It’s the talk of the town, eModa + Fusion, our retail boutiques on South Street in Philadelphia, received quite a smokin’ delivery on Saturday. Two 5 gallon Home Depot buckets that are usually filled with paint, concrete or some other form of liquid, were instead filled with the finest California chronic that this city has ever seen! And while most of us would have quit our jobs, praised the Lord above and fled to The Netherlands or Canada at the very least, Fusion co-owner, Dan Kogan explained that his immediate reaction was to call the cops, because this kind of thing doesn’t happen on accident. A closer examination of the packages revealed that the people who made the shipment knew what they were doing, as it was packed within a layer of styrofoam, and the bucket was sealed extesively with layers and layers of tape.
We’ve gotten a lot of beef because of this decision; newspapers, blogs, editorials and other local publications are furious with the thought of turning in all of this marijuana, valued at approximately $80,000. One publication even had the audacity to say “that its like throwing away free money” and that we only turned it in to get attention and media coverage.
You can view my response to this idiot’s article here.
You can watch the video and read the full unbiased news report here.

Ever since I was a young girl, I always looked forward to watching the Joan and Melissa Rivers fashion special on E! with my mother after every formal awards show. Between their undoubtedly terrible sense of style, QVC –esque sentence structure, and that wretched raspy voice, the horse-faced hosts always had me laughing hysterically, on the edge of my seat, and certainly talking about it the next day at school. Little did I know at that time that it was slowly infiltrating my naïve brain, taking over and turning me into a brutal truth telling fashion critic by the age of 13. At that time, I was unexpectedly fired from the school newspaper staff for apparently starting a riot that involved a my fashion review of the school dance that more or less served as a catalyst for a series of anonymous ass kickings throughout the month of March that year.

Since it’s almost March, I feel as though I should commemorate that now seemingly fateful event and give eModa readers some juice.

This years Oscars had some of the worst dressed celebrities I have ever seen. Designer or no designer, if you look like you’re wearing something from the Thrift Store (Kirsten Dunst) you had better be prepared to hear about it!

Here are the nominees for WORST dressed celebrities:

Kirsten Dunst wearing a light blue tulle embroidered dress from the Chanel Spring/Summer 2007 Haute Couture Collection. What a DISASTER! This dress looks like someone went the craft store and glued everything from the discount bin onto a dress they either found in the garbage or found in their grandmothers closet. The color completely washes her already pale completion out, and that red lipstick just kills everything.

Meryl Streep wearing none other than Prada. This is a real disappointment, since this so called Prada gown looks more like a black Clinique cosmetic counter uniform. It’s also a shame that while Meryl proudly proclaimed she’s a healthy size 14, she forgot to mention that she now spends so much money on food that she had to go with an unfavorable piece of costume jewelry instead of something flashy. It’s the Oscar’s, you don’t wear plastic beads.

Jennifer Hudson in an Oscar de la Renta gown was nominated for her outstanding performance in Dreamgirls, but her red carpet style was a fashion NIGHTMARE! The dress: beautiful, makeup: gorgeous, hair: perfect, the cropped jacket made from what looks to be the same material as Michael Jackson’s infamous glove: wtf!?

Maggie Gyllenhaal in a feather trimmed navy satin dress by Proenza Schouler wasn’t shedding love on the red carpet, she was shedding feathers the whole way down! Black and navy blue to me are one of the most hideous of the 5 fashion fopa’s and leave it to Maggie to take it to the extreme. My advice: next time, go to Jake’s stylist, because you know he’s always looking hotta hotta!

Tracy Edmonds, girlfriend of Eddie Murphy was dressed in a stunning Versace gown and only halfway down the red carpet when we noticed that there was a hole in the dress! Shockingly it was in the same place that a protective sensor may have been forcefully removed.. Note to self: never buy Versace from a trunk, no matter how good it may look.

