Kelly Osbourne’s top fashion tips

Kelly Osbourne’s top fashion tips


Kelly Osbourne was a reality star, actress and musician before anyone took notice that she had a knack for style.

But lately the 27-year-old daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, currently with violet hair after stints of pink, lilac and gray, has earned the title of certified fashionista, dishing the designer dirt with Joan Rivers and co-hosts Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos after major Hollywood red carpets on E! “Fashion Police.”

She also sat front row with Rivers at the Badgley Mischka show during the New York Fashion Week this past February.

“I'm in the process of branding, doing my own line. I will not just attach my name to something,” Osbourne said. “I want to be a part of every aspect of it. I want to do everything on it and even down to like making sure I know where the clothes or items are being manufactured.”

Now she's being tapped to kick off fashion-fueled events too, like this month's The Magnificent Mile Shopping Festival along Chicago's Michigan Avenue. While there Osbourne shared three things she learned walking the red carpet that she considers top everyday tips for real women:

* Spray tans: “It just gives you that golden glow, a bit of bronze, like you've been kissed by the sun,” Osbourne said. “It makes you look slimmer and it makes you feel healthier. I always do that. I hate that I don't have one now.”

* Flatter that figure: “Even if you're a skinny girl, Spanx are a must,” Osbourne said, name-checking the shaping undergarments have become a red-carpet staple for women. “Nobody wants to see your belly button through your dress.”

* Pamper your feet: “Always pack a pair of ballet flats in your handbag because by the end of the night your feet are killing you. You want to keep going but you can't. I can't tell you how many times I've had to go home early because my feet hurt and I haven't had a pair of shoes to change into. Don't let your footwear ruin your good time,” she said.

And for those who must know what Osbourne was wearing in Chicago to meet with reporters last week: A long, flowing short-sleeved black dress with a rainbow leaf print by Issa (a British label that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, has helped popularize) and a ring with a large purple stone and a jeweled leaf by Chanel.

Best of Summer: Big Fashion Trends!

Best of Summer: Big Fashion Trends!


Thought summertime fashion was all about a banging bikini bod? Well, think again.
Because this summer's hottest styles are not only bright, fun and totally fabulous, but clothing is almost optional as we dare to beat the heat in the sexiest of styles. 
From crop tops to short shorts to neon galore, there's still time to rock summer fashion like a star (and maybe snag something on sale!).
So, pull out that credit card, renew that gym membership, and get ready to channel your inner Miley Cyrus. Here are the top fashion trends of this summer season!

1. Crop Tops: Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, there's no denying this summer was the season of the crop top. The belly-baring style first crept onto our trending radar last summer, but it wasn't until Miley Cyrus' daily Pilates classes—and midriff to match—that the abtastic approach to summer fashion really took off.
Paired with a high-waisted skirt or supershort shorts, this trend looks fab on all our fave twentysomething stars with some of the most banging bodies in the biz.
And despite the fact the look can go from glam to trash (we love you, Kristen Stewart, but you've perfectly illustrated this point), we're still fans of the daring fashion.

2. Neon: Here at E!, we're all about a pop of color, but this summer's neon trend took color to a UV-level tone. From nails to hair to jeans to dresses to shoes to handbags and accessories, this ode to the '80s was everywhere this summer.
Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé and Katy Perry are just a few of the many celebs who love to rock this standout style. And whether it's bright yellow nails paired with an electric-blue top, a hot-pink dress with purple-colored tips or a bold red handbag with bright shoes to match, there are a million ways to test this trend.
Care to turn a few heads like Hollywood's hottest celebs? Then dare to add a pop of insanely bright color to your summer wardrobe. (Pair it with a crop top if you're really looking for attention.)

3. Dip-Dyed Hair: Extensions? Pshh. So last season. Now, it's all about adding some bright color to your tresses!
From Lauren Conrad to Nicole Richie to Ashley Tisdale to Christina Aguilera, countless celebs have jumped on the colored-tip trending train. This edgy 'do is a perfect way to change up your look without chopping off your locks.
If you're feeling extra bold, go for an all-over color à la Katy Perry, which looks totally fierce with all the neon shirts in stores this season.
Forget California blond! Celebs all over Tinseltown are proving blues, greens and even pinks are the ones who really have more fun.


