South Of France Launches Seduction Campaign To Stay Afloat

The south of France normally brings in 40% of its annual tourist revenue from overseas visitors. With international borders likely to stay closed for a while longer, the south needs to appeal to its French compatriots to make sure it can stay afloat. A national charm offensive, entitled, “we all need the south” is being launched to make sure everyone heads southwards this summer.

Renaud Muselier, president of an umbrella group for all the different regions in France (Régions de France), told La Provence that not a single region, department or town has been spared losses. “In the ski resorts, at the festivals, along the coastline, the entire tourist ecosystem has been devastated. 98% of tourist workers are not working.” France is the number one visited country in the world.

The priority however, has been to get the south up on its feet, to try to fill as many of those hotel rooms and campsites which are normally booked by overseas guests. On May 25, the south will launch a campaign telling French people, “On a tous besoin du Sud”–we all need the south.

From The Front Lines: How 7 Fashion Businesses Are Coping During Coronavirus

Fashion has come to a near standstill amidst the coronavirus pandemic leaving many brands to wonder if they will be able to weather the economic storm left in its wake. Heritage brands and retailers are announcing layoffs or furlough, as Nordstrom did yesterday, or are floating the word bankruptcy in the media, as Neiman Marcus has done. The already-struggling fashion bible W has hit pause, furloughing 17 of their 58 employees.

What does all this mean for people who are still fighting for their businesses amid the pandemic?

In speaking to 7 leaders in the industry for this article, the goal was to understand what they are doing to mitigate the situation for their businesses. Spanning the spectrum from a CEO at a global e-com site to independent entities to startups, these people represent the different facets of the industry and paint a picture of their experiences as this crisis continues.

First and foremost this is a human situation and the health of our staff and customers is the first priority. We are a very global company so when this hit in China and then in Japan at the end of January and February we ensured our team was able to work from home and we made other necessary operational changes there. That was our first experience with the situation.

Our current priority is to support our community of boutique owners and brands who sell on Farfetch. When you shop on Farfetch, your items arrive from one of 700 boutiques in 50 countries around the world, or from one of our many brand partners.

Most of these are small family businesses and have had to close their physical store locations. For many, Farfetch is now their only channel so we feel supporting them is a huge responsibility as a platform.

Avondjurken

We are working with these boutique owners to help them in any way we can. We are making sure they can keep selling to customers on Farfetch, even if they can’t welcome their customers into their retail stores at the moment. We are assessing all ways we can drive sales volume and traffic to support these boutiques, including putting them front and center on Farfetch website, changing visual merchandising to surface as much boutique stock as possible.

We are also offering logistics and warehousing support. This includes moving stock from boutiques to our warehouses when boutiques cannot ship themselves due to regional lockdowns or staff shortages. We are doing this as a service to them, without charge.

A dedicated #supportboutiques project is launching this coming week, to get the whole Farfetch community involved.

Crucially, we also want to help the shops when they reopen. We are planning to invest in a full-blown marketing campaign, including paid marketing at our expense, to encourage footfall in due course when we are all out of these times of needing to socially distance.

How The K-Pop Craze Is Taking Over Fashion Week

Parasite winning at the Oscars is one thing, the new much-hyped Filter track by BTS, is another. But nothing is quite like the overwhelming K-Pop hype at Fashion Week.

Some say that South Korean K-Pop stars are the world's biggest influencers, having the biggest pull on Instagram. Having the entire world going bananas for K-Pop, with bands selling out stadiums in just seconds, it makes sense that luxury fashion brands want their slice of the pie. With BTS wearing custom-made tour outfits designed by Kim Jones for Christian Dior, it’s likely their far-reaching appeal won’t stop anytime soon.

Are Korean celebrities becoming the next face of luxury fashion? G-Dragon was the first Korean musician to ever collaborate with Nike for limited edition sneakers, which sold out in a matter of seconds. The fashion ‘It Boy’ has been a Chanel ambassador, too, while Kai of the K-Pop group Exo is a muse for Gucci, too.

Case in point: Just yesterday, Lalisa Manoban, the star of the K-Pop group Blackpink, was in the front row of the Prada show today at Milan Fashion Week. The crowd went absolutely wild - far wilder than most fashion week scrums, stopping traffic more than any other celebrity.

                                Mother of the Bride Dresses

Why You Need To Look Out For Alexis Ren In 2020

The new decade is basically here and Alexis Ren is the dynamic star to know. Social media may have been how she got her big break in modeling, but since then, she's worked hard to make the most out of her career. She launched her own activewear line Ren Active and even competed on Dancing With the Stars alongside professional dancer Alan Bersten.

