DESIGNERS & CELEBRITIES: JASON WU

Famous women that adore JASON WU include: RACHEL WEISZ, DIANE KRUGER, KERRY WASHINGTON and GRETCHEN MOL.

For the IN STYLE gallery, please go here

THE LAST WORD (HOPEFULLY) ON CHRISTINA HENDRICKS’ GOLDEN GLOBE GOWN

Following the heated debate over CHRISTINA HENDRICKS’ choice of a champagne ruffled gown by Project Runway alum CHRISTIAN SIRIANO at the GOLDEN GLOBES, the MAD MEN star’s husband GEOFFREY AREND is fighting back.

At a SAG AWARDS after party, he stopped to defend his wife to PEOPLE.

“I was just upset about the whole Golden Globes dress thing. I thought she looked so gorgeous. And that New York Times blogger saying that…It’s so ridiculous,” he said, referring to the paper’s fashion critic Cathy Horyn offering the critique “You don’t put a big girl in a big dress. That’s rule number one.”

“What was nice was seeing the entire internet come after that blogger. That was really cool. It was the first time I saw just a solid block of ‘You’re crazy! What’s wrong with you? You should be ashamed of yourself!’ [in the comments] And honestly, the Grey Lady should be ashamed of themselves to print a picture like that, that they widened!”

In an update to her column, Cathy Horyn acknowledged that the original photo used in her post was accidentally distorted: “The photo was slightly distorted inadvertently due to an error during routine processing. The photograph has been replaced.”

For her part, CHRISTINA is standing by her beautiful Siriano gown: “I loved it! I thought I looked gorgeous!” she told PEOPLE.

We agree – as does her proud husband, who gushed, “Honestly, she’s the greatest woman I know. She’s the most beautiful woman I know. She’s the most talented woman I know. It’s like there’s not enough adjectives that could express or superlatives that could express how wonderful she is.”

BUSY AS A COLONY OF BEES…

Yes, the weekend is simply chock full of prestigious entertainment awards events.

The DGA selects their winner on Saturday. The GRAMMYS are on Sunday. I’ll have to fit in a film review at some point. I may not get to that till Monday.

It will get published. Eventually. Never fear.

Plus the OSCAR nominations will be announced live at 5:40 AM Pacific time on Tuesday morning.

That’s exciting. But it’s sure to be a letdown in some respects. It always is.

I will be on top of all of this. Though I will only be here sporadically.

But it will all get done. Count on it…

Our Friday musical highlight is DARLIN BE HOME SOON by THE LOVIN SPOONFUL.

Don’t demolish too many chandeliers over the next couple of days, boys and girls.

It’s much too difficult to clean up…and I’m speaking from experience.

See you back here tomorrow. Rain or shine…

RACHEL ZOE’S 20 MUST HAVE WARDROBE ITEMS

Though RACHEL ZOE is famous for dressing stars in elaborate gowns for the red carpet, the stylist reveals that a good chunk of the mail that filters through her website comes from fans looking for advice on real life, every day wearable pieces.

“I get so many questions submitted through Ask Rachel regarding basics. It seems to be a fashionably collective thought – readers asking how to discern true wardrobe staples from the fleeting, trendy pieces,” RACHEL wrote on her blog.

“Honestly, the word basic doesn’t really exist in my vocabulary – sure I have a favorite cut of denim and a classic leather jacket never hurt anybody, but more often than not, I like my every day items to stand out. Because of this, I have compiled a shoppable guide of (not so) basic items that every girl should have in their closet!”

The TV star offers up 20 pieces that every stylish woman should own.

So what does RACHEL like? She has some excellent suggestions…

nude coloured pumps
an oversized satchel
body conscious dress (simple, elegant)
menswear inspired watch
red nail polish
glamorous ultrafeminine blouse
leather biker jacket
statement making flat shoes
bold cocktail ring

Go to RACHELZOE.COM to check out more of her must haves.

CHRISTINA HENDRICKS DISHES ON MAD MEN STYLE

CHRISTINA HENDRICKS has become a fashion phenomenon on the hit series MAD MEN.

But the actor suffers for her art, especially when it comes to wearing authentic vintage underwear from the 60s.

