Elle once talked with the little dragon of indie style, Yukimi Nagano of the band Little Dragon. When asked how she would define her personal style, Nagano replied that it was mostly “spontaneous and intuitive” and that she “doesn’t plan so much.” The reason why I love Yukimi Nagano is because her style is an effortless extension of her music. The clothes don’t wear her; she wears them like a work of art wears a frame.

Jenna Lyons

Occupation: Creative Director & President, J.Crew

Biggest Accomplishment: Jenna started her job at J.Crew at 21 years old and 22 years later has found herself in the company’s most powerful position, next to Mickey Drexler. Hard work pays off, and the proof is in the pudding.

Why I think she’s a babe: Not only does she have impeccable style, she’s also a risk-taker who left her husband in 2011 to start a relationship with jewelry designer, Courtney Grangi. Love is everything.

More about my girl crush

Sophia Amoruso

Occupation: Founder and CEO of Nasty Gal

Biggest Accomplishment: In 2006, she founded her company as a vintage seller on eBay. Seven years later, NastyGal is valued at over $100 million and is considered one of the fastest growing online retailers of all time.

Why I think she’s a babe: Not only is she worth $250 million big ones, she has turned down acquisition offers from Urban Outfitters, and early stage investment from multiple investors. She’s in control, devilishly stylish, and beautiful to boot.

More about my girl crush

Athena Calderone

Occupation: Founder, Rawlins Calderone Design

Biggest Accomplishment: She developed a line of custom children’s products which sold out quickly and was featured in the NYTimes.

Why I think she’s a babe: She’s what I hope to be someday. Also a native NY’er, this ex-actress/model went on to become an interior decorator, and has a huge knack for food & style. She loves Dell’Anima (like me) and has a serious penthouse in Dumbo (like me, minus the huge & penthouse part). Not only is she model gorgeous, her blog is also my go-to for inspiration on all things food & design.

More about my girl crush

Christene Barberich

Occupation: Founding Editor-in-Chief, Refinery29

Biggest Accomplishment: Her writing has appeared in The NY Times, The Daily, The New Yorker, and Gourmet Mag. *swoon*

Why I think she’s a babe: Every girl needs a fashion editor crush, right? Refinery29 has become my go-to online mag for all things fashion, lifestyle, and culture. Her voice, and impeccable eye for detail, has attributed to that company’s growing success, and I could not thank her enough for such a vibrant resource.

More about my girl crush

Liza Kindred

Occupation: Founder, Third Wave Fashion

Biggest Accomplishment: She took her last company from 3 people to a 50+ people, which also happened to be a Drupal development shop. Her vast experience in both fashion and technology has led to her new path in founding Third Wave Fashion; a company in NYC that’s all about the intersection of fashion & tech. Oh, and hiring me. That was a huge accomplishment on her part.

Why I think she’s a babe: She’s a Leo, therefore she’s ambitious, strong, and sexy.  She’s also wicked smart, and she can impress any man in the room. What other tall, stylish babe do you know who can talk about the semantic web and whiskey? Plus she has a 13 year old and is an awesome mom.

More about my girl crush

Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, is a 24-year-old artist and musician from Vancouver, Canada (you can learn more about her here: . I can’t really specify the genre of her music, because it seems to transcend genres, and even she has said that she doesn’t know how to label it. As the Guardian describes it, “By sounding a little like everything you’ve ever heard, the whole sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard.” With dreamy vocals and a vaguely pop-ish electronic sound, it’s eery, beautiful, ethereal, feminine, and slightly familiar in ways you can’t always place. Embedded below is her incredible music video for her song “Genesis”, if you want to check it out.

Channelling Grimes’ Look

The idea I had behind creating posts on “Style Crushes”, or featured fashion muses, was to provide inspiration for myself, and for all 4 of you lovely readers, but in intriguing human form. My hope is that you’ll find at least one Style Crush to latch onto as your own muse and fashion role model; or at least find a look that you’d like to recreate or channel.

Like with her music, Claire draws inspiration for her fashion from many places. She is inspired by Japan, mad-cool stripper/rapper Brooke Candy (who is featured in the video above, and who you can find out more about here), Tank Girl, technology, the cosmos, and more.

Brooke Candy

Tank Girl cover

Merging galaxies

Tastemakers Magazine has called her  the”alien love-child of Aphex Twin and ABBA“. As if in agreement, Boucher has said “I want to make Grimes a high-fashion sci-fi act.” I can’t exactly say that her style is always super-distinctive, because it’s very versatile. She’ll go from gangster to princess to samurai schoolgirl, and everywhere in between. But the one thing that always remains is her trippy, almost otherworldly, and decidedly hip-hop take on fashion, and those weird-cool baby bangs (although actually she’s apparently going to grow them out…).

