FASHION & STYLE

When Hollywood’s A-list stars gather for a movie premiere, it is always news, especially when the movie in question is packed with top names.
But at the premiere of the new comedy “Morning Glory” held Sunday, Nov. 7, at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York, it was hard to tell where the news left off and the film began.
For “Morning Glory” is all about a morning news show, so it’s a film about news making news. Think “Good Morning America” or the “Today” show, except call it “Daybreak,” then add in Rachel McAdams starring as an up-and-coming young producer, and Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton as two warring on-air news-casting veterans and you’ve got the basis of this romantic comedy.
As McAdams told reporters at an earlier press conference, she discovered that getting into the spirit of her character wasn’t much of a struggle.
“We were fortunate enough to be invited into the control rooms of ‘Good Morning America,’ and the ‘Today’ show, and ‘The Early Show,’ and I just shadowed some executive producers there,” she recalled.
However, finding her way into her character necessarily took some imagination, as McAdams revealed.
“There are not a lot of female producers on those shows, though. It’s very uncommon. So I think there’s only been a handful at those bigger shows, which says something about the hours and what the job requires. I’ve realized it’s actually easier to be an actress than an executive producer on a morning television show! You have a little bit more time to yourself.”
Keaton laughed when asked which morning-show host she modeled for her slightly over-the-top anchorwoman, and immediately responded with “it was absolutely Diane Sawyer.” But Ford had a different take on his character, despite the presence of “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos at the night’s gala event.
“I didn’t want to imitate anybody else,” Ford said in his usual gruff style. “So I didn’t pattern my character after any particular newsman.”
All three stars posed prettily with the others involved with “Morning Glory,” including actors Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson, Ty Burrell, Mike Malloy and John Pankow, as well as producer J. J. Abrams, director Roger Michell and singer Natasha Bedingfield, whose song “Strip Me” is used in the movie.
Also on hand for the premiere were morning-show host Hoda Kotb, “Boardwalk Empire” star Gretchen Mol and Mario Lopez, who was reporting the news about the movie about the news for the television gossip show “Extra.”

Indian designers has adopted Pakistani style at Ludhiana fashion show.
Designer Charu Parashar showcased unique outfits in combination with Pakistani styles at a three-day long fashion extravaganza in Ludhiana.
Actress Mahi Gill walked the ramp in Pakistani-style Indian wear.
“I am sure people would love it and would like to see more fashion shows in the future,” said Gill.
Parashar said the fusion of Pakistani design set her collection apart from other designers.
In this show, I specially showcased Lahori pants and tried to give a Pakistani touch to my entire collection, which most of the designers do not use. You might have seen a cosmopolitan look in my designs at the beginning of the show, said Parashar.

A new study uncovers the decisions that happen behind the scenes of the glossy photos and slick commercials in the modelling industry.
Stephanie Sadre-Orafai, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor and socio-cultural anthropologist explored how casting agents consider race, the transformation of appearance, balancing fantasy and truth, and selling an image, plus how that process affects a culture’s views on race and image.
While their work is motivated by the aesthetic, their decisions are based on more than just a pretty face.
Their documentary style produces bodily knowledge about models that is both diagnostic and predictive, which they use to assess models’ suitability for other photographic contexts.
Reading these images, however, ultimately requires their expertise and is based on their first-hand interactions with models, which most frequently occur through casting encounters,” she said.
Sadre-Orafai said the agents took Polaroid photos and a series of digital images of four standard casting poses: the headshot, profile, torso and full-body.
“Rather than a binding representation of a model, the casting images were starting points or tools agents used in conjunction with stories to try to re-create the multi-sensory dimensions of a casting interaction, with the ultimate goal of arranging a face-to-face meeting or call-back between the model and the client,” she explained.
One of the surprising findings from the research was that many agents were critical of the fashion industry – as agents tried to not only balance fantasy and authenticity but also other fashion producers’ ideas about race, as part of their work.
“Casting is about heightening, animating and eventually restaging face-to-face interactions with models,” she concluded.
“As such, these casting images are never meant to replace in-person assessments. Instead, agents use layouts with their stark documentary aesthetic as tools to present clients with a greater range and number of models than they can see directly. Casting agents also emphasize the need for discursive framing of these images.”
The study was presented this week at the 109th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in New Orleans.

Pair of wings to the backs of many models can make them even taller than their long, lean stiletto-wearing frames normally do.
Lily Aldridge, Candice Swanepoel and Erin Heatherton are the newest to win Victoria’s Secret “angel” status reserved for its top models, and that means they got some of the best outfits to wear in the retailer’s annual catwalk show that showed on Tuesday .
At their fittings, though, these young women kept their eyes wide, their attitude humble and gave off more of the girl-next-door vibe than jaded fashionista.
Aldridge went to a casting about 18 months ago, got a catalog gig and then won a slot in last year’s show as one of the models in the teen-oriented Pink portion of the catwalk.


Aldridge says some people will now recognize her as she’s walking down the street. But her boyfriend, Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill, has yet to see to see her poster that previously hung in the window of the store in her downtown Manhattan neighborhood. “Hopefully they’ll put me back in,” she says.
“I shoot for Victoria’s Secret all year, so every day I do that, I have to be at my best. That means I have to be sleeping, having dinner with friends and be relaxed. I am always eating healthy and working out — but I had chocolate last night.”

Catwalk queen Kate Moss is considering setting up a modeling school.
The supermodel is planning to take aspiring Mossites under her wing and teach them how to look good in a snap.
“I think I could definitely open a modelling school,” she said.
“Kate`s Modelling School? Moss`s Models? Put Moss`s Models down! You need to see it as a skill. I mean, you can be the most intelligent person in the world, but it won`t make you a good teacher.
“It honestly can be very humiliating. It`s not just like, `Hold your left leg in your hand`. I guess you need to have an eye for art,” the Croydon caner told Company magazine.

Salma Hayek and Nicole Richie both are not tall, yet they are so stylishly turned out.
Their choice of clothes and shoes often help them add extra height to their looks. Here’s what you can try:
- Women with short heights should avoid cuffed trousers.
- Avoid long flowy anarkali kurtas and also loud flashy patterns.
- Dark solid colours, vertical stripes are the best bet.
- If you like to wear party dresses, then try a slit (like Kim Kardashian) to give your legs a slender appeal.

As the capital goes through one of its coldest winters, many are discovering the charms of the overcoat, an accessory once consigned to the bottom of cupboards and pulled out only for hilly holidays or snowcapped destinations abroad.
Men are flaunting it with formal suits, women are wearing them with trousers, suits and even saris and young women are readily teaming them up with dresses, long sweaters, jeans and slacks too.
Knee-length and even longer overcoats are selling like hot cakes in the market, with people demanding not just neutral colours like black, beige, grey and brown, but also those in varied bright colours, styles and patterns.