Okay…okay…I realize I just showed my age (along with revealing the fact that I once listened to Winger). “Her daddy says she too young, but she’s old enough for me.” (That was for those of you who know the song)…LOL!

But on a more serious note…

I have to tell you about this student of mine…she’s seventeen, a senior.  BOTH of her parents died when she was at an early age, and she now lives with her older brother and his girlfriend.  From what I have gathered…the brother is not extremely stable himself because my student has no personal doctor, medical insurance (no Medicade yet), or personal transportation.

She came in to first period this morning, limping…acting as though it really pained her to walk. After everyone got settled, I asked her if she felt okay. She said she did, but another student said, “No Ms. Friendly! She just left the hospital this morning at 4 a.m. and she should go home!”

The “sick” student protested and said she felt fine. I told her, after looking over her release papers, that I wanted to speak to her in the hallway. I was alarmed because it seemed as though she had a miscarriage. I saw the words “pregnancy terminated by vacuum” written in her diagnosis. My heart immediately went out to her.  She said that she didn’t even know that she was pregnant. She also said that the fetus died while inside of her…she was THREE months pregnant.

She went on to explain to me that she has only had sex twice in her life, and doesn’t see how all those other girls run around doing it without getting “caught.”  She said she had questions when the nurse was talking to her, but her brother was in the room and she didn’t feel she could ask…She was concerned about internal infection, seeing as how the fetus was deceased when born.  I urged her to find a gynecologist.  She said that she would as soon as her brother applied for her Medicaid.

I tried to answer her questions to the best of my ability as well as give her a comforting hug. I felt so sad for her. These kids deal with so much! I just wish that I could save all of them!

Life is just so delicate…

When I was in high school, I began to shop at thrift stores.  Wearing vintage clothing was fun for me and my giggly girlfriends.  Now, I shop there because I can find a pie tin for 49 cents.  For 99 cents, I can find a thirty-four year old issue of teen girls’ favorite magazine.

I’d be happier if the first adjective that came to my mind when I saw the cover was “groovy” and not “sporty”.  Still, Chris Evert’s hair is feathered quite nicely, so it’s not all bad.  I stopped reading this magazine when I graduated high school, so I cannot compare it to what the mag currently is like.  But, it is a bit different than the issues I perused.

Most noteworthy difference is the abundance of ads geared towards engagement.  I remember this being a high school girls magazine.  In high school parents are typically shoving their daughters towards college or even a job.  Most girls are not looking for their wedding ring.  There were also ads for china patterns, one with a feathered haired girl standing in a meadow with a soft glow effect on the entire picture.  There were an abundance of soft glow pics in this issue come to think of it.  The 70’s were dreamy.

The other huge difference were the ads for clothing patterns for the youth of America to sew themselves.  Now, I would honestly love to know how to sew.  But when I was young, hand made outfits meant you were home schooled and smelled like oatmeal.

There were TONS of ads for shoes and they all looked like these.  They actually look comfy and would give me a few inches of height, so now I want some.

It’s a blanket!  It’s a poncho!  BLANCHO!

I could be wrong, but aren’t jeans at K-Mart still about eleven bucks?

Saved my favorite for last:

Gee my hairdo is wide.  Gee are you going to bite me?  Gee I want a bottle of this to see if it’s the truth.

The articles in the magazine are dull.  It was all about the ads for me.

miley-cyrus-and-liam-hemsworth-in-the-last-song- idea girl consulting

I was surprised when I saw the Trailer for The Last Song at the movies this week.

I enjoyed a good laugh while watching Old Dogs.

The Trailer is about two kids that fall for each other while a girl is staying with her father.

Here I thought it that Miley Cyrus was going to do a Last Song as Hannah Montanna, and I’m totally blown away by the trailer.

So it’s interesting to see that our darling Miley Cyrus is actually entering the world of acting as a serious contender on the People’s Choice Awards and yes I voted for her, she’s not only a singer, songwriter, but an actress too!

Good for you girlie, you’re very good at what you do, whatever you do, you never seem to fail!

I wish I had your luck!

As for Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth dating, I think they are, secretly dating.

Since when do you bring your co-star home to meet the parents?

I’m thinking, yeah you guys are dating in some shape or form.

I’m happy for them!

Miley-Cyrus-Seventeen-Magazine-Dec-Jan-2009-Cover-Photo idea girl consulting

Vote for Miley Cyrus at the People’s Choice Awards

miley cyrus the 33rd annual peoples choice awards new arrivals movies idea girl consulting

youtube channel watchtheguild made this video so far they have over 5,969,036 views.. cool or what?

