Off to New York City

I'm studying for my film history exam, which is tomorrow afternoon and is my last exam ever.
Therefor I've been supernervous for the last couple of days. The professor is also the promotor of my thesis so off course, I want to make a good impression.

At the same time, I'm also very anxious for tomorrow to come since -as I mentioned before- my boyfriend and I are leaving for New York City on saturday morning. I still have a million things to do and I haven't even packed my bag yet. Every time I go to my aunt's to borrow her super-sized luggage, she says: "Honey, you don't need to carry along so many things, you just need your passport and your credit card!" But last year, during our previous NYC-trip I learned the hard way, how much damage a VISA can do.

I'm still wondering if I should bring my little Chanel-bag. At least so I won't be tired dragging my bag around after a whole day of walking. My boyfriend on the other hand, prefers the Balenciaga cause that way he can drop al his stuff in my bag and don't have to worry about his wallet getting stolen...

Anywho,
I'm back to my studying. And I'll say goodbye with images from my new favorite "store/blog": The Bergdorf/Goodman-blog! I'll be back next weekend with some NYC-pictures...



The Sex and the City 2-windows at Bergdorf!

(source: Bergdorf Goodman Blog - Pictures: Julia Chesky)

Btw. what will Chanel come up with next? Chanel cotton pads for 20$, crazy!

(source: Bergdorf Goodman)

Sex and the City - in my opinion

So it has been a week now since Sex and The City has been released in Belgium. I hope you all have seen the movie by now, so that I don't ruin your fun by revealing the movie plot.

(picture: imdb.com)

So, that's why you can read the review after the jump:
*spoiler alert*

Getting ready for Sex and the City 2

So tonight, my sister and I are finally going to see Sex and the City 2 at our local theater. We've got tickets for a so called 'Ladies Night' so I'm curious to see what all the fuss is about that kind of events.

Only thing is that my sister has a fever and she's been sleeping on our couch for the whole day now, but she still wants to come along. Hopefully the movie will exceed my expectations so she'll be able to think less about her feeling bad, and more about all the clothes (read: product placement) she wan't to have...

Since I'm in a Tiffany blue kind of mood today, I decided to try out the Chanel Le Vernis Riviera-nailpolish, also because I hate wearing 'matchy matchy' colors (Nouvelle Vague is practically identical). The color is perfect, I always love raspberry-inspired nail polish.

Sex and the City - Product Placement

Quote of the day:

"Sex and the City 2 (...) brandishes enough product placements to embarrass a Formula One driver..."
(Telegraph.co.uk, 25/05/2010)



This morning I was reading some SATC2 reviews -like this one for instance-, when this little line mentioned above made me smile.
Wednesday I'm going to see the movie during a so-called 'ladies night' at our local theatre. I am excited to see the movie, but I can't help but feeling that I won't be able to enjoy the movie since I probably will be watching it with a 'I-wrote-my-thesis-about-this-subject-and-now-I-can't-help-but-criticise-the-film-constantly'-perspective. No fun at all.

So, which of you have already seen the movie? And what did you think? Are the film critics right?

Sex and the City - Product Placement

I know you probably expect me to upload the rest of The Sartorialist-pictures, but I want to take my time to write the post since it has been such an overwhelming day. Anywho, If you care to see the pictures, you can always check my sister's blog, she's made a nice review of our day...

Just a moment after I decided to head off to bed, I came across this article and I am shocked! Remember how I tried to count the number of product placement / signature designer outfits in the Sex and The City 1? Well, the article basically says that tomorrow a 'style guide' (500 pages!) will be released for fans who want to obtain the SATC-look, and off course all of the outfits will be credited...

I had a feeling that the sequel would be more of a long commercial than a real story, but this time the product placement and tie-in team is really pushing it... And it's getting on my nerves actually. In my thesis I say that fashion films offer the designers a great platform to place their designs in an unobtrusive and natural way in a story... but Sex and The City has lost just that! The film, not even in theaters yet, already feels forced and unnatural.

Such a shame.

Anywho, I'm I the only one who feels this way?
This I do know: I am going to mention this on the presentation of my thesis to the jury! Curious to find out what my promotor thinks about my opinion on this evolution...


Pictures we took in NYC during the shooting of SATC2.

-What seemed to be- carefully picked out Burberry and Henri Bendel bags as product placement! 

Sex and the City - Extended Trailer

Oh no, not Aidan again...

Prèt-à-Porter

As mentioned before, for my thesis on film and fashion I'm analyzing Robert Altman's Prèt-à-Porter. The film is a parody and satire on the fashion world, and ridicules the industry. The movie, set during Paris Fashion Week, sends out a quite stereotype and negative message that only greed, betrayal and shallow 'keeping up appearances' are of the greatest importance in the business.

And yet, never did I see a Hollywood picture in which so many 'real designers and models appeared; Jean Paul Gaultier, Gianfranco Ferré -back then working for Dior-, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, Issey Miyake, Campbell, Schiffer, Christensen... And not to mention the designs by many other great fashion houses. It's a shame that I've left the DVD at home, but when I return for the weekend I'll put up a screen shot of the end credits, so you can discover which designs -by whom- were featured in this 'fashion film' yourself! This movie beats Sex and The City for sure.

But the 'communications scientist' in me can't help but wonder; why were these fashion icons so happy to work on this project, if it puts the industry in bad daylight? Is bad publicity better than no publicity?

For anyone who loves fashion, this movie is a must!



