many continued to want very thin models.

“The younger students want the really slim and skinny ones, but the older ones that have been around want them a bit more rounded and sexy,” Mr Huxley, the Fashion Design Institute head teacher, said.Mr Huxley helped cast the models for Thursday’s TAFE Innovators show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, which showcased the wares of six promising graduates.
“One of my assistants was showing me the (models) and said ‘This one here, she had a bit of a problem because she was a bit more rounded’ and I said, ‘no, she’s gorgeous’.”
Mr Huxley said he encouraged students to use healthy-looking models and larger mannequins for their designs and, as a result, many were starting to change their mindset.

“I feel that especially young designers and my students respect what I do and know I’m honest, so I’m sure they get completely encouraged by what I say,” he said.
Graduate Leroy Nguyen, who was chosen to show his collection at the event, said his peers were becoming more socially responsible. “I think it’s changing for the better,” he said. “I am 100 per cent for healthy models. At the end of the day, they do make the clothes look better.”"

The iconic fashion designer behind the quintessentially preppy and playful fashion line, Lilly Pulitzer is the remarkable woman herself, Lilly Pulitzer. In honor of her recent passing (on Sunday, April 7, 2013), the intention of this article is to celebrate the life of Lilly Pulitzer, and recognize her for the incredible contributions she made to the fashion industry, and to women across the world.

Known for creating feminine apparel and accessories that feature upbeat, cheerful prints and fabrics in bright, lively colors, Lilly Pulitzer’s name has become synonymous with Palm Beach-inspired fashion. Having designed the “classic shift dress”, Lilly’s designs first became popular among socialites and celebrities in the early 1960′s. The defining moment that catapulted her career as a fashion designer was when Jacqueline Kennedy was spotted wearing one of her designs on the cover of LIFE Magazine.

Ranging from intricate lace and eyelet detailing to vibrant patterns, the Lilly Pulitzer line continues to shine decade after decade.

Annual CASA fashion show at Los Gatos High School lives up to its name, ‘Ablaze’.
In a corner of the Los Gatos High School community room, home economics department chairwoman Patricia Sutton perches on a folding chair, eyes closed.

Behind her, Anna Kolb and Nicole Calise–two of her first-year clothing and fashion design students–slide flat-irons through her hair, while their classmate Danielle Meckenstock applies shadow and liner to her teacher’s lids. A fourth member of the freshman styling team, Sara Cullinane, watches as Sutton’s look takes shape.

It’s a process being repeated on scores of young girls parked at various spots in front of the mirrors rimming the long room. As adult and student hairstylists and makeup artists attend to tresses and faces, hairspray billows skyward, mingling with airborne specks of metallic eye-shadows. Rock music, text messages, cookies and sodas are consumed nonstop.

It’s less than an hour until the curtain rises on the 2013 edition of “The Look of Los Gatos,” the annual fashion show presented by Community Against Substance Abuse, or CASA, and Los Gatos High School.

This year’s production–themed “Ablaze: Ignite the Passion for Fashion”–will see nearly 100 students and 12 adults parade across the stage in the school’s theater, wearing a combination of original student designs and garments loaned by local shops. With the minutes ticking down, the energy level amps up.

As he has for many years, veteran cosmetologist and hairstylist Michael
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Silva oversees the primping and painting, mentoring 20 students in the finer points of the craft. By noon Silva has already been at his post for five hours, whisking curling irons through forests of waist-length locks and supervising the transformation of fresh faces into smoky-eyed supermodels.

Silva says the addition of the young stylists was a purposeful one, introduced several years ago at the suggestion of CASA and New Millennium Foundation co-founder and show sponsor Joanne Rogers. “Joanne and I were talking about this, and we decided that instead of trying to get ‘professionals’ in town to help out, it made a lot more sense to have students doing hair and makeup. They’re so excited; we have eight doing hair and another eight or nine doing makeup. And … we’re running behind,” Silva chuckles.

Though the noise level is veering into supersonic territory, a surprising sense of tranquility pervades the room. “To be honest,” Sutton notes, lids still glued shut, “this has been the calmest year we’ve had in a while. Usually things are a bit hairier at this point. For the most part the clothes are all done, except for a few buttons and snaps, and everyone’s pretty cool.”

Silva’s current “client” is LGHS junior Ariana Sotoodeh, who will model a beach-themed outfit from Time Out Clothing Company, and cowgirl chic from Francesca’s. As Silva adjusts Sotoodeh’s curls, she thumbs the screen of her smartphone while chatting with Esther Shin, now coiffed, made up and runway-ready in an electric pink sundress from Palapa Lounge.

“This is my first time in the show,” Sotoodeh says. “It’s really a cool experience. I’m not in the design class, but I like clothes a lot, so my best friend and I signed up to be models. I really want to do it again next year so I can model a prom dress.”

Shin volunteered to model to support her friend, senior Ashley Williams, whose collection will be featured during “Ablaze.” Entitled “50 Touches of Black,” the garments are entirely black, save for hidden touches of teal. “I’ll be wearing black velvet pants … and when I pull the pockets out, they’ll be teal,” Shin confides, then cautions that the information must remain top secret.

As student maquillage maven Emily Callahan strokes a smoldering shade over a model’s lids, she says this year’s look was inspired by the show’s theme. “Since it’s called ‘Ablaze,’ we’re going for smoky eyes, and lots of volume in the girls’ hair. But basically we try to match hair and makeup to whatever the models are wearing.”

Noting that thus far she’s completed 10 hairstyles and eight makeup applications, Callahan points to a young blonde whose dense tresses trail below her belt. “Her hair took an hour,” Callahan giggles. “She has so much hair!”

Once each model’s look receives its finishing touches, she must make her way from the community room to the theater’s backstage holding-area. Before leaving, most stop by the food table to retrieve a snack–a fact that makes volunteers Kathy Rosendin Kolb and Kris Rosendin beam with pride. “It’s a mom thing; I have this need to feed people,” says hospitality chairwoman Kolb, laughing. “Thank God for our food donors, Noah’s Bagels, Le Boulanger, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Whole Foods. As much as these kids eat, it would be very costly.”

Over in the theater, Karla Albright gives her crew their final instructions–mostly having to do with containing the voices of hyper models awaiting their cues. She also advises the team to send up a flare to the adults before they’re due to walk, adding, “Last year Joanne Rogers’ hair was still in curlers when she was supposed to be on stage. We do not want that to happen again.”

Watching the parade of students thrumming with adrenaline, crew members Michele Stojanovich and Tina Orsi-Hartigan can’t help but grin. “My son Nick is a sophomore, and his older brother graduated from Los Gatos High School years ago, and neither of them would think of modeling. So I’m getting my girl fix,” Stojanovich says.

Adds Orsi-Hartigan, a member of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union School District board, “My son Collin graduated in 2008, but since I’m an old friend of Karla’s, I said I’d be here to help out. When I told Collin, he said ‘Mom, I’m so amazed; it’s become such a big event!’ ”

In the adult dressing room, the red lights on Nan Cullinan’s headset blink on and off as she delivers last-minute directives to Fisher Middle School principal Lisa Fraser, LGHS Spanish teacher Kat Burke and English teacher Sharon Smith. “Ham it up and have fun,” Cullinan advises the models. “And don’t forget to smile.”

