Will Alessandro Michele’s Gucci Sell? Retailers Weigh In

While the critical response toAlessandro Michele’s debut at Gucci was varied, the thing that Kering, the company that owns Gucci, is likely more concerned with is sales. With the goal of breaking last year’s €3.49 billion in revenue, Kering placed a lot of weight behind Michele’s estate-sale swans and gender-neutral waifs. The burning question is still: Will it pay off?
After speaking with top retail buyers, we can report that the signs are good for Gucci. “I think it was absolutely what needed to be done,” began Net-a-Porter’s newly appointed VP of global buying, Sarah Rutson. “Fashion needs energy. Fashion needs sometimes to scratch at a sore—rip off a scab, rip off a plaster. And, you know, no one’s talked about Gucci in a long time. They’ve got to re-engage a new dialogue, so I’m wholly supporting it.”
Linda Fargo, Bergdorf Goodman’s senior vice president, echoed Rutson’s sentiment, telling Style.com, “The welcome new girl in town in Milan was definitely named Gucci. If nothing else remains a constant in fashion, it’s change. We’re rather beguiled by the new dishabille mood here, the luxe take on cool. We anticipate a new audience and client will follow her.”
Buyers especially took to the blouses that echoed the ones shown at Gucci’s Fall 2015 men’s show. “I loved the colored blouses in pink and blue and the feminine floral prints in the dresses. I’m also really into the tie-neck blouse for Fall ’15,” explained Brooke Jaffe, Bloomingdale’s fashion director for women’s ready-to-wear. Rutson also highlighted the blouses as a hit, along with the floral and ruffled dresses and the pleated leather skirts.
Erica Russo, Bloomingdale’s fashion director for accessories and beauty, saw promise in the accessories offering, too, explaining, “The classic horse-bit loafer updated with fur lining was definitely notable. It was traditional Gucci but with renewed, cheeky detail.” Fargo agreed, adding, “My personal shopping list is the surrealist soft leather fur-lined bit slide shoe...like walking around with Marcel Duchamp.” For Ruston, who doesn’t buy fur as part of Net-a-Porter’s mandate, the new GG logo belts and boxy bag shape Michele introduced were of great interest.
Some industry insiders wondered if the new youthful slant of the show would isolate Gucci from an important demographic: women with disposable incomes who, generally, are past the age of Royal Tenenbaums references. Buyers certainly don’t think so. “It’s about styling,” Rutson explained, citing Hedi Slimane’s unstoppable retail success with the youth-obsessed runway shows he creates at Saint Laurent. “Saint Laurent would not be doing the business it is doing—and in ready-to-wear—if that was not being sold to a large segment of women of many ages, young included,” Rutson continued. “Our average-aged customer is not going to have a problem with [Gucci’s] collection when we break it down and restyle it. But I do know we’ll open up a new customer base with it, and that is what’s important.”

