Fashion @ The Oscars

As many of you probably know the 80th Annual Academy Awards were held last night. I am personally I big fan of the show and not only do you get to see who the big winners of the night are, but you also get to see what they were wearing! The entire pre-show done out on the red carpet is focused on interviews with the celebrity presenters and of course nominees. One of the most important questions asked out there is "Who are you wearing?" When a celebrity gets out on that red carpet and revels who the designer of that dress or stunning suite is, millions of views are now familiarized with that name. Having your dress appear on television, the web, and magazines is going to bring you new customers as a designer. People will hear your names and directly associate you with "that dress" so and so wore to the Oscars. There is no such thing as bad publicity, so even if critics think the outfit itself is hideous; there is a good chance you will still get talked about. Some of the big names that made it out on the red carpet last night include Jennifer Garner, Heidi Klum, and the winner for Best Actress, Marion Cotillard. In my opinion, these women were probably the best dressed. Marion Cotillard's gown, as seen below, was by Jean Paul Gaultier and Heidi Klum's was one of many red dresses at the awards, hers by, John Galliano. All the dresses seen on the red carpet where beautiful and unique. Every year the women seem to have something original.

Cameron Diaz as well as some others including Ellen Page and Tilda Swinton (below) did not make my top favorites and some critics agreed with that, putting them on the worst dressed list. Unfortunately sometimes that will happen, but the one good thing about fashion is that there will always be a chance to redeem yourself. Those who did not do a good job finding a gown for this particular event can always make a comeback at the next one.

Social Networking

Social Networking was the topic which my group and I presented about in class. Social networking has to do with communicating with others using the internet. You make connections through similar interests. People can find romance, jobs, and old friends, all through social networking. One of the sites that we actually talked about during our presentation was the following one: http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/
It compared the top ten social networking sites of 2008. Most of us are familiar with myspace.com and facebook.com. They both made the list. The site shows all the different features all ten sites offer to users and evaluates which ones people liked and used the most.
Another great site that we came across was about a new social networking site called Yuwie. The different between this site and others is that you get paid you using it. To learn more here is a video explaining how Yuwie works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmNMkvwmO_c

Fashion Against Aids

I’m not sure how many of you have noticed, but lately there has been a new trend going on in fashion. Gap recently began a campaign, (PRODUCT) RED. The profits sold from that clothing line go towards women and children in Africa who are affected by AIDS. Some of the products are even made in Africa which is helping the country out in other ways too. I think what they have done is great. I am personally not a big shopper at the Gap, however, my favorite store, H&M, just started their own campaign similar to this one. It’s called Fashion Against AIDS. The clothing company teamed up with DAA (Designers Against Aids) and YouthAIDS. They picked out a special group of artists and designers to design artwork for t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and other garments of clothing. 25% of profits will go towards raising awareness and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS all around the world. Here is a link to the main page: http://www.hm.com/us/#faa

From this site there are several places you can go to learn more about the project. There is a link to meet the artist. Each group or individual involved did a little video clip. They talk about why they decided to join in with this project and what inspired them to create the artwork they used on their clothing. The artists and designers include people from Rihanna, Timbaland, and Good Charlotte to Katharine Hamnet and Ziggy Marley. There is another link which allows you to see the entire clothing collection. When you click on “get the facts”, it will give you more options. You’ll be able to find out where H&M is getting support from, how fashion against aids works, and where the money goes. You can spread the word to friends and family right from the site as well as create a video with the Fashion Against AIDS – message, which can then be seen by anyone when they click on your video on the main page. The site is filled with facts and it’s really a great opportunity to do something for others by just purchasing a piece of clothing. I know there were a couple items that I thought were really cool and I will definitely be making my way over to one of the stores to buy something. It’s a truly a great cause and you should all take a look at the site for more details.