Listening to:

“Never Win” by FischerSpooner

.

Drinking:

Rum Rita

Mixologist: Jamie Mulholland of LOTUS

Ingredients
Note: One fluid ounce equals two tablespoons. 

2 2-inch cubes watermelon 
1/2 ounce simple syrup 
2 ounces Bacardi Límon 
1 ounce triple sec 
1/2 ounce Rose’s lime juice 
1/2 ounce sour mix 
Garnish: 1/2 lime

Simple syrup: 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup water in a saucepan

Mixing Instructions
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add juice and rum, and top with chilled champagne. Garnish with a pineapple leaf.

Simple syrup: 
Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for a few seconds. Set aside to cool.

Wearing:

Tangled Machine Necklace by Made Her Think

What’s problematic about falling love with this season’s statement necklace? Unfortunately, the semi-coy, strategic mixing of this piece into your daily wardrobe has a much shorter shelf-life then the accessories of seasons past .

When I discovered the Made Her Think line, I was overcome by curiosity, smitten with their distressed, rusted and well-worn industrial pieces. Since acquiring my well-loved longer version of this necklace, I have made it an inseparable, day-to-night  permanent staple.

As all you ladies know, getting ready for a night out usually entails a brief run-down of outfit possibilities with the usual coterie of gal pals. However, it is a fairly bad sign when your friends can stop you mid sentence, their ESP rendering you completely speechless, knowing your exact strategy for accessorization. This may make for an embarrassing moment now and again, but I will easily overlook a brief cheek flush for this must-have accessory. 

Lusting:

Sequin Dress by 3.1 Phillip Lim 

 Don’t you just love holiday parties? Whether your swinging back eggnog while a Bridget Jones look-alike is treating you to an off-key rendition of christmas karaoke or you are enjoying a flute of bubbly with your closest friends at a while counting down to your fresh start in 2010, it is absolutely essential adorn an absolute show stopper. Many opt for a LBD, but we all know that you can’t settle for blending in, so why not stand out in dazzling sequins from head to toe. With options from Alexander Wang, Ashish and this little number by Phillip Lim.

Style with:

Doing:

Attending the Sassy Chicks Fashion Bash

Yes, I concur. It may be a thoroughly questionably named event, but with the prospect of purchasing a few self-indulgent  pre-holiday gifts, I am willing to overlook it. With prices up to 80% off you need not worry about making it on to Santa’s naughty list. 
Enjoy  a complementary cocktail or two while browsing deals from Chanel, Prada, Dior, Gucci, Nanette Lepore, Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg and  many more. 

Consider purchasing two VIP tickets for $20 which will ensure you get the fist dibs on the designer goods, avoiding the predatory fashionistas. If that isn’t enough to sway you, you will also be treated to a gift bag of goodies, complementary cocktails and complementary spa services. 

Nu är jag i Bruket.
Som vanligt ångrade jag resan när tåget rullade in i ett halvtrist Karlstad, men när jag mötte upp underbara mamma insåg jag att det visst var rätt soft att vara där.

Vi kollade Luftslottet som sprängdes. Mamma snackade, fnissade på fel ställen och betedde sig precis som vanligt, haha… hon är go… hon gav dessutom högsta betyg till filmen.
Själv var jag lätt uttråkad under hela filmen och tyckte den var alldeles för långsam. Inte helt okej.

Efter filmen drog vi till Max och käkade skitmat bestående av pommes frites, dipp, chili cheese och Hot Fries N`Cheese. Anledningen till detta glamourösa val är för att de flesta restaurangen vi diggar stänger redan 21.
Jag orkar inte ens kommentera det faktumet…

När maten var svald och dricka uppdrucken dumpade mamma mig hemma hos min låtsas-farbror Janne. Snicksnackade med honom en stund innan jag tog pappas bil och drog till gammelpäronen.
När jag öppnade deras ytterdörr flög Gucci ut och skrek av lycka. Han är ju helt värdelös på att skälla, nu bara pep han ett långt gällt pip innan han slog knut på sig själv i sitt försök att vifta snabbare än snabbast på svansen <3

Idag har vi mest softat. Käkade lyxfrulle, knallat i skogen, läst lite The Dirt.
Ska försöka styra dagen lite mer. Ville bara lämnar ett livstecken.

