Last night I saw Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour. It was by pure luck that I got a ticket, thanks to my lovely friend Hannah, who invited me and my husband and some friends into one of the executive suites (nothing better than going to a concert where you have your own private toilet.) After the concert, I realize that it was an idiotic move not to have purchased a ticket to the concert, because if Hannah hadn’t come along, I would have missed it, and that would have been a travesty.

I am a Lady Gaga fan, but not an obsessed one. I just think she is great, and ever since I saw those early pantless photos of her, I thought “Wow, she is different.” And considering all the celebrities today, who are boring, fake, and bordering on ridiculous, here comes a woman who is blatantly ridiculous, on purpose, in the most fashionable way possible. The music is pretty good (she is clearly a talented musician) and of course I am a fan of her clothing. She has put some very interesting people into the spotlight, particularly Nicola Formichetti, who does a lot of the styling on her videos. You can read more about him here.

Cathy Horyn once described Lady Gaga as the “ugly ducking” and I completely agree.  Aside from her slim physique, there is nothing about her that is traditionally beautiful or sexy. She is short, has small breasts, a big nose, and a very “nasally” voice. But she exudes style, confidence, and grace, which makes her one of the most beautiful people in the world right now. She is sexual, without being sexy, and her awkward dance moves and bizarre outfits make her almost assexual…despite the fact that she is often walking around in a bra and panties. I’ve never encountered someone who has manged to create such a strange persona.

My husband (who’s become a fan ever since I showed him the Bad Romance video a few weeks ago) says she is a reflection of our times, and it is an interesting point. He wasn’t referring to her presence in social media, although the fact that she is one of the most followed profiles on Twitter certainly demonstrates her ability to use the “modern” forms of digital communications to market herself as a brand. He says that her songs all refer to our world today. Telephone reflects our obsession with our cell phone “You called, I can’t hear a thing. I have got no service in the club, you see, see… (…) And I cannot text you with a drink in my hand.” He also said Teeth was about our obsession with vampires “Take a bite of my bad girl meat (bad girl meat.) Take a bit of me boy. Show me your teeth.” There’s no doubt her lyrics are an excellent reflection of the times.

She is a superstar is every way possible, but connects with her fans in an incredibly approachable manner. She loves them, talks to them, makes fun of them, and somehow manages to get very close, but still be on her pedestal. She claims that her fans always come first, and it is nice to see a musician actually stating the blatantly obvious: without fans, you don’t sell records, and therefore you are nothing.

The fans are in fact one of the best parts about the Lady Gaga brand. I’ve included a few photos of the ones I saw last night, it was so nice to how everyone made such an effort to dress up for the event. A great performer is nothing without great fans, and Lady Gaga’s “monsters,” as she calls them, are a very loyal bunch. I love going to a concert when you have an enthusiastic audience who are thrilled to be there, and no-one seemed more thrilled than the little monsters.

As for the show, there was great music, effects, stage, and outfits. She played 20 songs, and kept the audience entertained the whole time ( I would know this, as I paid attention the whole time and refused to tweet, since I knew the rest of the arena would be tweeting on my behalf.) I admire Lady Gaga’s ability to maneuver herself in those binding, uncomfortable costumes, and still manage to dance, sing, and move with style. Her troupeau of dancers (who now probably have the most enviable dancer jobs in the world, recently replacing anyone who danced on Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour) were an odd group, as you’d expect, but complimented her perfectly. Anyone who is considering buying a ticket to one of the remaining dates, I say do it! You don’t want to miss her.

I’d like to end by saying thank you to Hannah and Jordan for the tickets, and Patrick Zhan (one of my students) who kindly supplied the stage photos in this post. I’d also like to say screw you to the miserable security guard who made me leave my studded Sonia Rykiel Domino bag in the car. She told me studs aren’t allowed in the venue (apparently orders from the Lady herself…I think not!) because they were “dangerous”. She was obviously a very sad woman, working security in a parking lot, jealous of my gorgeous bag and the even more gorgeous entourage I was with.

All Lady Gaga photos by Patrick Zhan and all fan photos were taken by me.

I am not often very kind to Vogue US, however this shoot by Mert & Marcus in the September 2010 issue definitely got my attention. We all know that Vogue US rarely publishes innovative or interesting shoots, as they always play it safe (and therefore, play it “boring”) but this shoot, which is certainly classic and commercial, is also very beautiful. A great way to show off the season’s knits, and play on the retro/60’s trend that is coming back in fashion (thanks to Mad Men.) Grace Coddington is the behind this shoot, and it is simply stunning.

