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Day: 19 February 2013

The Facebook PDA

Written by Molly Allen on . Posted in Lifestyle.

In 2013 we can communicate with each other through the Internet without really having to get out of bed. However, the problem with Facebook is that nothing seems to really be private. Potential employers can see our drunken photos from Bop, we know far too much about people we barely even know and various ‘hip’ family members know all about our current relationship statuses.

With the relationship statuses come the cyber-monsters who plaster their happiness all over our news feeds. We see their unnecessary statuses detailing what a wonderful day they had together. There are usually multiple nauseating photos of said couple kissing and doing ‘couply things.’ Now, I have no problem with people being in relationships. I want them to be happy, but I don’t want it shoved in my face via the Internet. It’s the sort of thing I would expect to see on (cast your minds back) Bebo.

This unnecessary form of online PDA suggests to me that the golden age of true romance is over. Would Romeo be writing “spending the night with my beautiful girl Juliet Capulet, not supposed to but #YOLO?” Would our grandparents behave in such a way? The idea of my grandmother writing such soppy platitudes is laughable.

So, to those of you who successfully maintain a relationship with minimal Facebook posts, I salute you. You are clearly not 13 at heart. To those who feel it necessary to display to the world a photo of you with your tongue down your significant other’s throat, I hope this article is enough to make you think twice next time.

Style Profile: A$AP Rocky

Written by Lauren Arthur on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Having blasted his way into the music limelight, hip-hop rapper A$AP Rocky is also causing quite a stir in the fashion world. The Harlem born MC appeared on the music video show 106 & Park in what appeared to be a long black and white dress. As always, the internet was almost instantly abuzz with reactions; some questioned Rocky’s sexuality whilst others praised his original outfit choice. The rapper has since stated that the garment wasn’t a dress and was in fact an ‘oversized shirt’. Regardless, it appears the hip-hop artist is not alone: Kanye West performed at the Hurricane Sandy relief concert wearing a Givenchy leather skirt and meggings. Speaking to MTV and to his fans, Rocky stated: ‘If fashion is your life and that’s what you like and that’s what you’re about, express yourself, wear what you want and nothing matters, nobody else opinions matter, be the person that starts the trend.’

Spotted in the front row of New York fashion week, featured in i-D magazine’s ‘Alphabetical’ issue and having collaborated with Alexander Wang, this twenty-four year old knows his high fashion. His refreshing attitude that combines the two industries of music and fashion has earned him a lot of respect as he pushes the boundaries of one of music’s most hyper-masculine genres. Whether this hint of androgyny was a one-off ensemble or the beginning of a revolutionary hip-hop movement, Rocky, with his gold teeth and plaited braids, is certainly making a name for himself.

Transgender models

Written by Chloe Letcher on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Turning the pages of this month’s Vogue, one shoot in particular stood out. Staring at me from the Giorgio Armani ad was a broad shouldered, chisel-jawed and dark-haired model. I am not (unfortunately) talking about David Beckham in his underwear, but you wouldn’t be wrong in making the assumption I was talking about a male. However, the model in question was female. When compared to the picture on the opposite page, which features the same model looking ultra feminine in a blue satin dress, it becomes increasingly obvious that this Armani ad reflects a widely emerging trend in the fashion world; androgyny.

Yet the issue of androgyny within fashion is taken to a whole new level when considering the rise of the transgender model. The most prominent transgender figure in fashion circles is Lea T. Lea was born in 1981 as Leandro Cerezo in Brazil. After being discovered by Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, she has since graced the covers of Vogue, Elle and Cover magazine, and even posed with Kate Moss for the cover of Love magazine. Lea stormed the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week this year, opening and closing the Philipp Plein show. After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2011, she even modelled bikinis for swimsuit brand Blue Man at Brazil Fashion Week.

ibtimes.com

Lea is not the only model in the industry whose success and popularity is aided by her status as transgender. Take, for example, Andrej Pejic, he has walked the catwalk for Jean Paul Gaultier as a bride.

