He Said She Said

"The only time I sleep with closed windows is when I have tuberoses in the room. I jealously keep the smell all for myself. They taste good too." - Marlene Dietrich

About Nicholas Hoult

April Crush:Still on the subject of A Single Man, Nicholas Hoult, the glossy youth who rescues the Colin Firth character was a child star. Remember him from About A Boy? Well, he was that chubby boy...
And he became this...

And this...
6' 2" of Oh. My. Gawd.

A Single Man

"Just get through the goddamned day: bit melodramatic, perhaps, but then again, my heart has been broken. Feel as if I’m drowning, sinking, can’t breathe."
Tom Ford’s début feature, an adaptation from of the Christopher Isherwood novel A Single Man, is a mood piece not unlike Wong Kar Wai at his best - all that smoking, the evocative soundtrack and the fey closeups! It's polished and assured, and without a beginner's stumble, if slight and glossy like a fashion pictorial.
The wonderful Colin Firth plays George, a literature prof in LA of 1962; In truth, I have never understood Mr Firth until this. His lover, the impossibly dreamy Matthew Goode, has died in a car crash. The day-in-the-life is barely a plot, and much of the movie is a gleaming haze; The characters are all dressed immaculately of the period, all beautiful. Yet I loved it. The film is saved from over-fabulousness by weighty performances: Firth demos how a person is tightened and undone by grief, and Julianne Moore explains the fag hag in all her fragile strength. The two model boys kept me agog: Nicholas Hoult, 20, as the precocious (definitive!) twink is etched in my mind, holding up amazingly well against Mr Firth. And model Jon K, at the liqour store car park, is as beautiful an apparition as the angel Gabriel (this scene should be a movie all its own!). The film slow burns with beauty, with the majestic set pieces of Mr Firth's acting. When he learns of Goode’s death in a phone call, his voice and his face tell the entire tale.
Unexpectedly, it's worth watching again.

With Love From Kate

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Oh my god." - Kate Moss

He Said She Said

"I cannot bear dirty shoes. If a shoe has one scratch on it, I cannot even look at it." - Christian Louboutin

Weekend Reading List

R came all the way down from KL to watch A Single Man and when we met, he passed me a few copies of the Malaysian edition of Men's Uno. Did you know Malaysia had its own Men's Uno? And how many people do you know would travel seven hours to catch a movie?
Last Friday H donated office copies of The Economist to me (these will go directly to father), along with their lifestyle magazine Intelligent Life (bet you didn't know The Economist has a lifestyle quarterly!), which is pretty interesting, in the way airline publications are interesting - you'll look at it if you're strapped to a chair, but not otherwise. H also made sure I studied the Economist Intelligence Report on Challenges Facing Healthcare in Asia; It's a survey of diseases and killer statistics and I'm not sure where all this will lead, but it's not weekend reading material, I can tell you. Inspired by the Tim Burton movie, I've dusted off Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass to remind me what wonder really is because watching the coldly re-imagined movie has made clunky a beloved book.
I didn't like the movie, except for Helena Bonham Carter's brilliantly imperious, campy queen, did you? Ms Bonham Carter alone, as the Red Queen, with her Elizabethan head, was pitched accurately to the temper of the book.
The first ever film version of Alice was made in 1903 (highlights, below) has that magic that all of the Burton film lacks. Alas, I don't understand Johnny Depp at all.

Tonight, I start on Barbara Hardy's A Reading of Jane Austen (1975), about Austen's contribution to the modern novel.

Easter Egg

Not all that glitters is a Fabergé egg. There exists only 52 Easter eggs made by the jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé (for the Russian royalty) between 1885 and 1917. Fabergé eggs are made of precious metals or stones decorated with enamel and gems, The objects of luxury and masterpieces of the jeweller's art.
Fabergé and his goldsmiths designed and constructed the first egg in 1885. It was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III as an Easter surprise for his wife. On the outside it looked like a simple egg of white enamelled gold, but it opened up to reveal a golden yolk. The yolk contained a golden hen, which in turn nested a tiny crown with a ruby inside, reminiscent of the matryoshka nesting dolls. The First Imperial Hen Egg, 1885, above (Forbes Collection, New York).
His wife was so delighted by this gift that the Tsar appointed Fabergé a "Court Supplier" and commissioned an Easter egg each year thereafter, stipulating only that it be unique and contain a surprise. Nicholas II continued the tradition, expanding it to include an annual gift for his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna as well as his now-widowed mother.
As the House of Fabergé prospered, due in no small part to imperial patronage, the making of the eggs became elaborate projects that took up an entire year, assembled by teams of artisans.
57 eggs were produced in all.
Several have since disappeared in looting. Stalin sold 14 to raise cash, some for as little as $400.

