Amanda Style

The King of Melrose

2012-02-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

This post was inspired by my fortutious discovery of the new boutique "King" by costumer Terri King on Melrose. Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, BB King, Billy Idol, Bon Jovi, Chicago, The Cranberries, David Bowie, Enya, Grace Jones, Guns n' Roses, Gloria Estefan, INXS, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Natalie Imbruglia, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Peter Gabriel, Ringo Starr, Will Smith, and The Rolling Stones are among some of the many celebrities who have called Terri King their costumer. Now she is bringing her sexy rock star clothes to Melrose.

Terri's clothes are unusual, one might even say, poetic, and I have been wanting to focus more on the amazing fashion scene in LA. I decided to do a shoot exploring the dark glamor and sensuality of her clothes. Working as stylist and creative director, I pulled my favorite pieces from her store, and brought them to the studio of Johanna Siegmann, a photographer whose iconoclastic portrait style has earned her comparisons to Annie Leibovitz. Together, we collaborated during one long afternoon in Los Feliz on a magical shoot. Photographer Johanna captured us beautifully, as you can see in all these great photos. It was our first time working together, but she read my mind about the vision I had for this shoot, and brought her own considerable creativity and inspiration. The models in the photos are me and dear friend and fellow model Arlene Sara. Arlene and I have done a couple runway shows together, and I asked her to model with me because I knew that her exotic, feline looks and sweet soul would be perfect for the shoot. Mario, Angel, and Angel's assistant all did hair + makeup wizardry on us. I loved my huge curls and dramatic eyes and lips.

I'm wearing the V-Moda trench dress, which is convertible using its zippers into gloves, a waist-cincher, a bolero, a skirt, a jacket and more. Currently on sale $575. V-Moda is a lifestyle brand that Terri designs for, in addition to her own eponymous Terri King line. She carries both lines in her store. This piece has a great sheen and fit that I loved. Like many of Terri's pieces, it has an element of conservatism mixed with a sexy silhouette. Terri cites Gaultier and European tailoring as a big influence in pieces like this. I am wearing my own Charles David boots.

You can see the convertible trench's lovely corset detailing in this shot from behind. Terri loves doing convertible pieces that can change into other things with a woman's mood and occasion. Terri: "I love designing bridal gowns and do it on a custom basis only. My favorite one was made from 30 yards of silk taffeta. It was worn as a ballgown for the ceremony and converted into a mermaid silhouette for the reception. "

Arlene is wearing a few incredible pieces here. The bustier is made from Italian prada leather. It looks like an armored breastplate, but the metallic details are actually recycled V-Moda headphones! The skirt is made with the same metallic shrunken leather and has a removable peplum with pockets. The "wings" are a piece she calls "the butterfly bolero." Commissioned by Genlux magazine for a sculptural shoot, these wings have become a cult favorite. They are made of airy tulle and come in multiple colors. Corset: $1750. Skirt: $450. Butterfly bolero: $300. Like Arlene, designer Terri loves bright lipstick, saying that she couldn't live without Mac Russian Red and Ruby Woo lipstick.

Another great shot of Arlene wearing the metallic silver corset and skirt. Terri King has a very diverse clientele, making clothing for everyone from business executives to musicians and athletes. When I was in the store, several people came in purchasing pieces for the Grammy's. She frequently creates custom pieces for her clients, which are made in her loft in the Brewery in downtown Los Angeles, and all her clothes are made by local contractors in LA. Terri on her craft: "I love everything about it. I love sketching, fitting the client, and finding the right fabric for each piece. I love seeing my projects go from a concept and sketch to fruition, and my favorite part is seeing the clients face when they try their custom piece on for the first time."


We had a lot of fun with this sultry, playful look. The purple shorts are high-waisted and made from Italian leather. The corset is made of embroidered Chinese silk and has flexible spiral boning. Terri studied ballerina costumes to find a way to make a corset that would still allow the wearer to breathe and dance. Spandex on the sides gives everyone an hourglass silhouette. The necklace is fashioned by King's mother, Sandra King. Sandra is a visual artist as well as a jewelry designer. She sifts through thrift stores, estate sales, yard sales, and antique stores for vintage jewelry treasures that she re-fashions into something more fresh. She and her daughter share a certain fashion sensibility, and even though she didn't plan to orient her jewelry collection around Terri's pieces, they fit naturally and gorgeously together. Necklace: $145. Corset: $325. Shorts: $375.

Here I am wearing a pinstriped dress that comes with its own detachable shrug, inspired by the film Beetlejuice. It's an hourglass, princess-seamed dress, something you can imagine Sophia Loren wearing. Terri's styled philosophy is simple: "Think less about trends and dress for your body. Always make sure what you are wearing speaks for who you are as a person." I find that her pieces tend to flatter female curves and have a certain timeless, iconic quality. Dress: $225. Butterfly bolero: $300. Vintage art deco pendant by Sandra King: $45.


Another great shot of the "Beetlejuice" pinstriped dress. Designer and costumer Terri King has been working in the industry for many years, and had this to share with my readers as advice for those breaking into the industry: "My best advise is to become educated and perfect your craft. Be tenacious and never give up, even when the road isn't smooth." A woman after my own heart!

