A fashion show for the ages

Emmeline Fucik of Appleton prepares a poodle skirt she will model Sunday as vintage fashions from the 1940s through the '80s are on parade and for sale at a fundraiser for the Community Clothes Closet at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton. / Ron Page/The Post-Crescent

Written by

J.E. Espino

APPLETON  It was a case of serious déjà vu and chuckles for many of the models waiting to flounce down the catwalk at Sunday's Vintage Fashion Show.
"The mini skirts, I definitely do remember that," said Mary Elson, remembering the wild patterns and bright colors she wore in the 1970s as a young woman.
Representing that decade for the event, she wore a long-sleeved, turquoise cocktail dress with silver embroidery and matching silver pumps and observed, "My mother might have worn it."

The biennial fashion show is a fundraiser for the Community Clothes Closet, a nonprofit providing free clothes to people in need.
The show reviews styles from the 1940s to the 1980s. Think floral and psychedelic patterns, high waists, big sunglasses, bell-bottoms, hot pants, eyelet shift dresses, cardigans, jumpsuits and plaid slacks, all in one place.
The event raises between $15,000 and $20,000 for the nonprofit, whose clientele continues to grow year after year. The success of the show is a must to keep the doors open, said Diane Bishop, Community Clothes Closet executive director.
The nonprofit has an annual budget of about $230,000. Last year, it served more than 16,000 people, a significant increase from 2009, when it served 11,500.
"This is the only time that we ever sell anything because we know our clients would not wear these clothes," she said.
The fashion show packed a ballroom at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, and 48 models hustled to slip in and out of their period attire.
Several of them are connected to the nonprofit through family or work or are longtime friends of Bishop.
"I was the first one out today during the 1940s in a wool bathrobe. I went out with three women wearing their cooking attire, and I was in the 'go-get-the-newspaper' attire," said Paul Cameron, executive director of The Family, Christian radio stations that includes WEMI-FM 91.9. "I've got four times I've got to go through yet, so I've got a couple more eras."
Cameron has participated in the past five fashion shows put on by the nonprofit. But he was not in his comfort zone during Sunday's 1960s segment. Organizers had picked for him a crimson smoking jacket, ascot and pipe. His four companions on the runway were showing off negligees.
"I got the approval of my cohorts as suave and styling," he joked about his look.
Leslie Asare of Appleton thought her three daughters, Lexi, 11, Olivia, 9, and Isabella, 7, would need more coaxing to get involved with the show. But they were handling the pressure well in their maxi dresses.
"We are not going to be professional models or anything, but we're doing it for the charity," she said.
Scott Resch of Appleton soaked in the atmosphere in his laid-back, hippie piece and black wig.
"Everything was more carefree. Everybody was just about love and enjoying one another," he said.
The show brought a flood of memories for some.
"I was of the era of the mini skirt and the empire waist and the bell bottoms," said Gail Bergner of Menasha. "But I'm so glad we don't have to wear dresses all the time anymore, and that we can be sloppy in jeans and T-shirts."
Elson smoothed out her turquoise dress before getting in line with the rest of the models. She thinks clothes from decades past were more fun, at least more than the present one.
"There were less rules. The colors were fantastic. The lengths went up and down, extremely short, to middy, and then maxi. Shoulder pads and then no shoulder pads," she said.
"Today's styles are more conservative. People are more serious now. There are wars all over the place. I think it's a more serious time. There's also a big shortage of money right now."

Who is Made in Pakistan for anyway?

By Kiran Haroon
Karachi

As the year 2011 started one found hope in looking for something new and moving into a better phase with bigger promises. But if you are in any way connected to the fashion industry your thoughts immediately went to the imminent fashion weeks. Now with the year reaching its half point we’ve already had a fashion and bridal weeks.

A fashion designer is a person that takes a theme and weaves it into clothes for a person that identifies themselves with that designer. The fashion week has brought about a newer understanding of the business of fashion but at the cost of creativity in fashion.

When a milieu of clothes bombards the ramp in an assembly line, the spark that draws one to seek creativity in fashion is extinguished. Yet again we as a nation have taken it upon ourselves to appease the foreigners that can further our business with their dollar and pound investments. Yet again we fail to realize that the consumer that will wear the shalwar and the kameez will always be in Pakistan. A designer may be technically sound to design a ball gown, dress or trousers for women but does it mean that they can understand its functions in a woman’s life?

The cost effectiveness and the exposure that fashion weeks bring remain undisputed. Young designers that may not be able to draw in a sponsor for a solo fashion show now have a platform amongst the titans of fashion with more eyeballs than they could imagine.

