style profile: Giovanna Battaglia

One of my absolute favorite parts of the week is Sunday morning, curling up with a huge cup of tea and the New York Times' Style section. This week they featured Giovanna Battaglia, editor of Vogue's Italian jewelry and accessories editions -- and frequent favorite subject of street style photographers like The Sartorialist and Garance Dore. Here is the little interview they did with her about her style:

"WHAT I’M WEARING NOW My skirt is Dolce & Gabbana. My shirt, I designed. I had it done at a shirtmaker in Milan. It’s very Milanese to do this, and put your initials on it. Now I’m starting to have them made at Charvet in Paris. The shoes are Tabitha Simmons. The necklace is De Simone — it’s an old family from Naples — and the watch is a Patek Philippe Calatrava. It has my name on it. I’m quite obsessed with putting my name everywhere. 

STYLE CREDO I’m classic. I’m not a rock ’n’ roll chick. And I like to mix old and new. I’ll never wear a full look from a fashion show. It has to be personalized. Accessories have always been a big thing for me. I have 352 pairs of shoes. I’m not kidding. I have a wall filled with them, and then another for handbags. I never throw anything away. 

FAVORITE RECENT PURCHASES Three bathing suits from Norma Kamali — the ’50s “Dolce Vita” style. I got it in black-and-white, red and white. I photograph them all the time, but I never owned one. 

FALL TRENDS I LIKE The ladylike, sexy Parisian woman. Like the Balenciaga look. I’m more into sensual, simple clothes now. Lots of silk and cashmere — stuff that makes you feel good. I love fashion and fun, but at the end of the day, the dress has to please you and your boyfriend. 

FALL TRENDS I DON’T LIKE Crazy ’80s style. I shouldn’t say that because it’s a big trend, but who’s going to wear a shoulder like that? It’s fine for a picture, but I don’t like when a woman dresses too much like a fashion show. She looks like a clown, I think. 

ON MY WISH LIST A Lanvin stole and a leather Alaïa skirt. Alaïa dresses are the best investment. You buy a sexy Alaïa dress, and you’re sure you won’t be alone."

I have to say, I completely agree on the 80s style trend and especially the Balmain shoulder craze. 

Click here for more NYTimes Style

There was a very interesting article in today's NY Times about how Paris is responding to the recession, given how so many luxury brands are centered there. You can read it all here, and below are some key excerpts that I think everyone interested in fashion will be thinking about as we go forward.

“But there is also, paradoxically, an underlying satisfaction here that an era of sometimes vulgar high living is over and that a more bedrock French way of life will emerge.

Only in France is the recession lauded for posing a crisis in values.

A recent issue of Le Figaro Magazine featured a 12-page guide to scaled-down living in 2009, with predictions that people will work less and put family (even in-laws) first. A French trend expert quoted in the magazine dramatically described the changes as nothing less than “a revolution in values.” ”

“Rather than trying to keep the machine running by pumping out high-price hand bags, watches and other goods, he proposed the unthinkable: the entire luxury industry should slash prices. “We need a return to reason, decency, discretion, beauty and creativity — in other words, to true values,” ”

“ “This whole crisis is like a big spring housecleaning — both moral and physical,” Karl Lagerfeld, the designer for Chanel, said in an interview. “There is no creative evolution if you don’t have dramatic moments like this. Bling is over. Red carpety covered with rhinestones is out. I call it ‘the new modesty.’ ” ”

"Beauty is such a gift that we don’t know how to be grateful for it. We especially don’t want to give it up. We do our best to preserve our youth and control beauty. Yet, it’s the best way to lose it."

from Garance Dore, which now has the posts translated into english!

"I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I knew the woman I wanted to become"

Diane von Furstenberg ad for American Express:



I'm not sure why I like this ad so much, I guess it's nice to see designers at work, and the way they blended images of water and leaves to show the inspiration for patterns. Of course I love Diane as well, I'm just starting to read her autobiography.

eccentric glamour

"Betty controls our behavior through her own brand of snobbery. Her technique is quite clever. She established early on in our lives that there were only two types of people in the world. We were free to join either group.
There were the losers who pick their noses, hurl abuse at passers-by, and tread dog poo into the house. These individuals, according to Betty, 'have no bloody savoir faire.' These people will spend their lives eating greasy fish and chips and working in factories. They contribute nothing to the world: 'They take in oxygen and give out carbon dioxide.'
And then there are the fabulous people, the life enhancers, people who, even if they work in the same factories, always somehow manage to look great, smell great, and never arrive at other people's houses empty-handed. These people are committed to the concept of gracious living. These are our people."