Credits for the shoot. Clothes: "King" boutique by Terri King 7218 Melrose Avenue Los Angeles and phone 323 271 8372. Jewelry: Sandra King, carried by "King" boutique. You can explore her visual art at: http://sandrakingart.com. Photographer: Johanna Siegmann http://www.johannasiegmann.com/. Arlene's hair and makeup: Mario Llamas. Contact me for his info. My hair and makeup: Angel V Prado and assistant. http://www.angelvprado.com/. Models: Arlene Sara http://www.arlenesara.com/. Special thanks to Sugano, Johanna, and Debbie Rankin. I had lots of fun playing the many roles of model, fashion stylist, and creative director of the shoot: Amanda Callas, www.amandacallas.com, www.amandalive.com, and www.glamorandsoul.com. Thanks for tuning in to my blog!

Secrets for New Year's!

2012-01-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to be more generous, sooo....I'm spilling some of my tightest-kept beauty and fashion secrets!

The Thread Bar was recommended to me by a dear friend, and now I'm passing the goodness on to you! How do we love the Thread Bar, let me count the ways: it's very fast, no appointments necessary, the threading stings but is faster and far less agonizing than tweezing, and I was given a nice, neat, sexy look -- no overplucking! And the real surprise: it's about $9 for deliciously good eyebrows! In my area, it's standard to pay $40-$60 for brows , so this is a real treat. It's located on the second-story of a little building on the Little Tehran stretch of Westwood, with delicious ice cream just a block or so away. Street parking, bring money for the meters, and prepare to be wowed.

1321 Westwood Blvd, Upstairs, Los Angeles 90024 310 444 9494

http://thethreadbar.com/

It's a Wrap is my permanent home-away-from-home. I have found absolutely everything here: exquisite vintage jewelry, workout clothes, hats, scarfs, evening gowns, cute tops for headshots -- everything. It's a Wrap features clothes from the studios, and if you're lucky, the day you come will be sale and there will be lots of great stuff everywhere. It's not always super-cheap, but it can be, and the quality of the clothes is often good. This shop is THE place to go around Halloween, when the costumes are unbelievably detailed and gorgeous and totally affordable. It's always a good place to go for browsing, and for getting great clothes for headshots or costumes for a film without spending a lot of money. Occasionally you will find treasures -- one of the studios was liquidating some of its vintage stock here and I found the most lovely sequined clothes from shows like "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" and "Laugh-In." Priceless. Parking is abundant in the rear lot -- take the alleyway just south of the building and you'll find it. There's also metered street parking. Wear comfy shoes, the floors are a little hard. Each piece of clothing will have a tag with letters on it -- it's the abbreviation of the show/film in which the clothes appeared. At the front desk, there is usually a list that will tell you what the abbreviations stand for. There are two sites -- one in Burbank and one on Robertson. I slightly lean towards the one on Robertson, but they are both good. There are great clothes for men too!

1164 South Robertson Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90035-1404. http://www.itsawraphollywood.com/

(310) 246-9727

DryBar is an amazing invention: a beautiful, loft-like, princess-y ode to the blowout. For a while I never understood the blowout craze. Now I have drunk the keratin kool-aid. Why is this place the best? Well, the charge is only $35 a blowout, much less than most salons, and they truly spend time doing your hair, not trying to rush you out for the next appointment. They have a book of looks and you can also bring a photo showing what you want. The products they use are good and smell fantastic. Romantic comedies frolic on the silent, subtitled TV screens, and there are usually free cookies near the front desk. I repeat, free cookies alert! If you need your hair done for a film, an audition, a photoshoot, and so on, this is a fantastic option. It's also a great pick-me-up, for a life-is-beautiful, my-hair-now-belongs-in-a-shampoo-commercial kind of day too. Nothing inspires joie de vivre like the perfect supermodel blowout. They accept walk-ins but they can be very busy, so it might be best to make an appointment. There are multiple locations across LA including Studio City and Brentwood but I'm partial to the one in Sunset Plaza. Lots of free parking behind the building.

8595 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA - (310) 442-6084

http://www.thedrybar.com/

Blue Christmas

2011-12-14T12:51:00.000-08:00

Wondering what to wear in our balmy winter season at all those parties? Cobalt blue and textured blue were everywhere on the runways. A reason to rejoice: it's a very flattering color, from the palest of pale skins (me!) to caramel and cocoa skin. If you are pale or moderately pink, be sure to add some rich bronzer and lip color to avoid fading, although paleness is actually considered attractive this season (yay!).

Sometimes the holiday happens and everyone suddenly starts thinking "black." Maybe it's to mourn all that lost time in the mall? It's like a wormhole that will brutally suck you through spacetime and torment you with bad Christmas music! I myself keep putting off my routine trips to the Beverly Center's Sephora and Aveda stores, just to avoid hearing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and going certifiably insane. This year, my family and I have decided to forgo presents and donate to charities instead. Luckily, I can still give a couple presents to myself! I think striking, texure-y blue is the color of this winter season. And if you haven't bought yourself a present yet, you could make yourself very happy with these:


Sergio Rossi Sude Pumps $895: a piece of art.

