L'uomo

I found my new favorite magazine: L'uomo Vogue. Men's Italian Vogue, but it sounds so much better in Italian (like everything). Say it luu-ohh-mo. Try it. Nice, eh? I'd been eying it (okay, ogling it) for a few months on the newstand, but $15- mama mia (the italian version, not the swedish)!

But this month they got me. Front cover reads, "Richard Prince" (that's him on the cover) in big letters and "A unique journey into the artists' studios." I covertly flip through and Cindy Sherman (Cindy Sherman!!!!) has a spread in the middle. As a fashionista I too love seeing into the lives of models and designers, but I'd shove those over in a second to "visit" an artist's studio or read... hey, wait a freakin' second here... it's all in Italiano!

I'm really not that dense, but I got caught up in the moment. And during that moment, in front of the newstand, the photos satiated my voyeuristic appetite. But now I want to know more! And the entire magazine (not just the cover) teases you with its showy bilingual talents: nearly all the article titles are in English. My one semester of Italian gets me about three words in the first paragraph.

In all honesty though, I would still shell out $15 in a few more months for this magazine. For one, I can convince myself this is how I'll teach myself those other (thousands of) words in Italian. For another, the photographs are always stunning and not overly airbrushed. It makes the entire magazine a lot more powerful visually than all the other fashion magazines rolled into one.

Also, is anyone else getting tired of bandage dresses, spikes, shoulder pads, and leather in the women's fashion magazines? I feel like we've been bludgeoned over the head with those trends. Don't get me wrong, I still have a black purse I'm studding, but it isn't exactly inspirational anymore. L'uomo is a different perspective. It's not even the women's Vogue Italia. But I think there are worse things than taking a few cues from some stylish Italian men folk.

LL

Woohoo!

Our blog has made it onto Atlanta Magazine's Best of list this year! We had some inkling that we'd get a mention in the December issue, but had no idea that it was the Best of Atlanta issue. According to the magazine Asian Cajuns is the best local style blog. Well, as the Brits say, we're chuffed :).



If you're an Atlanta Magazine reader and this is your first time visiting Asian Cajuns, welcome! And if you're a loyal reader of our blog, thanks for all of your support!



Also, congrats to fellow Decatur bloggers of Decatur Metro and In Decatur for getting best neighborhood news and to the gang at Heliotrope for being the best one-stop gift shop!

CL

Having a Bit of Fun Part 2

Every month I always look forward to reading the newest issue of Vogue - the gorgeous fashion, the smell of glossy printed paper mixed with perfume samples, viewing fashion through Andre Leon Talley eyes, reading about Plum Sykes' oh-so-perfect life...

But sometimes it's just fun to take the piss out of America's number one fashion mag. So here's another installment of Having a Bit of Fun:


If only the Joads could have owned clothing like this they wouldn't have had to worry about their crops - and Steinbeck would have written a very different book.



Drew Barrymore and Amber Valletta reveal their secret to staying so thin.



Blackglama Furs has an unusual definition of "legend."



An issue of American Vogue isn't complete without an image of a model in a quirky pose with a distant gaze.



This fur fashion spread in the October Vogue made me continue to question the appeal of wearing real fur.


CL

Get Lucky!

We've just entered a contest through Lucky Magazine here. The aim? Just style an outfit that you would wear out at night with jeans. The lucky winner(s) gets to be in Lucky magazine and style a Lucky Brand ad! Delusions of being the next Rachel Zoe (just healthier, happier and slightly more well-rounded)- yes, please!

Below are our entries. Rate us please (click here for Lar and here for Cath) and/or add your own entry and we'll vote for you (just drop us a comment). Good Luck(y)!


On Lar: vest and tank, H&M; jeans, Cheap Monday; scarf, Tarjay; clutch, Asos.com; shoes, Newport News.


On Cath: tank, ROCKIT; jeans, French Connection; vest, H&M; boots, Naturalizers; purse, vintage.

LL

Having a Bit of Fun

It is no secret that I love fashion magazines. I subscribe to Vogue, Lucky, Teen Vogue and Domino (I count that as a fashion mag). And I usually pick up Elle, Bazaar, Marie Claire, British Elle and British Vogue every couple of months. It's a sickness, really, and an addiction, but they're all so glossy and fantastical that I can't help myself.

That being said, there are times when I become a little tired of the anorexic models, stilted photo shoots, and overly airbrushed/photoshopped ads. I was feeling this way the other evening while flipping through the September issue of Vogue. So I decided to take a sharpie to some of the pages and have a bit of fun.



