Why Didn’t British Women Adore Adele

The fashion industry generally ascribes a direct correlation to the influence and celebrity of the woman who graces a magazine’s cover and the sales figures for that particular issue.  In this light, it seems that everyone can’t stop talking about the fact that BritishVogue featuring Adele on the cover was one of the worst selling issues in the magazine’s history.

And I would have to agree, that if number of sales reflects anything about popular response specifically to the magazine’s cover model (more than, for example, the stories highlighted on the cover), that is a surprising and I dare say disappointing fact.  What does it mean?  That BritishVogue readers may love Adele’s voice but don’t see her as a physical ideal to which they aspire?  My god, the woman is gorgeous. According to racked.com, British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman said that “there has to be a relationship with the person on the cover that goes beyond how they look.”  So is it a failure of readers to connect with Adele.  That seems to me to make significantly less sense.  Are we really so superficial?

When asked who she was dying to get on the cover, Shulman replied that her choice would be Kate Middleton.  While I can’t understand, let alone articulate, what went wrong with the Adele cover, somehow Kate Middleton doesn’t seem to me like much better of a choice.  But who knows, maybe this is why I’m not the editor of British Vogue.

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Is It The New Shape Of The Magazine Industry … Domino Is Back

As a dedicated lover of shopping for things to make life more beautiful, I was extremely sad to say goodbye to Domino magazine (especially when they fulfilled the rest of my pre-paid subscription with something I had absolutely no interest in, but that’s another story).  But the mourning is over and Domino is back.  I think more than being a commentary on the home design business, the relaunch is an interesting commentary on the state of publishing and more specifically of magazine publishing.  Everyone knows that with consumers turning toward online media, they are leaving paper behind and leaving newspapers and magazines struggling.  That results in a game on the part of publishers that’s fairly interesting to watch, the game of trying to figure out how to stay alive, stay relevant, carve a niche that can’t be filled online.

In one such effort, Conde Nast shuttered Gourmet  magazine, only to relaunch it as a mobile app with only a limited number of special issues available at newsstands.  Their strategy with Domino  is somewhat similar.  Sadly, that means that it is not the return of the Domino that many of us knew and loved.  The new Domino will consist only of a limited number of special issues available exclusively through newsstands.  The first issue, entitled Domino Quick Fixes, on newsstands through mid-July, is a thick book and sells for $10.99, and like most special issues has fewer ad pages than the typical monthly magazine.  The next issue is due this fall.

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Think Of What You’ll Do With All Of The Money You Save

Some hopeful signs out there seem to be suggesting that plastic surgery – at least the highly invasive kind – might be falling out of favor.  I know, that may be a fabrication on my part, but I’m going to cling to the fantasy for a bit and see if it sticks, so please don’t burst my bubble just yet.  People’s desire to perfect their physical appearances is not remotely  waning.  My evidence to support the general trend away from plastic surgery, therefore, is the development of new and significantly less invasive techniques for improving your appearance.

Right now, I have to say that it looks like Japan has cornered the market.  One popular item is the Hana Twin Nose.  Check it out.  Absolutely no surgery, and you only have to wear this thing for 20 minutes a day in order for it to work.  Slip the clip into your nostrils so that the supports on either side can push up the bones resulting in a straighter, less round nose.

Hana Tsun Nose Straightener

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And The Presidential Candidate Wore A Lovely Pink Suit

I love Barbie. I know I should feel more conflicted about it, but I think she is wonderful in her ridiculous characacture of femininity. But I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Mattel should really skip trying to be politically correct with Barbie.

As we all know, Barbie has had many fabulous careers, teaching little girls that they can be stewardesses, teachers, pageant winners, you name it. Admittedly, that’s not fair.  She has also tried her hand at firefighting and did a few stints as an astronaut.

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Have It Your Way

Burger King Netherlands ad

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Why Isn’t The Cast Of Hunger Games Starving?

Trendy pop culture topic of the day — what everyone who’s anyone is talking about — Hunger Games.  I am not, god forbid, going to talk about the merits of the movie — that is a different blog, in addition to which, I haven’t seen the movie yet.  I read (and loved) the books, but am still waiting for my YA movie buddy to dig herself out from under her work to go see it.  But I feel entirely equipped to enter in on the ridiculous argument which seems to be all the buzz about the casting choices in the film, and more specifically, Jennifer Lawrence’s figure and weight.

Most of the argument seems to go, “Katniss is supposed to be lean, Jennifer Lawrence is too fat.”  ”How can you call Jennifer Lawrence fat?  She is not fat.”  ”She doesn’t look like she’s athletic or anything.” “Yeah, and how is your figure?  At least Jennifer Lawrence looks real and not like a stick.”  ”Folks, Suzanne Collins, the author, signed off on the casting for god’s sake and she knows what the characters look like better than you do so you’re an idiot to question it.” blah blah blah.  Admittedly an inane argument, and beside the point, but at the core of it I think are some real issues that feed into common misconceptions about movie casting and the importance of precise physical appearance on the whole.

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The New Face Of Fashion … Azealia Banks

A few weeks ago a friend was telling me about a rapper he had come across who he felt was poised to become the next big thing. Catch was, her hit song “212″ was explicit and raunchy enough that it couldn’t really be played on mainstream radio.  Banks has a very strong cult following and promises to become ubiquitous soon, but has yet to gain solid footing in the mainstream. But, even in the two weeks since I first heard her name, curiously, I have found that Azealia Banks does seem to have emerged as the fashion world’s new it girl.

The harlem native with, as the London Financial Times put it, “Lil’ Kim’s filthiness, Nicki Minaj’s colourfulness and Missy Elliott’s darling” was a mainstay of London’s fashion week.  She was the featured performer at the self-proclaimed “party of all Fashion Week parties” hosted by Topshop to celebrate 10 years of the high street giant’s support of NEWGEN.

Azealia Banks performing at Topshop's Fashion Week party at Mayfair club Le Baron in London via Insideout the Topshop blog

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R.I.P. Davy Jones

Clearly, my comfort zone lies with visual culture. There are many other areas of aesthetic experience which are a part of the overall concept of “art into life” but are generally woefully neglected on this blog. I am no music critic, so I am generally reluctant to go there except when music edges into the realm of performance art. But today’s news of the passing of the inimitable Davy Jones seems to demand a moment of reflection on boy bands and teen idols.

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You Can Never Have Too Many Color Coded Items

You can never be too rich (check) or too skinny (????). Instead of skinny, let’s say “stylish”. Now that’s an axiom I can get behind. Every thing you touch is an opportunity for style. Which is why I am so excited about the Pantone visa card.

Why are all things Pantone inherently awesome? I know, it’s an obsession of mine. In part, every color looks better when rendered as a Pantone chip. There is a Pantone chip for every color imaginable, so a bunch of them must be pretty darn ugly, but there’s something about a Pantone chip that transforms any shade into an opportunity for exquisite color combinations.  All of the cards are great, by virtue of the Pantone reference, the elegant, bare bones simplicity, the beautiful saturated colors. The big problem, as it is with most products in the Pantone universe, is that you really need a bunch of them to achieve maximum impact. It’s tempting to get five visa cards, but I think I’ll pass. Can you imagine? If you’ve already got an Am Ex and/or a MasterCard, they’d give you something on the order of $2000 credit per card. I’d advise going with either 15-3827 Lavender or 16-1452 Firecracker (Design Milk also shows a fabulous color called Blue Curacao which looks like the clear water of the Caribbean, but Pantone does not show that color on its site, so I’m not sure what’s going on there). They are the most distinct looking on their own.

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London Graffiti

Thanks Anthony for the photos!

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