Spotlight Saturday - Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul is in the spotlight today rocking the late 40's and looking better than ever.  She was seen at the first round of Fox's, The X Factor where she'll be co-judging with Simon Cowell this Fall.  She looked totally fab in a draped purple Yves St. Laurent asymmetrical hemmed mini dress and matching YSL sandals.  Abdul has definitely restructured her reputation and recovered from the bad rap she's had during the course of the past decade for her alleged drug addiction.  Back in 2007 she made a poor decision by agreeing to do a reality show on Bravo which portrayed her as a needy berating diva who relied on everyone for everything.  I don't think I'll ever understand why celebrities with so much star power feel the need to live their lives in a fish bowl? 

: tinseltown-style.blogspot.com , lwdress.blogspot.com

Designer Dish on Salvatore Ferragamo

Although he's been gone for over a half a century, Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo will always be known for his outrageous shoe designs, as pictured here with this pair of 1938, stacked, multi color platform sandals that were actually about forty years ahead of their time being that they could have easily be mistaken for styles we've seen worn circa 1970.

At the height of his career, his shoe designs were worn by Hollywood royalty such as Audrey Hepburn and he was considered to be the 'shoemaker to the stars'.  What set him apart from the many other up and coming designer competitors was his ability to custom make a shoe that felt just as good as it looked on the wearer.  He could fashion a shoe to fit any foot, just as well as a tailor could custom a suit.

Ferragamo or rather, the design house of the late Ferragamo has always been considered a family ran business being that it has been handed down from generation to generation and although shoes, belts and bags have always been at the forefront of the store front, around 1980 they began incorporating clothing into their mix of merchandise with their reputable designer label however, shoes will always be their mainstay.  Recently they showcased their 'Women's Resort 2012 Collection' featuring new designs of shoes and bags with a 'geared toward going on a vay kay' vibe & it was said that some notable ladies of Tinseltown made an appearance at the event such as Eva Mendez & Minka Kelly to stake dibs on their select fave pieces...

Given the past rich history of the Ferragamo line of extraordinary shoe designs, I am personally not very hooked on the Resort Collection.  I feel it's a bit muted/tame in comparison to what I've seen from decades ago which is now considered 'Vintage Ferragamo'....

Check back often as Retro Threadz has been known to find Ferragamo's every now and then! 


: anonymitynews.com , tumblr.com , cosmicallychic.wordpress.com , reuters.com , secondcitystyle.com , sewmanstore.com  blog.lulusvintage.com , shoesense.com , pennydreadfulvintage.com 

Watercolor Floral

There's a new diversion to the common floral print taking over these days as 'water color floral' designs are making a big statement this summer.  Gone is the idea that 'floral prints' are a vintage design of the past or for your granny, as solids are out & vivacious brush stroke hues are in!  Watercolor prints look like something that came straight off of an artists canvas...  Floral is big in Hollywood at the moment, seen here being worn by Cameron Diaz, Heidi Montag and Leslie Mann.

Floral was seen at Prom this year in designs such as this watercolor floral low draped back prom dress...

This watercolor floral bohemian print peasant blouse is ultra feminine paired with a pair of stone washed denim jeans...

  
Floral is everywhere and in every design from bags to shoes and don't think it's going to go away come Winter as it's even being incorporated into colder weather clothing although considered non traditional.

 thisnext.com , stylebyne.net , static.fasion4us.com , divavillage.com , marctimes.com , jovani.com , refinery29.com , theinsidesource.com .