Directed by: Jed Whedon
Music by: Jed Whedon
Lyrics by: Felicia Day
Main Vocal: Felicia Day
Rap: Jeff Lewis and Sandeep Parikh
Backup Vocals: Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon
Director of Photography: Omer Ganai
Choreography: Chantal Robeson
Edited by: Jeff Yorkes
Produced by: Christian Agypt, Felicia Day
Costumes: Sarah Trost
Weapons: Greg Aranowitz
Production Design: Tyler Robinson

Depois de ter se auto nomeado “a nova Britney Spears“, Smiley Cyrus decidiu mudar de rumo e agora a  “Disney Girl” diz que vai ser a nova Beyoncé. Veja abaixo  a  declaração  dela para Seventeen magazine:

Eu quero ser a Beyoncé. Ela é a mulher que todas querem ser. Você olha pra ela e você não pensa, eu imagino como é sua vida pessoal. Você olha pra ela e vai, aquela garota no palco é uma superstar. Você não se importa com nada mais; apenas com sua música. Então eu quero ser ela…”

Bem que tentar ela tenta, vejam o vídeo abaixo depois de 1:40:

Ah Miley, me poupe, você não vai chegar tão cedo (se é que vai um dia) chegar no patamar onde as Divas estão. Pare de querer ser, e se esforce para ser algo além de Hannah Montana. Sua música Party in the USA é ótima, siga neste caminho que quem sabe.

P.S: Desculpem o tom do tópico, mas é que fiquei, aff!

Gilvan Oliveira
XX

Only one more week until the release of what Twilight fans have been waiting for–the ‘New Moon’ movie, playing in theaters on 11/20/09!  For more information, visit the official ‘New Moon’ website by clicking here.  To pre-order your tickets, click here.

Official ‘New Moon’ extended movie trailer:

Last year I attended the midnight showing of ‘Twilight’ at Rome Cinemas 8 in Rome, NY.  I prepared a special ‘red carpet’ event as part of a reporting assignment for Seventeen Magazine.  Check out some of the photos below!

My section I setup in the movie theatre. Two twilight posters, seventeen/twilight background over hollywood stars, red silver & black balloons, twilight book, apples, movie reel, twilight soundtrack played in the background.

To get ready to cover the premiere of Twilight for Seventeen.com, I rolled out the red carpet! I interviewed fans about their thoughts on the book and movie, and took photos and videos of their reactions. I set up a background to take pictures in front of, and played the entire soundtrack as Twilight fanatics raged about their favorite scenes and characters!

Taylor, 17 and Tanner, 14. “We’re Team Edward ALL THE WAY!!!!! One of our favorite scenes was when Edward first stepped out into the sun and sparkled!”

Audrey, 15. "I LOVE Jacob Black because he’s so nice and caring! To get ready for the premiere, I made my own t-shirt and memorized the entire soundtrack!"

Sami, 15. "To get ready for the premiere, I took ideas from Seventeen.com’s Style Blog to get Bella’s comfy & casual look for a typical day in Forks! Bella is one of my favorite characters because she’s cool and down to earth…I like her style AND her boyfriend!"

Desiree (me!) 19, Arielle, 19. "We’re ‘Team Edward’ because we just can’t get over that crooked little smile! We loved the prom scene at the end of the movie, especially when Bella & Edward slow danced alone on the patio decorated with the gorgeous lights. We also loved the part when Edward saved Bella in Port Angeles—what a rush!"

Seventeen released an article I just heard of recently titled: My Boyfriend Turned Out To Be A Girl.

Seeing something like that just gives me a bad feeling. Considering the fact that I’m a lesbian-indentified genderqueer dating an FTM, reading this article definitely left me with less than happy feelings. The T in LGBT is obviously an issue close to my heart, and I can’t believe the journalism this time.

A few notes about the article: Bolded text in the center reading “It felt like my whole first love was a lie,” a picture that has one of those scribble arrows with “He is really a she!” under it, and the comparison stories of Total Betrayal: “He’s a druggie!” “He’s a Perv!” and “He’s a Dad” snippets at the bottom. Wtf Seventeen?!

Pam’s House Blend reads:

In quick summary, in the Seventeen magazine issue for November, a young adult named Sheri, in an “as told to Jessica Press” article, talks about dating someone who the article describes as a liar — a female-to-male young trans man who the article proclaimed as really being a “she.” The bolded and enlarged segment of the article text, put into a text box in the center of the piece, stated “It felt like my whole first love was a lie.”

