Posh Trend: Bringing Backpacks Back!

As a youth in Hollywood these days, you would barely survive on talent alone. It's all about selling your image and making a statement through your attire and accessories, and these season's must have accessory is the backpack!

As always, the Olsen twins were first to start a trend. Over a year ago, Ashley Olsen was seen lugging around her goods in a Henri Beguelin Parachute handbag, a Jimmy Choo dust bag and a quirky Alexandra Cassaniti Backpack. Her cheeky Pinkeye patterned backpack is a fresh approach to a trend which has the ability to look a bit "momsie". 

Recently Ashley Olsen was seen out getting her signature coffee in an oversized sweater, brown corduroy pants and Chanel ballet flats. She ditched her fussy handbags for a classic Prada Nylon Backpack. It features two functional exterior pockets, adjustable straps and secure flap and drawstring closure. This backpack is available in the Prada collection every season thus makes it a great investment piece for years to come.

Whitney Port was also seen wearing numeruous backpacks recently including the classic Prada Nylon backpack in black while shopping in her American Apparel turquoise blue leggings and Chanel 5120 round sunglasses.

A few days ago, Ashley was also spotted in Paris France wearing a timeless beige wool coat, Elizabeth and James loafers on her feet and Linda Farrow for The Row dark sunglasses. Her bag of choice this time was a vintage tan and brown backpack, perfect for hand free sightseeing in the City of Lights. She continued to carry the bag while shopping in New York.

Rihanna is another celebrity who is never short of handbags and accessories. As a former face of the Gucci house, she continued to support the brand by wearing a Gucci Darwin Backpack. This blue backpack features multiple gold zipper pockets and interchangeable straps which allow you to wear it as a regular handbag too!

The trend isn't only for the ladies, men who are traditionally known to wear backpacks can see their practical bags take a more fashionable turn. New season styles feature bursts of color as seen on Chris Brown, bold prints and luxurious leather textures as seen in the SS10 Louis Vuitton men's runway shows.

The backpack movement is a lifesaver for those who are suffering from bad packs and shoulders thanks to lugging around oversized handbags over the years. I haven't worn a backpack since my elementary schooling days so these preppy backpacks will definitely leave me nostalgic.

Nicole Richie at The Art of Elysium Gala 2010

On January 16th 2009, The Art of Elysium held their 3rd Annual Black Tie Gala. The Art of Elysium is a non-profit organisation which aims to bring celebrities and artists together to voluntarily dedicate their time to children suffering from some of the worst medical illnesses. Nicole Richie and partner Joel Madden have been avid supporters of the organization for years, and as parents to two beautiful children the organization must bare more meaning.

This year Nicole Richie chose to wear a wildly printed paisley maxi dress from Etro's 2010 collection, paired with cocktail rings, Christian Louboutin heels and a burgundy Gucci clutch purse. Her locks were darkened too which set off her beautiful brown eyes.

Olsenboye by Mary-Kate & Ashley

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have gone back to their fashion roots by re-creating an affordable fashion line for their adoring fans. The new line is named Olsenboye- 'Olsen' following their surnames and 'Boye' as a homage to their norweign ancestrial surnames, which is both fitting and meaningful.

The new line previewed on ABC News and will be exclusively stocked at J.C Penney and in their own words it is targeted at "tweens & teens", priced at between $20 and $50 a piece. It will be officially available in February 2010 and will feature a few key pieces including denim jeans and easy to wear plaid shirts that go beyond their target market and wearable by any age group.

 

Mary-Kate and Ashley hit the road in a customised truck in order to sell a few pieces from their preview collection where all proceeds go to charity. On
the bus the sisters kept it fashionable as always wearing matching
oversized coats. Ashley looked polished in her studded Prada T-bar
heels and the infamous Chanel 5018 half-tint round sunglasses.
Mary-Kate was eclectic in her Harem pants, platform booties; mismatched
jewelry and the new must have Dior Diorette cat-eye sunglasses.

With three fashion lines including The Row, Elizabeth and James and now Olsenboye, these two never fail to impress me.



 

If you missed the Olsen Twins promoting their line on ABC News, then here is the link to it on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbhdn3n68mA

Enjoy :)

Trick or Treat: Halloween 2009

Mr Bones Pumpkin Patch must be the new Ivy Resturant as celebs were seen flocking their with their kids & co for a photo opportunity. The Pumpkin Patch is the family friendly Halloween destination of choice for celebrities & their chlidren including David Beckham, David Boreanaz, Heidi Klum, Chris Noth, Christina Aguilera, Tori Spelling, Gwen Stefani, and Mark Walberg.



Never one to miss a photo op, Paris Hilton decided to go along wearing a beaded teal dress by Hale Bob, Christian Dior Glossy 1 oversized sunglasses, a Chanel Medallion and sky high heels. She looked odd among the sea of stylish young mums donning boots, satchel bags, oversized shirts and shades.

Just a mere few months after giving birth to her second child, Sparrow Madden, Nicole Richie was back to her pre-pregnancy body sporting Jet ripped blue jeans, BDG grey tank top, an oversized Anne Demeulemeester printed shirt and medium length Ugg boots in black. She accessorized with a black bowed fedora and Thierry Lasry Velvety sunglasses.

It's funny how far Miss Richie has come. Now a mother of two with a long term partner and a successful fashion business. Yeah sure, Paris has her own line of this and that, but her life just seems that little less meaningful as she goes back and forth doing the same thing shes been doing for the last 5 years.

Anyways back to Halloween festivities, Richie's fellow young mom, Christina Aguilera wore a trendy plaid shirt with thrashed grey skinny jeans and black combat boots. She accessorised with classic Prada spr 09L sunglasses in honey brown and an edgy Alexander Wang Max Denim Fanny Pack Bag.


It's nice to see Hollywood parents actually spend quality time with their tots before they going out and getting smashed at yet another Hollywood Halloween party.

Execute a Jumpsuit

It's no surprise that the jumpsuit dominated the trend list of 2009. Many of the hottest stars began by wearing the sleek 70's inspired piece at formal occasions. Rihanna donned an slimline Helmut Lang suit at the Inglorious Basterds premier. As usual she added her edgy touch with lace gloves, vintage wayfarer sunglasses and layers and layers of covetable pearls around her dainty neck.

For those of us that don't have premiers and openings to attend anytime soon, then the more relaxed jumpsuit works perfectly for casual everyday wear. Kate Bosworth went for a blue grey jumpsuit as a daytime alternative to black and styled it with a sleek bun and Tom Ford 'Cary' wayfarer sunglasses. The looser style looks perfect cinched at the waist with ballet flats and on trend designer sunglasses.

With every trend, we see new variations on the same style. Rachel Bilson, Leighton Meester and Sophia Bush wore youthful summer jumpsuits accentuated by bow, frill and floral details. For summer, the short jumpsuit works hand in hand with our active Australian lifestyle. It's a mixture of sexy, cute and practical-no panty flashing in sight!

Pleasantly Pregnant: Richie & Casta

There seems to be something lurking in Hollywood's water supply as many celebrities have been falling pregnant or giving birth recently. It may be the water or it may be another trend to see who stacks up the most amount of children in the shortest amount of time. Either way, Moms-to-be Nicole Richie and model Laetitia Casta seem to be blissfully enjoying their pregnancies as they proudly show off their burgeoning baby bumps while frolicking on the beaches of Malibu and Tuscany respectively.

Laetitia kept her beach look classic pairing a brown bikini with a pair of classic Chanel 5102 Sunglasses. While Nicole did what she does best-accessorise! Miss Richie wore a simple black boy-leg style bikini with a long purple printed headscarf. Never to be seen without her oversized sunglasses, she chose to wear a pair of Thierry Lasry Jalouzy 111 sunglasses in a scarf-clashing print of red, white and black.

Even though I'm a big fan of Nicole Richie's style, I prefer Laetitia Casta's simple style at the beach. Regardless, they make pregnancy look like a walk in the park as they frolic freely around the beautiful beaches.

Posh Peepers: Nicole Richie

Miss Nicole Richie is known for her unique taste when it comes to sunglasses. The tiny starlet confessed to having over 200 pairs of sunglasses (and counting) in her collection, which include both designer and vintage frames. The most recent addition to her collection is a pair of Theirry Lasry 'Velvety' sunglasses.

Clearly her favourite new pair, these sunglasses feature a glossy black frame which can only be described as a hybrid between a cat-eye and wayfarer style.

Perhaps this will be the start of celebrities embracing the 1950's cat-eye trend that has been promoted by several eyewear designers including Pollini, Gucci, Oliver Peoples, Dita and Tom Ford over the past few seasons.

Trend Alert: White Maxi Dress

With Summer on the way, Jeans are being pushed to the back of the closet while floaty dresses are making their entrance. Once again, pregnant Nicole Richie has led the bandwagon into wearing maxi dresses, and this time in bright white.

Nicole Richie was seen heading for a meeting wearing a sheer white Henley dress by L'Agence with round Oliver Goldsmith Goo Goo sunglasses and a Givenchy Nightingale Bag, oh and lets not forget the requisite Starbucks. Nicole Richie also amped up the hippie luxe with a white dress and a stack of accessories as she promoted her jewelry line House of Harlow.

Lindsay Lohan was looking frail as she shopped at sunglasses store Eye Candy. She picked up sunglasses by Oliver Peoples, Tom Ford, Ray Ban and many more while wearing a Vix Crochet maxi dress.

The irresistibly cute Kate Hudson was also seen wearing promoting this trend, by wearing a Lauren Moffatt 'Bottom of the Sea' white dress with a mini 'Miss Martini' handbag by Dolce and Gabbana.

Beach Style: Lindsay in Maui

Within a decade, Lindsay Lohan has gone from being a child star, to rising star to tabloid fodder. With a stage mum, psychotic dad and bitter ex-girlfriend to deal with, Lindsay's life is all a bit Bold and the Beautiful. And what better way to get away from the drama then jetting off to Maui, Hawaii?
Lindsay Lohan & Co, which included her sister Aliana, were seen wearing nothing more than itsy-bitsy bikinis and oversized sunglasses as they relaxed in the Hawaiian sun. LL was seen in numerous different bikinis in a short space of time, including a Vix Amalfi bikini in Navy Stripe.
Later on, she was seen maxing out her Black American Express credit card at the local Fendi Boutique. She was right on trend wearing PRPS denim cut off shorts in Splatterpop with a one piece monokini style swimsuit adorned with fringe detailing around the bust.
The one piece, monokini and cut-away swimsuit was seen all over the 2007 designer runways from Chanel to Hermes and now it's finally making a mark in mainstream fashion. LL is wearing this fringe LSpace 'One Love' Swimsuit with Gucci 1813 aviator sunglasses.
Lindsay also wore a black and white striped bikini top wit black bottoms in order to let her Pink Gucci Abbey tote bag stand out. She paired it with wayfarer sunglasses and a bottle of "fruit juice", probably mixed with Vicodin...i kid.

Trend Alert: The Denim Jacket

Within the last two days, tabloid magnets, Nicole Richie and Jessica Simpson have sported very similar looks.
Jessica Simpson was seen leaving L.A restaurant Katsuya on Thursday night. She draped her body in a wild (literally) print maxi dress covered in tigers, leopards, zebras...hey lets just settle for the entire animal kingdom. She paired this dress with a True Religion 'Jimmy' cropped denim jacket. The jacket was perhaps the most subtle of the outfit which also included a studded Lanvin Jet Set handbag and Christian Louboutin leopard print heels.

Seen leaving a hair salon earlier this week, the positively pregnant Nicole Richie wore a multicolored paisley print maxi dress to cover her baby bump. She pulled the look together with an up style knotted bun in her hair, sleek wayfarer sunglasses and a Paige Premium Denim Vermont Jacket in Westward wash. While Jessica Simpson opted for heels, Nicole kept it casual with Havaiana flip flops...or thongs as we like to call it Down Under ;)

Mary-Kate Olsen: The World through tinted Lenses

After months of hiding from the paparazzi lens, Mary-Kate Olsen has finally come out in all her quirky glory. I'm not going to lie, this week has got my panties in a pretty knot with the daily Mary-Kate Olsen watch. As we know by now, Mary-Kate is all about the "mix" when it comes to her personal style, mixing hot-out-of the atelier designer wear with vintage, second hand or high street finds.
One high street find that is reminist of pieces from the Fall 2008 Rodarte collection was an oversized Topshop knit sweater that M.K sported yesterday. Within a week M.K has also worn her Barbara Hulanicki Biba for Topshop Shirt on high rotation. She dressed it up with wedged heels and Ozzy Osbourne style sunglasses featuring a round frame with high impact blue lenses for a spot of shopping. Earlier in the week, she wore the same shirt, (as a dress- the adavantages of being short), with Ray Ban Clubmaster RB 3016 sunglasses and Carol Christian Poeller leather Boots.

She's been rocking a lot of new bags lately as well, including a brightly colored tote bags, a tan Proenza Schouler satchel bag and a bad ass Alexander Wang black leather studded bag. This exclusive bag was sported by Mary-Kate before it was even available to the general public or other celebrities for that matter.

Fashion Bite: Denim White

With Summer approaching for the other half of the world, what better way to welcome the sunshine than in a crisp pair of white jeans.

Whitney Port showed us that white isn't just reserved for summer's baby-doll dresses, teaming her white Work Custom jeans with a jester-style beaded sweater and black buckle boots.

Hilary Duff kept her white denim youthful with a Harlow Watercolor tank and a classic Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Speedy handbag.

Michelle Williams and her gorgeous daughter, Matilda, were out walking wearing matching cross-body satchel bags. Michelle smartened the look up with classic Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses, crisp shirt and pastel pink ballet flats.

Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical and nude photo scandal fame, is one of the new generation trendsetters. Always seen in the latest must-have she wore her light denim with her CC skye chain bracelets, Christian Louboutin Heels and a best-selling Botkier Morgan fringe bag.

Always one to make a statement that usually requires minimal clothing, Pamela Anderson has been bringing the fashion goods ever since she signed up as face of Vivienne Westwood. Miss ex-Tommy Lee/Kid Rock/Rick Salomon looked unusually put together in an all white ensemble with Prada Spr 17 IS sunglasses and a covetable Hermes Birkin Bag in White.

Wide legs: It's Jean-etic

This season 70's influences have seen us wearing oversized sunglasses, fringe boots and fur jackets. So it's no surprise that ankle swaying flare jeans have come back as the new direction in denim styles. Due to the fact that skinny jeans have had a good 5 years in the limelight, more and more celebrities are reverting back to the classic.

Recently Jessica Alba, Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton and Claudia Schiffer opted for dark flared jeans teamed with oversized sunglasses to give them that ultimate 70's look. While Nicole Richie, Katie Holmes and Miley Cyrus prefer casual light washes with extra slouch. Whether you prefer dark and dressed up or light and casual, it is definitely time to embrace the trend.

Drew & Dresses

I'm not entirely sure what's going on with Drew Barrymore lately but she's been looking amazing beyond belief. Perhaps it's a new stylist or just the glow of getting back with on-off boyfriend Justin Long, either way, she was a knock-out in this asymmetric 60's striped Narcisco Rodriguez dress at Live with Regis and Kelly.

Kim Kardashian came out today to support Tori Spellings new "intellectually stimulating" guide to motherhood in Hollywood appropriately called Mommywood. Kim looked sweet in a Camilla and Marc Alabama dress in creme.

As Drew was out promoting her new television film Grey Gardens yesterday i was left speechless by her ensemble. She looked breathtaking in a Alberta Ferretti bead and sequin gown complete with a matching veil. This vintage nod is by far one of my favourite celebrity looks of recent time.

Belles in Chanel

If there is one thing women would want to covet in their life, it's Chanel. Perhaps a bag, a watch or a pair of interlocking double CC logo earrings. While these may be easier to get a hold of, a Chanel dress is not as easy. This season, Chanel's trademark black and white dresses were out in full force on many Hollywood talents including Kiera Knightley and Anne Hathaway. Kyra Sedgwick gets bonus points for choosing a classic Chanel vintage dress.



However, no matter how great a design house is, there is always that one special person out their who can make it tacky, so today ladies and gentlemen, i present Heidi Montag. Note to all: Chanel logo-loaded fingers nails are not a good look.

Eva Longoria at the Matthew Williamson Fall 2009 Show

Earlier in the year the stars came out to view the Fall 2009 designer collections. Sitting front row Eva Longoria shone in a beautiful Matthew Williamson coat. I am in love with this multi-colored coat, it has such a regal appeal.

Kirsten Dunst at the Rodarte Show

Kirsten Dunst attended the Fall 2009 Rodarte Fashion show wearing a multi-colored knit dress from the designers Fall 2008 collection. Definitely not a dress that compliments everyones taste, but Kirsten Dunst wears it well and somehow makes it look ladylike.

Gwyneth & Beyonce are a Shoe in

Both Gwyneth and Beyonce were seen at the Unforgettable Evening event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel earlier this week.

Gwyneth's outfit was top notch, teaming a pleated ivory Calvin Klein Dress with a matching shoulder sharp Balmain jacket. Sharp shoulder detailing on coats and jackets has become a massive trend on the international runways. Gwyneth also pumped up the excitement factor with a pair of feather detailed Roger Vivier shoes in hues of pink and yellow.

Diva-sensation, Beyonce Knowles kept it surprisingly simple (according to her standards), in a black Jean Paul Gaultier wool and crepe dress. She kept the bling to a minimum with light-reflective details lining her heels. However, Beyonce really made a statement with the beaded wooden necklace attached to the JPG dress.

The event was a Cancer Benefit, but fundraising and fashion seem to work hand in hand in Hollywood.

Lindsay Lohan: Bag hags love their Chanel Bags

Lindsay Lohan's pop star career and in-demand status may be long gone, but her black American Express credit card is still in full force.
Over the past few weeks, the sexy starlet has been selfishly parading a beautiful assortment of Chanel handbags, including the classic Chanel 2.55 to the new bag-in-a-bag style Portobello to more exclusive Resort Collection styles.

There are a lot of dumb things Lindsay has done in her life, but stocking up her wardrobe with classic Chanel bags definitely isn't one of them. Unlike Lindsay's relationships, a Chanel is forever.

(click all images to enlarge)

Kim K in MM Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 2008 fashion show brought about a pair of chocolate bar wide sunglasses. The shield style although providing UV protection to most of the face with its broad linear form, should come with a warning label "only for wielding purposes". The bold frame is admired by many, worn by few.

But there's always one person in Hollywood who thinks they can pull off the quirky and crazy, and this time it Miss Kim Kardashian. Kim showcased her new Maison Martin Margiela sunglasses and i must admit she looks pretty darn good. Although it took a cocktail dress, stern hair bun, diamonds in her ears, a face full of make-up, the perfect side angle and a trout pout to pull them off, regardless, she makes them work.

I would definitely buy these cataract-operation sunglasses if i could work them half as well as Kim and the Margiela runway models.