By the way, I flipped through Elle US and Harper’s Bazaar US this weekend…lots of very beautiful clothes, but other than that…B-O-R-I-N-G. Aside from Ask E. Jean, of course.

The more I look at this shoot, the more magical it becomes. I feel like I’ve been transported to the 60’s. And Lara couldn’t be more in her element, this is what she was made for.

Images from Fashion Gone Rogue, my source for all that is fashion magazine-related.

I love this Calvin Klein Fall 2010 campaign with Lara Stone, shot by Mert & Marcus. It is such a great look for her, and it shows her versatility, which is something I had never really considered before (I sort of through she had one look, and that was it.) I also love that this campaign is so Calvin Klein, bringing the brand back to the minimalist roots. Francisco Costa has done a great job with this collection.

These photos came from Fashion Gone Rogue, which is one of the latest additions to the Searching for Style Reading List (on the right of the homepage), which I recently updated. Fashion Gone Rogue posts tons of great campaign images and photoshoots.

Being inside a five star hotel is like being in another world. A world where everything is clean and beautiful. Staff are there to help you. People are polite. Nothing is stressful. It’s heaven. So walking into the Shangri-La in Vancouver is always nice. It’s pretty small, given that its in the middle of the city, but there’s a feeling of calm, serenity and luxury the minute you walk through the door.

My reason for going to the Shangri-La on Wednesday was to attend Jason Matlo’s bridal presentation. Jason is a very good friend of mine, and it always makes me nervous to review friend’s work, because if I don’t like it, I’ll say so. And sometimes that hurts. Thankfully this was not the case on Wednesday.

High Tea at the Shangri-La.

I really don’t like wedding dresses. I’m exhausted of meeting students who all want to be “wedding dress designers.” I am bored to death of brides wearing the same, strapless meringue dresses with their hair in an up-do. The concept of doing something unique and special for a wedding seems to be completely forgotten, because most wedding dresses these days look the same. They are so utterly boring.

But someone has to make wedding dresses, and Jason, being the darling of the Vancouver fashion industry, is the right guy to do it. He is obsessed with fabrics, cuts, and detail. He may not be designing ground-breaking collections, but he can be trusted for elegant, modern, desirable collections. Let’s just say he is more Narciso Rodriguez or Michael Kors than Alexander McQueen or John Galliano. So I’d trust him to put together a decent bridal collection.

Photographer: Greg Swales

Jason understands that many brides still want the strapless meringue dress, but his versions are as simple and elegant as possible. He cuts a beautiful jersey wedding dress. And he knows that a great wedding dress is all about an elegant shape and a few beautiful details.

Photographer: Greg Swales

It was a salon-style show, which took place as we feasted on the Shangri-La’s high tea. The food was amazing, the tea set was stunning, and the venue was class. The show was short and sweet, comprising of ten dresses. Yes, he had a few meringue pieces, strapless numbers with pouffy skirts, but this seems to be essential in any bridal collection. And they weren’t overdone, in fact most of them looked pretty ok.

The highlights were the A-line pieces, with simple detailing like a black belt, and the jersey pieces. I wore a knit dress to my wedding (red Valentino, to be exact) and it felt more fun than satin and boning and crinolines. The jersey pieces were almost Halston-esque, and looked more natural and effortless than the structured pieces. And speaking of effortless, some of the full skirts had pockets. I LOVE pockets in dresses! And how useful is that for a bride, when you don’t really carry a handbag? My only complaint was the lack of sleeves, not every bride wants bare arms (especially if they are getting married in a church), so it would have been nice to have seen a few pieces with some nicely cut short sleeves, or even a long-sleeved jersey dress.

The back of the dress is always important, that is what the guests see during the ceremony.

This one looks beautiful from the back.

And the execution of the show was perfect. My main worry was that we were going to see a bunch of tragic up-dos and models who…don’t look like models (which is pretty much the norm at Vancouver fashion shows.) But the casting was fantastic, all the girls were beautiful, and the up-dos were gently loosened and looked soft and natural. The Tiffany jewelry (Tiffany were also a sponsor) finished off the looks and made them look expensive. It’s so much better to present a wedding gown with ten grand’s worth of diamonds, rather than a faux diamante necklace from Claire’s.

