The Fashion Blog From California

On May 3^rd Bianca Starr invited to see the first Spring Forward Fashion Show “Style from Within”.
The San Franciscan boutiques Wonderland SF, Density Dept, Sui Generis and Top Shelf Mobile presented parts of their collections during a night loaded with great music and fashion.

One thing that definitely added to the great atmosphere was the choice of the location. The event took place in the Redwood Room of the Clift hotel, which combines old- fashioned elegance with modern glamour.

The fashion show can be divided into roughly two style sets. The models wore extravagant dresses with low cuts, seductive laces and playful details.Besides these very beautiful dresses, the boutiques impressed with their creative casual combinations. The romantic bohemian style and the loose elegance reflected the flair of the city perfectly.

Density Dept
Photo: Rendy, Lai

Density Dept
Photo: Rendy, Lai

Sui Generis
Photo: Rendy, Lai

Sui Generis

Sui Generis
Photo: Rendy, Lai

TopShelf Boutique
Photo: Christophe Tomatis

Wonderland SF
Photo: Rendy, Lai

Sui Generis
Photo: Rendy Lai

Sui Generis

My Favorite
Wonderland SF
Photo: Rendy, Lai

TopShelf Boutique
Photo: Rendy, Lai

To summarize the event in two sentences, this fashion show was really well done. Everything fit together; the location, the music, the clothes and the model´s hair and make- up.

I had a great night and definitely hope for a Bianca Starr Spring Forward Fashion Show: Part Two!

If you are in the Bay Area take some time and visit the boutiques!
Wonderland SF – 2929 24th Street SF, CA
Density Dept – 593 Valencia Street SF, CA
Top Shelf Mobile Boutique- https://www.facebook.com/TopShelfStyle
Sui Generis – 2231 Market Street SF CA

The Metropolitan Costume Institute Gala, or short Met Gala, has a reputation for a remarkable guest list and very impressive dresses and that is exactly what the Met Gala offered its audience this year.

This time, the Metropolitan Museum of Art  in New York honors Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada with an exhibition, which connects these two Italian designers. The hosts Carey Mulligan, Miuccia Prada and Anna Wintour called and one A- list Star after another flew with a designer dress over the red carpet. Some of them really stick out and some of them did just too much…..or too little.

Here are my favorite dresses ofthe night.

Co host Carey Mulligan in Prada.          Amy Adams looks simply
Her futuristic dress just works              stunning in Giambattista Valli.
perfectly with her hair and make up.

Mad Men star Jessica Pare in              Leslie Bibb wore Zac Posen.
her golden gown by L’Wren Scott.     Her navy and black dress reminds of a                                                               fairy tale.

I love love love Ashley Greene´s    The french actress Marion Cotillard
white dress by Donna Karan.           rocked the red carpet in Dior.

Whenever there is a “best dressed” list, there is a “worst dressed” list, too.
This is certainly true for the Met Gala 2012. Sometimes, I am not sure what convinced them to choose these wardrobes but maybe someone can explain it to me.

Kirsten Dunst in Rodarte.                     Karolina Kurkova wore a dress by
A little bit too old fashioned?!                  no  one else but Rachel Zoe! Well….

Mary Kate Olsen in, of course,           You can tell that Elizabeth Banks
The Row. The dull black dress, the         feels uncomfortable in her print
hair, nothing works here.                     overdose by Mary Katrantzou.

I get it: A tuxedo would be too boring           Look, a white christmas tree!
for Marc Jacobs but… you are kiddin´           Florence Welch in Alexander
me right? Marc Jacobs in Comme des              Mc Queen.
Garcons.

Who was your best and worst dressed at the Metropolitan Costume Institute Gala 2012?

All pictures from usmagazine.com

The San Francisco State University presents their annually fashion show on May 3^rd. “Runway 2012: Defined” is the title of the designs and work of the Apparel Design and Merchandising, Marketing and Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts students which will be showcased at the San Francisco Design Center .

By showcasing their work the students have an opportunity to experience a different area of fashion than only design. A design could be so beautiful that Coco Chanel would fall for it, but it still must be accessible and advertised for the public. Every department had their special tasks in order to create everything needed for a fashion show: The ADM students designed the collection and created the fashion show, the Marketing students worked on the advertisement and the BECA students created posters and videos and will also film the event and manage the lightning.

