Bejeweled blitz

First things first... I would like to say thank you to everyone who read and commented on my previous post! I really appreciate it! My audition for "Black Swan" actually took place already a couple of weeks ago: I made it to the second round, but then my nerves took over. I can't believe I blew it like that and actually prefer not to talk or even think about it, but at least one good thing came out of it - I finally got a good reason for taking up dance a little more seriously again. It feels great to be back! For those who were interested, you can see me as a ballerina (unless they cut me) in the upcoming "Step Up 3D" and "The Other Guys", but unfortunately not as a principal! I'll keep working on that. :)

Now over to something else. I feel like I am the only one in the whole world who has not planned her NYE outfit from head to toe already, and more importantly, that I am not even that excited about all the bells and whistles that usually surround this amateur night #1. I do know one thing, though - you will not see me in anything bejeweled, bedazzled, sequined or sparkly.

Why?

1) Bejeweled designer dresses look amazing.... but the F21, Joyce Leslie or Charlotte Russe knockoffs that will have lost half of their sequins/jewels before you're even out of the cab on your way to the party - not so much.

2) Those decked-out dresses typically require little to no accessorizing - but I love accessories and would not want to go easy on them just to instead be able to dress up like a walking statement piece.... Sure, you can pile up the bling in a fashion editorial or on the runway, but a house party in the East Village is not a runway! Less is more, even on NYE, please.

(Images above and below: runway looks at Alexander McQueen, DVF and Lanvin; MariaCarla Boscono in D&G for Bazaar, November 2009; Racquel Zimmerman in Chanel for W, November 2009; SS10 looks by Nina Ricci and Prada in W, January 2010; Sigrid Agren for Vogue Russia, August 2009)






















I might just have to do an Audrey and don an LBD with gloves, fabulous jewelry, gloves and sunglasses! Yes, big shades are a must for walking home the morning after!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year's Eve, whatever you decide to do or wear! Thank you so much for reading my blog this year - I hope to see all of you in 2010 as well!

XOXOXOX

Dance and Fashion

There is something special, in a bittersweet way, about being the best or among the best at your dance school back home, and then moving to New York to make it and... not making it. The clip below used to be my main source of motivation and inspiration many, many years ago, as it was exactly the way I imagined New York: auditioning and rehearsing during the day, performing at night. Apples and cigarettes. Tons of wannabes, just like myself. Upon moving here, I realized there was much more to it: catty choreographers, even cattier fellow cast members, chronic injuries and understanding the true meaning of John Travolta's quote: "Rejection is becoming like a hobby to me.". It was inevitable that I would eventually drop out, and attempt to forget that I ever even tried.



These days, on the other hand, it's all about finding your old leotards at the back of your closet, sprinkled with little tiny holes from all these depressing audition number tags. Wondering what the h*** you did with your jazz sneakers. And all those white tights? And why you suddenly can't lift your leg to your nose anymore (this is clearly the part that bothers me the most). And how hilarious it is that some of the dancers at the school where I take class still dress exactly like they did in the Travolta movie from circa 1983 (?).

Yes, I'm back! Getting invited to audition for a principal dancer role in the next big ballet movie (hopefully it will turn out better than "Center Stage", another crappy film that no one except for dancers likes... which is totally understandable) made me take up dancing seriously again, and suddenly I see dance and dancers everywhere, especially in fashion magazines!

It always bothers me a little when models who do not know how to dance are booked for ballet-inspired editorials. Remember the Billy Elliott spread in Vogue last fall, starring Caroline Trentini? All I saw was sickled feet and parallel legs. Why not use a professional ballerina turned model, like Adina Fohlin, or at least models who are highly proficient in ballet, such as Karlie Kloss or Kira Dikhtyar (left: Karlie at the barre, executing a tendu à la seconde - I think this picture was in TeenVogue summer 2007?; right: Kira for Biba, April 2006)? Yes, I know the industry does not work like that. But still! And don't even get me started on actresses playing ballerinas... it is torture to be part of the corps de ballet in a film, and get asked to "sit down and stretch" throughout a scene, so as not to steal the spotlight from the principal, who clearly never danced in her life before taking on this role...

