At the Louis Vuitton spring show models had the curliest, doll like lashes – on the top lashes only with soft glossy pink lips.

At Chloe (middle) it was natural minimal makeup but oh so lovely! Talk about a sheer foundation for a radiant glow. Only the eyes were lightly defined with a dash of mascara.

Dolce & Gabbana (right) showed peachy lips, pink cheeks with the drama of eyeliner flicks at the corner of each eye. Gorgeous!

The makeup at VALENTINO (bottom left) was so utterly romantic with shimmery blush on the most porcelain skin imaginable (pull out the factor 45 now!).

Over at Versace, Aussie Model Abby Lee (middle) looked divine with soft flawless skin, flushed cheeks, almost bare glossy lips and full on mascara-coated lashes top and bottom.

But it was at Chanel where everything was pretty like a pearl for the underwater-themed show. The model mermaids wore shell pink lips, coral blush and wet luminous lids. And the hair? Models had sleek wet chignons dotted with oversize CC-stamped pearls. “It’s the idea of a girl who’s just come out of the ocean and run her fingers through her hair,” said superstar stylist Sam McKnight. Please don’t try this at home.

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

Louis Vuitton
It’s pretty, pastel and perfectly pink (with dollops of lemon and blue and all things frou frou). As sweet as fairy floss this shoot is just delightfully delicious (without the calories).
Models: Kati Nescher and Daria Strokous
Photographer: Steven Meisel

Chanel
It’s all swinging at the seaside but nobody’s getting wet. From the absolutely divine dresses to the cute socks it’s all gorgeous. Karl is the photographer… is there anything he can’t do?
Models: Saskia de Brauw and Joan Smalls
Photographer: Karl Lagerfeld

Balenciaga
Messy rooms, shoes and bags strewn everywhere and kooky clothes. Talk about laid back style. I’m calling this careless couture.
Models: Laura Kampman, Juliane Gruner, Rosie Tapner, and Kirstin Liljegren
Photographer: Steven Meisel

Prada
The car has broken down in the desert? That’s OK, you’re wearing beautiful jewels and your Prada shoes and bag match your car.
Models: Elise Crombez, Ymre Stiekema, Katryn Kruger, Meghan Collison, Natasha Poly, and Guinevere van Seenus
Photographer: Steven Meisel

Versace
There is only one Gisele and she’s all woman. Strong, sexy, modern she looks Ahhmazing even if the pool is empty (her dress isn’t!).
Model: Gisele Bündchen
Photographer: Mert and Marcus

Stella McCartney
Surrounded by a bed of funky flowers supermodel Natalia is both pretty and cool. Which can be tricky to pull off. (But is that a jumpsuit or is she allergic to flowers?)
Model: Natalia Vodianova
Photographer: Mert and Marcus

See all the campaigns at New York Magazine

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

May we present FiFi’s Top Five Favourite (and Frumpy) Frocks!

FiFi’s Five favourite Frocks…
Michelle Williams
This is a girl who obviously lurves fashion. She instinctively gets the trends without letting them overwhelm her (Such as big bustles and tacky trains: yes we’re talking to you Sarah Michelle Gellar). This look gets all the ticks. Long sleeve dress. TICK. Cobalt blue velvet. TICK. A narrow slinky cut. TICK. A cute crop do and a cute headband. Tick-a-licious. Head to the top of the class.

Emma Stone
Lanvin: how do we love thee? Let me count the ways. Love the colour ( burgundy is THE shade for winter). Adore the cut and the pretty pleating. Crying over the over the top Wonder Woman belt. (Maybe she was inspired by Spiderman?). Love the simplicity. This is so fashion. She rocks.

Charlize Theron
A pale pink asymmetrical dress with a big fat bow/thingy on the side? Who’d think that would work? But Charlize looks like a glamorous movie star in this divine Dior. Even the double sided tape was immaculate. I die!

Zooey Deschanel
With a name like Zooey she can afford to be showey. She’s an Indie actress. Some might describe her as an arty, intellectual Bohemian with a kooky edge. It’s a match made in heaven with Prada. This is chic, modern and a little adventurous. Just ignore her tuxedo manicure. Wrong!

Freida Pinto
Doesn’t she look adorable? Who needs a frou frou frock when you can glide glamorously up the red carpet looking like this. It’s Prada. Shut up. Nothing else to say.

Top Five Frou Frou Frumpy Frocks (What were they thinking?)

Erin Wasson
As the fugly girls pointed out she was “celebrating things in which she did not star, at a ceremony where she was not a nominee, in an industry for which she barely works — to wander around like a stripper who got in a knife fight in the hosiery section of Macy’s.” Nuf said.

Lea Michele
Is that dress something to sing home about? Is that Halle Berry? Is that J.LO? No, that’s just a girl from Glee. Bless.

Sarah Michelle Gellar
“My 2-year-old [daughter Charlotte] walked in, walked up this dress and said, ‘Mama, wear this!’ Then mummy gave her daughter a texta to draw and said go for it. (It’s Too Dye for). Frou Frou. Frumpy. Forget it.