The thrust of the article, from the article headline to the bolded and highlighted text, seemed to be that female-to-male transsexuals are really females who are deceiving others. This isn’t supported by “Sheri”/Jessica Press’s use of proper pronouns throughout the piece, but it is accomplished in the headline chosen for the piece, and the highlighted and bolded call-out boxes for the piece.

In no way am I saying there shouldn’t be freedom of speech and press, and all of that…but Seventeen having an article like this and presenting in the way that they did is unbelievable to me. I don’t read the magazine (I used to all the time, but mostly for the embarrassing stories XD), but it’s understood that many young adults do. The girl in the article presents in a understandable way (by using correct pronouns, admitting she would have stayed with him, and overall being pretty cool about it), but I think Seventeen is actually the one to blame for the bad taste in my mouth.

Who edits this magazine? There are certain rules to be followed, from what I understand, in the journalism world; and whoever wrote this article just scrapped a lot of those rules. Using this article to slap a label of liar and deceiver on someone is defamatory, correct?

This is why this society really needs to reform it’s thinking (and it’s writing).

As Pam said. Words Matter.

Read her site and her article on this.

~Peace, Love, and Equality For All.~

A copy of the article can be found here. Visit Pam’s House Blend for the full report. Click here to send a response to the transphobic article in Seventeen Magazine.

I was way less than impressed when I found out that there was a story featured in the November issue of Seventeen Magazine that could be considered quite transphobic.
It was titled, “True Life Drama: My BOYFRIEND turned out to be a girl!”

The story itself isn’t that transphobic..
The girl who wrote it actually expressed that she genuinely loved the guy, and that if he had just told her he was trans, instead of keeping it a secret, she wouldn’t have been as upset. She was actually fairly respectful, and still continued to use male pronouns throughout the article.

It was Seventeen magazine’s title for the article, the category they put it under (true life drama, betrayal), and the inclusion of types of  betrayal, secrets, or lies girls have experienced with their boyfriends (one girl’s boyfriend was a drug dealer, another was a father, and the other, a pervert), that really bugged me. (Almost as though to say lying about one’s physical sex, via OMISSION, is a heinous act.)

The way they titled the article, categorized it, and edited it, makes the transman in question sound like a really bad person. They make the guy look pretty bad.. and the thing that bothers me the most is that it makes ALL transmen look bad.. and it only creates MORE transphobia in the world. The kids reading this article will think trans people are bad. It doesn’t help them understand transsexuality at all..
As though there wasn’t already enough negative exposure of trans people in the media.

I remember being a confused teenage “girl”.. and I read Seventeen, and other magazines like it, like they were gospel. Whatever was said in that magazine, I took it all in.. it formed my opinion on alot of things.. opinions that stuck with me for most of my life.
At that age, we are so impressionable.. and it really concerns me, knowing that teens are reading this kind of stuff.
One of my life’s goals is to educate people about transsexuality.. and then bad editing jobs like this happen, the story is sensationalized, and bam, kids are being taught transphobia.

All trans people have the right to be stealth if they want to be.. and while it is a good idea to tell a person you are involved with that you are trans, some trans people don’t even want to go there.. they just want to be seen for who they are. Maybe they’re afraid of losing the person, maybe they’re afraid something bad will happen to them if they divulge that information.. but regardless, they have the right to do what they feel comfortable with.
It’s not some horrible crime to keep your physical sex a secret.
.. and yet, the reason transman Brandon Teena was raped and murdered was because people had that kind of mentality.. and so was transwoman Gwen Araujo, only 17 years old at the time.

People fear what they don’t understand.
And sometimes, that leads to lashing out.
People need to be eductated on the subject of transsexuality, so things like that don’t happen anymore.
Transphobia doesn’t NEED to be further perpetuated..
but unfortunately, whether or not Seventeen Magazine realizes it, that’s what they just did.

Check out Pam’s House Blend for the PDF files of the article.
Along with the PDF files of the article, you’ll also find more information about how to get in contact with Seventeen Magazine, if you’d like you share your concerns with them.

The November issue of Seventeen Magazine featured a story entitled “True Life Drama: My BOYFRIEND turned out to be a girl!”  Seventeen could have used this story to educate people on transgender issues but they did not.  Not only did they use a accusatory tone towards transgender people, they furthered the transphobic assumption that anyone who’s gender does not match their sex assigned at birth is a liar and a fake.