Vogue Japan was given to me as a gift in reponse to my previous post about Lula Magazine. 20 pounds, 3 magazines, and about 30$ later I found out that this November Issue was MADE for me. I can’t read any of the articles, so the images do all the story telling.
From cover to cover (reading it backwards of course) Japan schools me on different boy meets girl looks and styles: a masculine look for a woman’s silhouette. Perfect.

OMG! You have been given another chance to own this Gucci bag and Fudge shorts! If you follow these directions carefully, you will probably rejoice forever. Here are the steps:

1. Go to http://www.german-proxy.de/.

2. Type http://www.stardoll.com/de/contest/view.php?id=180 in the URL box.

3. When you’ve signed in, you’ll see a quiz. Here are the answers:

• Chanel
• Spanischer Schuhdesigner
• Trenchcoates
• Prada
• Domenico & Stefano
• Koffer
• Rennpferd
• Italienisches Modehaus
• Tattookünstler
• Schwedisch

4. Press Submit and go to Stardoll for a designer surprise!

moccasins with signature web for Men

this is a MUST HAVE!

Gucci moccasins with signature web.

Gucci Sale

Save The Date

The Upcoming Fall Winter 2009 sale begins Tuesday, December 1st

Per il quinto anno di seguito continua la partnership tra l’Unicef e Gucci. Quest’anno la collezione natalizia in edizione limitata di Gucci, composta da borse e accessori come portachiavi e charms, è ispirata dalle illustrazioni del libro per bambini “Snowman in Africa” di Michael Roberts. Il libro stesso è acquistabile presso i negozi Gucci e il ricavato è devoluto totalmente all’Unicef, per quanto riguarda la collezione di borse sarà devoluto il 25%. L’iniziativa è a favore del progetto “Schools for Africa”.. come già accaduto la moda si presta ad una buona causa, quindi che motivo migliore di questo di acquistare questa collezione.

Nel dettaglio la collezione ha due fantasie differenti:

- una con motivi patchwork di pupazzi di neve e animali dell’africa (serpenti, scimmie, giraffe,…) su sfondo con le classiche doppie G di Gucci in color beige/ebano con dettagli metallici in oro chiaro:

- l’altra con motivi di pupazzi di neve ed elefanti sempre su sfondo con le doppie G ma in color bianco/beige e dettagli metallici in oro chiaro:

A me personalmente piace moltissimo il bauletto con gli elefanti e a voi?! Buono shopping! Xoxo.

Foto: Alex Mazilu

(Anterioarele ”capitole”)

Pe bulevardul Ferdinand, în fața clubului de jazz, oprește limuzină după limuzină. Majordomi îmbrăcați în tunici cu fireturi, înmănușați elegant, deschid portierele la capătul covorului roșu. În toalete de gală, coboară din mașini vipurile lumii noastre și se înșiruie la intrarea în club, făcând semne drăgăstoase către camerele de filmat aflate după cordonul de jandarmi.

- Aia cine-i? întreabă un jurnalist grizonat, cu ochelari cu rame invizibile.

- Care bă, blonda? Aia-i Nuți, ce naiba, nu mai vezi? îi răspunse un altul, deșirat și acneic.

- Nu, mă. Aia ca un cârnat strangulat. Ia uite-o ce duluri are! Și-a mai pus și rochia aia strâmtă, pațachina!

- Alma? Aia-i Președinta Camerei.

- Președinta Cămării, poate vrei să zici! Întuflecă din pricina stressului funcției. Ia uite-o cât e de dolofană! Și ce prezenvativ de piersică sintetică și-a tras pe ea!