“If you’re working a really long day, they dig in,” she told The Sunday Times Magazine.

“The garters sometimes rub little blisters on your thigh, so we learn the tricks, put moleskin on them…”

Playing the smoldering redheaded office assistant JOAN HOLLOWAY involves wearing a plethora of figure hugging dresses, some of which are so tight she can barely walk in them.

“I can’t step up into my trailer,” she admitted. “They have to put a box underneath and I get up sideways.”

But the unabashedly feminine, curve hugging look is a hit with the fans who constantly praise CHRISTINA for her shapely physique. Since the show started the Tennessee native has had “so many positive comments from women.”

“People do come up to me and say, ‘I’ve got such a crush.’ Sometimes women [too]. They like to see a woman standing up for herself.”

THE BEST OF THE PARIS SPRING/SUMMER COUTURE SHOWS (2010)

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Though the couture shows are a little extreme for my taste (well, they would naturally be – the designers are looking for headlines and attention from magazines), you can’t deny that some of the clothes are glorious.

Here is the order for the pictures…

The top photo is DIOR. The following two are GIVENCHY. Then the next big picture is DIOR. The last one is CHANEL.

In the first heavyweight show of the season, CHRISTIAN DIOR designer John Galliano looked to the skilled horsewomen of the 19th century for his collection of nip waisted jackets and flowing skirts.

Forget the it bag.

DIOR called on the chic women of the world to ditch their handbags for a truly useful accessory: the riding crop. The models, in skirt suits of fine red and gray wool, wearing veiled top hats and lace up boots with towering heels, were all carrying whips.

Besides the equestrian garb – built on a variation of DIOR’S iconic Bar jacket, with heavily draped peplums – the collection also included short cocktail dresses covered in outrageous embroidery and jewel toned ball gowns that evoked the long, stately silhouette of a John Singer Sargent painting.

Knockouts in the ravishing collection included a shell pink halter gown with a cascading train in tobacco colored silk and an olive green halter jacket and draped pencil skirt, worn with above the elbow fuchsia gloves and bracelets hung with dangling, egg sized chunks of amber.

John Galliano, who always appears in costume to take a final bow, strutted the catwalk in white jodhpurs, a velvet jacket with tails, boots with a considerable heel and the summer’s next big accessory – a swishing whip.

A circus vibe permeated the GIVENCHY show on Tuesday, day two of Paris’ spring/summer 2010 haute couture displays.

But GIVENCHY’S was the kind of circus where the tightrope walkers perform without a rope and the lion tamers regularly get eaten.

Designer RICCARDO TISCI, a connoisseur of the dark side, sent out a sumptuous collection of beaded pantsuits and sheer organza dresses – often paired with variations on the ringmaster’s long tail coat – that fairly seethed with foreboding of bad things to come.

CHANEL was a much sunnier place. Massive columns fitted with fluorescent bulbs glowed in a rainbow of pastel shades that matched the sweet pinks, peaches, mint greens and baby blues of the all pastel and silver collection.

There was but a single black and white look in the whole show as uberdesigner Karl Lagerfeld decided to steer clear of the storied label’s hallmark colour combination. Lagerfeld himself was wearing gray for the occasion.

CHANEL

CHANEL was basking in a luminous pastel glow.

Models in buttery yellow culotte suits, fancy plissed tank dresses in baby blue silk and frothy pink gowns minced down the catwalk on boots with silver rococo heels and pearl studded soles.

Some of the looks had a dreamlike quality. An off the shoulder bubble dress awash in tiny silk ruffles evoked sea foam or a cloud. The wedding gown – which traditionally closes haute couture displays – had silver sequin covered sleeves and a fluffy train in marshmallow pink. Little blobs of silver, like liquid mercury, dotted the seams of the peak shouldered jackets which were paired with high waisted culottes.

Never one to neglect his accessories, Lagerfeld decked the models out in fingerless gloves like the ones he often sports and fastened fancy bows into their massive winged bouffants.

GIVENCHY

Looks that deserved a spot on the center ring in RICCARDO TISCI’S dangerous big top were the column skirt covered in minute emerald beads and a sheer silk top and a pantsuit and cropped jacket in electric blue beads that looked made for the world’s chicest lion tamer.

