The “Snow White and the Huntsman” star pulls off a Helmut Newton-style fashion spread just a few days before she’ll hit Cannes for her new film, “On The Road.” 9:47 AM PDT 5/15/2012 by Elizabeth Snead
Photo: Olivia Malone
Having made her name with a collection of cloaks, Lindsey Thornburg is not a designer you’d think would flourish in the Spring. (And in fact, she’ll have a big new development coming this Fall: After spending several seasons creating cloaks out of deadstock Pendleton fabrics, she’s introducing a co-branded line with the Oregon-based company.) But the sun suits the New York-based Thornburg too, judging from the new film she’s created for her Spring collection, shot in sunny Key Biscayne, Florida, with model Martha Hunt. “Martha is lustful, she has that sort of lazy angst that boredom creates,” explains Thornburg. “She’s captive in her affluent environment while her lover is away. Her fantasy is to be carried away into the oblivion with the man she passed at the cinema the previous day.”
To pass the time, Hunt spends her time floating in the pool, gallivanting on the tennis courts, and making sand angels, wearing Thornburg’s signature “urban witchy” (as she describes them) pieces—a variety of billowy maxi dresses ranging from a pink cutout number to a simple black one. Not that customers are encouraged to be so cavalier. “This collection is very special, limited or one-of-a-kind,” the designer says. “The focus on this collection was to use the tactile nature of different silks while unifying them by specialty dye processes.” Unifying the entire video is music by Scout LaRue Willis—progeny of Demi and Bruce—and Nicolas Jaar; it debuts exclusively here on Style.com.
—Kristin Studeman
I am a Leo and I love cats. I love them prowling around in the wild and I love a great animal print.
This leopard face gold chain link stretch bracelet from BellaDawn.com made me mental when I saw it online. Hannah Deely, our accessories editor, initially sent it to me — she’s a Leo, too. Isn’t it cool? The Cartier version is out of this earth overpriced, but this version? Meeeeow!
Purchase information: Buy it here.
High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgens wears this sandal all the time, and even though she’s making do with a $405 purchase, a lot of us don’t find such a splurge realistic for our budgets. Jessica’s replica is spot-on, and I have to say, it’s pretty damn cute.
Jessica Simpson has done it again!
The singer-turned-reality-star-turned-shoe designer is selling a chic sandal at a totally affordable price.
Warning: Act fast! These shoes are selling out!
The new Adreana wedge sandals from the Jessica Simpson collection are only $89!
Buy it here.
I love the multi-straps and the wedge heel on the black cashmere leather shoe. Jessica loves height to lengthen her legs, so this is really ideal if you have a similar goal. Wear with jeans, shorts, mini-skirts — almost anything.
PRODUCT DETAILS
- Antiqued buckle hardware
- Front zipper
- 5″ heel with 1″ covered platform
- Sized 5 to 11
- Also available in fudge
L.A.’s food fad permanently parks itself at popular club Playhouse.
our editor recommends
First there were the working-class Mexican lonchero trucks, quietly slinging their humble tacos. Then, a few years later, their up-market successors hit the scene, scrambling the cultural references (cucumber kimchi slaw, bao buns instead of tortillas) and pumping up the price. The most successful of them — including the Flying Pig and Komodo — eventually went on to open brick-and-mortar locations themselves.
Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
This week’s New Yorker takes an in-depth look at one of fashion’s most intriguing (not to mention most tight-lipped) personalities: Tomas Maier, the German-born creative director of Bottega Veneta, who’s credited with bringing the label back from the brink of bankruptcy. How’d he do it? By embracing discretion and insider-style luxury when the world was still at the height of logomania-and its most visible avatar, the It Bag.
“There was a stage when, however unappealing something was, if it had enough logos written all over it, somebody seemed to buy it,” Suzy Menkes tells the magazine, calling the period “a worldwide aberration.” Maier is on the record as anti-It Bag, too: It is “totally marketed bullshit crap,” he says. His rejoinder to it: the woven, unfeminine Cabat bag, left, which is painstaking to craft (only one person can work on any single bag, because no two people pull the leather to the same tension). But of course, the Cabats are notoriously expensive-up to almost $80,000 for a special-order croc model and produced in limited quantities, so there’s frequently a wait list for one. Tom Ford-who hired Maier for the Bottega position when he ran Bottega’s corporate parent, Gucci Group-sums up the paradox in what could pass for a fashion-world Zen koan: “By not doing the It Bag, you do the It Bag,” he says.
