Caption: Splash News

2011 was a great year for superhero movies—after all, what actor in Hollywood doesn’t want to put on a mask and slim fit tights and fight evil? And while we’ll never forget Ryan Reynolds in a green jumpsuit, we’re ready for the next batch of crime-fighting, high-tech weapon wielding hotties. Check out our top picks after the jump! Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider Man
Photo: Splash News

There’s no such thing as too much Andrew Garfield, the 28-year-old British actor who sky-rocketed to fame as Zuckerberg’s grounded sidekick in The Social Network. We expect to be swept off our feet by his high-flying role as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider Man, out on July 3rd, which is exactly what happened to his co-star Emma Stone (the pair of them met and started dating on set). Chris Evans in Marvel’s The Avengers
Photo: Splash News

Chris Evans isn’t the only pretty boy in Joss Whedon’s adaption of the comic book series. The star of Captain America: The First Avenger is only one member of the super-hot super hero team which includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (replacing Edward Norton as the Hulk) and Robert Downey Jr. (as Ironman). That’s four great looking reasons to go see Marvel’s The Avengers on May 4th. Sam Worthington
in Wrath of the Titans.
 
Photo: Splash News

This Aussie played blue-skinned heartthrob Jake Sully in Avatar but will be looking like himself in the action-packed sequel to Clash of the Titans, hitting theaters on March 30th. He’ll be back as Perseus, the Greek mythological hero, up in arms against the gods, who are again threatening mankind. Taylor Kitsch in John Carter
Photo: Splash News

While this Canadian actor isn’t technically a superhero in Disney’s John Carter, out on June 8th, he does play a civil war solider with major fighting skills (and major abs), which earns him a place on our list. He’s no stranger to superhero roles, having played a kinetic energy wielding mutant in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While he won’t be super-charged in John Carter, he will have his hands full, bringing peace to waring species on an alien-inhabited Mars. Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises
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Holy hot British actor, Batman! For every superhero, there has to be an equally capable (at least for the first hour of the movie) super villain, and believe us, Tom Hardy’s Bane is going to give Batman a run for his money. While Bruce Wayne primarily uses gadgets to fight, Hardy described Bane’s fighting style to Empire Magazine as ” nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks, and collarbones and snapping heads off [to] ripping out spinal columns.” Woah. Catch Tom Hardy as Bane, Batman’s gas-mask wearing nemesis in the last installment of the Dark Knight Trilogy, on July 20th.

Photo: Miu Miu

It looks like Miu Miu‘s gone back to its roots.  After a season of surprisingly natural ads starring a young Hailee Steinfeld, the brand’s spring campaign follows their otherwise signature glossy style.  While Steinfeld was shot outside, by Bruce Weber, their new face, Mia Wasikowska, sits inside a studio. It’s Wasikowska’s first campaign—what a way to start!—and it looks like Miuccia hired Mert and Marcus, her usual Miu Miu photogs, to do the honors. The images that leaked on The Fashion Spot are quite stiff, but the brand’s spring collection almost demands a formal portrait.  Click through for another shot. Photo: Miu Miu

Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Saab spring 2012 Photo: Imaxtree

Designers did some serious bedazzling on spring 2012 collections. Dolce & Gabanna used glittering gemstones, Elie Saab used thousands of glittering sequins, and Balmain decorated his structured separates with shimmering studs. You can brighten clothes, shoes and bags with spring-savvy embellishments in three easy steps. You’ll need:

Photo: Courtesy of DollDestash

1. Rhinestones, sequins or glitter of your choice. You can buy Swarovski crystals online in big batches, in almost any color. Crystals2love.com sells 144 piece packs for around $7. You can also buy plastic stones at stores like Michael’s, and A.C Moore (which is also the best place for glitter). Depending on the amount and the grain of the glitter, you can expect to pay anywhere from $4-$10 dollars.
Photo: Courtesy of Mod Podge Mod Podge adhesive, $12.

2. Adhesive. what you’ll use depends on your project. For glitter, a paint-on adhesive like Mod Podge is perfect; for rhinestones or sequins, using a hot glue gun will give you the best results. 3. Chalk.

How you’ll do it:

1. Plan first. Using chalk, gently trace your pattern (check out our fav mega-embellished spring collections in the slideshow below) on your garment or accessory. When you work with glitter, make sure you lay out plenty of newspaper so you can catch and save what you don’t use.

2. For glitter, paint a thin layer of Modge Podge and tap out a generous amount of glitter onto your piece. For Sequins or Rhinestones, dot the back of each rhinestone or sequin with glue separately. Don’t draw lines with glue! You’ll wind up with hard, tacky, streaks that your stones won’t stick to.

3. Be patient. This is probably the most important step! Embellishing by hand can take days and you shouldn’t rush the process. If you take your time, you’ll have a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind piece that would fit right in on the 2012 runway.

Photo: Splash News

We were wowed by Olivia Wilde’s smokey-but-colorful and sultry-but-fresh look at the 2012 Palm Springs Film Critics Awards last weekend. Pairing bronze shadow, purple liner, and a modified cat eye was a lot of look to love, but Olivia kept her makeup statement bold (not overdone) with a fresh face and a sheer, light lipstick. Get noticed on prom night our top picks for perfectly emulating her modern, glamorous style.

1. Walk the Line




Photo: Courtesy of Sephora Tarte lash-enhancing liquid eye-liner, $22.

Using short, feather light strokes apply a liquid liner directly against the base of your top lash line. When you get to the outside corner of your eye, give yourself a small wing tip. This mini-modified cat eye line will help you gauge where to stop applying the rest of your shadow and add just the right amount of drama.

