How to Get Amy Adams’ Bombshell Updo.

While most of the stars played it safe on the red carpet at Sunday’s Academy Awards, the celebs who attended the Vanity Fair after party rocked some seriously sexy dresses.

Wearing one of the most va-va-voom looks of the night, Amy Adams stepped out in a silver Vivienne Westwood corset design that showed off her amazing curves. And her loose updo was equally alluring.”Amy is sexy and feminine and we wanted her look to match,” Couture Colour Celebrity Stylist Laini Reeves said.To create the “modern Brigitte Bardot” style, Reeves applied a dime size amount of Couture Colour Pequi Oil Treatment for heat-protection and shine before blow-drying. She wrapped sections of hair around a large curling iron in alternating directions, then gathered everything back into a loose wave on the top of Adams’ head. The finishing touch: a few face-framing pieces.

Front row: The spotlight on London Fashion Week.

WE WERE COVETING the Mulberry Del Rey in white ostrich, named after and modelled by the lovely Lana, whose dreamlike 2012 continued front row as she captivated cameras while clutching on to this bag made especially for her.

WE PARTIED AT Le Baron on Old Burlington Street three nights on the trot, thanks to Marios Schwab, Topshop and the Business of Fashion, all of whom hosted bashes there. On Sunday we joined Vivienne Westwood for her after-show dinner upstairs at Kitchen Joël Antunès, where Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks was guest of honour. The secretive Scotch, on Masons Yard, was the venue of choice for Stella McCartney’s
post-presentation party, while Will.i.am kept us on our heels at the British Fashion Council do at Rose.

Sadie Frost’s daughter wears controversial dress

The debut of Caribbean fashion at London Fashion Week has been met with glowing reviews as fashion industry insiders move to Paris, the final stop in the four-city biannual fashion carousel. London followed New York and Milan came before Paris.

Under the direction of the British Council and the British Fashion Council, several countries, including those from the Caribbean, were invited to mount exhibitions as part of the International Fashion Showcase at London Fashion Week. More than 5,000 fashion industry professionals and media attended London Fashion Week and many of them visited the Caribbean exhibition held at the Charing Cross Hotel, while a select number of press and buyers saw the collections presented by international and emerging models from Jamaica at an exclusive dinner hosted at the Corinthia Hotel.

Reflective of the general sentiments expressed by those in attendance, director and buyer Stefan Siegel of Not Just Another Label shared his delight at being invited to attend what he described as a “fantastic dinner and evening, to showcase and support [our] local design talents”.

Sandra Kennedy, Juliette Dyke for JULAN, and Arlene Martin for drennaLUNA comprised the group of Jamaican designers, while the exquisite jewellery house of Atelier Doré came from Suriname. Phelicia Dell, along with counterparts David Andre and Michel Chataigne, sent collections from Haiti.

United Kingdom-based Gavin Douglas representing the diaspora, Kevin Ayoung Julien of KAJ, and design maven Meiling from Trinidad completed the contingent.

Paris Fashion Week has designers strutting their serious stuff.

Things are coming up roses, in fashion at least. How do we know this? Because the autumn/winter 2012/13 Paris catwalks are full of heavy black wool, the show soundtracks are hard, grinding techno and the models are stomping and glaring like angry robots.

Yes, I know: doesn’t sound too cheery. But it tells us a lot. It tells us that we no longer need comforting, cheering colour, nostalgic songs and soft, glamorous gowns to give us a little escapism from hard times. It also tells us that the designers of Paris have almost unanimously decided to defy the safe-playing of the past five or so seasons in favour of challenging fabrics and uncompromising silhouettes. They have increased the party quotient, too; that side of fashion week never really stopped, of course, but this season offered bigger and better soirées, from Alber Elbaz’s celebration of 10 years at Lanvin to Dior’s feting of Victoire De Castellane’s latest jewellery collection, at which the Caribbean-disco-funk legends Kid Creole & the Coconuts set the crowd whooping.

Parties aside, the shows themselves felt confident in their surliness – as they should, with luxury fashion continuing to pull in hefty profits. There was barely a reassuring smile to be seen, even at the usually giggly Sonia Rykiel, which offered some wearable 1970s-inspired pieces but rather lacked the joie de vivre that is the brand’s trademark.

Bookending the week, Nina Ricci and Chanel both went heavy on black and purple, though the results were miles apart. Karl Lagerfeld’s vision for Chanel threw together heavy black or grey tweeds, skin-tight trousers and jewel-coloured knits with giant pieces of crystalline jewellery, crystal-heeled shoes, iridescent metallic fabrics and even crystal-encrusted eyebrows on the models, who walked around a typically splendid set of Superman-style quartz stalagmites.

Peter Copping, meanwhile, went for an altogether more feminine approach at Nina Ricci, developing his delicate laces, lingerie silks, distressed tweeds and fluid satins to create a mood that was as exquisitely pretty as ever but far more gothic and even sultry – a haunting collection of exposed seams, torn tulle and dusty colours.

Copping was not the only designer to represent an eerie twilight in his clothes: Viktor & Rolf sent their models down a winding white path, watched over by a giant full moon and followed by wolf howls. The clothes were softer, smudgier, with rippling silk pyjama trousers and sheer, embellished 1940s evening gowns among the standout looks.

Those soft, silky pyjama pieces also made a languid appearance at the otherwise hyperactive Kenzo show, this time in jewel-hued block colours. The rest of the collection, held at a retro neon-lined university atrium (think The Jetsons meets Barbarella), was spikier, with the New York sassiness that creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim have brought to the brand. Sporty, waisted silhouettes with springy skirts and big sculptural collars, wintry khaki and navy accented with sulphur yellow and Klein blue, and sharp little teddy-boy suits with big crepe-soled shoes had plenty of attitude.