In 2019, Ren continued her streak in front of the camera by collaborating on music videos with Ed Sheeran and Kygo. With another roaring 20's on the horizon, fans can expect the 23-year-old to embark on more on-screen adventures. "I'm changing my career so drastically," she told Forbes earlier this year at the Revolve Awards. "It's been really amazing. I'm going into acting, which is going to be so fun and I'm excited for that transition."

The model and entrepreneur turned actress also explained that she's open to all opportunities that come her way. "My goal is to find more creative outlets for my art, whether that be acting, music or poetry." At the same time, she wants to focus on making a difference in the environment and coming up with innovative ways to make the world more sustainable. "I'm really invested in environmental work," she said. "Even though it's absolutely beautiful to work on your own accomplishments, none of it is going to matter if we don't protect the Earth. That's one of my priorities now because I want the younger kids of our generation to have a bright future."

Her ambition and confidence is unlike any other, but Ren mentioned that she couldn't have gotten to where she is today without her strong support system. This includes her family, friends and of course, boyfriend Noah Centineo. The duo made their red carpet debut in October for the UNNICEF Masquerade Ball. "When I doubt myself, having them to look towards is everything to me," Ren shared of her loved ones.

She added that her To All the Boys I've Loved Before love interest constantly keeps her going. "He inspires me in every single way, he's all of the above," Ren described of Centineo. "I've really grown so much as a human being in our relationship. He challenges me mentally, emotionally, in the work that I do and with my mental health. He's so evolved as a human being, so it's really amazing and makes me understand what a healthy relationship can look like. It's really beautiful."

The Clothing Rental App That Wants To End Fast Fashion

Brits purchase more clothing than any other European country, spending £2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) on fashion that they only wear once.

The founder of a fashion technology company called By Rotation is hoping to change consumer habits, and help the planet to boot.

U.K.-based, India-born and Singapore-raised Eshita Kabra came up with the idea when she was planning her honeymoon.

"I turned to social media for ideas on what to wear, and always saw influencers on social media wearing beautiful clothing—often only once—in idyllic settings. I started to wonder if these items were gifted from the brands themselves or bought just for the photo, and what would happen to them after."

Kabra didn't want to follow the footsteps of Rent the Runway, or China's YCloset, as she wanted to "build a sustainable community, rather than a cheaper alternative to dressing new."

By Rotation launched via a beta platform in April 2019, while 28-year-old Kabra was still working full time at a hedge fund.

Kabra says her company differs from players like Rent the Runway, or U.K. companies such as Girl Meets Dress, Front Row, and Our Closet, as they are the "U.K.'s first and only fashion rental app."

"We are a pure peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace meaning we do not buy any inventory whatsoever unlike all the other businesses.

"Most of our peers focus on occasion wear and are for fashion-conscious females whereas we cater to a wide range of outfits and therefore prices."

Rentals range from £15 for a Reformation dress to £75 for a Birkin bag and the app is open to all genders.

But shifting mindsets about renting has been a "big part" of the challenge.

"We liken ourselves and give the examples of AirBnB, Uber and Vestiaire Collective to warm up and remind people how common the sharing and circular economies have become."

Kabra says her upbringing played a role in wanting to launch the brand.

"I was born in Rajasthan, a place known for its textile mills and craftsmanship; I grew up in Singapore, where our national hobby is shopping while repeatedly being taught the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and made to feel guilty about wasting water, and I live in the United Kingdom, where people are fashion-conscious and increasingly turning up the volume on sustainable causes.

"The same people have also embraced sharing economies such as Airbnb, Uber and Fat Llama—so why not fashion?"

In order to stay as sustainable as possible, the company doesn't buy in any inventory, which also poses another issue around sizing and style.

"We continue to invite and grow awareness within our community so we can have something on offer for everyone," Kabra says. "As we educate and shift perceptions on the importance of sharing via renting and therefore decreasing consumption, we encourage our community of Rotators to strive towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

"We regularly host and connect our community at our events where we discuss and debate important topics affecting climate change and the fashion industry."

Kabra plans to expand internationally, as well as launch partnerships with charities within the next two quarters. Since the beta launch, the app has already had more than 4,000 users sign up and completed 250-plus transactions.

"My ultimate ambition for By Rotation is to disrupt the fashion industry by bringing an end to low-quality fast fashion."