Cameron Diaz
So she wasn’t technically on the red carpet but she was at a Golden Globes after party. Now it’s the question we all want to ask: Why did you chop it off? Why, sob, sob, why Oh why? I cry!

Jessica Biel
Here are some words used to describe her lace Elie Saab dress: Miss Havisham. Matronly. Grandma. Little House on the Prairie. Fell out of someone’s attic. Musty, dusty 70’s Bridesmaid dress. Plus you can see her undies. Just saying.

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

Summer means early mornings. A quiet stroll down for a leisurely pre breakfast swim. Sand on your skin. Bright Neon orange toes. Wet hair. Bare feet. Slipping into the perfect little Review dress. A stripe Tee. Denim shorts. Dreaming about Chanel’s latest under the sea inspired collection. (And wishing you were Florence Welch in your own oyster shell.)

Summer means saying goodbye to platforms and happily skipping along in thongs. Throwing on new sunglasses. And throwing away makeup.

Summer means a fresh face. Lashings of Crème de la Mer and just a dash of lipgloss.

Summer means eating food to match your clothes. Fresh watermelon. Peaches. Apricots. Strawberries. Mangoes dribbling down your cheeks. It means freedom. Bike rides, boat rides, wave rides. It means strolling to get the paper. And stopping for a chat.

Summer means losing yourself in a fabulous book (The Cat’s Table!) and a pile of glossy magazines. An afternoon doze in the hammock. Cicadas chirping. A chocolate Magnum ice cream for afternoon tea. A refreshing dip before dinner.

Summer means a gin and tonic with a dash of lime at sunset. Watching someone else cook. It means bowls of BBQ prawns. It means always inviting more to the table. It means long, unhurried dinners. Cherry tarts. Dollops of frozen yogurt. It means having just another glass of wine. Long lazy late nights. Summer holidays. Easy.

Yours fashionably on holidays,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

A perfect little square of delightful deliciousness to give as a gift for Christmas or just serve at the end of a fabulous Christmas dinner!

You need for 8 stylish Santas, 30 happy helpers or 50 merry models:

500g white chocolate, chopped
250g Turkish delight, chopped
½ cup sweetened dried cranberries

• Slip into Review’s pretty ‘Middleton’ dress.
• Climb into new pink Prada platforms.
• Pour a huge glass of Dom Pérignon.
• Relax! It’s Christmas.
• Ask George Clooney to chop up the Turkish delight and the white chocolate.
• Now taste it just to check to make sure it is delicious.
• Now find a heatproof chic bowl and toss in the chopped chocolate.
• Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir the chocolate until it’s melted and smooth as a Gucci bag.
• Dip finger to test again that it is delicious. Do not think of bikinis at the moment.
• Remove the chocolate from the heat and stir through the Turkish delight and just ¼ cup of the dried cranberries. Save the rest of the cranberries for accessorising on top.
• So pretty! It will match the Review Geisha dress.
• Now direct George to spread the gooey chic mix onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and sprinkle with the remaining dried cranberries.
• Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.
• Sip more French Champagne until you are set.
• Re-apply Chanel lip gloss.
• When the white choc mix is set you can cut it into chic little squares.
• Arrange on a beautiful platter.
• Serve with coffee or French Champagne at the end of a long happy day.
• Merry Christmas!

Yours fashionably festive,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

C… is for Chic de la Chic bottles of Chanel No.5.

H… is for Happy to start Holidays wearing an Hermès cuff.

R… is for Review’s divine black lace ‘Petunia’ dress.

I … is for Invitations from George Clooney (when you wear it!).

S… is for Sexy, silver, stud Louboutin stilettos.

T… is for Totally loving Review’s Tabitha dress.

M…is for Marvellous Missoni beach towel.

A… is for Amour Fou: the amazing documentary on Yves Saint Laurent.

S… is for the Sophisticated Smython fashion diary.

W… is for Wacky and Wonderful Tom Ford Sunglasses.

I… is for “Irreverent” the fabulous book on uber fashionista Carine Roitfeld.

S… is for Silver glittery Jimmy Choo clutch bag.

H… is for Heavenly hand cream from Crème de la Mer.

L… is for Lovely La Perla Lingerie.

I…is for I want the Incredible Review black Petunia lace dress!

S… is for Sparking ‘diamonds by the yard’ from Tiffany & Co.

T is to give Thanks for a healthy and happy 2011.

Yours Fashionably,

FiFi.
www.FiFi.com.au

This touching and heartfelt film chronicles the life of Bill as the original street photographer and a “cultural anthropologist.” Now over 80 years old, he has been photographing the New York social and street scene for literally decades. Designer Oscar de la Renta said, “More than anyone else in the city, he has the whole visual history of the last 40 or 50 years of New York. It’s the total scope of fashion in the life of New York.”

It’s an engrossing movie intertwining interviews with heavy weights like Anna Wintour, Tom Wolfe and David Rockefeller (who all appear in the film out of their love for Bill) with snippets of him shooting high society soirées, the Paris shows or just lingering on the street capturing emerging fashion trends. He is known and respected by all the major fashion players all over the world. In one amusing incident at the Paris shows he is called “the most important person on earth” as he is pulled out of the queue and whisked to the front row. (In 2008 he was awarded the title Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture which is very prestigious).