Teddy boys also offered a subtle inspiration for Martin Grant, with clean 1950s-style silhouettes. Going for a presentation format rather than a catwalk made sense here, offering a view of the gorgeously origami-folded construction in springy silk gazar, to which the palette of cream, black, red and houndstooth check played a comfortable second fiddle.

In one coat, Grant panelled in black the yoke and sleeves of a cream leather dress, and that technique appeared elsewhere this season, including in some of Anne-Valérie Hash’s beautifully sharp shawl-collared coats, which also had more than a hint of the teddy boy about their lean proportions. While there was plenty of the twisty draping on trousers and tops for which she is known, it was the sharper components of her tailoring that made an impact: shiny cropped jackets, pressed pleated silk trousers and a sequinned black tuxedo jumpsuit as glossy as oil.

Origami folding was, as ever, an important component in Roland Mouret’s lovely collection, in which the blacks and greys were lightened by crisp pastel blue, yellow and lavender. The urban-girl-in-Aspen look was bang on the money – and a theme that reappeared at Paule Ka’s chic-jet-setter presentation and in Chloé’s warm, cosy duffels and jumpers.

Clare Waight Keller, Chloé’s creative director, packed this relaxed collection with pastel pinks and blues, belted sleeveless jackets, wide, ballooning trousers and pretty floral creamy lace contrasted with bright red wool.

Some suits at Chloé were deliberately on the cusp of dowdy, an edge that was also a theme for Rochas, where dressing the bluestocking is an art form. Marco Zanini’s charmingly gauche models wore either sweet, schoolgirlish knee-length pleats or leg-lengthening bell-bottoms, in a painterly checked silk. The overall palette was artfully off-colour, mixing mustards and browns with French blue, rust and aubergine.

Dior, still helmed by the interim designer Bill Gaytten, offered little to scare the customers, but the collections are becoming increasingly subtle and accomplished, even if they lack the extravagance of the brand’s former designer John Galliano. Up close, the fabrics were as exquisite and innovative as ever, while on the catwalk, the perfectly judged palette of muted pinks, greys and neutrals (with one zingy splash of neon pink) was gentle enough to allow the New Look silhouettes to shine. Skirts were at the knee, mid-calf or floor, while cigarette trousers were cropped to just above the ankle, with ankle-strap platform shoes featuring the squared toe of the en pointe ballerina.

That other lover of mid-century couture, Giambattista Valli, offered a newly spiky attitude in his clothes. Starting with a heavy black-and-white knit, followed by monochrome prints, checks and tweeds, it took several looks before a bright red wiggle dress draped with chiffon acted as a reminder of his signature feminine style. The red was later pitched against burnt orange and black as a graphic print on stiff, straight shell tops and trousers, and it felt like a strong development on his sometimes excessively girlish style.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s graffiti-splashed collection and Paco Rabanne’s dark take on retro futurism both packed a stroppy punch, too, while Vivienne Westwood’s play on royalty, from the Restoration to Marie-Antoinette, featured all her classic swathes of checked tweed and duchesse satin, as well as a feather-clad cyclist wearing giant platforms.

But it was Lanvin that stole the week. Elbaz knows just how to push the fashion crowd’s buttons (bright colours, huge jewellery, directional ruffles and disco-dancing), but more than that, his collections of the past 10 years have worked as a progression of his genuinely distinctive aesthetic. To hold on to that visual identity, whatever trends may come, while still exciting, flattering and inspiring his customers, is a trick few designers can perform consistently, but Elbaz’s sculptural pieces, which ranged from puritan simplicity to louche extravagance, tick all those boxes. This season at Lanvin? It was like last season, but newer and better.

Celebs paid to be at fashion shows?

Celebrities are being paid tens of thousands of pounds to appear in the front row of catwalk runway shows, a leading designer has claimed.

Nicole Farhi has become the first major industry figure to speak out about the practice, calling it “abominable”.

She said: “It is so unprofessional. I have never paid a celebrity and I will never do it. It’s stupid.”

The 65-year-old French-born designer, who lives in north London with her husband, the playwright David Hare, added: “What do they show you in the papers after a fashion show? Not the clothes, but the celebrities who are being paid to sit at the show.”

During London Fashion Week last month, dozens of celebrities were pictured watching the latest creations and their appearances at shows garnered huge publicity. Most notable was Burberry’s show, which saw its front row packed with a host of well-known faces including Alexa Chung, Jeremy Irvine and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – although it is understood Burberry does not pay for front-row appearances.

Farhi believes her comments are likely to see her shunned by fellow designers, but she is unrepentant.

She added: “They will all hate me for it. I don’t give a s*** because I think it is abominable.”

Farhi need not worry about celebrity endorsements of her clothes. Her most recent show saw arguably the most influential woman in fashion, American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, in the front row.

Having star presence at London Fashion Week becomes vitally important as the different fashion houses battle it out for the estimated £100-million spent on orders during the six days of events. With about 100 shows taking place, designers vie for coverage in the next day’s newspapers.

Mulberry saw its show splashed across websites and papers after it enjoyed a celebrity-filled front row including stars from ITV1 drama Downton Abbey. A spokesman for Michelle Dockery, who was there, said they did not comment on their client’s social engagements. Laura Carmichael said she was not paid to appear.

Joining them at Mulberry were fellow actors Tom Hiddleston and Michelle Williams and Elizabeth Olsen, and singer Lana Del Rey – who recently inspired a Mulberry bag design. All were unavailable for comment.