- Termină, nu fi … Uite-l și pe Dinu! Ooo! Excelență!.. Ce faceți? Ați venit la expoziție?! strigă el către personajul ce pășea larg spre intrare.

- Mă întâlnesc cu niște amici, să bem o cafea. Pe Felix nu l-ai văzut? se îndreptă, colocvial, impozanta făptură către ziaristul deșirat, dând în laturi blana de la Prada și vădind un smoking violet. În buzunarul de la piept, nelipsita batistă fistichie, așezată cu o neglijență studiată. Cu un gest teatral, ivi încheietura mâinii de sub haină și lăsă pentru câteva secunde vederii tuturor un ceas superb, Constantin Vacheron.

Blitz-urile nu încetau să scânteie în înserarea răcoroasă. Aerul devenise vibrant și concret, ai fi putut să-l tai în felii, dacă te-ai fi gândit. Totul mirosea a parfum, veselie, lipsă de griji, strălucire și nonșalanță.

Pe trotuar își fac apariția patru creaturi jerpelite, în contrast pregnant cu atmosfera generală. Dau să pășească pe covorul roșu, însă doi dintre majordomi îi oprescu gest ferm.

- Dumneavoastră? Unde mergeți? Aici e o manifestare culturală de marcă! Nu puteți intra în halul ăsta!

- Este invitații! răspunse Jim, scotocindu-se în buzunarele jachetei murdare și sfâșiate. Unde am pus la el?… căută nedumerit și în buzunarele adânci până la genunchi ale patalonilor. Poftește! îi băgă el sub nas majordomului celui obraznic o hârtie mototolită de 5 dolari.

- Cred că glumiți, domnu’…

- Hayssam este la mine! Eu pretin cu Dottore! Facut la el donație la campanie mult euro, metru cubic de euro!

- Hayssam! se întoarse Dinu cu jumătate de trup. Ce faci, dom’le? Ce-i cu tine în halul ăsta? îi privi el circumspect.

- Văzut, bre valah puțit! Eu estem bretin la conașul! îl dădu la o parte cu dosul mâinii pe majordom și înaintă. Conu Dinucu… stai sa spuneam. Eu blecat cu balon zburator la egzpediția. Subt acoperit, Negrul Jim, de la roman american. Asta, neghiob mic si cocoșat, care facut figura si bagat la mine la bușcaria, vrut facem adentat. Venit cu șoarece atacat balon și venit fluture de la Gardaresgu și salvat  la ele.

- Băi, ești incoerent rău! Cum să faci un atentat cu șoareci? Șoarecii nu-s zburători! Termină cu prostiile! Delirezi, mon cher!

- Asta nu înțelege, zise dolofanul bărbos, întorcându-se către publicul care se distra răstălmăcind, trunchiind și transmițând informații distorsionate către cei care nu aveau acces direct la discuție. Eu drimit scrisoare. Voi nu pricepe la mine ce vrut să spunem. Îl luă pe Dinu de încheietura cotului și făcu gestul de a-l însoți înăuntru.

- Și cu noi cum rămâne? țipă înalt tânărul cu ochelari, rămas cu companionii lui pe trotuar.

- Voi vine cu vluture. El duce la voi în egzboziția, le aruncă Hayssam, vădit ironic, peste umăr.

- De fapt, noi nici nu vrem să mergem la expoziție… se replie tânărul. Noi vrem să navigăm pe canalele Deltei, acum că pică expediția în balon… Sau mergem pe mare… Tu ce zici, Huck?

- Mi-e frică de mare. Hai mai bine să studiem underground-ul orașului… Să coborâm în tenebrele lui! interveni Tom Sawyer, cu entuziasm.