Simon Doonan, on his mother's perspective, in his new (fabulous) book, Eccentric Glamour.

sienna miller in elle uk

"The big, big thing I’ve discovered, the big secret, is that it’s all about how happy you are. It’s the ultimate thing. People forget your flaws and imperfections if they see you’re happy. And I’m incredibly happy right now. Probably happier than I’ve ever been. It’s happiness that makes you glow,’ she laughs. ‘Oh, and maybe just a little touch of fake tan!"



"I hated that whole 'boho' tag. I was known either for being Jude’s girlfriend or wearing my mum’s old skirts. I rebelled by cutting off my hair and wearing freaky clothes for a while. I think people see me much more for myself now. I like to think that people see me as an actress."



"Rhys and I have this horrible addiction to caviar, which sounds ridiculous but it’s true. We’re junkies. I was given some seven months ago and now we’ve got this full-on caviar habit. We do the whole works: blinis, chopped eggs, chopped red onion, sour cream… It’s total bliss... Oh my God, that makes me sound so spoilt, doesn’t it?"



"[Keira Knightley] has said I’m the confident one because at parties she’s very shy and I’m loud. But we just have different ways of dealing with nerves. She goes quiet and I go all effervescent."



"I can honestly say I’ve never exercised in my life. I joined a gym once, but only made it to the sauna. For this movie [GI Joe], I was told I had to work out. I have fight scenes, so I’ve been doing an hour a day with chains, knives, guns. I’ve definitely toned up." She says the past year has changed her. "I just want to be confident in what I do and enjoy my life."

full story on elleuk.com

How do you see the relationship between fashion and money?

"It's all about how something fits, I think. You could be wearing a Chanel suit, and if it doesn't fit, it's going to look cheap."


Read the whole interview with Ivanka Trump at New York Magazine.

finally, someone who agrees that we need to objectify men more

I had been waiting for an excuse to post this picture from BlackBook Magazine, and I think this is it. The Cut has posted the text of an interview that Tom Ford did with Britain's GQ Style, in which he talks about how images of nude or next-to-nude women are the norm in our media today, but the male nude remains taboo, shocking, and uncomfortable for many people. I'm not going to post the pictures that went along with the story as they might not be appropriate for everyone, but here are some highlights, and click the link above for the rest.

" But, Tom, why do you objectify women more than men in your ads?

"As much as I've tried, it has been consistently harder to get images of nude men onto magazine pages and billboards than it has nude women. In a society where images of brutal violence are consumed during breakfast, the male nude is one of our last taboos. There's a double standard at play here: magazines that are happy to fund ads featuring an artfully lit female nude will balk at an image of her male counterpart."

American fashion magazines don't show breasts like European ones do. Do you think nude phobia is a uniquely American problem?

"In Sweden or Japan, or other places … casual nakedness at the sauna or the bath house is part of daily life, but in the places that I call home, the fear factor around nudity seems to be rising. I have always found it ridiculous that, in America, if I wanted to run an ad of a woman with bare breasts I had to retouch her nipples. Now why would a woman's bare breasts, created as nature intended, be more shocking than a bizarre pair of breasts with absolutely no nipples? What could be more perverse?"

So tell us the damn truth about being a woman.

"Women have long been objectified in our society; images of beautiful female forms are everywhere. Go to a dinner party and women are wearing tiny dresses, exposing their legs and baring their toes in high-heeled sandals. They're basically naked, with a little bit of draping over their body. Think of how tough it must be to be a woman in our culture. Women are constantly judged by their bodies and the size of their breasts."

But you make clothes, Tom. Gorgeous ones, too. Why are you championing being without them?

"With a more natural relationship to nudity, we might also be freed up to find each other a lot more fascinating. There's an equality to being naked; the fewer clothes and accessories a person wears the less you judge them, and the more you notice their truest traits, like their eyes or their charisma, their great hands or their one-of-a-kind hair or, most importantly, their personality and character. As much as I love clothing, it gives us one more layer to hide behind." "

full of herself?