Or if your budget is a little more modest and your idealism burning a little brighter?

Tiana Hobo Bag by Reveal $165 www.revealshop.com

What is so amazing about this beautiful peacock-jewel-tone-blue bag? Not only is it nummy and gorgeous, but the innovative satin fabric is made from recycled plastic bottles! The leather is vegan, and even the zipper is made from recycled materials.

Blue satin, daring, touch-me sensuous, and elegant, is all over the red carpet:

It's surprisingly how lavish and flattering the right tone of blue can be in a statement gown. If you are going to less formal parties, I like a little blue dress like this:


Rebecca Taylor Paneled Silk and Satin Dress $375 netaporter.com

This still has that very au courant shiny satin, sexy feeling, but with a more versatile cut and shape. You could wear this out shopping or on daytime jaunts, but with the right shoes and a pretty deep pink or red mouth this could be a gorgeous little holiday dress.

I wore this vintage blue dress recently for one of my "Amanda Holiday Show" charity performances at the VA hospital. It's from that era in the 70s when "prairie dresses" and 19th century antebellum touches were beloved:


Wearing a vintage blue dress with white lace I found on Melrose

I love it as a winter season dress because it feels Dickens-Christmas whimsical and formal while actually being very light, perfect for our warm winter days. Here's a similar blue and white lace dress:

Alice by Temperley Esmeralda Gown $795 netaporter.com

This dress could go to a party or for a picnic -- it's ready for anything!

So what about when it's actually cold? We've had a couple 40-something degree nights when this poor California girl thought she would turn into Frosty the Snowman! In that kind of frightening fashion emergency, I recommend a stunning coat:

Burberry Coat Fall 2011

The great thing about a classic, tailored coat like this one is that in the 60 seconds it takes to put it on, you have suddenly become instantly polished, like a magic fairy waving her "perfect attired" fairy dust on you. And coats like these, with faintly military references, never go out of style.

And what if your little toes are cold too?


Mysuelly Carmen Wedge 345 Euros

Aren't these just adorable? There are so many delicious wedges this season, but these are really quite winning, the sort of thing one could add to stodgy, conservative winter outfit and make it suddenly chic. Also, they actually look comfortable. The perfect Blue Christmas shoe!

Beauty Within: Meaningful Makeovers from celebrity artist Eric Devezin

2011-11-22T17:38:00.000-08:00

Recently I attended a wonderful event orchestrated by dear friend and kindred spirit celebrity makeup artist Eric Devezin. He asked me to be one of the judges of the fashion contest -- a serious day of fun! His "Beauty Within" event provided free makeovers, panels on raising teen self-esteem in age of teen suicide, depression and bullying, and guests ranging from comedians, rappers, dancers, models, celebrity chefs to a mayor. In addition to providing some serious heart, the event was exploding with cool fashion!

Red hair is so in this year, if I do say so myself, and I loved the full-on anime-style color on this makeup artist as she prepares her palette!

My makeup artist Yesenia Avila works her magic on me! Aaaah. I love hair and makeup in the morning. Better than coffee, it brings me from sleepy bear to superwoman powers!

Not one, but two stylists pamper my hair! Regina and Raquel give me serious fluffy barrel curls. I don't know what I'm thinking here, but it probably goes like this: "Why can't I have this every morning?"

A young fashion-lover gets some fairy-dust!

Lots of great performances!

Me and Yesenia my makeup artist on the red carpet!

Striking a pose!

I'm wearing my own fashion collage: pink tutu meets silver sequins meets my favorite hat by English designer Philip Treacy. Every outfit is better with a hat!

Fellow redhead hairstylist Raquel Rubin rocks 40's pinup hair and has such a gorgeous smile.

Red carpet heaven! You have to drag me away!

I totally love these Egyptian-style eyes in beautiful starry midnight -- jewel tones and cat's eyes are so this season.

More Egyptian eyes -- elegant, mysterious, and sexy.

Rocking feathers! We've had feather extensions, feather dresses, but these have to the biggest, baddest feather earrings I've seen.

Dance troupe Makadoutious shows us how it's done.

Me on the red carpet with Eric Devezin and some young fashion stars. Thanks Eric for having me! :)

Old Hollywood New Hollywood

2011-10-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

Everyone who knows me cannot help but notice my adoration of Old Hollywood -- the glamor, the style, the wit, the charm, the polish, THE CLOTHES. I grew up watching black and white films and feeling sure that once I turned of age I would enter a world of civilized magic where I could wear a different Adrian costume everyday!

I cannot help but be completely charmed when modern stars embrace Old Hollywood glamor....here are a few favorites!

Celebrating model Isabeli Fontana

2011-10-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

Today I will be celebrating Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana. She has a lush, womanly, Mediterranean-style beauty that is just arresting, reminiscent of the supermodels, of classic Hollywood stars like Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner.

