What's Hot and What's Not: Cocktail Dresses

What's Hot?

Pink Cocktail Dress

Image Copyrights: Cocktail Dresses Fashion

When everybody is wearing (funeral) black dresses, going to a formal party in a colorful outfit can make you stand out. Especially if it is the middle of the winter and everybody is thinking that only dark blue or black would work. The floral motive and the bracelet go very well together. And no - you do not have to be a bridesmaid to wear it - just to have a young sole :) Be careful with the strapless model though - not everybody has the appropriate neckline for this little gem.

Designer: Jovani

Inspiration: Jane by Design, Season 1, Episode 2

Jane's outfit for the winter formal looked gorgeous enough to be shown on the runway and go to the cocktail party after a fashion show. Being brave in the world of fashion pays off.

Image Copyrights: ABC Family

What's Not Hot?

Just Another Black Dress

Image Copyrights: Tips for Black Cocktail Dresses

The petite dress noir is a fashion classic. This is why everybody has at least 3 or 4 of them in their closet (Your's truely included) . Black dresses are useful because dark colors can hide the extra kilograms here and there but they are definitely NOT ORIGINAL. Chances are that at least 50% of the other guests would have resorted to the same (funeral) color - and there goes the celebrative mood of the event. The one in the picture is cute but at some point - enough is enough.

Inspiration: Carys, Wake (2009)

Carys's grief over the loss of her sister somehow justifies her preference for black clothes. Those of us that have not lost a family member lately, however, should not resort to black for every single formal event.

Jane by Design and What's Hot and What's Not?

I started watching the new ABC Family show Jane by Design.

The script is mostly "The Devil Wears Prada" + every highschool teenager drama but in terms of fashion it is really something. It insiped me to start my own "What's Hot and What's Not?" line of posts. I'll see how it goes before school starts and I have Dutch and Italian tests all over my head.

Make Me More Social

This article includes links to sites that I find useful but can benefit from becoming more social.

1. The Official Sebastian Vettel Website
   The website provides a lot content that is frequently updated but it looks ancient. There is no opportunity to post comments or publicly like the articles in social media. There is no fan forum. One cannot reach the website administrator in any way to suggest improvements (not even an email address is posted). 
2. CERN
   The website of CERN provides useful information on the progress of CERN experiments. It also has no social media optimization and the design is extremely outdated. It is quite strange considering that the World Wide Web was born in CERN. The website appearently has had no significant redesign since around that time. 
3. The Official Michael Schumacher Website
   It has (far) less content than Seb's website but it does include a blog (which was quite novel back in the days of Schumi's first stint in F1). The website has all the problems of Vettel's -  no social or feedback capabilities. 

A website without social components is no better than a TV channel. The (digital) world is changing, however, and the way PR is handled online should aslo change.

Star Wars and Buddhism I

I have always been a very big fan of Star Wars. I find the philosophical connotations of the "Force" particularly fascinating. Quote 5 in my list of memorable quotes is the following:
"Train yourself to let go of everyting you fear to lose" (Yoda, Episode III)

I have only recently realized how close to Buddhism the teachings of the Force are. Especially with respect to attachment and how it causes pain and suffering.

Everything Works in Midnight in Paris

"Midnight in Paris" is a real treasure. I have never been an ardent fan of Woody Allen - in all his movies where he stars, his characters seem so similar. I should admit even Boris (from another personal favorite "Whatever Works") and Gil ("Midnight in Paris) fit the same pattern for some parts of these movies. What makes the same fabule work better in those, however, is that when there is another actor trying to emulate the same movements and speech, the audience focuses on the performance because it is special for these actors. With Woody Allen, I think, the moviegoers no longer believe that he is not playing himself more than his characters.

"Midnight in Paris" is a very self reflective movie. Among all the mind bending art references in it, even the promotional poster seems curious and multidimensional.On one hand, the image contains an obvious reference to Van Gogh and post-impressionists. On the other hand, Owen Wilson looks so much like the young Robert Redford that one wonders: is this on purpose?

The way that the historic figures are developed is particularly intriguing - it is obvious from the beginning that there are just shadows of Gil's own expectations. Yet, Gil himself so attentive to details in art seems oblivious to this. Quite similarly to his failure to notice the warning signs in his own engagement. Much like to his own characters in his preoccupation with the past, he disregards the present. One can only wonder - is his so blind or he deliberately chooses not to explore the rift in his relationship (and the complete lack of communication) and the one-dimensionality of his friends from the Jazz Age. Ignorance is a bliss but not for a writer: he has to understand his inner demons to understand them. The story twists around and explores and does a good job at representing the torments of the creative writing process.


The cinematography is amazing. The pastel colors and the impressionist tones do a very good job at supplementing the tale for the tortures of being an artist. The editing is the only component that I have slight objections against - it is obvious that because of the limited availability of Carla Bruni, some takes that should be laying on the editing floor were left in the movie. I hope that it is not just to prove the point that the character was indeed important for the picture. Some of the scene with her look odd and would have benefited from a few more takes.


Overall, the movie is definitely on my Top 2011 list, which I intend to publish before the end of the month.



Previous Movie Reviews: (500) Days of Summer, Melancholia, Imagine Me and You, Velvet Goldmine