Strike The Ultimate Pose

On the afternoon of March 20, 1990, I secretly skipped sixth period to go to my best friends house and witness the world premiere of the most anticipated music video to air on MTV that season (and, well for the rest of that decade). Little did I know then that this music video would become an iconic event for me and would shape my future in its delicate way. It revealed to me that art, in its infinitely vast shape, could come together and create an entirely new depth of form to its newest art form (then, music videos) and bridge the past through homage, shape the future through imitation, and bring to the masses a long-thriving underground gay dance culture.
That day my ears danced to the progressive beat, my body moved to the rhythm, my eyes devoured the imagery, and my heart was touched. To this day, that song and especially that music video, continues to move me in joyful ways and it has been such a delight to watch its evolution through the myriad of numerous performances over the years. Back in 1990 I was witnessing the beginning of the next best thing, I was witnessing the moment something becomes a classic, an icon, and comes to an apex from which it has never come down from.
In honour of not only that moment but to the person who created this wonderful piece of art on the day they came into creation, I will share with you what has become my real piece of joy, and, for me strikes with the ultimate in style. And like a call to the sea, let's heed the words and follow suit: "strike a pose, there's nothing to it...", I give you "Vogue":



  Madonna, "Vogue" directed by David Fincher



Madonna as Marie Antionette performing "Vogue" at the MTV Video Music Awards, 1990



"Vogue" from the Blond Ambition Tour 1990 Nice, France; wearing costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier


from the Girlie Show 1993 Sydney, Australia; wearing costumes designed by Dolce & Gabanna

from the Re-Invention Tour 2004/film "I'm Going To Tell You a Secret" directed by Jonas Akerlund; wearing costumes designed by Arianne Phillips and corset by Christian Lacroix


from the Sticky & Sweet Tour 2009; wearing costumes designed by Ricardo Tischi for Givenchy and Arianne Phillips



from the Super Bowl Halftime Show January 2012 ("Music" performed with LMFAO); wearing costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier


from the MDNA Tour 2012 Milan, Italy (followed by "Candy Shop"); wearing costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier

The classic endures and thrives on. And may you continue to do the same, Madonna. Happy Birthday and may you forever be in Vogue.

-fggofstyle

(all videos via YouTube and are in the public domain)

Love to Love You: Donna Summer

It seems that these times of our lives have introduced us to many a legend who have come and touched us in their special way, and when they leave us, we remember how poignant their expression of Creativity has indeed left its mark and truly moved us. With over 130 million records sold, 31 #1  International hits, it is really no wonder that there is almost no one who hasn't heard "the Voice of a Decade" or The Queen of Disco, or, simply Ms. Donna Summer.

For me, Donna Summer embodied a style and charisma that could not have come from any other time except the 70's. I remember dancing with my Mom in the kitchen to "Try Me I Know We Can Make It" (which is still my absolute favorite Donna Summer song for various reasons and 18 minutes of pure disco sensuality) and I fondly remember always hearing Donna playing in our house all the time. I grew up listening to her voice, and kept growing up listening to it and being influenced by the messages coming through her voice even as an adult. It was through her voice that I learned many things about my self and about love, beauty, and style.
As a fashion/style icon, Donna had a style about her that was strong, courageous, and vibrant. The legendary fashion photographer, Francesco Scavullo definitely saw this in her and she was one of his most photographed subjects (see my pictorial tribute below). I will never forget that brown sequined disco dress she slips into to perform "Last Dance" in the movie "Thank God Its Friday". In that moment we learned that's how you do sexy and confident at the same time: it become a signature look not only for her but for countless women in the Disco era, and beyond--all you have to do is look at Tom Ford to see her fashion influence translated for our modern time--that alluring, seductive, sultry, amber-scented, confidently strong woman that Donna Summer put a look and face to for an international audience who would express their self to the world by following her cue. 

from "Once Upon a Time" album cover photographed by Francesco Scavullo 1977

from "Once Upon A Time" album art 1977 photographed by Francesco Scavullo

Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer from "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"  single album art
 photographed by Francesco Scavullo

photographed by Francesco Scavullo 1980

Donna Summer as Marilyn Monroe photographed by Francesco Scavullo 1976

photographed by Francesco Scavullo while performing in New York 1978

photographed by Francesco Scavullo 1978

 The cue that I have personally followed that Donna taught me comes from "Try Me I Know We Can Make It",
 "I just wanna show you love and make it all time..."
This is something I do every day and I learned its wisdom coming through the voice of Donna, as that is what she did with her gift and creativity. She showed us all Love. 

Thank You and Rest Peaceful.

-fggofstyle

Related articles

• Beyoncé Pays Homage To The Late Donna Summer (pinkisthenewblog.com)
• Memories of Donna's Disco Nights (New York Times)

Where Have All the Models Gone?

