Do your best/worst with our precious little literatus here. Isn’t he just adorbz? He was so cute before the bloat and the gin blossoms got him, but then, weren’t we all?

He's a little twee for me. It's Tru.

You can tell she's a Canadian model because she's smiling

I keep telling people that Canadians are the most passive-aggressive people in the world (why else do you think we’re so polite? To set up the zings better) and nobody believes me. Maybe after reading this tale of tears, treachery, and trickery at Vancouver Fashion Week, you’ll take my word for it.

Noël’s inexperience with financial administration resulted in an embarrassingly public scandal—on October 2 of 2009, credit card fraud allegations shut down BC Fashion Week mid-runway show, under the supervision of RCMP officers…[literally, they busted up the show and took to the runway. No word on whether or not they "sashayed"]

Perhaps chief among the practical problems is the way Vancouver Fashion Week presents itself as a recognized “global platform for designers, buyers, media representatives, and sponsors,” but its early November dates position it too late in the season for the aforementioned all-important fashion buyers. Add to this the fact that the self-described “global platform” is frequently derided as having “high school” production values, including the fact that last year, aspiring models were “hired” via Craigslist. “I was paid $700 [in total] to model in their first year,” says one London-based catwalker familiar with the Vancouver scene, “and I think that was the last year they paid anyone.”

No wonder we’re the third worst-dressed city in the world.

Steve Jobs: only Coco herself had such flair

Today the fashion world is poorer for the loss of one of its great muses, Steven Paul Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer. As with the great DV, he found his look early, and stuck with it, eschewing the bow ties of his wild youth and reaching again and again for the guy’s version of the LBD: a pair of 501′s, some New Balance sneaks, and a St. Croix mock turtleneck (in the early, lean, NeXT years, it was Gap). As always, true style didn’t go unnoticed: among those he inspired is Ralph Rucci:

What is “wholly originally…. ow[ing[] absolutely nothing to any precedent?”

“Three things: White cotton T-shirt, a pair of 501 Levi Strauss jeans, and a black cashmere turtleneck.”

PROOF!

You can give the Steve Jobs Paper Doll a new look at this fun site (I like the KISS outfit), or take a voyeuristic stroll through his closet.

iWear think different dress alike

Also: nobody ever believes me he was hot back in the day, but look for yourself.

Sophia Loren knows her Joe Cocker songs

Let no-one accuse Sophia Loren of fashion crimes! She, along with all French women and most Southern ladies knows that a lady need not remove her hat and her gloves (and her pearls) indoors, except in her own home. And regardless how often she goes to that hotel, it doesn’t count as “home.”

After our longest layoff ever, here is the winner of our geekiest caption contest ever:

Alexander McQueen: Paris Fashion Week Ready-to-Wear A/W 09

Natalie Anne Lanoville

August 1, 2011 at 2:50 am 

While Spock grudgingly admired the attempt to depict the Tzenkethi Waveform Anomaly in 3 demensions, he questioned the practicality of the ungainly top-mounted Anti-Matter Flare Dampeners.

In the face of a comment like THAT, what else could I do? We hereby virtually present the 100% imaginary prize of hypothetical awesomenosity: Ponn Farr perfume for Her!

Think Rich, look poor

And right there, Andy reveals the real truth about New York Punk. It’s never a bad time to review the Frugal Indulgent Manifesto.

THE FRUGAL INDULGENT MANIFESTO

Frugal Indulgents celebrates liberation from capital: True bouviessence (glamour at all times for all occasions) is, believe it or not, independent of money.

There are certain basic principles that apply to every aspect of life as a Frugal Indulgent. These concern behaviour and attitude. Before we begin, we feel it is important that you know where we’re coming from, so we’ve penned the Frugal Indulgent Manifesto for your reading pleasure.
Follow these rules, and relish your imminently grand lifestyle.

•  Never Act Your Age or Your Income. You may be young and poor, but you are also smart and tasteful. Try to let the latter qualities overshadow the former.
• Aim High. If you assume you can’t fly first class on your budget, you never will. Assume that you deserve the best, and try to get it. Sometimes you’ll prevail.
• Exude Confidence. The surer you appear to be about yourself, the surer others will be about you. If you act like you own the place, more often than not you will be treated like the owner.
• Fake it. If you are not confident, you can fake it. You think you aren’t fitting in at an event? Think you’re not qualified for a job? Not worthy of a date with a fabulous person? Shut up about it and pretend that you are. Chances are you are the only one who knows your shortcomings. If you act the part, you may get away with it.
• Never Apologize. The souffle has fallen., You ate the salad with the entree fork. Your sofa has seen better days: So what? Apologies put people on edge. Aplomb in the face of adversity puts people at ease. Friends and strangers will admire you for having the silent courage to showcase your quirks. Smile and keep dancing.
• Be Curious. Read everything. Talk to everyone. Ask questions. The more inquisitive you are, the more information you’ll gather. As the “Schoolhouse Rock” people used to say, knowledge is power.

We’re back! Labour Day is over and it’s time to get back to labouring, including at the dazzling penthouse lair of the Manolosphere. Today we’re going to discuss something similarly stunning: Model/Designer/Muse/Force of Nature Inès de la Fressange.

Who else looks like that in jeans?

Sure, it’s easy to look that good in “this old thing” when you have genes like hers, but we can all use a little Parisian style in our lives, even if we don’t come from Paris (Inès comes from St. Tropez, which must be where she got that remarkable accent; either that or she spent WAY too much time listening to Kaiser Karl in the 80′s, but didn’t we all?). She never took her job too seriously, and was always refreshingly blunt and unpretentions in interviews. I do remember that she insisted her dog was a much better model than she was, and the photo certainly proved Jim had potential: also, since she successfully talked Vanity Fair into photographing him, she could write off his dog food.

Ines de la Fressange and Jim: WORK IT, LABRADOR!

Here are her essentials for visiting LA (a contract with Loreal doesn’t hurt either):

She’s mostly retired from modeling now, which is only fair to the younger girls of 40-something, and is directrice of Roger Vivier, which is why she’s generally photographed wearing the famous flats first made popular by Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour.

Now Inès has given in to her didactic side (she never just modeled; she usually narrated as well ,and very entertainingly) and written (or at least dictated, in appropriately sexy voice) a book, Parisian Chic, and while the sole bookseller here in Upper MuskOx does not carry it, I am highly inclined to order this puppy, for style can always use a refresher and it is satisfying unto one’s very soul to go through a book by a living avatar of chic and go, “I knew that. I knew that, too. Yup, that one as well…” and so on. I don’t know about you, but after the kind of summer I’ve been having, this looks like a charming sorbet before the onset (onslaught) of the next season.

See, she can read too! Try THAT, Lily Cole!

It’s time to get back to blogging around here, so let’s start off with an easy one: Caption Spock here, who is Not Impressed with this uh, remarkable, creation by Alexander McQueen.

Alexander McQueen: Paris Fashion Week Ready-to-Wear A/W 09