Abendkleider

This Season's Hottest Fashion Show Is The Moulin Rouge

If you're lucky enough to experience the Broadway show, Moulin Rouge, then you'll experience fashion taking center stage. From the nightclub dancers' intricate corsetry, to the mens' sequin suiting, to the gowns draping the peacocks of the Right Bank, the wardrobes are as central to the storytelling as the choreography, songs and high-octane sets. Many of the costumes, at the genius hands of costume designer Catherine Zuber, were inspired by those design houses staging runway shows today - John Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen and Thierry Mugler, among them. I sat down with Ms. Zuber where we chatted influences behind the looks, and which designers inspire her most.

I'm always looking at what's happening on the runway - mainly in Paris and Milan. For example, there's a scene where suddenly we're in wealthy Paris - and those costumes the rich people were wearing, in mauve and pale pink tones - a lot of that was taken from the Dior collection from 2006. They had taken Belle Epoque visuals, pumped them up to another level, and it was quite inspiring. I don't always look at the current year, but I love to look at couture archives over the last 30 years. There are amazing moments where people are experimenting with taking things from the past and deconstructing and manipulating. John Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, Christian Lacroix, Thierry Mugler, John Galliano - they're all amazing artists and it's so inspiring how they put colors together, the types of fabrics they use and how they reference the history of costume in such modern, dynamic ways.

The corsetry you see from those couture houses is just incredible. What Mcqueen does, what Mugler does with corsets - we really worked hard on those. The fitting has to be so precise and then for us, there's the added challenge of movement. We had to pay special attention to where the boning is, where it isn't, where the support is, where we put stretch, where we don't put anything. Each piece is fit to such precision. It was quite demanding, but incredibly satisfying in the end.

                                                                     

                                            ΦΟΡΕΜΑΤΑ ΜΠΑΛΑ

The Best Dog Gear For Fall And Winter

As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, it is a sure sign that fall and winter are on their way. And for dog owners, that means it is time to start getting ready for the change in weather.

I have had active dogs for the past 20-plus years, and they love running through the deep snow where I live, but dogs in different locales have different needs come wintertime. In general, smaller and short-coated dogs need to worry more about a warmth, dogs walked during hunting season or after work in the earlier darkness need to worry about visibility and many dogs have to worry about their paws.

Some dogs can get away with a thin fleece sweater, but if your dog is especially sensitive to the cold or is going to be spending a lot of time outdoors (such as hiking or skiing in winter), the top of the line choice is the Powder Hound by Ruffwear. The hybrid construction combines synthetic insulation that packs in warmth and will still work even if it gets wet with active stretch fabrics to allow unlimited freedom of movement. This is important because this model completely covers the dog’s underbelly and the tops of its front legs, which most coats do not, and this prevents uncomfortable snow buildup that often occurs on the chest and underarms. It is lined with cozy fleece on the inside and comes in three colors and sizes, for dogs from XXS to XL.

robes de mariée

Colombia Blooms At Miami Fashion Week

"Welcome to Miami". In 1997, Will Smith put this city of neon and azure on the global pop culture map. Launched a year later, Miami Fashion Week has been "getting jiggy with it" ever since. In recent years it has become the hottest international platform for swimwear and resort style apparel. Given its strategic geopolitical location, Miami positions itself as a gateway between the North American market and Latin American and Caribbean designers on the cusp of going global. This season basked in special media spotlight thanks to Antonio Banderas, its Honorary President. The world is experiencing a Banderas Renaissance. He arrived in Florida from the Cannes Film Festival where he had won Best Actor prize at for Pain & Glory, the latest Almodovar film. Banderas is also the menswear ambassador for the Spanish premium retail giant El Corte Inglés. His trademark style, passion and wit brought the attendees’ excitement to a whole next level.

In all seriousness, Latin American designers approach Miami Fashion Week as an opportunity to reach American audiences and governments and chambers of commerce see a chance at fashion diplomacy here. Case in point is Colombia. Two emergent designers took Miami runways by storm: Glory Ang from the coastal Cartagena and Daniella Batlle from Barranquilla, a city famous for its Carnaval. Both anticipated shows featured an explosion of tropical flora in key summer colors.

Colombia is the world’s leading exporter of flowers thanks to its everlasting spring climate and seemingly endless varieties of tropical blossoms. It is no wonder Colombian fashion lovers and designers cannot get enough of flowers. Miami is a perfect place to showcase that devotion. Flowers also play an important role in its cultures, both indigenous and of Spanish heritage.

In fact, Glory Ang finds the historical mix particularly fascinating. "I love the colors and textiles, the passion of my people along with traditional Andalusian and Spanish garment design elements," comments the designer. Just within the last year her sales took the brand from a single brick and mortar storefront to prominent e-commerce platforms.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF CANADIAN FASHION?