Vivienne Westwood’s Red Label show also drew a host of big names, including, perhaps bizarrely, Heston Blumenthal. A spokesman for the celebrity chef said: “Heston was invited to attend and was not paid.”

Emma Whitehair, a fashion PR who runs White Smoke Communications said: “Absolutely it happens, but it would be professional suicide to mention brands and celebrities involved. Unfortunately the public can’t identify a designer who has a genuine relationship with a celebrity or has someone paid to be in the front row. But it’s fair to say some of the biggest brands will have a ‘talent’ budget.

“Brands with money need to guarantee coverage and that’s the only sure-fire way of getting it.”

In the US it is common for celebrities to have their travel, hotels, meals, clothes and make-up paid for by the fashion house in return for their attendance.

Recently reputable fashion news website Fashionista claimed singers Rihanna and Beyonce Knowles can get up to £63,000 for an appearance at a catwalk show.

Vivienne Westwood Suggests Vegetarian Diet to Save the Eart.

Vivienne Westwood believes that humans are an endangered species. We know it might be hard to see that from our 7 billion strong population, but with the threats of climate change, water scarcity and other frightening issues, it’s hard to argue with the fashion designer.

Westwood shared on her blog the English version of an interview she did for L’Officiel magazine in which she describes the things we need to do if we’re going to make it as a species. One of our favorites? Eat fruits and veggies. Ditch the meat.

She wrote, “We are an endangered species. Our survival depends on becoming more human; for that we each need to engage with the world – not consume but live in harmony. I suggest: 1) when possible prepare your own food (‘Do it Yourself’). My own diet is without meat or grains. I am one of the world’s privileged people and can choose what I eat. Fruit and vegetables is my preferred food, delicious and aspirational. It is convenient to prepare and the most efficient for your body to use, supplying all the goodness and energy you need.”

To ensure we all live a good long time, the designer also says, “inform yourself about Climate Change, listen to the scientists; your outlook and behaviour will change.”

Great advice if you ask us. Any person familiar with climate change knows that a meat-free diet is a great way to combat global warming. Between her vegetarian diet and her involvement with Cool Earth, we can wholeheartedly say that Ms. Westwood is doing her part as a global citizen.

Barbara Daley: Dame Vivienne’s age rant, The Kooples come to Liverpool and why Heston’s burger really is a (price) whopper.

WE’VE all heard the term glamorous grannies, well now fashion guru Vivienne Westwood thinks we need to take this a little more seriously and respect our elders’ dress sense. She thinks it’s the older generation who are flying the flag for British fashion.

The designer, who is now in her 70s but still at the forefront of British fashion, thinks ‘Everybody looks like clones. The only people you notice are all my age.’

I can’t say I agree entirely with Dame Vivienne but I do think that we sometimes go through phases of being stuck a style rut. I always say you can dress up any outfit with a new hairstyle. I find that changing your hair is an invitation to shake up your wardrobe and what better way to stand out from the crowd no matter what your age?

Maybe the arrival of cool indie designers The Kooples in Liverpool One will help breathe some new life into our style. I love their advertising campaigns which are a bit quirky and focus on the theme of ‘couples’, promoting the idea of us in complementary his and hers clothes.

Perhaps the idea of dressing just like your other half will become a new trend, but be warned … matching tracksuits don’t count.

We did an interview with a journalist from a national newspaper this week about why people from Liverpool are so glamorous.

He asked what we thought about Essex becoming so trendy now. One of the girls told him ‘That’s because somebody from Liverpool went to live there.’

A couple of years ago I remember reading about a restaurant in New York that was charging about $200 for a burger made from Japanese Kobe beef.

Well, that pales in comparison to Heston Blumenthal’s burger that costs a whopping £207,535 because he is making it with meat grown in a test tube. I hope the chips are free!

Every day’s a wedding day in the salon at the moment. Our Northwestern Halls salon overlooks St George’s Hall and since the Register Office has moved there we get to see so many happy couples with their friends and families posing on the steps for photographs.

Everybody’s talking about the Sea Odyssey spectacular coming to Liverpool in April and especially the giant little girl that will be making its way around the city. If it’s anything like the giant spider it’s going to be amazing and best of all it’s free.

The Team GB marbles … stars are turned into Greek statues.

The swimmer and cyclist were among the female Team GB athletes who posed for a photo shoot for Grazia magazine. Each of them was spray-painted for up to two hours to achieve the marbled look. They were captured by Perou, who has also pictured David Beckham and Vivienne Westwood.

He said: “That’s how the Grecian Olympian athletes were honoured and how every one of these women deserves to be honoured too.”

Perou photographed the athletes at training camps around Britain as they prepare for Olympic test and selection events.

One of the trickiest, said Perou, was marathon champion Paula Radcliffe who needed to pose “precariously” as though she was on the finishing line.

Backstage Beauty Report Vivienne Westwood.

Internet sensation Lana Del Rey is a pretty controversial entertainer, and her scarlet Vivienne Westwood gown for the Brit Awards tonight is likely to be just as polarizing.

I am a big fan of the glamorous off-the-shoulder frock, but I can see how critics could say it doesn’t really fit the 25-year-old singer as well as it could. The dip in the neckline combined with the off-the-shoulder silhouette and looser fit creates a bit of a droopy effect from some angles.

It all contributes to a flatteringly effortless feel, though, as if she just threw on a gown before running out the door. Del Rey wears less makeup here than we often see and went for a natural wavy style for her super-long locks.

She took home the International Breakthrough Artist award, topping off a year that has seen her album and single at the top of the U.K. charts. You could say she’s had a much warmer reception in the U.K. than in her homeland in the U.S. where she was heavily criticized after a underwhelming performance on Saturday Night Live.

