タグ別アーカイブ: fashion

I don’t know when exactly, or where, but like everyone else I’m getting my annual urge to fling myself on to some sand. So what do I need to take to the beach? Well, first of all some trunks. Yes, tailored swimshorts look smart but, goddamn, an elasticated waist feels good after a lunchtime paella (“No, I do know it’s for two people, but I will eat both raciones”). There’s a simple method to pick the design of your trunks and it goes like this: is your T-shirt or shirt patterned? If the answer’s yes, then your trunks must be plain. If the answer’s no, go crazy. No pattern is too bold, no colour too garish. Express yourself.

Next up is your top. On holiday is the only time you can justify wearing a vest, but you still need to proceed with caution – you don’t want to look like you’re auditioning for the next series of Love Island. I’ll generally go for a short-sleeved shirt, ideally quite loose-fitting. A plain white linen one will do just fine, or get stuck into the floral trend (remember – only with plain shorts).

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You’ll also want to take some knitwear. Knitwear on the beach, what is this madness? Here’s the thing – you’ll want to make a smooth transition from beach to bar, and a jumper can really help with that. Obviously you don’t want a heavy cable – go for a fine cotton knit from somewhere like John Smedley. Promenading down the, err, promenade at sundown, you might be tempted to tie your jumper loosely around your neck. Resist that temptation. Keep your jumper in your bag. You have a bag, right? I like tote bags and refute the idea that they are feminine. A decent-sized tote will swallow up all of your beach bits – lotion, book, headphones, binoculars, two-litre bottle of Orangina etc. Failing a tote take a holdall and carry everyone else’s stuff, too.

Bucket hats are currently very “in” but bear in mind that if you wear a bucket hat you will be a man wearing a bucket hat. Think very carefully about that. I’d favour renting a lounger with a parasol, or a nice Panama hat, or raging sunburn to the scalp, over the bucket.

The last thing on my beach packing list is a game of some description. If I were to come into money (fairly sizeable if), I would buy the most luxe set of bat ’n’ ball ever made, from Frescobol Carioca. The bats are beautiful: the sort of thing you’d happily hang on the wall and call art. Without a sudden windfall, I’ll stick to forgetting to pack one of my cheap sets and buying yet another set from yet another bloody kiosk.

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Kristen Stewart wears ladylike colour-block dress with grey trainers and a leather jacket as she promotes upcoming movie in NYC

She’s known for her more edgier style.

But actress Kristen Stewart, 25, showed off her more demure side on Monday as she was spotted wearing a very sophisticated ensemble.

The former Twilight star donned a ladylike colour-block pencil dress as she headed to the Today Show from the Greenwich Hotel in New York City.

The US actress looked gorgeous in the black, red and white pencil dress, which was fitted to show off her petite frame.

She wrapped up warm from the NYC chill in a quilted leather biker jacket and was seen clutching a grey beanie, as well as her silver phone.

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Chic, black sunglasses concealed her flawless features and her lips were painted a vampy red shade to complement the red hue of the ensemble.

Her brunette locks were styled into a curled up-do and sweeped to one side, framing her face beautifully.

Her casual footwear certainly clashed with her stunning pencil dress, but there’s no doubt she’ll be changing into heels for her TV appearance.

She still managed to make the look her own as she stepped out into the street wearing the box fresh footwear.

The actress, who is most known for playing the protagonist Bella Swan in the Twilight film series, is currently in the city to promote her upcoming film, American Ultra, also starring Jesse Eisenberg, Topher Grace and Connie Britton.

The film centres around a convenience store clerk – played by The Social Network actor Jesse – who is reborn into his previous life as a lethal government operative, and Kristen stars as his girlfriend, Phoebe.

The comedy, directed by Nima Nourizadeh, is due in UK cinemas on September 4.

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On my first ever outing with my first baby, I made a beeline for the kids’ clothes section. My new daughter had been in neutrals for a week, and she needed some colour. Well, okay, I needed some colour. And that colour turned out to be pink. Not because I set out with that intention, but because most of the baby-girl outfits in my local store were pink, and most of the baby-boy clothes were blue.

Today, many parents reject the notion of colour stereotypes, and there’s a move towards gender-neutral clothes. But does it really matter if we dress girls in pink and boys in blue?

Dublin mum-of-four Adele avoided colour-coding her boy-girl twins as far as possible. “From the outset, I did make a conscious effort not to dress my daughter in pink. Having said that, I was gifted many lovely pink outfits that I put on her without any hesitation. But when buying her clothes, I try to avoid buying pink. I don’t particularly like the ‘pretty little girl image’ pink evokes,” she says, “I didn’t want to pander to the notion that girls must wear pink exclusively.”

Adele was similarly conscious when buying clothes for her son. “It’s actually a lot easier to buy clothes in a variety of colours for girls than it is for boys, and even if I tried, it was hard to avoid a car or dinosaur motif on every item.”