Don't let this boring trailer mislead you, the film is much more fun...
And the title chosen for this movie is genius, Ready To Wear, when all designs presented are totally unwearable.

edit: And according to literature, Karl Lagerfeld was so furious that one of Altman's characters portrayed the french designer of chanel as a 'thief' that he called in the German juridical system and had the movie banned from German cinema's. But the picture does however feature quite some product placement by the house of Chanel. Curious and curiouser...

Product Placement

Another weekend has passed and once again, I've spent it working on my thesis. Since I'm analyzing the use of product placement in 'fashion films', I have to check which brands I and my two 'assistants' (my sister and boyfriend) are featured in the four films I've selected for my research.

Remember when I did the same thing for Sex and the City?

Back then I spotted 25 different high end fashion brands. My sister did the same thing two weeks ago, and got 23 brands, while my boyfriend found 17, if I can figure out his hand writing correctly. Chanel got a leading role in the movie since it was featured the most amongst the brands.

Yesterday, my boyfriend helped me out with The Devil Wears Prada. And Patricia Field and the producers did a great job on this one. Just by recognizing bags, boxes, and labels in the back drop, or listening to which designers and fashion houses the characters are talking about we've found a whole list of fashion brands; Although he claimes he doesn't have a good eye for these sort of 'where-is-wolford?' and other brand recognition-games, my boyfriend spotted 30 different brands. My list on the other hand featured 32 labels. Once again Chanel was the big winner, although Prada is mentioned in the title and gets the spotlight.

I'm planning to do the same thing for Confessions of a Shopaholic, Funny Face and Prêt-à-Porter, which should be interesting since the two latter are more of a parody on the fashion world. Furthermore, I'm going to analyze the four films on what message they send out; a Hollywood dream world or rather "don't sell your soul for shoes and bags"?

Either way, although the high amount of brands featured in these films might be irritating for the viewer, they don't disrupt the film experience, nor are they perceived as payed advertisement. Since the main story is set in the fashion world, it is only natural that the characters talk constantly about their favorite fashion label or that bags and recognizable must-haves are lying around in the background? And that all of the scenes take place in luxurious fashion stores and fashion salons? The fashion film is the natural habitat of product placement, and this without giving the crowd the feeling that they're watching a commercial...

Think again, this scene bothered me the most...

Sex and the City Inquiry

For my second chapter in my Fashion/Film-thesis, I am writing a segment on product placement in fashion movies. Since the first Sex and the City-movie got awarded with the title 'Film Whore of the Year' by the Brandcameo Product Placement Awards, I just had to mention the film.

Als we all know, the movie is packed with the namedropping of high fashion brands, glamourous -recognizable- fashion must haves and tie-ins. The collaboration with Bag Borrow or Steal is the most remarkable, in my opinion. After the e-shop was mentioned explicitly, the number of members increased by 217%, and more importantly, the number of 'bag borrows' rose up to 400%. And the website gets the idea of product placement and tie-ins perfectly: "Look like a SATC star: Carry Bags Seen in the Movie".

(source: Bag Borrow or Steal)

Many significant authors state that the reason why these marketing techniques are a success, is because they give the film viewer the illusion that they can follow into their favorite star's footsteps and be a little like them. The movie as well as the leading characters become sales men and once again, Hollywood functions as a dream maker -remember what I concluded about the shirt scene in It Happened One Night?

Vanity Fair send two fashion reporters to examine how many brands were exposed in the movie. They counted about 25 fashion brands, excluding fashion magazines, stores and other brands. But since the two probably were experts on the subject, I was wondering how much of these fashion brands will a 'normal viewer' spot and recognize?

If by any chance you are planning to watch the movie again, and if you care to join me, and help me count, you are all more than welcome! Every dress -, shoe -, purse designer that you can spot, counts in this one, even the one the four ladies namedrop... Thanks a million.

Edit: I have just finished up searching for the 'hidden' labels in the film, and I've found every brand the Vanity Fair team reported, except for Ferregamo, Nike and Adidas. I did however spot some brands that they didn't find: Judith Leiber, Roberto Cavalli and the rainbow bird of paradise Alexander McQueen dress, which is quite saddening given today's tragic event.

SATC 2

As mentioned before, I'm not that fond of the first Sex and The City

movie. And the trailer of the sequel is actually as boring as hell. No

idea what to expect what so ever, especially since they all lived

happily ever after at the end of part one. However, I'm dying to see

this one, as I stated before for the wonderful outfits they were

spotted wearing. And I can't help but feel nostalgic when it comes

to Carrie & Co. Maybe I should switch my thesis' subject to

'fashion sitcoms' in stead of 'fashion films' cause I'm still a huge

fan of the re-runned episodes: at least they had a plot.

SATC 2 will be in theaters at the end of May 2010.

edit: so apparently this is only the teaser trailer:

contradictio in terminis, 'cause it didn't left me wanting more.

edit: according to The Cut this movie has a message.

SATC 2

Fashion product placement in Film = Sex and The City:

So excited to see the sequel, not for the plot - SATC 1 was quite boring- but for the clothes, off course.

On the last day of our trip to New York City, we spotted part of the cast and crew at Bergdorf's.

It made our day. And I think Cynthia Nixon looks more beautiful in real life than she does on screen.

Patricia Field

Cynthia Nixon / Miranda

Btw.

I have no idea why 'blogger' keeps cutting my pictures in half, when I select the 'small' size picture-button...