Backstage Beauty Report | Vivienne Westwood.

“We need lots more sequins! We don’t have enough sequins!” the makeup artist Val Garland said backstage at Vivienne Westwood. She was calling for more of her custom opalescent sequin tears to be applied to Botticelli-inspired faces. “They’re beautiful, celestial beings looking up to the heavens, crying in ecstasy,” she said of the models with red-pink or “tea-stained” lids. The look was created using M.A.C. copper walnut Sculpting Cream all around and inside the eye along with Fascinating Eye Kohl. A shell highlighter was applied along the jawline, to create the effect of gazing up into light. Mahogany and Vino lip pencils lined a mouth that was then touched with Naturally Defined Sculpting Cream and set with Prep and Prime finishing powder. Then, came the tears. Sam McKnight made a pretty and wild nest of hair using Pantene Volume Mousse and Volume and Body Hairspray and pulling two sides back leaving half the hair down, then looping it over and through where it was already tied. It took only a few pins to secure the style after he pulled out strands using what he described as a “simple, childlike gesture.” He thought the whole elegant mess might be made by a young girl — channeling Caravaggio, of course.

Illamasqua’s new scent Freak will give you an air of mystery say creators Joe Corre and Azzi Glasser

Developed by experts in their field with over 100 years of experience of stage and screen make-up, the Illamasqua range is long lasting and aims to be daring and dramatic enough for the top actors of today. And the brand’s new fragrance, Freak, looks set to carry on that tradition.

To mark the launch of the fragrance Illamasqua top brass Joe Corre and perfumer, Azzi Glasser recently made their way to Dubai to explain more about the amusingly named scent.

Joe Corre, born in South London, to mother-designer Vivienne Westwood and father-manager of the Sex Pistols Malcolm McLaren, was introduced to the fashion industry at a very young age. With no formal training in the fashion or textile field, Joe learned the commercial aspect of the fashion world, successfully managing the affairs of Vivienne Westwood for nine years.

Experience from nine years at Vivienne Westwood, followed by sixteen years as Founder and Creative Director at Agent Provocateur ensured Joe had a firm grip on creating successful enterprises.

In February 2010 Joe joined cult independent professional British beauty brand Illamasqua as a formal shareholder and key investor.

Joe’s creative touch coupled with the innovative flair of Azzi Glasser, the perfumer, has led to the creation of this new fragrance from Illamasqua.

Azzi had earlier established her own fragrance company Agent Provocateur Parfum with Joe. This had won her four coveted Fifi awards and has made her sought after for her expert advice in publications worldwide including British Vogue, Marie Claire Italia, and US Vogue.

Freak, as the duo put it, is quite simply their baby. Hoping to bring something completely different to the UAE market – a more rock and roll scent tinged with mystery – the unique creators arrived at the Bloomingdale’s Dubai Mall store, where the perfume is sold, looking every bit the avant-garde artistes you’d expect those in this industry to be.

“Illamasqua is a British brand like no other,” said Joe. “Illamasqua celebrates the fundamental human desire for individual self expression. It is therefore a brand which transcends all boundaries.”

Freak is encased in a beautifully ornate art deco-inspired bottle, tilted to one side. Its smoked purple glass manages to capture the light and features a delicate silver snail and its trail, reportedly aiming to symbolise an ‘addictive passionate path of desire that is both distinctive and unusually provocative.’

“Illamasqua is undoubtedly the most vibrant and fastest growing British make-up brand of this generation,” continued Joe.  “When creating all the elements of this fragrance, from the scent to the bottle, the packaging to the image, the prime focus has been to deliver a groundbreaking concept that delivers an irresistible assault on the senses, whether you have heard of the Illamasqua brand or not. Freak by Illamasqua has succeeded on every point of that intention.

“Illamasqua make-up captures the essence of night-time transformations, unleashing your alter ego and celebrating self-expression. We have now managed, with great care, to distil that attitude into a fragrance and bottle it. It’s time to dress up and howl at the moon. So, get your Freak on!”

“The unique ingredients leave an unforgettable trail that mesmerise the senses,” continued Azzi. “They cannot be found in any other perfume and really evoke the sense of mysterious desire. That is why we called it Freak. It is unusual. It is a scent that people who love wild nights out, but want to stand out from the crowd will desire. In this world of conformity, one should be proud to be a freak.”

What the scent evokes

The rich opening notes of Black Davana cast a magical spell of desire across the senses to celebrate the night. This compelling burnt orange bloom base is highly prized the world over for its ability to enhance the wearer’s natural perfume. The subtle mustiness of Poison Hemlock haunts the background tone of Freak, adding alluring depths of mystery.

Datura, the Moonflower, an intoxicating scent that has long been used as a heady aphrodisiac, is also present.

The exquisitely rare Queen of the Night blooms fleetingly for a single night each year, and completes this daringly provocative concoction with its warm, soft floral scent touched with sweetness.

Mixed together, Illamasqua has created a powerfully addictive potion.

Join the fashion week party in Norwich Lanes.

On Friday evening head down to Norwich Lanes to discover late-night shopping, local fashion launches, vintage make-up tutorials and the best Norwich’s DJs. EMMA HARROWING finds out what’s on the party list at the Norwich Lanes Fashion Night Out.

Live tattooing at Philip Browne, a retro fashion show in St Gregory’s Church, designer and local fashion launches and hair cutting in clothes boutiques can only mean one thing – the guys and gals from the shops and businesses in Norwich Lanes are pulling out all the stops for Norwich Fashion Week.

The Norwich Lanes Fashion Night Out is an after-hours shopping extravaganza mixing up local fashion with hair, beauty and music from local DJ’s. The night is quickly becoming the event to see and be seen at with various surprises and VIP experiences at several locations in Norwich Lanes.

