Knot Nest Monster Ran out the door on the first sunny day that almost felt like spring, I thought it was a day for sandals and wash and wear hair as my head was still soaking wet, barely combed, and flying too freely from the wind that was blowing off the river. Anyone that knows me, will recognize the long thick blonde hair, sometimes wavy, sometimes straight, but today in a hurry I run outside tucking it into a ball of a knot under my jacket but that doesn't work, and so I let it air dry in the the wind with a few sunny spots I find along the way. However, I note to myself, a knotty nest..this is not going to be pretty. I give into it, without a comb and think it's kind of nice.. to be carefree, almost like being at the beach.ummm, not exactly, I am in the city, and have to go to an event like this..oh well, a look it is. Passing by salons I can't help think of how all the blow drying places have taken hold of the city. The women in NYC, spend hours, at Blow, Dry bar, Beauty Bar, just to name a few. Who gives the best blow dry? They are sprouting or shall I say bursting all over cities. Perfection? It's a $$$ industry..or more. It doesn't come cheap. At $40, $50,$70 a blow, we better look pretty, and that's not with the tip. Beauty; it doesn't come cheap and does it make us feel better. I decide to take the test. I know how to make my own hair look good. I can make it pin straight, I can make it wavy...so I really only need a great haircut, and I am pretty much into wash and wear. I consider myself very lucky. I am curious, so I make an appointment at Dry bar..the results are beautiful from the back at least. Does it give me more confidence? Not sure, but yes, in a way it makes you feel good, so I would say that "equals" confidence. I do have to say they did an excellent job; they were fun, quick, and professional, but it is a lot of pampering on a weekly basis; a lot of $$$, and time. This morning I see the cover of the Times Magazine with Julianne Moore..a striking visual..pushing the limits..her hair is a knotty nest...she always pushes the limits in her striking artistic sense...the image is as beautiful as is she. It's an editorial look to make us intrigued ; compelling, complete with over splayed freckles, knotted frizzed hair and pale pointed nails, and yet she stills maintains an ethereal quality. I am sure she doesn't go around in everyday life with hair that resembles a knot nest monster, and neither do I, but maybe we are on to something..that's a bit more freeing. A new trend the "Knot Nest Monster", for those that need a little less is more beauty. Julianne Moore Photographs Inez and Vinoodh

Tags: Shakira, Knots; Nest;, T Magazine; Taste & Beauty;NYT;Julianne Moore; Loreal;DryBar; Blowouts;Perspective;Messy Hair; Frizzy Hair; Weird hairstyles; Beautiful Waves; Hair Products; Beauty; Appearance; Otherworldly

Traveling The temperature in NYC has been seesawing from hot to cold, more widely than middle aged. Finally, it feels like winter and we are expecting snowfall, sometime this week. The holidays are behind us and everyone in the media is talking about diets. Yesterday a news crew stopped me on the street to interview me on channel 5. The questions were all about healthy eating. " Do you diet?" "Did your ever diet?" " Do You eat healthy?" "Do you exercise? This was an effort in rhetoric...but it is all encompassing in our nation of overweight..overfed..and overstressed...I am thin but I really need a vacation. This only makes me think of one thing...traveling, somewhere warm, take the bathing suit, sandals,t- shirt, shorts and flirty summer dresses out of storage, or better yet; allowing me to check out the resort collections. Pucci comes to mind...I can always count on something bright and fun. Then I find Libertine's Spring 2013 collection and it takes me to deconstructing the classic with whimsy...taking vintage, and with artistry, mixing it up. How life should always be, and after all this is about lifestyle, and art, and traveling, and Libertine's inspiration this season was India. This is a place I have never been to, but the clothes have allowed me to dream of footsteps that I might wear looking at the Taj Mahal. There is even rumor that a mirrored image of the palace was built across from it: now two Taj Mahal's would be a sight to see. So I will imagine it in the free spirit of a Libertine, until I find my flight to India; I am roaming NYC in some color this spring.

Tags: Travel: Spring: Pucci:Libertine: Spring Fashions2013: Diet; Health: Excercise:News Chanel 5: News Chanel 4:

Hand Hammered Trend In Jewelry Metals There is an ongoing trend in hand hammered jewelry. Mixed Metals are taking on Spring/Summer 2013, only they are not all hand hammered..they may have started out that way; but most are cast, to resemble the quality of handmade and only the discerning eye can spot the real thing. Leave it to an artist to know how to design and make it wearable for comfort. I certainly appreciate the quality of something handmade and unique, so I will splurge on a piece that I can call my own, and get pleasure knowing it was tailor made jewelry. There aren't that many items made with care and love anymore so if you can find it....keep it...and treasure it. Handmade Jewelry, Original by Michelelernerjewelry@gmail.com as seen in Elle, Marie Claire

Tags: Michele Lerner; Jewelry; Hameered Metal; Spring/Summer Forecast 2013;Bracelets; Cuffs; Necklaces; Jewelry; Original; Handmade