Red-carpet revolt? Get real, the Oscars will always be about the dress

Oh my God, Caroline, how could you have missed it? It was veritable bloodshed at the Oscars, I tell you – bloodshed! Julianne Moore decapitated E!’s Giuliana Rancic for asking “Who are you wearing?”; Reese Witherspoon stabbed Ryan Seacrest when he tried to put her hand in the mani-cam, and Patricia Arquette turned up in a burlap sack, flummoxing fashion editors who weren’t sure if she was making a statement or was this made-to-order Balenciaga? Behind all the carnage, the rest of the female celebrities marched down waving banners and chanting slogans: “No, no, we won’t go, the red carpet is a load of bull!”
I jest. Nothing of the sort happened. There has been talk for some time of an imminent red-carpet revolution, including, I’m proud to say, in this very column, which last year promised a full-on massacre of entertainment journalists. The New York Times, which always takes its editorial direction from this column, followed a year later (try to keep up, New York Times!), promising that “On the red carpet, a revolt builds over pageantry.”
Read moreAnd did this revolt happen? In all honesty, it did not. There were some half-hearted changes from the Oscars red-carpet coverage this year – E! ditched the mani-cam and there was a vague attempt on the part of some entertainment journalists to ask female celebrities about something other than their dresses. #askhermore, urged the social media hashtag (and you just knew there’d be a hashtag behind this, didn’t you? It’s a wonder how the suffragettes got off the ground without one). Unfortunately, no one remembered until it was too late that the only subjects most US actresses like to talk to journalists about, when notshilling clothes, are their amazing charitable contributions, how wonderful and amazing everyone they work with is and what an incredible calling the acting profession truly is. Great TV this does not make, and while watching women being commanded to flaunt their manicures wasn’t much fun either, I don’t think anyone watching the Oscars was convinced we’d arrived at a long-term solution.
It is, clearly, ridiculous that actors are expected to gussy themselves up like My Little Ponies to go to what is essentially an industry event, and that careers can be made and broken by the choosing of a dress. But that is the nature of the beast that has been built by the media, fashion designers and, yes, female celebrities working in cahoots, and not one of them is willing to break this bond. After all, celebrities have long since crossed over into being fashion models, as a glance at the covers of fashion magazines, which are now dominated by actors, not models, proves.
'Let's hear their stories!' said Reese Witherspoon, then posed in her Oscarsoutfit and tweeted what she was wearing
Reese Witherspoon was especially outspoken this year about the need for actresses to be asked about more than their clothes: “Let’s hear their stories!” she battlecried before the Oscars. As she finished battlecrying, she put down her megaphone and posed for a photo in her Oscars outfit, which she tweeted,detailing the source of everything she was wearing, from her dress to her jewels to something she referred to as her “glow”. The other female celebrities were similarly keen to give shout-outs to their designers. Perhaps those are their stories?
And just to prove that nothing’s really changed, E!’s indefatigable Rancic was so characteristically tenacious in her fashion criticism about the Oscars that one particular opinion verged on racist when she snarked that US actor Zendaya’s dreadlocks looked like they smelled of marijuana. Rancic later apologised, although in today’s social media climate I’m not sure if she felt bad about the racism or the failure to #askhermore.
FacebookTwitterPinterestTo the barricades? Reese Witherspoon at the Oscars.
No one looks to the Oscars for guidance about movies. If your innocence wasn’t destroyed when Crash won best film, then it must have been when Boyhood didn’t. For heaven’s sake, have you seen the people of the academy who vote for this? They make the Republican party look demographically diverse. No, the Oscars has become completely about the clothes, and this is because the media cover the event, female celebrities know they can get extra publicity by looking good and designers will take any free advertising they can get. The morning after, I turned on the TV in Los Angeles and, while reading analysis of the dresses in the New York Times, the LA Times and the British press, I was able to flick between – no exaggeration – five TV programmes debating the merits of the dresses. No one, it seemed, was too interested in the actors’ “stories”, but they were all fascinated by Julianne Moore’s gown: some of them liked it and – waddyaknow! – some of them didn’t, suggesting fashion analysis is not the objective scientific study it is sometimes portrayed as being.
I recently interviewed the wonderful Angela Lansbury. She recalled that, the first time she went to the Oscars, in 1945, there was no press on the red carpet. She wore a simple dress she’d bought, took her mother as her date and got on with her night. No matter how many social media hashtags are coined, the media still values female celebrities by their looks, and so do the vast majority of people who consume the media (not you. You’re far more intellectual). So, until the media stop covering the red carpet, it will always about the dress. And when will the media stop covering the red carpet, obsessing over actress’s looks and reducing them to show ponies? I can exclusively reveal that it will be at 10 past never.

Olivia Palermo's Best Fashion Advice and Outfit Ideas, Right Here, Right Now

Olivia Palermo is so crazy well-dressed, all the time, that I can hardly believe it. Seriously! The style star is celebrating a birthday tomorrow (happy 29th!), and, as such, I'm sharing her best fashion advice, tips, and outfit ideas, as told to Look.
Dress for your body.
"The biggest fashion faux pas I see is when women don't wear the right shape for their frame," she said. Ask a sales associate at your favorite store for advice, read up online, or simply take a piece you love to a local seamstress and ask if there are any alterations she'd do to make it work better on you. "That little nip of tailoringcan make all the difference."
Don't feel like you have to spend a lot of money.
Olivia's well-documented outfits prove she's a pro at wearing pricey designer items along with more inexpensive pieces (I've reported on her in Old Navy, Loft, and plenty of Zara). "It's not about how much something costs. I always like adding a bit of high street to things."
Rely on color in bad weather.
"I always say wear a little bit more color in the winter. Take basics and layer and play," she suggested. I'm applying her thought to rainy or gray days when, even though not freezing, something's still lacking. "For summer, all you need is a great dress."
Take time to look your best—it matters.
"Confidence has nothing to do with physical appearance, but looking your best will make you feel your best," she said. "Wear something that makes you feel amazing, regardless of trends, and take your time with makeup and hair. Confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy, so keep telling yourself how great you are."
Don't worry about what your guy thinks too much.
She says she gets ready separately from her husband and on the occasions she does ask for an opinion, it's when she's finished getting dressed. She'll listen sometimes ("we grow together") but also ignores it if she loves a piece or her look.
Mix jewelry.
Olivia identifies herself as a big fan of accessories who always has jewelry on. "I play around with it, and I love to mix colors. I don't have rules like 'You can't wear silver and gold,'" she said. "I have a gold bracelet my mom gave me that I wear almost every day, [and then] have a great cocktail ring or a statement piece you can throw on and play it up."
Look at everything for outfit inspiration.
She named Tokyo, menswear, and museums as things that have inspired her when getting dressed. "You can really be inspired by every single thing."