Our dependency on fashion week has led to the downfall of the creative and artistic endeavors of fashion designers. Where a designer puts together a collection for a fashion week the aim is to attract foreign buyers with the salability of their designs. Ready to wear and easy to wear are top priorities for foreign buyers. We, as a nation, still have not left behind the three piece suit mentality that would prove impractical and even fatal to a New Yorker trying to go to work on the L train. But that is what fashion week has done – catering to a new market whose life and requirements we can not fully understand.

This brings us to fashion shows. What a treat it was to know that a great designer was putting together a fashion show. The clothes and styling would all be creative visions of this designer and an observer would be viewing it as a connoisseur of the arts and the interpretations down to the venue and the choreography would be up to said viewer. We seem to forget that fashion is a form of artistic expression not only for the designer but the consumer. Fashion is a freedom of that expression. Fashion week is a display case for a product.

From the purveyor’s point of view it may seem as such but what of the designer? Designers would work on collections that bring into account when the bridal season strikes, namely in summer and winter and work accordingly. Seldom were collections made for the seasons, still now they aren’t. Collections are made for the marked fashion weeks that happen twice a year , at least PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week does, while Fashion Pakistan week is facing delays. If it does happen, the we would have three to four fashion weeks a year. In the running now is also Islamabad Fashion Week, that will bring up the number to six fashion weeks with two held by each major city in Pakistan.

Can designers, who are not used to the mad rush of churning out collections, salvage their creativity when meeting such demands?

Is it any surprise then that women are looking towards prêt not only for the reasonable prices but for the only fashion brands that are keeping in mind the needs of the Pakistani woman today?

To be fair fashion is for the masses and the way it is being worked into seasonal creations will be effective for the trends that can trickle down into the masses. Having a global standing in the world platform of fashion has its advantages. With the initial fervor having died down, the quality of the event should not be limited to the amount of foreign journalists that make it to the event. It still needs to be an event for Pakistanis to help the fashion industry grow and meet demands as the case would be in any industry.

That means a focus on what people will buy as designers discover soon enough. Designers like Deepak Perwani, HSY, Kamiar Rokni, Maheen Khan, Shamoon Sultan and Sonya Battla have translated their aesthetic into making clothes for desis. Those like Feeha Jamshed and Ali Xeeshan who are following in their footsteps will go a long way. Pakistani fashion has to dress Pakistan to grow and prosper. If going international is a distant dream, changing the way Pakistan dresses is the revolution our designers should really be looking at.

source: http://old.thenews.com.pk

'Fashion models' eat cotton balls to keep weight reduce

Talking about the gloomy side of glittering fashion industry, supermodel Amy Lemons revealed that when she was a model, her agent asked her to eat one rice cake a day. The Vogue cover model was 17 years old when her agent told her to do so to keep her weight down. "And if that didn't work (eat) only half a rice cake," the New York Daily News quoted Lemons as saying in a segment of a new miniseries on the modelling industry for 'The Cut'. It is based on topics covered in the documentary expose 'Picture Me: A Model's Diary' by filmmakers Sra Ziff and Ole Schell. The young directors interviewed several young models for their three-part series and the final segment was particularly jarring. Lemons said that she had seen girls dipping cotton balls in juice and eating them as a way to keep their weight down. "The level of the money you are making, it's like you can't say no," she said underlying the reason. "I think one of the reasons the film is so compelling is because we are showing footage that we never thought anyone else would ever see. It was only over time that we realized we had some really unique footage of a world that is so kept under wraps," concluded model turned director Ziff, who has walked in shows for Ralph ­Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Marc Jacobs. (ANI) SEARCH

courtesy: New York

Camille Anderson Bikini Photos

Become A Swimsuit Models

Young women eager to break into the globe of swimsuit modeling need to grow some perspective on the industry. A handfuling stars are elect to choose each year for swimsuit issues in Sports Illust of supermodels, actresses and mountrated, adage and other publications. Most swimsuit models need to work their way through local ads, catalogs and unusual publications before ahead exposure to wider audiences. While the odds of getting into SI's annual Swimsuit concern are slim, an aspiring model can get prepared for a rewarding career by taking every prospect that crosses her path.

Swimsuit modeling is a undo part of the standard modeling business and it is not for everyone. As a swimsuit model you will evidently be showing off your substantial distinctiveness. You will be mandatory to give your sizes and you will need to have a striking and healthy body. There is a poles apart type of training and airs that goes along with being a swimsuit model when compared to standard fashion modeling. The ways you situate, walk, grasp you, facade and play to the camera are all a bit diverse for a swimsuit model.

Although the ages utilized in swimsuit modeling and its near cousin, lingerie modeling, can commence in the premature teens, there can be decent issues when posing juvenile models. It is up to the parents and the mediator to make sure all work is done in a non-offensive, refined manner that won't present unhelpful issues later on in a young model's occupation. An adult swimsuit model is responsible for judging the contented and superiority of their own work. Never concur to change the rudiments of a shoot due to pressure on the set. It is up to you to indemnify everything you do is discerning and of lofty quality. If you have issues with the photographer or the injure in general, contact your representative, and he or she will arbitrate on your behalf.

