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Creative Ways to Storing Jewellery
Do you have trouble trying to store jewellery without it getting all tangled, earrings separated from each other, tipping out your whole jewellery box just to find one piece of jewellery?? Well here are some tips for on storing your jewellery in...
CyberDating Lie Detecting
Did you know that Online Dating is the top moneymaker on the Web? Chances are good that if you are single, you have joined a site or two yourself. If so, you've probably asked my CyberRomance clients' top question too:
"How can I tell if...
Gift Giving Guide For Guys
Holiday gift shopping for your sweetheart can seem to be a difficult task, and many men put it off until Christmas Eve because of this. Knowing a few basics about the art of selecting a gift for a woman can help make your shopping trip more...
Got A Closet Full of Trendy Clothes? Watch Out!
You just bought a pair of Ugg boots to go with your hip hugger jeans and trucker cap. And that's not all. You scour the fashion magazines for the latest trends, then go running out to fill your closet. Trendy is good, right? Uh, not so fast....
The History of Engagement Rings and Wedding Bands
These days, many people take wedding bands and engagement rings for granted, and although they give these beautiful items of jewellery with integrity and love, they are often given with no real knowledge of the meaning behind them. Both wedding...
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Yahoo! News: Fashion News
Fashion News
Madonna launches new junior fashion line
(Reuters)
30 Jul 2010 at 7:30pm
Reuters - The Material Girl is launching a new clothing line for juniors that will hit stores in the U.S. next week, just in time for back-to-school shopping.
Timberlake's William Rast to launch at Target
(AP)
29 Jul 2010 at 5:08pm
AP - William Rast, the fashion line by Justin Timberlake and his childhood friend Trace Ayala, has a new partner: Target.
One For Me, One For You: A New Approach to Holiday Giving at Gap
(Fashio...
29 Jul 2010 at 2:12pm
Fashion Wire Daily - In a technology-obsessed world, where new gadgets top everyone's holiday gift wish-lists, it's up to clothing retailers to come up with new ways to entice customers to give wearable items as gifts. Gone are the days when a new pair of socks or pajamas can hold their own against a video game console or smartphone, which is something that Gap's creative director Patrick Robinson had in mind when he designed the Holiday 2010 collection.
Those Ardent School Days: Steven Meisel for Balenciaga
(ARTINFO)
28 Jul 2010 at 2:22pm
ARTINFO - Steven Meisel, one of the premier fashion photographers working today, has teamed up with fashion house Balenciaga (the founder of which, Cristóbal Balenciaga, was once dubbed "the master of us all" by Christian Dior, no sartorial slouch himself) to present the label?s Fall/Winter 2010/11 campaign. Featuring some of the top models of the moment (such as Stella Tennant), Meisel?s series of images is composed of close-up portraits of the models alongside wider shots of the women standing in small groups.
All are photographed against a lurid, fiery backdrop that looks one-part Southwestern sunset, one-part blazing wildfire.
Dolce & Gabbana dress Chelsea players in soccer push
(Reuters)
27 Jul 2010 at 7:02pm
Reuters - Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have entered a 3-year deal with English soccer club Chelsea to dress their players, muscling their way in the fashion-hungry soccer market.
Milan Fashion Week back to full seven days: organisers
(AFP)
27 Jul 2010 at 3:58pm
AFP - Milan Fashion Week will be true to its name, covering a full seven days in September instead of a frantic long weekend as it did in February after an agreement with top designers, organisers said Tuesday.
Christina Applegate Leads the Happy Pack at the "Cats & Dogs" Premiere
(...
26 Jul 2010 at 4:36pm
Fashion Wire Daily - Brilliant summer sun dappled the pack of humans, canines and felines that filled the red-carpet premiere of "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, July 25. But the brightest glow of the day came from Christina Applegate's big smile.
Tinsley Mortimer Does Hair Metal Chic for Samantha Thavasa
(Fashion Wire...
22 Jul 2010 at 1:03pm
Fashion Wire Daily - Tinsley Mortimer launched her latest collection for Japanese handbag company Samantha Thavasa on Tuesday, July 20, at the store's New York boutique on Madison Avenue to a crowd that delighted in her fall lineup, a girly take on '80s-inspired bags and clutches that would be just as home at a hair metal arena rock show as they would on the set of "Gossip Girl."