Write a letter to Seventeen regarding the article (mail@seventeen.com)  telling them that this is not ok.  I really suggest you read the article because it really is incredibly offensive and even compares many transgender people to perverts and drug addicts.  Not okay.

Here at Saucy Cherie, we hold two truths quite dear. One: we are saucy! And two: we love Halloween.

This year, we are hatching a plan for a monster movie marathon with friends, complete with a booooffet of horrors d’oeuvres.

We are in full party planning mode and here are our ideas thus far. 

Nothing goes better with movies than popcorn. We can’t decide between these two ideas: pumpkin pie spiced pumpkin seeds tossed with regular popcorn, or caramel apple popcorn. For the latter, we’re thinking of combining two separate batches of flavoured popcorn: tossing caramel corn with a batch from this recipe (thank you Seventeen magazine).

one bowl of fresh, dry white popcorn
one small pkg of green apple Jell-O
one cup sugar
one cup corn syrup
Combine all but popcorn in saucepan and heat until it bubbles-stirring constantly. Drizzle over popcorn, mix well to coat. Pour popcorn onto wax paper to set.

Then, we’re on to the savory yummies.

BLOODY MARY DIP

1 small or 1/2 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup clamato
1/3 cup tomato paste or sun dried tomato
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon red dye
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix and chill. We’re going to serve ours with celery sticks, cucumber and fat pretzels for dipping.

MONSTER MASH
While we plan to serve this as a spread for baguette, we are also dazzled by the thought of spreading it on naan and topping it with cambazola to melt in the oven.

Roasted Garlic and White Bean Spread

Prepare the garlic by trimming the top of a bulb and placing it on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil over the exposed tips, sprinkle a bit of coarse salt, and wrap tightly in the foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour.

Spread
Cloves from two medium heads roasted garlic
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp or more coarse kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil for thinning (optional)

Vinaigrette
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
Sliced baguette, toasted pita bread wedges, or crusty Italian bread for serving.

To make the spread: Squeeze the soft, golden cloves out of their skins into the bowl of a food processor. Use the back of a spoon to mash the cloves against the side of the bowl. Add the beans and salt and process until the mixture is smooth and holds its shape. (If the mixture is too thick, stir in a little olive oil.) Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, if desired.

To make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl or cup, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and mustard.

To serve, mound the spread on a plate and drizzle with vinaigrette. Serve with sliced baguette, toasted pita bread wedges or crusty Italian bread.

BAT WING DRUMETTES

We love the graveyard good looks of exposed bone when you scrape chicken wing drumettes into lollypops. We are going to create a sticky/ burnished/lacquered teriaki version of chicken wings.
Use 3 lbs (1.3 kg or 24 pieces) of chicken wings: Using a paring knife, cut around the bone just below the knuckle, at the skinny end of each drumette. Slice through the meat and tendon. Scrape the meat up towards the fat end of the drumette, creating a ball-like shape at that end. (There is no need to be precise; the cooking process will complete your artistry.) Trim off the bit of fat at the knuckle. Transfer chicken to a large re-sealable plastic bag with marinade for at least two hours.
Marinade
1 C. soya sauce
1 C. honey
1 1/2 T. ginger  (or more if you like)
1/4 C. lemon juice or Jack Daniels (or other whiskey or bourbon)
3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic

Put on sheet and bake with the marinade on them for about 1 hr. at  400.   Flip wings throughout cooking so both sides are nice and brown.
Just before eating – drizzle honey over top of wings and cook just a bit longer.

SEA CREATURE SKEWERS

What’s easier than threading shrimp onto skewers, grilling and dipping?

We are torn between a pumpkin seed satay sauce and a pumpkin seed pesto. We can imagine how bright tasting a cilantro/lemon/cumin/coriander/orange zest pesto would be — and perfect with grilled shrimp.

CANAPEYES

Simple. Brush baguette slices with Italian roasted red pepper spread. Top with slices boccocini and green olives for eyes. Eat.

she’s on the november issue of seventeen magazine! way to go ally! i hope to see you in vogue soon

Seventeen Magazine Stirs Up Bad Journalism
With Trans Article

In their November 2009 issue, an article written in Seventeen magazine told the story about a young girl and her first true love. Except not all sides of the story were told.

The article revealed that the girl found out that the boy that she’d been dating for a year was biologically female. However, what the story didn’t do was highlight trans issues in a way that those who don’t identify as non-trans would understand.

