November 2009: Editors' Blog: Wmagazine.com

Editors Blog

November 2009 Archives

Denim report: W staffers' favorite jeans

Wearing your jeans at work is not just a Casual Friday thing here at W. Although we're seeing the wider-leg styles here and there, we must admit that slim silhouettes—in a range of fits and washes—still have the edge around these parts. Here's what some of our fashion staff is currently feeling the blues for:

Treena Lombardo, Market Director, likes the Shane style from Genetic Denim in Silver (above). "Not only is gray my favorite color," says Treena of the slim-cut jeans, "But these are also super soft." $188 at Barneys.com

Accessories Assistant Sheena Smith calls J Brand pencil-leg jeans the "perfect basic jean." $158 at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Our Bookings Editor, Rena Lazaros, is skinny jean devotee who says she cares mostly about the shade of denim. "Dark is key," she says of her favorite Levi's Low Skinny 531 jeans in Black Sheen. $69 at us.levi.com

Fashion Writer Jessica Iredale and I are in agreement about our favorite new discovery, Blue Notch denim (above). We like the washes, featherweight fabrics and fit. The denim comes from the same mill as Balenciaga and Chanel's denim. At Barneys New York.

We also checked with the guys on our team. Fashion Assistant Garrett Munce loves "The Skinny" jean from Current / Elliott. "Although I'm a tried and true Levi's and Diesel fan, I'm into Current / Elliott's ripped jeans for a more casual weekend look." Available at Bergdorf Goodman and Ron Herman.

Meanwhile, Accessories Assistant William Kahn is a fan of Acne denim: both the Lanvin Acne collection and the Acne "Stay" jean (above) in Skip wash. The Acne Lanvin pair, he says, is "a little more polished and with a higher waist." Available at Shop.acnestudios.com

By Rebecca Ramsey

November 20, 2009

Utilities:

Keywords

jeans,
w staffers

Print E-Mail Feeds

Friday's Reading List

The hotness! Scantily clad Angels bounced their way down the runway at the Victoria Secret Fashion show last night. But Heidi Klum won the audience's heart by strutting her post-baby body and proving that she can bounce back. The Huffington Post

New Moon creates shift in party scene. When the Gossip Girl cast starts following other PYT's around town, it becomes official: The Twilight gang are the new "it" crew...and they'll take blood over alcohol. Guest of a Guest

Are furry vests are getting eclipsed by fluffy down? The new winter must-have comes from Pharrell's collaboration with Moncler. Can't decide which you covet more? Get both. Fashionista

Or you could go gorilla like Naomi. The Cut

Beyonc� succumbs to the Gaga effect. We were too mesmerized to count the costume changes in her "Video Phone" performance with Lady Gaga. But we enjoyed this analysis. The Cut

IMDB for fashion. All this talk about fashion and social networking is well and good but if you want something really useful check out MyFDB.com. It's IMDB for the fashion industry and lists credits for everyone including designers, models and photographers to creative directors, stylists, hair and makeup, set designers, and food stylists. It's an industry breakthrough from the day it launched. Fashionista

Sarah Palin's stylist reveals why she spent so much so fast. "It was the Friday of a holiday weekend and there wasn't a person around. The only avenue was retail, straight retail." Glamour

Looking foxy for Fox? When Sarah Palin picks her own clothes she looks like a news anchor. At least that what the aqua-colored suit she wore on Oprah this week seemed to be saying. The Daily Beast

To Helsinki and back. Finnair's new travel incentive offers frequent flyer miles for plastic surgery (face lifts and breast implants). The catch: one breast enhancement would require 120 round trip tickets from Helsinki to New York. Allure

By Francesca Castagnoli

November 20, 2009

Utilities:

Print E-Mail Feeds

College football uniforms: The winners & the losers

How do you dress a Duck? That problem has vexed officials at the University of Oregon for years. Their team, with its less-than-combative name, has experimented with all sorts of colors and accoutrements. This year, they decided to abandon the diamond plate steel design on the shoulders ("don't tread on me?") in favor of wings on a forest green outfit reminiscent more of sylvan elves than of brute bruisers. But never mind: if the combination doesn't quite fly, at least it doesn't quack.