The modern trend for models has been for very young looking, very thin, anonymous girls, who look relatively interchangeable, like convenient clotheshangers in a time of famine. Why do we as women gravitate towards magazines and fashion shows filled with these girls, so young, so skeletal, so lost-looking?

What I love about Isabeli is her charisma and her truly mature beauty, her elegant carnality. Many of her fashion shoots have a powerful, intelligent, cinematic, very sexy quality that I just adore.

WWRHW: What Would Rita Hayworth Wear?

2011-09-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Rita Hayworth is always an under-rated icon of glamor, style, and femininity to me. If we were dressing Miss Hayworth in the modern styles of this season, what would she wear?

I love her black and white dress here. It's so elegant and really rather modern, with its sculptural, simple quality:

I loathe the endless ways that celebrities now feel obliged to sell stuff with their names on it. Will celebrity branding never stop? I'm just waiting for Kim Kardashian to start appearing on TV hawking luxury toilet paper made especially for her renowned rear. Anyway, this dress is actually so lovely and well-made I just had to include it: Victoria Beckham Embellished Stretch-Crepe Gown $7,755 netaporter.com

Sonia Rykiel Fall 2011

Emilio de la Morena Fall 2011

Bottega Veneta Fall 2011

I love the juicy citrus orange of Miss Hayworth's suit, and its playful mod quality with the white circle and that deliciously silly flying saucer hat! As some of you know all too well, I have a great weakness for silly, witty little hats. My cherished Christian Dior hat from the early 60s, with its wild blossoming of fake flowers and plastic fruit on top, comes to mind. I look completely insane when I wear it, and that's part of the fun. I will feel my life's mission is fulfilled if I can re-introduce the superbly frivolous hat back into public life.

Anyway, this very graphic, punchy orange found its way into a lot of suits this year. It is crisp and modern with white, business-worthy with mustard, and irresistible paired with fresh raspberry in this eminently desirable little Bottega Veneta coat. A lot of people are shy of orange, but it can be a very flattering shade. Orange lipstick is also very flattering and au courant. I wore it a lot when I was still blonde, and people always wanted to know my shade:

Orange lips from the Spring 2011 runway

Rita Hayworth looked delectable with orange lips when she was blonde:

Orange lips also look amazing with caramel and mocha shades of skin where they truly pop in a playful way:

It's hard to wear orange lips as a redhead, but Rihanna looks quite naughty in this electric orange shade paired with her wild dark red curls. I still haven't found a good orange shade to wear with my red hair.

Rita Hayworth as Carmen

Dolce and Gabanna One-Shoulder Printed Silk Chiffon Gown 3,595 netaporter.com

Comme des Garcons Fall 201

The 1948 film "The Loves of Carmen" has many flaws, but watching the shy-in-real-life, maneater-on-screen Rita Hayworth playing the free-spirited Carmen is a true delight. For more modern gypsies, we have the mad-cap, devil-may-care mix of prints and florals that are everywhere right now. Tom Ford famously made off-shoulder, lace-up gypsy-style absolutely mandatory for a few seasons, and if you still have pieces from that collection, or inspired by it, consider yourselves invited to bring them out again! It's a lovely, sensuous look for LA's breezy warm nights.

Somehow, in some magical way of her own, Rita Hayworth manages to make a transparent white lace gown look like the final word in erotic elegance. I found a modern equivalent in this frothy, delicate, fairy-tale Marchesa gown:

Marchesa Fall 2011

Rita Hayworth wearing a timeless 40's white gown

A modern take on the sculptural white gown: Halston Fall 2011

I love this white Halston gown with its very modern, clean, crisp lines. It has an easy, effortless luxury. I would just throw this on for one of those end-of-summer parties in the hills, or perhaps for yachting on the Mediterranean with friends -- something which I fully intend to dedicate myself to doing more of, as my tough New Years resolution for next year.

In my opinion, if you have not seen Rita Hayworth as Gilda in the 1946 film of the same name, you have been living a life of quiet desperation! In all of cinema, this scene has to be one of my absolute favorites:

On screen Rita Hayworth has her own special animal grace and sensuality, and you want to reach out and pet her glorious hair. She is just so irresistibly feminine.

I own a pair of long, black satin gloves from a glove shop in Florence, and for my own Gilda re-enactment, I would wear this modern dress. I have a pathological weakness for gold lame, even in its tackiest 80s incarnations, but here I think it is just very sensual. Now I just need to work on my song and dance routine and getting a few extra thousands for the dress and I'm set!


Marchesa draped lame gown 5,500 netaporter.com

The First Supermodel: Redhead Suzy Parker

2011-09-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

As a new redhead myself, I want to salute Suzy Parker, sometimes called the world's first supermodel, who was an amazing presence in the advertising of the 50s and 60s. She has that ineffable chameleon quality, sometimes luscious and feminine and seductive, sometimes cool and laconic and remote, sometimes looking breathless with joy, sometimes sculptural with boldly graphic elegance. Her collaborations with Avedon remain some of the most exquisite, inventive, simply delightful examples of fashion photography. I look at these photos and feel so inspired.