The defamatory language used in the article suggests that all trans people are “liars” and “deceptive.”

Founder & Editor-in-Chief of LezTalkNYC wrote the Editors at Seventeen. Here’s what she had to say:

Dear Seventeen,

Sincerely,
Margarita Lopez

Here’s what Seventeen had to say:
(NOTE: We’ve highlighted some problematic sentences in their response which we have brought further attention to the Editors.)

Dear Margarita,

Many thanks again for your thoughtfulness and time,
The Editors of Seventeen

Can you believe it, 28 days until The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiere?  I can hardly believe it myself!

What a better way to proceed with the countdown then by recreating Bella’s bedroom in your own!

We found this adorable article about how you can pull off your own transformation!

From Seventeen.com:

Here’s what you’ll need to get the basic look down:

I’m impatiently waiting for The Twilight Saga: New Moon to hit theaters next month, and have done everything I can to prepare. I’ve read all the books, started following Summit (the studio behind the movie) on Twitter (@Twilight), and even talked to the cast (check out our New Moon package in this month’s issue, and here) about life on set, what they keep in their trailers, what they do in their spare time, and everything that came to mind, and now I’m just getting restless and waiting.

 

All of that anticipating leaves me time to do things like look up all the furniture used to decorate Bella’s room in the movie. And do you know what I learned? Target makes a comforter set that looks exactly like Bella’s, except it sold out. And now people are bidding up to $600 for it on eBay! Crazy, I know. That’s why we decided to help you guys out and show you how to recreate Bella’s room without blowing through all of your savings and then trying to sell your soul to get your hands on the rest of the cash you’d need (Hey, if Edward has taught us anything, it’s that a soul is valuable!).

Here’s what you’ll need to get the basic look down:

		Pine Furniture Bella’s room has a rustic, vintage-y vibe to it, with unfinished-looking wood all over the place. This desk and dresser from Ikea are pretty close to what you see in the movie, and they definitely have that woodsy feel to them.
		Pictures and Memories You see photographs, postcards (probably from her mom and Phil) and notes all over Bella’s room, on giant cork boards that play off all the pine furniture perfectly. Try these boards from Umbra, at the The Container Store, and then cover them with your own memories (including your movie tickets from Twilight, and soon, New Moon, of course!). That way you can make sure your Twilight-inspired room still feels like your own space!
		Purple Bedding Go for lavender sheets and a plum, printed comforter for a look that’s similar to what you see in the movie. This comforter from Bliss Living is definitely a close match, and has the romantic feeling that you want when you’re cuddled up, dreaming about your vampire boyfriend. If you’re a stickler, and want a closer match, go for a comforter set from Target, in the same print as Bella’s, but in a charcoal color, at an affordable $70 for a full. It’s still dark and dreamy, and you can get the colors right everywhere else in the room.
		Turquoise Walls This color is not what I would have expected Charlie to have in his house, but maybe it was his way of prepping the room for Bella’s arrival. Regardless, this color from Benjamin Moore (2052-40 Blue Spa) is a perfect match. Paint all four walls and your room will instantly feel different!
		Gauzy Curtains Bella has a lot of different layers of stuff on her windows (bamboo curtains, long sheer panels and a floaty valance). Save a little cash—and effort—and get the same effect by mixing these Twisted Curtains from PBTeen in white and turquoise (to match your walls), starting at $16 per panel. I always thought it would have been hard for Edward to climb through the window silently at night, through all those layers of fabric.
		Soft Light Get battery-powered paper lanterns from Pier 1 Imports to diffuse the light in your room, for a wistful, dreamy feel, and at an awesome, budget-friendly price (3 for $12!). Also add some Christmas lights, draped from one corner of the room to your window, since you see twinkling lights in some of the scenes in the movie.
		The Finishing Touch The last thing you need? This life-sized cutout of Edward (or Jacob, if you prefer—or both, if you can’t pick between the two!) is the ideal substitute, in case you don’t have your own impossibly beautiful vampire to watch you sleep at night. It’s only $33 at Nordstrom!

View Source.

Wednesday morning was not only perfectly sunny and warm but I had the pleasure of starting off the day at Jack n Jill’s Bakery in Santa Monica with one of my very favorite magazine account managers. Celebrity Pink and Seventeen Magazine  have been fast friends from the very beginning and it’s always such a treat to meet with our friends from the publishing world. While we met to talk business and go over partnership plans for 2010, this morning turned out to be quite a treat for all the senses as well.