So what does the night have to offer?

For fashion label lovers, local fashion label Shhhh will be launching its spring and summer collection at Dogfish on Bedford Street, Vivienne Westwood’s new collection will be launched across the road at Catfish and the new J Lindeburg collection will be launched at Sevenwolves.

All three shops will be offering a 10 per cent discount on all new season stock.

Vintage lovers should head down to Prim Vintage on St Benedict’s, as the boutique is launching its VIP vintage shopping experience. Enjoy the high life by indulging yourself in vintage fashion while sipping on cocktails.

Then head to Imelda’s on Guildhall Hill to get a bit of old school pampering with vintage style make-up and hair tutorials, before popping into St Gregory’s Church to watch the vintage and retro fashion show.

If pampering treats is more your bag U and Your Skin on Bridewell Alley is offering free skin MOTs, offers on skin therapy and little beauty samples to give your skin a boost for the new season.

You can also get your hair cut and styled by Flint, who will be taking up residence in Sevenwolves on Exchange Street for one night only.

Also for one night only local DJs, free cocktails and bubbly will be available in most of the shops in Norwich Lanes. Elements on Lower Goat Lane is teaming up hair stylists from The Egg to put on a fashionable shindig, and the boys that took the press by storm earlier this year with their naughty window display are up to mischief again, as one of the region’s most acclaimed tattoo artist will be creating designs live to music from the Hotbox boys at Philip Browne on Guildhall Hill.

End your evening with the Fashion Night Out after-party at The Birdcage (remember to bag a bargain from Imeldas as the dress code is ‘Good Shoes’) and dance the night away with guest DJs.

Or wind down and put your feet up at Franks Bar on Bedford Street and enjoy a selection of Fashion Week tapas.

Join the fashion party from 6pm until 9pm (or until late if you head for one of the after parties) this Friday March 9.

See all the pictures from the Norwich Lanes Fashion Night Out promo shoot by clicking on the photo gallery link at the top right of this page and for the Norwich Fashion Week programme click on the link above or get a printed version of the programme on the Life Matters pages in the paper tomorrow (Thursday March 8).

‘Mirror Mirror’ star Lily Collins dishes on her style.

Actress Lily Collins and friends took over the second floor of Scarpetta restaurant at Beverly Hills’ Montage Hotel on Tuesday to celebrate her March 2012 cover of Nylon magazine. Collins stood out, weaving through the crowd in a hot pink Honor dress,  her high pony tail playfully swishing with every step of her Brian Atwood spiked pumps.

During the party, Collins, star of the upcoming film “Mirror Mirror” (slated for a March 30 release), dished on her personal style and favorite designers.

ATR: Who are your favorite designers right now?

LC: I love Alexander McQueen. Monique L’huillier has always been one where I drive by the store and go “I want to wear that one day.” Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, Chanel.

ATR: How would you describe your personal style?

LC: I really like to mix and match things. If there is a vintage gown that screams Lily, I’ll gravitate toward that. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be a name that everyone knows. So I really like to mix it up, but I always have to have some sense of myself in the dress.

ATR: What are you coveting for spring?

LC: I love a good lace something or other, whether it’s a lace top, a lace dress, a little vest. I think you have to be very specific about how you wear lace since it’s different for every single person, but I’m looking for maybe a good item like that. I do love neon, so maybe a little pop of color here and there, because it can be overwhelming and overpowering but if you find the right item, it makes your wardrobe pop a little bit.

ATR: Any products, clothing, accessories you can’t live without?

LC: I really would go more toward hand creams, sunscreen, a good lip balm. Also a big comfy sweater, good pair of jeans and a pair of boots. You can never go wrong with those. … Oh, and then I’d probably need like a tank top.

ATR: How does your beauty regimen compare to your character in “Mirror Mirror,” Snow White’s classic, minimal look of mascara and red lips?

LC: My beauty regimen is less is more when I’m not filming or having an event like this. I’m all about keeping my skin really healthy, clean, moisturized. I have pretty dark lips to begin with, so I tend to kind of like to mute them down a little bit and focus more on my eyes and play those up, but it’s really just a little bit of powder and to make sure I’m not shiny and staying moisturized.

Westwood tells austerity UK to buy fewer, better clothes.

Fashion lovers should take advantage of today’s cash-strapped times and use their limited resources to buy fewer, better clothes, Britain’s grande dame of design Vivienne Westwood said after wowing London Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter show on Sunday.

“People have never looked so ugly as they do today. We just consume far too much … I’m talking about all this disposable crap,” said Westwood, whose tailored collection inspired by tribal prints was one of the highlights of the event.

“What I’m saying is buy less – choose well. Don’t just suck up stuff so everybody looks like clones,” she told reporters, when asked how austerity had influenced her work.

“Don’t just eat McDonald’s, get something a bit better. Eat a salad. That’s what fashion is. It’s something that is a bit better.”

Models strode down Westwood’s long looping catwalk adorned with tribal tattoos and baggy jodhpur-like trousers.

Westwood, who came to fame during Britain’s Punk revolution in the 1970s, said her clothes had been inspired by Britons’ ability to confront harsh economic times with imagination and devil-may-care daring.

“Britishness is just a way of putting things together and a certain don’t care attitude about clothes. You don’t care, you just do it and it looks great. What we do always looks British even if we’re inspired by Africa or the North Pole or whatever.”

The “war mentality” of the past year had influenced her use of bright oranges, military camouflage greens and yellows, she added.

Celebrities including Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, British chef Heston Blumenthal and American television personality Janice Dickinson looked on.

