FASHION BY THE RULES – Star Power

Most of this readership is probably too young to know who Mike Todd was or for that matter that there really was a Conrad Hilton, as in Hilton Hotels or more current as in Paris Hilton. Elizabeth Taylor was one of the last of the really great and true Hollywood stars. She is not comparable to anyone we really know of as a star in the Hollywood of today. She in her own way was the impetus for paparazzi coverage of a film star and defined Hollywood glamor for decades. Here’s something that most young people of this generation cannot imagine; she owned her own jewelry and bought her own clothes and owned them. There were no stylists and no Rachel Zoes. Another thing that you guys will find hard to believe is that her tabloid life was about her life and not only about the tragedies or addictions or divorces, which yes were a great part of her life but somehow she rose above it and became a legend when there were so many of her peers who faded into oblivion.

Anyone who only knows of Ms. Taylor from her Michael Jackson antics, her Larry Fortensky period or her AMFAR days, needs to have a look back on her life, her beauty and her celebrity. So many of the photographs are not retouched or were taken way before there was photo shop or airbrushing; imagine she never had a nose job nor did she ever have her boob adjusted. By 2011 standards she would almost be a freak of nature having never been “altered.”

It is sad that this generation has no one who can measure up to the star power of Elizabeth Taylor not anyone who had given of themselves in the same way that she did. The one thing that is blatantly true is that there is no stronger force than money, and with that there is almost no task that is impossible. She tirelessly raised and contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the charity that was nearest to her heart. She did not just donate money and pay lip service to the charity, she didn’t adopt children to show her loyalty to a cause, and instead she went out and beat those bushes and used her power of celebrity to bring about a change and an awareness that affects our country and the world. The only one who “might’ hold a candle to Ms. Taylor is Oprah, but even there, it is a pale comparison. Sorry kids, you missed out on what real stars can do and what real stars are made of!

Headlines This Week 8/14

• Agyness Deyn pays tribute to Michael Jackson in a special subscriber-only collectors cover of the September 2009 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, out August 18. JustJared.com
• Seoul is working on painting thousands of parking spaces pink to accommodate women who choose to wear high heels. The spots will be like handicap spaces, the idea being women won’t have to walk as far to the mall or work or job interviews. NYMag.com
• Stylesight has been noticing a lot of men in leggings lately, and kindly e-mailed us the above snapshots. Apparently meggings have been pouring into the streets of New York, Paris, London, and Tokyo since last year. Popgloss.com

• Spotted: Tory Burch and Georgina Chapman filming cameos this week for the upcoming season of “Gossip Girl.” WWD.com
• From Posh and Becks’s steamy Emporio Armani ads, Gisele’s bump-free London Fog campaign, Scarlett Johansson’s sultry Mango images, Bar Refaeli’s barely-there Rampage sitting and more, fall ads are showing plenty of skin. And now, supermodel Kate Moss joins the crowd with her vampy Just Cavalli ads. People.com

• Perez Hilton Saves Fashion. Well, not really but today he officially launched his new blog, Coco Perez, a snark fest aimed at the fashion world sponsored by The Gap. Cocoperez.com

Headlines This Week 7/3

Photo courtesy of WWD.com

• Say what you will about Michael Jackson during the last few years of his life — and with the baby-dangling-out-the-window behavior, bad plastic surgery and child molestation allegations, a lot has been said — but it takes a certain kind of star to turn a single sequined glove into a cultural symbol. WWD.com
• Cheap Chic Weddings just declared a winner of their toilet-paper wedding dress contest. The grand prize went to Ann Kagawa Lee of Honolulu, who made this spectacular confection from nothing more than toilet paper, tape, and glue. NYMag.com
• This is a really interesting shoot..I’m not the biggest fan, she’s got a great body though. Popgloss.com

Photo courtesy of PerezHilton.com

• Our guest blogger today is the designer and blonde’s blonde, Donatella Versace. Versace is in town briefly to host tomorrow’s official opening of Art Unites, an initiative created in collaboration with the Whitney’s education department. NYTimes.com
• The Project Runway Season 5 winner Leanne Marshall for Bluefly collection and today the official images are released. The range include dresses, jackets, skirts, pants and tops made of eco-friendly fabrics except for the gown. Nitrolicious.com
• I’m going to star covering a bit of the fashion (fans and bands) from the 2009 Vans Warped Tour, that started over the weekend in California and is now stationed in New Mexico. See how they’re dressing, and plan what you’ll wear when Warped heads to your city! FashionIndie.com

Photo courtesy of FashionIndie.com

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