Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Brooke Shoemaker has a surefire strategy for never appearing in public wearing the same outfit as some other woman: Dress so quirky, so creatively, so out there that there’s no way to duplicate the getup or the xpressions made by passersby as she strolls around, clad in a vintage floral dress, jelly bracelets, fake pearls, way oversize sunglasses and her trusty Van sneakers.
Two frightened Dalmatian puppies and a beaming baby almost stole the show on the runway Thursday night at the second annual Red Hot Chicago event. But knockout designs by the likes of Tiffani Kim, Jane Hamill and Reginalds made sure that the well-heeled crowd of 900 at Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom got much more than a dog and pony show.
The pillar of any good relationship, aside from love and all that other jazz, is a willingness to share. Share your feelings, your fears … your clothes?
Anthony Potenzo has one thing to say to about how the men dress on “The Sopranos”: “It’s about time!” A big-time “Sopranos” fan, Potenzo hosts weekly Sunday night parties. In his Gold Coast apartment festooned with photos of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Potenzo cooks up a pot of homemade soup or pasta, serves wine to his nattily dressed crew and tunes the TV to HBO’s hit mob series, which just began its third season.
All eyes may not be on George W. Bush at Saturday’s inauguration–not with his photogenic daughters, Barbara and Jenna, sharing the spotlight. The 19-year-old twins have enlisted Texas-born designer Lela Rose to create their outfits for their dad’s big day.
“My mother came over to the United States from China in 1947,” said art dealer Elaine Kwan. “She brought a big steamer trunk full of dresses. But when she went to college in Minnesota, she didn’t have any use for them and just kind of forgot about them. I never really had the opportunity to get real, tailored Chinese dresses made, so when I came across this trunk, I couldn’t believe my luck. I fit perfectly into them.
Back in the late 1940s, Wayne F. Miller was quietly documenting the South Side Bronzeville neighborhood with his expressive photographs. He didn’t play favorites. He shot–with equal enthusiasm–the city’s stockyards, steel mills, churches, nightclubs, celebrities and street scenes.
Whether it’s delicate houndstooth or bold tartan, plaid is back and it’s making a high-fashion statement. Forget the image of Steve Martin in a mismatched plaid, polyester suit on “Saturday Night Live.” Today’s plaid is showing up in shoes and handbags, as well as skirts and tops.
Each generation of college students has its own variation on back-to-school necessities.
There were no gasps of shock when Jennifer Lopez walked on stage during the Latin Grammy Awards on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. She didn’t wear anything remotely resembling that dress that generated more talk than many of the winners at February’s Grammy Awards.
The music rocked. A bride bonded with Superman. And the clothes weren’t bad, either. This year’s Fash Bash–Friday night at the Chicago Theatre–had all the frenetic energy that was lacking at the event’s more staid Chicago debut last year.
George W. Bush is a plucker. Take a peek at his pictures from the 1980s and you’ll see that he was sporting a unibrow that has now disappeared.
Bindi there, done that? Get ready for the next wave of decorative body art. The latest trend is adorning bodies with ready-to-use and easy-to-apply skin jewelry–temporary tattoos, glittery designs and tiny gems.
Feminine fashion has returned. This fall, pack away your clunky boots and platform heels. The ultra-casual look is being replaced by prettier, more delicate designs.
After building an empire as a celebrity shoe designer, Steve Madden finds himself in a precarious situation, teetering like someone in the platform shoes that earned him fame and $163 million in sales for his company in 1999.
How fetching was Janet Jackson in her floor-length black leather dress? After she presented Keanu Reeves with his MTV Movie Award for best male performance Saturday, the actor paused in the middle of his acceptance speech to stare at her in awe and utter, “God . . . beautiful.”
My mission, should I choose to accept, was to test a new product being touted as a spray-on “bra.” I went to grad school for this? The “bra” in question is in quotation marks because Yves Saint Laurent’s Haute Tenue doesn’t really squirt a brassiere out of its glossy, silver can. Nor does the nice-smelling lotion (retailing for $69 per 3.5 ounce aerosal can) alleviate women from wearing the actual undergarment.
Sleeveless outfits are a cool choice for women battling warm weather. But whether it’s a flattering fashion right for all women to bare arms is another story.
Capri pants. Fashion statement, or expensive floods? Judging by their popularity, the trendy pants are definitely a fashion statement that are as popular with women (and some men) this year as they were last season.
Never mind the peekaboo gowns that displayed ample cleavage of both kinds, and the kicky patchwork outfits were so ugly they were cute. The stylish crowd of 700-plus that attended “Red Hot Chicago” Wednesday night at the House of Blues got quite an eyeful both on and off the runway.