Karen Elson sings

I've always love Karen Elson, her red hair is so characteristic, she has always had a unique presence on runways and red carpets. She has been away for a while, since she got married with Jack White, White Stripes' singer, but you can always see her at the Met Gala and in some ad campaigns (like St. John, PHI, Yves Saint Laurent, etc).

Now, this british model is becoming a singer. Since she started modeling at age 16 she found interest in music, but her career as a model was on it rise and she has to leave it a little behind. She began with collaborations for Robert Plant and James Iha (from the Smashing Pumpkins). She also collaborated on a tribute to Serge Gainsbourg in which she recorded a song with Cat Power called "I love you (me either)."

She's the creative director and also performer with The Citizens Band, appearing with them and because of this she had a positive critical response, being acclaimed by press and people talking about her striking vocal skills.

She has been working as a solo singer and in her new 12 track album soon to be released. Her debut song is called "The ghost who walks" which was produced by her husband and she shows her amazing skills for singing and also for playing acoustic guitar.

Here are some stills from her debut video and I think you should listen to her, I think she's really good in what she does, and singing is not an exception. Great voice, great look, great hair. Enjoy.

Lily Allen leaves music

Lily Allen is ditching music for Fashion. “Fashion is now what I’m doing—it’s a whole new adventure for me,” she said. She's decided to make a career in fashion but thanks gosh she's not gonna try to be a designer like eeeeeveryone else. Instead of doing the same-old-celeb-line she's launching a vintage project called "Lucy in Disguise" with her sister Sarah Owen.

“To me, the idea of music and fashion being separate is just not possible—one can’t exist without the other. Look back to the Sex Pistols and Vivienne Westwood. They’ve always had music, fashion, and design all mixed together,” she said. The project will launch on Vintage at Goodwood festival before moving to a permanent place. This festival hosts vintage dealers, stalls and more. The goal is to re-create "a unique 'retro' atmosphere from the 1940s through to the 80s," according to the Telegraph.

Both Lily and Sarah are getting advice from vintage fashion gurus from England. “The thing I love about vintage is that it’s all incredibly well made, like Chanel—it lasts forever. Hopefully, Lucy in Disguise will be an education as well, teaching customers there’s something other than mass-produced rubbish.”

Knowing that she's not creating another celeb line, with a famous name and no concept and design at all is a BIG relief. There's too many artists just giving their names to shallow collections, really plain and basic. Gwen Stefani for me is an exception, I'm not sure if she's designing the whole line, but at least you know that she's taking care of the whole design process 'cause you can see her signature and style in every piece made for L.A.M.B.

Victoria Beckham is one that I'm not sure if she's really designing the pieces for her collection, she's really close to designer Roland Mouret and you can totally see his style and cut in her pieces. I guess we'll never know.

One of my favorite shoot from her, before she went completely nuts wearing wigs and ridiculous things on stage. Photo by Karl Lagerfeld.

Alexander's McQueen funeral

Yesterday, January 25th, McQueen's private services took place at Knightsbridge, west London. Only family and friends were allowed at his funeral, to pay respect to the one of the greatest designer the world knew. His father and siblings were there, including of course Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Stella McCartney and Daphne Guinness.

Many of McQueen's family wore the tartan from Highland Rape, collection from winter 1995. Everyone wore black and stayed at the church for more than hour, after that coffin was pulled out laden in red, pink and white roses. There was also a hearse with "Lee" made in white flowers on the back.

A spokeswoman for McQueen's said a memorial service open to the designer's friends and supporters will occur this year. "We are focusing right now on the Paris show, which takes place on March 9," she added.

Stella McCartney.

Kate Moss in Alexander McQueen and Louboutin shoes.

Naomi Campbell in Alexander McQueen.

Daphne Guinness in a dramatic cape from McQueen's 2002 collection.

My lil' tribute to Lee Alexander McQueen.

