Fashion Hookup

Keeping You Up On The Latest Fashions

Cufflinks are Making a Comeback

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The most practical of men may wonder why they need to shop for cufflinks when finding dress shirts with buttoned cuffs is far easier not only to find, but also to put on. Then there’s the matter of cost. While the price of the dress shirts is not solely determined by whether they sport French cuffs (two holes with no buttons) or buttons of the cuffs, you can bet that you won’t find French cuffed shirts in the cheap range. Of course, there’s the small (or not so small) amount you’ll have to add for the cufflinks.

The truth is that with buttons around, cufflinks are indeed not the most practical of fashion choices. However, we all know that fashion is NOT about practicality. Why do we women wear heels when flats are more comfortable? Why do you choose one accessory over another? When it comes to fashion, although we do bless the hearts of great designers who manage to merge function with fashion, what’s usually more important is how things make us look and feel.

So if you ask why men should wear cufflinks? Then the answer is because they want to! Besides, cufflinks are really making a comeback in fashion, with these tiny accessories being the accessory of choice if you want a more formal look. Opting to wear French cuffed shirts and putting on matching cufflinks is equivalent to stowing away your sports watch and going for a more classy one for your evening look. Of course, you will find novelty cufflinks that definitely does not shout formal or classy, but if you want to look like you’re a teenager screaming for attention or you’re not going to a fun themed party, then it’s better to rely on more traditional looking cufflinks.

When it comes to choosing cufflinks, don’t think that just because you have a nice plain sturdy titanium cufflink means that you should wear that as your go to cufflink all the time. Remember, wearing cufflinks is a fashion statement, so better not commit a fashion faux pas while you’re at it. Make sure that your cufflink goes with other metal accessories you wear such as your belt buckle. If you’re wearing a gold buckle then put on gold cufflinks or silver cufflinks if you have a silver buckle on. Opt for designer cufflinks if you want to impress. For trendier cufflinks, make sure that the color matches or complements your dress shirt and tie although you should remember that no matter how nice your cufflinks may be, they’ll never compensate for a bad tie.

Image via Esquire

Australian Fashion Show Opens with a Pop

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The Australian Fashion Week has officially started and all we can say is that the first show sure opened with a huge bang, or pop to be more accurate.

The show that designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales put together for Romance Was Born had Marvel stamped all over it, opening with the coolest pop-up backdrop that set the entire tone of the show. This is not surprising since the show was done in partnership with Marvel, which might be confusing as the company has nothing to do with fashion, except perhaps for the great looking costumes their superheroes and villains wear.

The Romance Was Born collection features a lot of clashing prints reminiscent of novel graphics’ stylistic art. The prints came both in black and white and huge color pops, with the genius of the print choices being in that the clashing prints somehow came together.

Aside from Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, the first day of the Fashion Week also featured shows from Kirrily Johnston
Gail Sorronda. Gail Sorronda seeked to set her show apart by opting not to go with a runway show and doing an installation instead with guests able to cozy up close to her models standing on small white platforms with a short movie playing at the background. It’s safe to say that this change got more attention than her actual collection.

Kirrily Johnston, on the other hand, did a really nice runway show with no prints in sight but showcasing lots of simple dresses that were cut to perfection. Of course, the nun-themed dresses drew the eyes.

We can be sure that there’ll be more stellar shows as the week goes on. Whose show will be the showstopper this Fashion Week is something we’ll just have to wait for.

Image via NewsWhip

Russian Fashion Week Features Sombre Collections

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Fashion for me is always a bright spot that can make me feel a tad bit (or a lot) better even on the gloomiest of days. Well it seems that gloomy is just the right word to describe the atmosphere in Moscow these days as attested not only by what we see on the headlines, but even in what otherwise flamboyant designers decided to put out for this week’s Fashion Week.

The Russian Fashion Week, which we can usually count on to bring exciting and colourful designs instead reflected the mood in Moscow with Autumn/Winter 2012/2013 collections featured by the best designers in the country all echoing a sombre, even austere feel.

Dark and drab colors dominated the runway with blacks, grays, browns, all partnered with the ever neutral white and pale pops of color seen in most designers’ lines. This left color palette complemented simple lines and classic skirts, trousers, and jackets. Although some pieces did pop out with their interesting silhouettes, the colour and the lack of accessories on the models, as well as their pale make up made for an overall severe look.

This is not to say that the creations seen in Russian Fashion Week were boring, contrary to that. In fact, had not the designers’ inspiration been rooted on the troubled political waters of the country, I would have called the collections refreshing. Instead, it would be more apt to call their collections relevant. And who said that relevant means boring? The Russian Fashion Week collections are proof that relevant can still be visually riveting.

Photo via Chicago Tribune

Gwyneth Paltrow: Oscar 2012 Best Dressed

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And the Oscar goes to…

Again we don’ care one bit. What we do care about is who showed up everyone else on the red carpet in this year’s Oscars, which everyone (including us) seem to agree is Gwyneth Paltrow.

Who would have thought that a full-length built-in white cape on a floor length white gown would look sensational. If you would have described it to me before seeing Gwyneth Paltrow don the dress, I would have automatically pegged it for tacky and super-heroish. When Gwyneth emerged sporting Tom Ford’s unique ensemble though, there was nothing super heroish about it at all, and was plain super. As Perez Hilton put it, “”If you look up best dressed in the dictionary you will see this picture of Gwyneth Paltrow. Her white Tom Ford gown with a built in cape is everything! This is going to be a look that goes down in Oscar red carpet history!”

Move over over-sized bows, ugly snake skins, and other fashion risks that just didn’t pay off, because this white-caped wonder is one unique risky dress that sure paid off.

If Gwyneth’s look inspired you to sport the same for some party though, I highly advice against it because for one, I doubt that you’ll be able to afford the Tom Ford dress. Secondly, unless you’ve got the goods to back it up and the confidence as well, I doubt you can pull it off just like Gwyneth did. Besides, what made it special is its unique creativity and being a copy cat is the exact opposite of that.

Image via Rantings of a Creole Princess

Zelda Kaplan: A Life Lived to the Full

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Some people may dub Zelda Kaplan‘s passing to be a sad event, but I say that if anything, her death is a perfect reflection of how she lived her life – to the the full. After all, how many people have died right on the front row of a Joanna Mastroianni fashion show? More to the point, how many 95-year old women even regularly attends fashion shows? Zelda Kaplan did both.

While Zelda Kaplan’s death is indeed memorable, what makes her more memorable though is how she lived her life all these years. A true blue fashionista she’s a regular not just of fashion shows, but is very much known for her active nightlife making an appearance in various social events like arts shows and attending late night parties and going to clubs with people a fourth of her age.

She’s not all about parties and fashion though, and is in fact a big philanthropist with Africa being her passion. She’s an outspoken champion of women’s rights and has traveled all over Africa to speak against female genital mutilation. Her love for Africa is also reflected in her fashion, proudly wearing traditional fabrics and clothing she has collected from her travels of the country.

Indeed, Zelda Kaplan’s will be missed by her family and friends, but all I can say is that when I grow old, I can only hope to live life more like her. With meaning, passion, and living the last moment of my life breathing in something as wonderful as fashion.

Image via Sandra’s Closet