Gwyneth Paltrow wore a Zac Posen gown that looks like it was made of that awful orange colored stocking fabric that you usually can find popular at a local nursing home and paired with a pair brown orthopedic shoes. Besides looking like pantyhose, the seashell structure combined with the chunky bracelets pretty much continued to ruin this outfit. Thank goodness for the woman who stepped on the dress right as she was walking into the Kodak Theater. Apparently there were no visible rips, I just hope Gwen gets the hint.

Who do you think was the worst dressed at the Oscars this year?

We wouldn’t exactly say that South African beauty, Lauren Moller, is exactly voluptuous, but she’s got some meat on her bones, unlike many other close to starving models that we are used to seeing in ads. Lauren’s been hand picked to represent internationally recognized fashion chain, John Lewis’s bathing suit line this summer. The chain reports that they sell more size 12’s than size 0’s and that they are looking for someone to represent their brand accordingly. South Africa is proud to be the home of Lauren Moller, as they are far too often used to seeing skinny people around from starvation due to lack of food, not due to choice. You can expect to see Lauren’s photos all over the stores catalogue as well as in magazine ads and such, but we’re sure it won’t come without a price.

Modeling agencies linked to John Lewis are complaining that size 12 (which is a US size 16) advised the store that this was a terrible decision because they consider size 12 a plus size. Last time I checked I was a recognizable denim expert in the Philadelphia area, and plus sizes started at size 22, which would be a UK size 18. The infatuation that fashion designers have about only using models that have a waist size of 22 inches is absurd. 22 inches is the average waist size of an 8 year old girl!

This news comes in right after authorities at London’s Fashion Week refused to ban models with a BMI less than 18, and the second of two sisters from Uraguay, both models, died from starvation.

If you’re a shop-a-holic, fashionista, diva, divo, or any type of style maven with a passion for fashion, you should take a look at couture savvy networking website, www.fashionriot.com. With patrons all over the world in leading fashion defining cities such as Berlin, Toyko, Paris, London and of course, New York, you can find a variety of user submitted trends ranging from classic wardrobe to far out accessories, shoes and bags from all over the planet!

Not only can you browse the millions of photos, but if you think you’ve got what it takes to give these fashion junkies a style overdose, you can upload your very own trend spotting photographs to be rated and commented about; this seems like it could be the beginning of the next generation of fashion critiquing.

But wait, it gets even better. In an attempt to publicize the amazing otherwise criminal action of true urban artists, the website features incredible examples of international street art, which I personally, cannot get enough of! (Berlin has the best street art by far on the site, but we’ll put Philly on the map).

If you are sick of people always cramping your style, check out what they’re wearing in Amsterdam (and to think that we really thought Scotch and Soda summarized the innovative wardrobes of the Netherlands!).

Britney, Britney, Britney- it seems like she’s all we hear about these days, but if it’s a matter of quality and not quantity, we’ve got no room to talk!

Apparently, Britney’s Valentines Day consisted of dancing in her underwear at New York celebrity hangout club, One. At least she was wearing underwear this time… but instead of praise for her scantily clad self, her actions got her snubbed at New York Fashion Week, big time.

Lydia Hurst, famous supermodel, designed a limited edition clutch bag for Heatherette that would be debuting at the show. Britney, being a huge Heatherette fan, requested it immediately after she had heard about the coveted bag’s premiere and proceeded to tip off front row photographers to be there when she came out from the backstage area for exclusive pictures, but instead of them handing it over to her and taking glamour shots, she was shut down and refused the bag.

Lydia released this statement: “I’m only giving the bag to accomplished young women who are doing something positive to affect the world around them. They are women I look up to and respect, like Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker and Anne Hathaway. They share the same high standards, and give back to the communities in which they live”.

…communities in which they live?! Britney clearly showed the WORLD a piece of her body that most women wouldn’t fess up to, doesn’t that count? In my opinion, Lydia should send her the clutch; at least she would have something stylish to carry her panties in!

