FabSugar

New York Fashion Week, Spring 2008: Abaete

FabSugar — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:00:22 PDT

Whisking us away to Miami circa 1940, Fab has a new favorite! The Abaete Spring collection was polished, colorful and youthful. A mix of art deco and screen siren style, here is a collection to covet. Silhouettes were form fitting but also flowy in fabrics like stretch silk and cotton. Color blocking added some sportiness, while rhinestone embellishments added sassiness; this is very reminiscent of Coco Chanel's seaside separates. One would wear these wares while playing a game of badminton and then lounge around sipping a Tom Collins. Refreshing and bold, the colors were a cool mix of neutrals, black, white and standouts like teal and cornflower blue. I could do without the rosettes, but the cool plastic shades and sparkling clear bangles added bling.

Oh, and if you noticed the lovely ladylike shoes, they will be available come February at Payless via the Abaete for Payless collection!

To see more sirens and video from the Abaete Spring collection,

View 18 Photos ›

Source & Source

Daily Tech: Stocks on Stocks on Stocks

Kelly Schwarze — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:47:20 PDT

873 stock photos, one video - FWD
Yo dawg, Yahoo! heard you like browsers, so it put a browser inside your browser - Geekosystem
Six insane video games about dating - Cracked
Awww, stamp every future baby with a bar code - Dvice
The robot espresso machine makes coffee art - Tecca
Sad news: HP to cut thousands of jobs - Newser
New teaser details on Pixar's Día de los Muertos film - SlashFilm

What to Rent: New DVDs This Week

Maggie Pehanick — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:30:00 PDT

New Year's Eve

Garry Marshall's latest ensemble comedy features a whole bushel of A-listers. Everyone from Ashton Kutcher to Robert De Niro makes an appearance in the flick that features stories of people experiencing New Year's Eve in New York City. The movie also stars Glee's Lea Michele as an aspiring singer, Michelle Pfeiffer as a woman on a mission to cross items off her bucket list, Zac Efron as the bike messenger who helps her, Katherine Heigl as Jon Bon Jovi's super angry ex-girlfriend, and many others. Though the film isn't the best in the genre, it's fun to see all the stars assembled and matched-up together. Extras include director's commentary, a gag reel, and deleted scenes.

Haywire

Real-life mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano stars as Mallory Kane, a skilled black ops soldier on a mission for revenge after she is betrayed. Director Steven Soderbergh wrote the story around Carano after seeing her in a match, which means her butt-kicking skills are the focus of this action thriller. Also showcased? Antonio Banderas, amazing chase sequences, Channing Tatum, and lots and lots of hand-to-hand combat. Extras include a featuring looking at "the men of Haywire" and Gina Carano's training for the movie.

80%

One more release when you

W.E.

Abbie Cornish and James D'Arcy star in W.E., a historical romance directed and cowritten by Madonna. Cornish plays a modern woman obsessed with learning about the decades-old love affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough), the woman he gave up the throne to be with. The film won accolades for its style, even landing an Oscar nomination for achievement in costume design. DVD extras include a making-of piece featuring Madonna.

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Sarah Jessica Parker Dresses Up to Have a Ball With the Vogue Crowd

Allie Merriam — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:01:19 PDT

Sarah Jessica Parker threw on a vintage Oscar de la Renta ball gown, paired with a cardigan, to attend last night's Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence gala at NYC's Waldorf-Astoria. The event was held to honor legendary New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham, who was the subject of the 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York. Bill was there to receive his praise, some of which was provided by Vogue's Anna Wintour and Hamish Bowles. In addition to honoring Bill, who spoke about his lengthy career, the bash raised $1.5 million for the music education programs at Carnegie Hall. Arts education is a cause SJP is particularly passionate about. She announced yesterday that she, along with other celebs like Kerry Washington and Forest Whitaker, are teaming up with President Obama to help increase student achievement at underperforming schools in the US by donating funds to increase access to arts programs.

Jason Segel Gets Close With Michelle Williams at His Big Tribeca Debut!

Allie Merriam — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:15:46 PDT

Emily Blunt and Jason Segel teamed up for the NYC premiere of The Five-Year Engagement at the city's Ziegfeld Theatre last night. The screening served as the official opening of the Tribeca Film Festival - check out all the stars from past Tribeca Film Festivals as we celebrate the start of the annual cinema event! Emily paired a Jason Wu dress with a bright pair of Alice + Olivia pumps. Emily and Jason were joined by their costars Alison Brie and Dakota Johnson.

Other stars turned out for the opening, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Leelee Sobieski, a Jason Wu-clad Camilla Belle, Kim Cattrall, and Olivia Wilde in Yigal Azrouël. Festival founder Robert De Niro was on hand with his wife, Grace Hightower. Funny ladies from Parks and Recreation, Aubrey Plaza and Amy Poehler, dressed up to take in Jason's latest hilarious movie, and also to support their small-screen costar Chris Pratt, who's in Five-Year, but couldn't make its debut.

The screening was in honor of Emily and Jason's big-screen romance, but he also had his real-life love there, too. Jason Segel and girlfriend Michelle Williams reportedly got cozy once inside the Ziegfeld and later at the Museum of Modern Art afterparty. Jason even talked about the possibility of marriage on the red carpet, telling reporters, "I hit my 30s and enough became enough. I'm ready to enter phase three. I put the puppets into a closet. I'm getting nice furniture."

