Everyone on Twitter thinks they have great life advice, a quotable quote, a reason for putting 140 characters or less into the world. Well, Naomi has all those things in SPADES — and she is touching people. One tweet at a time.
Anna North's reaction: this tweet "sort of seems like a misunderstanding of botany."
A bunch of women celebs to lip sync Lesley Gore's song to encourage women to vote Obama on November 6.
The video's full cast:
Alexa Chung
Alia Shawkat
Amy Rose Spiegel
Ana Calderon
Anna Fitzpatrick
Arrow and Ada
Barb Morrison
Becky Stark
Brodie Lancaster
Carlen Altman
Carrie Brownstein
Cassie Carello
Chapin Sisters
Courtney Hall
Courtney Martin
Elle Wagner
Erika Spring
Hannah Johnson
India Menuez
Judith Iocovozzi
Kate Nash
Kate Urcioli
Katy Goodman
Kime Buzzelli
Krista Bachmeier
Kristina Uriegas
Leah Siegel
Lena Dunham
Lesley Gore
Lisa Mayock
Lucy Moffatt
Madelyne Beckles
Mae Whitman
Mallyce
Maria Valencia
Meg Olsen
Melissa Coker
Mia Moretti & Caitlin Moe
Mia Lidofsky
Miranda July
Natalia Czajkiewicz
Natasha Lyonne
Petra Collins
Rachel Antonoff
Rain Phoenix
Ruby Karp
Ryan Roche
Sarah Sophie Flicker
Shae Detar
Sia
Sophie Buhai
Tavi
Tracee Ellis Ross
via Paper Mag.
Following the hottest pink coincidence of the last decade, Michelle and Ann evidently received different fashion memos before Monday night's debate.
Michelle Obama wore a lace dress by the amazing designer Thom Browne. (If you're unfamiliar with his work it's most definitely worth a perusal.) Michelle last wore this dress at another high profile campaign event: the Democratic National Convention.
Ann wore a fit-for-Florida dress with a leaf-printed skirt and coordinating green top, with a non-pearl statement necklace.
In the rest of the nation a dark, gloomy election-time fall season is setting in, but Ann's dress will have none of it.
This post has been updated to reflect that Ann is indeed wearing a DRESS, not a skirt/top combo as early photos suggested.
But, hello! All mascara ads are retouched to oblivion.
Source: pixel.nymag.com
The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority banned the above ad for Dior mascara starring Natalie Portman after competing brand L'Oreal complained that it mislead consumers about what the product could achieve. Dior admitted that the ad was retouched to "separate/increase the length and curve of a number of her lashes and to replace/fill a number of missing or damaged lashes, for a more stylised, uniform and tidy effect." (As though L'Oreal doesn't use similar techniques for its mascara ads, but DETAILS).
I interviewed a retoucher not long ago about the work, and this person explained that mascara ads — by all brands — are the worst when it comes to retouching:
Including Kanye West, presumably just so that people could ask him, “what's that jacket?” HAR HAR.
On Tuesday night H&M celebrated the imminent arrival to stores of its one-off collection by fashion house Maison Martin Margiela by dressing a bunch of celebrities in the clothes. Because nothing makes clothes look good like celebrities!!! ...right? Well, let's see...
Mena got to wear the skintight nude body suit that makes it look like you're just wearing a backless, strapless black bra.
Image by Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images
She did not get to wear it with the huge washed out jeans that are also part of the line.
Image by Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images
The bodysuit can be yours for $40; the jeans are $70. Mena's skirt is $99 and her shoes with the clear heels are $299.
Voting never looked so… tight.
With the Statue of Liberty's torch as her mic, obvs.
Image by John Gurzinski / Getty Images
She told the audience to vote early for Obama (by the way, Obama is voting today).
Image by John Gurzinski / Getty Images
Image by John Gurzinski / Getty Images
FINALLY "Fireworks" makes sense: "Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin?
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?" Hello!
Image by John Gurzinski / Getty Images
AWKWARD.
