LONDON
2012 is shaping up to be an unforgettable year in the celebration of fashion. Definitive exhibitions are popping up all over the globe honoring fashion greats both past and present. As we awe over the recently opened Schiaparelli and Prada exhibit at The Metropolitan, our style savvy counterparts across the pond are lining up for an equally exciting view inside the heritage of Hermes. Leather Forever examines the brand’s love affair with the luxury material as they showcase their unique design and craftsmanship that makes this year’s 175th anniversary possible.
With a penchant for mixing vintage with new and combining unexpected colors, textures, and shapes for an ever-so-chic result, we are loving the style of the gorgeous Peony Lim!
Though you may not be familiar with the London-based stylist and blogger by name alone, if you have ever looked through street-style sites such as The Sartorialist, Citizen Couture, Vanessa Jackman or even Vogue.com, you have most certainly spotted Lim in one divine look after another.
If there’s one thing she is not, it’s afraid to take risks and stand out in a crowd!
Her polished yet slightly quirky aesthetic comes together as a culmination of sleek, structured shapes with a touch of fun, unexpected embellishments and a nod to old Hollywood glamour. To achieve a look similar to Lim’s, be sure to anchor your outfit with a tailored piece such as a sharp trouser, or a blazer or coat, and mix in vintage or vintage-inspired elements; the more colorful or furry the accoutrements, the better.
While we all go around complaining about $15 dollar cocktails, someone in Kentucky is dropping a G on some mint julep. And that's mere chump change compared to the drink that takes the #1 spot. Here are the ten most expensive cocktails in the world.
10. Kentucky Derby Mint Julep, $1,000, Churchill Downs, KY (above)
This $1k cocktail is made of Woodford Reserve Mint Julep, turbinado sugar, Louisville-grown mint, and ice from a 10,000-year-old glacier. But the expense isn't as much in the ingredients as it's in the experience of drinking out of limited-edition Tiffany & Co. silver cup while watching the 2 minute long race in a really large hat, of course.
9. Original Mai Tai, $1270, Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland
This is J. Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum sourced from the real Trader Vic Bergeon "Trader Vic" of the 1940's. Only six bottles from the original harvest remain and the Merchant Hotel owns one of them, so they charge an absurd amount of money to really rich people with cash to spare.
Hunter boots will be expanding its popular line of iconic rubber rain boots into new product arenas in 2012. A longtime favorite of Brits, Hunter “wellies” (after the first Duke of Wellington, who modified the original design in the 19th century) recently sold a controlling stake of the company to U.S. private equity company Searchlight Capital Partners. The sale marks the first time in the brands 150-year history that the owners will not be British.
Hunter boots have been a staple of British farm life since World War I. While the Argyll style remains
popular for those who rely on wellies for everyday wear, the knee-high Hunter green welly is the most popular version of the boot. Spotted on aristocracy, supermodels and movie stars the Hunter green welly is synonymous with a stylish escape to the countryside. In 2009, Jimmy Choo and Hunter worked together to release a limited-edition version of the boot, in black crocodile print with leopard lining. At Joonbug, we wear our wellies in a variety of colors but our favorite is the bright red knee-high – it really is just perfect for remaining chic and dry while stomping through snow and mud.
2011 has been an incredible year, sartorially speaking. From Anne Hathaway's eight costume changes at the Academy Awards to Diane Kruger...well, whenever the woman puts on clothes, a few of the ladies that didn't make the cut were this close. Ultimately, we decided that the criteria to make Joonbug's "Top Looks of 2011" list lay within three very simple (and very visible) requirements: originality, memorability and game-change factor. Once we began to whittle down our large list, we found that very few looks - no matter how much we loved them - fit these requirements.
While thousands flocked to Rockefeller Center for the epic tree lighting ceremony, complete with Justin Bieber and Neil Diamond, hundreds across the Atlantic (in London) headed over to the St. Pancras International station to see the newly opened 33-foot LEGO Christmas tree. Yes, you read right. While it's no 74-foot Norway spruce, complete with 30,000 lights- it’s straight out of a 6-year-old boy's dream come true. This green giant hovers above, almost real, except everything is made of plastic, including over a thousand colorful ornament baubles adorning each lifelike branch. Which, by the way, amounts up to 172 branches.
On and off-screen lovers Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have gotten themselves a sweet London pad!
The Twilight lovebirds have rented a nice, high-priced apartment in Notting Hill. There are scant details about the new place, but what we do know is it is a modern styled apartment, using a lot of nude color shades, with an amazing rooftop deck and incredible views of the London city skyline. We are so jealous of Kristen! Well, obviously for more reasons other than her cool new apartment like, um...her HOT roommate!
The couple chose the apartment because of its perfect location. Not only is it in the same area for their stop for the Breaking Dawn tour, It's also really convenient for Kristen because she is currently filming Snow White and the Huntsman in London as well.
Surely, Rob enjoys spending some time in London, being it is where he was born and raised. We think it's sweet that Rob will be able to share with Kristen what it was like for him to grow up in there.
We wish them the best with their new apartment in the beautiful (and cozy!) Notting Hill area. Again, feel free to express your jealousy.
In 1888, a mysterious letter was sent to Scotland Yard. "I keep hearing the police have caught me," it said in scrawled letters, "but they won't fix me just yet." Police had become desperate for clues during the "Autumn of Terror," in which five women had been savagely murdered in the streets of the Whitechapel district of London. Now, they had not only a letter in the hand of the murderer -- they now knew what he preferred to be called.
"Yours truly," it read menacingly, "Jack the Ripper."
The letters, which were released to the public in the hopes of turning up new leads, turned some unusually bloody killings of local prostitutes into the most studied murder case in history. The juicy details were practically built for gore obsessed London newspapers. In nearly every case, a Whitechapel streetwalker was brutally sliced up before her organs were methodically harvested...just out of view of potential witnesses.
Starting today, an exhibit at the MICA museum in London will feature pieces created by artists in Egypt during this time of revolution. Works of protest toward the oppressive regime, be they painting or graffiti, are being put on display both for their striking beauty, and as tools of education. There are still many who do not know enough to understand the the verbal, financial, and written suppression many in Egypt face. Art, a visual medium, may be able to educate viewers with both immediacy and efficiency. So much is conveyed in a single image.
The exhibit, From Facebook to Nassbook, is part of Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture. The month long event is significant in that it is London’s first ever celebration of contemporary culture from across the Arab world. From Facebook to Nassbook will feature art that tells the story of what led to the ousting of the self-appointed ‘president for life’, Hosni Mubarak. The exhibit will help many understand the whys of the revolution. It will furthermore be a look at what revolution is, what it entails, and what it may mean for the futures of those living in Egypt.
From Facebook to Nassbook also explores the internet as an aid to political expression and freedom. Egypt’s revolution is one of the largest examples yet of Twitter, Facebook, and other networking sites being used as a tool for something much larger. It is one of history’s first examples that cements the internet as much more than a toy or source of entertainment. When the internet was essentially shut down as the people successfully organized revolt through it, word of mouth kept it going. People (or nass, the Egyptian Arabic word for people) to people, with and without technology, spread revolution and continue to do so. Class barriers and religious views were and are being put aside to bring change.
The exhibit aims to capture all of this, from pre-revolution to the current. Of the gallery, MICA states:
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