The Red Queen's Coat

2011-09-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Valentino Fall 2011

Two friends of mine are going on a fall trip to Venice, Florence, and Rome next month. I couldn't be more envious! If I were going with them, I would probably wear this coat. Except it looks like it's a bit soaked in fur, and who knows how much it is. But in my fantasy, it's faux-fur, I can afford this coat, and I'm walking down the ramps of a private jet onto the roof of a Renaissance villa in Venice, where I will be soon whisked away on a gondola to adventures legion and untold. This Versace coat has a very modern, sleek silhouette, with a classic belt, and if I wore this with boots and leggings or tights I wouldn't have to worry about wearing anything else. It's just exquisite and slightly carnivorous all on its own.

RED by Valentino Ruffle Hem Wool Coat $895 nordstrom.com

My second-choice for a red coat to go to Italy would be this coat. Like the Versace coat, it's by an Italian designer, Valentino. I often love Valentino's designs for their femininity and their attention to craft, but sometimes they don't fit me well at all. So I'm not sure this would actually fit me. But it's a charming little coat, Valentino practically owns this shade of red, and it's a little Audrey Hepburn movie in one piece of clothing.

Oh, I might also add these:

Red Bow Wellies 38 pounds riverisland.com

There's something to be said for traditional Wellingtons, and then in the last couple years we've had all kinds of stylish and Pucci-esque prints and variations, but these are just so adorable.

Vintage red coat/dress $800 thefrock.com

Ok, of the coats so far this is the least practical, because it's vintage and velvet and would not survive one average 15-minute downpour of rain. On the other hand, it's enchantment itself. I have been dreaming about this coat for years. Years! Literally. This coat is featured on one my favorite sites, thefrock.com, and sometimes their pieces of stunning vintage are up there for a very long time. I love how classically beautiful this coat is, how sumptuous. Now that I am a redhead it's actually harder for me to wear one of my favorite colors (red! har har!) but this deep fruity persimmon color would actually complement my hair. If I were wearing this to Italy, it would have to be to the opera. I love opera (yes, you will notice me at the LA opera from time to time, the only person there under 200), and how amazing would it be to be wearing this coat and go to La Scala?

La Scala Opera House would match my red coat perfectly

Even though I didn't go to the opera, my last trip to Italy had some incredibly sensuous, beautiful moments. I was in one of those beautiful, marble-drenched, ancient Italian cafes and ordered an espresso. It has to be said I've traditionally preferred tea and found most American coffee to be bitter and unappealing. The smell of coffee is so intensely coffee, a smell I adore -- it's one of those smells, like fresh summer basil or a real English rose, that seem to short-circuit your nose and go directly to your brain, a jolt of pure sensory electricity. But the taste of coffee, after the smell, always seemed such a disappointment -- watery, bitter, over-roasted, flat. Then I had coffee in Italy. Coffee in Italy was nothing like the coffee I'd had before. It was lyrical, bittersweet, complex, a little cup of espresso being a perfect world of smell and flavor. But in Italy it's quite common to put sugar in your espresso, and I hate sugar in my coffee. I thanked the Italian waiter for the espresso but refused the sugar, and he said in deeply-accented English, "Your life must be so sweet since you can drink your coffee so bitter." And that, my friends, is my final word about the charms of Italy.

The charms of Italy: I would stay at The Four Seasons Firenze, drink good coffee, and meditate on the sweetness of my life

The quality of coffee has improved so much in recent years, and after my Italian jaunt I found myself open to exploring it. At the moment I have brown bags of Indonesian coffee in my cupboards, delivered by a friend fresh from her latest trip home, and the smell of this real Indonesian coffee -- let me tell you, it is a smell you will never forget, almost floral, musky, primal, with hints of sweet toffee and earth. If it were a color, it would be scarlet red.

If I were going this year on a fall trip to Europe or New York, I would buy one perfect coat this season. It is always better to have one, truly beautiful, expressive coat than a whole closet of so-so ones. And a red coat, while so in vogue at the moment, is also truly classic. You simply can't go wrong, as this gallery of iconic vintage and more recent images attest. Enjoy.

Winter White Begins: The Little White Dress

2011-09-09T11:26:00.000-07:00


Sophia Loren: one of Larry David's "sources" (ahem) and a source of inspiration to this blog

In LA we're facing a familiar conundrum: as the rest of the civilized world prepares for autumn with luxurious, practically orgasmic shopping sprees full of knits and suits and coats and boots, temperatures are blaring up to the 100's and the last thing we can do is even look at winter's goodies without feeling faint. Driven by extreme heat and the neuroses of millions, tempers are flaring across our fair city. Last night I almost witnessed a fist fight between my gentle acting coach and a raging imbecile at a gas station in the valley. The moral of this story: be careful out there, the heat-baked natives of LA are getting restive. At very this moment I am cocooned in a chrysalis of bliss, blinds and curtains and two air conditioners, feeling very much the summer hermit.