The Fall campaigns run the spectrum of many things that fashion companies want us to focus on--color trends, new silhouettes, the mystique of their brand, and, most importantly, the desire to spend your money with them. The ad campaigns do this by creating beautiful hair and makeup looks, cohesively edited and styled looks by a cadre of experts, eye catching graphics, and the all important brand logo. And now, and most importantly, by employing a celebrity. Um...where have all the models gone?!?

Its a sad fact that now you can't even buy a magazine with a fashion model on the cover, which is horrible to fathom to me. And now, you open said magazine and in the campaigns there is an overwhelming number of celebrities who are touting everything from fragrance to shoes to clothing. This is becoming even more a regular phenomenon. What happened to the suspension of belief and mystery of the fashion model? Do I need to apply an actual personality to the campaign who just becomes a running reminder of their latest musical or cinematic project to me? Is the choice of fashion models so slim that there aren't enough of them to employ in these campaigns? Have fashion models become too expensive to employ and the celebrity is the more economical representative ( I highly doubt it)? I applaud Vogue Magazine for going with a model (Kate Moss) on the cover of the September 2011 issue (a very long time coming) but not many other magazines have followed suit and the major campaigns fail as well by following the celeb-as-model trend. 

Yes, its nice to see Kate Winslet looking great but in three campaigns? Or Julianne Moore in another three? Drew Barrymore knocks it out of the park in the Neiman Marcus fall campaign but granted, she is an actress/model who has had success in her respective careers separately and not in concert with each other. Marion Cotillard also does a great job in her campaigns but she French and doesn't count (I'm kidding). And lets not even talk about the beauty campaigns, which has been over run with celebrities for decades now and seem to continue to give any new female musician or actress a contract at any given moment. Fashion models have been relegated to fashion shows and editorials, which yes, is the core of their work and where they really are the only pros who do that job and do it well, but who is to say that the next trend is to have the celeb in the ad campaign walk to runway next? This is the homogenization of the industry in the age of celebrity and I hope it doesn't go that route.

One of the best campaigns in fashion had to have been the Versace ads of the 90s that featured celebrities like Elton John or Madonna. Whats was great about that campaign was the idea (and fact) that the celebrity in the campaign was an actual customer of the brand and you knew it, believed it, and made you want to wear it. This same ethos even translated to the campaigns that featured the models of the time in the brands campaigns as well, making those featured models into Supermodels.  This held the allure of the brand and elevated it to status. I don't see this happening in today's campaigns and feel its become homogenized and very general. 

Its even more sad when you think about the state of the modeling industry, where to land a major magazine cover was an achievement and now its a rarity.  A top model is now lucky to get an editorial and even in that respect, its being dominated by a select few (of a happily diverse mix of) models.  But even still, models are in the job of inspiring us to explore our presentation of our inner selves and embody that, I believe. They capture, in that moment, what the brand's image and history convey, and present the objects of that brand in a distinct and different light than a celebrity does. 

Its time to bring back the fashion model. To the campaigns, to the magazine cover, to the forefront of the industry, and the front of our fashion minds often and again.

-fggofstyle

"Beauty Culture": A Photographic Exhibition

"Christy Turlington" by Albert Watson, as seen in the Annenberg's "Beauty Culture" exhibition
(photo via www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org)

I recently had the pleasure of viewing the Annenberg Space for Photography's latest and extremely riveting exhibition, "Beauty Culture", an interesting look at photography's role in shaping our myths and notions of beauty. Showing various and diverse viewpoints on the subject, and showcasing some of fashion's and beauty's most famous photographers and their iconic images of the celebrities, models, and campaigns we have come to love, this exhibit is definitely not one to miss. There are over 170 photographs, along with a documentary film featuring some well-known figures in the industry, and an interactive section in which you yourself can alter your own idea of beauty. Thursday evenings are Lecture Series nights, with many featured photographers and industry professionals bringing the series to life with commentary and insight on the art of photography, fashion, beauty, and the like. And if you need further convincing, the exhibit is worth it for the "Model Wall" and the side-by-side Herb Ritts/Leonard Nimoy "Supermodels of the 90s" photos alone!

Click here for more information and location details for the Annenberg in Century City: Welcome to The Annenberg Space for Photography, and Beauty's Sharp Edges for various images from the exhibit.
Go and enjoy this great exhibit before it closes.

-fggofstyle

Tilda Swinton covers W Magazine

Tilda Swinton

It doesn't get any better than this: out of this Universe beauty Tilda Swinton dons the cover of this month's W Magazine, with an equally incredible editorial inside. W Magazine gets major points for think forwardly and by keeping my fashion imagination going. Tilda, wearing the best of the best of contemporary designer clothing in a surreal Icelandic setting, everything comes together in its strange, beautiful, and weird way in the editorial, perfect in its pitch, execution, and presentation. Thanks W Magazine for keeping American fashion editorial forward-thinking and relevant!