Pippa Middleton promoted her party-planning book Celebrate by allowing reporters to document a crafting session including her in plain clothes and a handful of children wearing Halloween costumes. (For the record, Pippa's book includes groundbreaking Halloween decorating tips like, "haunt gardens, attics, and stairways with ghosts made from sheets.") An tense moment ensued when one little girl at the table wearing devil horns told Pippa, "I hate princesses." The child continued, "I like vampires." Cute!!!
Pippa holding her book.
Image by Neil Hall / Reuters
It's called Celebrate and is being widely ridiculed all over the world since absolutely none of her tips are useful or clever in any way.
Image by Neil Hall / Reuters
“We're not trying to show off or anything like that. We're simply living our lives and sharing it with the world,” says Lisa Hochstein.
Source: images.zap2it.com
A few weeks ago Real Housewife of Miami Lisa Hochstein's people emailed the BuzzFeed Shift editors to see if we wanted to interview her. "This 29-year-old beauty made three appearances in Playboy magazine and can often be found shopping, lounging, and hanging out with her maid and friend, Daysy," read the email. With the season shaping up to be one of the most entertaining of the Real Housewives franchise, I couldn't resist accepting the offer. Here is my conversation with the fabulous Hochstein.
So, Florida!
I'm praying because we have a Halloween party on Saturday and we have a lot of friends flying in on Saturday.
Oh right. Sandy — good luck with that, yikes. What were you planning to dress up as?
I am going to be She-Ra, Princess of Power. I have an obsession with superheros and also unicorns. She-Ra Princess of Power is a cartoon I used to watch when I was younger and she rides around on a Pegasus. Unfortunately my husband doesn't want to be He-Man [She-Ra's twin] because he doesn't feel like he's in He-Man shape. But I'm having one of my girlfriends dress up as a unicorn. She's my Pegasus — I'm going to ride her around.
Do you always have a huge party?
Oh my God Halloween is my favorite time of year, my favorite holiday — we love it so much. We do our annual Halloween party that people from all over the world hear about. I think it's better than the Playboy Mansion parties.
Why is it better than Playboy parties?
Because it's our party. And everyone has said our parties are some of the best, sexiest, most fun parties they've ever been to. Miami is a sexy fun city and we really take Halloween more seriously than any other city.
What's it like being in the battleground state of Florida this close to the election? Can you feel the pressure building?
Oh of course. We're watching the debates in our movie theater with my mother and father. I can't even vote because I'm Canadian so I have another year before I get my citizenship and I can contribute my vote.
And how do you feel about being on the show now that it's airing and you can see what all your castmates said about you when you weren't there?
I really feel that in the beginning people maybe misunderstood me, maybe misconstrued my opening line — "I'm my husbands best creation" — and maybe wanted to not love me. But I've had such amazing fans in Twitter and Facebook messages saying, "I wanted to dislike Lisa but I just love her now." So I'm loving that people are really seeing my true personality. And I try to stay above the fray unless someone's directly attacking me, but I'm loving all of it.
Part of your storyline on the show is your struggle to get pregnant. Is it hard to talk about that so publicly?
There's a lot of women my age [29] and even younger struggling with the same issues. It's not something that people open up about because they think it's embarrassing. I think it really helped me and other women because they know that they're not alone. If anything, you show these women that there are options, that there are doctors, specialists — you can do acupuncture. There are endless options to try to make it happen.
The show is very much about your lavish lifestyle. Do you feel awkward about that in a time when so many Americans are struggling and unemployed?
We're not trying to show off or anything like that. We're simply living our lives and sharing it with the world. I'm just being me and doing my part giving back doing my charities [including the Komen Foundation and Humane Society].
I wasn't always so blessed — I definitely had struggles of my own, trying to become an American, trying to get my papers, so I definitely know how it feels to struggle and make something of myself. I feel like good things happen to good people and I feel like my life has been very blessed, and I feel like it's a result of who I am as a person.
How do you plan to use the show as a platform for other business opportunities?
