Stylin' 909

The Sex And The City movie premiered in London last week, to much hurrah. The movie, like the show, got all dressed up by super-stylist and shop owner Patricia Field – she’s also the clever frocker behind Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada. The stars of the show drew mixed reviews on the red carpet – Style Icon SJP looked resplendent in Brit labels McQueen and Phillip Treacy, while sex-bomb Kim Cattrall lived up to expectations in a red-hot Vivienne Westwood number. Cynthia Nixon looked gingerlicious (except for the part where she’s more blonde than redhead) in a plunging black Calvin Klein number and the one who played Charlotte looked so mediocre we’ve actually forgotten her name.

Sometimes science can back up good taste, with a new study out of Washington suggesting that big earrings can be bad for your health. Much like stretchers, it seems that overly large and heavy earrings can cause permanent stretching, tearing and elongation of the ear lobes. So next time you see a woman in her late forties whose ears hang low, don’t assume she was a hardcore kid in a past life – she’s probably just a fan of hanging chandeliers from her ears. Those who still want to suspend their bling can apparently lessen the chances of tears with shop-bought lobe supports (we didn’t know they existed until today either). Alternatively you could just throw caution to the wind and let your earrings wobble to and fro. But be warned; the first time your grandkid sticks his finger through the hole you’ve made, you’ll have to pay a surgeon up to $1500 to tighten you up again.

Our favourite ever model-cum-novelist Sophie Dahl has turned her hand to cookery (please forgive any puns we make regarding a certain lentil-based Indian dish). The British bombshell whose body was so bodacious it was very nearly banned – for a YSL perfume ad no less – famously transformed herself from a plus-sized model to the regular type and is now planning on sharing her experiences of food, or lack thereof, in a new recipe book with the working title Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights. The book focuses on ways to get slim and stay that way, sans starvation, and will hopefully be filled with the dreamy prose we fell in love with in Playing With Grown-Ups.

Sexier-than-thou lingerie label Agent Provocateur is set to host this year’s Life Ball. The Vienna-based bash is thrown to raise funds and awareness for HIV/Aids and is hosted by a different designer each year. Last year’s party (a wild one from all reports) was thrown by New York design due Heatherette, with past alumni including Donatella Versace, Paco Rabanne, Moschino, Missoni, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jean Galliano and AP founder Joe Corre’s mum Vivienne Westwood. The event is set to rock the fashion world’s knickers off with a performance by Debbie Harry as well as all the lace and frills you would expect from Agent Provocateur.


SATAN GAVE ME A PACO
(Seven reasons why you should know who Paco Rabanne is)

7: He crafted the sixties. In a decade best known for ‘swinging’, Paco Rabanne’s plastic mini-shift reigned supreme. Made of tiny squares of plastic linked by metal rings, it was the ultimate frock for the period; encapsulating the spirit of out-there modernism with a decadent edge.
6: He created the ultimate nerd fantasy. One of Rabanne’s most famous creative endeavours is the costume design in the soft-core sci-fi sex-fest Barbarella. He’s the one responsible for the thigh-hi boots, rock-hard body suits and tight, white, onesie that inspire fashion designers to this day.
5: He smells like (depressed) teen spirit – one of the house of Rabanne’s flagship perfumes, Black XS is the leading scent among goths… spooky!
4: He reinvented runway. Not only was Paco Rabanne the first ever fashion designer to use bla