It should be bright verging on blinding: The design talent in this country is extraordinary. But the industry's problems are deep and structural: It's hugely expensive to launch a brand, but government funding for fashion doesn't exist. It's essential to be in places where your customers shop, but (most) retailers don't support homegrown designers. To chat about the challenges and forecast the future, we invited eight industry leaders to the St. Regis Toronto for a rollicking round-table chat with our editor-in-chief, Laura deCarufel. We talked money, Meghan Markle, Canadian identity and how to spark lasting change.

AWARENESS AND ACCESS
How much awareness is there in Canada about Canadian designers? Do you think Canadians want to buy local fashion?
Judith Maria Bradley: "I've always wondered why people in this country don't know the names of their designers."

Bojana Sentaler: "I've definitely seen a change in the last couple of years. Ten years ago when I founded Sentaler, people didn't even know Canada had fashion designers. Now we have some clients who won't wear anything but Canadian. One particular client said she got rid of everything in her closet and she's only replacing her wardrobe with Canadian designers. I think the change has to do with events like CAFA [Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards] and TV shows like Stitched. And when Sophie Grégoire Trudeau appeared in Vogue wearing Canadian, people were like, ‘Oh, Canada and fashion—those two words can be in one sentence.' Meghan Markle has also made it a point to wear Canadian—she's helped the world see that we have great fashion designers."

Sylvia Mantella: "I think the awareness has grown, but the key now is access. How do you access Canadian brands? Everyone these days lives very busy lives—I'm always going a thousand miles an hour—so making access easy for people is essential."

Has Bella Thorne Found Her Fashion Groove?

You could be forgiven for assuming you know all there is to know about Bella Thorne's style. The actress’s joie de vivre means she’s frequently spotted in brightly colored wigs and psychedelic fare, but there are layers to the former Disney star. On the heels of a best-selling book, Carnegie Hall performance, and successful makeup launch, Thorne has joined the ranks of multi-tasking celebrity entrepreneurs and adopted a look to match. At last night’s Los Angeles premiere of J.T. Leroy she arrived in an asymmetrical little black dress by DSquared2 with understated charm.

Though she piled on the bling and added sparkle with pieces from Mio Harutaka, Dannijo, and Swarovski, Thorne kept the majority of her outfit simple. Strappy sandals, a swipe of blue eyeliner, and ombre waves combined for a style that reflected her love of glamour while offering a new verve. Thorne and stylist, Mikiel Benyamin, have always kept things audacious. But as Thorne's fashions skew more sophisticated, it seems they’re set to show off a whole new side of the multi-talented performer.

prom dresses

Birds of Passage examines the roots of a fictional cartel as the result of many small steps

North-American filmgoers are accustomed to movies that portray the drug trade to the south as a domestic concern, to be battled by some (see the excellent 2015 film Sicario), aided and abetted by others (The Mule, more recent, less stellar). Few films portray cartel members as anything other than faceless villains, or dig deep into the history of the trade.

Birds of Passage (Pájaros de verano), Colombia's foreign-language submission to the recent Academy Awards, takes an unusual tack on both fronts by examining the roots of a fictional cartel. And without glorifying the business or exonerating its participants, it suggests that such crimes can be the result of many small steps, individually defensible yet ultimately leading to bloodshed and misery.

The story opens in the late 1960s, and the marriage between Zaida (Natalia Reyes) and Rapayet (José Acosta). Both are members of the Wayúu, a proud indigenous group, native to what is now northern Colombia and Venezuela. (The word "alijuna," spoken often but never translated by the subtitles, is quickly understood to mean outsiders, literally "the ones who damage." That includes modern descendants of Spanish invaders as well as the more obvious American gringos.)

Rapayet and his buddy Moisés (Jhon Narváez) are at a café when they overhear some young American Peace Corps workers looking to score some weed. Moisés goes to his cousin to get some, the two make some easy money, and everyone is happy. It's that first, oh-so-defensible step.

Co-directors Carmina Martinez and José Acosta skip through the years that follow, with chapters set in 1971, 1979 and into the 1980s. In each segment the drug shipments are heavier, the payments bigger, and the threat (or actuality) of violence more pronounced. We also note, almost in passing, how the cars become more numerous and expensive, the dealers' houses more elegantly furnished.

The best bargain face cleansers

There's always a little lull in January, where it's a fraction too early for beauty's spring launches, and the act of wearing any residual Christmas glitter and party makeup feels about as appealing as eating another turkey sandwich – so I invariably take the time to unearth some old skincare favourites. And, since this is the interminable month when people are mostly broke, the cheaper the products, the better.