Banana Republic must be one of the most inappropriate names for an American clothing store. People who live in a real banana republic wouldn't even be able to afford the button on the sweater below. Was "Absurdistan" and "Kangaroo Court" already taken as store names?


I can't imagine those shoes have much traction on a wet boat.


I have so many questions about the photo shoot below. Did Vogue pay for all those bruised apples? Did some lackey intern have to re-stack them? Why apples? Couldn't they have picked something more resilient, like sponges?


At times I feel that Marc Jacobs has become just like every other successful designer.


Ah, Naomi. So elegant and yet...

CL

PS: Thank you for all the great camping tips!!

The Big Three

Nope, I'm not talking about Ford, GM and Chrysler. This is a fashion-centric blog after all. I'm talking about the three major luxury department stores: Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks 5th Avenue. Every time Vogue releases its large spring/fall fashion issues, you're almost guaranteed to find multiple-page ads from these department stores nestled amongst the glossy pages. No matter what store, the ads feature a different designer on each page. I always like comparing how each store portrays the designer looks for the season.

In the Vogue (March 2008) spring fashion issue, Neiman Marcus takes the cake with over 10 pages worth of ads. Nordstrom features model Lily Cole posing in front of a large black and white graphic background. For some reason Saks only had two pages this month - maybe they're saving up for the September 2008 fall fashion issue.

Chanel:
Etro:
Yves Saint Laurent:
Gucci:
CL

Crossing the Pond: Bensimon Shoes

According to Nylon, the famous French Bensimon walking shoes will soon be available stateside. I tried to figure out when and where this will be happening on Bensimon's website, but I couldn't find any additional information. So at some point "[t]his season" I'll be able to purchase a pair without leaving the country (Nylon, March 2008).

Update: Thanks to a comment from the Bensimon US PR rep, the shoes will be available in three weeks - yay! I'll be making a trip over to Bill Hallman next month to get my own pair.

Currently - even with the internet and Thomas Friedman's claim that the world is flat - it is impossible to get your hands on a new pair of Bensimon tennis shoes if you live in the U.S. You literally have to fly over to France and purchase them. So here's hoping that the shoes will be available stateside sooner than later.


Bensimon fans: Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Cameron Diaz and Kate Moss.

CL

Badly Done W Magazine

I ended my W subscription over two years ago because I can't stand how they uglify everything. Half of the fashion spreads are so blurry or stylized that it's hard to see the actual clothing.

The recent issue with Knightly and McAvoy further proves my point. The magazine took two very good looking actors and turned them into overly-posed, awkward biker ballerinas? If this is high fashion, I want no part of it!

I'm very confused by the pairing of the black grometed top with a tutu. Hasn't the mix of grunge and feminine been done to death? That top would look much better with black, skinny pants and a looser hairstyle. And the tutu would better with...a corset and some pointe shoes.

Don't misunderstand me, I like the mixing of styles, but this outfit is poorly executed.

One of the reasons I'm so obsessive about fashion magazines is because I love how stylists are able to take seemingly unwearable pieces from the runway and throw them together to make a fantastic outfit. The image below doesn't have any of that - in fact the jacket looked more wearable on the runway than in this spread.

I'll be sticking with my regular intake of Vogues, Elles and Lucky from now on.

CL

China times in Teen Vogue

My friends always make fun of me for liking Teen Vogue. Grant it, the magazine is no Economist - in fact there's hardly any text in the publication - and it's geared towards teens. Nevertheless, the true substance of the Teen Vogue can be found in it's fashion spreads. The styling and creativity that goes into these shoots make it a high quality fashion magazine in it's own right.

Not convinced? Well then take a look at the images below. They're from the September issue - completely saturated in color and other-worldliness. It's hard to beat.





CL

Libertine at Target next month!

As I've mentioned before, Libertine is the next designer team for Target's Go International line. After Patrick Robinson's disappointing line (poorly cut clothing, dated dresses), I kind of lost interest in the Go line. It wasn't until today when I received the July issues of Lucky and Marie Claire that I remembered Libertine is up next. The line looks great - even better than the hard-to-beat Proenza Schouler clothing. The line will launch sometime in July. I can't wait!

Below are a few images from the Target website:

Marie Claire July 2007 (155) Libertine dress

Lucky July 2007 (112) Libertine head scarf