Dramatic eye makeup, scarlet lips and spiky hair have rendered Fraser’s normally casual visage nearly unrecognizable. “I know,” she says, fanning her hands in front of her face and suppressing a snicker. “It’s for the lights, dear; it’s for the lights.”

Moments later, the word spreads: The theater is open; curtain’s in 15 minutes. Now galvanized, the models begin to assemble down the long hallway behind the stage. Repeated admonitions to tamp down the decibels are effective for roughly 12 seconds. It’s showtime.

The clothes will be presented in collections saluting the stores that loaned the garments, as well as the fourth-year designers from Sutton’s class. Beach togs from Palapa Lounge will follow the opening act, an energetic routine from the Los Gatos High School Dance Team. Five of the six Palapa models take their marks in the wings. But Esther Shin is missing. “Esther!” one of her fellow models stage-whispers through an open doorway. “We’re on; come on!”

Emerging from the community room, Shin attempts a dash up the rise and into the theater, but finds progress impaired by the sky-high wedge sandals she and most of the fashionistas are wearing. “Hurry up!” comes another urgent warning, prompting Shin to tear the shoes off and sprint the remaining distance barefoot. Arriving in time to join the formation, she shakes her wavy mane into place and draws a few deep breaths. By the time her group takes the stage (to Buster Poindexter’s “Hot, Hot, Hot”), a smiling Shin is the picture of composure.

And so it goes. Through 21 fast-paced changes, clusters of students enter, pivot and dance. The stage set is deceptively simple: Three lengths of sheeting are suspended in a row from the ceiling. On either end, arched openings showcase the models’ entrances; the middle panel shields a backlit platform where they pose in dramatic silhouette. At various points in the program slides are projected on the fabric, creating a kinetic tableau.

Emcees Shannon Atherton (outfitted in Jennifer Croll and Rouge) and Salvador Gurrola (sporting Selix Formalwear and Dani Beahm) introduce each group and deliver lively patter. Gurrola, a native of Mexico who has only been in the U.S. a few years, reveals that he also crafted the show’s logo. The choreography–devised by Claire Alexander–features intricate moves and slick dance steps.

One of the biggest crowd-pleasers is the presentation of clothing from Studio Kicks; more martial arts demonstration than fashion show stroll. Along with pairs sparring, leaping, kicking and performing gravity-defying cartwheels and flips, LGHS senior Julia Moreci does a solo sequence with “kamas,” the glittering weapons of choice in action-flics. Barely 5 feet tall, Moreci holds two international titles in martial arts forms, as well as numerous national titles. Her mastery of the spinning, lethal-looking blades leaves the audience roaring its approval.

As tradition dictates, the show concludes with seniors in prom attire. In all, 26 potential kings and queens traverse the stage in tuxedos and gowns, triggering a number of furtive parental eye-dabs.

And then group by group, every one of the nearly 100 models takes the stage for a final pose and wave, blowing kisses to the crowd. Now on their feet, parents, siblings and friends are cheering and applauding furiously–2013 is one for the record books.

In the lobby, dazed but delighted models–giggly high schoolers once again replacing sophisticated mannequins–clutch cellophane-wrapped bouquets from proud parents. Audience members cruise the abundant supply of raffle prizes donated by local merchants. And relieved volunteers stretch protesting muscles and compare notes.

“A month ago, I told my friends that if I ever said I’d do this again, they should give me a lobotomy,” admits event co-chairwoman Kerry Rothschild. “But I’m so proud of the kids; they did such a great job! And it was a huge effort from so many members of the community.”

Reflecting on the diversity of models who’ve just graced the stage, Rothschild says she and her committee members–as well as all members of CASA–applaud the students who participated in this year’s event.

“The fashion show started off as a way to encourage a positive self-image in our local teens. But our kids are so supportive of each other that it’s become organic: Now we don’t have to say that it’s about making teens feel good about themselves. They make each other feel good.”They make their teachers feel pretty good, too–eyes open or closed.

Special Thanks

Los Gatos High School and CASA wish to thank the generous members of the community who donated their time, products and services to the 2013 “Look of Los Gatos” Fashion Show:
Fashions: Jennifer Croll, NC Boardshop, Francesca’s, Palapa Lounge Beachwear, Happy Dragon Thrift Shop, Rouge, Jos A. Bank, Studio Kicks, Kismet Boutique, Selix Formalwear, Kitsch Couture, Sportissimo, The Library, Time Out Clothing Co.
LGHS Student Designers: Dani Beahm, Gabrielle Rothschild, Hailey Hotfelter, Madeline Stone, Kayla Higuera, Ashley Williams, Christianne Opheim, Jennifer Wang
Merchants: Annette Rosenow, CoCo Designs, Judy Stanley, Anne Cowell, GIOGIA, Toss Designs, Dipti, Pure FX Skincare, Plan B Signs, Cookies & Co., KSG Designs, Classic Kids Photography, Savannah Designs, Noah’s Bagels, L. Cali Designs, Le Boulanger, Stella Dot Jewelry, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Silpada Designs, Whole Foods, Linda Cullen, Vasona Print & Copy, Sherry Harley

Special Thanks

Los Gatos High School and CASA wish to thank the generous members of the community who donated their time, products and services to the 2013 “Look of Los Gatos” Fashion Show:
Fashions: Jennifer Croll, NC Boardshop, Francesca’s, Palapa Lounge Beachwear, Happy Dragon Thrift Shop, Rouge, Jos A. Bank, Studio Kicks, Kismet Boutique, Selix Formalwear, Kitsch Couture, Sportissimo, The Library, Time Out Clothing Co.
LGHS Student Designers: Dani Beahm, Gabrielle Rothschild, Hailey Hotfelter, Madeline Stone, Kayla Higuera, Ashley Williams, Christianne Opheim, Jennifer Wang
Merchants: Annette Rosenow, CoCo Designs, Judy Stanley, Anne Cowell, GIOGIA, Toss Designs, Dipti, Pure FX Skincare, Plan B Signs, Cookies & Co., KSG Designs, Classic Kids Photography, Savannah Designs, Noah’s Bagels, L. Cali Designs, Le Boulanger, Stella Dot Jewelry, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Silpada Designs, Whole Foods, Linda Cullen, Vasona Print & Copy, Sherry Harley

Publishzer Adds Image Tagging Solution For Fashion Bloggers, Claims 22% CTR.
Do three dots make a trend line? Helsinki seems to be the home of adding overlaid “tags” on an image after Publishzer released its image tagging solution for fashion bloggers they call a “Mag Tag”. Now they join Kiosked and Thinglink’s solutions for driving more engagement in images.

In case you missed our past article, Publishzer offers The Fashion Mags, a platform for building embeddable magazine-inspired spreads. As their name implies, they’re targeting the demographic of fashion bloggers who want to lay out their images nicer than your standard blogger template.

The initial results of tagging items of clothing seem to be good. Publisher claims a 22% click through rate (chart below), and tells us that their collection was mostly sold out after the first day of being featured on one Finnish fashion blog. Kiosked has a reported 9% CTR, while ThingLink claims an average of 3.5% engagement.

They’re sharing these numbers after their tagged release, which might be a little premature as readers get used to the tags, but co-founder Teppo Hudson tells us that they believe the reasoning behind the high CTR is much deeper.

“Kiosked is a much better solution than banner ads, but we try to make it a bit something more. In this case is that the publisher isnt just adding a dot on the image, but there’s the context of a whole ‘spread’ built around the image, which gives the reader more engagement,” says Hudson.

