ELLE & ELLE girl
ElleGirl- As you’re cleaning out your closet and sifting through a semester’s worth of trendy H&M purchases, remember not to toss everything into the trash. Fashion in 2011 definitely had its lows (hipster headbands and playsuits, anyone?), but as any frugal fashionista knows, every season has pieces you can incorporate into the next season’s wardrobe. Some of last year’s noteworthy trends, like polka dots and high-waisted flares, have already been showcased—for a second time—on the spring 2012 runways, proving that these looks will still be chic this coming year. We’re listing 11 of the most popular trends in 2011 that are here to stay in 2012, so make sure to hang on to these ones!
1. Polka dots
Marc Jacobs and Suno, Imaxtree Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 and Suno Spring 2012
2. High-waisted flares
Theyskens' Theory and Alice + Olivia, Imaxtree Theyskens’ Theory Fall 2011 and Alice + Olivia Spring 2012
3. Androgynous Tuxedos
Yigal Azrouël and The Row, Imaxtree Yigal Azrouël Fall 2011 and The Row Spring 2012
4. Parkas
Alexander Wang and Max Mara, Imaxtree Alexander Wang Fall 2011 and Max Mara Spring 2012
5. Chunky knit sweaters
Reed Krakoff and Isabel Marant, Imaxtree Reed Krakoff Fall 2011 and Isabel Marant Spring 2012
6. Bold Colors
Carolina Herrera and Rebecca Minkoff, Imaxtree Carolina Herrera Fall 2011 and Rebecca Minkoff Spring 2012
7. Pleats
Miu Miu and Prada, Imaxtree Miu Miu Spring 2011 and Prada Spring 2012
8. Mixing and matching
Suno and Thakoon, Imaxtree Suno Fall 2011 and Thakoon Spring 2012
9. Neutrals
Adam and DKNY, Imaxtree Adam Fall 2011 and DKNY Spring 2012
10. Multiple bangles (a.k.a. arm party)
Marc by Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui, Imaxtree Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2011 and Anna Sui Spring 2012
11. Wide leg trousers
Michael Kors and Karen Walker, Imaxtree Michael Kors Fall 2011 and Karen Walker Spring 2012
- ElleGirl
Photo: Splash Images
Few can say they’ve hosted the Academy Awards, written a book, and have taught a college course (about themselves) all in one lifetime. Even fewer of those people have done all of this before the age of 35. But we know of one person: James Franco. With news about him playing the lead in Hugh Hefner’s biopic film on top of recently writing his own novel, Actors Anonymous—a supposed fictionialized account of his experiences as an actor—we had to ask ourselves, is there anything James Franco thinks he can’t do? The maverick’s first breakthrough role was on the unfortunately short-lived TV show Freaks and Geeks in ’99 but started gaining recognition for the television movie James Dean, which landed him a Golden Globe award. Since then, he’s starred as Tobey Maguire’s best friend-turned-enemy Harry Osborn in Spider-man and Spider-man 2 and taken on a recurring role on ABC’s soap opera General Hospital. His other films include Tristan and Isolde, Milk, 127 Hours, and most recently Rise of the Planet of the Apes. So, what do we love about the do-it-all dreamboat? better question might be, what’s there not to love? Besides his ability to play both a gay lover in Milk and a hilarious loveable stoner in Pineapple Express, the boy’s got skills aside from the big screen. Franco returned to UCLA where he earned his undergrad degree in 2008. He then moved to NYC for graduate school at Columbia University’s writing program and NYU’s Tisch School of Arts, where he graduated with his MFA in both 2010 and 2011. He is currently a PhD student in English at Yale University and just last fall taught a course about film making at NYU (we don’t know how those students found the concentration). The James-of-all-trades is also in talks to write and direct the Hollywood version of William Faulkner’s iconic novel, As I Lay Dying. We literally don’t know how he does it; we can barely balance school and a social life! Whatever his secret is, we’re honored to add to his accolades by crowning him ELLEgirl’s crush of the week.
- ElleGirl
Photo: Imaxtree
Newly resolved to have perfect fingernails? You don’t have to drop major money at a salon to keep your nails glossy and strong all winter. Set aside about an hour, follow our eight easy steps, and you won’t want to cover up with winter gloves or coat sleeves. You’ll need: Base and top coat (see our top pick below) Nail polish remover Cotton pads or Q-tips Nail file Cuticle pusher or clipper.
1. Soak your hands in warm water for at least three minutes. A little bit of lemon juice will help loosen any nail color, meaning less damage done by nail polish remover.
2. Remove any old polish with a cotton ball or Q-tip and apply moisturizer to your cuticles. The alcohol in nail polish remover leeches moisture from your skin, so make sure to apply lotion or hand cream before, and after you take off old polish.
3. Push back cuticles. If you’ve left your nail beds unattended for a while, you can trim your cuticles but be careful, if you cut your cuticles too short they’ll bleed.
4. Shape your nails with a nail file, being careful only to file in one direction. A back and forth motion will weaken your nails. Give yourself square edges, and a round tip, the perfect shape for growing out your nails and keeping them strong.
5. Buff your nails so you have a smooth surface for the polish to stick to.
6. Base Coat. Always use a base coat! It helps your color stick and strengthens your nails. We love Sally Hansen’s Double Duty Polish, which can be used as both a base, and top coat. It’s packed with vitamins to strengthen your nails, and is a hardcore chip resister.
