‘No Bollywood dreams for me’
July 23, 2008
Every visit to Jaipur is like a pleasant homecoming for Tanvi Vyas, Pantaloons Femina Miss India Earth 2008.
Though she grew up in Baroda in Gujarat, the sultry gal originally hails from Rajasthan and takes pride in calling herself “a true Rajasthani”. No wonder she is crazy about daal baati and gatta and makes the best of her visits to the Pink City by shopping and exploring palace ruins.
For a graphic designer who is totally devoted to her profession, the pageant, she says, happened just by chance. “I somehow participated in the pageant and was not at all prepared for it. This is my first stint with the glamour world and has worked out really well,” says Tanvi who wants to carry on with graphic designing and also aspires to make a mark as a businesswoman one day.
Tanvi attributes her success completely to her family. “I am the only child of my parents and missed them terribly during my training for the contest. They stood by me all through and made it possible for me to emerge a winner,” she says.
Although she was not prepared for the contest, she knew from the beginning that she had a winning streak. “I am an independent person who has a mind of her own. I think these are my biggest strengths which work for me,” says the travel freak who is busy shuttling from one place to another efficaciously, playing the role of an environmentally conscious beauty queen at present.
“I am glad to have been given the opportunity of spreading awareness about environmental issues and global warming. I am enjoying every bit of it. It’s also a wonderful chance for me to visit new places. I love travelling like nothing else,” she smiles. For a change, this Miss India is not at all starry-eyed about Bollywood. “I am going to stick to my profession and have no tinsel dreams as of now,” she clearly declares.
Tanvi is also a bike buff who has zoomed on almost all bikes you can think of. “I have loved riding bikes all my life. I have tried most bikes,” she says proudly.
Tanvi believes that if you truly wish something to happen, it happens for sure. She has only one thing to say to the future Pantaloons Femina Miss India aspirants, “If you dream, it always comes true. Never stop dreaming. All you would need is oodles of belief in yourself.” Now, that’s a winner talking. Happy dreaming girls!
Fashion Definition
July 23, 2008
Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
Every industry has jargon, but fashion truly speaks a language all its own. Skirts are bubbles, funnels or tulips. Cuts range from A-line to zigzag. A cotton dress can be
ruched, pleated and pin-tucked, all at the same time.
And that’s not even considering really opaque terms such as “directional”. (The word has nothing to do with turn signals
or being lost: It refers to a particularly important design that might alter the trendscape indeed, the “direction”of fashion in months to come.)
Even if you try to learn the lingo, it’s not easy. Many industry terms get bandied about incorrectly by glassy-eyed celebs or professional talking heads whose list of qualifications could fit inside a fortune cookie. I take particular issue with words that get appropriated into glossy marketing spiel. Would you be more likely to buy a $100 (Dh367) dress if you knew it was crafted from “couture satin”? You shouldn’t. (More on that in a moment.)
Here’s a brief lesson in style vocab.
Resort or cruise collection:
It tends to make people think of halter tops and midnight buffets. Indeed, these lines were once just mini-collections of lavish vacation wear. They hit stores in late autumn or early winter, perfect for women en route to St. Barts. But in recent years, resort has become a big business — and, as such, an object worthy of designers’attention. Expect slacks, jackets and other structured pieces as appropriate for a Friday meeting as they are for a Fun Ship.
Sample sale
This has little to do with runway samples. After all, if only 0.02 per cent of the population is slim enough to shimmy into your stuff, what’s the point of a sale? The term instead has come to refer to a sale of anything and everything, which is good and bad. Usually you’ll find deeply discounted stock from previous seasons, but not always. I’ve seen sample sales that offered new, full-price clothing, vintage jewellery and beauty products.
Here are some terms that are good to know if you want to talk the talk the next time you watch Project Runway or just impress the heck out of that saleswoman at Saks
Couture:
It gets slapped on anything from tank tops to tiaras, but the word doesn’t just mean “really fancy.”It refers to a tradition of custom-made clothing that originated in France.
Far pricier than even designer clothing, couture is for women who think nothing of paying $100,000 (Dh367,099) for a gown made of ostrich plumes. The evening-wear section of your local department store may stock chiffon frocks, beaded capelets and other dressy dazzlers, but if you buy a piece on sight and carry it out of the store, that isn’t couture. It’s ready-to-wear, even if you have it altered. As for Juicy Couture … don’t get me started.
Diffusion line:
It is a collection of clothing that aims to offer a designer’s aesthetic to the masses. Marc by Marc Jacobs (right), See by Chloe and Kors Michael Kors are good examples: Each delivers a soupcon of its namesake designer’s look in simpler, more accessible forms. What also gets “diffused,”happily, is the price; expect to see one or more zeros lopped off the end.
Trunk shows:
It happen when a designer comes to town to showcase his or her latest collection to the ladies who lunch (though in the case of a major brand such as Marni, you may meet
a store manager or label rep rather than Consuelo Castiglioni herself). Any plain Jane who wants to offer her oohs and ahhs is welcome, because these shows are free and usually take place at public venues such as swish boutiques and department stores. Consider them a great opportunity to people-watch, gawk at clothes you can’t afford
and quaff complimentary champagne. Gawking and quaffing: Next to ladies who lunch, they’re two of my favourite things.
Shift and sheath:
A shift is commonly confused with a sheath, and the two words have more in common than the way they sound. Both refer to uncomplicated-looking dresses that end somewhere around the knee. The difference is that a shift tends to be less fitted around the waist and hips. Its straight lines are sweet and waifish in a way that the sheath, with all of its body-clinging tenacity, never will be. (Don’t feel sorry for the sheath, though: It’s shaping up to be one of fall’s hot items).
Courtesy GulfNews
Venezuelan beauty wins Miss Universe crown
July 20, 2008
14 Jul 2008, 1522 hrs IST, AFP
Miss Venezuela took the crown and Miss USA took a tumble before up to one billion television viewers at the Miss Universe pageant held in Vietnam on Monday.
Venezuela’s Dayana Mendoza, 22, burst into tears when the presenter, US talk show host Jerry Springer, announced she had beaten finalists from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Russia.
The 178-centimetre (five foot 10) beauty, the favourite of pageant bloggers and online bookmakers, clinched the diamond-studded gold crown after answering a question on the difference between men and women.”Men think that the fastest way to go to a point is to go straight,” explained the trilingual aspiring interior designer.
“Women know that the faster way to go to a point is to go to the curves.”
Mendoza, who was once kidnapped in her home country, later issued a call for an end to violence in the world.”The kidnapping happened a year and a half ago,” she said at a post-pageant press conference, answering questions in both English and Spanish. “It’s something that happens in my country. You don’t even have to have money to be kidnapped … That’s why I wanted to raise my voice and tell the world that violence is not the answer.”
Asked how she felt during the pageant and what she would do next, the green-eyed brunette said she had said a series of prayers seconds before her victory, and quipped that she would now “go home and take off my shoes.” Read more