15 Facts about Elizabeth Taylor

I love Elizabeth Taylor. As a child I was bewitched by her performance in National Velvet. My Mum told me she was "the most beautiful woman in the world". Indeed, one thing that keeps being mentioned during all the press following her death is that she had a beauty that stopped people men and women, in their tracks, rendered breathless.
The other thing people say is that she had a fantastic, bawdy sense of humour. Not only was she stunning and funny, but she was strong and a tireless advocate for her friends and AIDs research. In a recent interview, she said that she wanted to be remembered for her strength. I'm sure this will be the case.

Here are 15 facts you may or may not know about the fabulous Elizabeth Taylor.

1. She was a talented hair stylist who cut friend’s hair, and her own when her stylist was unavailable

2. She converted to Judaism in 1959, before marrying Eddie Fisher

3. She hated being called Liz, because it sounded like a hiss

4. She was married 8 times, to Richard Burton twice

5. Her first husband was Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton Jr, Grand Uncle of Paris (whose father was immortalised on Mad Men Seasons 3 and 4.) They divorced after 9 months.

6. She was one of the first celebrities to advocate AIDs research when it was still a much feared disease, after her friend Rock Hudson died in 1985 (she founded the Elizabeth Taylor HIV/AIDS Foundation in 1991). She has raised over $100 million for AIDs research.

7. She really did have violet eyes, and a genetic mutation meant she had a double set of eyelashes

8. In the 1980s Schering-Plough developed violet contact lenses inspired by her

9. She loved Twitter and started an account in 2010, as @DameElizabeth. She Tweeted on 23th July, 2011: "Hold your horses world. I've been hearing all kinds of rumours about someone being cast to play me in a film about Richard and myself", followed by "No one is going to play Elizabeth Taylor, but Elizabeth Taylor herself."

10. She wore perfume very day

11. She was great friends with Michael Jackson and Godmother to his children Paris and Prince Michael

12. She and Michael bonded over their lack of a childhood, and would often don disguises and go to the movies together

13. She was the voice of cartoon Maggie Simpson’s first world

14. Her perfumes “Passion", "White Diamonds", and "Black Pearls" earn an estimated US$200 million in annual sales. Her next perfume, “Violet Eyes” had its name chosen by her Twitter followers

15. She owned some of the moors expensive jewellery in the world , including the 33 carat Krupp diamond and the 69 carat pendant both given to her by Richard Burton

Elizabeth inspired countless women, stylists, designers and artists with her look and her style. Here are but a few.

Wheels & Dollbaby, inspired by Elizabeth's hour-glass, traffic stopping curves!

Alexander McQueen's MAC range, inspired by Elizabeth in Cleopatra

I love this shoot by Ellen Von Unwerth, inspired by Elizabeth Taylor and Cleopatra

Rest in Peace Elizabeth
1932 - 2011

Mag Love

As mused upon here, I love fashion magazines. I am, quite frankly, an addict. I adore the photography, the glamour, the bright acid colours winking at me from those glossy thick pages. The other day I was meandering down Ponsonby Rd after an appointment and was lured by the siren call of one of my favourite stores, Mag Nation. I stood transfixed by the glossies for at least 10 minutes until I finally made the reckless decision to forgo waiting for the cheaper sea freight issue and buy the brand spankers LOVE magazine. I didn't go for the Kate & Lea T cover which I blogged about here previously - I really loved the Kate cover above shot by Mert and Marcus, so I snaffled it up. Whilst there I had to restrain myself from buying one of more of the following latest issues whose covers seduced me.

Oh, Galliano

A few weeks ago the fashion world was rocked by the shocking anti-Semitic rantings of John Galliano, now former head designer for the House of Dior in France. It is especially sad as being a minority himself as a gay man, you would have hoped Mr Galliano had a more open mind, wherewithal and sensitivity towards people who are persecuted enough already. I agree with the article Isaac posted - while we can celebrate his amazing achievements, justice had to be done - i.e. his dismissal from Dior. Here's the article, from The New Yorker which muses upon Galliano's spectacular fall from grace. Galliano was a close friend to many a celeb, including Kate Moss - and was widely rumored to be designing her wedding dress for her forthcoming nuptials to Jamie Hince from The Kills (other musical half of the divine Alison Mosshart).

Kate & John

I adored soooo many of Galliano's creations. His punk sensibility and wild haute couture flourishes were fashion gold. Here are a few of my favourite Galliano fashion moments:

Gwen Stefani's Wedding Dress, 2002 - to die! One of my faves celeb wedding dresses ever
(including Dita's Westwood)

Some Carrie moments, naturellement! Styled by Patricia Field. The newspaper dress
may in fact be my favorite Carrie outfit ever

Love Courtney circa the 90's and early 00's.This fabulous shredded midnight number is
at the Golden Globes, 2000. One of my fave Gallianos.