John Colapinto’s full article is available to subscribers on newyorker.com.
- Exclusive to Urban Outfitters
- Imported
The $38 version from Urban Outfitters come in pewter, dark blue and champagne. And designers are having fun kind of cross-breeding the shoes — an old fashioned oxford shoe is being mashed up with a manly wingtip and then the shoelaces are ripped away. What’s nice about this shoe is that you’re not scrunched into a very narrow toe box like a pump and they’re flat to the ground.
- Polyurethane, rubber
Tired of flip flops, ballerinas and Tevas? It’s time to step it up! Cool, comfortable and classy, oxfords are the perfect shoes to wear with almost anything. Whitney Port, Diane Kruger, Hilary Duff and Sienna Miller really bring it on because they all manage to take a look borrowed from the boys and make it appear super feminine and really sexy.
Kimchi Jazz Metallic Oxfords, $38
Buy it here.
PRODUCT DETAILS
The oxford jazz shoe or menswear broque shoes are being embaced by women in Hollywood. It’s not a new trend, but certainly fashion news.
- Spot clean
By Sasha Charnin Morrison for UsMagazine.com. To read more of the Recessionista blog, click here.
But, check out this recession special from Susie Rose available at your local Wal-Mart for a whopping $15! It can be accessorized the same way. I mean, hello?! Why wouldn’t you want to buy this? I love it. Everybody will adore you in it and the best part is they’ll never know.
I saw the first vision of Sarah Jessica Parker in her Halston Heritage creation today and plotzed! The real dress is a v-neck cocktail dress that can be worn with gold aviators, multi colored stone vintage necklace, beautiful gold Louboutin glittered pumps and an elegant Chanel clutch. The price? $325.
NEW DELHI – James Bond's favorite sportscar, iconic British brand Aston Martin, will now be available in India via a newly opened second showroom in the capital New Delhi. Aston Martin opened its first outlet in India in Mumbai last April.
James Bond’s iconic sportscar company opened its second India showroom in a year to cater to the country’s growing luxury car market.
Given the car's connection with James Bond, the launch event expectedly showcased the opening dramatic chase sequence of the 2008 instalment Quantum of Solace with Daniel Craig at the wheel of a speeding Aston Martin DBS.
“The Indian market has great potential for a quality product like Aston Martin as there is already a lot of awareness for the brand thanks to its historic legacy,” said Aston Martin global sales director Andy Gawthorpe.
According to industry estimates, the three major luxury brands – Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi – clocked in sales of about 22,000 units in 2011 up from about 16,000 in 2010.
Aston Martin will price its various models between $360,000-$800,000 (Rupees 18 million-Rupees 40 million), available via its New Delhi showroom partner, Select Cars. As for potential sales, Gawthorpe did not give any figures or indicate how many units have been sold since Aston Martin opened their Mumbai outlet.
Meanwhile, India's luxury car market has seen the arrival of leading brands such as Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini, among others.
“We have had a long association with the James Bond films which continues with Skyfall, the latest in the series,” added Gawthorpe. “It goes without saying that there are potential marketing opportunities we can explore when the film opens in India.”
It says the practice died away after mains-supplied water was introduced, but with pressure on water supplies the demand for rainwater recycling systems is rising again.
He advises people can also use "grey water", the water from a kitchen sink or bath to feed plants, but says it should be used straight away and not stored.
A rainwater harvesting system is a "more serious" alternative to a water butt, says Terry Nash, from the UK Rainwater Harvesting Association.
Continue reading the main story How to fit a water butt:
Groundwater is redistributed to the Mediterranean biome and outside biome, while the rainforest biome relies on rainwater, collected in the tank, "percolated" and pumped out via an irrigation system.
"The storage tank would almost invariably be underground, out of sight and be 10, 20, or 30 times the content of a water butt," he says.
"Or if you add half a teaspoon of cooking oil, a film spreads across the top of the water also preventing them from breeding.