Șirul de mașini uluitoare continua să oprească și să verse pe mocheta roșie, bridată pe margini cu auriu, toalete și accesorii pe care le poți vedea doar la Cannes. Murmurul general anunța o seară plină de magie. Nevăzut de nimeni, un șoricel cât o brichetă se strecură printre tocurile Christian Louboutin, Valleverde, Betsey Johnson, Gucci, Dino Ventura, Sergio Rossi, Ungaro și, cățărându-se prin blana ale cărei poale ajungeau la covor, se strecură în batista lui Dinu.

ShopNBC has expanded its luxury-watch assortment, adding high-end brands Tag Heuer and Movado to Gucci in its inventory. All this just in time for the holidays, in case you’re looking for a gift for us.

But you better have have a fat wallet if you want to buy any of these timepieces.

There is a Movado mother of pearl women’s Rondiro watch at $1,760; a Tag Heuer men’s Aquaracer at $1,187; and a Gucci women’s Signoria stainless steel watch with diamonds and mother of pearl, at $1,333.

But ShopNBC is trying to help you out: The watches are all on five Value Pays.

With the image of clear blue water behind them, Natasha Poly and Snejana Onopka star in the most recent Gucci Cruise campaign. Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, the duo alongside male model Ryan Kennedy, are the perfect picture of relaxation as they luxuriate poolside with Gucci bags and shades.

[photo credits: Gucci]

Key points covered by Suzy Menkes as opening remarks and philosophical guidelines to the conference, followed by a conversation with Gucci’s Frida Giannini…

“Let’s stretch our minds and think how those movie stars of the early XX century felt, when all of a sudden the industry enthusiastically embraced sound and abandoned silent movies.

We are in front of a similar evolution right now, with the phenomenon of social media. A new generation without deference for the legendary brands and stores is approaching the luxury industry.

Brands now are losing the control they had when they only appeared in controlled environment such as stores and magazines. Bloggers now morph into fashion critics. Let’s think of BrianBoy. Twitter funnels devastating comments in 140 characters to thousands of users.

At the same times brands have the fantastic opportunity, by harnessing technology, to reach out to a truly global audience. The purpose of this conference is to explore the positive effects technology can have on luxury.

There are both physical changes and a shift in the state of mind, the attitude.

- E-commerce is already a reality, ten years after its early stages.

- Social networking is an important shift in how people interact. Let’s think what would have happened if in 1989 people had had this opportunity: would the Berlin Wall have come down sooner?

- The endless opportunities offered by mobile phones are a reality. In Japan women wave their phones during catwalks: not for taking pictures, but for capturing the bar codes of the dresses.

- Smart fabrics can play a big role in the fashion and accessory industry.

- The Amazon Kindle offers a new format on which to visualize content, smaller than a PC but bigger than a smart phone: media will need to provide appropriate content.

Fashion and luxury should not feel threatened by bloggers, by interaction and feedback, by comments and suggestions. There is a lot of white noise but some blogs shine out.

You cannot slow down technology. You need to be able to identify the positive sides of techno. Thanks to technology luxury is back to its early days by customizing…online.

Have brands lost control?

Not really, if they are able to use the skills of brand management differently, and not recycling old ideas online. From a monologue to a conversation, embracing clients’ wishes and ideas.

Welcome to the first Techno Luxury conference in Berlin. A town with a hard edge and a vibrant, young population. With the signs of history, and high tech architecture epitomizing technology, the ideal framework with our discussion. You can participate in the debate by asking your questions from the audience, and from the web, via SMS and Twitter”.

My follow up: check out the Berliner Morgenpost video preceding the conference

Enter Frida Giannini, Creative Director @ Gucci.

She kicks off the conversation with Suzy Menkes by showing figures.

Time spent browsing by people aged 12-24 : online 47%, TV 47%, Newspapers 3%, Magazines 3%.  Her takeaway is: We need to open more to the new generation. We need to prepare a platform in order to follow customers who don’t browse printed media as a main source of information or inspiration. Check out the dynamic ad campaigns in the links below, half-ad, half-movie.

