By now, most of you are well aware of that I love collecting fashion books and documentaries – a few months ago I added the YSL: L’amour Fou DVD and Christian Louboutin book to my library.

Learning about designers and the history of fashion is a subject I find absolutely fascinating. However, it’s not always easy to find these types of books and movies in stores. A lot of times I often go online to seek out those hard-to-find titles. Straight-up, Amazon.ca is my first go-to website for these items; therefore, when they contacted me about hosting a giveaway on my blog featuring a few items from their stock I nearly jumped out of my heels.

I’m so excited to be hosting this giveaway courtesy of the generous team at Amazon.ca. One lucky reader will be able to begin their own fashion book and movie collection, and these items would get you off to the perfect start:

• Nostalgia in Vogue (2011) – this hardcover book was published by Rizzoli in October, contains over 280 pages and consists of “Vogue’s famous ‘Nostalgia’ columns and the stunning photographs that accompanied them.” Retail $34.65.

• The September Issue (2010) – you can’t get more behind-the-scenes with American Vogue and its Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour, than with this film which had fashion lovers lining up at the theatres in droves last year – I have this DVD in my collection and it’s a must-have. Retail $19.99.

How to enter:

1. Go to the Amazon Canada Facebook page and “Like it.”
2. Leave a comment on this blog post by clicking on the “Response” button and tell me about a fashion movie that you’ve seen, and why you liked it – be sure to fill in all the fields including e-mail address.  
3. For an extra entry tweet, “I love #AmazonCanada and want the Vogue fashion package @kimberly_lyn is giving away on her blog!” and the link of this blog entry.

Giveaway closes on December 22, 2011 and I will announce the winner on this blog post, so make sure to check back then. Good luck and thanks again to Amazon Canada!

** Note: this giveaway is open to Canadian residents only. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and the items will be shipped to you early in January 2012.**

Just one more thing...

Amazon.ca has a lot of other products such as electronics and home items if you’re doing some last-minute shopping online. They offer free shipping for orders over to $25. For urban centres, you can place an order on Wednesday, December 21, and still get the item before Christmas morning. How convenient is that!

** BLOG ENTRY UPDATE (December 23, 2011): the winner of the Vogue fashion package giveaway from Amazon Canada is Septembre! Congrats on winning the package Septembre I’ll e-mail you shortly to coordinate delivery of it to you.**

Back in December, I mentioned in an entry that WWD reported Vogue was planning to feature bloggers in its March 2010 issue, specifically those whose content focuses on style.

Well folks the cat is out-of-the-bag and Style.com recently posted a video online granting a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot for the upcoming spring issue. Some of the bloggers chosen are:

• Bryan Boy
• Garance Doré
• Tommy Ton, Jak & Jil

In the larger scheme of things, recognizing fashion bloggers in a credible magazine, such as Vogue, helps to mark a transition in the practice of blogging along with other recent events. It is an acknowledgement from the fashion industry and endorses the influence bloggers wield online.

I can’t wait to read the accompany article to this issue. Below is the video for your viewing pleasure.

Video from Style.com

This is the first among many blog entries called, “Fashion in the News” a collection of articles/blog posts online that catches my attention and (is in my humble opinion) worth reading. Enjoy!

John Galliano to start men's wear line (The Independent) – Galliano will be creating a men’s wear line which will be available for fall 2010. Its focus will be “contemporary-priced, an ‘urban casual’ sportswear line” targeting males between the ages of 18 and 35.

Grace Coddington: the Vogue visionary (Times) – In a rare interview Grace Coddington, creative director of Vogue talks shop and The September Issue.

Footwear Prices on the Rise (WWD) – The US Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index reports that the cost for “women’s shoes increased 1.6 per cent month-to-month and were up 3.6 per cent in 12-month comparisons.” This is every shoeaholic’s worst nightmare, I smell a government conspiracy.

Beyonce Discusses Launch of 'Heat' Fragrance (WWD) – She can sing, dance, act (passably), design (poorly) and now has her own fragrance line. Beyoncé will release a fragrance called Beyoncé Heat in February 2010. What an awful name, are we going to smell like her sweat? I like her music but another celebrity fragrance line we need not.

Chanel Workers Demonstrate (WWD) – All is not well at the house of Chanel. WWD reports approximately 200 Chanel employees demonstrated at its headquarters in France this past Thursday demanding a 2.4 per cent salary increase. In keeping with the Christmas spirit the company offered them a one per cent raise in return. Can you feel the holiday cheer?

Faltering Paris fashion house Emanuel Ungaro says president has stepped down (Canadian Press) – Mounir Moufarrige, president of the fashion house Ungaro and the man who so brilliantly appointed Lindsay Lohan as artistic adviser for its spring/summer 2010 show has stepped down. With critiques slamming the recent collection as “an embarrassment" and an “insult,” and Emanuel Ungaro himself calling it an “a disaster” it’s no wonder Moufarrige wasn’t let go sooner. However, he will be kept on an "as-needed basis" on Ungaro’s strategic committee.

Photography: Steven Klein

Styled by: Carine Roitfeld, editor-in-chief

As you can tell from the title of this blog post French Vogue has again courted controversy by having supermodel, Lara Stone painted in blackface for the magazine’s October 2009 issue.

First things first, and let me get this out of the way by saying “What were they thinking?” I mean really? What point are they trying to make by taking a white model and changing her appearance to look like a black woman? Apparently, cultural sensitivity did not register in some of the minds of French Vogue's staff. Historically, blackface was used in American theatre to portray racial stereotypes of African Americans.