Cleansers lend themselves perfectly to this process: I strongly believe that while cleansing itself is among the most important steps in achieving good skin, selecting the specific product with which to do it is among the least. As long as something removes all makeup without stripping the face dry, passes the towel test (no foundation smears when you dry off, ever) and leaves skin soft and comfortable, I'm happy. My preferred formula is cream, and there are plenty of excellent ones on the high street.

Superdrug, in particular, excels at them. I've been recommending its Vitamin E cleanser for donkey's years, but can as enthusiastically recommend its terrific, vegan-friendly Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser on all skin types. It sweeps away everything, imparting a nice glow and no discomfort (swap its free cloth for a cotton flannel for best results). Another fantastic cleanser to which I return time and again, is The Body Shop's Vitamin E Cream Cleanser. I'd be as happy giving it to my 13-year-old niece as I would be in recommending it to her grandmother – and when used with a hand-hot flannel (as everything here should be), it keeps skin clean, fresh and nicely cushioned.

Beauty Pie's vegan Japanfusion Pure Transforming Cleanser was among my most-used products last year. It has a slightly different texture: it's a light gel-balm that massages into dry skin, then becomes milky when you add water, which makes for a lovely, refreshing morning cleanse on any complexion type, including super oily. Finally, a newer discovery from Sukin, a natural brand for which I've developed a soft spot. Its Sensitive Cream Cleanser is just that – soft, gentle, soothing. Everything here is cruelty-free.

Phones at gigs can be annoying – but they must never be banned

It reads like a particularly clumsy Black Mirror episode: a crowd at a gig all glued to the action on their phone screens rather than looking at the stage. But this is a common sight at live music events today, and one that the British public is getting more irritated by.

New research by the ticketing website Eventbrite polled more than 1,000 UK gig-goers for their opinions on using mobile phones during concerts. Of respondents, 70% said they were annoyed by people constantly taking video or photos of the show, and 69% said they would support "more than minimal action to minimise the disruption". Eventbrite's suggestions varied in popularity: "no-phone zones" and audience spot checks received less than 20% support each, but the idea of "gentle nudges to make phones more discreet" received 41% support.

There is of course a spectrum of behaviour here. Holding up an iPad with both hands to film a gig, as I once saw, is so brazen as to almost be laudable, but ultimately hateful. More common is someone – generally male – stood motionless with their phone out, ready to upload the footage to their own YouTube channel for an audience of 17 people. Not only is this protracted filming annoying for the audience, artists probably don't appreciate this bootlegging; some artists, such as Jack White and Sam Smith, have recently demanded phones be locked in special pouches before their show begins.

Much of this annoyance and friction, though, is good old intergenerational conflict. Half of all respondents said they themselves took photos or video at gigs, but this rose to 62% among 18-24 year-olds. At your average rap gig, where the audience is dominated by this demographic, 62% seems conservative: the arrival of the star on stage is always met by a sea of phones.

For a generation normalised to constant documentation of their surroundings, being forced to stop would seem totalitarian, and indeed it is. At a rap show, theirs isn't the leaden documentation of the YouTube bootlegger: this chaotic shaky-cam footage feels woven into the chaos of the gig, networking it beyond the building's bricks and mortar; the lights of screens and flashes help to spill the energy off the stage and unify crowd and performer.

Does being a doctor make me a better parent?

I was standing in the check-in queue, sunburned, exhausted and very late for a seven-hour flight from Toronto to London. My wife had, sensibly, returned from the holiday a day earlier. In one arm I held my screaming one-year-old daughter, Lyra. Her folded pram was slung over the other shoulder. I was clutching passports and a nappy bag and surrounding me on the floor were my suitcases and an assortment of carrier bags overflowing with food, nappies, books and toys. Lyra went silent, I felt her abdomen tense, her face turned deep crimson and she forced out a long and resonant fart which sounded far more like it came from me than from her. A little area cleared around me in the airport. For some reason, probably fatigue, I put a finger into the nappy gusset to check that it was just a fart. It wasn't.

There are superficial similarities between being a doctor – especially an infectious diseases doctor like me – and the first year of parenthood. Faeces is the common currency of both tasks. Viruses abound. A friend who is a paediatrician likes to say that, up until the age of five, children are functionally HIV positive. We've had stretches of months where coughs, snot and bouts of diarrhoea have taken turns wrecking sleep for everyone while I remain helpless.

So far there have been exactly two occasions where I felt skilful as a parent because I am a doctor. First, Lyra was born in a heatwave. I kept her hydrated and avoided admission to hospital for IV fluids even though we were struggling with breastfeeding.