4. Sheer: If you're not bold enough to bare your belly, then never fear—there's another summer trend for showing off your banging bod: sheer!   
Celebs like Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively and Rihanna have all sported this sheerly fabulous trend, which can easily be tailored to show lots of skin (Ri-Ri's a pro).
The sheer style is one of the easiest to rock, since it can go from cazh to glam and works well on every body type. Whether it's a see-through shirt with a neon bandeau or a long skirt with peek-a-boo detailing, we're fully obsessed with this subtle (or not) sexy trend.

5. Maxi/Mullet Dresses: Talk about a '70s comeback! This summer marked the return of the maxi/mullet dress. Whether you prefer the full floor-length style (maxi) or the short-in-front-long-in-back (mullet) look, this style was everywhere this summer.
From moms-on-the-go like Jessica Alba and Jessica Simpson to young stars like Emma Roberts and Demi Lovato, this trend can go from Saturday night out to Sunday brunch. If you're feeling really bold, add some sheer to your skirt for an all-over leggy look, or pair platforms with a mullet dress for a seriously sexy ode to the disco era.

Fashion is an "art" for Zoe Saldana

Fashion is an "art" for Zoe Saldana


Zoe Saldana wants to "continue growing" as a person.

The Star Trek actress - who has dated Bradley Cooper in the past - admits she has never been as content with her life as she is right now and wants to use her happiness to motivate her to keep learning.

She said: "What am I looking forward to next year? Honestly, to continue growing in every aspect of my life because it's been a long time since I've been this happy. I really want that to motivate me moving forward on every level." One area Zoe will always enjoy no matter her mood is fashion, but she admits she is not a particularly trendy person and does not wear things because they are of the moment.

She said: "I'm not really a trendy person when it comes to fashion. I never know what's going to catch my attention, so I really just dress in a way that expresses my mood and my feelings in any given situation."

However, she will always consider clothing as less about "luxury" and more about art. She told Gotham magazine: "My grandmother and great-grandmother were seamstresses their whole lives, so when my grandmother moved to New York in the '60s, she worked for design houses throughout the city. She really loved fabrics and textiles, so it was natural to my family. Fashion wasn't like a religion to us, but it is in my ancestry. It was never about luxury; it was about art."

The Fashion Whip: Michael Steele On What to Wear At The Conventions

The Fashion Whip: Michael Steele On What to Wear At The Conventions



Some fashionistas dream about Mercedes Benz Fashion Week - I dream about the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Who will wear what? Will my "bundle" method of packing suitcases with shirt, tie and accessory combos make it safely to baggage claim? Will the political elite log in to check their online style albums? Many of my clients are moving from C-SPAN to Primetime for the next two weeks and the stakes are higher.

While most politicians are not aiming for a spot on the best-dressed list, there is a uniform for standing at the podium: navy suit, white shirt, red tie (sometimes blue). The conventions are Poliwood's Sundance Film Festival with lots of meeting, greeting, and speaking; outfits even get better as the week comes to a close. Like walking the red carpet, the RNC and DNC conventions are a time to shine, so don't re-wear last year's best threads!

I asked Michael Steele, fashion plate and former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, to share his top three style tips for speakers at this year's RNC and DNC conventions. Here is what the political analyst for MSNBC and partner at Purple Nation Solutions advises:

• "Wear a suit your mother would be proud to see you dressed in!" Your suit should reflect your style even if you're not stylish. Add a pocket square and accentuate with a nice tie. Michael says many politicians are partial to the "George Bush baby blue" tie in a solid light blue, calling it one of the prettiest shades of blue connoting softness and strength.

• "Adding a tie pin and cuff links will set off a nice suit perfectly!" Michael says this is definitely an occasion to wear cuff links (even if you're not a cuff links person). Michael encourages speakers to "frame your words with your cuff links and tie pin" to complete your powerful look.

• "Comfortable underwear and shoes are a necessity." You will spend at least 12 hours walking around - Michael advises to be comfortable and make sure your clothes "fit in a way that you don't feel trapped." Need we say more?

Be sure to add your American flag pin and leave your button cuff shirts at home. And, look out for a stylish Michael Steele - he will be the tall guy in wild colors, striped shirts, and a purple seersucker suit.