Choosing the best hairstyle for your wedding day

Right now the current trend in up-dos for wedding hair is large side-swept buns that have a lot of texture. Sometimes, the texture can be curls with twists, or braids.Elsa's elaborate braid from the movie "Frozen" is also super popular, with some moderate twists.
Here are a couple of things to consider before you fall in love with one of these styles. First, you have to make sure that your hair density supports such a style. For example if the texture of your hair is very fine or soft, and it is not very thick, then this particular style is not for you. You need a lot of hair to support this type of braided or side swept up-do.
Also, the style will differ in ways depending upon whether you have straight or curly hair. Consulting with your professional hair stylist and trying the style in advance of the wedding will ensure that you are happy with the result.
You can never go wrong with a classic French twist or chignon for your wedding day, especially when "vintage" wedding gowns and rings are coming back into fashion. These smooth and sleek hair styles are great for any hair density or texture. A recommendation for prepping your locks for these particular hairstyles would be to get a hair mask or treatment, either at home or in a salon.
Most treatments at a salon are moderately priced and are activated with low heat. Most of them can actually spot fix your dry hair, reducing split ends, and intensifying shine. Shine is a necessity to make your classic chignon looking its best.
No matter what hairstyle you choose, start early to get your hair in its best possible shape. Many brides make the mistake of waiting until right before the wedding to think about how they want their hair to look. For the best result, however, there are several things you should do as a regular regimen to make sure your hair is in its best condition for the big day.
● Do some research on the shampoo and conditioner you are currently using. Make sure it is a low pH shampoo. Healthy hair lives at 3.5.to 4.5 on the scale, so you would want to find something in that area. Higher pH shampoos can do more damage than good for your hair. Experiment with products to find the one that works best with your hair type.
● If you use heat on your hair daily when styling, make sure you invest in a heat protectant. It can be applied to wet hair for blow drying or sprayed on dry hair for smoothing irons or curling irons. This helps prevent dry, damaged ends.
● Make sure to have a trial run with your hair stylist. It's important to have your stylist know what type of hair texture, density, and length they are working with. This will give you the opportunity to have hands down the best style for your wedding.
● Many of today's brides like to get together with other members of the wedding party for a wedding day hairstyling, and it can be a fun experience. If this is in your plans, make sure you allow plenty of time with the stylist and that together you make a schedule of whose appointment is when to avoid any last minute confusion.

Get the Details on Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter's Wedding