Regardless of whether transgender models are considered suitably contemporary, or just simply controversial, there is no doubt that the fashion world is again testifying to its status as an art form by challenging the status quo of gender expectations.

How to: ’60s Eyes

Written by Halee Wells on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Step 1: Add a pale coloured base to your eyes, this can be anything from white, pale blue, pale pink or any pastel colours. Blend with your finger or a brush, pushing it up to the brow bone, in the inner corner of the eye and under the lower lash line.

 

picture: Halee Wells

 

Step 2: Draw a line in a rainbow shape into the crease of your eye using a black kohl eyeliner. Then blend using an eye shadow brush. This may look a bit silly at this point but sit tight, you’ll soon be giving Twiggy a run for her money.

 

picture: Halee Wells

Step 3: Go over the lash line with a black liquid liner, starting from the inner corner to the outer corner. Try not to take your flick too high as this is more of a rounded eye look than a feline shape. A great liquid liner to use for this is Maybelline Master Precise liquid eyeliner, which is great if you haven’t got the steadiest of hands.

 

picture: Halee Wells

Step 4: This is the crucial part for that ’60s look. Firstly, draw along the lower lash line with a white or pale kohl pencil. I use Benefit Eye Bright pencil, which is perfect for this look. Next, using the tip of your mascara wand, coat your bottom lashes. Make sure you are dragging the lashes downwards, making them as long as you can. Give them two or three coats so they really stand out.

 

Picture: Halee Wells

Step 5: Coat the top lashes in mascara, again dragging them upwards and not to the side. You won’t need too much though, as the focus is really on the bottom lashes here.

 

And that is it, you’re on trend ’60s eye for Spring 2013. Twiggy who?

Blind Date: Sam and Lisa

Written by Oliver Taylor on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Sam

How did your date go? It went pretty well. It wasn’t necessarily a blind date.

Why was that? She didn’t have a guide dog; she wasn’t using a special stick. Plus I knew her.

Did you see her in a new light when you met her in a dating context? You see the whole week we’d actually been talking about her as we thought she was one of these ‘Social Junkies’ but it turns out she’s just a regular old bar maiden.

But were your impressions of her changed in a dating context? The way I see things is I remembered her more than she remembered me.

What did she order? She had a feta-cheese salad.

What do you think her feta-cheese salad says about her personality? Well, you know, maybe she was afraid to look like a pig by getting a big steak.

Would you have looked twice at her on a night out? I’d know her so I’d be like, hi!

No awkward moments? No, the conversation flew along pretty fast.

Did you learn anything interesting on your date? We just really spoke about the front page of The Mancunion.

What was her best feature?

Err, this is a question! She was pretty nice, the conversation had no awkward silences and I think that takes a talent. She was a really good conversationalist.

If your date was a country, what country would she be?

This is a tough one, and there are a lot of countries in the world and I wouldn’t want to offend any of them (joking). (After a long pause) I just don’t know what to think.

Why do you think she was single I don’t know, maybe like her namesake in the film ‘The Room’ she just wants to live, live, live!

Snog, marry, avoid? Avoid seems a bit harsh. If you marry someone wouldn’t you have to go the whole way anyway?

Was this better or worst than your first blind date (Sam did blind date last year as well)? It was better in every single way. Firstly, the last one was a bit suspect because she would send texts asking me to give her a high score, then bam; she hits me with the 5. Lisa was more trustworthy and definitely a better experience overall.

Finally would you go on another blind date? I’d say the food is wonderful and I’d like to give a special shout-out to the guy behind the bar who served us drinks.

Lisa

So how did your date go? Yeah it was good, it turns out we already knew each other a bit so we had a lot to talk about.

But you didn’t know each other very well? We knew mutual friends.

What did he order? He had a steak sandwich?

What do you think a stake sandwich says about her personality? Um, errrr. He likes steak? That’s not really a personality trait. Yeah, it can be part of your personality whether you like steak or not. Some people choose to not like steak!

It could be that he’s macho? I just think he likes steak, stop asking me that.

Do you think your goats-cheese salad says anything about your personality? That I like goat’s cheese…

Any awkward moments? No there weren’t, none at all.