I actually have my website launching, and it's almost like an online magazine. I'm going to be blogging and answering questions — I've been getting so many questions about my skincare regimen and fitness regimen. I'm hoping this will create a buzz and help me launch my nutritional supplement line and my skincare line, but Rome wasn't built overnight so one step at a time.
What kinds of nutritional supplements?
I'm hoping to start with a cleanse, fitness/nutritional supplements, and take it from there — slowly build and build and build and hopefully I can build an empire. I'm hoping that with hard work and the platform of the show that all my dreams will come true.
And what are some of your diet/fitness tips?
I definitely eat healthy as much as I can. I have my cheat days every Sunday. Some things I eat in the morning are my protein powder pancake — I can send you the recipe [author's note: she never did]. It's just protein powder, cottage cheese, oatmeal and you mix it all together with cinnamon and Splenda and you just make it like a pancake. it's such a tasty treat you don't even know it's super healthy.
Interesting.
So I'll work out and then I'll have my protein shake with bananas and chocolate and peanut butter and then I'll have a chicken salad after that. And for dinner I'll have whole wheat pasta with turkey meatballs. I substitute water for oil, I try to order the fish and have them hold the oil and cook with water, which is annoying to waiters and they want to hate me but they can't because I do it in my Lisa way.
Source: img101.fansshare.com
Do you work out a lot too?
I work out three or four times in a week. In a good week I'll have four or five times.
So that's not a huge amount necessarily.
You can work out and eat like shit and you'll still look like shit because you'll have muscle and a layer of fat covering that muscle, so there's no point really. I do pilates, I run around my island, I take the dogs for a walk.
I've always been thin my whole life and I'm not trying to toot my own horn or whatever but I'm trying to have less of a boyish figure, which is why I like to lift weights. Some people have to work out more days during the week and up their cardio but for me I don't want to get any skinnier, I just want to be super healthy and super tight and toned.
Wait — "your island"?
We live on Sunset Island and there are four islnands that are the Sunset Islands. There's like 30 or 20 houses on each island. It's almost like a gated community except you are on an island.
Back to eating, how do you go out and party and drink and still stay on such a strict regimen?
So my tips and tricks are I like to drink either tequila or vodka with a sugar-free cocktail so I'll tell the waitress — anything can be made with Splenda unless it's natural fruit juices. So if these cocktials have added sugar, added syrup, tell them to hold that and use Splenda instead. Or you can't go wrong with soda water or shots even because shots are so tiny and it gets the job done. If you're looking to have a good time or get a buzz have a couple shots of vodka or tequila and you're good to go.
And how about tanning? Do you spray tan or what?
I do not put any sun whatsoever on my face. I use spf 50 if I can or spf 15 on a bad day if that's all I have. Married to a plastic surgeon I know the sun is one of the number one things you should never put your face. So I like to spray tan and I usually have somebody come to me and spray me in my shower or have their little tent sent up [at my house]. That way you're not ruining your skin you're not getting wrinkles and you still look fabulous. Surgery won't fix sun damange — you can't do a lift on your body or on your hands.
Mitt Romney is apparently a big spray tanner, too.
He likes to take care of himself. Good for him — he likes to look presentable. Everyone's looking at his face and he has to look the part.
And what's your favorite internet cat video?
My girlfriend she did this cat rap video. I'll find it and send you the link [author's note: she never did, and although her publicist later followed up to make sure I would portray Lisa in a "positive light" she didn't sent the link because she "couldn't find it."] — it's called the cat rap on YouTube. I think it's freaking hilarious.
The Jersey Shore is set to get some of the worst of Sandy's wrath. But but but Vinny has “the craziest” Halloween party on Long Island Wednesday!!! #Ugh.
Source: eonline.com
Of course he has no scientific basis for this. But there's always blind faith.
Without power or running water in downtown Manhattan, people were helping one another however they could, bonding with those they've lived alongside for years but have never bothered to know.
New Yorkers line up for pizza in the East Village.