Regardless of whether the embedded spreads actually drive more clicks, I imagine this could be seen purely as a value-added potential to bloggers, as he mags look nicer than the standard image/text/image solution offered by standard blogging CMS. If they offer an easy solution to monetize on top of that, then bloggers have little to lose.

And the general thesis of adding tagged links to stores will likely be a win. When readers are browsing a fashion blog, they’re interested in clothes to buy and previously there wasn’t a good solution to immediately find the clothing. The embedded The Fashion Mags are seeing good traction in the blogging community with an 80% retention rate for the content, and around 15,000 unique readers daily.

The next step is for Publishzer is to add another ring to their supply chain by bringing boutique designers on a home-built e-commerce solution. Doing so would give them a total advertising and sales solution for designers, while helping bloggers monetize through affiliate deals.

Fiesta’s start next Thursday is the best excuse to update your spring wardrobe. And with nearly 200 events celebrating 11 days of city pride and partying, a shopping trip might be in order.

With help from Miss Fiesta Victoria Flores, a 22-year-old student at the University of Texas Health Science Center, here are a few fashion trends to consider. Party on!

Peekaboo effects

Why wear more when less is best during Fiesta’s frenzy? And laser-cut holes, panels and designs in a dress or other garment provide instant air-conditioning while you stroll through food fairs and music festivals. It’s also reminiscent of papel picado banners, or the cut paper inspired by drawings that decorate many a Fiesta venue.

Where to wear: King William Fair, April 27.

Shorts

Whether they’re tailored or blousy, shorts are spring’s go-to item. And because they come in a variety of lengths — very short to just above the knee — there’s a style to suit every shape. But don’t confuse short-shorts for hot pants because they’re not cut as brief. When paired with a voluminous top, preferably in a contrasting color or with a coordinating jacket, shorts also make for a relaxed, chic look.

Where to wear: Pick a parade, any parade. Texas Cavaliers River Parade, April 22; Battle of Flowers, April 26; and the the King William and Fiesta Flambeau parades, April 27.

Color

Think confetti colors such as shocking yellow, orange, fuchsia, turquoise and every shade of green and blue. This spring, designers, in their never-ending search for color inspiration, have come up with the strongest color wheel yet, especially in lightweight cotton, chiffon and silk dresses. Whether a garment is monochromatic or the combination of two or more happy hues, the look comes on strong and sweet in day dresses to evening wear as well as in handbags and shoes. Add to the mix: the graphic contrast of black and white.

Where to wear: A Night in Old San Antonio, April 23-26.

Lace dress

Because lace is such a versatile fabric — not to mention romantic — it has been refreshed for spring, almost sheer as opposed to its heavyweight counterpart. This spring it’s also colorful, with mint-green leading the pack. Always feminine, whether in a ladylike A-line silhouette or column style, lace can be given an edge with a leather belt or cropped leather jacket. Also look for lace as an accent or mash up with other fabrics.

Where to wear: A Day in Old Mexico & Charreada, April 21.

Glam and glitz

Fiesta queens, princesses and duchesses don’t have the exclusive on dresses that look like fireworks. Such special effects are among spring’s offerings in cocktail and evening wear with rhinestones, crystals, sequins and anything sparkly combined with ruffles and flounces in a single dress. But the look is given a modern twist when dazzling embroidery is worked onto a colorful dress.

Awards season fashion? Expect to see a lot of bland full-length gowns.

As Oscar season approaches, it’s worth remembering that the red carpet is to fashion what Twitter is to reasoned discourse – it dilutes it to a series of easily digestible and forgettable hits.

“Look forward to”? I’m sorry, Samantha, I think you must have mixed up your letters and sent the one intended for In Style magazine to me and vice-versa. Someone at In Style is doubtless now wondering why they were sent a letter full of sarkiness and references to 80s movies.

Unlike you, Samantha, I’m afraid I hate the red carpet. The red carpet is to fashion what Twitter is to reasoned discourse: it dilutes it to nothing but a series of quick, easily digestible and instantly forgettable hits that will be endlessly discussed within the shouty echo-chamber of commentators, and then repeats the whole process at the next awards event ad nauseum.

And just as Twitter reduces reasoned argument to a series of playground insults and point scoring, so the red carpet diminishes fashion to a series of full-length bland gowns designed purely to make the wearer look thinner and to keep her out of the dreaded “Worst Dressed” column in magazines.

That in itself is fine. Boring, obviously, but fine. All of you actresses want to dress in long beige dresses? Hey, whatever floats your boat, or yacht, I guess, in this case. What makes it not fine is the importance the fashion industry then places on the red carpet, which is depressing and hilarious because not very long ago it was the other way around.

All of, ooh, about 25 years ago, before the internet existed, and before celebrity fashion was deemed so important that it merited at least 27 weekly magazines devoted to this subject, red-carpet fashion hardly existed. Oh sure, celebrities wore nice clothes to events, and sometimes these clothes were so amazing they became famous in themselves (three words: Cher/Bob Mackie) – but neither the celebrities nor the designers saw the clothes as anything potentially career-making or breaking.

Things began to change in 1996 when Sharon Stone, of all people, wore a Gap polo neck to the Oscars (along with some other clothes, presumably, although with Stone you never know) and the store promptly saw profits soar. (Stone, always attuned to what gets attention, repeated the trick two years later when she wore a white button-down shirt from Gap to the Oscars.) The inevitable then duly came to pass.

I have covered the Oscars for this paper from Los Angeles for the past two years and you probably think that the most desperate people in town that week are the actors who have been nominated and are striking every bargain with God they can think of if he’ll just let them win, or maybe those who are on the verge of selling their grandmother to get into the Vanity Fair party. But you would be wrong. The most desperate people in town that week are the fashion designers. These folk spend in a day what most people earn in a year on hiring hotel suites and setting up temporary fashion-show rooms in the hysterical hope that their wares will attract the eye of that most important person in town that week: the celebrity stylist.

But it’s not just the celebrity stylist these clothes have to appeal to – no, no, no! It’s the Pulitzer prize-worthy fashion commentators on US TV networks such as the E! channel and in American weekly magazines such as People and In Touch. Diana Vreeland, your endeavours were not in vain.

For those people are the ones who compile those nerve-wracking lists about who was “hot” at the Oscars and who was “not”.

Now, I have no argument with fashion “hot” and “not” lists. Hell, I’ve contributed to a fair few myself in my time. But the problem with these specific ones is the criteria are so boring. American fashion is – as a guiding general rule – extremely dull or, to use the preferred fashion lingo, “commercial”, and I say this as both an American and someone who likes fashion. The reason for this shall be discussed another time but this tendency towards conservatism in American fashion goes quadruply so among American commentators on red-carpet fashion and, knowing this, the stylists and the designers obligingly dress their clients as conservatively (boringly) as possible. How boring? When Gwyneth Paltrow – the most boring celebrity of all time – wore a tedious white dress to the Oscars last year this was deemed a fashion “triumph” and even “exciting” because it came with a cape. A cape! Cher would wear that cape and nothing else. Oh Bob Mackie, come back, your people need you.

Posh wins top fashion award.
VICTORIA BECKHAM’S SELF-TITLED label landed her the Womenswear Designer prize at the 2012 WGSN Global Fashion Awards and she was delighted with the accolade.