Photo: Courtesy of Drugstore.com Sally Hansen double duty nail polish, $5.
7. Color. Always roll the bottle (never shake!) to mix up the color, and get your perfect shade. 8. Top Coat. Wait at least half an hour before applying a top coat to seal in the color, and keep your nails looking lovely for as long as possible.
- ElleGirl
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.
- ElleGirl
Photo: Drew Barrymore
Though rumors of Drew Barrymore’s engagement to Will Kopelman have been swirling all week, the actress finally confirmed them this morning via the glowing picture above. Kopelman, an art consultant, popped the question in Sun Valley, Idaho over the holidays (where the two were vacationing) with a 4 carat diamond ring from Graff. So now the real question—what will she wear for her third walk down the aisle? If she needs help, Kopelman’s dad was the head of Chanel…
- ElleGirl
Photo: Getty Images
Though the would be Republican Presidential candidates have dominated the news cycle for the past year, President Obama is finally about to jump into the election game. His doing so with help from the fashion industry may sound strange, but New York’s creative elite has long supported the President—and not just because of his stylish wife. Twenty-two designers have signed up to participate in Runway to Win, a (hopefully) star-studded benefit hosted by Scarlett Johansson next month featuring clothes and accessories whipped by big names like Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang, Diane von Furstenberg, rag & bone and Narciso Rodriguez. WWD reports that some companies, like LVMH, were hesitant to get involved for fear of “alienating their brands from Republican voters,” which may explain the absence of Donna Karan, who’s been a very vocal Obama supporter in the past. The initiative officially launches on Thursday, when you can buy everything at runwaytowin.com. All of the profits will go straight to the Obama-Biden campaign.
- ElleGirl
Photo: Splash News
At the Paris premiere of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on Tuesday, Rooney Mara dazzled in a short and sweet Louis Vuitton number. The 26-year old actress wore simple strappy sandals and no jewelry. She kept her makeup low-key as well, pairing a bold lip and a delicately smokey eye with a fresh, natural complexion (a choice that we applaud, considering the overwhelming attack of heavy-tanning celebs on the red carpet). Rooney wore the super-embellished little black frock from Louis Vuitton’s pre-fall 2012 collection, cinched in at the waist with a plain leather belt and kept her hands snug in the secret side pockets for the most of the evening. While we’ve applauded her glamorous goth-warrior-bride look in the past, we’re even happier to see her in something that’s both dark and charming at once. Pump up the glam and understate the accessories with these similarly chic pieces:
Photo: Courtesy of Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters lace knit dress, $69.
Photo: Courtesy of Dorothy Perkins Dorothy Perkins A-line dress, $69.
Photo: Courtesy of Kurt Geiger Kurt Geiger leather belt, $26.
Photo: Courtesy of Steve Madden Steve Madden wedge sandal, $25.
Photo: Courtesy of Sephora Sephora long-wearing lipstick, $12.
- ElleGirl
Photo: Mert & Marcus for Tod's
‘Tis the season for spring campaigns! Though brands like Prada and Balenciaga released their ads before the holidays, there’s been an onslaught of glossy new images this week from bigwigs like Chanel and Proenza Schouler. Today, both Tod’s and Jil Sander dropped their new ads. Anne Hathaway’s the face of the former for the second season in a row. The newly engaged actress wrapped herself into a sort of pretzel to show off two bags at once—and a pair of red snakeskin ballet flats. Mert and Marcus shot Hathaway under the creative direction of Fabien Baron. Meanwhile, the Jil Sander ads are very Hitchcockian.
Photo: Willy Vanderperre for Jil Sander
Willy Vanderperre shot Daria Strokous and Natasha Poly in Raf Simons’ couture inspired spring collection. If Sienna Miller‘s baby bump doesn’t get in the way of her playing Tippi Hedren next year, the film’s costume designer should pay her local Jil Sander store a visit.
Photo: Willy Vanderperre for Jil Sander
- ElleGirl
Photo: Tom Ford
We don’t expect to see Tom Ford collaborating on ice cream cones anytime soon, but the designer has taken the first step toward Karl Lagerfeld-ization—shooting his own campaigns. The designer dropped his spring ads today. You’ll remember that this collection was his first to receive less than 100% rave reviews (and we mean first, like, ever), but it looks great on Mirte Maas in the two campaign images. Ford shot the pictures in Palm Springs (but does that matter?) and they’ll hit magazines starting this March. As for the boy biting Mirte’s ankle? That’s Mathias Bergh.
Photo: Tom Ford
- ElleGirl
Photo: Mikael Jansson for Dior
Few people go from starring in Glitter Barbie commercials to representing the house of Dior, but Mila Kunis isn’t like a lot of the actresses in her ‘genre.’ She’s probably best known for her comedic, one-of-the-boys vibe, but proved, via last year’s Black Swan, that she’s just as comfortable in the dramatic realm. Kunis channels some of the drama (without the crazy) in her new Lady Dior ads. Her Swan co-star, Natalie Portman, fronted the Dior Cherie campaign before taking a break from the public sphere to have her first baby (and issuing harsh words against John Galliano), but Kunis wears a new version of the bag made famous by actresses like Marion Cotillard and Grace Kelly. The campaign was shot by Mikael Jannson and will break in international magazines starting next month. Delphine Arnault told WWD that the brand is, “looking forward to a long relationship with her.” Kunis sounds OK with that, “I can’t say it was the hardest thing to do.”