Physical exterior rules in the swimsuit modeling field and you must be toning and have some beef on your carcass to shun looking too skinny or too athletic. A good sized ruined and subsequent can help when it comes to filling out a swimsuit appropriately for the camera. There are many excellence jobs offered in the swimsuit model field but you will need a good negotiator to find the best ones. The top swimsuit models can receive quite a morsel of money and are often superstars in their possess field.

Displaying their sexy body in half nude stance, the Japanese swimsuit models are not following other swimsuit models in the world. All the Japanese swimsuit models activate on the desire of spicy men for what they ensue to be bestowed with.

Outfitted with power of beauty and sex the Japanese swimsuit models don't worry of any obstacle on their way and have made so far their notion ubiquitously, be it promotion of brand product-sale, modeling or fashion, they have proved their indispensability every where. Sexy look of Japanese swimsuit models sets the compassion of witness on to bang much faster beyond any control.

Every model needs to learn how to focus on the photographer and clasp a pose with storm, cold weather, rain and other adverse conditions. Models need to deal with sore poses and traffic behind the camera when operational with studio photographers. A common delusion about swimsuit modeling is that aspirants should seek out training and modeling classes before heading to shoots. The keys to landing a swimsuit modeling concert are maintaining a good stance and collecting a good assortment of swimsuit shots.

Micro Bikini For Hot Models

Mistaken are those who believe that bikini was invented by women at the peak of sexual revolution, feminism and struggle for women's rights. Bikini was invented in the middle of '40s by the designers Jacques Heim and Louis Reard. And Paris again appeared to be titled as a pace-setter in fashion. This bathing suit was named after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean where atomic bombs were tested. Though everyone when reading or hearing a word ‘bikini' recollects microscopic bathing suits but not nuclear warheads.

Apparently bikini as a garment is much more pleasant and we enjoy seeing ladies in bikini much more than all the weapons. And you should agree that sex-bombs look much more attractive than atomic bombs. Although Paris was in the fame of liberty of morals, Louis Reard faced with difficulties when arranging presentation of bikini in 1946 and he failed to find a model for it. Models refused to participate in the show in the open public. And only Micheline Bernardini, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, accepted his proposal and presented bikini. She was remembered as the first woman who wore bikini, a string bikini with a g-string back of 30 square inches of clothes with newspaper type printed across introduced on July 5 at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris.

Currently bikini does not shock the public any longer, yet ordinary women tend to wear bikini without hesitation, letting alone models. And the bikini presented by Louis Reard looks conservative now in the context of what we are accustomed to see. It tends to get smaller in size, transferring from bikini to mini-bikini and now it is called micro-bikini.

Micro-bikini provides only the minimal tissue to hide the bare body. Honestly speaking, this suit is not able to cover anything. Micro-bikini looks like a set of strings of various colors than a garment. At far distance it is not even seen.

Though a girl in bikini differs from a nude girl, yet nakedness does leave fantasy a job to do. Micro-bikini is something that scratches you from inside and provokes for feeling. This item is not designed to hide anything; on the contrary, it should only underline the shapes and make your look spicier. And only an ardent conservative and moralist can resist provided they are forced to do that.

And only because bikini accentuated the figure this bathing suit is requiring to ladies. It attracts attention to every fatty fold, excess skin, cellulite and other drawbacks.

You need to be adventurous and extravagant for micro-bikini, and on the top of you need to be shapely. And you smooth and beautiful skin will only win in this ‘garment'.

You may acquire a perfect smooth skin if depilatated, and here only deep depilation is needed. If you want to show off in micro-bikini quit thinking of the shaver, cream and electric depilatory device. The only thing is to go to the specialist and choose for wax and gum used from ancient times. You cannot find better. The procedure is painful but beauty knows no pain.

You may opt to use epilation among laser, enzyme, photo-and electric epilation procedures. Just remember, once you made epilation it is forever. You cannot just take your ‘unwanted' hair back since epilation destroys hair follicles.

To those who imagine micro-bikini as tiny triangle of cloth connected with strings, there is news. Micro-bikini may vary in fashionable styles and models, in fabric, color of strings, trimming element color of the suit, types of rings and style from behind.

Keep in mind that there are some rules to stun your partner wearing micro bikini:

* Men up to 30 years old prefer bright and eye-catching color of bikini. Bikini-bomb, bikini-flash are well timed at night beach parties.

* Men over 30 like enjoying micro-bikini but they prefer white or black color in it.

* Men in late 30 may like classic type of bikini of classic color as well, kind of shortened type of evening black small dress. Strict and laconic.

* Models of micro-bikini available at the market now allow tying the string differently and change the style.

Source : luxemag.org