The morning after Hurricane Sandy, not everything in my downtown Manhattan neighborhood was closed. A slew of people suffering from cabin fever meandered around outside, seeing if the nearby evacuation zone of Battery Park was still flooded (it wasn't — some people were already out jogging). The small corner grocery store was open, accepting cash from people who shopped in the dark. Most had flashlights — my boyfriend and I were carrying the one we had needed to descend more than 30 flights of stairs from our apartment to the world below. One fantastically prepared gentleman made his way around with a headlamp! Of course if you were looking for nonperishables — unless you wanted novelty cookies or the last of the stale bialys — you were out of luck. The bread shelves were cleared, and even the prosciutto that had been without refrigeration for more than 12 hours now was almost out.
Some people were not interested in carbs but had emerged from their hurricane lairs in search of just a bar or two of cell service to check in with loved ones or — in all likelihood — the office. People stopped total strangers on the street to ask them if they had reception. "No, unfortunately — we're looking for it too!" we'd tell each other. Next to the darkened Whole Foods, I found reception and later directed grateful neighbors to this spot.
I've lived below 14th Street in Manhattan for nearly a decade, and I can't remember engaging with strangers — often tourists — other than to provide directions. New Yorkers keep their heads down and to themselves, absorbed in iPhones or headphones or both, uninterested in talking to people other than those they know. But now, people are helping one another however they can, bonding with those they've lived alongside for years but have never bothered to know.
New Yorkers like to keep their favorite spots — restaurants, bars, clubs — secret, but now people with hot cups of coffee happily directed desperate caffeine addicts to the one café around running on generator power with a line out the door. Hipsters waiting in line to charge iThings at generators on the street bonded over the bizarre situation of, you know, having to charge iPhones at generators on the street. I communed with neighbors in my building when we passed one another in the stairwell at, like, the 28th floor. My building's maintenance staff was working to tape glow sticks to the the stairwell wall — the emergency lighting management had promised turned out to be more fun than we expected! — and we chuckled with them over the rave-iness of it as we thanked them for their hard work.
People who had lost water in addition to power were looking for cabs to take them uptown, where life has been mostly normal since the storm. We bought crumpets, tortillas, and a Diet Coke, checked in with as many family members (and office people) as we could, and hiked back up to our apartment, where we had no cell reception, but played two games of Bananagrams and watched Monty Python on the one laptop that still had some power. We went to bed at 9 p.m. and wondered what people did with their time in the Middle Ages. Or, like, the '90s.
This morning we lost water, but the buses were running and we could see taxis on the street, so we descended the stairs once more to try to relocate uptown to stay with relatives who had power and, more importantly at this point, a shower. The buses, which are free today, were stuffed with people. Long lines had formed at all the stops before 9 a.m. Everyone looks like they are going to yoga with their puffy vests, Uggs, and packed gym bags, but one look at the blackened street lights reminds us they just want to get somewhere where they can work, charge things, bathe...text.
Within the half hour, we managed to find a cab. Without traffic lights, I actually felt safer than I ever have in a New York cab since everyone was driving extra slowly and carefully, stopping frequently and without resentment for pedestrians. We stopped along the way to see if anyone wanted to ride with us, and picked up one man who was on his way to his office uptown. He thanked us effusively for stopping, and we told him it was nothing, we're all in this together. We exchanged pleasantries about cold showers, shitty cell phone service, and not having any good food to eat. He told us that Whole Foods was giving away frozen items the day before, and he had figured out how to cook frozen pizzas in a pan on his gas stove. (Apparently, if you ever find yourself in this situation, folding the pizza in half like a sandwich helps.)
The streets of SoHo that are normally clogged with people in workout clothes and fedoras were completely empty save for a few wayward tourists with maps and nothing to do but absorb the bizarre emptiness and darkened shop windows — but also heightened friendliness — all around them.
We know we are not the worst off following the hurricane. Our homes have not been completely destroyed or even very damaged. But it's wonderful to know that, mired in the odd array of nuisances we currently find ourselves in, we're there for one another. If things ever get worse — if I'm trapped in a flood, in a wrecked car, under a felled tree — I know the people I ignore most of the time all around me will stop and help. I know I'd do the same for them.