Sex workers put on fashion show to fight AIDS
(AFP)
21 Jul 2010 at 7:13pm
AFP - Sex workers sought to raise awareness about discrimination and AIDS with a colourful fashion show on the margins of the world AIDS conference on Wednesday.
The "Salt" Premiere Shakes Up Hollywood
(Fashion Wire Daily)
20 Jul 2010 at 5:45pm
Fashion Wire Daily - Collective sighs of relief echoed down Hollywood Boulevard as Brad Pitt joined his superstar partner Angelina Jolie at the massive premiere of her new action flick "Salt." Jolie looked gorgeous as always in a skimpy black beaded minidress, but Pitt looked positively stunning after months of sporting a mountain man grizzle of facial hair that obscured his handsome visage.
Choppering Away from "The Extra Man" Premiere
(Fashion Wire Daily)
20 Jul 2010 at 4:03pm
Fashion Wire Daily - When you're a big movie star, it's easy to whisk away from your movie premiere: just ask Katie Holmes. The actress is currently working in Toronto on the History Channel miniseries "The Kennedys," in which she will bring Jacqueline Kennedy back to life, but her latest flick was premiering in New York City on Monday, July 19. So what's a girl whose husband Tom Cruise makes $25 million per movie to do? Just hire a helicopter, of course.
George Clooney radiates cool on witness stand
(AP)
16 Jul 2010 at 5:37pm
AP - It's no wonder the Italian businessmen claimed George Clooney was behind their fashion line — the actor knows how to wow an audience whether he's on the red carpet or the witness stand.
Stella McCartney to design British Olympic kit
(AFP)
14 Jul 2010 at 11:02am
AFP - Fashion designer Stella McCartney will oversee the design of the athletes' clothing for the British team at the 2012 London Olympics, it was announced on Wednesday.
China tycoon bids to be Prada's biggest shareholder
(AFP)
12 Jul 2010 at 7:24am
AFP - A Chinese tycoon has been quietly buying up shares in Italian fashion house Prada SpA in a bid to become its largest shareholder, his company confirmed Monday.
Naomi Campbell will testify at war crimes trial
(AP)
11 Jul 2010 at 10:15am
AP - Fashion model Naomi Campbell says she will testify at the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor.
Newsfeed display by CaRP
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List of fashion designers
French
Pierre Balmain
Pierre Cardin
Coco Chanel
Andr� Courr�ges
Christian Dior
Jean Paul Gaultier
Nicolas Ghesqui�re
Herm�s
Hubert de Givenchy
Daniel Hechter
Christian Lacroix
Christian Louboutin
Marcel Marongiu
Jean Patou
Sonya Rykiel
Yves Saint-Laurent
Hedi Slimane
Chantal Thomas
Louis Vuitton
Michel Abraham
Italian
Giorgio Armani
Gucci
Franco Moschino
Miuccia Prada
Elsa Schiaparelli
Riccardo Tisci
Donatella Versace
Gianni Versace
Ermenegildo Zegna
Domenico Dolce
Stefano Gabbana
American
Jhane Barnes
Bill Blass
Oscar de la Renta
Tom Ford
Marc Jacobs
Donna Karan
Calvin Klein
Ralph Lauren
Mainbocher
Jay McCarroll
Isaac Mizrahi
The Blue Panther
Todd Oldham
Lilly Pulitzer
Faria Salman
Anna Sui
Vera Wang
Jacqueline Smith
Kate Spade
Japanese
Issey Miyake
Satoshi Matsuzawa
Yohji Yamamoto
Rei Kawakubo
Junya Watanabe
Kenzo
Belgian
Dirk Bikkembergs (1959)
Veronique Branquinho
Ann Demeulemeester (1954)
Martin Margiela
Raf Simons
Olivier Theyskens
Walter Van Beirendonck
Dries Van Noten
Dirk Van Saene
Marina Yee
British
Thomas Burberry
Hussein Chalayan
John Galliano
David Holah
Betty Jackson
Stevie Stuart
Vivienne Westwood
Charles Frederick Worth
Wale Adeyemi
Rhona Nampijja
Christopher Bailey
Alexander McQueen
Giles Deacon
Julian Macdonald
Matthew Williamson
Stella McCartney
Luella Bartley
Indian
Ritu Kumar
Rohit Bal
Ritu Beri
Raghuvender Rathore
Manish Malhotra
Rita Kumar
Prateek Oberoi
Other
Carlota Alfaro
Lisa Ho
Collette Dinnigan
Arkadius
Arne & Carlos
Ash Rana
Crist�bal Balenciaga
Jhane Barnes
Melie Bianco
Hattie Carnegie
Oleg Cassini
Nico Didonna
Domenico Dolce
Gianfranco Ferre
Stefano Gabbana
Anja Gockel
Sighsten Herrg�rd (1943-1989)
Carolina Herrera
Karl Lagerfeld
Helmut Lang
Judith Leiber
Fong Leng
Maha Moda
Rudolph Moshammer
Paco Rabanne
Mary Quant
Faria Salman
Jill Sander
Raf Simmons
Christina Yu
Sergiu Marian Bechian - Romania
Ovidiu-Valentin Stan - Romania
Anshita Asnani - India
Martin Ludvik
See also
List of fashion houses
Comme Des Garcons
Valentino
fashion designers
Haute couture
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fashion_designers"
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Coffee Shop
Following story and its followup discussion are published on http://www.crossvoice.com/article.pl?sid=04/07/16/1833235&objtype=stories
The clouds were not really thick, not like anything to indicate an imminent rain, but enough to block the sun quite well, like a huge canopy, casting a dark shadow on everything, especially on Melynn's mind.
