Italian fashion designer praises Russian women

According to one of Italy’s most sophisticated designers, Russian women are sexy, self-assured and stylish. Ennio Capasa claims that’s the image of a perfect woman, especially dressed by himself when he presented his collection at Russian Fashion Week.

The designer behind “Costume National” C’N’C brand praised Russian women for their striking external and internal beauty, which helped made his collection one of the most highly-anticipated events on the fashion calendar. In fact, it was packed to the point where there was almost no room to turn or move.

C’N’C has been inspired by music, cinema and nature in the past, yet Capasa told a press-conference in Moscow he’s recently changed his approach to fashion and is currently working on a new one from scratch.

“The Russian public now has a special identity and value for me,” Capasa said. “Italians and Russians share a common emotional link, that of art.”

Example photo by Aleksandr Azarov

Goth & Vampire & Heavy Metal & Gothic - the fashion revamp (sorry) goes on

:: probably not a huge surprise that Topshop has released a "Horror Girl" range to tie in with the huge interest in all things vampire :: personally, we can't get enough of Twilight and True Blood and all the powerful women in those shows :: cast back a few years and we also had Witchblade and Buffy and the cross-over characters like Faith - you get the picture :: and here is Topshop's version of the style:

:: perhaps the huge success of female-fronted heavy metal bands has also had a positive influence on the fashion business, widening the scope away from metrosexual mall blandness :: Yay!

Twilight update - Rachelle Lefevre not happy about Eclipse casting

Rachelle Lefevre, who has played the role of villainous vampire Victoria in the Twilight films so far, is apparently not happy about being dropped from the filming of Eclipse.

Lefevre is reportedly "stunned" to learn she would be replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard (see our previous post).

The actress has said she was happy with her contract with Summit and fully prepared to continue to honour it. Apparently her commitment to filming for Barney's Version is only ten days. Lefevre said: “Summit picked up my option for Eclipse... Given the length of time for the filming, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a ten-day overlap."

The star says she feels hurt by Summit's decision to move on without her, but nonetheless wishes the cast and crew only the very best.

The statement concluded: "I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience. This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate. I will be forever grateful to the fan support and loyalty I’ve received."

A new “Victoria” for the third Twilight film

Bryce Dallas Howard is to take on the role of Victoria in the third film of the Twilight saga. The studio want to roll out the films as fast as possible following the huge positive response from fans.

Due to the very tight production schedules of the Twilight films, with the start of Eclipse so close to finishing New Moon, plus other commitments, the change of actress has been announced.

Rachelle Lefevre played the part in the first two movies, the 2008 smash Twilight and the upcoming New Moon. Howard has been reported as saying she is thrilled to join the cast as vampire Victoria. Eclipse is expected to strongly anchor the success of the series in the movies.

28-year-old Bryce Dallas Howard (photo) is no stranger to blockbusters, with appearances in Spider-Man 3 and Terminator Salvation.

Eclipse is scheduled to begin shooting in Vancouver in August. Part two New Moon is due for release on November 20.

Is there a vampire role for Taylor Momsen on the horizon?

Which vampire role is Taylor Momsen hoping to fill? She recently announced “I would eat a boy my age alive” and that she lives “a very adult life.”

The Gossip Girl star was talking more about dating than killing, but could not imagine dating anyone who is the same age as her. Although just a 16-year-old, Momsen plays a toughie in the popular teen drama, often involved in difficult “not yet a woman” storylines.

Along with some high profile modeling, Momsen has been recording with her band Pretty Reckless in New York.

"I live a very adult life," she recently told Teen Vogue. "What am I going to do, hang out with high school kids?”

In her model persona and party-girl lifestyle, Momsen is always stylish and focussed. Perhaps it is her nature that comes through, but she often tends towards the noir or goth style - which we love. So could Taylor be on the lookout for a killer role in one of the many vampire movies and tv shows? We hope so.

Meanwhile, it’s bad luck for the boys: “They are so much less mature than girls. I just can't relate to what they talk about - it seems so petty.” We’re not sure Taylor is ready for a Witches of Eastwick-style Jack Nicholson just yet, but we will watch developments with interest.

Another rising tennis Amazon wins first big title

Andrea Petkovic won her first WTA title today with a 6-2 6-3 result against Ioana Raluca Olaru in the Nurnberger Gastein final in Austria. Prior to this win, Andrea had risen 280 places to slot 98 in the official world rankings since January 1st so is moving ever-upward in a stellar year. Olaru has risen 57 places to slot 66 in the same time.
Petkovic had previously won seven ITF singles titles and three ITF doubles titles. Born in Yugoslavia, Andrea attained German citizenship in 2001 and progressed to become the German national champion in December 2007. Coached by her father Zoran Petkovic, a former Yugoslavian Davis Cup player, Andrea first began playing tennis from 6 years old.

The win at Bad Gastein is great preparation for the upcoming US Open and the 21-year-old must be really pleased with 2009 so far. A right-hander with a two-handed backhand, at 5ft 11in (1.8m) Andrea is another impressive athlete in the women’s tennis tour.

