Superheroes @ The NY Times

This week, the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will present “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” (May 7 through Sept. 1), which spotlights more than 500 ensembles—from sportswear to haute couture to film costumes—that reflect a heroic ideal.

On yesterday's The New York Times Sunday Styles Magazine photographer Raymond Meier and Brazilian supermodel Caroline Trentini displayed an array of super-powered looks inspired by the exhibition. They created fun ficticious superheroes that are ready to fight for fashion victims everywhere - if not one themselves.

KUNOICHI All her life, Kunoichi heard that only men can be ninjas. But when her naïve parents inadvertently ran afoul of the Japanese mob, the time had come to put her years of secret training to use.

MORAY When a family’s boat capsizes in rough seas, an infant survives — thanks to eerily glowing coral on the ocean floor. The baby grows up to be Moray, the protector of all sea creatures, including sushi.

INSECTA A scientist at a pest-control lab is accidentally exposed to lethal aerosols, enabling her to now communicate with the vermin (men?) she once devoted her life to destroying.

ABSOLUTE ZERO She came to 2008 on a vital mission — to prevent a catastrophic war. Absolute Zero knows her ability to stop time will be critical ... if her amnesia can be cured.

LE RENARD As a little girl, Le Renard would always sabotage her father’s weekend hunts. Her reward from Mother Earth was a mystic totem that grants her the cunning and heightened senses of a fox.

CIRCUIT BREAKER Lights! Camera! Disaster! A horrific accident on the set of a low-budget flick turned a B-actress into Circuit Breaker, who uses her electrical powers to fight pushy publicists, casting-couch directors and ill-conceived superhero adaptations.

SURREPTITIOUS Instead of being irked by classmates describing her as a wallflower, Surreptitious embraced it. She used her smarts to fashion material that allows her to literally blend into shadows. It’ll take her investigative journalism career far.

Via TNYT

More Retro Beauty Ads - When One Girl Is Not Enough

If one Veruschka-clone is not enough bring in a couple of girls and make it a trio or a four-way or an orgy of wild manes and fierce looking pouts for maximum effect. A few more images of retro glamour for your enjoyment...

Kate Moss @ Vogue Espana May 2008

Vogue Espana is celebrating it's 20th anniversary with four different Kate Moss covers. Their May 2008 issue features images of Moss taken by British photographer Nick Knight.

Stars were obviously the theme for the shoot with Moss wearing a black Chanel star print jump suit on one cover, and a (mucho feo!) Yves Saint laurent white satin star print dress on another.

Via Sassybella

Retro Beauty Ads

I am such a sucker for nostalgia that I just spent the last 15 minutes of my life browsing though hundreds of really cool vintage beauty ads on Flicker. It's so amazing to see what women really went through to keep up with beauty trends through the past 30 plus years and some of these fashions were pretty scary in retrospect. How long did one take to ready? Geez, some of those hair styles are sculptural to say the least! I am sure that in 3o years from now people will be saying the same things about our current beauty looks but nothing beats the late 60's-early 70's in out-there maquillage and funky hairdos. Love it!

Via C-Monster / Flicker

Make Me A Supermodel: Holly Talks

So you thought I was all done with MMASM? Not yet, buddies! Holly Kizer just gave an exclusive interview to Papermag and here's the complete transcript:

Holly Kiser, the newly-crowned Audrey-Hepburn-esque winner of Bravo’s surprise hit Make Me a Supermodel, is feeling good. Only a few months ago, the Virginia native was living in Miami with her fiancé and trying to recover after being dropped from her modeling agency, who claimed she “couldn’t take a good picture.” Well her former agency is probably kicking itself now because Holly’s picture perfect look won her a contract with New York Model Management, $100,000 and a spread in GQ. We recently got a hold of Miss Holly to chat about her recent win.

Blaire Huntley: All my friends are super jealous that I'm interviewing you right now. We all loved the show!

Holly Kiser: Awww!

BH: What are you doing now that the show has ended?

HK: Well I just came home to Miami. Now I'm in L.A., but I move up to New York soon.

BH: So you're not going back to Miami?

HK: No, I'm over Miami! I want to start working in New York as soon as possible. The 13th I think I’m going up there.

BH: You had mentioned before in a video diary that you wanted to give your $100,000 check to your parents. Did you really give it to them?

HK: Yeah, I'm giving the money to my mom to her pay off her credit cards bills, because she's supported me financially. And this just proves that she really believed me. But, say, if I needed something for my apartment, if I needed an outfit to go to a casting -– she would take care of it. My parents are always there.

BH: They always called you the emotional one in the house. Do feel you've changed in terms of developing a thick skin?

HK: I just feel like I'm the type of person that just wears my heart on my sleeve. People just don't know that what I feel at the time is exactly what I'm feeling. If I'm feeling sad, you know I'm sad; if I'm feeling happy, then you know I'm happy. I don't know -- it worked in my favor I guess. I wear my heart on my sleeve and that's just who I am.

BH: What do you think was the hardest challenge on the show?

HK: Well, all of the challenges were hard, but I guess the hardest physical challenge would probably be the snake challenge because I had bronchitis and I'm very afraid of snakes and it was 17 degrees! And there were just all these difficult things. Plus, just being away from your family! If you had a rough day you couldn’t go back and tell them about it.

