Fashion: Look of the Year: Vera Anderson all decked out in Merry Ol' England

'Look of the Year' by fashion arbiter Kristen Stewart in the New York Times for December 31, 2012 — now how coud I not include such a pedigree of fashion journaletics?  And the lady is a leggy beauty, Vera Anderson.  "In a Preen dress with Stella McCartney shoes at the 'Snow White and the Huntsman' press conference in England, May 13, WireImage, via Getty Images.  There are 17 further shots of this model; if you're curious, check out the frivolous (as in 'frivolity') outfit at #8 (which Anderson wore at the Toronto Film Festival one evening).  The hemlines tend to be hi in this series, but there are full length more-gown-like ensembles as well.  #8 comes in at knee-length, and beautifully so.

— Fashion Maven, refWrite Backpage newspotter, analyst, columnist

'There were few moments in fashion this year that felt as complete as Kristen Stewart stepping out with Balenciaga’s then-creative director Nicolas Ghesquière at the Costume Institute gala last May. Clad in a patchwork jacquard and leather dress, she projected an attitude that seemed to epitomize Ghesquière’s vision for the brand: cool, carefree, uninhibited. In fact, all year long Stewart, who acts as the face of Balenciaga’s fragrance Florabotanica, seemed to be wearing exactly the right thing at precisely the right moment, sporting nearly every major runway trend from of 2012: sheer fabrics (Zuhair Murad; Jason Wu); the bra top and bare midriff (Balenciaga); pajamas (Roberto Cavalli); and graphic black and whites (forthcoming from Louis Vuitton). (The only fashion phenomenon Stewart didn’t attempt was the peplum.) With the “Twilight” saga and romance drama now behind her, we salute Stewart for a year of decisive and daring style.'  — says Edward Barsamian, NYT Style Magazine

Fashion: Street Style NYT: Corduroy is the featured fabric

New York Times sets the tone, but it has to look carefully around in the City for who's wearing what.  Most recently, The Collection provides a gallery of pictures where women's Street Style features a fabric, corduroy, perfect for cooler days yet brite and playful.

— Fashion Maven, refWrite Backpage fashion newspotter, analyst, columnist



The Collection picture gallery NYT (Dec12,2k12)

Movies: Comix characters: Captain America arrives at your local theatre.

NewYorkTimes (July21,2k11)

Captain America: The First Avenger, a new movie based on Stan Lee's comicbook character was fulsomely praised by most film critics, with at least one notable exception, A. O. Scott, of NYT — and even he came around in the course of his critique to tell us it's "great fun," all caveats aside.   Posts of intro materials are mine.  I recommend you read the whole review.

— Movie Man

MOVIE REVIEW

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Hey, Brooklyn, 

Where’d You Get Those Muscles?

By A. O. SCOTT

Published: July 21, 2011

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“Captain America: The First Avenger” turns out in the end — and this is really the opposite of a spoiler — to have been a two-hour teaser for another movie. That picture, foreshadowed in the second “Hulk,” the first “Thor” and both “Iron Man” episodes and scheduled to open next May, will be called “The Avengers.” Whether you regard its imminence with resignation, dread or uncontainable glee depends on your standing in the Marvel Universe. Shareholders and die-hard fans no doubt already have the opening date circled on their calendars, and many of the rest of us will probably show up as well, either out of curiosity or solemn duty.

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Jay Maidment/Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment

Chris Evans in "Captain America: The First Avenger." More Photos »

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The Films of Chris Evans

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• Star-Spangled and Searching His Own Psyche (July 10, 2011)

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Chris Evans with Hayley Atwell in the film directed by Joe Johnston. More Photos »

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Jay Maidment/Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment

Chris Evans as the superhero Captain America. More Photos »

But in the meantime this origin story, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans as the square-jawed, shield-throwing, red-white-and-blue Captain, is pretty good fun. The succinct judgment of my 15-year-old screening buddy was “Better than ‘Thor’ or ‘Green Lantern,’ ” and while that isn’t saying a lot, it may be saying enough. “Captain America,” based on a character that first appeared in Timely Comics, a precursor to Marvel, in the early 1940s — the era of Batman, Superman and other old-growth, popular-front superheroes — has a winningly pulpy, jaunty, earnest spirit.

With a dusty color scheme that evokes newsprint and cheap ink, and a production design that captures the Deco-inflected futurism of an earlier time, the movie is nostalgic without making a big fuss about it. And though there are plenty of the usual digital enhancements and overscaled effects, the pseudo-operatic grandiosity that has become a staple of the genre is mostly missing. Instead “Captain America,” like its unapologetically corny hero, is propelled by unpretentious and plucky ingenuity.