Inspiring Little Girls Beyond Disney Princesses - The NOT Just A Girl Series by Jaime Moore.

Wedding and lifestyle photographer Jaime Moore had been searching everywhere for some new creative inspiration for her daughter Emma's 5th birthday photos. When researching she noticed the prevalence of girls dressing as pretty Disney Princesses and no matter where she looked, 95% of the 'ideas' and 'how-to's' featured more of the same. Despite loving Disney Princesses herself (who doesn't?), after giving it much thought Jaime really wanted to use REAL women as inspiration for her daughter.

Lipstick Sculptures by Artist Maya Sum Will Leave Your Mouth Agape.

You may have seen some novelty shaped lipsticks such as the cute cat-shaped lipsticks by Paul and Joe and the Pipedream Products Lipstick Penises, but Hong Kong artist May Sum takes the concept of a sculpted and shaped lipstick a step further.

The Story Behind the Iconic Chanel Bottle

I am not a famous enough 'blogger' to receive Assouline's publications to review, but my friends over at NOTCOT are.

And in the beautiful Chanel publication put out by Assouline, there was a bit of folklore that is so interesting, but hard to believe.

I have reprinted the article from NOTCOT for you, so the first person voice you're reading is that of Jean Aw.



Of the many stories, myths, and just all around Chanel lore that i can’t seem to get out of my head yet (expect a few more posts just so i can clear my head)… the one i woke up with that was driving me crazy was that Coco Chanel designed her first Chanel No.5 bottle to perfectly match the shape of Plaza Vendome (where the Ritz is, and where she basically lived… although her apartment for inspiration and taking guests was just behind it on Rue Cambon… but more on that in a few days). They also claim that it is unknown whether this matching shape was intentional… and its not like THEY had google maps back in 1921. So i HAD to check. The designer in me had to know for sure, while the rational part of me assumed the Chanel folks wouldn’t just make something like this up. And as you see, they weren’t kidding. Below, more images… and also some quick pics from the Assouline set of Chanel books they left on my bed… its really fun to see the old sketches of the bottles, and even how they have evolved over the years… but still fit the Plaza Vendome proportions.

New Chanel Campaign Breaks With Keira Knightly: Coco Mademoisellle

Hot from the newswire:

NEW YORK, 12 (UPI) -- British actress Keira Knightley has reunited with her "Pride & Prejudice" director, Joe Wright, for a short film called "Coco Mademoiselle."

In it, the Oscar-nominated screen star plays the role of a modern-day incarnation of French style icon Coco Chanel.

"Coco Chanel's strong personality, her bold temperament and her charisma were impressive," Knightley said in a statement. "There was no one like her in the world ... her impact went beyond fashion and transformed society by liberating women in both a real and figurative sense."



Shot in five days in Paris, the short film was directed by Wright and overseen by Chanel artistic director Jacques Helleu, the man who has developed the image of Chanel for 40 years.

The film's theme song, "L-O-V-E" is performed by Grammy Award winner Joss Stone.

A national cable television flight of 30- and 60-second spots is scheduled to debut Sept. 24 through Oct. 7. but you can see it now if you can't wait, by clicking here.

In April 2006, Knightley became the new face of Chanel, starring in high-profile advertising campaigns and following in the footsteps of Nicole Kidman, Ali McGraw, Catherine Deneuve, Vanessa Paradis and Anna Mouglalis.

© Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved.



excerpt below from the NY Times:
The public will be able to start watching the commercial later this week on the special Web site, which will then be renamed cocomademoiselle.com. The spot will subsequently make its way onto Web sites like mtv.com and vh1.com as well as onto television, including Chanel’s first buys of commercial time on American broadcast networks in 15 years.

The campaign for Coco Mademoiselle is being created internally at Chanel by executives who include Jacques Helleu, the company’s longtime artistic director. An interactive agency, the Vanksen Group, is working with the internal creative team on the digital elements of the campaign.

The campaign has a worldwide budget of at least $10 million, according to the trade publication Women’s Wear Daily. Chanel executives are not discussing the budget nor how much of it is being devoted to online initiatives, but it clearly is far more than the company has ever spent in cyberspace.
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Below are a few example of the online component which goes into great depth about the style and the items in the apartment of "Mademoiselle":





and there's some neat 'behind-the-scenes' stuff on the site as well:



Click here and check it out for yourself.