Of course I’m not regretting the little red dress and the rock’n'roll Roger Vivier shoes I wore when I got married (I”m not going to even use the word wedding, cause it really wasn’t that, it was a giant party) and I am still scared of the word “bridal” and anything associated with that word. But if more designers followed Jason’s lead, maybe there’d be less brides in hideous meringues, and more of them in sculptural jersey dresses. With pockets.

The finale of the show.

The simple, natural hair and makeup worked beautifully.

She looks so pretty and happy.

Thanks to Greg Swales for some of the photos! For details on Jason Matlo’s bridal collection, visit the website.

I have always wondered why the greatest fashion designer of the twentieth century (yes, I said it, Karl Lagerfeld) is the greatest fashion designer of the twentieth century) has been unable to apply his genius to his own name. It is not that this collection is terrible, far from it, but it is certainly not as fantastic as what he does for Chanel or Fendi. I know this is supposed to be a bit more “street” than the other collections, so in no way is it competitive, but it feels quite far behind his other work.

I Love…

this incredible jacket. The front tails, the narrow sleeves, the high yoke line, and the straight bodice. It is bizarre but beautiful.

a white dress paired with shiny black leggings and headband.

the softness of this pleated dress with the shiny black leggings.

I Loathe…

the sharp, shiny inserts on this jacket. They look a bit "young designer."

the "sporty" seams on this jacket.

All images from Style.com.

Elena Gibson from Poledancing School in London

I did make a promise not to talk about sports anymore for a very long time, but I’d like to make an exception today to discuss the one sport I do enjoy doing. Some people say its not a sport, I guess its a form of dance, and it is the only sport I know of that can be, no, SHOULD be done in high heels. Poledancing.

I got addicted to it in London when I realized there was a sport in the world that would give you a great workout, and it was fun, and you could wear high heels. There are not enough sports like this.

Justine McLucas from Ecole de Pole in London

One of the reasons I am getting very excited about my trip to London (aside from shoes)  is because I’ll have the opportunity to train at one of my old schools there, run by the 2005 poledancing world champion Elena Gibson (who is Canadian!) She is an ex-ballerina, an AMAZING poledancer, and hopefully she’ll let me film her show so I can share it with you all. I’ll also be training with my friend Justine, who also has her own school.

In the meantime, I’d like to share with you my favourite poledancing video of all time, which is a film of Felix Cane, who is the current world champion (who is originally from Australia.) This is a very old show, from 2006, and although she may have improved technically since then, she certainly hasn’t changed her style. I had the opportunity to train with her last summer in England, and there’s no doubt in my mind she is deserving of her current title. She is currently living in Las Vegas and performing in Zumanity, which is Cirque de Soleil’s “sexy” show.

This video is when Felix won the 2006 Miss Poledance Australia, and it is a stunning performance that I’ve watched at least 100 times and could easily watch a hundred times more.

Everyone was getting excited about the Prada casting, and there were rumours that there were going to be some unusual models in the show. I wouldn’t exactly say the choice of models was unusual, but they did cast Doutzen Kroes, Miranda Kerr, and Lara Stone, who are much more curvaceous than the typical catwalk model, and it shows from the photos. But they work perfectly with the collection, which is very 90s Prada for a real woman, with a real body. The prints, shapes and fabrics are so reminiscent of the 90s collections that made Prada what it is today, and I think it looks fantastic.

I Love…

the pretty dresses made from heavy winter fabrics.

a "Prada" dress, made from a "Prada" printed fabric.

the fact that the coat fabric looks cheap, which is certainly not the case. And the tan and bright blue contrasts throughout the show.

signature Prada knitwear, with a matronly, retro feel.

a very simple dress with an interesting textile design.

Even the shoes were very 90s Prada. I imagine they will be relaunching some kitten heels soon, I can feel those coming back, and Prada was THE brand for kitten heel shoes. I am getting excited about this collection, I have so many coats that will be perfect for the 90s Prada look.

this is so 90s Prada, a retro court shoe.

and their signature super pointy toe with super skinny heel and a flat little bow. In retro colours.

All images from Style.com.

