Month: March 2012

Mini Makeup Palettes: Looking Good on the Go

A much as I love the ritual of getting ready, putting on makeup, experimenting with color, trying a new look, using just the right makeup brush, sometimes I simply don’t have time. As a working girl and blogger-about-town, there are occasions when I just need to rush out the door with my heels in my hands because I can’t run fast enough. It’s those times when little cosmetic shortcuts really come in handy. Find out my secret to “getting my face on” when I just don’t have time, in the video below!

[youtube http://youtu.be/HWWPs3KXA2A]

The hurried glamourpuss,
Kastle

* Products mentioned in this blog were purchased by the author.  See Disclosure.

 



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Month: March 2012

Book Purses: Dress Smart!

What is it about purses – why can’t us girls get enough of them? There are just so many cute ways to carry your stuff! Actress Michelle Williams recently drew attention on the red carpet for making a fashion statement with an unusual handbag – a book purse.

See Michelle’s look.

While hers was from designer Olypia Le Tan, which sells for over 1K, the crafty people on Etsy have made some for you for a fraction of the fancy designer cost, like this one I found from SpoonfulOfChocolate:

If you’re feeling crafty, you can make your own. It’s a great way to recycle an unused or vintage book. Learn how by watching a handy video on YouTube:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4RFH0q0Osk]

Well, I for one have very little time for crafts so I’ll stick to shopping! Be sure to check out all of SpoonfulOfChocolate’s book purses.

It’s one sure way to flaunt your literary prowess and green leanings, while being ever-so-fashionable.

It’s in the bag,
K.



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Month: March 2012

Art Deco Society LA: Casino Moderne

If you ever wanted to step back into 1920s, a time of decadent speakeasies, illegal cocktailing and underground gaming, the closest you can get are films or events by organizations such as the Art Deco Society. Aside from their monthly cocktails in historic places, the Art Deco Society throws a big bash a couple of times a year. A few weeks ago, it was Casino Moderne, a “Boardwalk Empire” inspired night of legal gaming for raffle tickets, legal cocktails and  vintage fashions so divine they should be illegal!

Check out all the action and interviews with some of the night’s scenemakers:

[youtube http://youtu.be/h4-L6fwBLtQ]

Click the image to see a slideshow of photos:

For more information visit the websites for:

It’s only a paper moon,
K.



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Month: March 2012

Peggy Moffitt: An Icon at MOCA

If there is one icon of the ‘60s, it’s model Peggy Moffitt – the face, the eye makeup, the poses. When you see an image of her from that time, it immediately takes you back to that colorful era of the youthquake movement and the fashion, oh the fashion – bold colorful prints, mini skirts, angular shapes and cut-outs. I love it so much!

The Museum of Modern Art (MOCA) just put together a retrospective collection of Peggy Moffitt photos and films that focuses on her collaboration with fashion designer Rudi Gernreich and her photographer husband William Claxton. “The Total Look” exhibit is two full floors of eye candy at MOCA’s Pacific Design Center location that will send any ‘60s lover to the moon with walls lined with Peggy’s famous photos (some never seen before!) mannequins wearing the actual garments and films of her doing her famous moves. We get a look at her inspiring makeup (that she reportedly did herself), and of course that cutting edge Vidal Sassoon haircut.

Opening night was packed with MOCA members, retro hipsters, fashion’s elite, and those who were part of the ‘60s scene such as hairdresser-to-the-stars/ “Upper Cut” author Carrie White. Just as I thought my eyes were overwhelmed with all the fabulous imagery and clothing, Peggy Moffitt herself walked in the door! I couldn’t believe it. She still looks as amazing as ever – though in her elder years, she’s slim, still sporting her blunt black haircut and dark eye-makeup and dressed ever so stylish. Crowds swarmed around her as she made her way through the exhibit with her son, Christopher Claxton, as her escort.

All I can say is thank goodness Sabino from Clever Vintage showed up and was brave enough to ask her for a photo because I was so star-struck I couldn’t do it myself! Thank you Sabino! By the way, I did wear a Clever Vintage ‘60s frock to the event!

Click the image below to see the slideshow of the night:

What a spectacular night. Thank you MOCA for putting this together and thank you to the fabulous Peggy Moffitt – forever an icon!

The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernreich, Peggy Moffitt, And William Claxton is on display through May 27 at the MOCA Pacific Design Center. 

Swing it!
K.



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Month: March 2012

Katy Perry Lashes: You Too Can Be a “Cool Kitty”!

Whether she’s rockin’ some blue hair or using her assets for her own version of cutesy sensuality, Katy Perry has a unique sense of style that seems to come with a little nod to retro pinup glamour and tongue ‘n’ cheek humor.

She’s been building a beauty empire with nail polish, perfumes, and she recently launched a new line of Katy Perry signature eyelashes that are perfect for a boosted sweet ‘n’ wholesome look or a dramatic night out.

Click here to read more about them in my report for Yahoo!

Learn some false eyelash application tips and see me wearing Katy Perry’s “Cool Kitty” lashes in the video below:

[youtube http://youtu.be/aNs-Dt4bEP0]

The eyes have it,

Kastle

Products mentioned in this blog were purchased by the author.  See Disclosure.
Photos courtesy of Eylure



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Month: March 2012

Bad Girls of the Art Deco Era

There are good girls and there are bad girls, and we all know who has more fun! It seems there were always bad girls, even in times before it was conceivable. I recently attended a lecture by Joan Renner, docent for the Los Angeles Conservancy and tour guide on LA’s offbeat past for Esotouric. She’s an expert in LA history from the 1900s to the 1950s with a particular fascination for criminology.  At the event Felonious Flappers: Bad Girls of the Art Deco Era” at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre, we learned of some of the baddest ladies of Los Angeles and the dastardly crimes they committed. According to Renner, women are less likely to do violent crimes than men, but these ladies did some pretty gruesome things!

The lecture was followed by a screening of “The Ladies They Talk About” (1933) starring Barbara Stanwyck, who plays Nan Taylor, one tough-talking broad who lands in the clinker and we get an idea of what prison life was like for the ladies in 1930s San Quentin, written by a true life bad girl Dorothy Mackaye about her time in prison for obstruction of justice stemming from a plot to cover up the murder of her husband — song and dance man Ray Raymond — by her lover and child star Paul Kelly.

The film is a great example of Stanwyck’s talent as one strong dame. I loved seeing the fashions of the era – before she got fitted for her prison frock of course.  I learned from the lecture, there special provisions made for women in prison at that time – dress wear, cell decorating, even pet owernship!

You may have a hard time finding the film as it’s out of print and Warner Bros. made a special version just for this event. There are a couple of clips available on YouTube:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diOrap6dZpg]

From one bad girl (well, not that bad!),

K.



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