-fggofstyle

Click here to view the editorial and accompanying video of the fashion production:

Tilda Swinton, photographed by Tim Walker: Celebrities: Wmagazine.com

Coachella--Fashion's Spring Carnival

Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skaarsgard at Coachella
(photo via fashionindie.com)

Has the annual Spring music festival become a carnival of sorts for Spring fashion? It's been a few years now that the fun music event held annually in Palm Springs has garnered a look here and there from the fashion eyes but I truly believe this year it has come to a culmination. Perhaps because more celebs and more musical artists are participating and/or attending Coachella, the style barometer has risen on what and who is wearing (or barely wearing) to the event. Take a look at two of my favorite slideshows of the sartorial selections from this year's Coachella and see if you can see the trends and what we will all most likely be wearing this summer. As the fashion radar focuses in more and more on Coachella, the event may just be the trend forecasting of our collective summer wardrobes, pasties and all...

Slideshow: See What Kanye West, Dita Von Teese, Kate Bosworth, and Other Famous People Sweated In at Coachella This Weekend -- The Cut

Coachella 2011 Street Style -- FashionIndie

Enjoy!
-fggofstyle

An ELLE of a Night

with friend/fellow dancer Joe Zee, Creative Dir of ELLE Magazine

Los Angeles was all a-glitter Tuesday at A|X Concept Boutique on Robertson at the Disco Glam Event, brought to the Left Coast by ELLE Magazine Creative Director Joe Zee, who hosted THE fashion summer launch party featuring Dragonette rocking the stage.

Dragonette performs hits for the fashion  crowd

with actress/musician Taryn Manning and her glam friend

It was an extremely fun night, with the cream of the Los Angeles fashion scene in attendance and a mad dashed sprinkling of Hollywood celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Taryn Manning, Golden Brooks, and Kelly Osbourne to up the fabulous quotient a few notches on the style scale (and doing their stylists very proud).

Joe Zee and Kim Kardashian

with Golden Brooks

Deciding to exude a “neutral” vibe, I wore a pale gray Helmut Lang sleeveless top, charcoal gray James Perse pullover, Current Elliot indigo denim leggings, and vintage Guess ankle low boots (still in pristine condition from 1987 and my “wink” of whimsy) a custom layered gold and silver multi-chain necklace, Cartier bangle, and brought out my favorite vintage Dior clutch (my accessories being my “glam”).

I loved how many attendees showed off their fashion smarts and really took to the theme of last night’s event. Sequins and shimmer were the standout style choices of the night. And in true Los Angeles style, the more dark and designer your denim, the better and more chic you were. I also loved how many guests were not afraid to wear some color to an evening event, moving forward from the tried and true black staples of night dressing.

with my sidekick, writer and stylist Angela Thompson

A great way to welcome the summer, thanks ELLE and A|X for the most fun a stylista could have on a Tuesday night!

-fggofstyle

*complete photo archives of the event can be found at these two great sites: Forward Fashion and LookBookLA. 

*photos taken by myself or where credited.


** a special thanks to Shadow PR LA/Claire Zimmerman 

Fawning over Fanning

I came across this photo and article on Dakota Fanning in Teen Vogue and was very much struck by it. Written in conjunction with the "Twilight" movie craze "New Moon", in which she is starring in, I found the fashion editorial very lovely and the accompanying article nice. I love that she is set to portray Cherie Currie, of the Runaways! Oh my, "Cherry Bomb"!!! I know she will bring that *something* to it, as she has done so far in the various projects of her early career. I was talking with one of my screenwriter clients and she and I both agree that Dakota is this generation's Jodie Foster, meaning: she is smart, focused, wiser than her young years, and is making choices for her career that ensure longevity as opposed to instant status. And I know from personal account, that she lives and loves with an honest and caring spirit, taking part in many volunteer and charitable activities. Now, thats good!
Please check it out and get started fawning over Fanning:
http://www.teenvogue.com/industry/coverlook/2009/11/teen-vogue-cover-girl-dakota-fanning

The dress she is wearing in the pic is Rodarte for Target, one of the most highly anticipated Target designer collaborations/launches to date. It is truly going to be exciting (and very coveted) to land my hands on any of the items that Rodarte has created for their Target launch. Who doesn't want to score a piece of fashion joy in the shape of deconstructed wool cardigans, sheer body concious dresses, or fun takes on American sportswear, like the cheetah print dress on Dakota? I know I do, just for history's sake!
-fgg
[photo: Teen Vogue.com]