Neighbors embrace in Breezy Point, Queens.
Image by Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
Gisele and Heidi Klum had grand Cleopatra Halloween plans (the latter of whose was thwarted by Sandy). Though this would have been much more awkward had Heidi Klum's annual epic party gone forth, it's still medium-level awkward.
Source: sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net
Source: s3-ec.buzzfed.com
Klum canceled her New York party following the devastating effects of the hurricane, leaving Gisele to fly the "I'm a hot Cleopatra" flag all her own. Not that this will stop the internet from the ultimate Halloween "Who Wore It Better" face off!
Just what the underwear industry didn't need! (Unless they host an annual fashion show , in which case, it's absolutely necessary.)
It's supposed to be like Victoria's Secret but for "garage band lovers," WWD reports. Similarities to VS include lingerie that is so embellished/patterned it can look, from afar, like it's gone moldy in a power outage.
Source: wwd.com
There's something early Rihanna about it — as in edgy but in a pretend way.
Source: wwd.com
One pair of underwear is never enough.
Source: wwd.com
Source: wwd.com
Have full closets full of mason jars? A “problem with burlap”? It might be time for a Pintervention.
Despite the power outage in lower Manhattan, businesses have been running as best they can to serve the neighbors who need them. Even when power returns, things won't get back to normal for weeks.
Flashlights and headlamps at Tent & Trails.
Power is finally, gradually being restored to lower Manhattan Friday evening, where it's been out since Hurricane Sandy tore through the east coast Monday night. But though lights come back to life in an instant, many businesses in the area won't. Owners and managers of bars, restaurants, and stores lucky enough to have sustained minimal damage in the storm are letting the financial reality of lost inventory and customers sink in as they ready to open as quickly as possible once power returns.
A few businesses remained open this afternoon. At 21 Park Place, Jamie Lipman Abish had set up a "sidewalk sale" outside of her store, Tent & Trails, which sells camping and climbing supplies. Most who have been coming by have been picking up flashlights, headlamps, and batteries — supplies that are hard to find anywhere downtown — which were arranged on a table in front of the store.
Abish estimated she'd had about 50 customers on Friday. "I'd say I've sold around 25 headlamps or flashlights — but mostly headlamps. It's an unusual amount," she told BuzzFeed. "Storms always bring out people for headlamps — they suddenly get prepared. But we've been giving them an easy check list for the next time," she added, pointing to a bright orange flyer with a list of emergency essentials (it included things like biodegradable soap, a quick drying towel, and folding saw, not all of which were included in the sidewalk offerings).
If things were normal, "I'd be doing ten times the business," Abish said. "But at least people know I'm still here. People know that I haven't been put out of business by the power outage." She can only accept cash, though she made an exception when a customer wanted to barter with donuts and hot coffee.
Abish was surrounded by a handful of staff members, some of whom have been working for her for more than 25 years. She said she would have paid them whether or not the store managed to open at all during the power outage. It was "the only thing to do," she said. "It's ethical. It's not their fault. I might get paid by a grant but six months down the line — I'm going to wait that long? They have families. They've got rents to pay."
Around the corner on Murray Street, Takahachi Bakery was closed and darkened, but manager Kimie Kobayashi had set up a cart outside to sell cookies and coffee to passersby (she's been getting around 25 customers a day). Inside, the shelves and cases where cakes and other food normally sit were almost completely bare. Kobayashi decided on Tuesday to open for a few hours on Wednesday, and then to do the same Thursday and Friday. She wasn't sure how much food was lost in the power outage, but estimated more than half. "I don't even want to ask my boss. It was a lot," she said. But she's been able to sell cookies and other things that had been in the freezer, along with a rare and much sought-after commodity: hot coffee.
"First I didn't sell coffee. So many people asked, so I said, okay," she said. She managed to make coffee with espresso and had a gas stove with which to heat water.