Taylor chancels Courtney in 2010 for Galliano's fragrance Parlez moi d'amour
- still a cute punky pic though. Check out the vid here - I do like her voice.

The beautiful Carla Bruni in her hey-day, one of my favourite Supers of the 90's -
and now Mrs Sarkozy. Pic is from 1995

I love Ms Moore. Here she is at the Globes, 2010. I love Demi in this sublime nude, frothy
confection.Well done Rachel Zoe (Demi's long time stylist until she was usurped by her protege,
Brad Goreski in earlier this year - fashion scandal!)

Nicole's Oscars Chartreuse Chinoiserie gown was the talk of the town .
This 1997 moment helped make NK a fashion leader. and remains a red carpet favourite

I preferred this gold Galliano from 2000. Divine.

Riri

Not loving the top but adore the turquoise skirt! However, she should have been wearing these...

I adore Galliano's silk, suede, feather, wood and lambskin Dior heels!

After weeks of speculation, Dior are still zip-lipped about Galliano's replacement, with designers Richard Tischi (Givenchy), Albert Elbaz (Lanvin), Hedi Slimane (ex Dior Homme) and Aussie's Akira Isogawa being bandied about. Time will tell whether anyone has the chops to step into the shoes one of fashion's true greats.

Knit for Christchurch!

The lovely peeps at our High Street store Glassons have joined with many other NZers to help raise money for the people of Christchurch who were devastated by an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude on February 22nd. This after a previous quake in 5 months previously in September, but luckily it happened in the middle of the night and was less magnitude. Thankfully no one was killed in September, but the damage was extensive none the less. The shakes and aftershocks continued though, terrorizing the city. The 2nd Earthquake took 150 lives and has created billions of dollars of damage has been done. I was there last week and the damage is devastating far and wide - and that was outside the cordoned off 'Red Zone'. Very sad. I have friends who have fled the city and never want to return. Children as young as 2 are terrified and in therapy. People are homeless, and there are big silty piles of liquefaction mixed with raw sewage were lying around. Whenever a wind comes up, it flows into the streets.
So, to raise money Glassons is asking clever Kiwis to knit a black & red scarves between 1 1.8M long that you can drop into a Glassons store. This will run for the next 2-3 weeks and will be sold for $25 with 100% of the profits going to our friends in need in Canterbury. If you can't knit - buy a scarf for $25! So, get knitting for Christchurch! More on Isaac Likes here and the 'House of G' Facebook page here.

You can also donate directly to the Red Cross NZ here.

Buy a Songs for Christchurch mix tape, see more here.

Kate Moss for LV & other Fashion Spectacles

My favourite, Kate Moss caused a mini furor when she surprised guests at Marc Jacob's Louis Vuitton show in Paris this week, appearing on the catwalk in leather gloves and hot pants, smoking a cigarette. Kate rarely graces the catwalks these days so her appearance, strutting out in her custom LV outfit was a treat for the glitterati - just maybe not for those who adhere to the French law of no smoking inside public buildings.

Kate Moss for Louis Vuitton

This is why I love Marc Jacobs - he loves a stunt (Victoria Beckham in an over sized shopping bag, anyone?) With two of fashion's greatest showmen out of the picture (the late, great Alexander McQueen and John Galliano), we need all the surprises and stunts we can get! One of my favourite McQueen fashion show moments was his stunning Kate Moss hologram, screened at a show in 2006.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2006 Ready to Wear

Lady Gaga was Alexander's muse and it was fabulous to see her making her catwalk debut, growling and gurning (and also smoking!) for Thierry Mugler, also at Paris Fashion Week. The spectacle was a bit of a pick-me-up for the fashion crowd following the news of Galliano-gate. (NEWSFLASH - Ricardo Tisci from Givenchy is being touted on the social media circuit as the replacement for John Galliano as Head Designer at Dior! Official confirmation pending...)

Lady Gaga and her stylist Nicola Formichetti during and after the show

Although, we also still have the wonderfully irreverent Jean Paul Gaultier, who used to be dubbed the Enfant Terrible of fashion. He was the one who had Madonna walk his catwalk topless and invented her conical bras.

Madonna and John Paul Gaultier, 1992

JPG was also in the media recently for his inspired move of having beautiful Aussie/Croatian model Andrej Pejic walk in both his Men's and Women's Spring 2011 collections. Andrej is also flaunting a cigarette! Must've been the big trend in Paris this Fashion week!

Andrej Pejic for John Paul Gaultier, Spring 2011

And last but not least, we can't forget another Enfant Terrible of fashion, the British designer Vivienne Westwoood - Queen Viv. Having Pamela Anderson strut her runway at Paris Fashion Week in 2009 was inspired! In a way, you can see how the two have struck up a friendship - strong, kooky, crazy chicks!

Pammy for Vivienne Westwood, 2009