The 38-year-old couldn’t be there in person to pick up her award, but took to Twitter to share her excitement, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“Thank you WGSN, thrilled to win Womenswear Designer at Global Fashion Awards,” she wrote.

The Global Fashion Awards recognise and reward brilliance in fashion and retail design across the globe. They are the only fashion awards that enable the winners to lay claim to being the best in the world in their field because they are voted for by a panel of industry specialists.

Other winners at the prestigious industry event included Charlotte Olympia for footwear and accessories designer and Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton for menswear designer.

M&S counts cost of fashion failure as first-half profits plunge.
Marks & Spencer’s failure to tap into key womenswear fashion trends has seen first-half profits plunge for the second year in a row.

The home-grown brand’s pre-tax profits fell almost ten per cent to £290million in the six months to the end of September.
The result is ahead of City expectations of £280million but chief executive Marc Bolland has taken ‘decisive action’ to improve buying and merchandising and reshuffle key bosses.

He promised next year’s clothing would be ‘more stylish and trend driven’ and pledged to remedy issues that had resulted in shortages of products it had advertised.
Kate Bostock has already been axed as head of general merchandise and former Debenhams and Jaeger boss Belinda Earl brought in as style director.

Lingerie and beauty head Frances Russell replaces Annette Browne as womenswear supremo. Former Victoria’s Secret chief creative officer Janie Schaffer is the new lingerie boss.

Despite the gloom, analyst Singer Capital Markets says a 22 per cent rise in second quarter online sales suggests Britain’s biggest retailer is starting to get back on track.

Flashback: Birthday Girl Emma Stone at 18.
Please look to the right at Exhibit A: Emma Stone in pink just before her 24th birthday (which is today!). Then check out Exhibit B: Stone when she was 18 years old. What a difference six years makes, right?!

In honor of Stone’s big day, we decided to take a look back at how her style has evolved since she first hit the red carpet back in April 2006 to celebrate a jean launch in Los Angeles. Clad in sand-blasted flared denim and a casual cotton graphic tank, Stone looked like the Hollywood newbie that she was. (Sidenote: Did you even remember that she once had brown hair?)

Fast-forward to 2012: Stone is a blonde (her natural hair color) and consistently kills it on the red carpet in stunning, boundary-pushing designer creations including a red Lanvin mini adorned with plastic flowers, a gothic-glam Gucci gown and her latest major look, a collared semi-sheer bubblegum-pink Valentino number that we couldn’t imagine anyone else pulling off.

Because Stone has done a complete fashion 360 since her debut, we can’t wait to see where the star will be style-wise in another year — or six! Tell us: Do you prefer Stone as a brunette or a blonde?

‘Will provide meters to Fashion Street vendors if PCB permits’.

A day after Newsline reported about autorickshaw driver Khan Yusuf Khan, who owns a stall on Fashion Street and supplies electricity to 569 vendors on the street, receiving an electricity bill of Rs 2.84 lakh for the months of September-October, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) said they treat Fashion Street as one gala but are willing to provide each vendor with an electricity meter if the PCB issues an NOC.

An official of MSEDCL said the single connection was given on the basis of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) which was issued to the company by Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) for supplying electricity to 448 original vendors of the market. The official, however, had no explanation on the additional 121 connections that were provided by Khan post 2005. Dilip Padalkar, superintending engineer, MSEDCL, had on Monday said, “I have instructed executive engineer to look into the matter and revert.”

A n MSEDCL official on condition of anonymity said, “The Fashion Street plot belongs to PCB and they had issued us an NOC in 1997- 99 saying that one electricity meter be issued to provide electricity to 448 original vendors of the market. They cited that the place is unsafe and providing meters to all could increase the risk of short-circuit and fire,” he said.

The official, however, had no answer when asked whether the present arrangement of providing electricity with wires reaching out to every stall was safe.

Safety at the Fashion Street is in doldrums as fire brigade does not reach most of the areas of the market. “The inspection of electricity is the responsibility of PWD engineers and we have no role to play. Our responsibility ends at the meter,” the official said.

Nicolas Ghesquière quits Balenciaga, leaving fashion industry in shock.

His creative directorship was a hit with editors, critics and customers. So why has the French designer decided to part ways with one of PPR’s most successful labels?

Judging by the reactions on Twitter yesterday, fashion insiders were just as surprised as the rest of us when the news broke that Nicolas Ghesquière would be leaving Balenciaga, the label he has been creative director of since 1997. British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman called the 41 year old “unarguably one of the biggest talents in fashion”, while street-style photographer Tommy Ton described himself as “totally blindsided and in shock”. The plaudits are still coming.

The designer parting ways with Balenciaga is certainly something of a shock. Profits for its parent company PPR, which also owns Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, were up 6.6% in the third quarter of 2012. Cathy Horyn, fashion editor of the New York Times, said that PPR’s founder, François-Henri Pinault, was a supporter of Ghesquière, deciding to stick with him when the retail group bought Balenciaga more than a decade ago. Spotted backstage at the spring 2013 show, Pinault had been masterminding the label’s expansion into the Asian market.

Ghesquière has been instrumental in making Balenciaga relevant for a new generation. Originally founded in 1937 by Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga, the house was known for a sculptural use of volume, nipped in suits and vivid colour, signifying looks that were popular until Balenciaga retired in 1968. Ghesquière gave these codes a modern touch. “He was one of the first to dust off an iconic house and introduce a whole new generation of fans to the brand,” says Gabrielle Hackworthy, fashion director of Harper’s Bazaar.

Honing an aesthetic known for its layered silhouettes, innovative fabric choices and a touch of bad taste, Ghesquière has managed to make scuba-wear, ditsy florals and sci-fi logos into edgy must-have items. Spring/summer 2013 was no exception. Style.com praised his ability to “season in and season out … put an utterly modern gloss on intense study of the house’s archives”. An association with Kristen Stewart (the face of the Florabotanica perfume) also gave the brand a mainstream element, which can’t have hurt sales.

With sales up and critical acclaim from all sides, you have to ask what’s behind this decision. While some commentators have mused that other brands in the PPR stable (Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci) are being prioritised, there’s little to be read from Pinault’s statement, which describes the decision as “joint” and praises Ghesquière’s “incomparable creative talent”. Perhaps Ghesquière, who has so far remained silent, felt it was time for a new challenge. No names have been put forward as his replacement, and for now the fashion world is far more interested in working out Ghesquière’s next move. The New York Times is reporting rumours of his own label at LVMH.

“I am shocked that he has stepped down,” says Hackworthy. “But also so excited about what his future holds.” She’s not the only one.

Fashion: Face the rain in style.
I heard that November is going to bring on us some torrential rains.

That means that Kampala city will be flooded as it is wont to and you will be stuck in a jam nearly every time you get on the road in the morning and evening.

I know your old school joke was that smartness knows no weather but, sweetie, that was just to boost your ego. Now is that time to pull out all your pants suits if your office is one that requires you to dress business-like. Kick out the short skirts and dresses.

Pull out all your dress pants and suits. Underneath the jacket, layer your clothes starting with a vest, then maybe a T-shirt before you throw on your blouse and coat. That way when it gets warm during the day, you can just pull off the vest and tee underneath or just stay in the vest.

