JASPER JAMES

Today I stumbled upon the website of international photographer Jasper James. Primarily based in Beijing and London, James takes breathtaking portraits of people and the cities they are enveloped by. Here are a few:

MARION COTILLARD

Marion Cotillard is one of the most recognizable French actresses of the moment, along with Juliette Binoche, and Audrey Tautou. Her recent Vogue cover shoot was absolutely beautiful. Here are some images:

She is also currently the face of Dior:

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!

In honor of Bastille Day, I thought I'd post some pictures by French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and by French artist Yves Klein. Enjoy & Vive la France!

And Yves Klein (and some IKB):

And some other wonderful things that come from la France:

Liberté, Liberté chérie!

EUGENE O'NEILL & CARLOTTA MONTEREY

Today, for my internship, I was reading a long biography of Eugene O'Neill. I was focusing on the information revolving around his marriage to Carlotta Monterey. He had a complicated family life and was estranged from the mother of his children and largely from his three children. O'Neill had discussed a "pledge" with his first wife, Agnes, that stipulated that "if ever one came to the other and said they loved someone else that we would understand--that we would know that love is something which cannot be denied or argued with." I think this is such a fascinating topic, and a scary one; O'Neill and Agnes made good on this pledge when O'Neill fell in love with another woman.

I have become totally fascinated with their lives, and I think some of the pictures of them are truly stunning.

Despite what some of the less-than-optimistic content of his plays would suggest, O'Neill displayed boundless energy and happiness he exuded in his writings to Carlotta. In one small example, he dedicated a copy of his Mourning Becomes Electra to her by writing to a "mother and wife and mistress and friend! And collaborator! Collaborator, I love you!"

He also is quoted saying "I love life, but I don't love life because it is pretty. Prettiness is only clothes-deep. I am a truer lover than that. I love it naked. There is beauty to me even in its ugliness. In fact, I deny the ugliness entirely, for its vices are often nobler than its virtues, and nearly always closer to a revelation."

On to reading Long Day's Journey Into Night...

JON HAMM & JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT

As we are anxiously awaiting the premiere of the new season of Mad Men, we can at least get our fair share of Jon Hamm elsewhere. Here are some shots from a W Magazine story on Hamm's new movie (directed by Ben Affleck), The Town:

And my personal favorite pop star from childhood, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is all grown up! Remember him in his 10 Things I Hate About You days?

He looks great in the most recent issue of Details magazine:

COUTURE 2010

Some of the Fall collections have already proven fabulous (I agree TOTALLY with Kelly about the Dior), and some collections have been underwhelming. Here are some of my favorite looks:

The Dior, of course. 

Armani Privé:

I think the gowns from this collection are truly elegant. 

The Elie Saab collection was beautiful too, but as a whole, it was not quite as refined as the Armani Privé in my opinion. I did love all of the deep reds. He is definitely not afraid to make gowns dramatic. 

I was disappointed by the Valentino and Chanel collections. I did love the Valentino heels (below):

The collection was titled "The Dark Side of First Love." As has been pointed out, it's a bit too far towards Lolita, and not far enough towards sophistication, no?

And the gloves were admittedly fabulous:

Some of the Chanel was interesting, but none of it was breathtaking like the Armani Privé or the Elie Saab: 

And how about that Chanel hair?

The Givenchy collection was very decadent. Designer Riccardo Tisci designed only 10 pieces, all emulating skeletons. Each gown was a literal work of art (more clearly so than other collections in my opinion), with one gown taking over 1,600 hours to complete. The process was surely a bit obsessive, and Style.com wrote (aptly) that "In obsession is born the cult of couture." I guess collections like this one, not based in beauty as much as in concept and execution, are inevitable in this world of couture. Here are some images: