| Fashion, Life, and Style |
| Sometimes You Just Need a Good
Outfit |
| Designers doing fashion lines for big-box retailers are not news,
but Proenza Schouler at Target
is pretty hot. It’s like lobster at McDonalds
– but then that has happened too. |
| The talented Isaac Mizrahi was the first
big name talent to team up with Target to bring style to the masses,
when his custom fashion house went financially bust. Isaac was a hit.
His low cost take on trends and basics sell well. Last year, his line
launched Fairweather in Canada. From tee
shirts to trench coats Isaac makes it fresh,
hip, and well-priced. |
| I love his white cotton tee shirts. They aren’t baby-soft,
but the fit and cut are perfect – and they are cheap enough
to buy in threes. That’s fashion-fabulous. |
| But are consumers getting really great style with these “designer
collections”, or is just a great way to make more money for
designers and retailers? |
| It depends on the line and your expectations. Some lines are pure
dreck with a celebrity’s name attached. They are easy to spot.
Others offer value for money. |
| Isaac Mizrahi is a great designer and it’s easy to see his
imprint in his collections. He still comes up with items in his budget
collections that sell-out almost immediately. Are the clothes going
to fit or feel like a pricey look-alike ? No way, darling. But do
you care? |
| Sometimes trendy is better than fine. Sometimes you want a look
that is so hot it sizzles – say hot pants? But for how long?
Do you need an investment or an outfit? |
| I have never walked out of H&M without
finding something I could work with if I had to and lots of things
that were just plain fabulous. |
| There’s no such thing as investment dressing in fashion anymore.
Things change too quickly. Great shoes, fabulous bags, Hermes
scarves, a David Yurman bracelet, a Chanel
jacket – precious things, beautifully-made that give you a personal
style worth collecting. But to look chic, sexy, and with it, trends
are important too. That is when low-cost designer fashion - like Target’s
Proenza Schouler up-to-the- minute colour-block
dress can really be fabulous. |
| Try it on. Find what lines work for you. Maybe it won’t be
anything from a Target or Fairweather,
but a good department store - maybe Holt Renfrew
or Neiman Marcus might work. |
| Be fussy. There is too much that is really nice at good prices to
settle for trash. |
| As I watch Proenza Schouler shill for
Target, I remembered a Sex
and the City episode when Carrie’s building went
condo. She couldn’t buy her condo because they wouldn't take
her down payment in Manolo Blankik shoes.
Sometimes you need an investment – and sometimes you just need
an outfit. Shop around. These days, there is fabulous style at every
price. |
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| There is always something fabulous at H&M |
Image : Peter Gehrke
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| Beauty Alerts |
| Don’t Fall
For It Baby |
There is a new trend in eye cream we just don’t like: light
reflecting particles. It just doesn’t work. The theory is if
you don’t wear make-up the particles will help camouflage dark
circles and bags. Good idea, bad product. All the light-reflecting
creams we have tried have looked weird and felt drying. They resemble
bad frosted eye shadow. The one exception is the ultra luxe and pricey
Carita Progessif Eye and Lip Treatment.
There are good eye creams available at every price, but we are giving
this new product category a pass. Have you tried these new eye creams?
Let us know what you think, or tell us about your favourite eye creams.
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| Beauty |
| Go Glam |
We have always loved the Brits’ more laid back approach to
beauty. While they turn out their share of stunners - think Liz Hurley
and Kate Winslet -they have a more relaxed attitude towards dieting
and ageing. Rodial is a UK range of beauty
products that has long been popular with British beauties who value
health and natural ingredients. Glam Balm with Pomegranate
Ellgic Tannic is an all-purpose balm to soothe red-chapped
skin. It smells delicious, with a natural scent derived from its healing
essential oils. It works a treat on everything from a cold’s
red nose to cracked cuticles. www.rodial.co.uk
or www.blissworld.com.
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| Beauty |
An iconic beauty classic that can multi-task from head-to-toe is
Elizabeth Arden’s 8- Hour Skin Protectant.
The hard-working Canadian girl E.A. practically founded her beauty
empire on this miracle in a tube. Chances are that your mother - maybe
even your grandmother - still has a tube of this slick stuff tucked
away. This clear orange balm soothes, heals, and even works as lip
gloss. Models have used it for years. It smells slightly medicinal
in a delicious sort of way. Miss Arden was rumoured to have used it
to heal her pure-bred horses. If you have heels that won’t heal
or lips that crack – you get the idea – try it. At under
$20 for a large tube, it’s a beauty bargain. www.amazon.com.
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Beauty
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| Give yourself a lift |
| Olay Regenerist Eye Pod Anti-Aging Triple Response System
smoothes, firms, and plumps. A tiny little exfoliating pad attached
to a pre-measured dose of hydrating-micro-spheres. Use the pod all
around your eye - even on the lid - to exfoliate and plump fine line
and creases. Voila! Instantly, younger, brighter looking eyes. Fabulous
for the morning, after late nights up with work, or whatever. |
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| Not registered yet to receive DolceDolce’s free weekly email
newsletter? Help us grow; sign-up
today, and forward
to your friends. Because life should be sweet. |
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| Entertainment |
| A Quietly Hot
Comedy |
| Music and Lyrics starring Hugh
Grant and Drew Barrymore debuted
this Valentine’s Day, which is just too cute. It will put off
lots of people who should know better. The movie is just what you
expect, but better. |
| It’s a romantic comedy, in the great tradition, which is exactly
what makes Music and Lyrics special. The
story follows Hugh Grant as Alex
Fletcher the faded 80’s pop icon and Drew
Barrymore as his love interest and unwilling song-writing
partner, Sophie Fisher. |
| Sophie and Alex speak from the heart with dialogue, banter, and
vocabularies seldom heard on screen today. In the course of writing
a “hit” song for a current pop idol who resembles a frightening
combination of a young Britney Spears and
Mariah Carey, they fall in love. Newcomer
Haley Bennett as mega-star Cora rocks the house down with full-out
production numbers worthy of Madonna. Hugh
Grant in 80’s Tom-Jones-hip-swing-mode will have
you convulsed with laughter. Do I even have to say you may leave the
theatre humming one of the show stopping tunes? |
Delivered with combination of wry, self-depreciating humour and
sexiness that Grant and Barrymore
share – the film is amusing, touching and quietly hot. There
are twist-turns and soul-searching aplenty. Have you seen all before?
Yes, but not for a very long time with this amount of wit, style,
and humanity. There is something endearingly sexy about a leading
man with a few wrinkles and little humour in these Hollywood cookie-cutter
days.
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| Food, Life, and Style |
| Savory Sage for
a Sweet Night |
| As we suffer though the last of winter’s cold, soul-sapping
nights, here is a delicious and easy supper to warm your bones and
delight your soul. |
| 1 bag fresh or frozen potato gnocchi |
| 2 Tb. Butter |
| 1 Tb. Oil |
¼ pine nuts (leave out if allergies to nuts)
garlic, dry chili flakes or red pepper |
| While you bring to a boil a large pot of salted water to cook a
bag of frozen or fresh potato gnocchi, in a large sauce pan: |
| 1 Tb. olive oil |
| 1 Tb. butter |
| 1 Tb. garlic (minced) |
| ½ Tsp. chili flakes or red pepper |
| Grated cheese: parmesan/grano padano |
| Just before the pasta is done, heat oil and butter together. When
the oil is hot, gently brown garlic and chili for two minutes. When
the pasta is cooked, drain but reserve a half cup of the pasta water.
Add the fresh drained pasta to the oil mixture in pan. Add a ¼
c. of clean torn fresh sage leaves and ½ cup of toasted pine
nuts. Toss. Add some pasta water and toss. (Toast pine nuts 3-4 minutes
in dry pan or toaster oven.) Serve with grated cheese and pepper.
Add a side salad. |
| Serves two hungry people, or makes four small servings. |
| There you go darlings. A hot savory dinner in the time it takes
to boil a pot of water. How fabulous is that? |
| So darlings make a wonderful dinner. See a romantic comedy, blush
like there’s no tomorrow. Please sign-up
to DolceDolce and forward
us to a friend. Winter is long, but spring is near and life can always
be a little sweeter. |
| Gracey Hitchcock |
| Editor |
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