Badass LA Fashion Site Nasty Gal Picks Up A Badass $40M From Index Ventures For World Domination

Badass LA Fashion Site Nasty Gal Picks Up A Badass $40M From Index Ventures For World Domination


Nasty Gal, a site dedicated to selling “badass”, “unapologetically sexy” female fashion, has picked up a cool $40 million Series B round from Index Ventures, just five months after the VCs were the sole backers in its first, $9 million round. The LA-based company — which had sales of $28 million in 2011, is on track to make $128 million in 2012 says Forbes, and is currently on a growth curve of 10,000% (yep!) — says it will be using the funds to expand in every way that it can. Investments will be made in technology, operations (including a 500,000 square foot fulfillment center in Louisville, KY and a 50,000 square-foot office space), manufacturing, creative production — and preparing to go global.

Global is not a goal too far for Nasty Gal, which says it already has a customer base of 350,000 people across 60 countries. Already, the company says that 35% of its sales are coming from outside the U.S. It’s also not too much of a surprise, given that Index has its roots in Europe and has a strong track record on investments with a global remit.

There are a bunch of fashion sites that are picking up investment at the moment: among them, JustFab raised $76 million; Russian buying club KupiVIP picked up $38 million; fashion aggregation site Lyst took $5 million; and India’s Freecultr got $9 million from investors including Sequoia. And there are those rumors about Fancy being a target buy for one tech giant with a lot of money to spare. In all of these cases, the idea is to scale up and seize the moment as women (and men, but mostly women) increasingly flock to the web for their fashion fix.

This is what Nasty Gal is doing, too. But where it is perhaps set apart most from the others is in its focus on a look that speaks to a kind of high-fashion street style that is many avenue blocks away from the Gap, and a much closer to neighbor to UK fixtures ASOS and Top Shop.

Another is how Nasty Gal has continued to adhere to the one-off, second-hand clothles curation that helped founder Sophia Amoruso first make her name on eBay. These vintage pieces now site alongside a much-bigger range of clothing that Nasty Gal sources largely in LA. (This long piece in the LA Times notes that some 70% of the collection is made in Nasty Girl’s own backyard.)

As with any fashion e-commerce company that is going places, Nasty Gal is leaning heavily on social media to grow its business — an easy sell, given that its target customer base, 18-24 year-old females, matches up perfectly with some of the most dedicated, regular users of social media. Nasty Gal has 470,000 Facebook fans, 57,000 Twitter followers, 321,000 Instagram followers, and a “growing base” of Pinterest users.

It was its social media cred — and sticking to its straight-pricing guns — that brought Nasty Gal to Index’s attention, giving the VC hope that Nasty Gal will soar amongst many other would be fashion e-commerce stars.

“Until Nasty Gal, we hadn’t seen a fashion retailer with such a deep understanding of social commerce,” Danny Rimer, a Partner at Index Ventures, said in a statement. As part of this latest investment, Rimer has joined the board of Nasty Gal. This looks to be the most sizeable investment yet made out of the $442 million (€350 million) investment fund announced by Index in June.

So what will come next? It sounds more likely to be about leveraging social media to grow its ubiquity and engagement and less likely to be about any of the marketing services that have been the cornerstone of growth for other fashion e-commerce sites. The LA Times article noted that Nasty Gal “wasn’t resorting to gimmicky retail tactics like daily deals, monthly subscriptions or Hollywood partnerships.” (These are services we see across many of the other leading fashion e-commerce sites.)

“Girls are really addicted to the website and the clothes,” Rimer told the LA Times. “It’s more challenging to build a long-term business model based not on discounting and on celebrity endorsements, but rather just the quality of your product.”

Coco Chanel once said that in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different, and that goes just as much for the world of technology as it does for fashion. Time will tell if Nasty Gal will be the one to prove it on both counts.

After a Fashion: The Wrap

After a Fashion: The Wrap


Austin Fashion Week has wound down, ending more than a week of parties, fashion shows, and related events. Attendance seemed bigger this year, and AFW continues to evolve. Evolution is a good thing in most cases, though often something can evolve in an unexpected direction that may not have the desired effect. Last week I ragged on the AFW launch party for being unrelated to fashion. It was geared to the sponsors and not the fashion crowd. But we already covered that, didn't we?