For this reason, I am always thrilled to see real, professional dancers starring in dance-inspired fashion editorials and print ads (not to mention commercials and films)! Below is the Swedish Royal Ballet in ELLE Sweden, August 2008:












ABT soloist Cory Stearns and principal Benjamin Millepied (also choreographer for "Black Swan") in Vogue, December 2009, and soloist Misty Copeland in W, November 2009:






















VogueGirl Korea spread, February 2006:








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The Brizo fall 2009 campaign:






















Other favorites include Vogue Italia, March 2008, and MariaCarla for Bazaar, February 2002 (I actually don't know if she has any training or not, but for this still she looks believable either way):
















Last but not least, some candid (sort of) images of fashion meeting ballet -- Karl Lagerfeld and Elena Glurdjidze of the English National Ballet at the Lemarié atelier; fitting of Lagerfeld's "Dying Swan" costume:
















What about you, dear readers? Any aspiring, failed or actually successful dancers around here? Or are you merely a fashionista, loving the current ballerina trend, coveting tutus and MqQueen Bedlington-esque platforms? Nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't wear them with legwarmers! ;)

xoxoxoxoxo

Elfin Chic

Last week I had the pleasure of sipping coffee from a paper cup (through a straw, of course) and sharing a cinnamon raisin bagel with a fellow struggling actress, who is a little older than me - we all know "a little older" can mean anything from being the same age or old enough to be one's mother or grandmother. However, in this case it simply means old enough to have been on set with Mia Farrow in one of her first Woody Allen films - let alone as an unglamourous extra, making a couple of bucks in-between auditions and performances.

I loved listening to K's memories from the shoot, especially since mid-60s Mia is one of my favorite style icons! Hence and not surprisingly, the anecdote I enjoyed the most was indeed fashion-related. While the two ladies never got the chance to share a bagel between takes, they did share some wardrobe: being appalled with the baggy outfit the costume department had selected for K, Mia dragged her into her private trailer, exclaiming "you're tiny, you need to borrow something from me!", and promptly put her in one of her own sweater dresses!

Not being particularly starstruck - it was, after all, just another day at work - and realizing that the dress was just a dress, and that it would have to be returned and forgotten about at the end of the day, K was however in heaven over the elfin queen's compliment -- even decades later. "... And she said I was tiny!", she re-emphasized, smiling giddily at me. "I know!" I cried. "That was the best part!"

Yes, that's lame. Performer-me could not have given a flying F about the dress... all that matters is clearly being tiny enough to fit into it! However, "fashion-me" is sitting here now, finding it unbelievable how I could have failed to ask what that sweater dress looked like. Really!

Could it possibly have been as fabulous as the costumes Mia wore in Rosemary's Baby? I doubt it! Me and my boyfriend watched it for the billionth time on a ratty old videotape last night under a blanket, sipping skim cocoa, and I was smitten (again) with all these lovely outfits that Rosemary is donning throughout the movie. See below for some of my favorites. :)

Girly ensembles outside the Dakota:











That yellow dress (I prefer the ponytails over the sleek pageboy, although it's a tough choice!):
























All those adorable white Peter Pan collars....
































.... in particular the red dress she wore at the party for her "young friends - no one over 60" (thanks Doug for the screen shots - xoxoxox). On a sidenote, her girlfriends were pretty stylish too (see the fur coats below)!






















The red trouser suit she wore during the nightmare:











The delightful empire shifts....



















... even her nightgowns were to die for!












Now this is one production where I would happily have agreed to give up a big paycheck to instead work for scale and get to keep the wardrobe! Anyone who does not agree must be out of her mind. :)

Gossip Girl exteriors today!

Question: Why am I working on Gossip Girl, despite the fact that I already made enough for SAG pension & health this year?

Answer: Because I love dressing up in my best (OK, not really... but close enough) clothes, shoes and accessories, taking a brisk walk to the Upper East Side (where the show is shooting most of the time, at least when I'm on it), getting a black cup of coffee from some breakfast truck and sipping it on the way, and checking out the principals' wardrobe all day long while I'm working. That's why - call me crazy! It's a nice change from squeezing into sample sizes at castings, rocking leotards and pink tights in dance class, wearing drab lawyer outfits for my part-time job as a very un-fabulous office drone on Damages... you get the idea.

