Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Milan Fashion Week packed with Celebrities

Milan Fashion Week was attended by numerous celebrities to come see the design industry showcasing spring-summer 2011 collections.

Actress Megan Fox showed up at the event with husband Brian Austin Green for the Emporio Armani show, proudly wearing an Armani outfit himself. Altso there was soccer star Christiano Ronaldo who is theface of Armani jeans and their underwear.


Jada and Willow Smith at Milan Fashion Week

Also there was Jada Pinkett Smith and her 9-year-old daughter Willow, who rocked an edgy ‘do with streaks of white, and turned up to see offerings from Armani and Salvatore Ferragamo. The Smith were also there to celebrate Naomi Campbell’s 25 Year Career With Dolce & Gabbana.

After Ferragamo’s show, other celebs were spotted like Mischa Barton and model Alessandra Ambrosio joined in elbow rubbing with little Willow.


Roberto Cavalli's 40th anniversary at Milan Fashion Week

Roberto Cavalli, also celebrated 40 years as a designer with a fantastic frenzy of fringing, snakeskin, leopard-print and sequined tiger-stripes at the shows yesterday.

The 2006 X Factor winner Leona Lewis, US country singer, Taylor Swift, actress, Rachel Bilson and model Heidi Klum the wife of the English R&B singer, Seal, were among the front row guests, as Cavalli’s models sashayed down the catwalk like stars in a high fashion remake of High Noon.


Brian Austin Green, left, Megan Fox and Giorgio Armani attend the Emporio Armani presentation in Milan

Friday, September 24, 2010

Medicare Advantage plans to see 2011 premium dip

Elderly Americans enrolled in private Medicare health insurance plans will see their premiums fall slightly in 2011 while gaining more benefits from recently passed health care reforms, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.

The plans, called Medicare Advantage, are offered by health insurance companies as an alternative to traditional, government fee-for-service Medicare. Rates are expected to be 1 percent lower next year compared to 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said.

Enrollment in the plans is also expected to grow 5 percent. More than 11 million seniors are already enrolled in the plans, which have come under fire from critics who say insurers receive lucrative subsidies to provide the plans even though they can offer additional benefits.

Jonathan Blum, director of CMS' Center for Medicare, said the lower costs and projected expansion show companies are still interested in offering such plans despite new consumer protections under the healthcare law and recent payment caps to insurers.

"This is still a very attractive marketplace for Medicare Advantage plans," he told reporters.

The news comes as the healthcare reform law, passed in March, hits its six month anniversary this week, triggering a host of changes for insurers overall, such as ending lifetime coverage caps and banning policy cancellations after an enrollee gets sick.

Under the law, Medicare Advantage consumers will see their out-of-pocket expenses limited and a reduction in how much they have to share costs when it comes to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and other expensive care, Blum said.

CMS said some companies chose to abandon their Medicare Advantage business next year and that about 5 percent of beneficiaries will have to choose a new provider as a result.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Monique Lhuillier Spring 2011 Collection

The Monique Lhuillier Spring 2011 Collection held on September 13 during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City.

Narciso Rodriguez Spring 2011 Collection

Fashion Show of Narciso Rodriguez Spring 2011 Collection as part of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week held on September 9-16.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Victoria Beckham's Spring 2011 Dress Collection

victoria beckham spring 2011 dress collection

Victoria Adams Beckham debuts her Victoria Beckham Dresses Spring 2011 collection as part of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week festivities on September 12 in New York City.

Victoria Beckham tweeted before her fashion show starts, writing, "About to go!!!!Excited!!!Nervous!!!! X VB x"

Meanwhile, Posh Spice kept to her plans of steering clear of using size zero models during her catwalk presentation.

A source told the Daily Mirror of the decision, “Victoria takes her role as a figure in the public eye very seriously and is well aware young girls look up to her. This is why she gets so angry when people claim she doesn’t eat properly – she does.”
victoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collectionvictoria beckham spring 2011 dress collection

* Thanks to Peek A Star

Miss World 2007, Zilin Zhang at Vogue Fashion Night Out

Miss World 2007, Zilin Zhang attends Vogue Fashion Night Out 2010 in Beijing on September 10.

miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010
miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010
miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010
miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010
miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010
miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010
miss world 2007 zilin zhang vogue fashion night out 2010

* Thanks to Universal Queen

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Fashion's Night Out 2010 Runway

The biggest names in New York's Fashion Industry gather together for the Fashion's Night Out 2010 last night, September 7 at the Lincoln Center.

Over 150 models participated while showing off 171 new looks during a runway display that saw Gisele Bundchen and Naomi Campbell hit the catwalk.

As for the star-studded celebrity guest list, Leighton Meester looked darling in a skin-baring Versus dress while her co-star, Blake Lively mingled with Ashley Tisdale and Vogue's Anna Wintour.

