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Olivia Palermo’s style blog… a style success or fashion faux pas?

 

She’s a front row regular and built up quite the style icon reputation, so you can imagine the fashion world’s excitement when Olivia Palermo announced she was to launch her own style blog.

 

We were first introduced to Palermo in 2008 when she starred in reality spin off show The City. At the time she was working for the PR team at Diane von Furstenberg and then went onto the accessories department at Elle, so you’d think she’d know her stuff.

 

Since then she’s moved onto modelling and has taken a keen interest in fashion by ensuring a spot for herself at the best of the best fashion week shows all over the world.

 

Like thousands, I love Olivia’s style and while I think that this blog will soar to the similar level of success The Hills Lauren Conrad’s The Beauty Department has I have a couple of issues with it…

Olivia says that she wants to be seen as more than just a socialite and it-girl and so she wants her new blog to reflect her fashion/style experiences complimented with her love for travel. Ultimately to show that style is ‘international’.

 

I was looking forward to what the blog had to offer in terms of content and appearance, but I’m struggling to see what sets this aside from the hundreds of other fashion and accessory bloggers that are already established and in difficult competition with one another.

 

If you’re an internationally recognised stylista, then I would have expected more personal experiences/images/comments about what fashion means to her and why as opposed to a single image with a generic ‘how to…’ title. Anyone and everyone can do that.

 

That said, I’m still holding out for that ultimate Palermo accessory advice and the killer heels that Olivia is so well known for.

 

First impressions: Pretty but plain; although I would say there are too many writers for this to be considered one person’s account of fashion as successful blogs are.

One of the fantastic features of a blog is it allows you to be more personal and accessible with audiences as opposed to being an official website.

And while I love the designer-esque sketches that make up the pastel background, surely we should be seeing more of what makes Olivia stand out and be celebrated?

 

I’m not giving up – Patience & watch that space!

 

Jen.xox

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Ivyrise Blog

We’ve had a great year since our last visit to Female First HQ! We’ve been up to all sorts, recording demos in Paris, building our fanbase,  a whole load of touring/promoting the UK led up to us signing a record deal with My Major Company.  They’re an innovative new label, who fund us by allowing our fans to buy shares in our album, making them an active part of the music, and giving them the chance to see a return when our album comes out and is massively successful , we managed to reach the full £100,000 investment in 5 days! ;)

2011 should be an exciting year for us. At the moment we are spending some time in Manchester rehearsing for the tour and taking advantage of Dan’s wonderful hospitality as he has bravely offered to put us up at his home.  We’re touring throughout January and recording our new video. We are also recording our album in February with an amazing producer we’re really excited to work with. Our first single ‘Line up the Stars’ comes out at the end of March, with our album following in the summer.

If you want to come see us on tour in January all the ticket links are here! http://facebook.com/event.php?eid=102959863108299

See you soon,

IVYRISE xxxx

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2011 : The Year Of The Diet?

What is it with us women? We moan about our weight al year, and then only decide to do something about it around Christmas, when, of course, it is the hardest time to lose weight. Ever.

I’m one of those women who can go to the gym five time a week in summer and ride my bike all over town on a weekend, but them come winter (dark nights, wind and rain) trying to prise me from the sofa and my Sky+ set is pretty much impossible.

So, with 2011 coming up, have I decided to make a more sensible New Year’s Resolution? Have I ‘eck…. Once again I’m vowing to stop eating and drinking rubbish come January 1st in the hope of getting down to a cute size 10 and a happy nine stone.

I can’t do it alone though… I mean, there’s no way I’m going to be able to say no to Ben & Jerry when they start waving at me from the freezer aisle in Morrisons, and the more I deny myself their cookie dough goodness, the more my brain is going to implode on itself… SO I’ve decided to avoid going to the supermarket altogether….

The problem I have is, I’m not massive, I’m not even in the size 14+ section of the shops, and I don’t look THAT bad naked – not in the dark anyway – but in the society we live in today, there is so much pressure to be super slim, that it’s hard to feel comfortable in your own skin unless you can see your bones jutting out of it.

I’m not really a fan of looking like skeletor, so I’m not going to go that far, but the problem I have encountered is that it sounds as though some of these ‘quick fix’ diets work for the ‘larger ladies’ who will obviously lose more weight if they stop eating cakes and pasties, but how well will they work on me – a girl who could do better when it comes to healthy eating, but is by no means obese?