Regardless of what comes out of Philadelphia, it will always be compared to New York City. Philadelphians know that, everyone knows it. Philly’s known for three main things; cheesesteaks, Rocky, and Ben Franklin…of course, New York can one up us by saying that a grilled vegetable sandwich is a much healthier solution, Rocky has nothing on the Ghostbusters Trilogy and as for Ben, just take a powdered wig and place it atop Rudy Julianni’s balding head.
The scary part is, is that Philadelphia is slowly creeping up on the urban styles of New York’s yesteryear, and we’re doing a better job at it. Graphic designers, fashion designers, graffiti artists, and fine artists have been starting clothing labels featuring handcrafted jeans, tees, sneakers, really anything they can get their hands on! The search in and of itself can lead to the entire meaning behind the work, and that, my friends, is what makes Philadelphia the best city in the world, the realization of freedom to do what you want, how you want and actually make it work.
Every week, I’m going to show eModa customers a taste of Philly style…perhaps, if you come here, I’ll buy you a REAL cheese steak.
The following shirt has a great story. In 1988, Vox Populi was formed as a nonprofit artist collective that supports the work of emerging artists with monthly exhibitions. Recently, Vox came over a batch of bad luck, so they asked Virgil Marti, a Tyler graduate, to design a shirt that could be sold as a fund raiser for their gallery space.

The beauty in this tee does not come from the print, it comes from the story.

To find out more, visit these links:
http://www.pewarts.org/95/Marti/
http://www.artintheage.com/
http://www.voxpopuligallery.org/about.htm

Don’t even try to deny it, whether you like it or not, at one point, we have all been subjects of the networking phenomenon commonly known as www.myspace.com. At the end of last year, Tom and his top 8 developed a plan to launch a series of campaigns to develop a fashion network through the site, much like the widely popular comedy and music sections, to gain an even wider range of users, however, just as this might be news to you, it flopped.

Fresh out on this scene is www.iqons.com, who hopes to do what myspace.com has done for musicians by making it easier for aspiring fashion designers and supermodels to be in contact with real designers, photographers as well as other professionals in the fashion industry. Co-founder Suran Goonatilake told reporters yesterday at the London Fashion Week launch of the site that “We would aim to have the same impact as MySpace had in taking talent straight to the consumers”.

Like MySpace, the site encourages you to invite designer friends to join the site and comment on your portfolio, browse current users and participate in friend making and video. However, there are many improved features on the Iqons site; the cliche “MySpace angles” have been replaced by stylish ultra contrast professional photographs and the “Cool New People” section has been renamed “15 minutes”. Iqons.com also gives users access to insider information about secret fashion shows and showrooms in your area, as well as a chance to advertise your own shows to the fashion world. The site also offers contests to help promote designers and showcase their creativity at its finest.

The fashion world hasn’t really taken advantage of the importance of the internet, but Iqons.com is sure to change that! With fashion bloggers such as Perez Hilton gaining so much popularity that they get front row seats to the hottest fashion shows around the world, the industry is starting to set new standards. Just last month, Georgio Armani did a LIVE broadcast over the internet from his Paris haute couture show, while other fashion chains such as Topshop have started podcasting their fashion shows weekly.

These next few months should be interesting as more and more people find out about Iqons.com., its sure to be a hit, with over 4,500 users currently and about 600 more being  added weekly, its already taking the fashion world by storm. The best part about it is, is that it’s free and open to anyone from top celebrity stylists to fashion students, all being able to bounce ideas off each other, showcase and critique portfolios as well as have access to a database that will change the fashion world forever. Rafael Jimenez, the other co-founder, who once worked at the Comme des Garcons fashion house offered this statement to perspective designers, “If you are talented, some one will spot you and get you through”.

Celebs at the 2007 Grammy awards were really shining this year! I’ve picked out some of my favorites; from the spectacular show stopping looks of Mary J Blige and Beyonce Knowles to the “what were you thinking?!” appearence from the new queen of Emerald City, Brooke Hogan, to the jazzy stylings of Ornette Coleman, check out these shining stars.