“I can’t live without her clothes. I’ve been shopping at Vivienne Westwood and wearing her at Vogue from 30 years ago until this day,” said Dickinson, who has appeared on many Vogue magazine covers.

Lustrous metallic colours also featured strongly this season, not only in Westwood’s collection but also at motorcycle-inspired Belstaff, which had a strong womenswear line.

One of the most striking jackets featured a shiny purple material made up of more than 10 different silken fibres, a mixture CEO Harry Slatkin called a “secret sauce”.

The collection also featured tightly tailored leather jackets with armour type panelling.

Slatkin said savvy buyers knew how to make their money go further by buying good quality clothing that would last.

“The customer relates to that. There’s no fooling the customer and there never is,” he said.

Throughout the week, designers said there would always be a market for haute couture, even though some luxury buyers had trimmed back purchases.

Vogue’s Anna Wintour quickly nipped backstage and emerged pleased by the results.

“I loved it,” she told Reuters. “I always love being in London.”

Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, Armani: Charles Dickens’s Influence on Fashion Week.

The famed British author turned 200 this year. He’s the subject of exhibitions and film adaptations—but his influence was also felt on the runways, with Victorian elements popping up in Fall 2012 collections at Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, and L’Wren Scott. Misty White Sidell reports.

In February, Charles Dickens turned 200. To commemorate the anniversary, he’s become the subject of several exhibitions and TV adaptations, such as Dickens at 200 at the Morgan Library and Museum, and Great Expectations on BBC’s Masterpiece Theatre. A new feature film adaptation, slated for later this year, will star Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.

Zen’s rise from the ashes of the great mall arson of 2010 continues with the opening of Thailand’s first store dedicated to the quirky clothing of Vivienne Westwood.

The London-based high-end fashion house has stocked the Bangkok shop with its four spring-summer lines, and four celebrity “models” turned out last week to show them off.

Onchuma “Fae” Durongdej was there to parade around in “Vivienne Westwood Anglomania”. The outfits are bold and innovative, with plenty of draped fabric in chequered, striped and floral patterns. It’s powerful, cutting edge, fun and classic all at the same time.

Fae pointed out that the look is street chic and ideal for everyday. “I love her accessories too, like this Valentine pendant – red lips that are appearing on sporty clothes for the London Olympics this summer.”

Former professional model Ornnapa Krisadee said she’s always admired Westwood, even in her punk heyday, when she made clothes for the Sex Pistols. “Today I’m wearing her famous corset dress, which I bought 20 years ago,” Ornnapa said, calling it rock style yet very feminine.

Vivienne Westwood Red Label, with its depictions of nature’s beauty, was created to raise money for the Cool Earth group, which aims to secure the world’s most vulnerable rainforests against devastation by 2020. Westwood often uses her fashion shows to advocate on behalf of social justice and the environment.

Replete with printed gold medals, Vivienne Westwood Man comes on the eve of the Olympic Games and takes its cues from sporting heroes and the “gentleman sportsman”. The tailoring suits it to formal occasions as well.

The Vivienne Westwood Anglomania X Lee Collection is a collaboration with Lee jeans, celebrating the 1970s and ’80s with summer fun.

Zen’s Allan Namchaisiri said the mall’s luxury zone would soon have 15 more shops selling premium fashion brands. “This is for people who are looking for something unique,” he said. “Your outfit always has to have that special touch, so that when people wear it, they say, ‘Wow, this is a special design!”

Backstage Beauty with Vivienne Westwood Red Label.

In a departure from conventional runway makeup, artist Val Garland embellished models’ hands with make-up while leaving their faces with just a hint of colour and definition. Garland sought to emulate “a gang of young school girls writing child-like tattoos on their arms, hands and necks” for Vivienne Westwood Red Label.

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Vivienne Westwood’s

“London,” the title of Vivienne Westwood’s costume-design inspired fall-winter collection, had it all: Elizabethan corsets, Sherlock Holmes tweed, scholars gowns and even a model cycling down the catwalk.

It was said to channel 17th century Britain but saw models stomping around some 400 years of fashion history — all in contemporary black moon boots.

The highly structured silhouettes included some rigid corset bustiers that recalled the embellished crinoline of the Restoration epoch.

Rectangles were also a motif, in small peplum lapels or as a flat patterned square Beefeater dress, whose shape resembled that of the poster boys that stand in London’s Leicester Square.

When quizzed backstage, the 70-year-old designer, who often makes political statements in her work, said she looked to the past to get away from the current “terrible, crashing times.”

Vivienne Westwood: ‘People have never looked so ugly’

Dame Vivienne Westwood has become something of a national treasure, that’s for sure. At her recent A/W 12 show, the most eclectic bunch we’ve seen at London Fashion Week turned up to pay homage and worship at the altar of Viv. The likes of Heston Blumenthal, Sadie Frost, Pete Burns and Rita Ora all showed up in their finery and clambered backstage to share a few words with the Dame. Her popularity is all encompassing and her magnetic personality quite something to behold.

She represents classic British eccentricity and is indisputably a gem in the crown of the British fashion industry. That is why she might have put a few noses out of place when she adamantly announced that us Brits have never dressed so badly. Ever. Hearing, “People have never looked so ugly as they do today regarding their dress” isn’t exactly music to our ears now is it? Speaking to the barrage of journalists who surrounded her after the show she declared, “We are all sucking up stuff, we have been trained to be consumers and we are all consuming far too much. I’m a fashion designer and people think ‘what do I know?’ but I’m talking about all this disposable crap. So I’m saying buy less, choose well, make it last.” Quite a statement from the Matriarch of London Fashion Week.