Attending this fashion show will not only be a great experience but will also benefit the Goodwill industries. Goodwill industries are a nonprofit organization that provides job training and employment placement.  Often, Goodwill Industries finance themselves by sales of their thrift stores and some of these items will make it also on the runway. Sixteen students got 20$ which they had to spend in Goodwill stores and change the bought items to something new. This will show that you can find fashionable clothes at the Goodwill stores. But this is not the only thing that benefits Goodwill Industries. The Apparel Design and Merchandising Students created window displays for two San Francisco Goodwill Stores and the Marketing and Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts students worked the last semester on advertisement for these stores. The work with Goodwill gave the students a hand on experience which will be surely valuable for their future careers.

San Francisco State University and the major Apparel Design and Merchandising fascinate me and I will definitely attend the fashion show. I am already excited and hope to get an inside of what I can expect from the university and the major.
The fashion show starts at 7 p.m and will take place at the San Francisco Design Center.
For tickets click here http://runway2012.eventbrite.com/

Hope to see you there!

Betsey Johnson is associated with fun and having a good time. Now, the party is over; Betsey Johnson LLC files for bankruptcy.

The company reported declining sales which have been fallen more than 20 percent since 2007.
It’s truly sad, since many women, including me, love Johnson´s hippie and rock´ n ´roll inspired clothing.  The company offered the whole or parts of the business for sale. Unfortunately, Betsey Johnson is unable to find new investors and has to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Johnson owes $450.000 to Haskell Jewelry, $443.000 to BC America (textile supplier), $195.000 to Cejon Inc. (Accessories Company) and $50.000 to Carole Hochman Designs. These big numbers will force around 60 Betsey Johnson stores to close.  This means that 350 people will lose their job!
Despite the financial misery, Betsey Johnson will not disappear. In fact she is positive that the company will recover from the bankruptcy. Betsey Johnson will still be the creative director and plans a fashion show for this summer.

Sources: Jezebel, crainsnewyork

The fashion business is a tough and a fast spinning field. In order to be successful, one must have many different skills and a sense for what works and what to change. From time to time there is someone, who combines everything that is necessary and leads his/her company to great growth. Bernard Arnault is one of them.

Bernard Arnault is the guiding hand of LVMH (Moet Hennesy- Louis Vuitton) and is with his great merchandise skills one of the top leader in the fashion, jewelry, perfume and cosmetic industry. LVMH consists of roughly 60 brands, including champagne.  Bernard Arnault´s guidance helped brands like Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and Fendi to become well known and successful labels.
Arnault´s Leadership was reflected in 2011 by a total sale of $31 billion.
Luckily for Arnault´s family, he gave some of his great skills to his children. His daughter Delphine is the executive of Dior and his son Antoine works at the top of Berluti. Both of them are enviable because they are able to learn from one of the greatest merchandise retailers.

Born and raised in Roubaix, France, Bernard Arnault attended the Ecole Polytechnique and graduated with a major in engineering. He did not work in the fashion industry right away. Arnault started to work in his father’s construction and real estate business. Because the socialists gained power in 1981, Arnault decided to move to the USA and he took his work from the construction business with him. In 1983 politics changed in France, Arnault moved back and became the owner of the textile firm, Boussac, which also included our loved brand Dior. Bernard Arnault wanted to work with luxury good. Who can blame him? In order to do so he sacrificed $15 million of his own money  to buy Boussac.

He sold most of Boussac´s division and he used his new earned money to buy 24% of LVMH´s shares. Arnault was able to gain more and more power, took control over LVMH and restructured the company. His goal was to capture the fashion´s creativity and influence the luxury market. One step closer to his goal was to hire no one else but designer John Galliano. Bernard Arnault has a sense for running a business and for creative arts. This combination let LVMH grow successfully.
During the 1990´s, Arnault bought more and more brands like Sephora. Time changed and the economy changed. Bernard realized that the demand for luxury goods decreased. Some of LVHM´s brands had financial problems but Bernard Arnault stayed focused on quality and decided to downsize some stores. Even though Arnault had to fight with some problems, he managed to stay on top of the most known brands in the fashion industry.

Bernard Arnault is not only a great leader and business man but also an inspiring personality who followed his dream to become an important figure in the luxury marketplace.

Sources: Forbes, topic.bloomberg, woopidoo

If you are searching for real entertainment on Twitter you should definitely follow Roberto Cavalli. He simply writes what is on his mind. He loves to say his thoughts and lately Mr. Cavalli feels like sharing his ideas against American Fashion Industry and Anna Wintour.