The past week has been hectic for Kobayashi. Every morning she bikes from her East Village apartment to a hotel in midtown where she can charge her phone and laptop and talk to her boss, the owner of the bakery who lives in New Jersey. Then she goes to the bakery for the day, before returning to the hotel to charge up again. "Then I go home in the dark."
She didn't think the bakery would be up and running as normal for about two weeks, once power was restored, since cakes and other items take time to make. And some menu items made with ingredients shipped from Japan via a distributor in New Jersey. "We have to give up some of the menu which is okay, it's not the end of the world," she said. "I have one customer who lives just around the corner and they have a market in the seaport — gone." (The seaport farther south in Manhattan was subject to some of the island's most severe flooding.)
Down Murray Street, the Dark Horse bar was open, powered by a generator. Its owner, Gavin Doherty, had spent the past three mornings at Home Depot in Queens, trying to purchase one. "There were so many people there looking for generators," he said. "Yesterday morning I managed to get one at 6 o'clock. So I came in, got everything set up." But even so, "We're far from normal."
Doherty had to throw out a lot of food, which was a painful waste as well as a considerable financial loss. In addition to the lost food and generator, he had to worry about fuel costs — and finding gas. "I spent about three hours in Queens looking for gas yesterday," he said "I could only get one gas container as well because they're in high demand." A cab driver tipped him off to gas at 44th Street and 10th Avenue, where he fueled up after an hour wait. But it "only lasts for so long" so he had to head back out to Long Island to refuel. "We were driving around the town and saw a big [line] and said this has to be for gas." It was — the wait there was three hours.
Doherty didn't have to go to all this trouble to reopen. He said he's "definitely losing money." But he knew he had to get the generator to open the bar instead of waiting for power to return because friends in the neighborhood kept texting and calling to ask if he was up and running. "They said there's nothing down here, we're sitting down here, when are you going to be open? I said I've got no power, but that's what made me go looking for a generator," Doherty explained. "Basically we wanted to give a few people some food."
He's seen the neighborhood clear out over the past two days, as residents tired of not having power, in many cases running water, or anything to do. But he wanted to be there, open and feeding people who couldn't leave the neighborhood. "You see this couple down here, they didn't have any friends or anywhere to go, so they had to stay. They had no choice," he said. "Regulars become friends when you see them a few times a week. We have a lot of friends in the neighborhood."
Mitt Romney is regularly accused of wearing “mom jeans” and President Obama is already famous for them. But just because they brought out their dad pants after SNL gave them a catchy name, they were hardly the only presidential candidates to wear them.
Presidential candidates hardly ever win accolades for their fashion sense. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney know this well, each having been accused repeatedly of wearing "mom jeans." The term was popularized in 2008 by Saturday Night Live, but the style of pant — faded, high-waisted, ill-fitting, FUPA-creating — has been, with few exceptions, a staple of presidential candidates' style on the trail for decades. Let's take a look back.
Image by Hulton Archive / Getty Images
If JFK owned or wore jeans, they certainly weren't part of his public persona.
Lights, camera, diet! The VS Fashion Show is here.
Before the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, models work out harder and watch their diets extra carefully to attain that firm/thin/buff look that's become the main attraction of the show, even trumping the live musical accompaniment of esteemed artists like Kanye West ('11) and Justin Bieber ('12). Diet and fitness tend to comprise the bulk of the questions models have to answer when reporters descend on the show (which tapes this week in New York and airs on CBS next month).
This is Joan at an event in Boston this month, looking like she has...no work to do to get ready for the show, at least in terms of Not Being Fat or Jiggly.
Image by Darren McCollester / Getty Images
Whether this is a special pre–VS show taping thing or just a normal everyday complicated supermodel diet thing is unclear.
I'm frankly more interested in her collection of animal tees than GNC haul. (This photo is from October's Margiela x H&M launch party.)
Image by Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images
Can you tell whether these people waiting in line are trying to travel by air or vote for the next POTUS? Take this quiz to see how good a judge of line-waiting misery you are!