As I got dressed for work this morning, it struck me that almost every piece I selected has some sort of back story to it. My call time is not until a little later, so let's see what I have time to share. :)

Black bouclé skirt - Kookai. This skirt comes with a matching, fur-trimmed jacket and I bought them many years ago in Paris. I had agreed to accompany my then-boyfriend on a trip to the French capital, where he was going to participate in a mini-course on business cycles in economic modeling and to present a research paper at Sorbonne. Feeling painstakingly inferior and out of place among his colleagues and classmates, I opted for strolling around the city on my own, day in and day out until our week was up.

I had crêpes aux fraises on various street corners, I was reading Gelsey Kirkland's autobiography in coffee shops all over the 5th arrondissement, I was daydreaming in the Tuileries.... and I was studying my map carefully in the solitude of my hotel room (so as to not have to pull it out of my bag in public... I would never embarrass myself like that) to figure out how to get to the nearest Kookai boutique. When I finally managed to locate it - on Rue des Canettes - and walked in, I found myself being surrounded by a myriad of Parisian salesgirls who were all dying to give me a makeover. I was tall, thin and depressed, with no direction in life - hence being a perfect candidate for their efforts.

These days, I usually tend to wear the bouclé skirt suit ensemble they picked out for me as separates (today, I am pairing the skirt with a white/black beaded 3/4 bell-sleeved cardigan, that I just picked up at a Nanette Lepore sample sale). But whenever I opt for a head-to-toe bouclé look and put on the skirt, the fitted jacket and those old Mary Janes that I was wearing at the time, I feel just like I did that afternoon when I walked out of the store, with the rest of my purchases (and the jeans I had arrived in!) stuffed in a neat shopping bag dangling on my arm... cigarette between my fingertips, people suddenly speaking to me in French, the stride of my step suddenly being so different.

Earrings - LuShae Trillion Cut Hoops. When I was 16, my father returned from a business trip to Venice, Italy, with a pair of earrings he had bought for me - a pair of simple princess cut studs, almost shaped like little snowflakes. Appreciating his thoughtfulness, but not so much the gift in itself, I immediately tucked them away in a jewelry box, thinking to myself I would probably want to wear them when I became "older". And I most certainly did... aside from the sentimental value that I could not help attaching to them, they had a crisp style that went perfectly with the fashions I had developed a taste for later in life. It was inevitable that I would, at some point, lose one of them.

The snowflake was nowhere to be found. During the course of one day only, I had been on the Queens-bound N, at the offices of a LIC production company as well as their neighboring PR firm that owed me some money... I had walked over the Queensborough bridge and visited an Upper West Side photo studio, a SoHo modeling agency and last, but not least, a wardrobe stylist's Hello Kitty-esque East Village apartment to try on some outfits. I did not even try to locate the missing earring - any effort spent would have been less fruitful than trying to find a needle in a haystack. Instead, I desperately raided vintage jewelry shops, contemporary bling boutiques and online stores to find a replacement, or at least something similar... and finally stumbled upon these hoops, that look nothing like my snowflakes, but have yet replaced them very successfully as my most-loved go-to earrings!

Knowing how devastated I was when losing the snowflake, my boyfriend suggested I buy a back-up pair, in case an "accident" would happen again. But while it is not a bad idea, I think I might just have to expand my collection with some alternative styles from the designer instead. Take a look at all the cute pieces here.... the horseshoes will most likely be my next purchase. Thank God my birthday is coming up! ;)

***

I am also wearing a faux fur coat with bell-sleeves, cinched waist and ruffled hem from Laundry, a pair of Rowley black buckled nappa equestrian boots (coat and boots pictured above left) and a Mango pearl bracelet (pictured below left), and carrying a Coach Maggie OP Art Sateen handbag in khaki/gold (pictured right). I could share little snippets about all of them, but there is just no time.... however, as a final funny anecdote, the Coach bag is supposed to be a Christmas gift from my boyfriend, but he could not resist my puppy eyes so it is obviously on my arm already...! My argument for getting it a little earlier was that in addition to matching my outfit perfectly, the bag will easily fit one or two of his favorite goodies from crafty, in case I get the chance to "steal" some and bring home with me today. In other words, my wardrobe might look classy.... but don't let that fool you: I'm clearly not! :)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! xoxox