I did not attend any of the Driskill runway shows or any of the showcases around town because I, like many other designers, was working madly day and night on my own collection and could not afford to take the time off. But I'd never dream of missing the Austin Fashion Awards. Though held at the unlovely Austin Music Hall, the fashion awards were indeed the best AFW has pulled off so far. Kendra Scott's jewelry collection was absolutely stunning, styled large for the runway and paired with jeweled headdresses. The presentation was so cool, so beautiful, and so perfect that it set the standard for what all Austin Fashion Awards presentations should look like. Another collection shown by one designer was more of a mystery, however, with the entire collection designed from a bolt of cheesy Halloween fabric. Maybe the audience didn't know it, but any designer who has been in a fabric store more than once has seen this fabric and recoiled from its cheapness and ubiquity.

Not a great fabric for a show that had a large number of well-trained designers in the audience. Ross Bennett showed a collection that, as he told me backstage, was done in four days with two seamstresses. I understand that situation, but virtually every garment in this fairly cohesive collection had sewing problems. Puckered seams, visible hems, and wrinkled garments undermined what should have been a gorgeous collection, considering how long Ross has had to work on it, and considering its placement in the show. Ross' fame is because he was on a reality show, not because his design ability is so formidable. Unfortunately, the attention seems ill-deserved for what we've seen from him lately.

Nonetheless, he did indeed deserve the Rising Star award he was given. If he keeps working hard, he will be good someday and worthy of this early attention. AFW has begun to recognize that fashion in Austin does not begin and end with them. In addition to giving out five Rising Star awards, they also awarded five Trailblazer awards for those who made their mark on Austin fashion, long before the Ross Bennetts started propagating. I was especially proud of the winners of those awards, and pleased that AFW founder Matt Swinney can reflect on the past while looking to the future. It was a tremendous honor for me to give the final award of the night to my dear friend Gail Chovan.

As I said in my impromptu speech, "In the pantheon of beautiful women who make up my personal Fashion Hall of Fame, she is Goddess No. 1. She is the only real fashion star in Austin, a true trailblazer, and I'm so proud to call her my friend." Then it was on to the much-hyped afterparty. In a hellacious downpour that sent the beautifully dressed crowd running for their cars, the Austin Music Hall created the biggest trend of the night by providing clear plastic garbage bags for the attendees, as well as walkers with umbrellas to help people to their cars. Good work, Austin Music Hall! At the afterparty, Spectra, the work by Wes Lane at LIGHTfaktor, was dazzling, but the wet crowd coupled with the heat put a damper on the whole thing (pun intended). What was truly disappointing was René Geneva's much hyped fashion show featuring LED-lit dresses.

If I recall correctly, only one of the dresses lit up, while the others suffered some malfunction that sent out rather dreary clothes bedecked with tubes and wires that did nothing. After having seen the magnificent LED-lit costumes from Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, Geneva's attempt seemed poorly planned. Having seen enough bad fashion, Jacki Oh and I decided that we just needed to go to sleep and forget it all.

Downtown Fashion Business

Downtown Fashion Business


 Las Vegas makes millions of dollars from all the conventions that are held every year.

There is a group of young entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on all that business and bring it downtown.

The fashion industry trade show called magic going is expected to bring people from dozens of countries and benefit the Las Vegas valley to the tune of 100 million dollars. The group is hoping to breathe life into downtown by showing visitors what Vegas has off the strip.

Meghan Boyd's passion is fashion and she's behind a movement downtown to bring a budding Las Vegas fashion industry dream into reality.

"It's really great to bring in other businesses downtown, and to provide a space where they can collaborate and co work and spark creativity, and there's so much already happening downtown and we want to be apart of that," Said Boyd, founder of Las Vegas Fashion Lab.

Crews set up lights and prepared a back ally behind Fremont Street to play host to an event aimed at putting the Las Vegas' fashion scene on the map. Fashion models, make up artists and designers are putting on a show for around 700 bloggers, writers, and VIPs. They want to show that downtown could be a new fashion mecca.

"We think it's interesting enough to bring that crowd off the strip, out of the night clubs and into an ally and to party," adds Chris Ramirez, founder of Silver State Productions and co-sponsor of the event.

A new incubator business called Las Vegas fashion lab is set to open later this year. It's just a hint of what could become a huge player in the fashion industry.

The goal is to turn out clothes and create designs that capture the imaginations of locals around the world and into the heart of downtown Vegas.