Elle Style Awards 2010

Looking around the web, I found about some Elle Style Awards so I had to look what they were about. Held during London Fashion Week to honour the most stylish people on TV, music and fashion industry. Here's some categories awarded this year:

• TV Star of the year: Dannii Minogue
• Model of the year: Claudia Schiffer
• Musician of the year: Florence and the Machine
• Actress of the year: Carey Mulligan
• Actor of the year: Colin Firth
• Breaktrough Talent: Nicholas Hoult
• Style icons 2010: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
• Woman of the year: Kristen Stewart
• Editor's Choice: Alexa Chung

Naomi Campbell (she's 40 b.t.w) looking f*cking amazing in an Alexander McQueen dress from S/S 2010.

Just by watching this I get mad! Who da f*ck she thinks she is? Isabella Blow? NOOOOT! Paloma Faith trying to copy my idol.

Corinne Bailey Rae in Diane von Furstenberg.

Leona Lewis in Alexander McQueen.

Ashley in a gorgeous dress by couture genius Christian Lacroix, shoes by Fendi. Mary-Kate in a Lanvin gown and Proenza Schouler clutch.


Ugh! No matter is she's wearing Converses or heel or a great mini dress (like this Emilio Pucci) she always has this shitty face, like she doesn't want to be there.

Alexa Chung dressed in Chanel from head to toes.

Daisy Lowe in Miu Miu.

Fashion for Relief

I guess you think I have a fixation with Alexander McQueen... and yes, I DO! So after his death I've been looking everywhere (websites, magazines, etc) for his work, new or old; is my way of keeping him alive and no matter what I see I keep thinking he's such a current designer and of course a lost for the fashion world.

His work and life got tribute on the last two runways of Fashion for Relief, one in London and the other one in New York, both for Fashion Week. This event is organized by the top model Naomi Campbell the purpose of it is to collect funds for the Haiti victims.

A fashion show was organized for the fundraising featuring Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Annabelle Neilson (McQueen's muse) and Daphne Guinness. They wore different designer clothes, but of course the highlight was when they walked the runway wearing pieces from Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Kate cried during the show when she wore the designer's cloth and it was a sad and gloomy moment for everyone present there and also for us, his followers.

There was also an auction where they sold a piece from Mark Evans, McQueen and Vivienne Westwood designs, cars, jewelry, etc.

Here are some pictures from the chairty event.

Kate Moss, Annabelle Neilson and Naomi Campbell wearing Alexander McQueen S/S 2010.

I'm not a Naomi lover but I love her in this pic, besides you can see all the amazing work and detail in a McQueen piece.

Kate Moss in Alexander McQueen.

Models + Daphne Guinness all in Alexander McQueen S/S 2010 and Prefall 2010.

Gorgeous Shirey Bassey ♥

1000!

by Gabriel Navarro.

Yay! 1000 visits!

I'm celebrating that I got 1000 visits on the blog and really happy about it. Since I started writing for it I made it with the intention of sharing what I like and also my thoughts on different subjects. Is good to be heard (or read in this case)! And I'm really happy on how A la mode, a la mort came out.

Thank you to everyone who's following my blog, to the ones who read the entries, the ones who comment on them and thanks for each and every hit. There will be more posts and more things to discuss. Thanks for all the support!

Alexander McQueen will show on Paris Fashion Week

Since McQueen died more than a week ago, besides sadness and mourning, everyone was wondering what will happen with the label and with Fashion Week. Respecting the family and the hard times that everyone was going through with his death, finally the Gucci Group, owner of the designer label, decided what to do.

McQueen's fall/winter 2010 collection will be shown in Paris in March, during Paris Fashion Week, continuing with what he already started. The Gucci Group is planning to do it as a tribute to a man whose legacy is more strong and reminded than more designers' in a lifetime. And also, Robert Polet president of the group announce that the label will continue. He said: “There is an outstanding team at Alexander McQueen, a team that has enormous talent and energy and a passion that Lee was extremely proud of, and so am I”.