Above: the new University of Oregon football uniform.

You would think that college football uniforms would be a great opportunity for each school to show off its character, roots and aspirations. Alas, most are designed by an anonymous workshop, as often as not owned by Nike. Only certain local traditions survive, and usually only on helmets: lighting bolts enliven the heads of the Air Force cadets, yellow wings those of the Michigan Wolverines (who knew those semi-mythical creatures could fly?). Best of all, Notre Dame includes real gold in its head ware, making the Fighting Irish sparkle like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

From the head down, though, you usually get a mishmash of colors, partly because there are different outfits for home and on the road, and for special occasions. On the road, you are supposed to wear white, though the NCAA bent the rules this year by letting UCLA and USC play each other in full Technicolor—I especially like the Trojans' yellow pants with red stripes and red jerseys with yellow accents. Clemson keeps it all orange, while Syracuse's black shirts and orange pants are pretty striking. Old favorites like Ohio State continue to be a sartorial embarrassment (this, on top of their disappointing record this year) in white, red and black combinations.

From left: the Ohio State football uniform; the new University of Cincinnati football uniform.

As a Cincinnatian I particularly like the new accent on the University of Cincinnati Bearcats' uniform. Their black pants now sprout a swerving stripe that extends up to the white jersey and all the way to the shoulder. It unifies the uniform and exudes speed and strength. And clearly, it's invigorated both the 10-0 team and its more design-conscious fans.

Critic, curator and museum director Aaron Betsky curated the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008, ran Rotterdam's Netherlands Architecture Institute from 2001-2006 and these days, helms the Cincinnati Art Museum. See his previous blogs HERE and check back on Thursday for his next post.

Photos: Oregon: courtesy Nikeblog.com.

By Aaron Betsky

November 20, 2009

Utilities:

Keywords

football

Print E-Mail Feeds

Five minutes with Dutch design star Maarten Bass

Just back from a short vacation at the Dead Sea, Maarten Bass was in Paris recently for his second collaboration with the Champagne house Dom Ruinart. Drawing on his fondness for transforming objects and materials, Baas, 31, created a melting silver Champagne bucket to celebrate Ruinart's newly-released (and exceptional) 1959 vintage. A graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, Bass first became known for his "Smoke" series of burned furniture; he's now a fixture at museum shows and galleries.

So, you live on a farm in rural Holland. Are you surrounded by animals there?
Well, I already have four chickens.

Do you plan to add more?
Yes, I want to have lots of goats. But for now it's ok -- my neighbors have plenty of farm animals.

Bass's "melting" silver bucket

Did you take advantage of your collaboration with Dom Ruinart to get a lot of free Champagne?
No, I guess I'm dumb. But they did send me a case of 1978 for my Designer of the Year Award [in Miami this year]. That was cool.

How has the economic crisis affected your business?
I didn't sell much in the US this year, but I still have lots of work. I even turned down some work this year. I guess I' m spoiled.

What's the moment you like best in the creative process?
When it's finished and comes out the way you wanted, you're happy. But challenges are great too. Like when you're stuck and you're like, "F---, I need to find a solution," and then it falls into place. That's a great moment.

Rocking chair from the designer's "Clay" collection

What kind of student were you?
I was good at doing just enough. I was quite lazy.

With this Dom Ruinart collaboration and the sumptuous dinner in Paris tonight, you're in the limelight. Don't you wish you were back in your farm instead of talking to journalists?
I get to talk about myself. I don't get tired of doing that. Not only am I lazy, spoiled and dumb, I'm also egocentric!