I am sure you can find space at office to pull this off. Now is the time to make use of your sweater, but while you are at it, make it stylish. Wear cashmere sweaters. Maybe there is no affordable genuine cashmere in Uganda but you will find a good fake. Choose bright colours to cheer up your cold day.

Even the jackets, the market is awash with all colours of jackets that cost about Shs 40,000; so, indulge. And because it is going to be very muddy, you will need flat shoes, preferably pumps, that will not only agree with Uganda’s dirty muddy landscape but also keep your feet warm.

The beauty about these is that you can wear socks with them for extra warmth. If you have a serious business meeting, you can always pull them off while heading out. As for the casual wear kind of office, here is your chance to show off all the jeans without feeling guilty.

Kim Kardashian’s fashion range is so sexy – but how are real women going to wear it?

The reality TV star is launching a ‘sexy’ fashion range for ‘curvy women’ so why does it only come in sizes 8-16?
So Kim Kardashian and her ‘big’ bottom are in the country to launch a fashion range for curvy women.
‘I want to be the ambassador to Britain… for curvy women!’ she claims.
‘Hoorah!’ scream women all over the UK. Finally, some sexy clothes – designed by one of the sexiest women in the world – for women who are bigger than a size zero. Sounds too good to be true!
The range, Kardashian Kollection, available from one of our favourite high street stores, Dorothy Perkins, by Kim, 31, and her sisters Khloe Kardashian, 28, and Kourtney Kardashian, 33, features more than 100 pieces and claims to make ‘women of every size feel sexy.’
But it only comes in sizes 8 -16! So what if you’re bigger than a size 16?
Surely I can’t be the only one to point out that the average woman in the UK is a size 16 – I already know plenty of size 16+ friends who are disappointed that they can’t buy anything but the handbags! Although I’m sure they’re very sexy too…
The US reality TV star, currently dating Kanye West, is curvier than most A-list celebs and famed for her volumptuous bottom, so she must know too well the pressure to dress to suit your shape.
Kim recently admitted she’d put on 15 – 20lb after letting herself go dating Kanye West.
‘I’m hoping to slim down a little bit, and I’m not afraid to say it,’ says Kim. ‘I think everyone goes up and down in whatever that comfortable love relationship phase is where you like to eat out, but now it’s time to get it together again.’
And her sister Khloe has recently admitted she finds the struggle to look good tough too.
She says: ‘It isn’t easy. My weight fluctuates, like any normal girl, and I have times when I feel insecure. Who cares if I’m not a size zero? I don’t want to be.’
So come on Kim and co, think about everyone else who isn’t a perfect size 10!
We love the figure-hugging lace evening dress, printed blazers, purple body-con dresses and super-sexy lingerie – wouldn’t it be nice if size 18+ could wear it as well?

She has leased out the building for three months to trial it out, but hopes to extend the lease and stay there long term.

After moving from Australia to Wellington last year, Moir won the Museum Art Hotel’s Collection of Garments Award at Wellington Fashion Week 2012, earning $3000 plus the right to design the hotel staff’s front-of-house uniforms.

Born in Britain, Moir moved to Sydney when she was 6. She studied for a diploma in clothing production at Sydney’s Ultimo Tafe. Before she shifted here, though, she worked as a fashion designer in Sydney, designing for the surf and skate brand, Volcom Australia, and for Grip Australia’s surfwear range, among other brands.

She also did contract work, designing the promotional girls’ uniforms for marine electronics company Navico Australia, and global vehicles and engines company BRP.

“That’s something I’d like to expand on – doing more uniforms for companies. I just worked from home, designing their stuff and then I got it made for them.”

Moir decided to open a shop because designing for other people’s stores means having to make things a year in advance, which is difficult as there are no fabric suppliers in Wellington.

“When I’m making summer stuff they’re selling winter fabrics. So that’s why I wanted to have my own shop, so I could just make things when I want.”

Miss Abigail’s prices range from $60 to about $400, and styles in the summer range include beachy and summery, casual, workwear and party dresses.

The winners of this year’s Kirkcaldie & Stains Buy New Zealand Made New Designer award for their label Love Hotel, sisters Harriet and Ella Garland-Levett will work in the shop every Saturday selling their collection, which was inspired by the French Queen Marie Antoinette’s style and by the Japanese kimono.

Also stocked in Kirkcaldie & Stains, their range features chiffons, sheer dresses, kimono-style layers, Parisian lace pieces and garments screenprinted with images hand-drawn by the designers. The sisters recently added a new colour range of pink, blue, cream and black to their collection, which initially only came in muted colours. The sisters met Moir at Wellington Fashion Week.

Says Harriet Garland-Levett: “We are really inspired being around a group of people doing the same stuff as us in Wellington, and we want to push New Zealand-made as well.”

The designers of Twelve Jewellery, Miss Philly and Jinx in the Sky, and artist Steph O’Shea will also work in the shop at 109 Willis St.

Other designers’ work will be sold in the shop without the designers themselves present, such as clothing labels Artery, Desiree, Millicent, jewellery brands Danielle, Black Agnes and Etiquette Pony Show, and other boutique labels. Artists Becca O’Shea and Lucy McIntosh’s work will also be sold.

Designing a fashion revolution.
Fashion designer Abigail Moir launched her debut collection and a novel fashion shop in Wellington this week.

Moir’s fashion label Miss Abigail evokes a feminine, Victorian feel – its summer collection featuring dresses with Peter Pan collars and scalloped hems, fringe-hem shawls, high-waisted skirts and velvet fabrics. Garments come in pretty colours like orchid purple, olive green and red.

Her store, the Design Cartel, opened on the Willis and Manners St corner this week, stocking clothing and accessories for sale, including her own. The 29-year-old rents out shop floor space to a bunch of other designers and artists, all Kiwis, some of whom will be working in the Design Cartel, too, to take the load off running it alone.

“I wanted to do it with other designers so it’s not such a massive thing on me, and to meet other designers because there were lots of other local designers that I knew,” Moir says. “And I just thought it would be a good thing for Wellington to have all New Zealand-made designers, and to have a lot of upcoming designers.”

Designer Karen Capili to show spring 2013 styles at MAGIC.

Karen Capili, one of the West Coast’s latest and most talked-about designers, will be showing her Spring 2013 couture and ready-to-wear designs at the 2012 WWD MAGIC fashion event in Las Vegas. Retailers can see her latest fashions designs at the Joken Style booth (No 75507) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The MAGIC show runs August 20-23.

For Spring 2013, Capili will be focusing on floral lace, sequins, glitter, prints and beading for accents, and fabrics in bright colors to balance out a soft but noticeable look. She will show a variety of dresses for the upcoming Spring season, as well as designs for immediate delivery and Holiday 2012.

Capili will also be showing select outerwear that will be basic, yet fun-looking in funky colors and cut-inspired. Capili is known for her use of bright vivid colors from the 1980s, which she cleverly intertwines with Victorian-era designs to create unique pieces that reflect divergent time periods yet create a distinctive look that is bold and dramatic, yet also classical and formal.

“Spring 2013 will be inspired by brighter colors, more vivid designs and accents that complement but don’t dominate,” said Capili. “Functionality is a key component, and giving women designs that will stand-out while being easy to wear and coordinate with shoes and accessories.”

Michigan brides watching their wedding budgets, but not skimping on their big day.

