Solange Brings Retro Sound And Fashion-Forward Style In “Sandcastle Disco”

imageSolange Knowles is making a name for herself in the music world, finding her own niche and style. Back in the Destiny’s Child days when big sis Beyonce, was busy becoming a household name, Solange was also trying her hand at music. She made a few cameos in videos, but she really just came across as a mini-Beyonce. Her style was a junior and less sassy version of her older, more famous, counterpart. Whoever marketed her music saw the success of Destiny’s Child and the hip-pop/ R&B sound and tried to emulate that in Solange’s image. Solange was able to gain a little recognition, but was still mostly recognized as “Beyonce’s sister.” After laying low in music for a few years and only modeling for the occasional Dereon ad (an urban streetwear company headed by Beyonce and their mother, Tina Knowles), Solange has returned with her catchy, retro-soul album named Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. The songs have an old school feel with trippy beats and a tint of funk and blues. The music is tight, the lyrics are sincere and the beats get you moving. Her style, however, is the biggest and most pleasant surprise. From bright colors, extreme details, fashion-forward silhouettes and risk-taking ensembles, Solange shows that she has grown into her own woman and is setting the standards for her own sound and style. Check out the colorful, fun and fabulous looks of rompers and dresses in Solange’s video for “Sandcastle Disco” and then check out the slideshow to see how you can adopt her look into your own everyday wardrobe!

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Behind The Scenes With The New Face of Polo Fragrances: Nacho Figueras

imageI like Ralph Lauren‘s Polo style for a number of reasons. It’s classic, it’s comfortable, it’s clean. And the main reason to like Ralph Lauren’s Polo? The hot-blooded, tightly muscled, gorgeous male models for their Polo fragrances! The latest sexy hunk to join the ranks of handsome male Polo models is Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras. This rugged 25 year old hottie hails from Argentina and is an actual polo player! Nacho Figueras first started playing polo at the age of nine and at the young age of just 17, he began a professional polo career. Now at 25, Figueras has competed in many prestigious polo tournaments and is currently Captain of the Blackwatch Polo Team in New York. He’s not just a jock, though! Figueras is also an ambassador for the sport and breeds horses at his Buenos Aires ranch. He also enjoys sailing and traveling. The only downside to this tall, dark and handsome Argentinian? He’s happily married with two adorable young children. No worries! You can still see him whenever you want as he is the face of Polo Blue, Polo Black, the new Polo Modern Reserve and the Ralph Lauren fragrance trilogy known as “The World of Polo.” Check out what Nacho has to say about life and love in this behind-the-scenes video!

Blue Nails: Love It Or Loathe It?

imageA few years ago, we all fell hard for Chanel€™s black nail polish. Celebs started sporting this goth color and soon it spread faster than the H1N1 virus. But can they cause another nail craze again? Come summer, most of us turn to bright pinks, corals and reds when we head into the nail salon (if we head in at all); however, this summer may be different. Recently, there has been quite the stir in the nail salons across the country — stars such as Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port, Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus have been encouraging the masses to sport blue nails! The colors have ranged from a dark navy to teal blue (a la little Miss Cyrus at last weekend€™s MTV Movie Awards), but the real question is, are you prepared to go blue this summer? Check out our friends over at WhatsWear for more up-to-date beauty and fashion trend alerts!

Tea’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

imageLately, we’ve been happily celebrating the late arrival of summer in the city. There’s only one thing we’ll miss about the dark days of winter — and that’s Tea Delgado’s multi-colored dreamcoat collection on “One Life to Live.” Ever since she stormed into the courtroom (her return to Llanview marked by Blair’s horrified whisper of Tea’s full name), we’ve been gaga for gorgeous Tea (Florencia Lozano). One of the first things we noticed about her was the trunk full of fabulous coats she brought with her to chilly Pennsylvania. Even Joseph, with a legendary amazing Technicolor dreamcoat of his own, must be jealous. Tea’s coats were red, yellow, green, brown, scarlet, black, ochre, peach, ruby, olive, violet, fawn, lilac, gold, chocolate and mauve. No matter what was on Tea’s agenda — falsely confessing to killing someone, springing Todd from the clink, manipulating Cristian and Vanessa, whispering on her cell phone to Ray, getting in Blair’s face about her maternal insticts — she always managed to sport a gorgeous new coat. Be sure to check out our friends at SOAPnet for the rest of the article, plus a slideshow for the most stylish coats worn in Llanview!

Celeb Style: Go Sexy and Sophisticated Like Audrina Patridge

imageHills star Audrina Patridge has definitely been making some noteworthy improvements in the style department and has been looking increasingly more fab and fashion-forward in recent months. At the Maxim Hot 100 Party, Audrina struck the perfect balance between sexy and sophisticated. The reality star showcased her killer legs in a midnight blue Doo.ri minidress teamed with jewel-encrusted Giuseppe Zanotti for Balmain sandals and added some sleek sophistication to the look with a black Kris Van Assche tuxedo jacket. She accessorized with a chic Alexander McQueen clutch and kept the jewelry to a minimum with a subtle necklace and ring, to keep the look from being too cluttered (with shoes like that, you definitely don’t need to go accessory-wild!). I loved this ensemble because in addition to being ultra chic and wearable, each piece is super versatile, definitely something I always like to look for in my purchases.