By Chantal Goupil

November 20, 2009

Utilities:

Keywords

Paris

Print E-Mail Feeds

Thursday's Reading List

The fashion community mourns the untimely death of Daul Kim with online memorials and videos. The Cut, Fashionista, The Huffington Post

By Francesca Castagnoli

November 19, 2009

Utilities:

Print E-Mail Feeds

Five minutes with P. Diddy's party planner

If you haven't heard, P. Diddy is celebrating his 40th birthday tonight at the Plaza Hotel. The bash—which he's been hyping as "the party of the century"—is in the hands of Bronson van Wyck, an event planner who handles A-list affairs for socialites and entertainment moguls alike. (His first job out of Yale was working for Pamela Harriman at the American Embassy in Paris.) Earlier this season, van Wyck organized Richard Meier's 75th birthday party on the plaza of the Seagram Building and the Whitney Museum Gala hosted by Donatella Versace. We caught up with him to talk P. Diddy, Thanksgiving and White House entertaining.

What is it like to plan a party for P. Diddy?
He'll have a vision and then we'll sit down and hash through the flow of how that's going to be experienced by the guests. He likes to push the intersection of design and thought and expression in pretty much everything that he does.

What elements of party giving does he focus on?
He focuses on age-old notions of hospitality that have to do with graciousness, taking care of his guests and seeing to their every need. The staff to guest ratio for tonight is what you'd have at a very formal multiple course dinner—three to four times the ratio of staff that you'd normally have at this kind of party.

Is there a theme for tonight?
For his 40th we really focused on the sensual over the overtly sexual, the experiential not the spectacle—though it will be pretty spectacular, too. This was a conscious choice—it's a different note in his entertaining.

You've thrown parties for the Clintons and you're friendly with Obama's chief of protocol, Capricia Penavic Marshall. In terms of entertaining, how do you think the Obamas compare to the Clintons?
I think that both the Clintons and the Obamas have an incredible understanding of the social power of the presidency. How you make that a visitor feel—whether a king or a general or a president-for-life —has a direct impact on how they deal with the issues that day. If you can treat them in a way that creates a bridge of understanding, you're already closer to yes.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
I grew up in a farm in Arkansas, so all the people on the farm come over. We all cook and have a huge duck hunt. We also take my parents' Christmas card picture over Thanksgiving—there's usually some insane trek to the site. This year I think we're taking canoes to some little spot in the swampy wetlands of the Cache river.

Do you have any Thanksgiving pet peeves?
Thanksgiving is like a wedding in the sense that there are traditions, but they're traditions that we can change together. I think it's fun to have turkey and stuffing and yams, all of it, but do it your way. We've had traditional roasted turkey, deep fried turkey and once I did a turkey stuffed with oranges and a citrus Asian hoisin sauce—it was fantastic.

Photo: WWD

By Haven Thompson

November 19, 2009

Utilities:

Print E-Mail Feeds

Beauty obsession of the week: Needle me

I'm pretty loyal to the small stable of scents that I wear. The only problem is, they're all light, white florals, so they don't necessarily carry over into the colder months. All the classic snuggly scents (the amber, musk and patchouli-based ones) just aren't my cup of tea. When I'm wrapped in cashmere and warming up by the fireplace, I want to smell more like, well, that fireplace. Anyone with me on this? Apparently, perfumer Serge Lutens is. His newest scent, Fille en Aiguilles (loosely translated to "girl on needles") contains vetiver and pine needles (two of my favorite notes) in an intoxicating warm woody-smoky blend that's sexy but not at all in-your-face.

$140 at Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys New York.

By Jane Larkworthy

November 19, 2009

Utilities:

Keywords

fragrance,
products

Print E-Mail Feeds

Five minutes with Dallas grande dame Deedie Rose

A true grande dame of the Texas social scene, Deedie Rose has been a major force in the push to create an arts district in downtown Dallas for almost three decades. Last month, with the openings of the Wyly Theater and Winspear Opera House, the efforts of Rose and her fellow boosters finally paid off. Rose—whose daughter, by the way, is the fashion designer Lela Rose—chatted with us about the triumphs and challenges involved in making the district a reality and, for those planning a visit, shared a few of her Dallas must-dos.