What did you talk about? We talked about debating and night club promoting.

Was there anything particularly interesting that he told you? That his dad’s Romanian, at least I think his dad’s Romanian…

Snog, marry avoid? Please don’t ask me this question? (After some probing) Marry?

If he was a country what would he be? I guess he would be most like Jamaica as he was laid back.

Would it be easy for him to find a date if he wanted one? Yeah I think it would be easy as he’s a nice guy.

What do you think about the way he dressed? He looked smart. He was dressed well. I wouldn’t have changed anything about his outfit.

Would he have looked better with a beard? Probably.

Would he make an attractive older man? Yeah he would, I can see him as a silver fox when he’s older.

How did you say goodbye? We had a very nice hug. He was a really good hugger.

The changing image of sexy

Written by Damilola Ade-Odiachi on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Through time our perceptions of sexy and sexiness have hinged almost completely on our perceptions of beauty. This is hardly surprising as we human beings are many things but we are hardly sapio-sexual. You often don’t find yourself in bed with the hot mama you met in 5th ave because of the strength of her conversation and if in fact you do it will be because she has fulfilled some physical requirement or the other.

I’ll begin with the Renaissance woman. She had ample bossoms and sizeable birthing hips. The term voluptuous is often used when describing the sirens of the era. However today the majority of them would be considered overweight, fat and generally unappealing.

The next great trend came with the Victorians. They loved their women to be the pinnacles of moral uprightness. It is rumoured that table legs were covered to dissuade improper thoughts. Copious amounts of make up were a thing reserved for the fallen and great emphasis was placed on the size of the waist. Waists had to be as small as humanly possible. In some cases ribs were broken to reduce a 16 inch waist to a 10 inch waist. This was done to enhance the appearance of an hour glass figure.

picture: Wikipedia

By the 1920s things had changed considerably. Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel are credited with freeing women from the corset. During this period hemlines and sleeves were shortened considerably and women had to take care of bits that had not been on display previously. During the roaring twenties, women went to great heights to conceal their breasts by taping them up and some even wore girdles to give the appearance of a more boyish figure. The trend here was not to be slim it was to be more boyish to give suggestion of gender equality.

picture: Wikimedia Commons

The 1940s and 1950s saw the return of the hourglass figure. However this time it was natural. Marilyn Monroe was the siren of this age. Her measurements according to her dressmaker were 35-22-35. Women never left their houses looking anything but their best because their primary goal was to snag a man and start a family.

picture: Bert Stern

 

The 1960s saw the introduction of the super-thin look. No age before it had demanded that women look so boyish and skinny. The star of the time was Twiggy. Her measurements were 31-23-32 and she had what was considered a “stream lined androgynous sex appeal”. Things more or less continued in the same vein through the 1970s but women opted for longer wilder hair and tanning caught on.

 

picture: Ronald Traeger

In the 1980s the pressure on women to look slim and toned but not muscular increased. It was the age of aerobics, leg warmers, shoulder pads and colour. Madonna has been described as the face of the decade. A good illustration of sexy in the 1980s is the ‘Call On Me’ video by Eric Prydz…

Things changed a little in the 90s in that, while the emphasis on skinny grew, there was also a case for being more curvy. Models like Kate Moss popularized a look known as “heroin chic” and grunge was all the rage. The look of general unkemptness was advertised by bands like Nirvana. However, it would be impossible to talk about sexy in the nineties without talking about TV super-series Friends, in which the ‘Rachel’ haircut steered women away from the big hair seen in the 70s and 80s.

The noughties have been characterized by freedom of choice and expression. Of course, the seemingly impossible combination of both curvy and thin is still in, but there are signs that we might be moving back to the curvy end of the spectrum. Beyoncé, a woman renowned for her booty, was voted GQ’s sexiest woman of the millennium and Kate Upton, who is no size zero, is taking the  fashion world by storm.

picture: Terry Richardson

Our impressions of sexiness have changed dramatically through time, thereby influencing our ideals of beauty immeasurably. The question is, what will the next era-defining image of sex appeal be?