I love fashion but there are times when it takes one step forward and then two steps backward hindering its progress, and when this happens I shake my head in wonder and frustration. The magazine said “it was unaware it had caused offence, but declined to make any further comment” (Ian Sparks, Daily Mail).­

I could go on a super DUPER long tirade about this but Amy Odell, writer for The Cut, did a fantastic job of commenting on French Vogue’s mess up. Click here to read her blog post.

Information from The Cut, The Daily Mail and Jezebel. Images from Jezebel.

If you didn’t have the opportunity to see Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue on the Late Show with David Letterman last night, take a moment to watch the clip above.

A few of my observations during Wintour’s interview:

• At 12:10 a.m. she walked onto set wearing her trade mark sunglasses. Momentarily I thought, “Is she going to do the interview with her sunglasses on?” Then she took them off a few seconds later. Thank god!
• Wintour didn’t look very pleased when Letterman brought up the film The Devil Wear Prada and implied there was some truth based in its interpretation of her as a  ****  (uncuddly person). Hmm… I wonder why?
• Her answers were definitely scripted and sounded robotic. I’m sure somewhere backstage her publicist was extremely nervous twisting his/her fingers praying for it to go smoothly.
• Wintour’s personality came across as flat and awkward.
• Did you notice the tiny white microphone to match her dress? I did.

Favourite quote by Wintour: “Vogue is not only run by senior citizens.” HA!

This blog post is long overdue but as they say, better late than never.

I purchased a copy of Vogue Italia’s July 2009 issue from the soon to be closed Page Books in downtown Toronto, and as you can tell from the accompanying pictures this was no ordinary issue. This edition of the magazine came with two supplementary features, a compilation of the fall/winter 2009 prêt-a-porter shows and the Barbie Issue.

Under the direction of Editor-in-Chief, Franca Sozzani, Vogue Italia published its July 2008 edition featuring only black models. This year, Sozzani and her staff took a different approach to celebrate ethnicity by replacing human models with black Barbies, and by celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the iconic doll.

I thoroughly read the Barbie Issue and was impressed with the range of images in which black Barbie was depicted and analysed representing 50 years of style. She was shown in various personas, such as the haute couture model, the sophisticate, the diva, the athlete, the urban woman with street style flavour and even the dominatrix. Seeing Barbie in these characterizations represents a turning point in which the doll has gone from being the fantastical image of feminine beauty and perfection to the woman of the times that is multiracial, educated and empowered thereby bringing the doll closer to the human condition – after all they did widen her waist and took her down a cup size.

In the Barbie Issue, Carlo Ducci interviews Richard Dickson, senior vice president of Mattel who expresses his sentiment on the evolution of Barbie;

“‘I want to develop her status as an icon, a reference, a canvas for social and cultural considerations… In reality, unintentionally that’s what she’s always been. Just look how she’s been used over the years by all the artists who have plainly drawn inspiration from her, and those who have flipped her around or dissected her to take what she represents to an extreme.’”

Barbie fascinates people because she embodies all the things little girls and women dream about becoming; she can do anything and be anyone she desires without judgement or hindrance. Yves Saint Laurent said it best in 1984 when he was asked to dress Barbie for her 25^th birthday, “I hope that by playing with these dolls, children can find the road to their truest vocation.’”  

I applaud Vogue Italia’s efforts to break the mould of how beauty is defined and look forward to when fashion embraces ethnicity and the real modern woman.

FINALLY! A date for the screening of The September Issue has been set for Toronto, as announced by veteran fashion journalist, David Livingstone who had the very fortunate opportunity to preview the movie on Tuesday. See his review of the film in the Toronto Star here.

So ladies and gentlemen mark October 23, 2009, in your fashion calendar and let the count down begin – 77 days to go.

To wet your appetite in the meantime, Anna Wintour is scheduled to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, August 24, to promote the film. This should be very interesting to watch since she has always been selective about whom she meets with from the media. The interaction between Wintour, Letterman and the studio audience will yield some interesting answers and reactions… from the viewers of course.

Anna Wintour on 60 Minutes: this interview was taped months ago but it compliments the upcoming première of The September Issue in Toronto and this blog post. What is interesting to observe is Morley Safer’s interview of Wintour as he prods at the rumours and gossip surrounding Wintour and the work environment at Vogue, hoping to extract a juicy tidbit or two from her answers. In true Wintour style, she evades and coyly answers Safer’s gossip focused questions responding with calm clarity and truth. It is apparent Safer doesn’t understand the fashion industry and he’s equally lost when he accompanies Wintour to the prêt-a-porter (ready-to-wear) shows looking perplexed as models sashay down the runway, or it could be he’s not accustomed to seeing so much breast and bum on public display.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Anna Wintour clips and outtakes (60 Minutes): I certainly can’t forget to give you a chance to watch the outtakes that didn’t make the final cut of the interview with Safer. Below are a few of my favourite clips. Enjoy!

Anna on Fur Anna on Vogue Anna on Art and Beauty

(Videos from CBS)

Ever since I heard there was a documentary called The September Issue which tells the story of Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and the development of the magazine’s 2007 September edition I’ve become a bit obsessed about when the movie will be screened in Toronto.

After months of seeing news coverage of The September Issue premiering at film festivals around the world, such as Sundance and Edinburgh, they’ve finally announced a release date for Canada… sometime in October 2009. UGH! Why do we have to wait so long. I was hoping the movie would be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year so I could repeat my luck from last year’s attendance of Valentino: The Last Emperor.

In the meantime, we’ll have to satisfy our fashion fixations by keeping up-to-date on the latest news of the film through its pages on Facebook and Twitter, and download ringtones from the movie. Double ugh!

(Video from YouTube)