I also read about how McQueen's death set a shadow over London's Fashion Week. He was honored with a remembrance wall at the Somerset House where people posted hundreds of messages for him. By the end of the fashion week, the notes will be collected on a book and given to Lee's family.

Zaha Hadid Retrospective

I've always admired Zaha Hadid's work, she's a great architect and a constant innovator. Her work stands like no other and she has a very unique sense of aesthetics and shape. It's impossible not to notice her architectural pieces. Her designs influence many areas, including fashion.

She designed a concept bag for Louis Vuitton (see picture #7) and also has worked with Puma and Melissa. She also designed the Chanel Mobile Art Pavillion that traveled to many cities in the world including New York.

As part of the Barbara Cappochin Biennale, a retrospective of Zaha's work is taking place at the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua, Italy. This palazzo was constructed between 1172 and 1219 and it's an italian treasure. Its medieval roof is the largest in Europe unsupported by columns and all of its walls covered by frescos from 1425. The contrast between this venue and Zaha's exhibition is more than obvious, her designs are very fluid and modern.

The exhibition shows Zaha's work, experimentation and also her research into digital design and construction methods. The nice thing about this expo is that for showing each project, she created a large scale installation where you will find all of her work from the last 30 years organized by the theme that inspired them, for example: "aggregations/clusters/jigsaws".

Amazing work as always!

Lady Gaga at the Brit Awards 2010

Lady Gaga and I, we have a love/hate relationship. When I'm starting loving her, she comes out with something that makes me hate her. So I guess is just the way our relationship works.

I was looking forward to see her presentation at the Brit Awards, specially after I saw her outfits and the headpiece. On stage, wearing a body suit by Alex Noble and a Marie-Antoinette-like wig she performed Telephone on a piano mixed with some of her hit songs. The sculpture of her was amazing, it had the armadillo shoes and also she named Alexander McQueen on the lyrics, saying: "We miss you so bad, Lee" :'(

This presentation is for my, her best so far. She sounds good and also she's wearing pieces I like. A lil' bit too much but OK for stage. Maybe I'm just liking her because of the fact that she made a mini tribute to man I most admired: McQueen.

Here's her performance at the Brits and please make sure not to miss the sculpture.

Brit Awards 2010

One of the latest red carperts was the one for the Brit Awards 2010 and I found some interesting things. On its 30th edition, many artists presented the awards and also performed on stage. Like Lady Gaga, who dedicated her presentation to Alexander McQueen and thanked him and all the designers who helped her get dressed for the evening gala, while she sang Telephone on a piano with a statue of herself wearing the Armadillo shoes.Tom Ford, who gave the award to Florence & The Machine, said ""I feel so underdressed next to lady Gaga. How amazing did she look?" I somehow agree with him, she doesn't look that bad. The headpiece/mask was amazing and the bodysuit was perfect for the stage. The dress she wore for the red carpet + the headpiece was too much (as always).

So here are some pictures from the Brit Awards plus my comments about them.

First of all she looks like a cross between a priest and Marie Antoinette. I like both things, but separately. And sorry, but I HATE her foolish way of posing. She looks retarded.



Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan... or should I say "bad" for lashes. She looks really silly and clown-ish. The hat, the cape, the bag, the eye lash. WRONG!



Lilly Allen (looking awful) in Chanel. This dress reminds me a lot of Lady Gaga in the VMAs, maybe because of the shape of the dress. I know both dresses are completely different but I couldn't help but thinking of Gaga when I first saw her.


Alesha Dixon (I have NO idea who she is) wearing Dolce&Gabbana... There's something about the Dolce dresses that I've seen in the last red carpets, they look cheap, first Britney, then Kylie, now this random chic. The fabric looks like bought in Chepe Centro and it's very hoochie.