Check out my SLIDESHOW to get the look!

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CHANEL: Coco Chanel The Film & Advert With Audrey Tatou

imageCoco Chanel’s life is one of the most well known stories of our generation in Fashion, a international icon and the founder of one of the most prestigious Fashion Houses in the world. It’s old news now that Coco Chanel’s life is being made into a film, and finally the end is coming soon. To celebrate and promote the film Audrey Tatou is featured in a short ‘preview’ in the new Chanel perfume advert. As well as this film, Karl Lagerfeld has directed several short films including one titled ‘Dressing Room’ with Lara Stone on the website. Watch the advert online now at Haute Mimi for more hot international fashion and style stories.

Let Stylehive’s Stylescopes Get You Set For Summer Blockbuster Season!

imageAside from its abundance of flip-flops, short shorts, printed dresses and miniskirts, summer is also the season for some of the most anticipated movies of the year! Nothing beats a hot sweltering day like an impromptu movie date with the icy theater air conditioning on full blast! Not really a movie buff yourself? Let the stars be your guide (both Hollywood and celestial alike!) and get into gear for blockbuster season with a dose of Old Hollywood glamour and movie theater flair. Cancer girls can host their own movie marathons with an old-fashioned popcorn maker and, with the help of a high-quality curling iron by T3, Taurus ladies can recreate the pinup-style sausage curls of their favorite silver-screen sirens! Check the slideshow to see how your sign can get into the spirit of showbiz this week, just in time for the first wave of big-screen summer hits!

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Tweens And “Twilight” Take Over The MTV Movie Awards

imageImagine an awards show during which the biggest honorees of the night bear the names Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, and Ashley Tisdale, and the film “Twilight” completely annihilates all hopes for even one “Slumdog Millionaire” trophy. No, I’m not talking about some alternate preteen-ruled universe or your worst nightmare (well, on second thought, maybe I am) — I’m referring to the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, where the musical high school kids and the undead heartthrobs swept about 90% of the winnings and left no crazy fan-girls unsatisfied. Before Andy Samberg kicked off the event with an epically hilarious opening clip and before the teeny-boppers got to gushing accepting speeches for their popcorn trophies (and dropping them — *cough* Kristen Stewart *cough*), their fellow young Hollywood crowd tore up the red carpet in sexy (and some not-so-sexy) party dresses, strappy boots, leather jackets and… leopard-print leotards? From Megan Fox (what was up with her hair?) to Lil Mama (yikes), the ensembles weren’t all home-runs, but they certainly weren’t boring! Check the slideshow for some hit and miss highlights straight from the one of the most “lively” red carpets the event has seen! Photo Credit: PR Photos

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Which Singing Star Rocked The Badass Biker Look?

imageWhen it comes to leather, there’s a fine line between who can really pull it off and who should literally pull it off and donate the duds to the nearest Goodwill. Especially now that summer is nipping at our heels, I’ve been surprised to see so many stars still donning the leather look while roaming the red carpet — some even decked out in the fabric head-to-toe even throughout the sunniest days of late May. From aspiring rock-chick Taylor Momsen to cutesie R&B crooner Jesse McCartney, it’s tough to say whether some of these artists are really digging their leather loot or are just trying too hard to convince us that they have a rebel side. Is it officially time to hang up the motorcycle jackets and liquid leggings and embrace some more breathable material, or is there a whole slew of dominatrix-inspired trends just around the corner? Vote below on who you think looks good enough in their leather to be allowed to wear it for a little longer…
Photo Credit: PR Photos
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Influential International Style: Julia Restoin Roitfeld

imageMaybe at first blush you didn’t recognize the name of this style maven, but if you don’t already, you will soon know the grace and pedigree of Julia Restoin Roitfeld. To be fair, she had really great fashion upbringing. Her mother, Carine Roitfeld, is the editor-in-chief of French Vogue and formerly the business partner of Mario Testino and muse to Tom Ford, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. The Parsons-educated Julia was the face of Tom Ford‘s fragrance Black Orchid and her most recent campaign, this time for the new perfume Jil by Jil Sander, will be released soon. What differentiates Julia from most second-generation fashion editors (ahem, Bee Schaffer) is that she takes a unique perspective, and can change the idea you had about a piece of clothing. Like a leopard print tank, sequin miniskirt and oversize blazer. Says Julia, “Some people think that clothes are just things that you wear to cover yourself but I’m blown away because clothes to me are a sort of new pop art. Clothes can be either art or design but need a real purpose.” Check out my slideshow for ways to adopt Julia’s unique style to your wardrobe! Photo credit: PR Photos

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