The weight clearly is going to ‘drop off’ as I’m not the size of a house, but will it work if I change my diet? And are there any other methods? Hypnotherapy, magic knickers, diets DVD’s, weight-loss bootcamps that might work? Ladies I need your help and advice!

As part of my presents from Santa this year, I’m lucky enough to have been able to get my hands on a few of these ‘direct to your door’ diets, that I’m going to be starting from January (providing my mother gets her butt out of the house in the snow) and I’m going to keep up to date with all my progress…. As well as the God’s honest truth to whether or not these diets work AND (perhaps most importantly) if they do work, but leave you feeling so hungry that you could eat a piece of MDF.

So, with only a few days to go until 2011… I better start enjoying the choccies whilst I can!

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Karly Ashworth Is SO Over The Drama Of Frenimies

We’ve all heard the saying; ‘Who needs friends when you have enemies?’ and this week that’s ringing true with me more than ever. In the world of backstabbing and bitchiness, I often used to find myself embroiled in in a troublesome concoction of jealousy, hate and deceit and at long last, I couldn’t be more relieved to realise that I am one of the lucky few to have escaped the dreaded ‘small town mentality’, never to return EVER again.

I’ve been double crossed, backstabbed, lied to and even stolen from by people I was closest to, my very own ‘friends’, and that has hurt me so much in the past. Sometimes I blame the society they were brought up in and the people they were surrounded by – a place where no one had any morals or principles – where women thought it was okay to sleep with there friends husband as long as she didn’t find out, or the guy thinks its okay to text more than one girl at the same time. There were girls who forced their boyfriends into marriage because they thought a ring on his finger would stop him straying and blokes who thought one night stands were just part of the Friday lads night out routine.

Whilst all this was happening right in front of my eyes, was I the only one who stopped and thought, that we are all brought up to know what’s right and what’s most definitely wrong so why can’t people act like decent human beings and treat others as they wish to be treated?

After a lot of talking with my close friends, I have come to realise that they all suffer from what I like to call ‘small town mentality.’ Come on girls, everyone has said it at least once; “I hate this town, everyone knows my business.” And it’s so true; insecurities lead people like that to take an unhealthy interest in others lives and in doing so, they just can’t bear to see anyone else happy or having more than they have. People like these will live in the fish bowl that they know for the test of their existence, drowning in a life of sorrow, hate and bitterness.

So what am I getting at? Well I thing it’s important to know who is loyal to you, I often think the best quality in a person is honesty, because if someone is upfront with you, you will always know where you stand, positivity and having family and true friends around is also a good step in the right direction to contentment. Learning to accept that you can rise above these people and forgive what hurt they have caused you will allow you to get on with your life.

As the saying goes, “Small people will try to keep you small, but great people will make you become great,” and you know what? I strongly believe you are the company you keep, that’s why I surround myself with the greatest people I know!

It’s a great feeling to know you can stand high on your Cloud 9, looking down at the tadpoles that screwed you over, just swimming in their miserable little fishbowl that is – and always will be – life as they know it.

Oh, and for the record…. I can’t hear you from up here biatches!

Untill next time… Karly x

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Kids In Glass Houses Blog About Shoes!

Pointed or rounded – Aled discusses:

I think rounded have kind of taken over from the pointed trend now, I think pointed is a bit done now, I still like them but I think rounded will be pushing them out. If you want to buy you man shoes though, it’s all about brogues and Doc Martins, boots are good though.

In fact get amongst some military boots – like the German army boots… All Saints (the shop, not the girl band) started the trend and they cost £175. I broke my zip which is a real pain.

It’s all about the heels now too, don’t worry, im not saying get some stilettos, we’re talking about 1.5 inches just enough to give you a cheeky lift, and then a quiff on the top. It’s like the Wonderbra of the foot.

We’ve got to tackle trainers though, if I was to go for trainers, I’d go for Vans or vintage Nikes. Vans are classic clobber, I once had some converse so fair play to Fearne Cotton for bringing them back. I tend to stick to black white or cream in converse though.