Rounding out the stylish celebs turning up was the always-lovely Bar Refaeli, who dazzled in a skin-tight black number while posing for pictures before checking out her fellow supermodel beauties in action.

fashion night out 2010 gisele bundchenfashion night out 2010 gisele bundchenfashion night out 2010 gisele bundchenfashion night out 2010 blake lively ashley tisdalefashion night out 2010 ashley tisdalefashion night out 2010 bar refaelifashion night out 2010 naomi campbell

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Saturated Fat Consumption Still isn't Associated with Cardiovascular Disease

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition just published the results of a major Japanese study on saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease (1). Investigators measured dietary habits, then followed 58,453 men and women for 14.1 years. They found that people who ate the most saturated fat had the same heart attack risk as those who ate the least*. Furthermore, people who ate the most saturated fat had a lower risk of stroke than those who ate the least. It's notable that stroke is a larger public health threat in Japan than heart attacks.

This is broadly consistent with the rest of the observational studies examining saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease risk. A recent review paper by Dr. Ronald Krauss's group summed up what is obvious to any unbiased person who is familiar with the literature, that saturated fat consumption doesn't associate with heart attack risk (2). In a series of editorials, some of his colleagues attempted to discredit and intimidate him after its publication (3, 4). No meta-analysis is perfect, but their criticisms were largely unfounded (5, 6).

*Actually, people who ate the most saturated fat had a lower risk but it wasn't statistically significant.

Can a Statin Neutralize the Cardiovascular Risk of Unhealthy Dietary Choices?

The title of this post is the exact title of a recent editorial in the American Journal of Cardiology (1). Investigators calculated the "risk for cardiovascular disease associated with the total fat and trans fat content of fast foods", and compared it to the "risk decrease provided by daily statin consumption". Here's what they found:

The risk reduction associated with the daily consumption of most statins, with the exception of pravastatin, is more powerful than the risk increase caused by the daily extra fat intake associated with a 7-oz hamburger (Quarter Pounder®) with cheese and a small milkshake. In conclusion, statin therapy can neutralize the cardiovascular risk caused by harmful diet choices.

Routine accessibility of statins in establishments providing unhealthy food might be a rational modern means to offset the cardiovascular risk. Fast food outlets already offer free condiments to supplement meals. A free statin-containing accompaniment would offer cardiovascular benefits, opposite to the effects of equally available salt, sugar, and high-fat condiments. Although no substitute for systematic lifestyle improvements, including healthy diet, regular exercise, weight loss, and smoking cessation, complimentary statin packets would add, at little cost, 1 positive choice to a panoply of negative ones.

Wow. Later in the editorial, they recommend "a new and protective packet, “MacStatin,” which could be sprinkled onto a Quarter Pounder or into a milkshake." I'm not making this up!

I can't be sure, but I think there's a pretty good chance the authors were being facetious in this editorial, in which case I think a) it's hilarious, b) most people aren't going to get the joke. If they are joking, the editorial is designed to shine a light on the sad state of mainstream preventive healthcare. Rather than trying to educate people and change the deadly industrial food system, which is at the root of a constellation of health problems, many people think it's acceptable to partially correct one health risk by tinkering with the human metabolism using drugs. To be fair, most people aren't willing to change their diet and lifestyle habits (and perhaps for some it's even too late), so frustrated physicians prescribe drugs to mitigate the risk. I accept that. But if our society is really committed to its own health and well-being, we'll remove the artificial incentives that favor industrial food, and educate children from a young age on how to eat well.

I think one of the main challenges we face is that our current system is immensely lucrative for powerful financial interests. Industrial agriculture lines the pockets of a few large farmers and executives (while smaller farmers go broke and get bought out), industrial food processing concentrates profit among a handful of mega-manufacturers, and then people who are made ill by the resulting food spend an exorbitant amount of money on increasingly sophisticated (and expensive) healthcare. It's a system that effectively milks US citizens for a huge amount of money, and keeps the economy rolling at the expense of the average person's well-being. All of these groups have powerful lobbies that ensure the continuity of the current system. Litigation isn't the main reason our healthcare is so expensive in the US; high levels of chronic disease, expensive new technology, a "kitchen sink" treatment approach, and inefficient private companies are the real reasons.

If the editorial is serious, there are so many things wrong with it I don't even know where to begin. Here are a few problems:

1. They assume the risk of heart attack conveyed by eating fast food is due to its total and trans fat content, which is simplistic. To support that supposition, they cite one study: the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (2). This is one of the best diet-health observational studies conducted to date. The authors of the editorial appear not to have read the study carefully, because it found no association between total or saturated fat intake and heart attack risk, when adjusted for confounding variables. The number they quoted (relative risk = 1.23) was before adjustment for fiber intake (relative risk = 1.02 after adjustment), and in any case, it was not statistically significant even before adjustment. How did that get past peer review? Answer: reviewers aren't critical of hypotheses they like.
2. Statins mostly work in middle-aged men, and reduce the risk of heart attack by about one quarter. The authors excluded several recent unsupportive trials from their analysis. Dr. Michel de Lorgeril reviewed these trials recently (3). For these reasons, adding a statin to fast food would probably have a negligible effect on the heart attack risk of the general population.
3. "Statins rarely cause negative side effects." BS. Of the half dozen people I know who have gone on statins, all of them have had some kind of negative side effect, two of them unpleasant enough that they discontinued treatment against their doctor's wishes. Several of them who remained on statins are unlikely to benefit because of their demographic, yet they remain on statins on their doctors' advice.
4. Industrial food is probably the main contributor to heart attack risk. Cultures that don't eat industrial food are almost totally free of heart attacks, as demonstrated by a variety of high-quality studies (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). No drug can replicate that, not even close.

