Royal Fashion Minute: Countess Matilde Borromeo and Prince Antonius von Fürstenberg Wedding

Italo-German Royals Unite

Euro Royals: Prince Antonius von Fürstenberg and Countess Matilde Borromeo

Almost two months ago--in early June--a "royal" Wedding took place that well, got lost amongst all them other BIG Royal Weddings (William and Kate, Albert and Charlene): Countess Matilde Borromeo married Prince Antonius von Fürstenberg. They have been dating for a while and were known as the "Couple-About-Town" in all the Euro Social Circles. In addition, they have both just landed themselves in Vanity Fair's 2011 International Best-Dressed List (yes, they have STYLE and FAB P.R. agents to boot!).

Handsome Couple: H.S.H Prince Antonius zu Fürstenberg and Countess Matilde Borromeo

Here Comes The Sposa: Matilde Borromeo and her father Carlo Ferdinando Borromeo

The bride, Countess Matilde Borromeo, wore a silk satin Empire-cut gown from Valentino Haute Couture. No one mentioned this at the time of the wedding but it was hard to not miss a slight "baby bump" protruding from her tummy area. The gown had a slight train with a curved seam and gathered ruffle. The top section featured silk bias-binding with pearl accents looped detail, very reminiscent of...

This coat-dress from Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2011, also worn by...

Princess Beatrice at the William and Catherine Royal Wedding.

The wedding took place in Isola Bella on Lago Maggiore, one of many islands the bride's family actually owns. In case you were wondering about HER family, the Borromeo's, they are from Milan. A true dynasty, the Borromeos trace their origins to the 15th century, when Vitaliano I, treasurer to the Duke of Milan, began amassing a fortune and accumulating enormous amounts of property. For the better part of the 16th century, a large chunk of what is now North Central Italy was known as the Borromeo State, and the family had full political and military power.

Isola Bella on Lago Maggiore

In the center of this fiefdom, Lago Maggiore is not only geographically strategic—wedged between the Alps and Lombardy—but also breathtakingly beautiful, with azure waters and lush vegetation surrounded by snowcapped peaks.

Prince Antonius and Princess Maximiliane Windisch-Graetz (his mommy). She belongs to the Italian branch of Windisch-Graetz dynasty and is the sister of Mariano Hugo, who is married to the Archduchess Sophie of Austria. The Windisch-Graetz is a princely family in the Austrian Empire serving the Habsburg dynasty

Illustrious Guests:

Pierre Casiraghi and his brother Andrea Casiraghi, of Monaco

Pierre Casiraghi, incidentally is dating one of the bride's sisters, the very pretty Beatrice Borromeo, seen above at the wedding of his uncle, Prince Albert II of Monaco to Charlene Wittstock.

The two other Borromeo sisters--and their respective husbands and children: (Left) Isabella Borromeo...

In Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2011, above--and her husband Ugo Brachetti Peretti and their children; Lavinia Borromeo and John Elkann and their children, Oceano and Leone (right).

Carlo Borromeo (bride's brother) with his fiance, the very stylish Marta Ferri--as well as the bride's dog Jack, who was a "very special guest" of the wedding.

Printed Guests (Left to right): Italian industrialist and manager of Fiat brand promotion, Lapo Elkann and his girlfriend, socialite/model/actress Bianca Brandolini d'Adda, Supermodel Eva Herzigova and Heiress Tatiana Santo Domingo, girlfriend to Andrea Casiraghi of Monaco.

Other notable guests included:
Georgina Brandolini d'Adda and Vogue Italia Editor-in-Chief Franca Sozzani...

Wearing Valentino Haute Couture Spring 2011

NY-born socialite/fashionista/heiress Eugenie Niarchos

Watch TONIGHT'S Teen Choice 2011: FIDM, Actress Meaghan Martin & Nick Verreos make a FASHION DREAM come true!

A Teen Choice Fashion Dream...


Watch tonight's 2011 Teen Choice and don't miss an exciting Webisode!

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM teamed up with ACUVUE^® 1•DAY Contest in order to make a fashion dream come true!

ACUVUE^® 1•DAY Contest Mentors: Sterling Knight, Meaghan Martin, Charice, Joe Jonas and Allyson Felix

See the excitement on FOX's Teen Choice 2011 show tonight, August 7th, at 8/7C and watch the winner's dream come true on the revealing video below!

Click Below to watch the entire webisode:

Watch TONIGHT'S Teen Choice 2011 on FOX 8/7C!! Why??

Teen Choice 2011

Tune in to my BLOG here by 5PM and I will tell you why!!! All I can say for now is that it involves THIS:

ACUVUE^® 1•DAY Contest

And THIS:

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM

Stay tuned...and don't forget, come back to my BLOG right here at 5PM PST!!!!