On an English island once favored by Queen Victoria, Benedict Cumberbatchand Sophie Hunter wed in a tasteful affair fit for a titled resident of Downton Abbey.
On Saturday, the duo exchanged vows at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Mottistone, England. The location is a medieval church dating back to the 12th century.
Mottistone is located on the Isle of Wight, England's largest island and the former home of famed poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, as well as Queen Victoria, who built a summer residence there with her husband, Prince Albert.
"It's a beautiful setting and very old English, very quaint and pretty," a local tells PEOPLE of the church where they swapped vows on Valentine's Day. "The church is not that big ... I would say maybe 100 people maximum would fit in there."
St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Mattistone, England.
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About 40 guests were seen arriving at the church Saturday along with several limousines around the Mottistone estate.
The couple did not use the church's organist to play for the wedding. Locals confirmed that they didn't use the church's florist or a Mottistone baker.
Night Before the Wedding
The Isle of Wight County Press reports that the The Imitation Game actor and Oscar nominee, 38, spent Friday evening at the Royal Yacht Squadron in nearby Cowes, a prestigious yacht club that counts Queen Elizabeth II as a patron. Prince Philip serves as the club's admiral, according to the squadron'sofficial website.
The private-members club is a roughly 30 minute drive from the church.
"It's a private members club and very private so I'm sure it was perfect for him," islander Ross Findon told PEOPLE.
Representatives for the Royal Yacht Squadron were not available for comment.
The Reception
After the ceremony, the couple and their guests headed to a reception at adjacent Mottistone Manor, which is now owned by the country's National Trust.
The 650-acre estate holds historical significance as it was first mentioned in Britain's famed Domesday Book, a survey of England dating back to 1086. (Yes, you read that correctly.) The oldest parts of the home that currently stands on the estate date back to the 15th century.
The gardens of Mottistone Manor
COURTESY ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY PRESS
"It's a beautiful place and the gardens are very picturesque," Findon who spotted the groom in nearby Cowes just last weekend, tells PEOPLE. "There are sprawling lawns surrounding by roses, a nearby woodland with a stunning bluebell meadow that is really special. It's a very romantic little spot."
A local tells PEOPLE Hunter's family is related to the Nicholsons, who once owned Mottistone Manor and now live on the estate as tenants.
"Sophie is one of the Nicholsons, which is why they have chosen to have it here," the local source says. "The Nicholson family used to own the manor until they sold it to the National Trust ... It's a beautiful house."
Another local tells PEOPLE that Sophie's great grandmother, also named Sophie, is the sister of first Lord Mottistone, General Jack Seely, the famous World War I hero and friend of Winston Churchill. Current tenant Lord Charles Nicholson has a house in Hampshire and not there all the time. His father used to live there permanently after he retired.
Yet in traditional British fashion, locals aren't making a giant fuss about the couple's hush-hush nuptials.
"Honestly people just aren't that bothered about it, so there's been no big 'talk of the town' or anything like that," says the source.
However, the source says locals have spotted "deliveries coming and going" on "lorries" (that's trucks to us Americans).
"The manor is right opposite the church so it will be very private," the source adds, "which I'm sure was the intention."
The Guests
Well-dressed guests were seen making their way to the reception after the church ceremony. This included actor Tom Hiddleston, who was seen in traditional morning dress while walking alongside a woman in a red ensemble.
Tom Hiddleton and a guest at Benedict Cumberbatch's wedding
SPLASH NEWS ONLINE
Cumberbatch's Sherlock nemesis, Andrew Scott, was also spotted walking with guest.
One famous Brit who wasn't there was Dame Judi Dench.
The actress, 80, was in London promoting her upcoming movie The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, says she hopes Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are having a "lovely day."
Dench has known Cumberbatch since he was "tiny" as she was at Central School of Music and Drama with his mother. Talking as grey skies and showers hovered over London and the south of England, she tells PEOPLE, "I wish they'd had a better day. I hear it's on the Isle of Wight – well, that's lovely. I expect they're having a lovely day anyway."

The Worst-Dressed Celebs At The 2015 Grammys Will Make You Say ‘WTF?’