There is an answer to all this: white. White is crisp. Cooling. Elegant. It's like that magical, silvery tinkling sound that ice makes when you're pouring a drink. And although the runways this fall were ablaze in the most lavish peacock jewel-tones, there was also a significant amount of white. This season, Givenchy's entire couture collection was white:

Givenchy Couture Fall 2011

Just look at these gorgeous dresses, long, lean elegant, with the most seductive whispery textures. They're so light and delicate, dream-like, rhapsodic, a winter ballet.
Let's examine what should be, in my opinion, the look du jour, the Little White Dress:

Moschino Fall 2011

Winter white should be smart and structured -- not the loose white cottons and billowing caftans of summer, not the pastry-project-gone-wrong foof of bridal gowns, not the skin-tight garish white dresses worn by tipsy girls stumbling around in heels in Hollywood clubs looking like bewildered giraffes on skates. No, no, no. Winter White should be sophisticated, tailored, elegant, smart, in touch-me textures.

Vintage Balenciaga a mere $4600 at thefrock.com

Here is the little white dress in structured satin: pearl-lustrous, chic, demure, witty.

Alexander Mcqueen Fall 2011

Look like a delicate lunar-white-moth in this short frothy white dress, keeping them guessing with a restrained-kinky Elizabethan neckline caressing your throat. Sometimes it's much more powerful and sexy to keep things covered up. Yes, Assorted-Starlets-Exiting-Cars, that includes your vagina, honey. I'm sorry no one has told you that before.

Raquel Welch: the elegant feline pet-me quality of white texture in The Little White Dress

A modern version: Minkpink Great Escape Dress $99 revolveclothing.com

The Little White Dress is the most perfect thing for LA this time of year. We can wear The Little White Dress in these final ragged days of summer, wear it hiding out daytime in the air-conditioning like little burrowing moles, or going out to lunches sweating on pretentious patios, and we can wear it out, butterfly-like, in the nights with air as warm as a bath and the smell of jasmine vines heavy in the stagnant city air.

As the weather turns chilly, add a faux fur coat or sleek white trench to the summer Little White Dress and voila! it magically becomes jet-set chic, the beginning of sexy winter white.

Guy Fashion

2011-09-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

John Varvatos Fall 2011 -- I love the skinny tie, the slender tailoring, and the loose rock-and-roll workman's boots

So there would be people arguing if Guy Fashion even exists in LA. There are ubiquitous guys wandering around on the streets, right now, unsupervised, wearing shorts +flip flops. The shorts change, some years there are cargo shorts with lots of superfluous baggy pockets, some years there are surfer shorts, some years there are madras shorts, but basically, they are baggy shorts just past the knee, paired with sun-bleached flip flops. I’m sorry, a guy in shorts just does not look sophisticated and alluring to me. He looks like at any moment, without warning, he might start mowing a lawn or skimming a pool for dead leaves or auditioning for the drunk-buddy role in a Seth Rogen movie. When you move to LA you think there are going to be these gorgeous guys everywhere, but it isn’t true. There are gorgeous girls, everywhere, all the time, and then there are short guys with Actor Hair (a lot of product that makes it stick up in the front) everywhere who think they look like Tom Cruise.

The David-Beckham Hair Thing in the UK = Actor Hair in the US

Anyway, when I say guys in LA are short, I mean reaaallllly short. I never thought I cared much about height in guys, but paired with the flip flops and the baggy shorts, they kind of resemble those surfer-gnome figurines people put out in front of their mobile homes. And all that makes me wonder, with a few notable stylish exceptions, if fashion for guys is dead in LA.

The inevitable fashion groove of guys in LA? California Seashell Company Resin Gnome $19.99

If fashion for guys in LA is dead, I think it is due for a revival. It’s true a lot of those very tailored, oh-so-flattering pieces for guys, traditional stuff, London stuff, can’t be worn here because it’s just too hot. There is a suit for every guy, just like there is a red lipstick for every woman, and a guy in a really good suit is a truly delicious sight to behold. I don’t mean those neutral baggy 80s Armani-style power suits that took over and make everyone look like a middle-manager from “The Office.” I mean tailored, sexy, man-of-the-world, James Bond suits. What if I could make it colder just for one day, long enough for all the guys to come out and look spectacular?


Gucci Fall 2011

So some people might object to the velvet coat thing as an undesirable legacy of the 60s or 70s, but as I was pontificating yesterday, VELVET is on my mind right now, in a good way. Plus I love the combination of pale blue sweater with this caramel-y, chocolate-y brown coat jacket. It just looks so huggable and luscious. He's carrying a big bag, which suggests he's strong and doesn't mind carrying bags, so he would be happy carrying my bags while I'm shopping or walking anywhere when my handbag starts to feel really heavy which happens all time.

Cavalli Fall 2011

Another velvet suit. I'm really feeling the ladykiller-louche, 60s/70s velvet suit vibe right now. It's cuddly and a little aristocratic and indolent at the same time. This one has a great indeterminate color that looks rich and luxurious without being "ironic" about it being a velvet suit. Because I hate "irony" in fashion especially in relationship to the 70s -- like do you remember the frantic popularity of trucker hats?