Alicia Keys in Balmain. She tried, at the AMAs, to look edgy and it was a failure. For the Brit Awards she wore Balmain, with its incredible shoulder pads and she looked gorgeous, besides being a great singer.


Courtney Love ♥ in Miu Miu. I think she's unique. Junkie and messy and whatever you wanna call her you, gotta give her some credit this time. She looks sober and the embellished dress is really cute and looks good on her.




Great on stage. Fail for the red carpet. I don't know when nipples made a come back, but she was flashing some (plus other things flashed).


Florence Welch in Roksanda Ilincic. Has like a gothic look, but with her pale skin and the red hair I think she looks gorgeous.

Katherine Jenkis in Alexander McQueen. Satin dress, with the Queen printed on it. Love the cut, speacially on the top part of it.

Lilly Allen has a weird sense of humor and on this awards she look ridiculous. I hate the Chanel dress plus the wigs. And in this photo she's using the same color and hairdo as Vivienne Westwood. And that doesn't make her look good, clown-ish is what I would say.

But here, with her Givenchy dress and a normal wig she loos way better.

As a friend says "no one does it like the english people" and I guess it's true. If you check all the pictures from the show you will see many great dresses and some pretty ugly things. So, you judge.

R.I.P McQueen 2

When I did the post about McQueen I made it as a tribute, telling a story about how my "crush" with him started... I never told his story or how we killed himself. It's hurtful when someone who gave so much to an industry dies. It's a hole, an empty space hard to be filled again.

He did a great job, an awesome job and he should be remember by that, not for his tragic ending or for how depressive or not he was. If you wanted some updates on his death and a brief story about him, here's a copy paste from CNN website.

"London, England (CNN) -- Fashion designer Alexander McQueen hanged himself in his wardrobe and left a suicide note, a coroner told a London inquest Wednesday.

McQueen 40, was found dead at his London apartment Thursday. The cause of death was asphyxia and hanging, said coroner's officer Lynda Martindill.

A police officer told the inquest that McQueen's death was "nonsuspicious," according to Martindill.
"The coroner said a note had been found and is being looked at by the police," Martindill said, without offering details about the note.

The coroner adjourned the inquest until April 28 in order to complete the full post-mortem report, she said.

McQueen, who had dressed stars from Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman to Rihanna and Sandra Bullock, killed himself nine days after the death of his mother. He expressed his devastation at her death on his Twitter account days before he died.

McQueen, whose real name was Lee Alexander McQueen, had a reputation for controversy that earned him the titles "enfant terrible" and "the hooligan of English fashion."

British Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman called him a "modern-day genius."

"His brilliant imagination knew no bounds," she said after his death.

Eccentric singer Lady Gaga, who called herself a big fan and wore McQueen's alien-inspired stilettos in a recent video, dedicated her performance at Tuesday night's BRIT Awards in London to the designer.

McQueen was born in 1970 in London's East End, the son of a taxi driver, according to a biography on the Vogue Web site.

He trained in London's Savile Row at a company that made suits for Prince Charles. One anecdote that helped cement his bad-boy image was that he had once embroidered a suit for the Prince of Wales with a profanity sewn into the lining.

His clothing line was purchased in 1991 by stylist Isabella Blow, who became a close friend. She committed suicide in 2007, five years after his label was brought into the Gucci Group, based in Paris, France.

In an interview with CNN's Jim Bittermann in October, McQueen spoke of the changing nature of runway shows for fashion designers.

His latest show was an invitation event for 1,000 people, and was streamed live on the Internet.
"It's got to progress and it's got to move on," he said. "I've been doing these shows for over 15 years now; I must have done about 60 shows. Even I get bored with the same concept, so this way, I can see a brighter future for fashion."

The designer was honored as a commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003, and won numerous other awards in the fashion world."

R.I.P McQueen.

For me, the biggest lost in fashion history.

A genius like no other.

Fashion Blogger!?