Signed, Jane Austen

A signed copy of a Jane Austen novel published in 1816 has been bought for £325,000.
The book is a first edition copy of Emma which Austen presented to her friend Anne Sharp, the inspiration for Mrs Weston in the novel.
Jonkers Rare Books in Oxfordshire paid £180,000 for it at auction in 2008.
A British collector bought the book, one of 12 special 'presentation' copies Austen gave to friends and family. The rest of the presentation copies were given to relatives.
(Source: BBC News)

YSL Opium Bottle

Which do you prefer, the classic YSL Opium bottle (below, with the red 'lacquer' and black tassel)or the just-launched bottle (above: obviously a 'lite' version)?
This iconic perfume was launched in 1977.

The Gentlewoman

It's out! I paged through The Gentlewoman at Kinokuniya yesterday and it was easily the most exciting magazine on the shelves, but that's not saying much. I didn't buy it.
Jop van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers, the innovative talents behind the fantastic Fantastic Man (launched in 2005) are also the publishers behind The Gentlewoman, which is edited by Penny Martin. Ms Martin, 37, has edited Nick Knight's Showstudio website for seven years, and she's a professor of Fashion Imagery at the London College of Fashion.
Although the thing looks fresh, organised and logical, it's nothing really exceptional or new. There's quite a lot of stuff to plow through, and there's something for everyone, but it did feel, in the 10 minutes I gave it, like I was clicking through the internet. I was also disturbed by the cover-to-cover Céline ubiquity. The cover is Phoebe Philo sporting a Céline scarve, logo legible (by David Sims and Camilla Nickerson). Ms Philo and Céline products subsequently appear on more than 30 pages, including the cover story, fashion and product spreads. The Céline ads, on pages 10 and 11 look like part of the book: Still such 'support' seems unprecedcented and excessive?
I'll rather spend my money on Butt Magazine, to be honest.

He Said She Said

"A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care, and then forgotten all about them."-Sir Hardy Amies (1909 - 2003)

Kate as Nymph

Kate wearing Dolce & Gabbana. Kate is reportedly set to make her stage debut in The Tempest. She is reported to have landed a minor role as a nymph in an upcoming version of Shakespeare's play, part of the 2010 Bridge Project at London's Old Vic.

He Said She Said

"Cleanliness is the luxury of the poor: be dirty!" - Francis Picabia (1879-1953) His painting, Cinq Femmes, 1943.

Monday Madness: Serge Lutens

Serge Lutens (born 14 March 1942) is a French perfumeur, photographer, filmmaker, hair stylist, perfume art-director and fashion designer. In 1967 Dior commissioned Lutens to create a makeup line.
In 1980, Shiseido hired Mr Lutens to develope their product image. Throughout the 1980s he shot various advertising campaigns and films for this beauty brand and designed makeup lines and packaging. These works won him two Lions d’Or at the International Advertising Film Festival. In 1982, Shiseido commissioned Lutens to create a fragrance called Nombre Noir. In the early 1990s Lutens opened the Les Salons du Palais Royal, a house of perfume in Paris. The rest is at the beauty counters. I heart Serge Lutens and he makes some of my favourite perfumes.

Weekend Reading List

It's great to read online that Stefano Tonchi, of New York Times's T Magazine (which I love) has signed on as the editor in chief of W. Mr Tonchi professed his love for print magazines, but will focus on the web and building the brand's presence online. But his first focus is on W's stories. I've long ROFL at W's horrible editor-free writing and the shocking tabloid-worthy puns, and of course, those tiresome bloated spreads and visuals. I've long since given W up as a lost cause, one amongst many magazines, I might add. It's nice that Mr Tonchi's input will be seen as early as the July issue, and I can't wait to see his full revamp in September. I can only wish that the powers that be at a few of our local magazines would make the same chop and change, rather than let their titles deteriorate unstoppably. Can they not see how bad things really are? Is there no judgement? There's certainly no paucity of talent in Singapore.
To prep for next weekend's theatre date with Jac, I'm going to speed-read through Shakspeare's The Tempest. I studied it ages ago and discussing it over the phone with Jac recently, and realised I've forgotten a lot of it. Talking to Jac about books is always illuminating, and I enjoy these conversations very much - she feels literature so keenly, as do I. Over at G's last night, she urged me to read The Velveteen Rabbit (1992) written by Margery Williams and beautifully illustrated by William Nicholson, the story of a stuffed rabbit and his quest to become real. G generously pressed the book on me, despite it being of some sentimental value to her, having been given to her on her birthday by her friend Timothy Nga, the actor.
It's appropriate for Easter, don't you think?
I was too sleepy at that point in the night to ask her just what the relationship was, just managing to stagger downstairs, wade through the louche Orchard Towers crowd (it was just the beginning of the work day for the denizens of this building), and get into the cab. It was a looong night.

He Said She Said

"If it's not one of the finest quality, have a minimum of three, and then they appear to be a collection." - Giorgio Sant'Angelo (1939-1989)

Oh Deer!

Audrey Hepburn and her pet deer... Frida Kahlo and her pet deer...
Why don't you have... a pet deer?