One of the best things about blogs becoming such a popular medium is all the inside information and casual conversations that come to light, un-scripted, un-edited to make everyone look good. Usually it's just nice to shed a light on actresses or models or designers that you might like or hate, to get a better sense of who they are -- but then there are those other celebrities who seem to be talked about all the time without being known for their work. Emmy Rossum is loved by the fashion world and the media and it always photographed at events (and Camilla Belle is another actress like this who springs to mind), but I've never seen anything she's actually done, and can't even name anything besides Phantom of the Opera. I guess publicity just for hype is a good deal, but it also brings higher scrutiny. So when I read this conversation between her, Leighton Meester, and NY Magazine on the latter's blog (about the upcoming Costume Institute party), my own thoughts as well as those of several commentors honed right in on a bit of an attitude. Does she seem a bit stuck-up and full of herself for someone who's over-hyped as it is? Isn't comparing Wintour to the Pope a little... ridiculous... even in a context as sycophantic as the fashion world? Questions, questions. Me, I'd take Leighton over Emmy any day. A bit clueless about one of the biggest events, maybe, but at least she seems "real". Oh, how judgmental we've all become.

" New York: [to Rossum] So who are you wearing to the Costume Institute gala on May 5?
Rossum: Oh, I can't say. But I can say that Anna [Wintour]'s picking it.
Meester: Why is she picking it?
Rossum: Because Anna invited me to sit with her. I'm pretty lucky, aren't I?
Meester: That's pretty great!
New York: Did Anna say to you, "I will pick your dress"?

Rossum: No, I am lucky enough that Anna has kindly said that she'll work with me to get me a great dress. I've been christened. I feel like I was just blessed by the Pope.

Meester: Is it, like, ridiculous — the Costume? They were asking me about it, actually...
Rossum: It's, like, literally amazing. You can't not go. It's like the event of the year.
Meester: I know, but I think I'm going to be in L.A.
Rossum: It's like the New York Oscars…
Meester: May 5, you said? I don't think I'm going to make it.
New York: [to Rossum] Why don't you take her over to Anna and introduce her?
Rossum: She's working. She's not even available to go to the most fabulous event. "

Read all the rest here
Ok, I promise to write on things besides Gossip Girl! And expect more about the upcoming Costume Institute Gala....

lou doillon

"I know I'm dressed wrong if the businessman turns his head. But I like to think that after an hour of sitting next to me on the train, he'd look. I'd have grown on him." "Style Credo: What attracts me is something broken, something a bit off. I never comb my hair or make anything pretty. When people look too beautiful, it's too easy.
On Hats: I come from a very mad, very classic family that all wore hats. I have a vintage pop-up top hat that I wear a lot. I'm like the Houdini of nightclubs, pulling an enormous hat out of a tiny bag. My favorite hat was stolen. It was a classic black moche hat, which means 'ugly' in French. The people at Chanel told me I should go to Maison Michel, the house that makes all their hats, and have it replaced.
Recent Acquisitions: A Chanel jacket and bag. I'm very proud of them. You can dress up like a tramp and have a little Chanel bag, and look so chic.
Current Projects: I just finished a three-month tour of a show called 'Lettres Intimes,' and during it, designed the winter Lee Cooper collection. I was drawing clothes for runaway girls, but like Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid': high-waisted tweed trousers with high hems and tiny jackets. It's very moving to have little ankles and wrists showing -- they're such a fragile part of a woman. Someone suggested I design men's wear. I should. I have such trouble dressing up as a girl."

from NY Times 20.4.08; not yet available online

alice temperley's motto

"Look for freedom in your life and laugh a lot."

"My parents [once] rented a car and took off into the Masai Mara with us. I have never forgotten that feeling of freedom."

vogue.co.uk

if you know ny you know how true this is...

"I've been in New York for four years now, and I feel that I have done it. It's a place where you can be busy all the time without ever doing anything."

Margherita Missoni, on why she's moving to Paris

Courtesy of style.com

"In France, being romantic is just enjoying life and going crazy and being a fool and not being afraid of being ridiculous. It's not typically romantic, it's more like enjoying my time."

melvil poupaud in Bust magazine

Christopher Bailey on being English

"I sometimes describe it as this disheveled elegance. I love the fact that there is something quite traditional, quite stoic ... along with this real art side to it, along with this real almost rebellious side."

natalie portman in elle

ELLE: How have people responded to your own independence and ambition? Has that been uncomplicated for you?