And six years on, has the pink avoidance paid off?

“She likes pink, pretty clothes,” says Adele. “I still try to steer her away from them, but when she does get more interested in clothes I’ll let her choose for herself. ”

So do girls innately like pink? Or is it something that’s learned?

As part of a 2011 British Journal of Developmental Psychology study, one-year-old babies showed no preference at all for pink. From the age of two, girls started to prefer pink, and from four, boys rejected pink.

But even if, as this suggests, colour preference is learned, does it matter?

Pinkstinks is a campaign that targets products that prescribe heavily stereotyped roles to young girls, and its co-founder Abi Moore thinks it does matter.

“We’re not opposed to pink per se,” she explains, “But we are opposed to the rampant use of it on the high street and online to gender stereotype girls and make them all look the same. Our strapline is “There’s more than one way to be a girl”… we want to see a world where girls are free to make real and actual choices about who they are, how they want to look, what they want to be, and not to feel pressured by marketers, and therefore by culture as a whole, into fulfilling outdated and damaging stereotypes often based around pretty passive roles.”

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And the problem is, a little bit of gender stereotyping goes a long way.

“People, children included, have a strong drive to remember information that is consistent with what they know… It helps us navigate a sometimes scary environment.” says psychology professor Dr Christia Brown, author of Parenting Beyond Pink or Blue: How to Raise Your Kids Free of Gender Stereotypes. “The world becomes a more dependable place when I can predict how ‘all’ boys or ‘all’ girls will act. The problem is that all boys don’t act the same, nor do all girls.”

So, we gravitate towards stereotypes and ignore exceptions, perpetuating the idea that all girls like baking and make-up, and all boys should be principals and presidents.

So what can parents do?

It can be difficult to find gender-neutral clothes in high-street stores, so parents are turning to small, online retailers like Sewing Circus and Hipbaby.ie for less traditional options.

“I didn’t consciously set out to stock gender-neutral clothing, as initially I wanted to find skin-friendly clothes for my daughter who had severe eczema,” says Leona Kinahan, owner of Hipbaby.ie. “However, it soon became clear to me that there was a market for gender-neutral, high-quality clothing for children. My customers are very complimentary on lovely blues for girls and very little black or brown for boys.”

But the reality is, unless you make a conscious effort, it’s hard to avoid colour-coded clothes.

Particularly when there’s a birth announcement – there’s a rush to punctuate it with the flagship colours.

Seven years after that first shopping trip with my daughter, I asked her what her favourite colour is. “Blue,” she said, as she danced off in her sparkly pink shoes. Perhaps, like everything else, it’s about moderation.

A case for it

Mary Holmes, mum to a little girl, doesn’t think we should steer children away from

gendered clothes.

“Absolutely not. Why should they not make their own choices? If a little girl or a little boy is attracted to pink, let them choose,” says the personal stylist and owner of RubySeven.ie. “Children’s taste and interest in toys, colours and entertainment changes as they grow up, and what they prefer now may not be the same choice they will make in a year’s time. And many little girls move on from dresses to jeans and tops more quickly than their mums would like. But if that’s what they are more comfortable wearing, why restrict them?”

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How Skateboarder Hugo Villanova Made His Way to the Runway

The recent men’s fashion weeks highlighted a fair share of new faces, but few proved as compelling as Hugo Villanova. With blond curls, full lips, and graceful features, Villanova represents an idealized male beauty, one that designers have found irresistible. The newcomer made appearances at Public School, Dior Homme, Valentino, Tim Coppens, and Dries Van Noten, making him one of the industry’s most in-demand faces, a fact he finds surprising. “It’s unusual to find myself in this position,” Villanova tells Style.com. “I never thought of myself as a model, but getting to be a part of this [business] has been great so far.”

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Approached by scouts while visiting China with his family six months ago, the French face decided to try modeling because of the prospect of travel. At the time he was scouted, his interests lay more with skateboarding than catwalking. Back home in Bordeaux, Villanova and his friends documented their visits to skate parks, practicing tricks and uploading their best takes to social media. These days he finds time to mix work and play, posting clips of his skateboarding to Instagram as he travels the world modeling. “I love anything physical,” he confesses. “Skateboarding, biking—as long as I’m moving, I’m happy.”

Modeling has provided Villanova with one very big move, taking him from France to New York, where he temporarily relocated for work. With clients vying for his attention—he’s already shot several editorials in the short time he’s been in the city—he hopes to make the most of his new home. “I love that you can do everything here. I’m still exploring, still trying to learn all I can about fashion and New York.”

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There’s no doubt Chuck Taylors are cool. But comfortable? Not so much.