GOLLY GLEE Why you have to love Joan Rivers and her obsession with Lea Michele Joan is adorable and quick, and nobody's fool. Fashion Police is right up there with TMZ, in making me laugh. Running around catching celebrities off guard gives license to sneak a peek at the human behind the mask. A celebrity style Candid Camera meets TMZ , merged with Fashion Police could be a new format...but then again Joan does this, on the Red Carpet, at The Oscars. She makes our celebs human; when they look perfect. Obsessed with Celebrity mishaps..when they implode, or dress awful, or make the wrong move they are our fishbowl targets, and fascinate us. Is it fair? Absolutely.. When they get it right they fascinate us, and when it's wrong it is sooo wrong. Just to quote Joan" "You know that cute Asian boy who plays a freshman? In real life he's a thirty-year-old man and he's upside down on a mortgage in Burbank," Rivers wrote. "The only way Lea Michele is in high school is if she's part of some bizarre religious cult and she's come back to school with bombs strapped to her boobs. The only true character on Glee is the fat girl because in real life she is a fat girl. On Glee all the homo kids are smiling and giggly and they spend every day singing in the halls. When I went to high school, the homos spent most of their days hiding in their lockers, crying!" Celebrities get paid to pay professionals to look their best and create image so it's their job to be on for the camera. When Joan's rough snarks are aimed at Leah Michele's poses she is dead on...Leah Michele is beautiful..we are sure she has taken countless acting and singing lessons..now learn to strut and strike without making Joan Rivers shiver...or just continue..and let her make us laugh. Only someone of Joan's stature and delivery can say Homos, Fat-girl, and not be offensive with such inflammatory remarks. We know when Joan Rivers delivers zingers it is with heart not hate. She is so damn great. http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/10/11/celebrity-apprentice-joan-rivers-piers-morgan-arsenio-hall-john-rich/

Tags: Fashion Police; Joan Rivers:TMZ: Celebrity Apprentice:Celebrities;Poses: Fashion; Entertainment:Red Carpet:Styling;Glee:Leah Michele

Is Fashion Shortlived Or Does It Have Wingspan?

I am a true lover of fashion...be it old or new. One of my first photo shoots in 2003, was a test involving a vintage crocodile handbag, a seventies bag and lizard vintage Ralph Lauren shoes on a skeleton.
Odd to place a still life with such a symbol of mortality. I remember going to the prop house and insisting on a real one and trying the shoe on for size. Luckily it was a slide: as I was adjusting for size someone called my name... It was a huge prop warehouse and
I couldn’t believe I ran into a friend of mine who just came back to live in NY from Paris- and she was witnessing the fit. Perfect.
We both cracked up with laughter at being caught in the act. “Why”? She asked, are there more around here”? She asked me if I planned to put anything else on her? No just my shoes and bags..this is my still life shoot of the Macabre. Skulls/Bones/and Skeletons...they all move so quickly into the fashion world and it’s not just about Rock and Roll. To me it’s about symbols of permanance or the fading that unravels in a fast borrowed world. Symbols, the art world has always embraced as it transfixed, and beguiles us into believing our mortality; it is a path of what went before..Just like “Fashion, today I see new and old blending. It looks great to not have any hard fast rules. If it looks great..just go with it. On a side note, I’d say it looks current.

Tags: Ralph Lauren

HIGH/BROW ART


To brow or not to brow? There’s seems to be a diverging trend, I just saw the cover of Kate Moss on the March issue of W. Magazine, which is quite stunning in her depiction of the Virgin Mary. This is in stark contrast to the trails of her wild child rocker reign image: but what I really noticed were the lack of brows...which is perfection in the makeup artistry, and, albeit, casting, her in this Archetype. The devils counterpoint is in the details, or in this case the cover of “W.” Kate is an amazing model so really she can embody almost anyone, and easily traverses the Good and Bad, (no I am not going to the third) I would never think of putting Kate and ____? Together.

The other day I went to the gym and stopped at Whole Foods, on my way home. The line was very long...I was plugged into my pod listening to some tunes, and scouting the baskets in proximity: it’s a mindfully healthy crowd so there weren’t too many Twinkies in sight. A woman, nudged me, so I took out my earbuds, and she said, “You know who you look like’?” “No, who?” “That model, Kate Moss,” This was perplexing, but than again I am used to people saying ridiculous things to me. My looks have been compared to a lot of different people and none of them resemble one another; so I just smile, say Thank you, and assume its a compliment.
On the walk home, the comment crept in..why I thought, and then the eureka moment. I was without makeup, and normally I artfully pencil in my brows, but today the sauna erased what was left of them. It was, a “Not to Brow,” an unintentional mishap. Ever since losing them, yes, they are thinning even with the religious application of Latisse. I have even gone to extreme measures in my quest to restore them. I have met a respected Surgeon to have them transplanted, and decided no. too extreme: I have done countless vitamin google searches, yoga, relaxation techniques, hormone and thyroid tests..minoxidil...I can tell you that Vitamin K is essential, as well as fatty acids,B complex, etc...nutrition has always been my interest, and so is beauty, they are very closely entwined. So I am very distraught that nothing seems to work, and I try not to concentrate on what isn’t there anymore, in hope that it will someday be stem cell research that miraculously restores them as fast as they disappeared. For now I am resigned to a beauty regime that meticulously applies my brow. with my morning arsenal of eyebrow pencil and powder. I know that my likening to “Madonna” days are over, Yes, people always made the analogy and I it wasn’t my biceps... It was in the brows, for now those days are over; but I take refuge in knowing that I can always “To Brow,”: and still look like a Madonna. Copyright of Kate Moss images Photographer Steven Klein for W/Copyright Madonna Photographer/S.P.with Polaroid Copyright E.L.with Brows/you no resemblance to the above

Tags: W Magazine, Beauty, Kate Moss, Eyebrows, Eyebrow transplant, Madonna, Makeup, Stem Cell, Latisse, Minoxidil