Melynn, sitting at a table by the window in Belsik Coffee Shop, was watching several old-looking cars slowly turning into the parking lot of the supermarket across the street, apparently making some late shopping trips on the way back home from work. She took a small sip of Mocha in front of her, "it was much too sweet. How was that she never noticed before", she frowned a little, quietly resolving on ordering only black coffee next time - at age 35, she needed to watch her diet.
She was on vacation. It was a while since she last took any time off her work, and had some hope of its comfort effect on her currently joyless daily life. But when the day really came.... She sighed internally, her mind went back to Jerry.
Jerry should have been here with her had they not broken up two weeks ago. It didn't come as a surprise, as Melynn had long suspected that he would never commit to a settled relationship in the form of marriage, which had been a source of resentment and friction for quite some time - yet the actual pain of final dissolution of the relationship didn't lesson much because of this prior knowledge. Now sitting in this coffee shop in complete solitude, it was hard not to remember his pleasant, though a little weary, smile upon her whenever they talk, and his constant looking out of new things to try - new games, new food, new activities. The remembrance of his childlike preoccupation with which the new thing was tried out the first time never failed to bring a smile to her face.
No, she didn't miss Jerry. It was the companionship, the feeling of always having someone to talk with, to turn to, to lean on, that was sorely missed. And Melynn couldn't help lamenting the loss of 7 years of her life invested in this relationship which bore no fruit of matrimony happiness. Not that she was some kind of old-fashioned creep that saw the domestic establishment as the only fulfilling goal in a woman's life. But as she grew older, she started looking forward to having family, bearing babies, being called Mrs., etc., all the things that come with a marriage. But now.... She felt a surge of sorrow rising in her chest, expanding and subsiding like a wave, left an inward emptiness.
She finished the drink, and ordered another one, and realized it's too late to change the order to a cup of black coffee. She bit her lip and smiled bitterly to herself. For a 35 year old woman, slim built, smartly dressed, Melynn was by no means an unattractive sight in the crowd. She had quite a few short-lived relationship before Jerry, one or two in college years even passionate, but none as significant as the one she just lost.
As walking back to her table, she caught a watchful stare from a next table seater. It was a guy in his early thirties, clean-cut, T-shirt and jeans, with laptop opened on his table. Melynn now recalled seeing him typing away on his laptop while drinking from 3 cups in turn, and her actually thinking about those "high-tech caffeine-loaded nerds". The attention was flattering, though, especially soothing to a sinking self-esteem. Her reserved acknowledgement was immediately met with a very open smile and nodding, followed by an attempt of approaching which was awkwardly checked by her hurried retreat of her eyes. Her heart beat quickened a bit, besides, she didn't like to come across as desperate.
Yes, it was more comfortable here than her own apartment which she moved in after leaving the place where she lived with Jerry for 7 years. This was a tiny one-bedroom set which engrossed much of her time during the first few weeks to paint and redecorate. But now when it was all tidy up and everything to her taste, she couldn't wait to escape its emptiness and silence in dire need of spirit of life.
She still had friends, relatives to spend time with, but she'd rather be lonely in a crowd of strangers, where she could attend to her wounded heart without significant glances from others; while secretly harboring the hope, among all the buzz of a lively coffee shope could offer, in complete ignorance of her emotional setback, that she might be swept away from her dreary situation, somehow, by someone, anyone...