The show, which had been edited down to just 22 looks, had plenty of the kinds of organza and sequin concoctions that in the hands of most other designers would have come off as fluffy or, at best, demurely girly.

But Tisci is able to imbue even the loveliest most ultrafeminine looks with a subversive edge that makes you take one look at the ingenue sporting his powder pink silk cocktail number and feel the need to check whether she’s wielding a knife behind her back.

Singer Ciara – who took in the spectacle from her front row perch next to Kanye West and his girlfriend Amber Rose – said she was attracted by GIVENCHY’S darker side.

The label “is about taking risks – and having edge and being strong,” the singer told The AP in a backstage interview.

Ciara, who was wearing a printed top from GIVENCHY’S ready to wear collection, said she had her eye on the electric blue pantsuit to wear at her concerts.

Clearly, she sees herself as a lion tamer.

JOAN JETT TALKS ABOUT THE RUNAWAYS

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

As a dedicated JOAN JETT fan, I can’t tell you how stoked I am for this flick.

My anticipation knows no bounds…

JOAN JETT kicked open doors for women to rock out in a man’s music world. So when the time came for a film drama on how she got her start, she wanted to be on hand to make sure the story was told right.

JOAN was an executive producer for THE RUNAWAYS, a SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL premiere that spins the raucous tale of her first band in the 1970s.

The all girl group of teenagers – branded as a gimmick back in the day – left behind some hard rocking music in their short time together.

Twilight star KRISTEN STEWART portrays JOAN JETT and her New Moon colleague DAKOTA FANNING plays CHERIE CURRIE, THE RUNAWAYS’ lead singer. The film captures the hurdles they faced at a time when the notion of guitar goddesses was practically unheard of.

“Everybody knows Joan Jett, but nobody really knows how hard it was to become her,” KRISTEN commented.

“We’ve grown up being told that we as girls can do whatever we want and that just wasn’t the case for them.”

In an interview at SUNDANCE ahead of the film’s premiere last Sunday, JOAN recalled the reactions that greeted THE RUNAWAYS as they rocked with the passion of THE SEX PISTOLS or THE RAMONES.

“It was initially kind of laughing, like that kind of smiling, going, ‘What are you doing? You can’t do this. Girls don’t play rock & roll.’ And when they saw were really serious about it, the attitude kind of changed,” JOAN remarked.

“Anything from really just insulting and dirty, nasty things. Calling us names – every name that you can call a woman. Just stupid things. Bands feeling threatened by us.”

“You’d think that in the rock & roll world, I guess people think of it as a liberal sort of thing and it wouldn’t be a problem. But guys in bands had problems with it. We wouldn’t get sound checks because people were threatened.”

Directed by Floria Sigismondi, who adapted the screenplay from CHERIE CURRIE’S memoir, the film follows THE RUNAWAYS’ quick rise to a record deal and superstardom in Japan through their hasty fall amidst drugs and ego clashes.

THE RUNAWAYS tracks JOAN to the start of her career fronting THE BLACKHEARTS, with whom she scored hits with I LOVE ROCK & ROLL, CRIMSON & CLOVER and other singles in the early 80s.

“I knew from the minute I met her that she was going to be the godmother of rock & roll,” CHERIE, on stage alongside JOAN, told the SUNDANCE audience after the film’s premiere.

“And I was right.”

JOAN said she was on THE RUNAWAYS set every day, helping KRISTEN capture her posture, her guitar style, her East Coast Maryland accent. As a teen, JOAN used to send oral letters on cassette tape to an aunt and she gave one of those to KRISTEN to help the actor match her voice.

“I told her, ‘Listen, man. I trust you. You gotta go with your instincts. If there’s something that’s way off, trust me, I’m going to let you know,’ and I don’t mean bite her head off,” JOAN commented.

“I’d guide her. That time never really came, you know. She was right there.”

JOAN, who has a greatest hits compilation coming out this year, said she is writing songs and aims to be in the studio recording new material by summer. Meanwhile, she hopes THE RUNAWAYS might inspire some fans to check out her early music.

“I hope they come to know that The Runaways existed and that The Runaways were a great rock & roll band. That would be a great thing because we made a lot of great music and it would be very special if people could rediscover it.”