Petkovic explains her win: "I played very well in the first set. I was hitting hard and putting a lot of pressure on Olaru with my serves and returns. In the second set I was fighting with myself because I thought I could really win this, and my nerves were a bit tough to deal with.” She went on to say it was a great moment in her career and she hoped to build on it.

Olaru had achieved some of her best wins this week on the way to her first singles final on the Tour, beating No.3 seed Sybille Bammer, No.6 seed Magdalena Rybarikova and No.1 seed Alizé Cornet. Ioana was philosophical about the loss: “I'm sorry about today - I wish I could have done more, but there's always next tournament."

Photo shows Andrea at the 2009 Australian Open in typical powerful pose.

Boozing with tits out - gutter journalism promotes UK decline

There are many examples of how England (as once was) and now the UK is falling below the standards and quality of life of most developed nations. Education quality and achievement is at its lowest for hundreds of years. Health care is becoming one of the worst in developed Europe. And the homegrown tv is totally dominated by nasty soaps that glamorize fights, incest, rape and murder.

Not a pretty picture, then. But as our photo shows there is little real news reporting left in the UK. On TV the BBC is too busy promoting minority concerns and its own tv and radio shows. ITV is lost in “dream homes” and the slightly less lurid focus on the gutter press. Channel 4 is obsessed with Big Brother. And the rest with a few exceptions promote only reruns of D-grade sitcoms and “reality” shows.

The “red top” newspapers of the UK have often been a joke for people from other nations. The sad thing is that in the past 20 years the serious newspapers have slimmed down in physical size, but also in reporting standards.

“No such thing as bad publicity” is a phrase often heard. It is now common to see the typical “night out” photo of a big-breasted wannabe-celeb, guzzling booze and allowing her tits to fall out of a dress designed for that purpose.

Our photo shows Lisa Appleton as part of a Big Brother "promotion" in the UK.

As it happens we have nothing at all against topless photos, or completely nude for that matter. We have no problem at all with man or woman emphasising their assets as part of self-promotion. And we also appreciate the feminine form in its many manifestations. But, and that is a small or large “but” depending on your point of view, there is a terrible lack of balance in the media in the UK these days.

Which means serious followers of news now follow the web rather than newspapers or UK tv news. Of course, we also choose the web for our quality porn as this is also seriously lacking in the UK non-media!!

True Blood is the Twin Peaks of the Noughties - and we love it

Just as adult TV received a huge shot in the arm when Twin Peaks graced our small screens in the early 90’s, so True Blood has broken free from the never-ending police-procedurals of our time. Oh, and our screens have got much bigger and the colours so much brighter.

All of which makes the arrival of another strong American character, played by Anna Paquin (photo), a real delight. Strong female characters seem to be in favour with some American studios, not least HBO. So taking the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris and adding the scriptwriter from American Beauty and producer of Six Feet Under has produced a winner.

There is nothing wrong with CSI and Law & Order and The Wire and the dozen spin-offs and copycats. They are good, chunky tv. The problem is the characters. The tortured white male cop. The ambitious black woman. The pretty examiners and assistants (that’s “pretty” of both sexes). And then, worst of all, the “human interest” angle when “the job” affects the personal life of one of the main characters.

In many respects Twin Peaks was a product of the 80’s with the wide variety of characters - many of them especially quirky - and the storylines that completely rewrote the themes of shows like Dynasty and Falcon Crest. If Twin Peaks redefined 80’s TV then The Sopranos redefined the 90’s. We all know the huge influence (and critical success) of The Sopranos and it could just be that True Blood is a worthy successor for the Noughties.

In fact, True Blood is not at all in the same “category” as Buffy or Twilight - despite many reviewers and critics making that connection. Both those shows are teen drama. Excellent teen drama, without doubt. So this is not to say that True Blood is better than those shows, but in a different category. Buffy and Twilight are the tv equivalent of pop music - and damn good pop at that - with catchy scripts, attractive characters and just enough teen experimentation to add some realism. True Blood is heavy metal in comparison, raw and loud and in your face.

The first season of True Blood has just started in the UK so the reception of the mostly uptight middle-class audience will be rather interesting to behold. Strong female characters who enjoy explicit sex are not the norm in tv shows made on this side of the Atlantic, so the coming weeks could be revealing in more ways than one.

Britney achieves the most Top 40 singles this decade

In another first for Britney Spears and, it must be said, the dominance of powerful women in the music industry, another milestone has been achieved. With its debut in the No.35 slot, Radar has become the 21st entry by Britney into the Billboard Top 40 chart this decade.

This makes Britney the best artist at achieving chart success among her peers - and also makes a mockery of all the critics and haters who try to belittle the musical power and attraction of a modern icon. Britney Spears presents fantastic pop music - year after year. This is in stark contrast to the lack of success of all the artists the critics try to promote as being “the best”.

Radar is the fourth single from the Circus album and puts Britney in the unique slot of having the most hits on the chart since 2000. In short, it also proves that Britney was never a "one hit wonder" and definitely not an overnight success. Years of hard work led to her success, and many more years of equally hard work has led to this new achievement.

Photo shows Britney on stage in the current Circus World Tour.