The Real Fashion Icons

   Lately, I've heard some people talking about fashion icons and I've even seen a top made by a famous Romanian fashion magazine of fashion icons and, sadly, I came to the conclusion that the concept of " Fashion Icon" is misunderstood. To make it clear from the beginning, not any celebrity can be taken as a fashion standard.

   Lets try to answer to these questions: What does Fashion Icon mean?
                                                                Who are the real Fashion Icons?

  

   In my view, it is really important to remain objective while talking about Fashion Icons. We should know that not everyone in the magazines or on the TV is a fashion etalon; even if we admire someone, we should reflect on the reason we have this sympathy and not anything that person does for good. As I said, reflection is really constructive. This is available for fashion, too. Unfortunatelly, not every public person takes into account hiring a stylist. A lot of celebrities wear expensive clothing which looks bad because they believe they have an amazing personal style. A professional never does this.

   What does Fashion Icon mean? Well, in my opinion, a Fashion Icon is a person who is accepted by almost every fashion critic as being a well dressed person, someone who usually appears in the Best Dressed section( not one who accidentally dresses well), a person with a genuine personal style that not only fits his/ her body, but also his/ her personality and attitude, a person whose style is definitely unmistakeable!

   Examples of Fashion Icons( this is just my opinion, if you don't agree, feel free to comment):

- Coco Chanel( The One and The Only!)

- Audrey Hepburn( we all know that Hubert de Givenchy in person took care that miss Hepburn will always look... Iconic!; she is believed to be the most elegant and the best dressed female of all times, she has never been dethroned; her pictures became " archetypal")

- Lisa Fonssagrives

- Anna Wintour( her style is unmistakeable: large sunglasses, helmet haircut, her image is also... Iconic!)

- Anna dello Russo( " shoe maniac"; eccentric)

- Carine Roitfeld( ex-model; muse to Tom Ford at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent; associated with Versace and Calvin Klein)

- Miroslava Duma

- Ulyana Sergeenko( dramatic, theatrical style)

- Daphne Guinness

  











   Romanian Fashion Icons: unfortunately, I can only think of one right now- Iulia Albu.

   Iulia Albu is a fashion editor and a fashion blogger( http://www.theflappergirlchronicle.ro/). After she graduated from the Law School, she attended the Fashion Design section at the Univeristy of Arts. Almost all of her outfits are designed by her. Her last name comes from her ex-husband, one of the best Romanian designers, Mihai Albu, from whom she has learned a lot, she admitted in some public speech. It's a pity that in Romania she is more famous because of her divorce and for having a hen as a pet, rather than being a fashion icon and a very active person in the Romanian fashion journalism and events. She describes herself as " Flapper Girl" and in an article on her blog she wrote that her style was highly influenced by her aunt, Ileana Focșa ( actress).





   














   Who do you consider is worth being " labeled" as a Fashion Icon? Please let me know.

   See you soon,
   Love, A.

Fashion Icons need Fashionable Houses

   I'm quite sure you have watched at least one of the following 3( if not all of them as I did).
   Before telling what or who I'm going to talk about, I'll tell you what I think is (besides Fashion) also defining our personal styles and our personalities: the places we live in. Do you agree with this idea?

   From my experience, I can tell you that all the apartments or houses I've visited so far, reflect the owner's personality, just like clothing does. The similarity between the place we live in and ourselves is really impressive, and maybe we don't even notice this, but our visitors surely do. You may say " Money is a problem. Maybe someone dreams of living in a certain place, decorated in a certain way, but he/she cannot afford it." I totally agree, we all dream of sparkling houses. But I've realized that people who cannot afford certain things, resume at using their wit and imagination to make their places look as closer as possible to their dream homes. And this is something I really admire!

   As children, we all watch movies and cartoons and we all desire to live in castles and we even see ourselves as pricesses/ princes. Didn't you use to improvise costumes and rooms like the ones in the movies? I did and my mother was really amased by my imagination and the analogics I made between objects; some people still do this and I think it is a very good thing, because we can't " always get what we want"( as a famous song says).

   Turning back to my topic, you've probably guessed who I'm going to talk about and yes, you are right: I'm going to talk about 3 of the most famous feminine characters in 3 of the most popular and influential Tv-series or movies, best known for their both style and places they live in: Holly Golightly( Breakfast at Tiffany's), Blair Waldor( Gossip Girl), Carrie Bradshaw( Sex and the City). They all live on the Upper East Side, Manhattan.

   Breakfast at Tiffany's was filmed in 1961, in an apartment on the East 71st Street, East Side New York. The lovely main character, Holly Golightly, which is probably the most famous interpreted by Audrey Hepburn, lives in a simple, messy apartment, sprinkled with stylish and intriguing elements ( e.g. in the living room, there is a tub which is used as a sofa), just like her frisky personality, sometimes even superficial, but who is addicted to the sophisticated Givenchy clothes.