As the economy faltered, brides’ expectations for their dream weddings didn’t budge much.
How could they? The media have bombarded brides-to-be with every opulent detail of Prince William’s royal wedding and Kim Kardashian’s lavish nuptials – not to mention shows like “Say Yes to the Dress” that flaunt expensive wedding gowns. Photo-sharing sites like Pinterest provide even more must-have flowers, cakes and decorating ideas.
“Those big weddings set a tone and have made them much more visible,” said Kristin Koch, senior editor for wedding planning site“… there are so many places where you can check out other people’s weddings and get inspiration.”
The wedding industry has fared relatively well throughout the recession, Koch and others in the industry have said.
The average amount spent on weddings nationally and in Michigan still took a hit, but not as much as one might expect.
Couples in the Grand Rapids and Lansing areas spent an average of $20,901 on weddings last year.
That’s down from $21,362 in 2009, but up from $19,268 in 2010, according and its partner. The sites surveyed more than 18,000 couples nationwide on spending for 2011 weddings. Figures include the cost of the engagement ring but not the honeymoon.
“Brides spend almost same amount as pre-recession. We really didn’t see the kind of cost cutting that you would think would happen considering how many people lost jobs and what impact the recession had on the economy,” Koch said.
Nationally, couples spent an average of $27,021 on the weddings last year, lower than $28,385 in 2009 and $29,334 in 2008. Spending increased slightly from $26,984 in 2010.

Detroit-area spending mirrored the national average last year at $27,017, up from $26,135 in 2010 but still below 2009’s average of $30,779.
Michigan weddings tend to get more bang for their buck. Detroit-area couples averaged 169 guests per wedding, while Grand Rapids and Lansing-area weddings averaged 156 guests. Guest lists skewed lower nationally, at 141 people.
Anna Collinson expects 130 guests at her Sept. 2 wedding in Traverse City. She had hoped to keep the budget at $15,000, not including the dress, but now thinks it will come in closer to $20,000.
“It’s really all the little stuff that you don’t always account for,” said Collinson, 36, of Livonia.
Extras like welcome bags in the hotel for guests cost a couple hundred dollars. Expenses like those can add up quickly.
Collinson, a consultant for a recycling firm, and her fiancé, who works for an electric company, plan to cover about 60 percent of the costs, with their parents covering the rest.
The dress, which set Collinson back $2,500, was among the most important aspects, along with the venue and photographer.
Collinson enjoys watching celebrity weddings and shows like “Say Yes to the Dress,” but she’s practical enough to keep her wedding within her means.
“If I had the budget, I would have done it totally differently,” she said.

She’s gone to sites like Pinterest and online handmade marketplace Etsy for inspiration and do-it-yourself ideas. She opted to make her own ceremony programs in the shape of a fan instead of spending a couple hundred dollars.
“Even if you don’t have a huge budget, if you’re creative enough you can improvise to make something work in your budget,” she said.
“Extreme details” like specialized place settings or personalized beverage straws are growing trends that add to the bottom line, said Elizabeth Hughes, who runs a Jackson-based wedding planning firm called Leave It To Us.
“When I got married seven years ago, it was starting to kind of be a thing to have cute details, but it wasn’t something that everybody did,” she said. “In the last two years, it’s just exploded.”
But brides aren’t necessarily widening their wallets to incorporate those extras.
Hughes said her clients pay more attention to their budgets and that vendors are more willing to come down in price to keep a customer.
She also reminds her brides to not sweat the small stuff.
“Guests are going to remember your entertainment and they’re going to remember whether you served them alcohol for free or not,” she said. “Your centerpiece, you may remember, maybe, but not a single guest (will remember).”
Koch at The Knot said she’s seen couples look for creative ways to cut costs without sacrificing what’s important to them. A couple might cut a table of 10 guests from their list, for example.
Others might opt for an afternoon dessert reception or cocktail reception instead of a sit-down dinner, said Lisa Puruleski, president of the West Michigan Wedding Association.

Despite brides’ extra attention to the bottom line, Puruleski doesn’t think the wedding industry has declined.
“It sounds kind of strange but we’ve been improving business over the last four years,” said Puruleski, who owns Decor Elegance in Jenison. She rents out custom wedding decor such as chair covers and table centerpieces.
Sales have grown about 20 percent annually the past few years as she’s gained more weddings. Puruleski said she rarely increases her prices.
Many wedding vendors are small operations with low overhead, so they’re able to keep prices affordable for brides, she said. And since so much of the business is dependent on word-of-mouth advertising, they’re willing to cut deals for brides.
Courtney Eaton will be looking for those deals, since she’s already devoted a large chunk of her budget on her venue, The Gem Theatre in Detroit.
“In downtown Detroit, the venues themselves are pretty pricey. We were pretty surprised with the way the economy is, they’re all pricing pretty high,” she said.
She said the budget is up in the air, but she hopes to keep it under $40,000 for about 130 guests.
Eaton, 29, of Dearborn is a media buyer and her fiancé is a physician. Her parents are covering most of the cost.
As Eaton looks at booking various vendors for her April 2013 wedding, she’ll have to work it around the venue cost, which includes a premium bar, appetizers, dinner and after-dinner snacks.
“It’s going to be skimping on everything else trying to make it come in budget,” she said.
That seems to be the case for many brides, regardless of budget. Couples realize it’s a once-in-a-lifetime affair and would rather cut back in other areas than give up on a fancy wedding, The Knot’s Koch said.
Traditional formal and semi-formal weddings are more common in the Midwest — about 93 percent of weddings in the Detroit area and 83 percent of weddings in Lansing and Grand Rapids were formal or semi-formal last year, compared to 81 percent nationwide.

Romance of Paris entwined in bridal designs.

Designer Michele Corty brings her Parisian-influenced flair to her new Auckland bridal label, Rue De Seine.
Michele Corty was an American in Paris, then Nice, and now Auckland. The fashion designer has added an elegant touch of Parisian romance to Auckland’s fashion scene with her new label and bridal collection Rue De Seine.

Originally from Chicago, Corty moved to Paris after studying and apprenticing in New York and Florence. In Paris she lived in St. Germain des Pres, and worked as senior designer at the company which owns labels American Retro, ZOEtee’s and My Lovely Jean.

“I moved to Paris with a big dream and a few suitcases. I knocked on their door, and I didn’t speak a word of French, and they probably thought I was crazy. I made them sit down and look at my book, and they hired me the next day,” she explains.

Corty worked with the brands for five years, and in 2009 collaborated with Gwyneth Paltrow on a capsule collection of jersey knits dubbed “ZOEtee’s Loves Gwyneth”. Initially her stylist had approached them to design a few pieces for her, and it grew to a seven-piece range with proceeds going to a London charity.

“She asked us to come in and meet her in London, and we were actually in her house – Chris Martin was coming out making breakfast. We were sitting at her kitchen table and it was just really unreal; you know, it’s Gwyneth Paltrow!” explains Corty. “The chef of Nobu was there at the same time, giving her a cooking lesson – she comes out and she’s like ‘sorry guys, I’m just doing a cooking lesson’. But she was really amazing and down to earth; a very cool family.”

