18. magic is when you can unite two or more of your hobbies.

i'm a big BIG cinemaphiliac and in the past month i saw three movies/documentaries that united my love for cinema and fashion. ladies and gents, i present you: The September Issue, Coco Avant Chanel and Bright Star.

The September Issue is a documentary about the Vogue's September issue of 2007 (i think...maybe it was 2008). i thought it was a great depiction of all the work that goes into making the #1 issue of fashion's "bible" magazine each year. it also made me fall in love with Grace Coddington. she's such a sweetheart and is a tremendously interesting woman.

trailer, go!

Coco avant Chanel (or Coco before Chanel in English) is the recent movie about Gabrielle

"Coco" Chanel before she became the fashion star she was. Among the cast is Audrey Tautou,

who is my favorite French actress. Such beauty, charisma and fantastic acting skills

made me truly believe that she was indeed Gabrielle "Coco". Audrey's character's hat

creations and outfits where spot on. It was a wonderful movie, whether one likes

fashion or not. And if you are obsessed with French cinema or with the language,

then this is a must-see.

Bright Star is actually a romance movie, the story of the 19th century poet John Keats

and Fanny Brawne. Even though the director Jane Campion (director of The Piano)focuses

more on the history than Fanny's fashionista style, the movie still does a good job

of depicting her creative spirit in clothing. the movie was also nominated for an Oscar

in Best Costume Design. it's definitely worth watching at least once.

17. always be en garde.

these bags from empire 33 are so cool. maybe because i;m a history freak, but i think it'd be very formidable to have a bag with a sword handle or a katana sword handle. watch out boys! if i have a sword handle outside my bag, you don't want to know what i have inside...

15. respect women. ALWAYS.

i've been thinking about my time spent in france lately. i was there for 86 days. i remember everything about them, everythiiinnng about each day. i kept a very detailed journal that was given to the boyfriend at the time as a "here's what i've been up to when i was gone" gift. naturally, i am the owner of these manuscripts now.

i was reading them a while back and remembering my adventures in the country of wine and cheese. a theme that prevailed on many entries was how i many times felt awkward walking on the streets due to the forward-ness of french/north-african boys. they truly do not mind saying what's on their minds- and there can't be good things in their testosterone infested minds, hahaha.

i'm no newbie, i am also from a culture where men stare and comment on women's appearances. i know how that feels, i've grown up surrounded by it. maybe it's because i had been apart from it for a while, but for some reason i found myself feeling odd and attacked while in france. because of my tan skin, many thought i was north african as well, and maybe they thought i was more accessible then? or maybe i'm just sooooo breath taking, ha ha haaaa nottt!. who knows, who cares. i just couldn't shake the feeling of being objectified while i was there.

regardless of the reason, that is not okay! why do men think they have all the rights in the world to say what comes to their heads? and if they do it ,then why can't we girls do it?! yes, you guessed it: because we have been objectified for centuries and we have been conditioned to just accept it, to take it and to do nothing about it. well, it is fricking time we stand up for ourselves and stop believing the lie that sexism is dead.

and this is for all the men out there: no means no. and the absence of no does not mean yes.

inspiring friends: my friend bekah and i. we attended a lecture yesterday that inspired many of these thoughts. soon i will have her guest star here- i love her style!

so what do i do to deal with everyday sexist pre-judgements? i think WWLGD: what would lady gaga do? she's a great example of a powerful woman for our current times. praise her weirdness and her daily inspiration in my life.

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13. if you haven't read Harry Potter, you should. and please don't tell me you haven't seen the movies. love them or hate them, i KNOW you've seen at least one.

emma watson, let's be friends! she has grown so much lately and has become a fashion persona on her own. hermio-who???

emma watson for teen vogue, august 2009

source: ?

emma for burberry SS 2010

source: emma-watson.net

12. don't forget that you too were just a kid once upon a time

why i love photographer annie leibovitz:

keira knightley as dorothy. vogue dec 05

romeo and juliet. vogue dec 08

drew barrymore in beauty and the beast. vogue april 05

annie for disney. i only picked my favorite disney tales. ok so here's my take on these:

1) jessica biel as pocahontas? neeeee. poca is the queen of foreigness, of dark hair and tan skin. i'm sorry but jessica is not a good choice. [i secretly compare myself to pocahontas a lot, maybe that's why i'm so oversensitive, haha!]

2) julianne more as the little mermaid is genius! she possesses such a classic beauty and so does ariel in my head.

3) j-lo and mark anthony as jazmin and aladdin? oh hellzz no! jazmin has black hair (again!) and aladdin is a hunk of a man. i'm sorry, but marc anthony is not a synonym of 'hunk' in my head. [again, me being oversentive because aladdin was my dream man growing up]

aside from actor choices, i have to agree that the pictures are wonderful. one can feel drawn to this world of fantasy and make-belief with just one glance.

now let us not forget that annie leibovitz is the one who did these shots as well:

one of the last pictures john and yoko took.

the iconic "demi holding her preggo belly" picture.

another reason that makes annie so genuinely awesome is her sense of humor. here is she parodying herself!

and the original one:

dear annie, you have my heart.

11. "klimt" your body and mind.

i was trying to think of a clever way to incorporate the mysteriously awe-inspiring gustav klimt in my 'bit-of-wisdom-shared-and-lesson-to-be-learned' title and this is the best thing i could think of, my own version of 'clean your body and mind', haha.i honestly just wanted to find an excuse to share gustav klimt with all of you.

so who is gustav klimt?, you ask. i answer: Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. [thanks Wikipedia]

personally, i think klimt was ahead of his times. his paintings, full of lavish eroticism were the cause of great controversy and scandal in Austria at the turn of the 20th century. by today's standards, klimt would not surprise any of us. in fact, eroticism is an underlying message in today's fashion magazines and marketing campaigns. with each of his masterpieces, he sends this underlying message of glamour, of hidden and passionate romantic love, of human emotions at their summit. i have been wanting to live in one of klimt's paintings for a while now; i find the way he portrays his women absolutely gorgeous in every way.

sometimes i thought i was the only one to find this subtle glamour message in his works. there was this photoshoot-theme to them (or maybe it's just becuase i've read too much vogue and seen too many annie lebovitz shoots...but more on that on another time) and with paintings like this one, i think it's easy to see what i mean:

auf deutsch: Judith mit dem Haupt Holofernes (zerstört)

obviously, i was not the only one to find fashionista glamour and inspiration in klimt. moises gonzalez found inspiration in his essence as well:

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which was sold to Ronald Lauder for a record US$135 million

vs.

and my personal favorite:

The Kiss

vs.

by typing his name in google, i discovered there was a movie made about his life in 2006. WAS?! WTF HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?! and it even has john fricking malkovich as gustav klimt. the reviews are in both sides of the spectrum: some say that it is confusing, a bore and just painful, while others claim that it is an artwork by itself, a great artistic depiction of the life on an artist, without getting caught in a biographical recount of his life. i am currently in the process of downloading it, so i will update you all once the d-load has finished and i have finished watching it. i leave you guys with the trailer and with another great art piece of his, "the tree of life".