 










   Blair Waldorf( interpreted by Leighton Meester), whose role model is Audrey Hepburn lives in the same apartment in which Breakfast at Tiffany's was filmed. Blair is also a Manhattan it-girl, who is always trying to keep up with everything; when there is nothing to worry about or when there is no drama, count on her, she will make it! Her apartment is my favourite: it is extremely large, stylish, with beautiful furniture and incredible elements, like the wallpaper with Marie Antoinette in Blair's bedroom. I used to watch Gossip Girl for this apartment and for the clothing. Blair is not only a drama queen, but also a 21st century " burgeois", who sees herself as a royal person. Her room is perfectly matching this attitude.

   The last on my list, but never the least, is Carrie Bradshaw( interpreted by Sarah Jessica Parker), who sort of is one of my role models. Carrie is a writer, who lives in an apartment which is not finished in the first seasons, but which will become a really fancy one towards the end. Carrie seems to only be passing by her apartment, which is a storage for her Dolce and Blahnik shoes and sometimes the meeting place with her friends, who are allowed to to almost everything in there. Carrie is a free spirit, and sometimes scattered, just like her apartment, but as the years go by, she becomes a truly fashion icon. Her apartment in the Tv-series is supposed to be on 245 East 73rd Street, but the real address is on the 66 Perry Street. Both are in the East Side.

   I would really like to know which of the 3 characters is your favourite and also which apartment you would like to like in, so please write to me :D
   I'm looking forward to reading your answers.

   Have a lovely day!
   Love, A.

Diva. Then and Now

   After a beautiful and crowded weekend spent both with my wonderful family and working, I thought that spending some relaxing time on Sunday's evening would be a great idea. So I've started watching TV, reading the latest pages of the online magazines, reading Romanian and foreign( gossip) journals... and after a few tens of minutes my hands felt overwhelmed by glitter.  We live in a world so full of famous people, that it has become famous itself.

   Curiosity was about to push me read everything near the celebrities' photos when I looked up and saw one of the Audrey's photos in my room. An interesting idea came into my mind: Can we make a comparison between the " Then"- Celebrities and the " Now" ones? Let's take a look at who used to be famous some time ago and who crowds the nowadays tabloids.

   Then:

1. Greta Garbo (1905-1990): best known for her role in Flesh and the Devil; in 1930, her first talking movie brought her an Academy Award nominalisation.

   2.  Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003): she won 4 Academy Awards for the Best Actress.

   3.  Bette Davis (1908-1989): she won 2 Academy Awards.

   4.  Lisa Fonssagrives (1911-1992): she is credited as the first supermodel of the world.

   5.  Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982): she won 3 Academy Awards, 2 Emmy Awards and the Tony Award for the Best Actress; she is best known for the role in Casablanca(1942) and for the roles in Hitchcock's films.

   6.  Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962): she won 2 Golden Globes; she is known as the first sex symbol.

   7.  Grace Kelly (1929-1982): she became the Princess of Monaco; also known as Princess Grace.

   Her wedding dress is an iconic one; it is a lace masterpiece designed by Helen Rose

   8.  Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993): she is one of the most famous person of the Best Dressed List Hall of Fame; it is believed ( and I agree) that she is still the most stylish and elegant female, she has never been defeated at this chapter; Hubert de Givenchy is responsible for most of her outfits; she won an Academy Award, 2 Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe and 3 BAFTA Awards.

   9.  Spohia Loren (1934): the first actress of a " talkie" era who won an Academy Award for the Best non-English-speaking Actress.

   10.  Brigitte Bardot (1934): French actress, singer and fashion model; one of the sex symbols of the 1950s-60s; in 1969 she became the face of Marianne( the national emblem of French alegory of Liberty and Reason).

   11.  Natalie Wood (1938-1981): she won 2 Golden Globes; she is best known for the role in Rebel Without a Cause.

   Now:

  

   I will show you the photos of some of the most popular celebrities, hierarchically, meaning the ones that develop the largest interest on the audience; so that the " fight" can be fair, I will only put here photos from the red carpet of different events:

   1.  Kim Kardashian:

   2.  Miley Cyrus:

   3.  Lindsay Lohan:

   4.  Rihanna:

   5.  Nicki Minaj:

   6.  Selena Gomez:

   After seeing all these photos... may I just say R.i.P style, elegance, grace and glamour? It is not necessary their fault, but if you pay a little attention, they are called "divas" by the media so easily...in some cases they don't even need to be kindered to anyone interesting, not talking about their deeds, they simply become famous and admired and searched on the internet and...Divas! I'm not saying that some of them don't look good, but... they just cannot be put near those amazing fashion icons mentioned in the " Then" section; it was not only for the clothes, but also the attitude, the makeup... everything used to be elegant; I think their lungs needed glamurous air.

   I must be fair and admit that there is at least one celebrity that is closer to the real elegance and grace; I will only show you some photos of Dita von Teese, who reminds of those times, when women knew exactly what a DIVA mean, without being vulgar(Marilyn Monroe in Playboy looked sophisticated... that means something!), exaggerated or gauzy.

 For more (click) :

-Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

-Viviene Leigh

See you soon,

Love, A.        

(sources: Wikipedia and JustJared.com)