Gucci’s e-commerce kicked-off in early 2o02 with the US, now it also cover China China is already number one for e-commerce revenues. There are 2 millions customers on e-commerce. The Gucci Facebook page has half a million fans. For the new generations, the net is where we foster and build loyalty.

Just like Bailey also Giannini shows examples. Rihanna’s partnership on the handbag campaign was magnified by a making-of video, which is like a show behind the show. Video content is regularly updated (Gucci eye web). Giannini says A video crew now follows me, it’s embarassing at first but fans of the brand want to get a feel of the creative process.

The Gucci I-phone application got downloaded 3,500 times at the time of writing. The Gucci console epitomizes the strong relationship between music and the brand (it’s a powerful emotional vehicle). I follow online the next generation of musicians, music is core for my inspiration as it is for our fans.

It seems that Frida Giannini is speaking about a pop-star group. Quite a different language compared with Tom Ford’s sexed-up image, a static one. Experience Berlin’s page on Reflect and Connect. Put it in another way, it’s Burberry’s the Art of Trench again.

Suzy Menkes: Frida, do you use the social networks yourself?

Giannini: Yes, I browse the Facebook page 3 times a day.

Suzy Menkes: are you afraid the brand may run the risk of losing its cachet?

Giannini: not many people know that 80% of our handbags are still done by hand. Funnelling this information in our corporate narrative online using innovative media actually enhances our image.

Suzy Menkes: Frida, what is your “techno dream”?

Giannini: I would love to have a personal sales assistant always available for me.

Suzy Menkes: do you use Twitter?

Giannini: yes, I am surrounded by people who tell me what’s happening and keep on investigating the blurred frontiers of online media.

Suzy Menkes: are there any questions for Frida Giannini from Twitter or the audience?

My question to Frida Giannini: During the previous conversations and presentations there’s been a lot of talk about how to bring “the store” to the customer, ie online. Do you think that luxury brands, like Gucci - which have a large network of brick-and-mortar stores in fantastic but expensive locations – will also need to use technology the other way round, ie, for bringing more customers to the store? Do you think that Twitter, but also Location-Based-Service mobile applications will be helpful for engaging the customer?

Frida Giannini: Absolutely. The stores are empty now. There is no traffic. E-commerce is important, but technology can definitely help us bring more loyalty also to the brick-and-mortar store.

Suzy Menkes: THAT was a very good question!

My follow up: check out the symbiotic relationship between pop-up stores and social networks with Mark Ronson and Gucci partnership for the NYC opening – also on e-commerce, Canada just joined…cool Country uh?

Enjoy your thanksgiving in this world of shit. peace.

Transformer art

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If you didn’t know New Moon was released last week you must have been on another planet! Twi-mania is everywhere and it’s a seriously hot topic in my office. Well the Edward Vs Jacob issue is certainly discussed at every opportunity! And with the stars of the film appearing in every magazine under the sun it’s hard to not get talking about the fashion too. (Check out how gorgeous Ashley Green, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone and Kellan Lutz look in December Glamour).

On the Kristen Stewart front its been a little hit and miss. I’m not gonna start on the hair – surely there was something a hairdresser could have done with her Joan Jett mullet but anyway! She’s a gorgeous girl; a bit alternative, likes the rock chick look but finds the whole celeb thing a bit awkward – but that’s cool. This outfit however was not.

What the hell was she thinking? What was her stylist thinking? I know, I know it’s Proenza Schouler but it just isn’t a good look on her! She looks so much edgier in these more body-con numbers and the more feminine shapes are so much more flattering! Get its sorted Kristen.

(Kristen is wearing  J. Mendel, Gucci, Herve Leger, Valentino and Elizabeth  & James.  And some amazing Sergio Rossi peep toe shoes. LOVE.)

Wenn Geld knapp wird ist man für jedes Stückchen Luxus dankbar. Auch dann, wenn man sich diesen nur auf  Raten leisten kann. In der TV-Serie “Arme Millionäre” wirds ja vorgezeigt. Denn so schlimm die Situation auch ist, nach außen hin immer den guten Anzug tragen und zeigen, dass man sich selbst niemals aufgibt. Das scheint die Devise zu sein!