I have an alternative proposal. Rather than giving people statins along with their Big Mac, why don't we change the incentive structure that artificially favors the Big Mac, french fries and soft drink? If it weren't for corn, soybean and wheat subsidies, fast food wouldn't be so cheap. Neither would any other processed food. Fresh, whole food would be price competitive with industrial food, particularly if we applied the grain subsidies to more wholesome foods. Grass-fed beef and dairy would cost the same as grain-fed. I'm no economist, so I don't know how realistic this really is. However, my central point still stands: we can change the incentive structure so that it no longer artificially favors industrial food. That will require that the American public get fed up and finally butt heads with special interest groups.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Fashion Battle: Elizabeth Hurley vs. Holly Madison

Fashion Face-Off: Elizabeth Hurley vs. Holly Madison

The two celebrities enjoys the same taste in fashion, as evidenced by the following photos. There's not much else to say about the pair, as Hurley hasn't starred in a major movie in years and Holly... well, we already mentioned the most worthwhile thing about her.

Who do you think wore it best?

Burberry Brit Fall Winter 2010-2011 Mens Collection

Burberry Brit, the clothing line of Thomas Burberry, is young and casual. And, as usual, the Fall Winter 2010-2011 season will bring the typical style of this line: The British style.

The collection tends to be balanced between three approaches: Sophistication, a daring style, and the traditional elegance. All these characteristics are integrated to result in an interesting collection targeted to young men.

Checked patterns are one of the recurrent features of Burberry Brit. And, in this collection, you can see them on jackets, sweaters and foulards.

Another traditional characteristic of this brand (which is also included in this collection) is the classic style for pants.

Besides, the collection includes some accessories that complement those British-style clothing pieces; for example: Huge bags with a nice design, crossbody bags, and also leather back packs. They look great!


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Fashion for Large Mens

Nowadays, there are various fashion stores in the cities that exclusively deal with large men’s clothing. Tall and big men no longer return to their homes frustrated and empty-handed after a shopping spree. Plus size men no longer have to wear short pants that expose their ankles or shirts that cannot be tucked in. They also do not have to put up with those embracing moments when their shirts could not be buttoned.

Moreover, plus size and tall men had to part away with a few more dollars to buy their clothing from the few specialty stores. Their clothes were rare and thus categorized as ‘special’. This gave such stores the right to unscrupulously demand for more money. In fact some shops required plus size and tall men to book and order clothes before visiting the stores. Thanks to the plethora of large men’s clothing, today they are available at affordable prices. Tall and big men can now comfortable shop for clothes within their budget limits.



Men have aggressively embraced fashion to attain an identity in recent years that clearly defines their sense of style. They want to uplift their confidence and emanate an appealing image which contributes to emulation of a positive career and personality impact. Back in the days fashion trends were reserved to average sized men. However, today there is a wide variety of large men’s clothing in different colors, style and seasonal trends. In fact they have hit the market with a boom.

Furthermore, you can get large men clothing in large quantities from online websites. In fact to increase the scope of their customers most online shops offer shipping and volume discounts on top of single item discounts. In short, any plus size and tall man should not be continue wearing clothes that do not perfectly fit when well-fitting affordable clothes can easily be accessed.

Different Summer Office Wardrobe for Men

Spring is definitely over and summer is where we are now. You want to stay cool at work, and you’re not just thinking temperature. If you’re not working at Microsoft, Google, or any of the big tech companies, chances are you don’t get the luxuries of wearing whatever you want. So how can you stay cool in the hot sun without being in the hot seat? Below are some pointers to get you started, and examples on how to use these guidelines to work for you.

Think about fabric: Pima cotton is breathable, versatile for all season, and has outstanding quality for clothing. Cotton blends, particularly with stretch wool or rayon/viscose, are great during the summer and keep your clothes fitted to your body. Linen is definitely a must-have in summer attire.






Think of colors: Try mixing bolder shades of spring pastel hues to “spring” into summer. Bold and vibrant colors can look cool and still be comfortable, such as various shades of purple, orange, and blues. Earth and neutral tones – like olives, tans, and browns – are definitely a standard and can look professional with minimal effort. Whites and greys are staples and versatile even when paired with bolder colors to accentuate your personal look. Minimize wearing black as much as possible. If you do wear black, get that in breathable fabrics like linen or cotton chinos, or look for it in subtle patterns.



Think of your workplace: Format your attire based on the dynamic of your workplace. Don’t wear sandals or flip flops if your work does not call for it.

Putting It All Together
No matter what fabrics, color and workplace, the most important of summer office wear is able to give you comfort and express individual personal styles.