THANK GOODNESS for Rock and Republic.

Last weekend, Rock and Republic held an extravagant fashion show at Cipriani on 42^nd Street in New York City. Costing over 2.5 million dollars, Rock and Republic was trying to push more of a lifestyle brand approach to their name. Establishing that included everything from animal print, metallic, leather and faux fur pants, mixed amongst their classic line of high end denim that we all know and love. And guess what? They ARE NOT falling into the bottomless pit of wide leg, high waisted denim!

If you haven’t yet noticed, the civil war of denim has begun.

Every where I go there are billboards, advertisements, magazine covers, fashion shows, fliers and living examples of the war between skinny and wide leg jeans. 2007 was the year the fashionista equivalent to Nostradomus predicted that wide legs would take over and put an end to the skinny jean.

My feelings on wide leg jeans are much too explicit to publish, however, I can tell you that I have not been working out every day since I bought my first pair of skinny jeans for wide legs to come and take over and ruin everything!

Skinny jeans are the best thing that ever happened to fashion, finally a jean to show off our figure, regardless if its thick or thin. Women have been waiting their whole lives for a jean that makes us look skinnier and taller and voluptuous! The skinny jeans made these dreams come true. If it weren’t for skinny jeans, the knee high boot would have never come back in style, now, those great boots you bought, will be draped underneath a sea of incorrigible wide leg denim.

Wide leg jeans are just… ugh. They make short girls look like stumpy trolls; they make tall girls look like scarecrows; thin girls get ridiculed even more when the jeans look like they are falling off of them and they are wearing them only to disguise their seemingly obvious eating disorder (because apparently that’s the only way you can be thin anymore), and as for my thicker sisters, I’m sure you’ve already got the picture.

And what about all those hot men that have sprouted because of straight skinny leg jeans?! I’d have alot of trouble trading a guy with a pair of skinny jeans and Reeboks on for a guy in UFO pants and Etnies.
As for the battle for high waist/low waist… c’mon! This shouldn’t even be a question!

Bare with me as I do cognitive analysis of high waist jeans.. some words and images that come to my mind are: fupa, pregnant, women not being able to show their belly button, multiplied hip span, suffocation, jeans that attach to my bra, farmers, “what not to wear”…etc.

To sum it all up: Remove skinny girls from the runway, but keep the skinny pants there!

What do you guys think? High waist or low waist? Wide leg or skinny leg?

Zero: the word in and of itself is synonymous with the absence of all magnitude, and in essence, the property of nothing; but lately, it’s been the subject of the biggest fashion houses around the world. Spain has completely banned size zero models on the catwalk and While skeletal models tip toe down the runways in Milan, NYC, LA, Paris and other fashion capitals around the world, one spicy lady decided to change it up a liitle.

   Headline making celeb, Victoria Posh Beckham, announced that she has chosen Daniella Sarahyba to be the representative model for her new line of clothing. What makes this the talk of the town right now is the fact that Victoria wanted to join the fight against ultra skinny size zero models on the runways, and even after a few burgers, she herself can barely keep a size zero on without a slouch! 
   We have to give some props to Posh, who once nicknamed herself Skeletal Spice, for stepping up and taking a chance on saving many teens right now who suffer from eating disorders. Although you can’t technically link the eating disorders of teenage girls to the ultra skinny silhouettes of famous runway models, I think common sense allows us to judge otherwise. Victoria just wants people to know that you don’t have to be skinny to look good in her clothes!
   One look at Daniella and you could tell why Vicki would pick her! She’s a young, fresh face and has been described as someone with a “perfectly sculpted body and some meat in all the right places”. Daniella has been featured in many Sports Illustrated, H&M ads, as well as Spiegel and Benetton. She measures 5’-10” and weighs 118, which is perfect and accepted in all fashion shows. Sickly? By no means! Voluptuous is pushing it though…