Beim Stöbern auf Facebook fällt eine Anzeige auf. “Luxus Bags – hier könnt ihr sie in Raten kaufen.” Fein, das wollte ich schon immer, endlich eine Prada besitzen. Und jetzt wird es möglich. Mit 9 Euro monatlich bin ich mit dabei. In der Welt der Schönen und Reichen. Schließlich las ich ein paar Tage zuvor, dass die Sicherheitsdienste in Hollywood bei den ganz Großen nun gute Umsätze machen. Bedarf gestiegen. Nun, Hollywood und “ganz groß” bin ich wohl nicht. Dafür muss es “Prada” sein. Wer sich jetzt mit Luxus umgibt, fühlt sich reich, und hält der Krise stand.

Es scheint wirklich einen Krisenindikator zu geben. Leisteten sich Frauen in den 20er und 30er Jahren vermehrt knallroten Lippenstift – wird von Estée-Lauder behauptet -, so ist es jetzt vielleicht auch Prada und Co?  Die zitierte Herstellerfirma von Kosmetika behauptet jedenfalls, dass ihr Lippenstiftabsatz schon seit Anfang 2000 auffällig steigt. Nun ja, statt Börsenprognosen zu lesen könnte man sich einmal auf die Verkaufszahlen von Lippenstift und Luxus Bags konzentrieren. Dann gelten keine Ausreden mehr wie: “Man konnte diese Finanzkrise nicht vorhersehen!”

AMW

QVC CEO Mike George

Then back in October, we couldn’t believe it when a sharp-eyed poster on QVC’s jewelry forum said that upscale jewelry designer Stephen Dweck, whose chunky gemstone masterpieces are featured in Neiman Marcus, was on the No. 1 home shopping network’s schedule. THE Stephen Dweck?

We checked QVC’s program guide ourselves, and there it was: Dweck was doing a lower-priced jewelry line for QVC called Dweck’s Diamonds. His Neiman Marcus pieces didn’t even have diamonds. The high-end stuff is made with semi-precious stones.

Also in October, we were checking the press releases on HSN’s Web site when we saw the network had struck a deal with one of the most famous and elite fashion houses: Badgley Mischka, designers of bejeweled gowns for the red carpet and celebrities.

We’ve written bits and pieces of this during the past two months, but we thought we’d tie it all up in a tidy package for Thanksgiving: There has been a sea change in the home shopping world, prompted by the disastrous economy and the crash of the luxury market.

Yes, home shopping networks have seen their sales hurt by the economy, like everyone else. But they claim they are still managing to steal market share from brick-and-mortar retailers. In fact, QVC is making a full-frontal assault on them this Black Friday, with 28 hours of special products and programming stunts starting Thanksgiving night.

The consumer press will continue to mention “cubic zirconia” in every story it writes about QVC or HSN, oblivious to the fact that some of the most esteemed names in fashion, jewelry and cosmetics — brands you find in Saks, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus — are plying their wares on the aforementioned home shopping channels.

ShopNBC CEO Keith Stewart

Male journalists are blind to this. You still have the nerds at Gawker, a snide Web Site for the navel-gazing media, chiding HSN for selling “useless crap.”

If you have ever seen how male journalists dress or their fashion and style sensibilities, you will realize that you can’t expect them to know names like Badgley Mischka, Judith Ripka, Robert Lee Morris, our fellow Montclair, N.J., resident Bobbi Brown, Yves Saint Laurent, Smashbox, Lancome and Dweck. And these brands and artists don’t represent “useless crap.”

Luxury-good makers are hurting, and they need to make up their loss in sales. So they are turning to outlets like QVC, as CEO Mike George explained at a recent Liberty Media conference, as outlets to distribute new lower-priced lines to the masses. George cited fashion designer Vivienne Tam’s QVC alliance at the meeting held in Manhattan by his parent company, Liberty.