Deedie and Lela Rose

What was the highlight of the opening for you?
At the end of the week of opening events, the museums and venues had a day of free admission. I went down thinking, "Well, I'll park at the Dallas Museum of Art because everyone is going to be at the other end of the district where the new buildings are." But when I arrived the museum was jammed and when I walked out onto the street I saw that people were also jammed into the Nasher Sculpture Center trying to see the architectural models—and not that many people generally go to see architectural models! This was a weekend that was the closing of the State Fair of Texas and I think there was also a Cowboys game. It was the most thrilling day I've about ever had!

How does Dallas's arts community compare to the art world in other places, like New York?
I don't want to sound like a stereotypical Texan going on about how everything is better here than anywhere else but we're maybe a little more collaborative down here. As you probably know, a group of us collectors have gotten together and bequested our collections jointly to the museum and now we've involved other people in that. It's not just the original three families anymore but other people who realized this is really a fun thing to do.

Aerial view of the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.

Was it your goal to make Dallas an arts destination for people from other cities?
Yes. I would say that was a goal—we want our city to be noticed for good things. But what I really care about is that we're successful in building a center for the people who live in this community. All kinds of people, not just people who can afford to buy the most expensive tickets.

And that must be a challenge in this economy?
Of course it's a challenge, but you know, what's new? Life is a challenge. I say all the time, "We're the arts people! So we're the ones who should be able to think more creatively about how to serve the public."

Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park at the AT&T Performing Arts Center

Aside from the museums and performances, what else would you recommend in Dallas?
For shopping, a store called Forty Five Ten not far from downtown. Brian Bolke owns that and it's a unique boutique with lovely things. In terms of hotels, you could stay close to downtown at the Mansion or the Crescent or the Fairmont or the Ritz Cartlon. Fearing's at the Ritz Carlton is a divine restaurant. The arts district also has some great restaurants—there are six in the bottom of One Arts Plaza alone. And Charlie Palmer is also downtown. Of course, don't miss the downtown Neiman Marcus, which has always been a special, special place. But for me it's really about the visual arts. There is so much here that you could stay a week and not see it all.

Photos: AT&T Arts Center: Nigel Young/ Foster + Partners

By Jenny Comita

November 19, 2009

Utilities:

Keywords

Dallas

Print E-Mail Feeds

Silvano Expands

Da Silvano regulars may have noticed that the ever popular Manhattan eatery’s owner, usually a fixture among his tables, has been absent lately. That’s because Silvano Marchetto and his wife, cartoonist Marisa

Acocella Marchetto, have been spending time at the second location of Da Silvano, which opened in Bodrum—the Hamptons of Turkey—this past summer. The Marchettos fell so in love with the country, according to Silvano’s daughter Leyla (who is a partner with her dad in New York’s Scuderia, located across the street from Da Silvano), that Silvano is now looking to open a branch in Istanbul in 2010. “He and Marisa love the open-air markets and the restaurants there,” she says. “They came back with tons of evil-eye accessories and great tans.”

By W Magazine

November 19, 2009

Utilities:

Print E-Mail Feeds

Pro bono yoga

A new phenomenon has hit recession-era Hollywood: pro bono yoga. Instructor Marc Holzman charges his private clients in the entertainment industry up to $200 for at-home lessons. This fall, however, he began teaching at the Wilshire YMCA, offering free classes for anyone with a Y membership (monthly cost: $45). Holzman’s Anusara yoga sessions are brimming with bargain-hunting beginners—though celebrity yogi Gurmukh, cofounder of the prestigious Golden Bridge studio, is also a regular. “She’s in the front row every week,” says Holzman.

Yogi: Ben Welsh/Corbis; Piggy Bank: Corbis

By W Magazine

November 18, 2009