THE RUNAWAYS AT SUNDANCE: JOAN JETT, KRISTEN STEWART & DAKOTA FANNING

FROM PEOPLE

These photos are actually from the THE RUNAWAYS premiere held last night at the SUNDANCE fest.

The big picture is of KRISTEN STEWART, JOAN JETT, DAKOTA FANNING and CHERIE CURRIE.

It was one rockin’ night in Park City, Utah on Saturday when JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS hit the stage at the Harry O’s Concert Series.

In town lending her support to THE RUNAWAYS – the biopic about JOAN’S 70s band of the same name – the singer took the stage in a one piece sequined leotard and sneakers.

But it wasn’t her fashion choice that got the crowd going – it was special guests KRISTEN STEWART and DAKOTA FANNING, who star in the movie.

After thanking the film’s director Floria Sigismondi and other people who worked on the film, JOAN gave a shout out to KRISTEN and DAKOTA (who’d come up on stage) and thanked them in front of the audience.

KRISTEN, in ripped jeans and a deep hued hoodie and DAKOTA, in a sleek dark outfit and heels, waved and smiled as the crowd broke into thunderous applause. The two soon retreated backstage where they finished watching JOAN’S incredible show out of the spotlight.

COURTNEY LOVE: I’M NOT A GOOD CELEBRITY

FROM PEOPLE

So apparently people don’t like COURTNEY? Maybe they’ll come to an appreciation of her one day.

I think she’s gutsy and brilliant – a true original.

There really is no one else quite like her. I dig authentic individualists that bow to no one.

She’s well aware that she is the rock & roll chick many love to hate.

“Say the name Courtney Love to a stranger and they’re liable to respond, ‘That horrible woman!’” the HOLE singer told DAZED & CONFUSED magazine.

But with over 7,000 followers on Twitter and a much anticipated new record, it’s obvious the public can’t seem to get enough of her.

Especially when she’s going off about family issues, like her recent loss of custody of daughter FRANCES BEAN COBAIN – an issue that’s still in flux, as far as COURTNEY is concerned.

“The past few years have been Frances and me against the world.”

But for the life of her she can’t understand why so many people care.

“I don’t make a good celebrity and nor do I want to. If I was a good celebrity I’d be really enigmatic and contrived. Some people can step outside themselves and view themselves how others do. I just can’t.”

Admitting that she doesn’t “communicate brilliantly in any other form” but music, her next CD NOBODY’S DAUGHTER offers a deeper glimpse into her world.

Crafting an album about “greed, the recession, the depression and vengeance” has “been the most important thing in my life other than Frances.”

Having successfully worked through her drug addiction, a struggle she says led to the “failure” of her solo career, COURTNEY has learned “that you can’t be Mick and Keith. You can’t be the one on drugs and the one in control.”

GLAMOUR AT THE 2010 SAGS

I didn’t actually view the SAG AWARDS.

I don’t even think they were available in my area without highfalutin cable. But (with all due respect) I wouldn’t have watched them in any case.

I was home just long enough to report on them…and then I was gone for the evening.

I don’t tune into the EMMYS, the GRAMMYS or the TONYS unless one of my favourites is nominated or it looks like the show in question will be particularly exciting.

My only constants are the GOLDEN GLOBES and the OSCARS. That way awards season always seems fresh and intriguing to me. I don’t get weighed down by the excess.

I actually was very disappointed style wise with the SAGS – especially after the glorious turn out at the GOLDEN GLOBES.

TINA FEY would definitely have made my list. But her dress wasn’t featured by our awesome friends at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY.

Which brings me to this…

Seeing as I’m far from jazzed about the fashion parade this go round, I’ll combine both of EW’S galleries into this particular post.

But first, here are the women that looked astonishing last night…

JANE KRAKOWSKI
JESSALYN GILSIG
JULIANNA MARGULIES
CHRISTINA APPLEGATE

You can view 27 gowns (and rate them all too BTW) at FASHION AT THE 2010 SAG AWARDS. Go here to check that out.

Then there’s also THE SAG AWARDS: THE BEST & THE WORST STYLE. To get a good hard look at that, go here