Carine Bonanza

Are you panting yet? The 252-page Vogue Paris April 2010 looks so promising!
The cover is of Natasha Poly, shot by Vinoodh Matadin and Inez Van Lamsweerde. The Western theme and navy masthead promises... denim, I guess. Inside:

• "Les Soeurs Jac & Lily" - The Donaldson sisters by Steven Klein.
  
• "Tsarine Daria" - Daria Werbowy by David Sims.
  
• "Princesse Natalia" - Natalia Vodianova by Marcus Piggott and Mert Alas


• "Fleurs De l'Age" - Raquel Zimmermann by Mario Sorrenti


• "Comtesse Natasha." Natasha Poly,by Vinoodh Matadin and Inez Van Lamsweerde


• "Une Fille Un Style" is Catherine Baba
  
• Alexander McQueen tribute

Similarly (or do I mean 'consistently'?), the summer Vogue Hommes International features a 'Americana' theme. Kate's cover is by Mario Sorrenti, styled by Emmanuelle Alt. The editorials include:

• "L'Étoffe des Héros" by Beat Bolliger/David Sims


• "Basquiat" by Anastasia Barbieri/Cedric Buchet


• "Elvis" by Emmanuelle Alt/David Sims,


• "Nouriev" by Carine Roitfeld/Patrick Demarchelier

(I'm quite certain that this shoot is based on the ballet legend Nureyev, after he defected to New York, probably set in the 1970s - 1980s? It's been done before, of course, but I can't wait to see this nevertheless because it's totally Carine's period!)

Monday With Monet

Still Life with Meat, Claude Monet, 1862

Sunday Self Pic

Self portrait, Sir Nathaniel Bacon, 1625
Did you know that Piccadilly was named after a family who earned their fortune making piccadills, stiff collars with scalloped edges bordered with lace or perforations, during the 16th century?
Now you do.

Peter Lindbergh Back At Vogue

“Fashion photography has gotten a little lost. There is a lot of carnival going on. The hair has gotten too crazy and the make-up. At the moment, everybody is trying to do young. They have to look young or dress young. Youth is so overdone. All the advertising and magazine covers today — they don’t look like natural women. For me, that’s a real pity. There’s all this retouching. A little humanity would do good, especially in fashion photography.” - Peter LindberghPeter Lindbergh hasn't shot for Vogue for eighteen years. He went from working with Vogue to Harper's Bazaar in 1992, lured by Liz Tilberis to work on the revamp of Bazaar. Mr Lindbergh plans to begin work again with Vogue, as well as other Conde Nast publications in the US, after a recent meeting with Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington. “They asked. It was like you are the black sheep in the family, and your older brother asks you to come home,” he said.

Weekend Reading List

Because I enjoyed Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog so much I went in search of her first novel, Gourmet Rhapsody (translated into English in 2009, from French) all over town. I've not been so passionate about an authour for ages. I finally found the book at BooksActually, the definition of "quaint little bookstore"; Its location is at 5 Ann Siang Hill. I've never been to this five year-old book store although many friends have told me that I'd love it. They were so right. I was lost in there for an hour or so. And I'll be back. BooksActually also produce their own line of stationery (under their imprint Birds & Co) and stock vintage gift items so it's a great place to buy a gift for a special fussy someone.
Back to the book. It's not brilliant, so not to bother.
Ms Barbery, 40, now lives in Japan, where she is working on her third novel.

Bookish

Isn't this something?
BookBook is a one-of-a-kind, hardback leather case designed for a MacBook two colours: black or red). BookBook' hardcover and rigid spine provide protection and the vintage book design is so cute! Hand-crafted and distressed, no two are alike. The zippers' leather pulls look like bookmarks... You can order it here:
http://www.twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook/

He Said She Said

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Drawing: Hans Olde

Linda, 1992

One of my all-time fave images of Linda by Steven Meisel (Vogue, Oct 1992). It's so stripped down and that hair! I remember trying to do this hair back in school... The look stands the test of time doesn't it? Even those Versace clogs look today. HEART.

Model Grace

Grace Coddington as a model... It's nice isn't it to see that youth isn't all it's cracked up to be (at least not all the time!). I think Ms Coddington actually looks better now, than then. She really has aged gracefully.

Richest Men

Forbes's annual list of the world’s richest people in the world ranked LVMH ceo Bernard Arnault #7, with an estimated net worth of $27.5 billion.
François Pinault, Arnault’s arch rival, and ceo of PPR–which owns brands like Balenciaga and Gucci was ranked #77, with an estimated net worth of $8.7 million.

They Forgot Toothpaste

"Change is in the air for Detroit city workers. Officials plan to place warning placards in three city buildings. The signs will warn workers to avoid 'wearing scented products, including ... colognes, aftershave lotions, perfumes, deodorants, body/face lotions ... (and) the use of scented candles, perfume samples from magazines, spray or solid air fresheners' . . .
The Detroit News reports the move stems from a $100,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit filed in 2008 by a city employee who said a colleague's perfume made it challenging for her to do her job." Have you heard of anything more illogical?
(Source: LA Times)