OSCARS 2012 BEST DRESSED

Here are twelve of the most fabulous dresses from the Oscars 2012 red carpet, according to RCFA...

For me, the Best Dressed Award goes to...

Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford.

Classic. Clean. Cape (!).

Gwyneth = Glamour

She's always been among my fashion superheroes. *wink*

THEIR EVERYDAY BAGS

Could my observation be correct? Singapore's most popular bags are the Longchamp Le Pliage (in all colors) and the Prada Antic Nappa Gauffre (and versions of it). Wanted to take photos, pero bawal, so eto na lang sina Victoria and Kate. Compared to Manila's mostly-LV eksena, here, Prada seems to be the favored designer label.

GOWNS AT THE GRAMMYS 2012

Here are seven of the Best Dressed women at the Grammys, according to RCFA...

Taylor Swift in Zuhair Murad. She's all gown up here. I love the details of the dress!

Adele in Giorgio Armani. Yes, you can be glamorous at any size.

Kelly Rowland in Alberto Ferretti. Pretty. A toned-down version of Halle Berry's iconic Elie Saab Oscars gown?

Jessie J in Julien Macdonald. I'm not feeling this one. Disco ball-ish.

Rihanna in Giorgio Armani. She was named Best Dressed by the Fashion Critics, as per RCFA. She looks perfect here.

Katy Perry in Elie Saab. Blue hair, blue gown. Why not? I've always been a fan of Elie Saab. He so knows how to dress up women. And with such beautiful details!

Gwyneth Paltrow in Stella McCartney. Fashion fantasy: to wear something like this one day soon. Love it!

My Best Dressed: Torn between Rihanna and Gwyneth.

Who's yours?

MADONNA AT THE SUPER BOWL

One word: WOW.



Hail the Queen!

This was definitely not "reductive." (Savor that biting soundbite from Madge again.)

Madonna's fabulous costumes for the Super Bowl Half Time Show were by Givenchy Couture. Sketches and stills below. Reynang-reyna lang!

JASON WU FOR TARGET

Dream shopping sequence: I'm among the ladies going gaga over the Jason Wu for Target collection (which is almost sold out according to reports). Below are the three items that would definitely be in my shopping bag. What would be in yours? 

The flared dress in black with nude patent belt. Is that lace tulle? Lovely detail!

The poplin dress in navy. I think the stripes are so pretty. There are actually similar versions of this here in Singapore, from the local boutiques. 

The short sleeve tee with tie in blush. So feminine! Perfect with black skirt, pants, shorts, jeans...everything.

On the Today Show, I remember Jason saying the collection is inspired by "the American Girl in Paris." Very French new wave cinema. And the best thing about them - most items are priced below USD60. True?

Now how do you say "Lovely!" in French? Joli!



PS
As we all know Jason Wu's popularity zoomed after Michelle Obama wore his creation to the Inaugural Ball, January 2009.

DIY CURLS

I've always dreamed of bedhead hair -- I love the effortless, soft-curls, gulu-guluhan pero magandang look. Read about my 2010 entry here. 

My pegs:

Effortlessly Chic

Bedhead Bombshells

I've tried learning from the online tutorials (ang galing nila sa tools!), considered digital perm (but my hair is still not healthy and long enough), and tried other DIY, chemical-free techniques (braiding, cut-off sock buns - have you seen those online?). My observation: Practice makes perfect. Pero iba talaga ang kamay ng pro. The irony: touch-ups are necessary for this supposed effortless look (high maintenance pala!). 

Below's my recent attempt at DIY curls. Total curling time: around 20 minutes. 10-seconds per section, temperature at level 10 (maximum on my iron is 15). I made it real quick as I was too scared to burn my hair!

Hair we go again! Lol.

Before and After, below.

Left: My hair at 6pm. May curls naman, kahit paano.

Right: My hair by midnight, after a dinner date. Bagsak na even with the supposed maximum-hold hairspray.

Before - After

My tools: Vidal Sassoon ceramic curling iron, Finesse maximum-hold hairspray, clip (for partitions) and comb.

My best bet may be Alex Carbonell's soft set curls. I love how it turned out for Daphne Paez. Another to-do on our next Manila vacay?

WINNER IN WHITE

I just saw The Help. Viola Davis definitely deserves the SAG Best Actress award. I'm now a fan so I checked what she wore on the SAG red carpet -- a fabulous white Marchesa gown.  

WINNER IN WHITE
White but not Bridal

HIGH RISK

For the nth time, a study against the high heel habit came out. Read here. It suggests that "the shoes you love are putting you at risk for muscle injury, even when you walk barefoot."

 Ready to walk away from your high heels?