“This complete implosion of luxury retailing in America has caused all these folks to rethink their business model,” George said.

And that means partnering with QVC, HSN or ShopNBC.

As we said, it will take the consumer press years to figure out that home shopping channels are distribution powerhouses that have undergone a transformation, in part because of the infllux of talent like a Morris, who does couture jewelry for designers like Donna Karan and RLM Studio sterling silver jewelry for QVC.

The Big Three — QVC, HSN and ShopNBC — are aggressively trying to broaden their audience and potential customer base, those who don’t normally watch any of these three networks. That means the three are actually “programming” the channels, doing “shows” that have entertainment value, not just product shilling, so they will attract non-QVC or non-HSN watchers.

We remember once interviewing a QVC exec years ago and asking what the network’s ratings were. He said ratings were irrelevant: QVC was only concerned about how many products were sold in an hour.

HSN CEO Mindy Grossman

That’s a totally different tune from what we heard recently from QVC’s George, and from the strategies that HSN CEO Mindy Grossman and ShopNBC CEO Keith Stewart have initiated.

Like traditional TV networks, the home shopping players want viewers to “sample” a QVC or an HSN. These new audience members, hopefully, will then see products that they want to buy.

For example, singer Natalie Cole recently did a live concert on HSN to promote a new Holiday CD set she is selling on the channel. If you’re a fan, you might tune in to HSN to see her, and then actually decide to purchase her CD. Artists such
as Jose Feliciano have also performed live on QVC.

QVC alum Stewart on a recent third-quarter conference call pointed out that actress-entrepeneur Suzanne Somers, who came to ShopNBC from HSN, had succeeded in attracting new viewers to Minneapolis-based ShopNBC because she was “entertaining.” And these networks want new eyeballs.

And home shopping networks’ capacity to reach millions of consumers and do fulfillment of orders has not been lost on magazine publishers, celebrities or cable’s reality TV stars. With circulation falling, women’s magazines such as Lucky, Allure, Glamour and Self are partnering with HSN to sell subscriptions.

And stars have seen the light. In a recent interview in Oprah Winfey’s O magazine, Joan Rivers, who’s had a jewelry line on QVC for almost 20 years, told O she was on home shopping when “nobody except dead celebrities was doing merchandise on TV.”

Nowadays, it’s hard to find a celebrity or TV star who doesn’t have a home shopping line. Even Madonna was interviewed on HSN when she was selling her children’s book.

Here’s a partial list:

Paula Abdul, HSN, formerly “American Idol,” Fox

Rachel Zoe, QVC, “The Rachel Zoe Project,” Bravo

Isaac Mizrahi, QVC, “The Fashion Show,” Bravo

Padma Lakshmi, HSN, “Top Chef,” Bravo

Ramona Singer, HSN, “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo

Susan Lucci, HSN, “All My Children,” ABC

Carson Kressley, QVC, “How to Look Good Naked,” Lifetime Television

Dr. Robert Rey, ShopNBC, “Dr. 90210,” E! Entertainment Television

Tori Spelling, HSN, “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood,” Oxygen

Paula Deen, QVC, Food Network

Rachael Ray, QVC, “The Rachael Ray Show,” syndication

Ingrid Hoffmann, HSN, Food Network and Univision

Home shopping is a big business. ShopNBC is the also-ran in the group, but in the third quarter Stewart made some nice progress cutting its losses. Sales for the Big Three were all down, but down less than previous quarters.

And we are not talking chump change for these networks. The three home shopping channels generated $8.3 billion in net revenue in 2008. QVC domestic posted $4.9 billion, HSN netted $2.8 billion and ShopNBC had $568 million.

Even with revenue still slipping this year, for the first nine months QVC had revenue of $3.308 billion; HSN had net sales of $1.4 billion; and ShopNBC had $372.6 million in net sales.

Happy Thanksgiving!

WTF?