Overnight in the South West, Exeter Airport recorded 29mm of rain, more than half its previous April average of 56.4mm. The UK-wide average rainfall in April 2011 was 36.7mm, and 48mm in 2010.
With heavy rainfall drenching parts of the UK and hosepipe bans in place, what's the best way to store water to feed your garden?
• Increase your storage by connecting several water butts together, or just get one larger butt if space allows
• Buy a water butt from your water company, gardening or DIY centre
But the water should only be used on the garden, Jacob Tompkins says.
Sales of water butts have already been surging as hosepipe bans have been enforced, as it is estimated that about 24,000 litres can be saved from the average house roof every year.
He also suggests cutting the bottom off a plastic 1.5 or two litre fizzy bottle and burying it upside down near plants, to get rainwater straight to their roots.
"Plants prefer rainwater, as tap water is chalky and rainwater is acidic." He recommends joining more than one butt together to maximise storage.
"People shouldn't drink water from the butt, as rainwater is fine, but what's collected on your roof isn't – it can be contaminated but deposition of particulates on the roof from pollution and cars."
And the wet weather is set to continue, with the possibility of as much as a month's worth of rain falling in Wales and the south of England over the next few days, the Met Office says.
"You should not have problems in the UK with mosquitoes, but if you do, there are special gels and crystals you can add to your butt to stop them breeding.
The easiest way is to sever a plastic down pipe with a hacksaw and place the butt directly underneath it – an overflow pipe can be attached to the butt to channel away excess water to a drain or into another butt Alternatively, cut a notch out of the pipe and fit a rain trap and connecting pipe – this will transport water to your butt and allows you to put it in the most convenient place
However they are more expensive.
Gardeners have been given a much-needed lifeline to keep their plants alive over coming months.
A lid is needed on any water tank to prevent debris entering it, but also to prevent children falling in. It needs to be secure, and children need to be aware it is heavy, he says.
But he says for home gardeners, even before harvesting water, there are decisions to be made about how it is used.
Alistair Griffiths, its horticultural science curator agrees there can be risks gathering rainwater at home.
Nash says if someone had bought a system and installed in three weeks ago, it would be full by now.
While the wet weather continues, water harvesting will remain a top priority for gardeners, as experts say it isn't enough to bring parts of the UK out of drought just yet.
There are two ways to fit a water butt:
"They are the simplest and cheapest thing to do," he says, "it just fits in to your downpipe. You can gather water in buckets and watering cans as well, if you use it straight away.
So how can one make the best of it?
The Environment Agency's tips for collecting rainwater are:
Although it takes 12 years to get "pay back" from them economically, they are "the right thing to do environmentally", says Waterwise managing director Jacob Tompkins.
"If your gutters are not clean, or there's a build-up of stuff in them, that can cause disease in plants if you use the water on them, especially seedlings," he explains.
The Eden Project in Cornwall is one garden that tries to store as much water as it can all year round.
Rainwater from the Eden Project's biomes is used to irrigate the site at night
Griffiths says the water harvesting and distribution system at the Eden Project has been "designed specifically to capture as much water as possible from its biomes' roofs".
Andy Berry, from Acorn Landscapes in Gloucestershire, says some people choose to go "the whole hog" on systems costing tens of thousands of pounds.
"They install a rainwater storage system with filters and pumps, so the water can then be used safely in their house," he says.
Plants prefer rainwater as tapwater is chalky
• Fit a water butt on every downpipe on your house, shed, garage or greenhouse
The concept of capturing rainwater and storing it for later use is well-documented from pre-Roman times, the UK Rainwater Harvesting Association says.
"They would have filled a 6,500 litre one… because we've had so much rain over the last four weeks."
"Don't over-irrigate, as it can make plants not resistant to drought… and don't water in the middle of the day, if you water at night there's less opportunity for sunlight to evaporate it,"
Continue reading the main story Where to store rainwater: Standard water butt: Holds between 100 to 300 litres, is a barrel or square shape and has a tap near the base Ornamental tank: Designed to fit in with your garden (shaped like boulders etc). Capacity is between 30 and 300 litres Large above-ground tank: Holds up to 2000 litres, and is a big rectangular shape, that needs to be sited on a flat firm base Large underground tank: Can store several thousand litres of water and requires a pump. Because of size can be connected to washing machine and toilet too