Vivienne has never shied away from controversy and laughs in the face of conventialism. Her outbursts are designed for impact; anarchy in the UK and all that. She obviously wanted to make an impression by her sentiment that we all dress like slobs, but I don’t think I would alone in thinking she isn’t entirely incorrect. While I don’t agree that we have ever dressed this badly (I’ve seen Blackadder re-runs and those volumous Medieval pantaloons aren’t pretty), I do feel we glorify fast fashion far too much. As consumers we are regularly told that more is more. The fact you can now buy five t-shirts for under a tenner in Primark is heralded as some sort of modern breakthrough for society. Yes they are cheap but will they enrich your life as much as we are lead to believe? Probably not.

I don’t think you necessarily have to spend more to get better quality; you just have to spend less frequently. Investing in better quality pieces which will last is beneficial all round- for your wardrobe space, for the environment and for your style. Yes you might be made up with that bargain of a maxi-skirt you found in Topshop but seeing every other girl wearing it when you walk down the street will quickly knock the smile off your face.

Fashion shouldn’t be homogenous; it should be exciting and unique and express your individuality. People can take an interest in fashion without feeling the need to blow their wage on disposable threads on the High Street every weekend. In the short time you get on this planet, why would you want to spend it looking like everyone else?

I’m with the Dame on this one.

Vivienne Westwood: Do It Yourself.

NAMES, sweetie, names, as Edina Monsoon of AbFab used to say.

That’s what fashion and journalism are all about, aren’t they? In fashion, at least, Vivienne Westwood is one of the biggies. Westwood’s designs, this program tells us, are driven by her hatred of convention. The dear woman had me on side when she said: “I used to be bored by [fashion] for about 15 years. I like it now because I can make a story from it that to me inhabits a certain possible world.” I guess I’m still in my first 15.

In any case, a brilliant, challenging documentary about a complete original. While there is some fantastic material from Westwood’s glorious punk years in the late 1970s and early 80s, the focus, as the producers follow her from 2009 to 2010, is the preparation of her Do It Yourself collection. Approaching 70, Westwood rides a pushbike like Margaret Rutherford, takes singing lessons, performs for arts students, sews with her own hands and hangs out with her sexy, much younger husband and creative partner Andreas Kronthaler. Wacky, wild and fabulous.

British ruffian designer Vivienne Westwood is back on Yoox’s virtual store shelves with an expanded collection, unveiled at Pitti Immagine in Florence this week, for the Ethical Fashion Programme in Africa. Exclusive to the online retailer, the line is handmade in Nairobi from 100 percent recycled materials, including roadside advertisement banners and old canvas safari tents. Infused with Westwood’s eccentric-cool aesthetic, the bags and accessories are as one-of-a-kind as their designer.

WESTWOOD HO!

The Autumn/Winter 2011 range carries 14 different styles of bags and accessories, for men and women. By working with the United Nations International Trade Centre, Westwood and Yoox are creating dignified, sustainable employment while minimizing their ecological impact. “It gives people control over the lives,” Westwood says of the project. “Charity doesn’t give them control. It’s the opposite; it makes them dependent.”

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD is campaigning to create her own television chat show series, involving public participation.

“It would be called Get A Life – and it’s on two levels, get a life for future generations but also what are you doing right now with your own life? If we are an endangered species it is your duty to do something about it and get the most out of it,” she tells us.

The iconic designer, who showed her Red Label line on Sunday evening, says she is so far struggling to have the show made.

“I’m still trying and I might get it on one day – but no one is terribly interested in this fact that we are an endangered species, it doesn’t seem to matter, nobody cares,” she explains. “People don’t know what they can do, and I am trying to find out what people really can do and what we can all do. I read an interview with James Lovelock whose prediction said that there will only be one billion people left at the end of the century which is so scary and no one is really doing anything about it.”

Talking at the Get a Life Palladium Jewellery party last Friday, Westwood also spoke out about her concerns for the future of art.

“There is no progress in art, it is all those different points of view from the past,” she says. “The point about art is to tell the truth and I don’t think there are any artists today – none of them – they are all lying. No one is trying to be disciplined enough to see things how they really are, they are all self indulgent and boring.”

Vivienne Westwood: From Punk to Premiere

Vivienne Westwood has certainly established quite a strong foundation in her own right. But this has not been easy for her at all. For decades and decades, Westwood has done so much to garner this strong reputation for herself. For starters, she co-founded the punk style in the international arena of fashion. She has also managed to work with a lot of big names in the industry over the years, too. What’s more, she has also bagged a number of awards for Best Designer of the Year.

A short glance at her credentials would clearly show you the reason why she remains at the top of the list of fashion designers, in spite of her age, having hit the prime of 66 already.

Vivienne Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in Glossopdale, Derbyshire, way back in April 8, 1941. Her father hailed from generations and generations of shoemakers, while her mother had a weaving job in the cotton mills that was located locally. Growing up exposed to the basics of fashion can certainly be credited as attributes to Westwood’s firm grasp of fashion sense.

It was in the 1950s when Westwood starting making her own design, as a teenager. She actually customized her uniform for school to come up with her very own design of a pencil skirt. Since then, Westwood started conceptualizing her own designs for her clothes. But 1965 saw a pivotal point in Westwood’s life. It was during this time that Westwood met Malcolm McLaren, and both immediately formed a partnership that was going to be dubbed as one of the most creative collaborations in the industry of fashion ever. That partnership lasted for roughly 13 years, from 1970 all the way through 1983, and this saw the launching of Punk. This particular style was epitomized by The Sex Pistols, one of the prominent punk rock bands to have formed in the music industry ever. At the time, punk clothes did not come as cheap clothes at all. But the collaboration of Westwood and McLaren brought forth more punk clothes that could be bought at relatively lower prices.