We’ve have a bunch of movie and television awards shows, and now it is time for music’s first big red carpet with the 57th Grammy Awards. With the Golden Globes and SAG Awards, it is a bit sad when a celeb shows up in a WTF outfit. However, at the Grammys it is expected. Celebs can show up on the red carpet wearing anything. Case in point: Madonna‘s deflated Mickey Mouse hat.) Plus, naked, wardrobe-malfunction-waiting-to-happen looks are always popular. From Rihanna‘s massive cake topper dress to Kim Kardashian‘s golden bathrobe the 2015 Grammys had lots of crazy outfits.
Here are the worst-dressed celebrities at the 2015 Grammy Awards:
1. Kim Kardashian
Besides looking like something out of an 80′s soap, Kim Kardashian‘s sparkly robe looked like it was way too big for her. Do you think it is really Kanye West‘s? It wouldn’t surprise me. Her new shorter haircut looks good, though.
2. Madonna
Would you really expect Madonna to show up in a basic sparkly dress? Not a chance. She looked like she was going to start about #deflategate controversy with that, umm, hat. If you were able to look past the hat, there was that questionable crotch fringe and embroidery.
3. Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande would have looked very sweet, if she was going to prom, or she was a pageant contestant. The supersized ponytail was even more inflated than normal (it was all up), but even her massive ponytail couldn’t distract from the fact it looked like the side of her dress ripped so they stuck some sequined fabric over it because she hit the red carpet.
4. Paris Hilton
Everyone will continue asking, “Why is Paris Hilton at the Grammy Awards?” while simultaneously wondering how her top is managing to stay up. If it shifts a quarter of an inch, there is going to be nipple, which is probably exactly what Paris was hoping for.
5. Rihanna
Yes, there is a person under all of that puffy pink tulle, and it is Rihanna. This is probably the most material Rihanna has ever worn in her life. If you took all of the outfits that she has ever worn and sewed them all together, it would only be half as full as this dress. How many people do you think she has under there?
6. Bleona Qereti
Remember Bleona Qereti? She was the one who wore that WTF fishnet dress to the American Music Awards. She’s back looking just as crazy as ever in an armored bodysuit with a ruffly train. I bet Lady Gaga was pissed she wore a boring sparkly dress instead of this.
7. Kat Graham
Who says that your arts and crafts project can’t be worn on the red carpet? It looks like Kat Graham did a bit of DIY art on her sheer gown. I get the whole flower dropping its petals concept, and think it is creative but those bottom petals are too massive. They look like they’re coming to eat people. Furthermore, you take the art away and she’s just wearing a sheer stocking.
8. Zendaya
I like that Zendaya takes risks but this striped asymmetrical dress misses the mark. The fabric looks like a depressed circus tent. If the dress was more fitted and all the wrinkles were pressed out, it could have been passable.
Who do you think was the worst-dressed of the night? And click here to see the best dressed celebrities at the Grammy Awards.

‘Bachelorette’ Desiree Hartsock And Chris Siegfried Share New Wedding Details

Desiree Hartsock and Chris Siegfried from The Bachelorette married last month, and fans are now receiving even more behind-the-scenes details from the couple’s special day. On Thursday, Desiree went to her own blog to share new photos and details about her wedding to Chris Siegfried.
Fans did not get to see Desiree and Chris marry on ABC like Sean Lowe and Catherine Guidici or Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum, but Desiree and Chris have made sure that they shared many details about their wedding day.
Both Desiree and Chris are active on social media, and they have both shared photos from the wedding ceremony. On Thursday, Chris shared a photo of the couple standing at the altar during their ceremony. He captioned the photo by saying, “Oh hey remember that one time @deshartsock and I got married? #NeverLookingBack.”
Desiree Hartsock spent a lot of time on her wedding dress, and she shared a short video to her Instagram on Thursday that gave fans an up-close look at the design. She even admitted that she might want to wear her dress around the house.
In her blog, Desiree shared more about the wedding ceremony and the moments that led up to it. She also revealed why she and Chris chose the location they did for the wedding.
“I first discovered Wayfarer’s Chapel while working in Los Angeles, but not until Chris and I came to visit did we instantly know this is where we wanted to get married. The glass chapel creates an intimate setting that breathes life and nature into it with an unspoken ease. The beautiful grounds and incredible architecture along with the backdrop of the ocean pulled at my bohemian heart strings, leaving Chris confident in our choice.”
Desiree revealed that her day began with friends and preparations for the big moment, but she also admitted that her nerves began to kick in once it was time for her to walk down the aisle with her father. She said in her blog that it was a special moment for both of them because she is his only daughter, but “nothing else mattered” once she saw Chris standing at the altar with his “adorable grin.”
Desiree shared more about how she felt on her wedding day.
“I was definitely relaxed, ready, organized and excited, but nothing could prepare me for the incredible amount of joy I felt as a bride on that special day. The excitement leading up to the moment I saw Chris to the warm embraces from friends and family are memories that will last a lifetime. It is the only day that everyone you love is in one place celebrating your love! That in itself is incredible. The shared moments throughout the day were quite spectacular with monumental significance that danced around like a beautiful aroma.”
Desiree shared more photos and details about the jewelry she wore during her day in another blog shared by the KV Bijou site.
After the wedding, Desiree Hartsock and Chris Siegfried headed to Hawaii for their honeymoon. It was not long after the wedding that Desiree marked her new married status by changing her name to Desiree Siegfried on her Twitter account.
From the beginning, Desiree and Chris have shown their happiness on social media. They have not hidden much about their relationship from their fans. Desiree Hartsock has often said that she was marrying her best friend, and this couple might end up being one that stands the test of time.
Desiree and Chris are one of the success stories from The Bachelorette franchise. Andi Dorfman and Josh Murray ended their relationship just last month.