Finally gotta write about slippers…  I’ve got a classic Suede slipper with a lace, in the band we like the slippers you can wear outside as they‘re pretty durable, I hate when you pop out and they get all wet.  And they have to be a full shoe, I cant really rock the slip on ones because they fall off when I’m going upstairs and all hell breaks loose…

How do you wear yours?

Aled.xx

Find out what else Kids In Glass Houses got up to…

KIGH Review : Parlotones – Life Design
KIGH Review : JLS – One Shot
KIGH Review : Family Force 5
KIGH Review : Japanese Voyeurs – That Love Sound
KIGH Review : Lemar – The Way Love Goes
KIGH Review : Glee Cast


Kids In Glass Houses Answer YOUR Questions – Part One
Kids In Glass Houses Answer YOUR Questions – Part Two

Kids In Glass Houses Video Interview
Aled Interviews Lemar

Win Kids In Glass Houses Goodies

View the gallery of photos

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We The Kings’ Travis Gets Blogging

GOOD DAY MATES!! So we are almost half way through our tour with You Me At Six and Forever The Sickest Kids. So far the tour has been unreal!

We have been playing so much soccer/football that my legs hurt, but that’s not gonna stop me because I’m an animal.

The cities we have played so far have been Birmingham, Newport, Sheffield Manchester and tonight is Newcastle. I’m starting to develop a slight British accent.


I want to thank everyone that has been coming to each show and making this one of the best tours of all time!! We are looking forward to each and every show.

Today we got the opportunity to take a tour of St. James Park in Newcastle. IT WAS STUNNING. One of the most beautiful stadiums I have ever seen. We got to go into the locker rooms and sit right where the players sit. Definitely something I will remember forever!!

Can’t wait to meet everyone on tour so I can lick your faces and give you big sweaty hugs!!!

Thanks again,

LOVE TRAVIS

We The Kings Review : Chris Brown – Crawl
We The Kings Review : Alberta Cross – Old Man Chicago
We The Kings Review : Sound Of Guns – Alcatraz
We The Kings Review : Lady GaGa – Telephone
We The Kings Review : Cheryl Cole – Parachute

Watch We The Kings Perform An Exclusive Live Set

Win We The Kings Goodies!

We The Kings Interview

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General Fiasco : The Blog

General Fiasco are tired! We finished in studio at 2.15 am – enjoy that bill record label! – then we had to get up at 5am to drive to Manchester for this. That’s 1 hours sleep. Maybe less. Maybe more. Who knows. Not us. You probably don’t care either.

So here’s a day in the life of General Fiasco. Get ready for your rock and rolls dreams to be fulfilled. Sorry, I mean kind of let down. Team Fiasco try and start the day always in services. It’s not depressing, doesn’t cost loads of cash and isn’t total b*lls. FALSE…it is TOTAL B*lls.  ( American Office reference there for you. Its pretty much all we watch in the van)

We’re in tour mode at the minute so we’ve had 3 weeks of services breakfasts (I.e fast food) and we have another 4 weeks to go. At Least. On the plus side we got to wash our clothes yesterday. Smelly Fiasco. The laundrettes was grim. Grim Wheeler, Grim Henman. Grim Lovejoy. Grimmy Mallet. Grim the tool man tailor. Grimmy Bullard. Grimi Hendrix. Grimi Eat world. Anyway, you get the point it was grim. That’s what we do on our days off.  Does Bono do that on his days off? Trick question. Bono doesn’t have days off.

So tonight we’re off to Manchester for the first night of our Ever so Shy Tour. Good times. Manchester is always good fun. And we’ve a day off tomorrow. Well, Owen doesn’t, he has to go to Belfast for some press. NIGHTMARE!

So the single is out today and we’re pretty excited about that. We’re the highest new entry in the iTunes chart amongst all the Super-Mega-Enormogantic-Dome playing bands. I swear if Gary Lightbody and Simon Neil weren’t writing such good tracks we’d be top 5. But Gary’s letting us play at Snow Patrol’s ward park gig in June so we’re not going to complain. Simon…you owe us a show!