A very eccentric person, he lives alone in a tiny flat in Carnegie Hall. He sleeps on boxes surrounded by books and cabinets filled with photos. He wears a bright blue French workman’s jacket. He rides his bicycle everywhere with his camera slung around his neck. He knows everyone and everyone loves him. He calls everyone “kid” and says everything is “maahvelous”. He eschews anything that might seem frivolous and superficial like restaurants, shopping and furniture. The antithesis of the people he photographs.

He is not interested in celebrity. He says “money is cheap: liberty and freedom are what are expensive.” He is funny, charming, kind and his one obsession is shooting fabulous clothes. A sometimes unassuming, shy man, he comes across as someone with integrity and incredible strength of spirit. Oh and he has the best eye in the business. This is “a poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.” A must see.

Check out the movie website here.

Check out “On The Street” slideshow on The New York Times here.

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

So what has she been up to since she left the top post of arguably the most glamorous fashion magazine in the world? A lot! She has collaborated with the New York luxury store Barneys, she has been styling shoots for V magazine, as well as working on advertising campaigns for Chanel. She said recently she is going to launch her own magazine. “Right now, I have the luxury to choose [what I will do]: Why not with a new magazine in my name? I’m looking for the right formula.”

Most importantly she has now released a big, fat glossy, coffee table book. Appropriately called Irreverent, it’s part memoir, part scrap book spanning her 30 year career. It’s 386 pages of fashion fabulousness! There are images of her most provocative shoots (Eva Herzigova posing with a lot of bloody “boeuf” for The Face in 1997), intimate family shots (she looks fabulous pregnant in black, of course) as well as behind the scenes Polaroids from many of her cutting edge editorials. Many of the pages have hand written notes with anecdotes and musings about her fashion philosophy and her personal life.

“Carine, and her vision of French Vogue, embodies all that the world likes to think of as Parisian style: a sense of chic that’s impeccable and sometimes idiosyncratic,” says Anna Wintour. A must read for the any fashionista. Add it to your Christmas gift list now!

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

Do wear a hat. It’s race wear etiquette and it will finish your look.
Don’t wear a silly hat or a kooky fascinator: it will finish your look.

Do wear wedges: stilettos will have you sinking in the grass.
Don’t drink too much: it will have you sinking in the grass.

Do wear small elegant kitten heels: you are on your feet all day.
Don’t wear outrageous platform gladiators: You are not Russell Crowe.

Do carry a chic small clutch: Your bag should be just big enough for essentials.
Don’t carry an oversized tote: Your bag should not be bigger than your dress.

Do wear a pretty soft pink Review dress: Think demure, understated and chic.
Don’t pour yourself into a short tight number thinking you are Kim Kardashian.

Do keep your jewellery to one simple strong piece.
Don’t pile on a necklace, huge rings and big, jangly earrings: You are not Kim Kardashian.

Do take a matching jacket just in case the weather changes.
Don’t take a matching boyfriend just in case your luck changes.

Do wear big sunglasses but only if you have a small fascinator.
Don’t do big sunglasses + big hat + big hair = Too Big.

Do pay attention to your legs with black opaque hosiery or a light spray tan.
Don’t slather on a fake tan to match your orange shoes.

Do find out which horses are the ones to bet on.
Don’t bet on a horse just because it has a pretty name or rhymes with George Clooney.

Do throw on a divine Review black and white spot dress.
Do throw on a divine Review pink tweed skirt and matching chic jacket.
Do throw on a divine Review black lace dress.
Don’t think you can wear anything else!

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au

Baz is currently shooting The Great Gatsby, his movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. The Great Gatsby follows the story of Nick Carraway arriving in New York in the spring of 1922. This was an era of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll (1920’s style) with glittering dresses, crazy jazz, and a thoroughly modern and free spirit. Nick meets “mysterious, party-giving millionaire Jay Gatsby and is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits”. It’s a reflection of our modern times.

Now the fashion world is in the same mood falling in love with the roaring 20’s. It all started at New York Fashion Week with Marc Jacobs channeling a 1920’s vibe and ending his show with a stage set straight out of Cabaret. Tory Burch said her collection was actually based on Deauville in the 1920’s. It was Ralph Lauren who designed the costumes for the 1974 film version of The Great Gatsby so it was only natural that he revisited that era showing flapper dresses, floppy pants and cricket sweaters.

In London, designers such as Sass and Bide and Temperley showed pretty drop waist dresses and art deco prints. But it was in Milan where the 1920’s flapper girls ran amok on the runways. Gucci ended the show with a series of absolutely divine sequin flapper dresses and Marni’s collection was heavenly with divine embroidered, beaded dresses to swoon over. Prada presented a collection with a hint of the 20’s with sugary pastel knee length skirts, coats and very 20’s inspired jewellery.

Paris Fashion Week has just started and already the trend is showing up at Rochas and Dries Van Noten. One thing is for sure: it’s the end of short tight dresses. It’s time to dance the Charleston!

Yours fashionably,

FiFi
www.FiFi.com.au