Link Time: Zen and the Art of Pantry Organization

Susannah Chen — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:15:41 PDT

Zen and the art of pantry organization - Food52
Three of El Bulli's chefs de cuisine are opening a restaurant, Compartir - Eater
How to really taste chocolate - Yahoo! Shine
Have the Wall Street bankers forgiven Mario Batali? - Grub Street NY
Start with a bagel, then add these toppings - Real Simple
Twinkie production's in danger once again - The Daily Meal
Must make: eggplant involtini - Big Girls Small Kitchen

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber Get Glamorous For the Tribeca Ball

Lauren Turner — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:58:49 PDT

Stars came out for the annual Tribeca Ball, honoring Robert De Niro's support of the arts and benefiting the Academy of Art, in NYC last night. Julianna Margulies wore a simple black gown while Kim Catrall went with a bright blue blazer and Solange Knowles mixed things up in a printed look. Naomi Watts wore a sexy strapless Stella McCartney dress to pose on the arm of Liev Schreiber. They recently returned to the Big Apple after a trip to Barbados with their sons Sasha and Kai. Naomi wore a swimsuit and Liev went shirtless to show PDA in the ocean when they weren't hanging out with their boys during the getaway.

The glamorous affair comes just ahead of the kickoff to the Tribeca Film Festival, which Robert founded in 2001. We're gearing up for tomorrow's opening day with a look back at the most star-studded Tribeca Film Festival moments including Angelina Jolie and Kristen Stewart.

Hunger Games Set Decorator Larry Dias Shares Stories and Decor Details From the Film

Elka Karl — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:17:42 PDT

Watching The Hunger Games at a press preview, both Angela and I were scrambling to jot down notes on the fantastic set design showcased in the film. Now, we have the answers to all of our set design questions. Set decorator for The Hunger Games Larry Dias was integral in making the film come to life, from the Appalachia-inspired homes seen in District 12 to the opulent palace of President Snow. Dias was nominated for an Oscar for his production design work on Inception, and he's worked on the set design for films including The Village, The Last Airbender, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Keep reading to find out more about the process of designing the look of The Hunger Games. CasaSugar: I read that much of the decor for District 12 was sourced from local antique shops in North Carolina. How were you inspired by these antiques, and how did the look for this district develop?
Larry Dias: When [production designer] Phil Messina discovered the North Carolina location that serves as District 12 in the film, it just made sense to utilize the local antiques sources. In the book, District 12 lies within what is formerly known as the Appalachians. It could not have been more perfect. We found a number of dealers that had an abundance of unfinished "as is" antiques with rotting wood, peeled finishes, broken drawers, and rusty hardware, and they were items from the region. It was a perfect fit.

CS: The train car seems to have an art deco feel. Was this an influence for the look? How did you decide on the color palette and wood choices? What items did you include that seemed particularly important for these scenes?
LD: Phil came up with the design of the train cars, and the palette was an early idea that we toyed with changing a number of times but we always went back to the blue. The velvet I used in the upholstery was from Dedar, and at first we were having some trouble having it fit within our time frame. It was milled in Belgium, if I remember correctly, and we tried numerous times to find a replacement close to our original choice and just could not find a suitable one, so we played the odds and got it at the last minute. I'm glad we did because it had such amazing depth and was a really regal-looking hue that ended up being the perfect complement/contrast to the muted blue dress that Judianna Makovsky had designed for Katniss.

Of course we compared our swatches, but I think it really told a story when she entered that train car. The wood tones were chosen by Phil. As my team and I were sourcing the furniture for the train it became apparent that we would need to do part antique and part reproduction mainly because of quantities and also because Katniss drives a knife into the dining table! A lot of deco furniture is veneered, and we found a lot of great pieces that had irreparable finish issues or pieces that were too diminutive in scale, so we ended up finding some good reproductions that we could get quantities of. Because it was really difficult to get the woods to work well together on pieces coming from all over the US, we had our lead scenic Rick Riggs and his amazing crew faux finish the furniture to tie it all together.

A funny thing is the barrel chairs that play prominently were pieces that my buyer Sara Gardner-Gail found online, and they were really inexpensive but had the perfect shape. I had the legs cut off and added a swivel platform base, had them painted and upholstered, and they looked like the finest antiques. One of the things about set decoration is that you have to be ready to improvise as well as accommodate change. Unlike the design of, say, a hotel lobby where everything has been drawn in will not change, a film set is quite the opposite. Once the actors, camera, and crew are in the set, furniture starts flying, literally.

First, just to accommodate the cast and crew, usually at least one half of the set will be cleared of furniture, then as the shots and camera angles are being set up, the director may decide he needs things to rearrange a bit to accommodate a scene. It can be a little improvisational so having a few extra chairs, lamps, or occasional pieces hanging around is a good thing.

Keep reading for more of our interview with Hunger Games set decorator Larry Dias!

6 of James Cameron's Geekiest Film Endeavors

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:30:54 PDT

In terms of geek street credibility, nothing gives you more one-ups than painstakingly re-creating a historic film so intensely that a state-of-the-art submarine is used to investigate the story line's artifacts. James Cameron may win the '90s geek medal of honor for his attention to detail in Titanic and its celestially accurate (thank you, as always, Neil deGrasse Tyson) rerelease this week, but his love of all things sci-fi and nerd culture extends far beyond the tragic tale of the "unsinkable" ship. Take a look back at the director's creations, from the mysteries of the ocean to a future of terrifying alien life.

Get to Know the 2012 Finalists For America's Top Food Awards

YumSugar — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:40:09 PDT

America is home to more than 100,000 head chefs - and today, a select few of them will be given nods as finalists for the James Beard Awards, the industry's top honors.

Among those who made the cut from the list of last month's semifinalists: David Chang, Tom Douglas, and Ina Garten.

Winners will be announced on May 7 in an award ceremony at New York's Lincoln Center, to be hosted by none other than Food Network's Alton Brown. The event, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, only promises to be more lavish than years past.

To see the list of finalists, keep reading.