Lots of Love, Stephen Leacock. xxx

Find out what else the boys got up to below;

General Fiasco Review : The Local Natives – Airplanes
General Fiasco Review : The Twilight Sad – The Room
General Fiasco Review : Foals – Spanish Sahara
General Fiasco Review : Saving J – Indication Street
General Fiasco Review : Chiddy Bang – The Opposite Of Adults
General Fiasco Review : Chapel Club – O Maybe I

General Fiasco Perform Ever So Shy LIVE @ FemaleFirst

General Fiasco : Video Interview

Win General Fiasco Goodies!

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Kanye West Needs His Internet Access Revoked

Kanye mate, what the hell are you on? Now we know you’re ego is probably bigger than Canada, but do you really need to share it with the entire world? Sureley after the TaylorGate scandal you would have learnt to keep your mouth shut?

Apparently not.

On his blog Kanye has spouted his latest bout of self-fulfilling drivel – in capital letters as though that makes it all the more important- in which he rambles on about how fantastic he is, and how rubbish other rappers are…

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Kanye starts by saying, “It’s funny how so many rappers get worse as their careers stretch out, but true poets get better. We will follow in the footsteps of Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone. They documented what was happening in culture. That is our responsibility as the modern-day artists and poets…you can always look at our works and find truth and sincerity in a world of processed information.”

Err, hello? Do you not realise you’re making yourself sound like an utter pretentious monster? But oh no, it get’s worse… “Let us soak in positive forces and look down upon those who masquerade as truth tellers.”

Is it just me, or do you think Kanye should keep these little ‘thoughts’ to himself from now on?

Ruth.x

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X Factor Blog – Week Five

So with the auditions finally coming to a close, it looks like Boot Camp will be something to look forward to, doesn’t it? You can guarantee there will be a couple we thought would sail through who might not get any further, if the predictability of the show is already anything to go by.

Saturday night saw me going against the decision of my long time fave judge Simon when he didn’t think 31 year old Nichole had the potential to make it to the top of the ladder. In the words of the ultimate Mariah Carey impersonator Fouad Djaoublia    “You wrong Simon, you wrong.”

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Granted Nichole has picked up a slew of bad habits singing on the bar and club circuit but she can easily put those right don’t you think? I would be lying if I didn’t say I was upset with the fact that me and ‘my’ judge faced our first disagreement, what with that and the emergence of the 80 year old Eileen Chapman vying for Simon’s attention, I felt all was lost.

And looking at some of Saturdays offerings it was. Even seeing Ashley join ‘our’ Cheryl on set for her birthday wasn’t enough to save me from sinking further into a mood. And talking of Ashley Cole, was it just me or did anyone see how anti-blonde ‘our’ Cheryl got when Prison teacher Faye walked on in her lace and silk? Obviously having Ashley (who we know likes a bit a blonde) in the audience while the River Deep Mountain High singing temptress got up on stage brought out a side of ‘our’ Cheryl we have never really seen before.

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Lots of disasters on the show over the weekend, nothing unusual there, but have to give a mention to Mr. Wigan. What was up with that and the various others that took to the stage and thought that getting their kit off would get them all the way to Boot Camp. Like Mr. Wigan realized, it takes a lot more than a decent set of abs to warm the hearts of that panel.

But as quickly as I got mad at Simon on Saturday night, he walked straight back into my good books when he gave us a little wordplay after the debut performance of C.A.S.Y.R (Care and Support Your Relatives.) You could tell the two cousins who performed a terrible version of Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown’s No Air were full of pish when they said in their pre-performance interview that there was no other duet in musical history that could match up to them. YEAH RIGHT!!

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Simon renamed them, causing me and many millions of others to LOL, C.R.A.P (Caring Relatives are Problematic.) You know they really thought they were the coolest coming up with a name like that, bless them. But it wasn’t meant to be for them and many others like them.

The Heartfelt story of the weekend though was to do with the autistic Scott James who blew the judges and the audience away with his version of You Raise Me Up. Having been confined to his house for a third of his life, even if he hadn’t been able to sing like he did he had overcame a huge personal battle standing on that stage in front of thousands and you can’t knock that. But where there is joy there is tears and boy oh boy did we have our fair share of those this weekend.

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Closing out the show on Saturday was a duo, as clichéd as it may be, called It Takes Two. Made up of an actual couple – Russell and Katy. The two have entertained on the UK resort circuit and have ended up at Alton Towers, where Katy drives a train and I think Russ is a waiter or bartender. Anyhow was it me or was he just a lil OTT?

