Best Dressed of the Weekend: Three top grades!
JustJared

This week I had no doubts about the chosen women for Best Dressed of the Weekend. Click here to have a look at the other three runner-ups for this week.
Diane Kruger in Erdem is, by miles, one of the best looks I have seen on a celebrity in a long time. It was exquisite and delicate, sexy and very classy. She gets this week's number one. And I do hope to see more celebs in Erdem's SS12 pieces, everything was simply stunning!
I am a huge Meryl Streep fan and I have been for years so I am thrilled to see her still at the top of her game and looking so radiant! I can't wait to see what she chooses to wear to this year's Oscar (she has to win!). For the moment I am happy to see her making unexpected choices like this Cacharel number from the FW1 collection. Mila Kunis wore a similar dress from the same line a few months ago, which makes Meryl even cooler.
Blake Lively is the third to get a top grade this week. Her Jason Wu look to celebrate the launch of the designer's collaboration with Target was a great fit. Just like I said last week re. the latest GG episode, her hair is looking great like this and the light coral of the lipstick and the earrings makes her glow. The peplum is super chic and I love the subtlety of the embroidered details on the skirt.

Meryl Streep covers the new American Vogue
Vogue.com

I can not tell you how happy I am to see Meryl Streep on the cover of the January issue of American Vogue! Meryl is, to me, the greatest living actress. Wether she plays Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada", Sophie in "Sophie's choice"or Francesca in "The Bridges of Madison County" she always nails her roles and brings a character depth not many people are capable of. Her upcoming role of Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" is the 'excuse' to grace the front of the American bible.

I love that there's less Mario Testino and more Annie Leibovitz covers, especially in this case. She is a great choice to shoot a woman who has become iconic for great work and natural beauty. In a world driven by photoshopped models and endless layers of make up it's so refreshing to see Meryl look so great and so 'raw' at her 62 years. I also love the location –a grey day at the beach–, which ties the cover to last month's Charlize Theron one, and the styling –there is such a Carolina Herrera vibe to this look.

Do you love it too?

Vogue power

Last night, at an Irving Penn tribute event in New York, Anna Wintour was asked about the role of bloggers —“We laude as much coverage on fashion as possible —we don’t care where it comes from,” she said. “But with all the noise, it actually helps Vogue, because we have authority”. Well, Amen to that. Some of us do try hard to make posts worthy of well-read visitors but I can't deny nor will I ever dare (or want to, for that matter) to deny Vogue's authority.

Funnily enough Vogue US is not exactly the pinnacle of fashion-forward information, which is why I haven't bought a single issue for months. Vogue Paris, on the other hand, is quite the contraire. For their Mai issue Carine has handed her editor seat over to Penélope Cruz, who has gathered for it the people that inspire her. Everything in this issue is to be loved , from the triple cover (Bono, yuk) to the McQueen homage and the Serge Gainsburg and Jane Birkin-inspired editorial (featuring Daria).

Vogue España takes on the cowboy trend for SS10 from a minimalistic point of view. Raquel Zimmermann covers the issue in a picture that looks bang-on trend as well as slightly ironic —can't quite put my finger on the reason why. The shoot inside is alluringly beautiful. A very Philo palette dominates over the whole story, with pieces from Alaïa, Chloé, Altuzarra, Loewe and Balmain; the big promoters of the trend this season.

I'm off.

[Sources: TheFashionSpot.com, Vogue.fr, Vogue.es, Fashionista.com]

COLONIAL fashion

I watched Out of Africa last night for the first time. Film fanatics out there, boo away. I borrowed the dvd from a dear friend of mine with no specific reason; I suspect that hearing my dad saying what a wonderful actress Meryl Streep is for the past twenty years had something to do with it, though. Whatever the reason why, I watched it last night and was firstly surprised by the quality of it, if it weren't for Streep's perfect skin I would not have been able to guess when was it filmed as this extraordinary film creates a limbo of itself, preventing time to make any effect on it.

However, as much impressed and moved by the acting, the landscapes and the plot as I was, there is something in my retina that wouldn't let me stop scrutinizing the costumes. I don't have the least idea of who the Oscar nominated for best costume design were that year, but I do know Milena Canonero was the perfect winner. This kind of films usually have an ok yet well-studied wardrobe at the beginning and keep the audience expectant to wow them a little later with an outstanding gown during a night gala event. Out of Africa's costume design has something special because the first big wow comes when you least expect it, at the very beginning. Meryl Streep shoots the chilly morning away in a full-length black ensemble with abundant fur accessorizing, letting the audience know that right in front of them there is a rich, powerful woman. This outfit made me think of Oscar de la Renta's chic and exotic feather hats.

One of the following scenes in the film is a wedding, for which Meryl's character gives quite the fashion lesson wearing a beautifully detailed yet untraditional white two-pieces with a hat. I am all about the hat. This made me thought of Proenza Schouler Spring 2008, a woman so confident she knows she looks beautiful and sexy in manly clothes.

The rest of the film is a grass and sand catwalk of outfits combining utility and fashion trends of the moment. Straw hats (quite in this season, see Rag & Bone) and high waists with semi-wide belts (Proenza Schouler, Donna Karan) and an endless collection of casual blazers for the day all finished up with comfortable safari trousers and a good pair of fashionable and practical leather boots (see Hermès) are the key garments in the motion picture.

Since the story takes place in Africa, the colours keep a "low key", mimeting the background with shades of beige and sand colours that see no end. Darkness for elegant events is brought in by navy blue (view DK), a perfect match with the other colours. The ensembles had to look formal and casual at the same time without stopping comfort from entering the equation, this equals manly looks (also in this season) with the only femininity a real woman can provide.

To end, I have to admit I was deeply inspired by all clothes choices in the film but also by the African tunic colours and their colorful über-long strings of beads that I was happy to find at this Spring's Oscar de la Renta show.

[Picture credits: SimplyStreep.com & Style.com]

I'm off.