Sorry Ashton: friends don't let friends wear trucker hats.

Moving on..............

John Varvatos Fall 2011

Great suit with great layering details. I need to get cast in episodic TV or a beer commercial RIGHT NOW so I can buy this suit for my darling man. And then, waving my magic-weather-wand around, making the temperature a perfect 50 degrees, maybe, I imagine the streets of Los Angeles flooded with guys wearing stuff like this...looking intelligent, capable, rakish, sophisticated, rock-and-roll elegant...

Gaultier Fall 2011

There's a delicious outrageousness to this suit I love. The skinny-tight pants paired with the oversized jacket splattered with gold -- it's a little 80s, a little decadent, very sexy. Wouldn't it be great if guys wore things like this to premieres and parties instead of those ghastly-identical tux-suit-thingies? Who can remember what even very dashing male actors wear to anything? Bond should wear this in his next film. Speaking of which....

Gaultier Fall 2011

Gaultier certainly has Bond as one inspiration for his delightful gender-bending fall collection, and look at this. It makes me laugh, and it almost makes me a little hot-under-the-collar. It's androgynous and funny and deeply masculine at the same time. Someone like Boy George should be legally required to wear this, with a nice splash of red lipstick.

Gucci Fall 2011

I'm going to end on a more conservative note. There is something deeply compelling about a grey suit, an elegant and tailored grey suit. Not the baggy mall kind. One of the key requirements of a good grey suit is a delicious sheen, subtle and lustrous, pelt-like. It's so flattering to the skin. And in a genius move in this Gucci suit it's been paired with a softly salmon-pink shirt, and I love pink and grey together, and salmon-pink is good next to the face.

Delpaneaux Wills wearing his own Calvin Klein

Here is actor/model Delpaneaux Wills wearing a Calvin Klein suit...I took these photos for a shoot we did a few months ago. The suit is between grey and black, and the fabric has a richness in the light, which takes the suit from corporate-drone to secret-agent-man-cool.

In this pose Delpaneaux reminds us of one of the greatest things about a suit -- it's layered. Men do this slow-sexy striptease after-work thing with a suit. Sorry guys, NO, you just can't do it in surfer shorts and flip flops. It's just not the same.

The after-work suit strip thing is like this: first men loosen the tie, revealing a little mouthwatering sexy throat, and shake their head a little, loosening their hair. Then they unbutton the vest precisely and take it off. Finally they throw the jacket insouciantly over their shoulders and roll up their sleeves, showing some scrumptious tanned workman's forearms. It's an achingly slow civilized striptease that's just as beguiling as any post-modern tattooed burlesque taking place right now in a dive bar in Silverlake.

I'm going to work on converting Global Warming into Global Freezing so I can outfit some guys in LA with these gorgeous fall suits...the world really would be a better place.

Platforms 2.0

2011-09-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Platforms 2.0

River Island's sultry red wedges 70 pounds (that's money, not weight, silly)

Fashion lover and fellow actress Angela Nordeng laments about platforms: "I was really happy about the return of wedges, but I don't know how I feel about everyone walking around in stripper shoes again. I'm pretty sure that means that the flipflops with the big foam platform soles will be back next summer and I'm going to cry if that happens. I think we should explore the 80's for a little while longer.”

Platform flip-flops: can this atrocity be prevented in a community near you?

Angela's post brings up an excellent point: platform shoes have their pernicious underbelly of trashydom. To me, good fashion is about good taste; great fashion is about the electrifying line between good taste and bad taste. Yes, I really just made that up, and yes, I expect it to be quoted by many fashion minions in generations to come.

As dear Diana Vreeland used to say, “Bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika.” This is why I find good-taste, always-classic fashion advice so deadly. It’s soporific. It’s impersonal. It’s totally uninspired. Do you remember all those hideous neutral "good taste" slip dresses and baggy suits from the 90s? Aside from platform shoes and a couple other fashion items to be salvaged from the 90s, I'm also very partial to the 80s, as some people who attended my Bad Eighties birthday party last month know all too well. My love for the 80s (a whole blog in itself) has much to do with the lovable nuttiness of the decade. At times the 80s were supremely decadent and loud and over-the-top and excessive, but there was something exquisite in all that lunacy.

More exquisite lunacy: Alexander McQueen shoes $1,645.00

These black platforms with gems capturing the best of several trends: gems, platforms, velvet/suede, and organic, sensuous, feminine shapes. There's also something very witty about them. Of course if you find these a trifle unaffordable you'll save about $600 with these:

Alexander Mcqueen shoes: only $1,050.00. Ahhhhh. That's better.

The black-bow detail lends the silhouette something of an illicit, corset, upmarket-erotica feeling. I picture these shoes accompanying some very serious, military-style coat, one of those genius moments when an accessory quietly revolutionizes the entire outfit and makes you think, in the most perversely elegant way, "Hmmm, maybe she IS that kind of girl."