BH: You were the lone girl for a while there. How did you deal with all the testosterone in the house?

HK: It's so crazy. I don't know! If I hadn't won, it still would have been a huge accomplishment in itself right there, being the last girl in the competition. It’s a great honor, it really is.

BH: Who did you get along with best in the house?

HK: Stephanie was my best friend in the house. She was totally there for me and we confided in each other. When I won she was totally bawling her eyes out! She was so proud of me! It just proves that you can make friends even in these types of competitions.

BH: So, my final question is more for me. Do you think you could get Tyson Beckford's number for me?

HK: Haha! Oh my God! I don’t know Tyson’s phone number, but I probably will be calling him with a lot of questions!

Via Papermag

The Boys of Australia's Teamm8

Teamm8 undies are sports classics with a fashionista twist inspired by Aussie sporting values of mateship and gritty determination fused with European flair. They’re great for savvy, style-conscious blokes who want premium look & quality, at a smart price. Teamm8 is ideal for fast-movers who tackle life head on and who want to be able to grab a pair of sexy, designer undies for every occasion, and go.

As the pictures show, they are meant to be worn on your shoulders, not as underpants. You can also read the model's bios on Teamm8's web site and find out a bit more about them if interested.

Via Oh La La

Leather Jackets @ The NY Times

Photography by Dean Isidro

Via The New York Times

Agyness Deyn @ i-D May 2008 Issue

You know what? I have never seen much in British model Agyness Deyn but I guess i-D magazine does. She is the face of their "Icon" issue in not one or two, but six (!) different covers this May. She is cute and all but take away the bleach blond mop of hair and she is just a little above average in my opinion. I am not a nay-sayer and wish her all the best in the world but I find it overkill when you are force-fed anyone (model, actress, singer) just because the media needs a new name to pump. Agyness pops up in every "most stylish" list these days and I just don't get all the hoopla about the girl. She looks adorable and probably is a great & fun gal but please give it a rest media people, please!

Tony Ward @ Vogue Hommes International

Model/actor Tony Ward in the latest issue of Vogue Homme International, shot by Jack Pierson. Ward started modelling in the early 80's having made several iconic collaborations with late photographer Herb Ritts, then also new to the business. He gained notoriety by dating Madonna and appearing in several of her videos including "Cherish" (merman!), "Erotica" and "Justify My Love". His acting debut came via Bruce Labruce's 1996 "Hustler White" which Ward plays the very risque title character.

I once ran across Tony Ward in LA's Waco store a few years ago. He had in tow this adorable half-Asian child, that I assumed was his daughter. He looked great though he didn't seem as tall as I'd envisioned him. He looked very "LA": jeans/T-shirt combo, gruff and unshaven. Hot!

Images via Tony Ward.com

Make Me A Supermodel: Holly Wins!

America has voted and Holly is the winner of Make Me A Supermodel! The results did not surprise me at all and I even voted for her through the Bravo website. The models had one last catwalk before the results were unveiled and Holly aced as usual. She did these great hunched-forward shoulder stances as she entered the runway and once again in front of the judge panel and she looked like a superstar! She won a modelling contract with a NYC model agency, a layout in GQ magazine and a US$100,000 cash prize. Not bad at all!

My boy Ronnie was the first runner-up and I did feel for him as Holly was announced the winner. Ronnie was a great contestant and his charm and personality won me over from the get-go. He was a gracious looser and was all smiles and apparently happy for Holly, that by this time had her face covered in dripping mascara. They hugged. It was sweet. I will miss you Ronnie... Call me, will you?

The models had surprise visits at their townhouse the night before the result final. Check out Holly's boyfriend!! Can you believe she claims they don't have sex? They look gorgeous together and he even brought her this mushy Lladro-style porcelain figurine of a couple embracing. She kept holding it the whole night, the figurine I mean. Actually they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Ronnie's visitor was his mom and I could tell where he got his grace and personality from. She was a very sweet lady and this apple did not fall far from the tree. She was very cute telling Ben's wife, as soon as they met, that Ronnie and Ben were just friends! Loved that!

"What's up? What's up?" That what I kept hearing dull-as-doornail Ben say to his visiting wife. He looked so-not excited to see her at the door. He couldn't even give her a genuine hug. Ronnie jokingly said "awkward" as he is first introduced to her but awkward to me was how Ben couldn't hide his discomfort when seeing his wife after 3 months away in NYC. She wants everything to go back to normal. Ben wants to move to the Big Apple and be a model. I smell trouble.

The night's biggest surprise visit was Perry's allegedly cheating girlfriend Amanda knocking at their front door. Perry froze as he opened the door and saw her standing there. Amanda is gorgeous but I couldn't shake off the feeling that she was there for some TV-time exposure. She refused to talk about her alleged affair with Britney Spears' paparazzo boyfriend and her denial put a big "cheater" stamp on her forehead. How can Perry be so blind? Love is the answer to that, I guess. They acted like all was well and nothing ever happened. Whatever!

So from now on my Thursday night 10 PM slot is vacant as MMASM wraps up and I'll miss those guys. Hopefully Bravo's Sheer Jenius and Top Design will resume soon so I can get some excitement in my life again.