Byeeeeee!!!!! For now!

Asiana DIVAS--Vogue China September 2011 features an All-Asian Model Cover

China Gorgeous!!!

Cover Girls: Vogue China September 2011

The September 2011 issue of Vogue China is out and on the cover are six of the Top models of the world--and yes, they are all of Chinese descent! Models Du Juan, Sui He, Fei Fei Sun, Liu Wen, Meng Xi and Shu Pei Qin. As the cover says "The New Glamour": Indeed! They all look AMAZING and UBER Glamorous wearing different colored silk chiffon gowns with flower details from Frida Giannini's much-praised (and much red carpet-worn) 90th Anniversary Gucci Fall 2011 Collection:

Gucci Fall 2011

Gucci Fall 2011

Gucci Fall 2011

Gucci Fall 2011

Now, what would REALLY be a story is if American Vogue will ever have an All-Asian Model Cover...I will wait with baited breath!!!

Royal Fashion Minute: Monaco Royals attend 63rd Annual Red Cross Ball in Monte-Carlo

Fuchsia Princess

Royal Couple: HSH Prince Albert II and HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco, in Akris gown, Red Cross Ball Monte-Carlo

Last night was the 63rd Annual Red Cross Ball in Monte-Carlo Monaco, held at the Sporting Monte-Carlo. 800 guests payed 1,000 Euros (over $1,400) to dine, dance and hear Joe Cocker, who performed--and enjoy the glorious festivities.

The Dance Floor Scene--Before and After: Sporting Monte-Carlo, 63rd Annual Red Cross Ball

And of course, get a glimpse of the Monégasque Royals. Speaking of, of course HSH Prince Albert II and his recent bride, HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco were there. Charlene wore a fuchsia silk Dupioni strapless (she loves to show off those Swimmer's shoulders of hers!) "Mermaid"-style fitted gown from the Swiss Design House of Akris, designed by Albert Kriemler. There are rumours circling the Royal-watchers forums saying that she might be pregnant, but you couldn't tell in this gown. No baby-bump yet.

The Princess and the Ill-Fitting Tuxedo: Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco, 63rd Annual Red Cross Ball Monte-Carlo

The Princess wore her hair side-swept and tucked under grazing her neck in an elegant style reminiscent of the late Princess Grace. Her clutch matched the color of her gown. Prince Albert II--bless his heart--looked a bit schlumpy in a too-long Dinner Jacket tuxedo and way too long pants (aren't there any tailors in Monaco?). My goodness, he is one of the RICHEST Men in the World, and can't get a tuxedo to fight right?

Princess Charlene also wore a GORGEOUS Van Cleef & Arpels Océan Necklace (which can also be converted into a tiara, of course), consisting of 88 round diamonds, 10 pearls, 359 sapphires. It was a gift from Albert to his bride (oh how sweet!).

Princess Stephanie and her sister Princess Caroline of Hanover also made an appearance at the 63rd Annual Red Cross Ball Gala. It was Princess Caroline's first appearance at the Ball since 2008.

She wore a purple-and-gold flower printed silk gown with contrasting black-and-white polka dot side panels, accessorized by simple gold and diamond hoop earrings. Quite a bold statement by the Princess who usually chooses more sedate outfits from Chanel.

Among the 80o guests was Dame Shirley Bassey, who wore the same Pre-Fall 2009 Alexander McQueen dress (red color) that Pippa Middleton wore as Maid of Honor to her sister's Royal Wedding to Prince William. Incidentally, yes, it's also the same dress actress Cameron Diaz wore to the Golden Globe Awards in 2010. This is THE MOST popular dress IN THE WORLD, it seems!

Project Runway Season 9--Episode 2 "My Pet Project"--Nick Verreos MyLifetime.com Recap!!!

Puppy Pee Pee Pads, Bird Seed Couture and College Girls out for Happy Hour...Yep, it's Episode 2 of Project RUNWAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!

What Do Puppy Training Pads...

College Girls at a Drinking Party...

And Bird Food...

Have in common? Read On kids...

Last night was the second episode of Season 9 Project Runway and the challenge this week was to create a look out of Pet Shop Supplies. Yes, in the infamous "Unconventional Project Runway Challenge". Some did AMAZEEEEENG work and well, as usual there were some Pet Poo Poo Train Wrecks. Let's begin with my favorite:

Anthony Ryan Auld--the "Southern Belle" of the bunch, created an outstanding and very chic mini dress out of a muslin base and bird seeds. The way he glue-gun'ed those sunflower seeds onto the neckline into a gorgeous degrade' effect...it was sublime. Not to mention the rest of the seeds on the dress looked like teeny-tiny caviar beading. Yes, it was a tad too short and I know there is chatter saying "all he did was glue seeds to a dress", but that is what is precisely so amazing! He was able to combine the conventional and unconventional into one AMAZING dress.