Upon entering this sweet little cafe you’re immediately greeted with the delicious aroma of freshly baked pastries and richly brewed coffee. Next your eyes will delight at the colorful cupcakes in neat little lines behind the glass just begging to be tasted. And finally, the food is even more delectable than the tempting smells and playful menu pictures combined. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast seated in the loft sipping coffee and indulging in Strawberry Savannah (Oatmeal) Pancakes! MMM MMM MMM!

Many strawberries later full yet content, we had covered what we came to cover… and then some… and were ready to start the real work day. But not before I picked out a sampling of cupcakes to bring home for the boyfriend, just to hold him over until we could take a much-needed revisit back to my new favorite bakery. I highly suggest a trip of your own!

Happy eating!

XoXo cpFashionista

From seventeen magazine /07

17: What was it like working with Rob?

Kristen: He’s sort of impatient, and that’s something I admire. He gets very frustrated with himself, but he shouldn’t – you have to be bold, and he’s like that. He’s daring.

17: Are you as passionate about love as Bella is?

Kristen: I hope to be! I want to be in touch with what I actually want, and be able to trust that. Bella is willing to give her soul to Edward, to live in eternity – but then she has weird moral issues with marriage? She’s a total freak! But she’s okay with it. And I’m definitly like that.

17: Do you have a rule about how well you get to know to your costars?

Robert: Are you asking me if I hook up with all of my costars? Yes [sarcastically]. Every single female member of the cast,  in every movie I do. And male. Just anyone who’s around. Anyone with legs. [Laughs.] Actually, no!

17: You’re such a ladies’ man! So who is your celebrity crush?

Taylor: Megan Fox. I met her at  the Kids Choice Awards. Her publicist came up to me and was like “Hey, will you meet Megan?” and I was like “Heck, yeah!” But I didn’t have much to say, that’s the problem!

For the scan of the whole page,click here.

Kim Kardashian, being attentive to her fans via her blog, posted yesterday that she was recently in NYC to debut her self-titled fragrance to “beauty editors from Seventeen Magazine, Lucky Magazine, Glamour, Self and a ton more!” And the result of a phone interview has already been published in WWD. The bottle design and scent have been completed and she’s busy at work with the early stages of promotion. The WWD article mentioned that Kim has an incredible online fan base, over 2.5 million followers on Twitter! So in addition to print advertising, a lot of the promotion for the fragrance will take place on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Kim has made a point of including her fans in the process of making this fragrance. It may be the first perfume creation to be thoroughly documented on a blog! The blog was the first place she announced she would be making a fragrance. She even posted photos of the cast of the bottle design. The shade of pink to be used on the bottle was decided by a poll she presented to her fans. So it’s no surprise that Kim will be doing some surprise appearances for the release that she will only announce on Twitter. I’m assuming that these appearances will be at Sephora locations, since Sephora said she would be doing appearances in their stores. The perfume will be available exclusively at Sephora for three months, and released elsewhere by Mother’s Day, 2010.

It’s kind of ironic that the fragrance will be debuted to the rest of the world by Mother’s Day. The fragrance was originally planned to hit stores before Mother’s Day in 2009! When that date came and the perfume was still not out, I spoke with the reported producer of the fragrance, New Wave Fragrances. New Wave is the producer of the Ed Hardy line of fragrances, and Christian Audigier fragrances. They told me to expect a release of the perfume in early 2010. That’s still true, but WWD reported that the producer of the fragrance is now Lighthouse Beauty, producer of 50 Cent’s Power fragrance. So I’m guessing the delay with the perfume may have to do with some back story about the business end of the deal.

Regardless, the scent has been completed and Kim says it’s “exactly how she wants to smell.” It features crisp top notes; middle notes of  jasmine, tuberose, and gardenia; and base notes of tonka bean, jacaranda wood, and sandalwood. Again, it will debut with a three month exclusive at Sephora, and roll out to department stores by Mother’s Day.

By Victoria Riess

There is no doubt that going green is certainly all the rage right now.  With pop artists and celebrities converting rapidly, it is clear that green is in.

But according to a New York Times article that projects a potential plateau or decline in global temperatures over the next decade, convincing people to stay committed to the green revolution may be difficult and is already causing confusion.