2. Plum-fection


Photo: Courtesy of Sephora Sephora baked eye-shadow palette, $28.

We love this palette from Sephora, which has every color you need to pull off our Prom Look of the Day. Using an angled brush, line your bottom lash line with a deep purple, like the one in the palette above with rich, brown undertones. You don’t want an exact line so smudge with your fingertip and add a thicker line of dark brown starting at the middle of your eye to the outer edge. Apply a medium bronze to your top lid, keeping the color below your crease and then add a layer of darker bronze above your crease, starting at the middle of your eye and continuing out to where you finished your cat eye. Highlight below your brow around your tear ducts with a cream color. Add a few layers of your favorite mascara, using diagonal strokes for a wide-eyed look.

3. Super Glimmer-ous

 
Photo: Courtesy of Sephora NARS all-purpose shimmer stick, $39.

This three-in-one creamy shimmer stick is a major must-have for a fresh, glowing complexion. To get Olivia’s look, apply with a foundation brush, your fingertips or the stick itself, to the apples of your cheeks and your lips. You’ll get a richer deposit of color if you apply directly to your skin so be ready to blend, blend and blend some more. Add a layer of gloss over your lips for some extra shine.

From giving undercover menswear advice to Fendi to secretly learning how to design women’s shoes at Giuseppe Zanotti, Kanye West is quite the fashion guru—at least according to the life story that he tweeted between the hours of 4 and 6 a.m. London time this morning. His two-hour tirade included snippets of his illustrious fashion career that has been, until now, largely kept under wraps. Hip hop superstar by day, couture genius by night, Kanye allegedly spent a month in Japan, interning with Fendi before spending another four months passing them secret tips for their menswear line. He was also offered a position at Versace but had to turn it down due to a two-year contract with Louis Vuittion, where he’s designed sneakers in the past. It seems like Kanye felt like he had to defend himself after a fake twitter account that claimed to be the official handle for his fashion line surfaced. He made sure to mention that he isn’t only a seasoned designer, but a self-made one as well. According to him, he has no financial backers for his collection but “did the first fashion show out of my own pocket and used the money I made touring to follow my passion.” Want more details? ELLE.com‘s got the play by play.

Photo: Natalie Joos

In 1997, Natalie Joos made her move from Belgium to the east coast, landing in New York—and landing a gig as Glenn O’Brien’s personal assistant.  From there, she managed Craig McDean’s photography studio and since then, has launched and grown her own casting agency helping to find fresh faces for clients like Helmut Lang, Phillip Lim, and Hugo Boss.  Joos’ keen eye and love of vintage have earned her a top spot on the international fashion circuit and fueled her beloved blog, Tales of Endearment. What is your favorite smell? I used to be obsessed with the after sun cream for the face by Clarins. I literally went weak in the knees when I smelled it. It was summer in a bottle. I haven’t bought it in a while, but now that you made me think about it… What do you consider the epitome of happiness? Hearing a great song that transports you into higher spheres makes you smile involuntarily and forget everything. How do you define luxury? Luxury is being able to do what you desire without strings. It’s hedonism with sprinkles of gold on top. What is the last dream you remember? I’m sure it was something racy… What’s your favorite childhood memory? My mom sitting me down on the mantelpiece in the living room when I was about 2 years old tying my favorite shoes. I wore a navy dress with a peter pan collar. I loved those shoes but they were only for Sundays. What’s the last book you read and loved? I just finished reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, but can’t say I really loved it. He gives away all the juicy bits in the beginning—there’s not much left to be imagined or discovered. I was disappointed, although the writing is great of course! The last book I did love was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. And whenever David Sedaris comes out with a new book I sprint to the store. Describe your home’s aesthetic. Minimally modern with a touch of 60′s, and some antique pieces for balance and character. What are your vices? I bite my nails.  It’s a bad habit, but it’s under control. Describe yourself in five words or less. Funny, smart, spontaneous, rational, OCD. What possession will you never throw away? I am a borderline hoarder; this question is irrelevant.

Photo: Amazon

Simon Doonan’s spent this week celebrating the release of his fifth book, Gay Men Don’t Get Fat. It’s a riff on the famous self help book, Why French Women Don’t Get Fat, and sets out to prove the superiority of gays over gamines—in a terribly funny, not at all PC way of course. Yesterday, he hosted a breakfast at Barneys to talk about how the book came to fruition—he wrote it in just six months—and what he plans to do next.  The best bits below (and you can get the book on Amazon now). On Gay Vs. Straight Food I can’t believe people ever thought there were four food groups when it’s so obvious that there are two! There’s gay food and straight food. The gayest food, I think it’s got to be macarons. Right? A little box of macarons in all pastels. I think if you lived on macarons you would just explode in a sort of nuclear cloud of gayness. On Red Carpet Dressing People always go back to Bjork and the swan dress simply because nobody’s worn anything that interesting in the intervening years—and that was how many years ago?  We haven’t had anything fun like that in ages. On Lessons He’d Like to Teach the Fashion Industry I’m always very uncomfortable if I feel people are very self critical. There’s plenty of those people in the fashion industry who are very self critical, very masochistic in the way they approach their style, their bodies and I think, maybe, that will be what they learn, just to be reckless and have fun and not be self conscious. On Stereotypes I hope it’s playing to stereotypes! I love stereotypes and sweeping generalizations and anything that’s un-PC.  In a way you sort of diffuse them if you throw them around. On His Favorite Celebs Tilda Swinton, I always looking forward to seeing her.  And that chick from the Dragon Tattoo; she’s pretty great. [Though] it would be terrible if she showed up looking groomed and appropriate.