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After their performance you could see that the talent of the two was Katy, which was probably the reason why Russ had a hysterical crying fit on the shoulder of his family member and sobbed to his girlfriend that he had let her down. Come on, man up and get a grip son as you know there will be more tears ahead when the judges split the two of you up at Boot Camp and Katy ends up as a soloist with the potential to make the final 24. Just keeping it as real as I can.

Then Teardrops Part Deux came from the Cheryl Cole wannabe who failed to hit the notes of her first song, Amy from Gateshead. Yes she looked the pop star, but was she worthy of a shot at the title after forgetting the words of the second song the Pretenders I’ll Stand By You, which many think is an original of our Cheryl’s Girls Aloud.

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Even though Amy is from my neck of the woods and I am all for home town heroes/heroines she is really going to have to sing her boots off to make me believe that she deserves to be up there.

Not afraid to be proven wrong I still say it is a man’s competition and with the emergence of 19 year old US export Ethan outta Illinois and the highly strung 16 year old Curtis who I wanted to put in time out for his cheek I think a man it will be.

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BootCamp here we come!

Melanie Cornish.
xx

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X Factor Blog: Week Two

I think we can safely say that Birmingham was not overflowing with talent after our X Factor judges visited the city on this weeks show. We might have got a little A to Z knowledge of the areas thanks to 50 year old Alan who kicked off the show this week, but talent was just not the focal point of Brum.

Just what possesses some folks to get up there and sing is beyond me. I am all for self-praise and loving yourself but seriously some of the people who audition have to be deranged. Let’s take for example The Stunners. Why oh why? With their confidence stuck in over drive you just knew they were setting themselves up for a fall. But they truly believed they were the business; even in their matching ensemble that looked like a Primark throw back circa 1999. It’s watching acts like these, that you really understand why the judges get paid the seven figures they do to judge this show.

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With groups like the Stunners, Check-Out, Priceless and Double Trouble (no relation to Triple Trouble last week thank God) encouraging me to change channel tout suite along came the simply divine Miss Fitz. Made up of a 2006 reject and two gal pals she met when attending the audition the trio which would cause any red blooded persons head to turn brought a welcomed splash of originality to the show. Their jazzesque version of Toxic by Britney Spears had the judge’s toes tapping and rightly so. It’s about time folks realized to stand out you do need to be a little creative with it, although dressing up as a purple gorilla or with a chicken on your head might be taking it a little too far.)

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With 2009 looking like it might just be a man’s year, the ability to entertain and take a risk with song choice paid off for Jamie Afro and the leather clad Behrouz who hit the stage with songs from Kings of Leon and the Scissor Sisters respectively. Talk about Rock Rules, I just couldn’t help thinking Ruth Lorenzo might appear on stage at any given moment.

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Both guys deserve the boot camp pass without a shadow of a doubt but like Laura White last year will we see them struggle with song choices later on down the line when their style is so concentrated? Let’s hope not as for entertainment value they both kick ass.

It is acts such as these guys, and Danyl last week that are using this live audience to their advantage. They are giving us a preview of their stage presence, something we would never get when they were just performing in front of the judges and Simon’s bodyguards in previous years. This will obviously help them stay in the competition further down the line when the Judges mess up their songs and outfits if they do make the Final 12.

The X-Factor just isn’t the X-Factor without a sad story though is it? Daniel last year, and now Daryl Markham this year. Obviously stories like his put our lives in perspective and allow us to see ‘our’ Cheryl’s mascara run and tears well in Louis’s eyes proving that the four judges are very very human after all. You can’t help but wonder if Simon and Louis will eventually ridicule Daryl, just as Daniel was last year. Let’s hope for his sake he isn’t, but hey this is business right, nothing personal.

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Of course can’t sign off without giving a mention to Rozelle Phillips who left her home of Trinidad and Tobaygo (said in a Dublin accent…gotta love Louis) to pursue her dream. Damn that girl can sing. ‘Our’ Cheryl said it was the best version of Jennifer Hudson’s One Night Only she has ever heard and for once I am in total agreement. This 21 year old has possibly put herself in pole position for the gals with her performance last night after blowing everyone out of the water.

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The tension, the tension and from what I hear, the best is still yet to come….so until next time … Melanie Cornish XXX

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