His creation was a "mini-me" of an Alexander McQueen dress, like the one above from the Metropolitan Museum's "Savage Beauty" Exhibition. He should have won but instead Olivier I-come-from-Ohio-but-sound-like-Catherine Duchess of Cambridge won after a little bit of a judges' dispute between Miss Nina and Heidi (Miss Nina won!).

Some of the others that I thought were really strong were:

Viktor Luna's Wee-Wee Pad Ruched dress was definitely one of the best. He was the strongest at making a dress that completely disguised his use of "pet products". I think he was not in the top because the judges viewed his silhouette as maybe not "chic" enough. PS: "Chic" is the new "Fierce". I think the styling didn't help him either, I get that he wanted to make it more edgy with the shoes and belt, but the necklace was way too "Real Housewives of the OC" for the judges taste.

This was a strong effort by Kimberly Goldson. It is a bold look, and the roping of that bustier was outstanding, but not memorable enough to get her into the Top 3. Joshua M.'s was better and if the judges were to pick one non-chic (directional) ensemble it wasn't going to be this one.

Speaking of Tan-o-rexic Josh: I didn't really agree with the judges on the dislike of styling with Joshua's outfit. I thought he really made a complete look from head to toe. Yes, she probably would have looked much better with clean, almost glossy make-up, but the shoes and rest of the outfit look like they could be right off the Versus Runway (like the look from Versus Fall 2010 above). Unfortunately, there in lies the problem...Nina and Michael have a fear of funky, edgy and color (see Mondo Season 8!) and therefore poor Joshua will go far but might not make it to the end. I would love to see a Finale Collection from him...I think it could be kooky, fun and, yes, maybe great! But soooo NOT "NY Fashion Establishment".

Anya Miss Trinidad and Tobago Universe 2008 Ayoung Chee, once again, put out a great outfit. It was colorful, creative and stylish. The girl definitely has a sense of style. Let's see if she can do anything else besides a halter top before I predict her ability to make the finals! But at least we know she can SEW, GLUE and thread rope!

The POO POO of the Bunch:

Bryce's was the worst of the night. This is a perfect example of a outfit that got derailed and the poor designer who didn't know how to get back on the tracks. It hit all the prerequisites for being eliminated: Tacky, predictable, HORRIBLE styling and bad fit.

It was a cross between a homemade Priscilla Queen of the Desert Costume and...

One of those tacky Heatherette dresses from several years ago (see above). It is amazing he made it another week, although in "Project Runway Land" boring usually gets you eliminated over crazy, so Bryce is granted one more week.

To me, designer/contestant Julie Tierney was lucky not to make it in the bottom 3. Yes, she used unconventional material and did her best to infuse her own style into the garment, but the point was to make the unconventional look wearable and this just looks like...

She's homeless and found paper bags in the garbage and decided to create a coat-dress out of it. Pobrecita, as my mom would say.

But now onto the Worst Poo Poo of this Challenge according to the judges:

First off (a positive!) Joshua #2 Christensen should really take stock in the fact that his garment was not that bad. In any other week he definitely would have been in the middle, but in a challenge in which "unconventional" is the key word, judge Michael Kors was right, this ensemble just doesn't cut it. Next to very creative (good or bad) looks, his well, looked like it was from the Deep Discount Rack at Century 21.

Besides being too "conventional", the silhouette seemed a bit dated (so 90's Spice Girl) and as Guest Judge "Alice + Olivia" designer Stacy Bendet also said: she could see this girl at a college bar. Ouch.

See the look of "Oh Dear!" the man on the left in the photo above has? Yep, that's the same look Nina had when she saw Josh No. 2's dress standing in front of her...

Below is a preview of my Blog on MyLifetime.com:


Episode 2: Haute Pee Pee

Camel-Toe Nightmares
Last week, Season 9 of "Project Runway" began with a Pajama Party BANG, as the 16 contestants designed looks from their sleepwear and a bed sheet. For some reason, most of the designers drank the "Ugly Crotch Kool-Aid" and decided that somehow we would be impressed with the results. Not so much. Hoochie-mama-too-tight-leggings designer Rafael was sent home, and I was left with one too many bad camel-toe nightmares. But, it's a new week, and new nightmares. This time involving puppies and pee-pee! Intro Redux As this week's episode begins, I am struck by the new "Intro" showcasing Miss Heidi, Nina, Michael and our beloved Tim. It was a cute twist on previous season's intros, but I kind of miss the old style in which each designer was introduced with a "catch phrase." It always helped us identify who's who and would give us an amuse bouche of their personalities.....

Click HERE to continue reading...