Fendi is famous for its furs, and this collection certainly showed off some beautiful pelts. There were some great separates in this collection, but I don’t think it was one of Karl Lagerfeld’s strongest for the Italian brand.

I Love…

the geometric lines in this fur coat.

this silhouette, and the incredibly detailed, delicate strips of fur making up the trim of the jacket and skirt.

a beautifully delicate LBD.

I Loathe…

the silhouette of this look, and the oversized fur vest. This outfit does not have the class and style of Fendi.

another poorly mached outfit, this one looks like its out of a vintage store. Although I'm sure the beautiful yellow dress on its own is stunning.

All images from Style.com.

I just can’t believe how much better D&G has gotten in the past five years. I have always had respect for the brand, but it is only recently that I have really fallen in love with their catwalk shows. This season theme theme is chalet, with Norwegian style jacquards dominating most of the looks. They have also added a bit of chiffon to soften things up. The collection is tight, the model casting is spot on, and the accessories compliment the looks perfectly.

I Love…

the boots, the gloves, and the bodysuit. I know it is not a practical look for winter, but looks great as a press piece.

the jacquard sweater coats. There are dress versions too, which are equally amazing.

the shape of this fur jacket, and the contrast of the soft chiffon dress underneath.

the cropped cardigan. And the cable knit jumpsuit is so cute.

the printed chiffon desses and skirts throughout this collection.

All images from Style.com.

Cassette Playa Fall Winter 2010: anyone interested?

I’d like to draw your attention to a rather hilarious comment left on my blog over the weekend, which I have not had time to approve and respond to until now. It was a response to my “not-so-nice” mention of the nu rave brand Cassette Playa. I’d like to take this moment to apologize to anyone who I may have offended in my blog, I am sorry if anyone takes it personally, but I don’t have any intention of censoring my opinion on things. I am going to be honest, and terribly frank when I don’t like something. Especially terrifying fashion trends such the disgusting neon t-shirts produced by Cassette Playa.

(In fact, right now I am hating myself for giving this pathetic brand so much column space, they SO don’t deserve it!)

Anyway, below is the comment and my response. Or you can click here to reread the blog post and the comments at the end.

Comment from Anonymous:
“for starters Cassette Playa is NOT a nu rave brand you brain dead idiot! For someone who rates topshop this all quite makes sense. As for the brand disappearing you need to learn the facts before you start spouting shit on the internet! CP showed at LFW earlier on todat was fucking amazing!

Your blog is awful, you need to give it up mate! especially when it is called searching for style when you clearly aint got a clue”

My reply:
“Firstly, I am sorry for taking so long to approve and respond to your comment, but I have been busy, and since this is my blog, I decide when I am going to publish rude comments.

I’d like to know how you describe Cassette Playa, if it is not a nu rave brand, because as far as I am concerned, it came to be during the nu rave trend, and then disappeared when nu rave was over. Also, I should clarify that when I say disappeared, I don’t mean the brand no longer exists, I mean that the brand is no longer on the radar of the fashion industry. In the case of Cassette Playa, the only people still checking out the brand are people stuck in 2007, or wishing to have a good, hearty laugh.

I struggled to find any press about the Fall Winter 2010 collection, probably because there are very few blogs or websites that bothered to cover it, although there is a video clip here. I’ll have to disagree that it was “fuckin amazing”, it looks like the same ridiculous clothing, from 2007, with a few minor changes to the shapes and the way it is presented.

Also, I’d like to suggest that if you, Mr or Ms Anonymous, wish to be taken seriously in the future, perhaps you’d like to substantiate your claims and back up your arguments, rather than just saying things are “fuckin amazing” or “awful” With regards to your suggestion that I should “give it up mate”, I’ve had a 90% increase on unique visitors every months for the past three months, so I am guessing there are some people out there who like my blog, which has encouraged me to keep it going.

Finally, I’ll accept many insults graciously, like “bitchy”, “rude”, “mean” or “a spazz” but “brain dead idiot” does not even come close to describing me or my writing skills, so perhaps you’d like to reflect and consider what you say, before you say it. Just a little suggestion.

Btw, Cassette Playa SUCKS.”

Another unattractive t-shirt from Cassette Playa, this one from Fall Winter 2010.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers for their support, its thanks to you all that I have had this great growth in readership. And I really appreciate the fact that I don’t have too many comments like this. As funny as they are, it takes a lot of time to respond.