Back to deadly side of platforms: to keep away from Spice-Girl-Dom, usually a wise move in the fashion world, be sure your platforms are not made in a matching print to your cropped top + pants or minidress outfit; your platforms should not be carved out of foam or attached to a sneaker; and they should not, in any circumstances, ever, ever, ever, be flip-flops.

Amanda Style: Platform Madness

2011-09-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

Amanda Style: Platform Madness: Many things make me bummed-out about the prospect of a 90's revival - those ghastly bruise tones, minimalism, whiny rock, and brown lipstick...

Platform Madness

2011-09-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Many things make me bummed-out about the prospect of a 90's revival - those ghastly bruise tones, minimalism, whiny rock, and brown lipstick. Let me say it again: brown lipstick. How did Bobbi Brown and other makeup artists psychologically possessed by sinister forces manage to convince an entire nation of millions of people that brown lipstick was a good idea?

For those of you who have compartmentalized your memory of the "oh-its-so-natural-dearies" 90s brown-lips-crime, just take a look at the normally effortlessly radiant Jennifer Aniston and behold it working in all its evil...

However, there is something from the 90s even I cherish: platform shoes. Platform shoes, especially peep-toe ones, are so delicious because you can instantly gain height without crushing your toes like spring grapes. The stress point is transferred instead to your ankles. At the height of the platform epidemic, lovely young Japanese girls were getting killed in the subway or maiming others in freak auto accidents because of their cripplingly high platforms. My own testimony is simpler: on a trip to Florence with a delicious Italian man who turned out to be gay (story of my life), I twisted my ankle on cobblestones so many times I was reduced to pluckily scaling streets like this one in bare feet...

The great thing about LA: no cobblestones.

So the platform heel trend is welcome in my books, and my my there are some very toothsome specimens this year!

For starters: these guys. If you read the Harper's Bazaar Fall/Winter 2011 special runway issue, you might have missed these on your way to the nummy back pages where the real goodies are: the spreads from Milan, Paris, NY...more on that later.

These little booties were hidden on the page where they list all kind of names and corporations you are unlikely to be that curious about, for example, "Production and Administration: Group Production Director: Chuck Lodato." I don't know even know what this means. Sorry, Chuck. Perhaps to reward those who are reading closely, verly closely they put these gorgeous, adorable, winsome little shoes right by all those titles...num.

Miu Miu booties $890 -- aren't you relieved they aren't $900? Phew! Me too.

Ok, onward to Steve Madden...nostalgia trip: I remember adoring Steve Madden in the early years. I had these little plastic-y wedge shoes, platforms naturally, with pink-plastic bows over the toes...so cute. The rest of Steve Madden has kind of been a fog for me. But now look at these:

"Woah" Steve Madden 129.95 and yes there's a peep-toe!

There might be a universe where these don't seem like absolutely mandatory for fall, but it must be a galaxy far far far away....

And then something truly genius. I think I saw something very like these in person yesterday at the LF store on Robertson but they were more expensive. If you are an LF person, you deserve know they are having a CRAZY SALE but their platform shoes didn't seem to be included. Not only were the shoes not included, but they all seemed to be in size 9. What?

Jeffrey Campbell $168 psychedelic trip included?

Anyway, Jeffrey Campbell is having this amazing amazing season where he's tapping into my subconscious and producing everything I crave....for example...

Jeffrey Campbell O Wilde in Blue Velvet $148

Yes, I know, but I forgot to include velvet in my list of 90s things...actually it was a leftover scrap from the 80s, when you had all those pseudo-Victorian tea-dresses in velvet, and then in the 90s it was "crushed velvet" which was all about "texture" and people wore those velvet shirts (eh) with velvet shoes (num) and here we have velvet platforms...Ok I'm having a moment...a good kind of moment...

Because: I was just looking at Alberta Ferretti's fall collection. Now I have mixed feelings about Miss Ferretti: sometimes she nails it, often with vintage references, and I love her. Other times she does this wispy asymmetrical sad sack-dress thing. I know because I walk by her store a lot on Melrose on my way to the Bodhi Tree for my free cup of herbal tea when I can't sleep and there is the Albert a Ferretti collection, looking absolutely toothsome or totally bleh. Several seasons ago she did this lovely collection with a nod to Greece and out of that came this sage-green, Grecian style dress I absolutely adore, became attached to, and waited recklessly at Loehmann's until it came down to a reasonable price (under $100) and took it home with me. It's a heartwarming tale.

But back to the Alberta Ferretti collection. This year she dug into those jewel-tones that are flitting about the collections, leaving behind the aged-bruise-palette for things like jade green, citrus, purple, magenta, num num num....

Ok, the whole ensemble is fetching, but LOOK AT THOSE SHOES! Who does not need a pair of deep sexy purring magenta boots RIGHT NOW?

And the boots in royal blue! When I was look at this collection I was thinking: where can I find velvet boots? Who is going to be doing shoes in velvet? Velvet velvet velvet! Wildly impractical but LA's usual lack of rain and mud makes these actually that incrementally more practical. Any shoes in blue velvet, people..anyone who spies any more blue velvet shoes...please page me ASAP....platform madness + blue velvet = YES!