The last time I saw a Hermès Birkin in a Bollywood movie, it was being featured as an honorary prop/character (see “bagwati” the Birkin in Zoya Akhtar’s 2011 film ‘Zindagi na milegi dobara’) “bagwati” retailed at €12,000 in the film (approximately $15,000 USD or £10,000 GBP) eek! So imagine my surprise when director Karan Johar (My name is Khan, Kabhie Kushie Kabhie Gham) unveiled the first look for his upcoming film ‘Student of the Year’ last week and one of the main characters was shown sporting a Birkin as her school book bag. All I’m saying at this point is that this character (portrayed by 16-year-old newcomer Alia Bhatt) better be the daughter of a Sheik, oil tycoon or a shrewd businessperson in order to justify why a teenager would carry such an expensive accessory to her HIGH SCHOOL.
~Fashionwidget
Photo Credit: Red Chillies Entertainment/Dharma Productions
A few months ago Fashionwidget reported that Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor had shot a sizzling item number for her upcoming film ‘Heroine’. Photos that floated out from behind-the-scenes showed a scantily clad Kapoor (wearing Manish Malholtra) proudly showing off her curvy figure which made it all the more shocking when the official posters were released this past weekend, with one of them showing the actress looking more like a rail-thin supermodel compared with what we’d previously seen. Gone were the curves, her cherubic face and full arms replaced by a too-thin-to-be-real waistline, suspicious looking bosom area, toned tummy, poreless skin and thinner arms. To call this an enforcement of an unfair ideal would be understating the obvious. To be fair, the movie which reportedly has received an “A” certificate (India’s answer to the NC-17 feature) is not marketed towards tweens and teens but that does not excuse this Photoshop fiasco.
Dolly Magazine recently held a newly revived version of the talent search/contest that churned out international model Miranda Kerr in 1997. Thirteen-year-old Kirsty Thatcher (pictured) emerged the winner out of the several hundreds who entered the contest and is now receiving heavy criticism for being too young to enter the modelling world. The controversial contest was scrapped for ten years due to negative feedback and concern for the welfare of entrants but has seen a revival under new management of the magazine. Thatcher’s winnings include a contract with Chadwicks, a trip to New York City to meet with agents in the fashion industry and being appointed the brand ambassador for Dolly magazine which includes being a role model for her peers, according to the International Business Times.
In my opinion, Thatcher IS indeed too young for a career in modelling, especially when she is going to seek work in New York City. Nothing can mentally prepare a child for something like that, especially if she is going to be dealing with the rejection, image obsession and other high demands commonly associated with the fashion world. Additionally, from what I have seen she does not look her age. One can only imagine what would happen to her if she falls into the wrong hands and what certain fashion people would attempt to get away with. Plus, a modelling contract with Chadwicks? I don’t know about Australia but here in America, Chadwicks markets older women’s apparel not teenagers. I hope her parents intervene with proper guidance and help this child take the right decisions in her career. The world does not need the next Miranda Kerr or the next anybody else for that matter, just be yourself.
WHO: Priyanka and Parineeti Chopra take on Fashion Icon Sonam Kapoor’s style
WHAT: Fashion Showdown
WHEN: June 9th
WHERE: 2012 IIFA Awards in Singapore
Sonam(left) & Parineeti
FASHIONWIDGET’S VERDICT: Sonam Kapoor’s debut on the international scene at last year’s Cannes Film Festival was a big deal for the Indian fashion circuit and perhaps even globally as many international designers such as Prabal Gurung, Victoria Beckham & Jean Paul Gaultier (whom she wore for her debut) began to open their eyes to the baby fashion darling. That said, stylists for both Parineeti & Priyanka Chopra must have known what the were doing when they decided to place both actresses in statements already made by Kapoor. Excuse me while I gasp, if no stylists were involved. I think Priyanka wearing the Dolce & Gabbana dress (previously worn by Kapoor at Cosmopolitan’s Fun & Fearless Female Awards) is actually forgivable because in the long run designers want their clothes to be worn by as many people as possible. It is her cousin Parineeti’s fashion faux pas that took the whole ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ thing to a whole other level. SHE IS WEARING A JATIN VARMA THAT LOOKS LIKE A PLAGIARISED KNOCK-OFF OF THE JEAN PAUL GAULTIER KAPOOR WORE AT CANNES…LAST YEAR. Should stars be caught wearing knock-offs? Should designers dressing stars be caught allegedly borrowing from other designers? It is one thing to do something like this on a regional level but at an award show that takes place at an international venue where the foreign press is invited? There are pictures on Getty for crying out loud!
~Fashionwidget
Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani for the photo of Sonam Kapoor in the red Dolce & Gabbana + Getty Images for all other photos
it has been nearly four years now since your award-winning performance in ‘Fashion’ as the iconic supermodel Meghna Mathur. Who can forget the epic final scene, where Meghna walks the runway during Paris fashion week as the showstopper and she reaches the end of the runway, pivots and strikes that signature pose? Yeah, much like the modified version you have been using on magazine covers since 2008.
The point is, having just viewed you on the cover of the June 2012 edition of ‘Hello Magazine – India’ (pictured), I think it’s safe to say that the time has come to bid adieu and retire the hand-on-hip-tilt-to-the-side pose. Sure this is a great way to trick the camera into creating the illusion of a smaller waistline and yes it does make you look as fierce as Meghna but it is time to let go PC. You are already tiny and gorgeous, no illusions needed. Now open up your bag of tricks and dig for more poses.
Fashion Query or Style Query, I can’t seem to tell these three new Bollywood starlets apart. I think the folks at GQ India figured the same, that’s why they have put them on the cover at the same time. Angela Johnson, Mallika Haydon and Nathalia Pinheiro all exports from Britain, Australia and Brazil respectively, seen here looking like triplets and true item girls* in black and white tuxedo tops, thigh-high stockings and black pumps. In my opinion, there’s no fashion here just sex, sex, sex.
*Item girl – a female who appears in an Indian film besides the leading or supporting actresses to perform a sizzling dance-number to help the film along.
I’m at a loss here, am I missing something? Why are these tall, statuesque & beautiful fashionistas drowning themselves in fabric every chance they get? First it was Sonam Kapoor, two nights ago in Naeem Khan, then last night the style-flu plagued two more victims as the amFAR gala; French actress Bernice Bejo in an ocean of Giambattista Valli & prom ready swimsuit model Kate Upton in a royal blue three-step-skirted Louis Vuitton. Yes, it’s classy to cover up your bits ladies but please don’t show up looking like the mother-of-the-bride before your time.
Fashionwidget Verdict:The dress is nice but the shoes are a little off and the opaque stockings seem to mar the entire look completely, she probably could have done without them. What would be have done differently?
Why Weren’t Our Favourite Fashionistas Sucker Punching Us With Style On the Red Carpet at People’s Choice Awards Last Night? Have Your Say by voting below.
2012 People's Choice Awards
Photo Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images North America
3. Styled wrong (the hat throws the whole outfit off and the gold clutch looks like it belongs with an evening gown and not this suit).
4. What is that scarf doing there? Oh! No wait….it’s a halter top underneath a waist-coat. WOW! 😯
5. Salma Hayek who is obviously a beautiful petite woman looked like she was drowning in fabric on that red carpet. We know it’s cold in London this time of the year but seriously, how many minutes was she going to spend on that red carpet posing for pictures?
THE LOOK↓
YSL Classic Tuxedo Jacket in Black Worsted Barathea - $2,320 - ysl.com
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