From Paris, Corty moved to Nice before moving to Auckland four months ago with her New Zealand-born husband. She launched Rue De Seine – named after the street that the couple lived on in Paris – in April, opening a Ponsonby “pop-up” shop, with her bike from Paris in the window. The dresses inside are gorgeous – feminine, vintage inspired gowns for modern brides that want something fresh, interesting and fun. There’s the pleated silk organza “Tuileries” gown with full skirt, ruffled bustier and interior cotton corset, inspired by old covers of Vogue; a layered silk chiffon ruffled gown teamed with ruffled silk shrug; a feminine cotton lace dress with ruffled cap sleeves; and shorter, cocktail styles for adventurous brides, like the “Opera” mini with lace layered under silk, hand-embroidered flowers along the hem and finished with feathers. Many of the dresses have shorter hemlines, whether it be with just a hint of leg at the front, or a lot. “I love shoes, and so do a lot of girls,” says Corty. “I find it really beautiful and feminine to see a girl’s ankles; I love that, so I tried to incorporate that a lot into the collection.”

Bodies of Black Women in Detroit Linked to Online Ads.

CNN is reporting that Detroit police are investigating the grisly deaths of four black women that occurred during the holiday season. Three of the deaths were linked to online ads that “specifically dealt with prearranged adult dating services,” police Chief L. Godbee said.

“We felt it is imperative to alert the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the Internet can be extremely dangerous,” Godbee said at a Monday-afternoon news conference, according to CNN. Godbee told the Detroit Free Press that they were “stopping short of calling it a serial pattern.”

Two of the bodies were discovered in a car fire early Christmas day. They were burned beyond recognition.

CNN reports:

In the Christmas morning incident, “the victims have been identified tentatively and are black women, ages 28 and 29,” Godbee said.

The bodies found [in the trunk of a car] on December 19 were those of two black women aged 23 and 24, and neither body showed outer signs of trauma, according to Godbee.

“We are awaiting the medical examiner’s final report for the determination of the cause of death for each of the females.” Godbee added.

Godbee identified the website carrying ads that three of the victims were linked to as womensiteonline.com.

The website did not immediately respond to an e-mail from CNN Monday afternoon seeking comment after Godbee’s news conference.

Womensiteonline.com told CNN in 2010 that it promptly responds to law enforcement inquiries, and said the site includes links to help users notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children if they identify potential abuses.

Godbee is right to make people aware of the possible perils of online dating, but social predators exist in all settings. We also have to be careful not to blame the victim.

So, why bother with New Year’s resolutions? Is there a point to making the same resolutions every year? Lose weight, organize finances, spend more time with the family, blah blah blah.

It’s like an annual empty promise, so why waste your time?

Well, thanks to my wife, I just stumbled on a really good reason.

Ten years ago, my family started coming up with our resolutions at the dinner table over the holidays.

It was fun, we laughed and discussed and compared, then wrote our resolutions down and posted them on the fridge.

My wife, the brains behind most things in our family, saved those slips of paper, and now we look over our resolutions with the perspective of a decade.

Reading back on what I wrote over the years, there are lots of resolutions I DID keep. Writing them down, sometimes again and again over many years, was a big help.

I resolved annually for seven years (2002 through 2009) to master some specific, painfully complicated computer skills. Thanks to our New Year’s ritual and its systematic self-nagging, today I’m professionally certified in those skills. Done.

Resolutions involving something physical don’t take seven years as long as they are realistic. I decided 2008 should be the year to learn to lap swim, and I did. Just like the 2003 resolution to run a half-marathon and 2007 to renovate my daughter’s bedroom. Done and done.

Resolutions to avoid are ones that depend on others, like 2005′s “Learn to play duets with a cellist.” The cellist never showed up.

Or that are too subjective, as in 2007′s “Reduce sugar and caffeine intake.” Huh?

But the failures turn out to be the best lessons.

In 2005 I started making resolutions about my eating habits. “Five servings of veggies a day” lasted a few months, but it helped me understand how to track what I eat, and 2010′s “Think about what I want to eat before I look at the menu” became a new and ingrained habit.

With the 20/20 of hindsight, the piles of un-met goals in my hobby of playing music are all the same mistake: They are all over-ambitious. Amateur musicians take note: You’ll feel a lot more fulfilled if you are frank about your practice time limits.

There is an oddball bit player who shows up when it’s time to write resolutions then disappears for a year until it is resolution time again. The home repairs I need to do only bother me slightly, but consistently. Good reason to keep them in focus.

You may not be surprised that my key resolutions for 2012 are similar to what they’ve been for the past decade. Near the top of the list, yup, is more time with my family, better-organized finances and losing a few pounds.

But the record shows that if I keep at them, keep working out how and why I keep flopping at the same things, perhaps 2012 will be a successful year.

Soul mate ? I think not!

Call me crazy, but if it seems that her kids hate you, she lies and cheats, and you can’t get along, then she’s not your soul mate. But I digress.

Mark met Mary Catherine online. At the time, he was divorced for four years after 21 years of marriage and had just ended a relationship.

“To say I enjoyed dating would be an understatement. I liked meeting different online women and would date two or three at the same time.”

But that all changed with Mary Catherine, “She was so refreshing, genuine and full of life. It was contagious.”

But after five weeks of dating, she broke up with him. Then, a few weeks later, her dog passed away and she called him.

“I came right over and we buried her dog in the garden and planted some flowers over him. That was the beginning of the most fantastic 18 months of my life. I had met my soul mate. I thought I knew what love was, but I was so off. Not to sound too corny, but she completed me. I laughed at that line in ‘Jerry Maguire,’ but with Mary Catherine, it made sense.”

After those “fantastic” 18 months, with the relationship at the point where they were talking about living together and maybe getting married, they had a fight.

“It was one of those fights that start out small over something stupid — it was my fault — then escalate. We should have been one of those old couples who walk down the street holding hands, instead we broke up.”

The fight started at a wedding. They’d both been drinking. They were on the dance floor. Mary Catherine told Mark to stay there with his friends while she went back to the bar.

“I took it as her telling me what to do. It simmered until we got back to our room, and then all hell broke loose. Everything she had been keeping inside came pouring out in not in a nice way. We left early the next morning and didn’t talk for the two hour ride home. I came back later that day to apologize, but the damage had been done.

“We went to dinner later that week to talk and it was very emotional. One of our big problems was my relationship, or lack thereof, with her children. She has four grown kids. Their father left them when the youngest was just a year, so they’re very close. Her two other marriages both ended in less than two years.

“Her kids hated both of those men, too. They’ve told her point blank that they’ll never be happy with her dating anyone. Even though they said they’d never seen her happier or better taken care of, they never warmed up to me.”

That dinner started a period of breaking up and getting back together. Mark started seeing a counselor. He lost 40 pounds and was an emotional wreck. He told Mary Catherine he loved her and wanted to be with her. She said she felt the same, then he found out she was back on a dating web site.

“We broke up again. I took her back again. This happened a few more times. I still love and miss her very much.”

Detroit women ID’d amid probe of escort ads.

Authorities have identified three of the four Detroit women found dead this month in two incidents in Detroit, an investigator with the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday.

Three of the Detroit women have been linked to a website that accepts ads for escort services, police have said.

In the latest case, one of the two women found early Christmas Day in the trunk of a car that had been set afire was identified as Vernithea McCrary, 28, the investigator said.

The second victim remains unidentified, said the investigator, who asked not to be identified because he is not allowed to speak on the record to the news media.

The bodies of two other Detroit women found December 19 have been identified as Demesha Hunt, 24, and Renisha Landers, 23. They were found in the trunk of Landers’ Chrysler 300.