There are a few things you can do to get Grimes’ look. The first is to take iconographic images and include them in your outfit. Grimes considers herself to be a stylistic yuppie, which she describes as ‎”a type of person who’s between the hipsters and the mainstream, who’s still doing creative things, but isn’t disdainful of mainstream success.” She actually loves a lot of mainstream music, and pop culture. Including this kind of iconography in your outfit might mean wearing prints with modern-day symbols like skulls, crowning your pink manic-panic-dyed hair with a pop-princess tiara, wearing a sweater patterned with a classic cartoon character, or dressing up as your favorite sci-fi anime character.

Grimes in a Bart Simpson sweater by Jeremy Scott

Grimes wearing her favorite $5 fingerless skeleton gloves.

Go creepy-femme. Grimes sometimes has a mysterious, feminine, dark vibe (check out her disturbing and hypnotizing video for “Vanessa” here). She will wear dresses and pigtails but she always maintains a freaky or at least vaguely eery air of darkness about here. When she is sensual, it is in the satanic snake-charmer sort of way. She seems to be fascinated by feminism, even creating jewelry shaped like vaginas, called “Pussy Rings”. There is something about her blatant embrace of weird girliness, like the dark side of girlhood, that is both compelling and uncomfortable.

If creepy-femme’s not your thing, don’t worry. Grimes also has a tomboy side, which she shows off just as much.

Grimes’ weird plastic pussy rings!

Makeup-wise, Grimes usually keeps it minimal, with nude lips and little to no eye makeup, but occasionally she’ll wear colorful or dark lipstick (think orange, rosy pink, and black), thick eyeshadow, or chalky blush. She’s very pale, so the colors she wears against her skin make an especially big impact. Vampires, this look is for you.

Grimes with a simple but dramatic eyeliner look.

Grimes with cool orangey lipstick.

One very cool thing that she does is paste things to her face. This sounds ridiculous, but it rends beautiful and fascinating results. Star, moon, and heart-shaped sequins; glitter; rhinestones; even a third eye glued to or drawn on your forehead transforms your face into a piece of art, sort of like stained glass. Neon warpaint is great too.

Grimes with glitter glue on her face.!

Grimes with a third eye and glittery cheeks.

Grimes expresses herself a lot through her hair. She dyes it constantly and wears it down, or in a bun, side ponytail, braids, or pigtails. Try experimenting with coloring your hair or getting tufty, blunt bangs like hers.

Grimes with golden yellow hair.

Grimes with multicolored hair and a safety-pin crown.

Some other things that are decidedly “Grimes” are camouflage jackets, boyish hats, animal-print, sequined or rhinestoned shirts, combat boots, and lots of studs, gold, silver, and sort of occult-looking jewelry. Put them all together, and you’ll make magic. Claire Boucher dresses like a good thrift shopper, and for all I know, she could be. She usually does not wear designer brands, but rather opts for smaller, less expensive labels. You could probably find similar pieces at thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Out Of the Closet.

Here is another really good article on how to dress like Grimes, with an interview with Claire Boucher!: http://adhoc.fm/post/how-dress-grimes/

Good luck!

<3

-Somaya

We have to give Lizzie Grant some credit though, I found a video on YouTube from the 8th of June 2009 that shows a young blonde girl dressed in jeans and a t-shirt on stage at a New York music show and evokes a positive response from the crowd. She sings similar to how she does now and her emotive facial expressions are what she gives us in all her recent music video’s. I don’t know who or what or how she or her team creates her videos the way they do because whatever it is, they conjure up such real emotions of a girl who is living on the dark side of the American Dream.

In Video Games the footage shows us clips of home movies, wasted celebrities, Hollywood scenes, American Debauchery, and webcam shots of an innocent girl trapped in marvelous devastation. Her haunting voice is something I can’t seem to let go of. Her most recent video “Ride” is pretty crazy and pays true admiration to her country through scenes of her on motorbikes, swinging on a tire, waving the American Flag, wearing a native American Head-dress (I want one) while holding a gun and scenes of gas stations with “Freedom” stickers on the windows. All pretty crazy but had I not spent a summer in America I would not realise that so much of this is actually true. I have had the video on replay since I discovered it on Sunday two days after it was released on YouTube. The video has now over 6 million views, five days after its release. Pretty insane.

Her style of course is something I fell in love with right from the start. She has always kept it so simple, but very unique to her. Her red converse, vintage levis, leather fringe jackets, cowboy boots, sparkly dresses, F1 racing jackets, and chunky gold chains really encompass the style of a true American girl. I was getting a bit worried that she was falling off the radar for a while and this is why I was so happy when “Ride” was released. I have a link for the video below (please please watch) and some pictures of her that I love.

“I belonged to no-one, who belonged to everyone, who had nothing, who wanted everything”

_________________________________________________________

Her Ring!

Hollywood T-shirt <3

Heart Floral Headpiece’s.

And again!

Elegant glamour, I love the colour of her lips here.

OBsessed with this outfit!

Teaming a military jacket with a simple dress <3

I think her Ferrari jacket is the best.

I also think this is the best, I am torn between the two.

A simple red dress <3

Her Budweiser tee (I know you can’t really see it) – True American spirit.

Native American head-dress, so cool for a festival!