It was getting dark out there, a bit windy as well, as all the leaves on the trees were trembling towards one side. It was kind of Fall night that can be called chilly when the wind started. The very few pedestrians outside all hunched up their shoulders, hands in their pockets. One woman was dragging along a very reluctant little boy, looking stoicly determined not to heed his constant protest. She looked tired, irritated, but not the least despondent. Melynn looked away with an averted eye, wishing
she were that woman.
The lights inside the coffee store had just turned on. By the reflection in the window, she could clearly see a young couple sat a bit further inside, with two drinks and a couple of sliced cakes on their table. They paced themselves nicely, occasionally chatted with each other in low voices. From time to time, one of them glanced around a little, more of the result of changing posture than taking any real interest in their surroundings. Meilynn was jealous of them; for their confidence in each other's affection, and the ease and comfort deriving from that confidence.
She was studying the window a while before discerning the image of him. Her gaze fixed on him, hoping to gain better observation this way without being detected. He was still busy with his laptop, from time to time, he would look up and around, and invariably finished his inspection with a pointed look at her table, at her. She bit her lip again, her mind was in a constant flux. He looked tidy, industrious, pleasant, that his willingness for converse was obvious. Jerry was the perfect man in Melynn's mind to build a family with, but after a prolonged engagement which turned into nothing - he was not ready, he needed more time, he didn't know how long - she was not going to give up anybody else for him.
She turned to him, just in time to hold his glimpse, she smiled brightly, fully prepared to be encouraging. He again flashed back his open and sincere grin, and directly walked up.
The agitation was hightened as he got closer: There was no tentativeness in his manner - did she look needy that gave instant confidence to others? - but he was all alone this whole afternoon - should she tell him about Jerry?
Her heart pounded so fast and heavy, that she got panic in realizing that she was less prepared than needed. As the guy sat down at her table, with a "Hi, my name is Bob", she was overwhelmed to the point of total confusion that she knew not what to say and what expression to assume. She flushed deeply, stuttered, fluttered at his voice. She could almost see, with heart-wretching regret, that her prey was slipping away as she couldn't manage a calm composure. Amid all the flurry of thought, she heard him saying that he was watching her all the afternoon. She hated herself behaving like a love-smittened high-school girl.
"I can't help noticing that you ordered 6 drinks this afternoon." he leisurely mentioned.
Eh? that many? She was not counting. But that was fine, if only she could clear up her head and remark in some intelligent way - She'd been called witty by her friends - Oh, if only she could.
"By the way", he continued, as evenly as before "I'm the manager of this coffee shop."
That was news.
"It seemed that you were not wholely satisfied with your experience here, and I'd really like to know if that has anything to do with our products or services." He softly proceeded "if you don't mind". With that, he brought back his laptop, opened up its lid and quickly made a few stroks on his keyboard, before being ready to direct all his undivided attention to a complaining customer.
This got to be a bad dream. Melynn felt like suddenly dropping into a ice bucket, all the fuzzy, warm clouds around her head was now gone without trace. A customer! How embarrassing! She had to clentch her teeth to fight the sense of humiliation. However, it was in this chilly sense of mortification, that her effort of finding her composed, witty, usual self found its strength - No, no, that was nothing, merely a bad taste on her side. Nothing to worry about, really - she assured. He persisted, so she let go more - Coffee was fine, Mocha probably a little bit too sweet, just slightly, nothing serious - He dutifully recorded everything in his precious laptop, but he was not done yet. How did she think about the interior setting of this new shop, say, comparing with that of Star Bucks? Melynn felt like a white mouse in midst of the scientific research - Oh very nice, nicely done, indeed, may not be as stylish as Star Bucks, but definitely has its own character, very cozy.
Melynn was determined to play out her part nicely before fleeing this "cozy new shop" with its self-important manager. To his question "how to make this place more attractive to single women like her", she responded "hiring more good-looking managers like you".
When this unilaterally-interested interview was finally over, Melynn was dog-tired. She stood up from her seat, collected all her scattered belongings and turned to the door, before being stopped by him again "May I have your phone number?""
About the author:
Melynn
Author with CrossVoice Magazine
Jarba
Publisher of CrossVoice Magazine
jarba@crossvoice.com
http://www.crossvoice.com(featuring stories, opinions and reviews on politics, culture, entertainment and products).
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