It started with his statements in “La Republicca”, Italy, where he explained his view about the American Fashion. In his opinion American fashion is “terrible” and “has been driven by a great journalist, Anna Wintour, who wants all women to be like her and to dress the way she does.” Now he continues to target Anna Wintour on Twitter.

“Anna Wintur das nt come to see my show in Milano ……. Why ?? becouse I dont do publicity in American Vogue ??”.

According to fashionista, Roberto Cavalli explains with this post that he does not buy advertisement in the American Vogue and that is why Anna Wintour is not attending his fashion shows.
Well, I guess this is simply the good old “You scratch my back, I´ll scratch yours” motto.

It would be interesting to hear more detailed and more constructive critique about the fashion Industry from Roberto Cavalli. A little more input than “terrible” would be helpful in order to follow his thoughts.
Still, it is truly refreshing to hear some original thoughts. Most surprisingly are the posts against Anna Wintour. You do not see those too often.

What do you think? Should more people copy Roberto Cavalli and openly speak their mind or do you hope this criticism will stop?

Source: fashionista

Of course, I don’t want to marry now or even in the near future but to marry someday is probably almost every girl´s plan since they were little. Does not matter if it is a wedding on the TV, in a movie or of a friend or relative; the most important thing is the dress. Most of us probably already know how THE dress should kind of look like and usually we want to feel like a princess on that special day. The designer Alfredo Angelo puts our childhood dreams into reality and created wedding dresses inspired by Disney princesses. Under the title “Disney Fairy Tale Weddings” Angelo designs wedding dresses Jasmine, Arielle, Tiana, Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Aurora, and Belle would wear to their wedding. Also inspired by Disney Princesses are Angelo´s dresses for maidens, blossoms and the matching veils. These dresses are simply dreamy and so romantic. Puffy or tight, detailed or simple, ruffled or sleek, there is a dress for any preferences.
Here are some of my favorite bridal gowns:

Snow White

Belle

Belle

Yes, it indeed seems childish to talk about Disney Princesses and their wedding dresses but come on, some dreams never die and they certainly should not. Wedding and Disney Princesses simply fit together perfectly!

Click here and you get to Angelo´s website: http://www.alfredangelo.com/disney/#disneytop

Any plans for Saturday April 28, yet?  If you cannot wait to see BEBE´s new fashion you should not miss the BEBE summer collection fashion show and party. The place to be during that night is Yohsi´s in San Francisco. The fashion show starts at 10:30 p.m. The best part for us ladies is that the entrée is free if you show up before 10:30p.m. For men it will be 10$ before 10:30p.m. Since it certainly will be crowded you should sign up on the guest list. The 150 earliest birds will be rewarded with a VIP gift bag. You also have the chance to win a 500$ BEBE gift card. The only thing you have to do is to style yourself in your favorite BEBE outfit and let your picture taken on the red carpet. The dress code for this night will be Cocktail Attire for men and women. If you have you might want to consider wearing BEBE but you do not have to.
Here is the address of Yoshi´s

YOSHI’S SAN FRANCISCO
1330 Filmore St. @ Geary
(Jazz District) San Francisco

and the link to the guest list
http://www.mailboto7.com/cgi-bin/uls/uls.cgi?ulsJoin=17%3D91

Yes, we need to study but sometimes you got to take a break and dream, dream about my three favorite outfits from H&M. All three outfits focus on the spring trend bright colors and also some cute prints.
I love to wear loosely tops. Usually, I choose a romantic and chic style and add some glamour with accessories. All of the three outfits from H&M which I combined would fit perfectly in my closet.

Jeans Jacket (click), Yellow Dress (click),Golden Bracelet (click), Brown Bag (click), Bright Brown Sandals(click)

White Blouse (click), Pants with Floral Print(click), Shoes(click), Black Leather Bag  (click), Sunglasses(click), Earrings(click)

Black Blazer(click), Top(click), Necklace(click), Earrings(click), Clutch(click), Shorts(click)

Black Sandals (click)

The Santana Row is definitely one of my favorite places in San Jose. As a student you obviously do not have much money to spend but strolling through the streets of Santana Row and going window shopping is simply awesome. Every store has a great window display and shows their current trends. It really gives you a lot of inspiration. One dress that caught my eye and made it hard to move on was the mirror dress from Sherri Hill at the Penelope Boutique.

I love the color and the details: Very romantic and yet edgy. I am totally falling for this dress and so does Selena Gomez.

By the way, the Penelope Boutique is located at 377 Santana Row, San Jose, CA 95128.

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