The second display of skill came when Dinah had an episode of mastitis, a blocked infected milk duct. We used hands, expression pumps and, of course, a baby, to drain the infected breast. The best moments of parenting are inextricably mingled with the worst. All three of us naked in the bath at 2am, covered in rapeseed oil for the boob massage, the water cloudy with milk, and the fever finally subsiding – a high and low point in equal measure.

5 must-try DIY makeup recipes for a fun weekend project

There's something quite alluring about DIYs. When you consider home remedies for beauty, we usually look to beauty solutions that our mothers and grandmothers relied on. We've rarely considered home remedies when it comes to makeup. That said, there's really no reason why you can't immerse yourself in a weekend project that, let's face it, is not only fun, but will save you quite a few bucks on big name brands.

If that's not all, if you consider the fact that a DIY means you know exactly what does into the recipe, and that you've sourced the ingredients yourself, you know exactly what to expect when using the same on your skin. It's a win-win—quality makeup for a fraction of the price, with ingredients that are actually good for you. What more can you ask for, right? So let's get down to business, shall we?


DIY Organic Foundation
You need
• 40ml almond oil
• 30ml shea butter
• 15ml cocoa butter
• 15ml beeswax
• 1/8tsp vitamin E
• Cocao powder (as needed)
• Cinnamon (as needed)
• Container or bottle for storage

Method
In a double boiler, combine almond oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, beeswax, and vitamin E. Stir occasionally till all ingredients have melted and thoroughly mixed. Remove from heat and let it cool. Add cinnamon and whisk to combine. Next, gradually add the cocoa powder to achieve the pigment to suit your skin tone. Note: 1/2tbsp cocoa powder is a light foundation; 1/2tbsp plus 1tsp will give you a medium foundation, and 1/2tbsp plus 2tsp will give you a medium to dark foundation. Once you've reached the shade of your skin tone, simply pour into the container and let it cool.

DIY Eyeliner

You need
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 4 teaspoons aloe vera gel
• 1 – 2 capsules of activated charcoal (for black)
• 1/2tsp cocoa powder (for brown)
• Container for storage

Method
In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix all ingredients to avoid any lumps. Transfer to the storage container, and leave it in a dark and cool place. When using your eyeliner, make sure to use a clean brush. This will ensure you don't introduce any bacteria to the mixture.


DIY Natural Lip Gloss

You need
• 1 tsp white beeswax
• 3 tsp shea butter (for chocolate lip gloss, use cocoa butter)
• 2 tsp coconut oil or almond oil
• 11 tsp castor oil
• 10 drops of your favourite essential oil
• Pigment, mineral makeup

Method
Melt the wax and oils together in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add essential oils. Before it cools, take a bulb syringe or turkey baster and transfer the formula into a cleaned lip gloss container. Use as and when you feel like it.

how sexy clothes lost their allure

The talent all great fashion designers have in common is the ability to read a room. You do not get into the history books by making pretty dresses. The best designers at any fashion week are the ones with a fingertip to the breeze, judging which way the wind is blowing. Like standup comics, they divine precisely how far they can push the audience out of their comfort zone to keep their attention without alienating them. And by sticking a pin in a map to illustrate where we are now, their clothes make us sit up and realise how fast the world around is spinning.

For decades, the mantra of Milan fashion week has been that sex sells. Paris does intellectual and chic, London does weird and innovative, New York does polished and commercial, and Milan does sex and glamour. Simple. But the impact of #MeToo, working in an unlikely pincer movement with the rise of the modest pound, as luxury fashion’s Middle Eastern customer base continues to outpace other markets, is pushing sexy dresses on to the wrong side of history. The ciabatta-e-burro of this city’s catwalks has gone stale.

And so Milan is reinventing itself. After a few years during which she seemed to be edging out of the frame, Miuccia Prada, is back on form: profits are up, critics are raving. Introspection has never been big at Milan fashion week, but Prada is constantly questioning her own work and the world around her, poking around in the uncomfortable contradictions. "It was all about what’s happening in the world now," she said after this show. "On the one hand, you wish for freedom, for liberation, for fantasy, and the other you have this extreme conservatism." There were plunging necklines and short skirts on the catwalk, but the standout beauties were the prim looks that she has always made sublime: a grey sweater, a white shirt collar, a stiff satin skirt. Prada studied mime for five years in the 1960s, and recalled in W magazine recently her lessons with Etienne Decorum: "One day, he limited us to only moving our fingers – the body control was extreme." She learned to say a lot, without making much noise; she does it on the catwalk still.

5 fashion items that Audrey Hepburn made her own

If there is one takeaway from Beyond the Screen, the new exhibition of rare Audrey Hepburn photographs opening at London’s Proud Central gallery today, it is to acknowledge how many specific fashion items the actress launched. Almost everything Hepburn is wearing in the images-  lensed by Terry O’Neill, Norman Parkinson, Bob Willoughby, et al- has gone on to be deemed a 'classic'.