Someone got remove from her/his front row seat... And that place was given to a 5 year old kid!!!! I know I've being blogging about fashion and the things I like for more than a month, that doesn't make a fashion critic or anything, my blog is a share-thing. But c'mon, be serious! A 5 year old kid blogging and making fashion "reviews" it's impossible. She can't even distinct the color properly.

To make a review on fashion you must at least know something about fashion! People who work for magazines, editors, critics (Anna Wintour, Plum Sykes, Sarah Mower, Tim Blanks, etc), they know the business, trends, material, shapes, previous collections, designers... I know she looks cute and stuuf, but BE SERIOUS! If you want fashion to not be critized as a superficial industry, that people really see it as the serious and complex business it is... Sitting a girl that doesn't even know how to write it's an insult.

This might sound like a hate entry, but the thing is that this kids, blogging about fashion, being invited to Fashion TV, to Style, etc just makes us (designers, students, reviewers,etc) as fools. I really hope this is a joke, 'cause like I said, to write about fashion YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT FASHION! Is not a matter of like, dislike, hate, love. There's more about fashion: concept, inspiration, colors, textures, balance, shape, rhythm, contrast, patterns and I could name a thousand things more.

I like people to love my designs but it might be offensive if a 5 year old kid just use my invitation as a sketch book, drawing hearts and peace signs on it. Judge if you have a critical criterion.

So you rather have your kid on a fashion show, front row than having her at kinder garden?! WOW!

Nice friends for a 5 year old! Maybe at 6 she could get to rehab!

Deep DEEP review! -.-'

UPDATE: So a few days after I made this entry, I found out that it was a joke! I got so mad and I made a hate entry and everything and the whole thing was not real. Anyways... Soon I'll be posting about Tavi, the 13 year-old blogger who was the target of this joke.

If you want to see more about Katie, click here.

"...but that part is for me"

“There is something sinister, something quite biographical about what I do—but that part is for me. It’s my personal business. I think there is a lot of romance, melancholy. There’s a sadness to it, but there’s romance in sadness. I suppose I am a very melancholy person.”

These were McQueen's words. A friend of mine just share it with me and I'm sadder after reading them. Flirting with dead and sadness could be dangerous. You might like it, as Lagerfeld said.

McQueen's label fate?

Since Thursday, things in fashion have been gloomy. McQueen committed suicide and now the labels fate is unknown.

With fashion weeks coming, no one knows if McQueen's last collection is going to be presented. His collection was ready, they were just doing the final fittings for the show that's scheduled for March. Yesterday, the house was urgently asking for all the samples to be returned.

I found a declaration that Scott Schuman made and I rather copy paste it so you can read it as it is:

"I was talking to a retailer yesterday who said that her McQueen business was growing faster than it ever had before. However, she sees no other option than to close the business of McQueen.

Who could take over? Should anyone takeover?

I'm sure Gucci has invested millions in this business but, this isn't the same as finding a replacement for an old house like YSL or Kenzo. This is different, very different. I think the closest correlation to this would have to be Moschino. And still after all these years, no one has been able to replace him, just a design team. Do we really want this to be the fate of McQueen's business?

I mean, come on, who could possibly keep the spirit of McQueen alive? He was so unique that his replacement could never get out of that shadow."

I think there's no much to say about. Schuman said it clear and accurate. Replacing a designer as McQueen, with his vision, his strenght, his ideas, his tailoring and his thoughts it would be imposible. There's many good designers out there, but like I said, he was unique.

The latest news on his death are that they found some notes, trying to explain why he killed himself.

I'm not really sure what I would like to happen. I can't imagine McQueen without McQueen himself. He made the label, he shape it, it was his own work, his influence. So picturing someone at his place would be very difficult or almost utopic. Let's just wait and see what happens. I would love to see his latest collection. I can bet it's one of the strongest. Most creative minds, capture their emotions on what they create and McQueen was no exception.

R.I.P McQueen. I can't miss you more! :'(

Tribute painting by Danny Roberts.