Converse plans on answering this long-standing critique on Thursday when it unveils a spiffier, pricier version of the nearly century-old sneakers. The biggest upgrade in the Chuck II, as the company is calling the revamped shoes, comes with technology imported for the first time from corporate parent Nike. Lunarlon, a lightweight, bouncy foam used in Nike’s running and basketball shoes, will now be found in Chuck’s rubber sole.

Converse Chief Executive Jim Calhoun, 48, knows exactly what people say when they gripe about his shoes: “I love them, I just wish I could wear them for more than a couple hours.”

He knows from personal experience, too. During an interview last week at new headquarters in Boston’s North End, Calhoun wore an untucked blue shirt, jeans, and black-and-white Chucks. Now he believes sneakers need to feel good to remain relevant. “Kids are growing up in a world where they know comfort, expect comfort, and won’t stand for discomfort,” Calhoun says.

Creating a more supportive shoe doesn’t sound like a groundbreaking project for a sneaker manufacturer, but few brands are quite as conservative as Converse. Simply messing with the Chuck Taylor All Star – as the iconic shoes are officially called – strikes fear into Converse fans and executives alike.

The old-style Chucks are one of the best-selling shoes of all time, with more than one billion pairs sold, and still account for a majority of Converse’s revenue. In short, people like the shoe as it has been and don’t want to see it change. Calhoun says he gets letters imploring him not to screw it up or “put a swoosh on it.” (That’s not happening, by the way.)

Chucks are that rare product that has remained a pop-culture mainstay for decades, worn by no less than JFK, the Ramones, Kurt Cobain, and Miley Cyrus. Inside the company, executives attribute much of that success to staying the same, staying classic, staying moderately uncomfortable.

“We’ve never sold more Chuck Taylors, and the company has never been as big or profitable as it is today without changing the product,” says Calhoun. “One of the curses of having an icon is a fear-particularly in the midst of success-of doing any changes.”

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Converse is on quite a run. Sales rose 21 per cent in the fiscal year that ended in May, surpassing Nike’s overall growth rate of 14 per cent, and hit $2 billion for the first time. Calhoun, who took the CEO job four years ago, decided that keeping up that pace meant embracing footwear innovation in earnest. Up to this point, newness at Converse has been centred on style and collaborations with designers like John Varvatos and Missoni, expected moves from a lifestyle brand.

Adding Nike tech will make Chucks more comfortable and conform to a footwear trend that has even seeped into dress shoes. It also gives Converse a much-needed “benefits” story, Calhoun says, something shoppers have come to expect when deciding on a smartphone or a running shoe.

Converse is also betting it will be able to charge more for an enhanced sneaker. The Chuck II, which also has better materials and a fully embroidered star logo, will fetch $15 more than the original. The price of high-tops will now be $75; revamped low-tops will sell for $70.

Still, sneaker conservatism is a hard habit to break. When the Chuck II hits stores on July 28, the revamped shoes will be sold alongside the originals. “I believe when people know that they can get a Chuck Taylor that’s super comfortable, they’ll run to the Chuck II,” Calhoun says. “Then we’ll figure out what the opportunity is for the original Chuck.”

Calhoun took the helm at Converse a decade after the shoe maker filed for bankruptcy, following stints running major divisions at Levi Strauss and Walt Disney as well as a stretch at Nike in the late 1990s as a director of basketball apparel.

Nike purchased Converse from a private equity firm for about $300 million in 2003, and by the time Calhoun showed up the retro shoes had already made a comeback and surpassed $1 billion in sales. But executives had little way to explain the sudden revival.

Early on, Calhoun recalls, he asked his executives simple questions almost as an icebreaker like: “Who is our customer?” “How are we going to keep up this growth?” He got back such drastically different answers that he soon realised there wasn’t a coherent plan. “It absolutely shocked me,” Calhoun says.

Nothing exemplified this more than Converse’s insistence to keep holding onto its past by continuing to make shoes for playing basketball – even intensifying the effort – despite little recent success. The forerunner to the Chuck Taylor debuted in 1917 as innovative footwear for the emerging sport of basketball. By the 1940s, almost every NBA player wore them.

Converse’s dominance continued for decades, helped by endorsements from superstars like Julius Erving and Magic Johnson, even as Chucks evolved into a casual shoe. In the 1980s, however, Nike and Michael Jordan would combine forces to all but own the basketball market. Calhoun decided to exit hoops in 2012 as his team reconsidered the brand. “We stopped for a second and said let’s figure out what’s working and who we are,” Calhoun says.

The cross-generational, retro appeal of Converse can obscure the fact that the company pitches itself mostly at what Calhoun calls the “active creative kid,” a teenager who doesn’t identify primarily as a jock. That niche seems to be a good fit – sales have grown an average of 15 per cent over the past three years.

After the two-year project to revamp the Chucks, this appears to be just the beginning of a shift at Converse to create a company open to borrowing from Nike. The alternative, as Calhoun sees it, would be “a company that is trying to nurture the past.”

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