NP: It's definitely complicated. I bury it a lot, which is a very common woman thing to do. They say women often preface their statements with “This might sound stupid, but…” It sort of tempers what you are going to say. It takes the edge off so you can still be seen as ladylike. I think I have a lot of that in me. I'm very nonconfrontational; I'm definitely a pleaser.

ELLE: Your recent film, The Other Boleyn Girl, strikes me as a classic cautionary tale about female ambition. Your character, the notorious Anne, is punished with rape, humiliation, exile, and ultimately execution for being cunning and opportunistic. Her “golden sister” Mary [played by Scarlett Johansson] wants nothing more than a simple country life and is content to accept whatever fate her father, husband, uncle, and king devise for her—and she gets to live happily ever after.
NATALIE PORTMAN: That's so interesting, because I really saw it as a cautionary tale about capitalism. All of the characters who subscribe to these values of rising up and gaining power and who will step on anyone to get there are punished. Anne is certainly the most forward about it, but she is following her family's values. She wants to impress her father even though he betrays her, whereas Mary thinks there's something sick about this world and removes herself from it. I think it's very different to be ambitious and to be ruthlessly ambitious, which Anne certainly is in the movie. In reality, an argument can be made that Anne Boleyn was witch-hunted because she had so much power.

Double Dutch

Cathy Horyn, Times Style Magazine, on the creators of Fantastic Man and Butt magazines

”What makes a magazine modern, I asked him.
"That’s a question we ask ourselves all the time,” van Bennekom said. "I think it’s reading — the whole idea of concentrating and being alone in a room. I think that’s what a magazine has to offer: a reading experience.” ”

”Yves Saint Laurent’s Stefano Pilati, a 2006 cover, said, "It’s one of the first male magazines that I really considered male.” He added: "It has an appreciation for people and what they’re doing with their lives. You feel quite relieved in a sense to let yourself go and say what you want. You feel a dialogue with the magazine that you don’t have with many others.” ”

”When Butt started, van Bennekom said, the emancipation of gays in Europe was more or less over. "Gay marriage had come through, not only in the Netherlands but also in countries like Spain,” he said. "The whole political movement was bankrupt intellectually.” He added: "Nothing felt underground or funny. I mean, where did the humor go? Did the humor really end with [the artists] Pierre and Gilles and that kind of camp? Do we all have to aim at one type of body?” (They started a publication for lesbians — its title unprintable here — but it soon died. Apparently lesbians don’t have the same sense of humor.)”

They also have a feature on The Sartorialist in their new issue of Fantastic Man.

"I like clean, clean, clean, clean. It's my new Zen attitude, you know? The less you have, the more you enjoy."
Carine Roitfeld, NY Mag, Spring 08 Fashion Issue

Not exactly what you'd expect to hear I guess from one of the most important fashion editors today. But that's what I like about her, her sort of "atypical" view on things. She goes on to say how she doesn't like handbags, despite them being basically the bread and butter of many designers' sales figures. She also says that people's notion of success is "really American," which is interesting because I think people here at least like to think it's a universal thing, to strive in the same way towards supposed success. But it's sort of refreshing in a way, to think that even though she is this woman at the very top of her field, she doesn't seem to view it that way, doesn't want to stay in the job forever, it's more just a part of the rest of her life, a phase between here and there. I wish it were easier to remember this, to be happy with where you are and take it with a grain of salt, and not always be focused on getting to the next step.
"Because of this, Roitfeld's French Vogue is the polar opposite of most American fashion magazines. It is unconcerned with making fashion wearable or accessible to its readers. It is not inclusive: There is no advice on how to dress if you're shaped like a pear or about to turn 50. In Roitfeld's world, models are never too skinny, diamonds are never too expensive."
And I also sort of like this, because it's more honest. Fashion these days isn't really about accessibility to everyone, just like it's not really about "pretty" anymore. To pretend it is and go half-way is really just more cruel than keeping it completely a sort of fantasy, out of people's reach.

"Keep it as a reminder that to be durable and perfect, to be in fact grown-up, is to be an object, an altar ... cherishable stuff. But really, it is so much better to sneeze and feel human. ...
Though I would never sell it -- because, well, I treasure it as a talisman blessed by a saint of sorts, and the occasions when one does not sacrifice a talisman are at least two: when you have nothing and when you have everything -- each is an abyss."
Answered Prayers, Truman Capote