“The global average temperature is now only 0.13 degree Fahrenheit higher than it was in 1999, according to the British meteorology office”

And there is little doubt among social scientists that this will make getting the public to jump on the carbon-free band-wagon even more of a challenge.  Robert J. Brulle, a sociologist at Drexel University explains why:

“Global warming remains an abstraction for many people”

As journalism students who are invested in the topic, it is our goal to combat the looming threat that concern for our environment will head down the same path as future global temperatures over the next ten years.

And with this notion that symptoms of climate change may stagnate or decline, finding ways to tell the story so that the public will not lose interest and throw their Britas and Nalgene bottles out with their scrunches and bell bottoms may be harder than we anticipated.

Shout out to food blogger Nibs and Beans  who gave me a gleeful giggle last week. She is also cleaning out her cluttered recipe files and took a brave crack at Seventeen Magazine’s watermelon cookies:

I’ve got the same ’80s recipe, plus an earlier one for a watermelon cake that is even more daunting (below).

I am hoping to post scans of my 1980s Seventeen pages because they are so funny to look at. Big hair, bad clothes… at least the recipes were fun…

If anyone out there still has any of them, please let me know. I would love to read them if you can post or scan them. Many thanks.

I couldn’t help myself. There was this urge to use the wite-out. I somewhat regret the use of “hello”, but as a graphic designer the urge to use words can be too much.

So, before I go into my post about Anna Sui’s Gossip Girl-inspired Target collection that launched last summer, I’d like to first announce something totally superfluous but strangely encapsulating. I am down to the dregs of my Anna Sui Dolly Girl perfume. My mom bought it for me several birthdays ago and it is a delightfully flirty fragrance that I only wear when I need to feel publically sexy. If I went to your birthday party, going-away party, theme party, house-warming, wedding, or any other BIG EVENT, this is what I smelled like before I got sweaty and/or drunk. Priced at $35 and lasting over several years, it has definitely served me well.

Anna Sui's Dolly Girl; image courtesy of fragrancex.com

Delightfully flirty and publically sexy seems to be Gossip Girl’s chief M.O. The CW teen drama, created by O.C. mastermind Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, is now in its third season and based on the popular tween book series of same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It focuses on the soapy, bitchy, frothy excesses of a gaggle of teenaged haves and (to a lesser extent) have-nots and their parents in New York City. Importantly, its wardrobe is in essence a principal character, largely due to costume designer Eric Daman’s keen eye for established and emergent talent in contemporary fashion. The show has launched once-fledging talent like Blake Lively, who has appeared in pictorials for Vanity Fair and on the cover of Vogue. It has also scored previously unknown actresses like Leighton Meester into a spokeswoman deal with Reebok. 

Vogue cover girl Blake Lively, February 2009; image courtesy of bryanboy.com

The show has proven itself bit of a taste-maker. How else to explain why this “silly” teen soap (with a considerable hip twentysomething following) got the coop of having Christian Dior’s Miss Dior Chérie advertisement air for the first time during the “Bonfire of the Vanity” episode? Oh, and let’s not overlook who directed the spot — Ms. Sofia Coppola, herself a hipster icon, fashionista, erstwhile clothing designer, sometimes design collaborator, and friend to folks like Marc Jacobs and, yes, Anna Sui.

BTW, I remember this really interesting feature Seventeen did back in 1993 with Sui, Coppola, and friends Zoe Cassavettes and Donovan Leitch, but cannot find it on the Interwebz. If curious, please contact your local library. When you find it, note the crocheted shawls, chokers, matte lipstick, and other hallmarks of early-90s fashion they’re wearing that are now making a comeback. 

Bringing publications like Seventeen into the discussion make inevitable the show’s fanbase and target audience, who tend to be pre-teen and tween girls. Thus, there’s probably a fair amount of aspiration that can be marketed toward (a euphemistic term for “exploited”). And while I feel kinda icky about the proceedings, especially since Sui’s Gossip Girl-inspired togs tend to be mid-range ($30-$70), I at least can recognize that these clothes are more affordable than, say, Louis Vuitton, or even some of the garments sold at mall retailers like Express, Banana Republic, and The Limited. 

The market-driven desire to dress like a gossip girl suggests a particular cultural power, perhaps one not since seen since Carrie Bradshaw became a game-charging sartorialist (and Sarah Jessica Parker became her). The Gossip Girl cast’s on- and off-screen wardrobe (and, in Taylor Momsen’s case, the merging of the two) has also provided fodder for fashion blogs like Go Fug Yourself, much in the same way that producer Josh Schwartz’s name-making franchise The O.C. Gossip Girl has even taken its fashion-plate status toward self-reflexive ends. In the season two episode, “The Serena Also Rises,” a fashion show seating chart appears on screen, with Fug Girls Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks’s names on it. 