It may be 25 years since she died, but cable knit jumpers, white bug sunglasses, and oversized mannish white shirts are as chic, popular and relevant in the British fashion vocabulary in 2018 as they were when she first wore them. Here are five of the best fashion Hepburnisms that are still worth copying today...

White sunglasses

The idea that celebrities might look cooler and more mysterious when wearing sunglasses was brewing long before the early Sixties, but Hepburn's appearance in 1966’s How To Steal A Million, wearing enormous bug-eye lenses in the opening scenes, captured the imagination of audiences around the world. Douglas Kirkland’s stills of her in the Mod white frames by Oliver Goldsmith, worn with a graphic white suit and chin-strapped felt hat, are still considered to be some of her most iconic pictures.

A mannish white shirt

Several of Hollywood’s Golden Age female stars were responsible for turning the kind of white collared shirt usually reserved for men in the workplace into a statement fashion piece for women. Hepburn, along with Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly, was among the first to use it as a symbol of role reversal, empowerment, and sexual liberation. In Mark Shaw’s 1954 portrait, Hepburn is at home reading, relaxing on a sun lounger wearing nothing but a shirt and earrings.

Cable knits

Photographed in 1989 by Eva Sereny, Hepburn wears a cream cable knit jumper and white linen trousers. Her knitwear choices were always neat, monochrome and structured; it’s another pure and minimal look from the actress that means all of the viewer’s attention goes straight to her face and personality, rather than her clothes (even if it does make you want the jumper too).

The Beatnik coat

The streamlined, checked wool coat is a winter staple these days, but in swinging London, it was a hot new look. Hepburn took the trend to Paris, commissioning Hubert de Givenchy to make a grid-print felt coat for her to wear in How To Steal A Million. 

The little pink dress

Hepburn’s style was, at times, wonderfully girly. Another image set that is constantly shared on Instagram and Pinterest is this 1955 Norman Parkinson series, shot for Glamour magazine in Rome. Givenchy’s pale pink fit and flare silhouette looks even more distinct when set against the bougainvillea. The bateau was Hepburn’s neckline of choice and is now the first feature one should look for when trying to emulate

Fashion Festival is stylish success

    Looking fierce: a model takes to the runway in the 2018 Bermuda Fashion Festival where local and international designers and models showcase their work on the big stage on Front Street (Photograph by Blaire Simmons)
Organisers have hailed this year's Fashion Festival as a huge success.

They said that Bermudian designers had been offered international opportunities as a result of the event.

Danilee Trott, executive producer of the festival, was thrilled by the quality and reception of this year's event.

Ms Trott said: "We had a really broad range of international guests that participated as designers, models and mentors.

"They were reality stars, celebrity stylists, red-carpet designers, supermodels — it was definitely one of the highest-calibre group of guests we have had come and be a part of the festival."

More than 2,000 people watched the three runway shows, with standing room only at some events.

Local designers also earned their place in the spotlight.

Ms Trott said: "Their collections blew me away and I am just so thrilled for the opportunities that they earned that will help them take their brands to the next level.

"The mentors were so impressed by them that on the spot, as they were judging the winners, they were offering up additional prizes of internships and externships. The decisions were not easy to make."

Charda Simons, Nicola Lucas and Desiree Riley all won trips to Atlanta, Georgia, to learn about marketing and business from fashion designers Ken Laurence and businesswoman Lisa Nicole Cloud.

Ms Lucas, of Aqua Designs, said: "The Bermuda Fashion Festival was an amazing experience for me, having never really been featured in a runway show or even attended one.

"The local models were amazing and it was such a great highlight to also have an international supermodel walking in one of my designs.

"I am honoured to have been chosen to go to Atlanta for the externship where I'll get more hands-on experience in brand marketing and building my business."

Ms Riley, of Dezir Designs, added: "It has definitely offered up many opportunities for me such as shooting my line in New York with famed photographer James Hercule, as well as working with other international designers for their shows.

"Evelyn Lambert spoke to me about opening her show at New York Fashion Week and Lisa Nicole Cloud has already approached me about a few of my looks for a red-carpet event."

Ms Simons, along with Rochelle Minors, also won the chance to show their collections at the Fashion Gallery New York Fashion Week in September, with free flights offered by JetBlue.

Taijhuan Hollis won an internship in Los Angeles with fashion gurus Adolfo Sanchez and Viktor Luna.

Jessica White, an American supermodel, said she enjoyed being able to walk the catwalk in Bermuda.