Causes of death for the four women were pending toxicology results, which typically take six to eight weeks to be completed, the investigator said.

The process of identification can be difficult.

“People hear of someone that is discovered that we bring down here and they call down here and inform us that someone is missing,” the investigator said. “They give us a description and then they come down if they can be viewed and are recognizable. If not, we ask them to bring a set of dental records for comparison.”

The deaths are being treated as the work of one person or group of people, Detroit’s police chief said Tuesday.

“At this point, we are working it as one case or one suspect or set of suspects,” Chief Ralph L. Godbee told CNN. “There are too many common links for us not to, at this point, work this as one single investigation.”

Among those links, he said, is the fact that three of the women had placed online ads dealing with “prearranged adult dating services” and posted on backpage.com, Godbee told reporters Monday.

“We felt it is imperative to alert the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the Internet can be extremely dangerous,” Godbee said.

But a lawyer for womensiteonline.com, Steve Suskin, said it was not clear that his company’s website was involved.

“Our team has already provided the police with detailed information about the ads that the suspect or others posted on numerous web sites. Law enforcement authorities now have evidence that the investigation appears to connect to at least 30 different ads or other postings on at least 15 different websites, separate and distinct from ours,” Suskin said.

“We are not aware of the existence of any evidence that would indicate which of these many sites were used by the suspect to establish contact with his victims.”

Backpage representatives have been cooperating with police, the police chief said.

Postings on the escort section of the website cost $1. Referring to the advertisements on the website as “borderline prostitution,” Godbee said that his priorities lie elsewhere. “Right now, we want to get to the bottom of how these four individuals passed away, and who had a hand in their demise,” he said.

Women‘s Giving Circle forms Connections of Cumberland County to help homeless women and children

From its homelessness research, the Women’s Giving Circle of Cumberland County saw a shortage of services for the county’s women and children who live on the streets.

The result: a nine-member steering committee agreed on a need for the newly formed Connections of Cumberland County Inc.

“We hope to grow,” said Patty Collie, president of Connections of Cumberland County and a member of the Women’s Giving Circle. “When you read the definition of homeless children, it’s just a very sad kind of situation. They’re basically trying to find shelter and sleeping accommodations that are not for human beings.”

Connections of Cumberland County, a nonprofit corporation, has evolved with a vision. The agency, so far, has nailed down three priorities:

Establish a facility – a day resources center – for homeless women and children.

Provide additional emergency shelter beds for homeless women and children.

Create more transitional housing for the less fortunate.

Collie said the initiative is necessary since most community support for the homeless is geared toward men.

Since October 2010, the group’s steering committee has held a couple of “think tanks,” as Collie put it, in hopes of alerting the community on the issue. City and county law enforcement, religious representatives and service providers, she said, attended to join in the conversation on what Fayetteville and Cumberland County can do to help homeless women and children.

“We really feel like we’re being led to do this rather than make it happen,” Collier said. “There are gaps, and the gaps are real, and we felt the need to do something about it.”

Collie said 600 children were counted as homeless in the 2009-10 school term, according to Cumberland County schools statistics. Last year, that number had increased to 877. And those, she pointed out, are only the destitute school-age youth enrolled in the public schools.

“That number is probably lower than the real number is,” she said. “The numbers are continuing to grow.”

According to the latest Cumberland Interfaith Hospitality Network count, conducted 11 months ago, the number of homeless children was 357, with 225 unsheltered.

Startup costs for the project, Collie estimated, would range from about $750,000 to $1 million. But in the long run, she said, Connections of Cumberland County’s facilities would save the city and county money by having emergency services for the homeless housed in one spot.

“There is a tremendous amount of interest,” she said. “We just need to build a connection.”

Coming to the Ukraine, foreigners are sometimes mistaken for prostitutes, young Ukrainian women: a lot of makeup, short skirt, black stockings, as in cheap American films. Another model of these films, they are adopting and which would then be detrimental to their lives – “bimbo”: a pretty girl in every way and very aggressive, which uses its beauty and for their lives. And when there are no youth and beauty, then what? Should not develop intelligence and abilities? Not better, in my opinion, and traditional Ukrainian kinomodel all young Ukrainian women virgins in white dresses, with garlands on their heads, wandering in the fields and woods. Or “plowing” in the home, nursing children, courted by men. In my opinion, the first feminist in the Ukraine was the poem Mavka Lesia Ukrainka.

Many foreigners believe that Ukraine will be easier for them to find a girlfriend or wife: more accommodating and Ukrainian women want to marry foreigners because they are better supplied with material. In the end, everything depends on the economic situation. But not only. During the discussion, Ukrainian women said that they prefer foreigners because they are more attentive to them, are responsible, are more interested in their opinion, do not drink as much as Ukrainian men. Belong to the woman as a partner to help educate children. Many Ukrainian women do not believe that her husband, a Ukrainian can understand their problems or keep them loyal.

Subordinate position of Ukrainian women is largely determined by the economic situation of the country. On its self-determining way affect parenting and the level of income. While in your community, too, something is changing, at least in big cities. There are women who understand: career – this is important, it is important to have your own world and not just be an appendage of man. But this woman, or over 30, mostly divorced – they have their own business or good job, competent, literate. Or young girls from educated families, where they were taught to respect themselves, to make a career and find their place in society. Not only the woman should be taught to be independent of men, the man must also learn not to depend on Ukrainian women, especially in the home.

Source: “MIRROR OF THE WEEK”

The women in Ukraine: a person or thing?

Sometimes it is interesting to look at ourselves. Eyes of a man from another world with different standards of living. We will talk about the situation of women in Ukraine. And certainly it will interview someone sad, and someone even irritation. Although there are some who agree with the interviewee at least in the main. I would like to make it as much as possible.

Jean-Francois Buzhan – French director of teaching and information center in Kiev, whose activities comprise, Kiev, Chernihiv yet, Vinnitsa, Zhitomir and Cherkassy region. According to him, he came to Ukraine to “see another world, to find out for yourself where the end boundaries of Europe.” Some things in our world, his shock, as, indeed, may have shocked some readers Monsieur Buzhana statements. He first worked in Lviv, where he taught French university students, and he learned Ukrainian. He graduated from the Agricultural University and the University of the business. In Kiev, he also organizes public debates on various topics under the auspices of the French Cultural Centre. In the most recent discussed the status of women in Ukrainian society.

In the past years, a great number of young free Russian women have arrived to the United States of America to marry to western men. Most of the couples have met by means of online dating agencies. There are lots of dating services that feature free Russian women looking for Western life partners. These free Russian women placing their advertisements with online dating services believe to find an American or European husband and have different reasons to do this. The most typical reason is the opinion that Western men treat them better than the Russians do.

Most online dating companies charge a fee for their applicants to register. Some of them make themselves with such catchy slogans as “free Russian women”. Usually, free dating websites have some hidden price involved; registration as well as browsing via profiles can be free of price but there might be a fee to set contact with a Russian bride.

Many online dating companies have begun providing a free registration on the sites. Free Russian women who enroll pay a fee in advance to have the profiles listed. Also, men are charged fees later on for getting address of possible brides. Addresses of free Russian brides arrive with a cost tag. A catalog is typically obtainable with the companies for a high fee. Certain reputed agencies provide free translation services to correspond with Russian beauties. They organize tours for a possible groom to the country and give support for the visa applications, although the services are costly.

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