Thus, the show, like other Schwartz-helmed programs, is known for its intertextuality. So it seems fitting that a television show — particularly one as creative as marketing and distributing itself in an increasingly digitized and convergent media climate that young women have been especially adept at traversing, would try marketing its show through clothes. It’s a move with a bit of recent history (Grey’s Anatomy for New York & Company) and a bit of current cross-promotional play (Mad Men for Banana Republic, which Jonathan Gray has critiqued).

But having Sui team up with Target to design for Gossip Girl it is interesting, and smart in terms of the show’s investment in fashion, both as an industry and as a bridging cultural practice. Like Gossip Girl, Sui’s work has been characterized by her ongoing interests in popular music. Gossip Girl’s music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas defines the show by its of-the-moment “indie” sound, which in turn gets referenced, idolized, and critiqued at length by the show’s characters in much the same way it was on The O.C.. Likewise, Sui is often inspired by popular music — particularly 60s garage rock, 90s Britpop, riot grrrl, and mod culture — and incorporates the attitude and aesthetic into her designs. 

Actress Emma Stone wearing Sui's mod babydoll dress, designed with Blair Waldorf in mind; image courtesy of thestarnews.info

Both the show and designer have a preoccupation with the 90s — for the show, it is an era that commercialized alternative rock and, for hip dad and former rocker Rufus Humphrey, it is an albatross. Sui might feel similarly about the era, which was her zenith period and was not repeated in the 2000s when peer designers like Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, and Stella McCartney made the career move to be house designers for Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Chloé, respectively. Sui instead followed in the footsteps of designers like Betsey Johnson and continued to cultivate her brand from a slightly lower tier, opening boutiques around the world and continuing to create new collections, but largely outside of the elite world of haute couture. Likewise, Gossip Girl is not a big player on television with colossal ratings. It’s not on a big-four network or on a prestige cable channel like HBO.

(Note: Obviously, if one wants to read into Sui’s professional position her marginalized status as one of the few Asian American female clothing designers, there is ample room for this. Admittedly, I have not done so here, but would be very interested and encouraged by what others might have to say on the matter.) 

But both designer and show have cultivated their kitschy, hip brands toward less-travelled though no-less-populist ends. Thus, it makes sense that Sui would link up with Gossip Girl (apparently, her favorite television show), and that they would link up with Target, a big box chain with affordable prices, a cooler and more ethical socioeconomic reputation than Wal-Mart, and a relationship with designers like Isaac Mizrahi, as well as M.I.A.’s former roommate Luella Bartley and Michelle Obama’s go-to guy Thakoon Panichgul who, like Sui, have created limited edition collections for the retailer.

Now, having already discussed the problematic nature of fixing a price range and marketing a clothing line toward an intended audience in such a blatant way, I’d like to close by casting a critical eye toward the clothes themselves.        

A dress for Blair, Jenny, Serena, and Vanessa; image courtesy of mahoganyglam.com

One issue I have with the collection is how focused it is on dresses and skirts. While supposedly each outfit is designed with a particular gossip girl style in mind (specifically Serena’s boho chic, Blair’s classic glamour, Jenny’s runway punk, and clearly cast-aside Vanessa’s vaguely ethnic intellectual look), all of these items can easily be paired together because of their overt, unproblematized femininity.

Another issue, and one that Target faces with all limited collections, is whether big-name designers cater toward in-between or fat body types. The clothes’ sizes range from extra-small to extra-large, leaving out women and girls who are bigger. What is more, while these clothes appear to be well-made, many of the designs in Sui’s collection seems to principally flatter a long, lean body type. As a short, curvy girl who wears a size four (which, if we recall The Devil Wears Prada, is the new size six), I would have to belt pretty much all of these dresses so they wouldn’t look like gunnysacks on me (that is, the ones that aren’t so short that they would fail to flatter my thickly proportioned thighs). And don’t even get me started on how stumpy I’d look in a pair of checkered, bowed pedal pushers. NEXT!

I reject the pedal pushers on the right; image courtesy of fashionlooks.onsugar.com

So, while interesting in many other ways, I feel like Sui’s collection suggests that only certain shapes and classes get to be gossip girls when it comes to fashion. I don’t think we needed Target to tell us that, but I hope it inspires other women and girls to either make the styles their own or, better yet, start picking up the needle and thread and putting their own outfits together.