I would love to make my own Hollywood t-shirt like she has here. Might get around to that sometime. I will let you know. Of course I can never say no to a “I <3 NY” tee. So modern yet so vintage.

One last thing, Lana Del Rey, is the face for the H&M Winter Collection 2012. Some of the clothes are online but there are more to be added. You should check them out.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post (got a bit carried away – I won’t lie!).

Until next time…

X

A while back I decided I wanted to start a fashion related blog as I have so many ideas which are either going to get lost in my head or lost on a sheet of paper somewhere – so why not have them in cyberspace! I was slightly hesitant and nervous about doing this but I started a Masters in Digital Marketing a few weeks ago and found out we had to start a blog as part of our course work. I got so excited when I found out we HAD to do this because its like – the opposite of double whammy, you know what I mean

Regarding my fashion sense all I can say is that I don’t have any particular type of style. I pretty much love everything, from boho, to vintage, to neon, to slightly gothic, to anything that’s quirky…I love it all! My first post (the other one was just one we had to do in class) is dedicated to one of my biggest style crushes – ORA! I love what she does, her style makes me want to wear everything with anything and mix it all up big time. I really want to have a root around for some crazy colorful clothes that I could maybe do a little DIY to. So many ideas, SO little time!

I think this outfit is a favourite, So much COLOUR and SPARKLE.

Where can I get my hands on this top?

Denim and Denim and Neon <3

Anything with a high-neck and MATCHING skirt and top <3

G.B.A (God bless America)

Military Jackets!

Embellished anything!

Bomber Jackets!

Her signature black hats!

From clashing colours, to high tops with dresses, and an ABUNDANCE of chunky jewellery, she just doesn’t seem to get it wrong. Not to mention how unbelievably hot she is.

As regards G.B.A – I won’t lie to you I am obsessed with America. So anything with the American flag print on it will do me fine

So that is me for now, I hope you like it and maybe feel a little inspired

Until my next post…

X

Courtney’s Facebook Fan page : https://www.facebook.com/glitterspell?ref=ts

The Glitter Thread Website: http://www.theglitterthread.com/

The Paris Half Marathon took place on the 16^th March and Natalia participated in this race. She left her homeland, Russia 12 years ago to pursue a career in modeling. At 27 years she has achieved a lot ever since she left the industrial town of Nizhny, Novgorod. She was bought up by her mother single-handed along with her sisters. When she got the opportunity at the age of 15, she learnt English and decided to see where her fortunes would take her. Most celebrities run for various causes. She has a charity called Naked Heart Foundation. Her sole aim to provide Russian schools with playgrounds for children. She already has developed 39 of them and she is continuing her goal to finish the rest. She also has a personal agenda to it. She said that her own childhood had almost faded when she was six years old. There was nothing to look forward to. She craved to go to play in a secure place and enjoy her girlhood. But she is now happy that she can see other kids in Russia playing peacefully and safely.

Natalia’s stint as a fashion model helps her to meet the movers and shakers of society. She is able to connect and network with them to fulfill her goals. She has worked hard every since she was 15 years old. She is now a veteran of nearly 175 catwalks for many designers. With her body of work and her earnings she was 7^th highest paid super model in 2011 by Forbes. Natalia truly is a super model when it comes to her amazing life and how she is inching towards her goals. She is now a much known face. She has done some really prestigious assignments with top fashion houses like L’Oreal, Calvin Klein, LV and become a millionaire supermodel. But her real goal is to bring back childhood for many other Russian children that she missed out on.

And did you know that Natalia did not even train for the Half Marathon. She just managed running on her super feet. What a feat!

So what is her style crush when it comes to taking others as reference models apart from the formidable fashion super models? She reveals that Carine Roitfeld is another impressive personality she looks for as a style symbol. It is her naturalness and chic sense of carriage that make her so alluring. Victoria is also a fan of Miuccia Prada. She also shows her class when she says that she can always be caught in something fashionable when she is walking down the street. She finds a tracksuit below her chic sense to be seen anytime! She only wears them at home in privacy where no one else can see her in it. As a fashion designer herself, she needs to have her best profile in attendance always. She even lashed out at the media who had recently reported that she was looking tired and messy. She said she was a busy hands-on mother and also a busier fashion designer. She admitted she was tired but she was also very happy with her life. She had prepared hard for the upcoming fashion week in New York where her designs were appreciated. And it is no easy being a super mum and also a leading fashion designer at the same time.

Being a fashion icon herself Victoria never fails to surprise her fans. Right now her latest arm candy is not the Birkins bag, but Harper Seven, her daughter. She carries her all the time refusing to use the stroller or the pram. With her 4 month old daughter Posh walks in her six inches heels very comfortably on the streets of New York. She also wore her own designs while being pursued by the media. With her panache for wearing the smartest clothes the yummy mummy has been really flat even after her 4^th delivery. She exudes the same charisma she had when she was with the other Spice Girls. She does not seem to have put on a single pound of flesh and she can herself be a show stopper whenever she wants to. With the kind of figure she currently has as a mother of four young children, it is not so hard to believe that she does not want to seen in a tracksuit outside home.