She said: "Bermuda is such a majestic place full of beautiful people. I'm honoured I had the opportunity to grace your island.

"I look forward to coming back and special thanks to the Bermuda Fashion Festival team for having me and who worked so very hard on an amazing production."

Melissa Leach, who served as a mentor at this year's show, was pleased to see the festival evolve over the past three years.

The Bermuda resident, who has worked with fashion industry heavyweights including Burberry, Jimmy Choo and the British Fashion Council, said the event had become a "solid platform" for Bermudian designers.

Ms Leach said: "I am pleased to have been a part of the programme this year and I look forward to continuing my support of the festival and of the emerging design talent by sharing my knowledge of the business side of fashion, giving our local designers the best possible chance of success."

Lisa Nicole Cloud, international designer and mentor for the event, said: "The show was a quality fashion production and the hospitality shown to me during my visit was exceptional."

Boys can be girls: What we learned from Paris fashion week

As Paris men's fashion week comes to an end Sunday we look at four things we learned from a packed and at times emotional six days:

Men don't have to be men

The pressure is off, boys. Dress like you did when you were a kid raiding your mother's wardrobe. That seems to be the big message from a fashion week where the gender lines have never been more blurred.

We have had men in dresses aplenty before on the Paris catwalk but never has the male wardrobe itself been so comprehensively feminised. Blur's "Girls & Boys" could have been the soundtrack for a week where genderless meant men borrowing all the best bits from the girls to sex up suits, shirts and trousers.

Margiela's John Galliano said the time had come to "liberate" men from their sartorial shackles. For him that meant silks and satins, daring to be "louche" by going shirtless under a suit, and most of all wearing clothes cut on the bias -- the technique he has used for years to make his clothes for women so fluid and sensual.

"Gender doesn't matter any more -- it's 2018," Kim Jones told AFP before his triumphant debut at Dior Homme where he showed a transparent organza and tulle shirt embroidered with tiny, delicate white feathers.

Flowers and floral toile de Jouy blossomed out of a long run of other pieces, "but it is still menswear," he insisted.

Loewe used not a little humour to herald fashion's rebirthing of man, opening its presentation with a naked young man sitting on a chair sauvely fingering his trumpet.

Pink power

Naturally in such circumstances, pink -- once the "boy's colour" before it was supplanted by butch blue in the 1940s -- was in full blush. From Dior's pale pink double breasted suits and trench coats to Thom Browne's Vichy check and bubblegum pink lobstar coats and the old rose of timeless Hermes, the colour threw its puff powder hue everywhere.

Vuitton's Jones said it was time to bury the old wussy prejudices. "In LA kids in the street wear pink all the time. So it's not, 'Oh it's pink, I won't wear it', anymore," he added.

Fashion’s Love Affair With Guns Is on an Indefinite Hiatus

When the late British socialite Tara Parker-Tomkinson was detained for hours at Zürich Airport in 2013, she made the best of it. She played backgammon with the authorities; she tweeted about the ordeal. It was all due to a mixup. When her luggage was scanned, security spotted what looked like two guns in her belongings. But the objects that raised alarm weren’t quite the real deal. They were Chanel’s Miami Vice platform sandals — stilettos designed to look like pistols.
                                                       

             
The brainchild of Karl Lagerfeld, the shoes debuted as part of Chanel’s 2009 Resort collection. While the pumps that appeared on the runway were reportedly made of actual gun casings, the shoes for public consumption were made of plexiglass. Yet Tomkinson couldn’t easily convince airport security that the heels, also faves of Madonna and Ashlee Simpson, weren’t deadly weapons. In fact, in 2011 Parker-Tomkinson’s shoes wound up in customs for five days because of a similar misunderstanding.

Named one of Footwear News’s “10 Most Iconic Shoes from the Runway,” the Miami Vice shoes exemplify how two worlds that seemingly have little in common — high fashion and gun culture — have intersected. After Chanel released its pistol pumps, Saint Laurent debuted its Fall 2014 ready-to-wear collection, complete with gun-print shirts, dresses, purses, and jewelry worn by celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Rihanna. The pop star has also carried the “Guardian Angel” tote gun bags designed by Netherlands brand Vlieger & Vandam; those totes are still available. In 2016, country star Miranda Lambert jumped on the gun chic trend, showing up to the ACM Awards in a pair of $849 Joyce Echols gun holster heels. Those heels remain available for purchase as well.

But as calls for gun law reform have grown their loudest, and celebrities are more likely to wear orange flag pins for gun violence awareness than to mix couture and firearms, fashion has to reframe its relationship to guns, say industry experts and gun control advocates.