At present, Vivienne Westwood has turned her attention to a more toned-down look, which includes cufflinks and premiere silk ties. Nonetheless, Westwood’s charm and wit are still very much visible in her silk ties. How many times have you stained the blade of your tie with coffee and such over dinner? And how many times have you said, “Oops!” when this happened? This is actually one of the many trademark designs of Vivienne Westwood’s ties, with what appears to be beverage stains at the tips of her ties.

Neil Thompson is a retailer of men’s fashion accessories from designer brands including Vivienne Westwood, Fred Perry, Lacoste and Timberland. Click here for more information on Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood, who managed to become a legend in his lifetime, does not get tired to please their fans a bright and original clothing. In addition, her work draw their inspiration from many other designers.

Westwood was born in 1941 in Derbyshire, and became famous when Malcolm McLaren with the manufactured form of punk. Their early joint wear collections such names Let It Rock, SEX, Seditionaries, Pirates, Buffalo Girls, and set up in Chelsea in World `s End. Today, there are clothes that challenged the social prejudices of the purpose and manner of fashion, is a real classic. After parting with McLaren, Westwood began to work independently and eventually acquired a reputation as one of the most respected fashion designers. Westwood has never received professional education in the field of fashion and design. But in 1980 she was named one of the six most influential designers in the opinion of the publication Women `s Wear Daily. In 2004 began a traveling retrospective exhibition of works Westwood, organized and conducted with the assistance of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition will last 7 years and will be based in Australia, China and the U.S.. Westwood can harmoniously combine frantic creative energy and intellectual method. In her collections, she often uses historical associations, and places great emphasis on techniques and tissues, resulting in a light appear unconventional, but extremely attractive product. Westwood uses the shapes and designs, which have always gone counter to traditional notions of fashion and were ahead of their time. Exactly 15 years after his arrest during a performance of Sex Pistols (Westwood’s husband was manager of the group) on the night of the “Silver Jubilee” Queen of England, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Talent designer was honored with numerous awards, including the title of British Designer of the Year, which she received twice. Today, Westwood presents its line of womenswear ready-to-wear in Paris, and a collection of menswear MAN – in Milan. It was now early works Westwood generated enormous interest among the public, so there was her line Anglomania, in which she regularly presents things from their old collections. In addition to lines of clothing designer Vivienne Westwood launched three perfumes fragrance: Libertine, Boudoir and Anglomania. Westwood shops can be found all over the world, including Hong Kong, Japan and Italy.

Vivienne Westwood was born in England in 1941. At the age of 30 years, in 1971, together with Malcolm McLaren (born in 1946.) Opened a shop in London, describing it as Let It Rock.
Their punk-style, based on the aesthetics of the new urban youth generation, who believes society is abhorrent in all its manifestations, has become a symbol of street fashion.

In 1982, the fashion show for the first time participated in the Paris collection. Having found inspiration in the costumes, paintings and litereture past, Vivienne Westwood, modeled clothes from the perspective of their own, original perspective on reality. Sexual and avant-garde clothing, which she designs, absolutely not compatible with modern, flexible, comfortable and functional fashion relaxed clothing.
Vivienne Westwood holds his own vision of elegance, from time to time forcing the human body is provided in the grip of artificial extravagant costumes.

Vivienne Westwood – the legend, the designer, who inspired many. Mad creative energy, the share of historicism, the typical house of fabrics – from the sum of such terms is the brand “Vivienne Westwood”.
Designers have been awarded many awards for his contributions to fashion, among kotooyh and twice received the title of British Designer of the Year.

Today the company produces both male and female lines.
Best-selling brand and is the fragrance – “Libertine”, “Boudoir” and “Anglomania”.
Vivienne Westwood shops are all over the world, besides a house and started an online store its products.

Vivienne Westwood – English brand of punk, combined with the classics, whose founder of fashion designer – outrageous and extravagant Vivienne Westwood.

In 1971 in London, she opened her first shop Let it Rock, who each time have renamed and changed the interior under the new collection. In 1972 – Too young to die, in 1974 – Sex, in 1976 – Seditionaries and finally – World’s End.

Vivienne Westwood has had a great influence on the English style of dress (British Style), as well as fashion and music. In 1976 she co-produced with the Sex Pistols designed clothes for the group. In 2009,

In 1983, the year will be her first fashion show in Paris. In 1990 and 1992 Vivienne Westwood twice awarded the title “British disigner of the year”.

Today, under the brand Vivienne Westwood produced four lines of clothing, accessories and perfume. The collections of Vivienne Westwood clothing combination of luxury, tradition and modernity.

Red label – women’s clothing line of ready-to-wear: suits, pants, shorts, tunics, blouses, dresses, tunics, skirts. It is feminine and elegant clothes. Models with a high waist, the use of silk, taffeta, a variety of colors, mostly bedding. Gold label – Women’s Clothing Couture, made in a traditional sewing techniques, based on the traditions of English art, a lot of manual work. Extremely feminine collection of clothing and extravagant. Man – a clothing line for men, which is released in 1996. This elegant men’s suits, modern and original things with the unusual combination of colors and fabrics, a variety of different parts of prints. Anglomania – female line of youth casual wear and jeans, wherein a free cut and bright colors. Vivienne Westwood clothing collections are accompanied by accessories brand makes jewelry, shoes, sunglasses, bags, scarves, ties, tights, etc. Since 1998, under the brand Vivienne Westwood perfume available.

Vivienne Westwood shops opened in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, China and India. Buy Vivienne Westwood before 2009 could also be in the company store in Moscow, but it was decided to close shop and expand its presence in Asia.