Here are the tag stats for today and yesterday, who the hell looks for porn and sex on WordPress? I find this hilarious as they are the only tags that really get results. My other site, http://indianajerk.com which I blog my overseas adventure travels on, uses highly focussed, high traffic SEO tags which do get me quite good results. Things such as “Killing Fields”, “Angkor Temples”, “Thailand Hotels” etc, these work well and get better with the age of the website (Google crawlers take the site’s age into account). But amazingly, AntiNerd has achieved over 80 hits per day consistently during weekdays and is less than two months old.

I attribute this to a few things. First the blog itself is like a cross between Seinfeld and Big Brother. It incorporates feelings, experiences, real human insights, comedy, emotion and has absolutely fuck-all themes. It’s about nothing more than whatever the hell I feel like writing about for the day. Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down, but it’s all real, all raw, and people like to see themselves in others. People can relate to some of my ups or downs, it’s good to see others feel or experience what you do.

Secondly I attribute Facebook and Tags. I don’t take tags seriously on AntiNerd, I put anything really but notice some terms pull traffic (pun intended). Facebook links help lots, when I update, I link it on Facebook and the majority of my traffic is attributed to it being linked by myself and other people on their profiles. Nice work Facebook.

Third on the traffic tip is ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends (not mine you idiots, although it’s OK to be gay, fight the power, ruby slippers and all that), and other obsessed people desperately trying to find some hidden meaning about them nestled within my posts. They tend to forget I have an upgraded premium hosted account where the statistics and traffic information is quite extensive. One person in particular visits at least once a day to either click “I hate you” on my poll, or scan for any details that may support the ultimate controversy they have concocted in their brain. This is my blog, it’s about me you fucking idiots, not you. Stop reading so much into it, go and buy Greame Base’s book The Eleventh Hour if you are that desperate to discover a secret mystery. By the way, it was 111 mice that ate all the food. Poor Horace the Elephant.

So, stats, checkout the tags: 

Today

Yesterday

And my favourite for yesterday and today:

What’s not to love…it’s Gucci over Drake beats!  Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

DOWNLOAD LINK: DatPiff

SOURCE: Peas & Carrots

The favourite look from Milan Fashion Week SS10, only 4% more than D&G in second place….

firstview.com

The SEXY list…

1. Amanda LePore
2. Miami…South Beach
3. Naomi Campbell
4. Gold and Diamond Plated Mercedes, Lamborghini’s and Bentley’s
5. Leighton Meester “Somebody to Love”
6. Shakira “Did it Again”
7. Pierre Fitch…Gay Porn Star
8. Celebrity Sex Tapes
9. Bow Ties
10. Excessive Faux Fur
11. Christian Louboutin
12. Couture Hats
13. Vivienne Westwood
14. Enormous Gucci Purses
15. Fingerpainting
16. The first snow in the city
17. The Kindle II
18. The Guerlain $62,000 Lipstick
19. Diamond Lighter Necklace
20. The Smart Coffee Maker
21. The Dubai First Master Card…The most exclusive credit card in the world
22. Vintage Love Beads
23. “Snuff” by Chuck Palahniuk
24. “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
25. The Defaming of a beauty queen…The tragedy of Carrie Prejean
26. Porn Star/Lingerie Designer Tera Patrick
27. Genius Club Kid/Murderer Michael Alig

Eyes Open…We’re Watching!!!

Snejana Onopka and Natasha Poly for Gucci Cruise 2010 Campaign

Patrizio di Marco, CEO of Gucci confirmed this week the acquisition of the production sites of two Tuscan leather manufacturers Toscoval and Valigeria Toscana. A joint venture company has been created, GT srl of which 51% is controlled by Gucci and the rest by the 2 manufacturers. According to Di Marco, the move is a strategic one, considering Gucci’s commitment to continue manufacturing all its products in Italy. Di Marco also annouced that by the end of 2010 a museum dedicated to Gucci will open in Florence.