The Sartorialist in GQ. Not photographing for them, but being interviewed by GQ. Growing distant from his original “street style photographer” status, the much esteemed mr. Schuman was (somewhat) crayoned for GQ in a very moving manner, one that put him on a glowing pedestal, a galaxy away from his blogging origins.

I said earlier that “I tried” going through the article (click here to read it).

Without much success though – its author touched me deeply in the most unexpected way – I felt like reading through one of my boys’ school papers. An essay brushing the Sartorialist in every direction. On the fifth (and last) page he was so shiny and slick from all that brushing and polishing that my appetite took the rest of the day off.

The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman, Gets Profiled By GQ Magazine

Would this mean the end of bad taste affordable fake Hermes bags hanging on every pretended fashionista’s arm out there? Or it’s just a drop in an ocean of counterfeit goods? Honestly, were you ever tempted to buy fake designer goods? Although I contemplated the issue myself, I think it’s lack of respect for the work put into those designer (luxury) goods to go ahead and buy something fake and pretend it’s the real deal (also lack of respect towards the global financial situation).

Hermes Wins Lawsuit Against Counterfeiters. Good Or Bad?

Anyway, of all days, all those long hours sneaking behind it, trying hard to not press the play button, it had to be today. Today I watched it! Today, my dahlings, I went through the entire tissue box in that two minutes time! Not half of it! There’s no half measures when it comes to the hardest job in the world. The best job in the world! Today, you see, it’s our baby girl’s birthday. She’ll always be our baby girl. (Happy Birthday Princess! We love you so much!)

And any girl who grew up in a boy – filled house knows how special she is! That’s how our little girl is, with three brothers! She’s the princess of the house. The princess of our hearts. Now, hoping I din’t scare you off, press play and watch one of the most clever – built advertising campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. (P & G for London Olympics 2012).

Advertising Vs. Matters Of The Heart

I’m puzzled! I was really fascinated with the Beastie Boys music when I was younger. There was this street – wisdom charm to their songs I couldn’t always relate to. But this? I couldn’t relate to even if I wanted to – Mercedes – Benz is behind some pretty awesome cars, I give you that, but wearing their emblem around my neck is taking appreciation one step too far. Towards lame. But what do I know? (more after the jump)

They say it’s the appreciation of an era. The 80s revival with a glam twist. I say it’s just a bad taste display of misplaced luxury affiliation. But the hipster crowd who showed up at this Opening night celebration of the Mercedes – Benz Transmission LA at the Audio – Visual Club surely thought differently. After all, one of the Beastie Boys was curating the event, he couldn’t possibly be wrong. Especially since in his young hipster & rebel 80s days, he used to carry a VW emblem around his neck, much like he did now with the Mercedes – Benz one. Contemporary art, really?

Kitsch Avantgarde: Mercedes Benz Necklaces

Arizona is one of the most sought – after models of the moment (and by “moment” I mean three seasons already). But did you know she’s also a mother to a 3yo baby boy, Nikko? You know what that means, right? That means that Arizona Muse was pregnant. And look at her now!

When questioned about juggling modeling career and baby, post baby body and so forth, Arizona said it would be better to shape your career prior to having a baby. (hit the jump for an answer to “why that”) and also:

You just have to give your body time. You can’t have a three-month-old baby and think, ‘That’s it for me.’ I tell mothers that you have to wait a whole year before you start judging your body, before you start working on it.

Now, call me Arizona, call me anything you like, but most of all, call me “I told you so”! You’re not being pregnant for three months, now why ask of your body something as radical as forgetting about the pregnancy in the next three months after you’ve given birth? They say nine months to put on the baby fat, nine months (at least) to take it off. And that’s no joke.

Now I said I’d give you some good reasons as to why (or not) should you establish a career before having a baby. The pros? Well, you’re financially stable, duh! And you have that page of your life already mapped out, you don’t need to nurse your baby and shiver with insecurity about your job. That way you can concentrate on your wee one alone (hopefully, ideally). Either way, what you need to understand when you’re taking the pregnancy boat is that you need time. Patience and time. And the rest will follow.

Arizona Muse About Baby Fat

Well, after MGA’s Bratz announced in February that starting June 2012, a bald True Hope Bratz doll edition is going to hit the stores, Matell felt the need to issue a statement saying that a friend of Barbie, a bald doll, is going to be produced in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital Association. Not for stores availability, though, as the new bald Barbie will be distributed exclusively to children’s hospitals, directly to those affected by the hair loss condition. Well, it’s a step in the right direction, isn’t it?

Barbie Releasing Beautiful And Bald Barbie After All!

However, I’m certain that the girls had serious contractual responsibility towards Victoria’s Secret, so they had to get back fast and honor them. And so they did! But once the pregnancy – birth rollercoaster was put in motion, another responsibility ensued, even more important than the VS one: being a role model for mothers all over the world. Which could be something they haven’t anticipated avant bébé. (the story continues right after the jump)

The common (mis)belief is that women who become mothers (as in go through a pregnancy or more) can no longer go back to what / who they used to be. Physically, that’s a major lie women are being forcefully fed with during their pre – baby life. At such a degree that baby making can induce major panic. (we’ll get back to that later). There’s a truthful dimension to the “never go back” slogan – mentally, no woman can go back to what she was after she went through a pregnancy and after delivering her baby. Holding that wee one in your arms, I’m tellin’ya, it’s an epiphany of mythical proportions! It’s definitely a life changing moment, a turning point in our heads (and bodies). Reading about it (and telling stories about it) will never level the actual feeling.

Growing a baby (inside and outside of you) grows you. Literally. What women don’t see before having their babies, is that, for a good period of time in their life, not only they won’t consider their body as a priority, but that their entire list of priorities is going upside down. Almost everything crumbles and rebuilds itself in a new, better architecture. And that goes also for the physical and the mental aspect of every woman out there. (if there’s any man reading these lines, I apologize for not rendering their side of the story. God made me a woman, you see. Maybe in my next life I’ll be a man and then I’ll enjoy the parenting perspective through a man’s eyes! Until then… hang on or move on, either way you’ll have it, I’m still going to spill my story! Hopefully you’ll hang on? Thanks)

I started this by talking about Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima. Not because I take them as the ultimate role models to illustrate my point, but because I was casually reading about them and their plans and this huge sisterhood of baby bumps kicked in and took over. See, these women are models. That’s what they do for a living! If you were a lawyer, a dentist, a social worker, you name it, you’d do pretty much the same thing they do – only you’d get to keep your clothes on! Doing their job, that’s what they’re doing. And that’s what you (many of you reading these lines) are doing too. From dawn till dusk, even beyond, you’re working your eyes out.

But in the end, is it worth it? Of course it is, said the house mortgage. Of course it is, said the car out front! Of course it is, whispered the clothes in your wardrobe! Great! You have wonderful clothes, amazing shoes, a beautiful house and a great car. You have so many options, so many going for you right now and still you don’t get a good nigh sleep. Most of the nights. “I work too hard” you say to yourself. “I don’t go out as much as I ought to” and so forth. You try to change things. Twist your schedule, find some hobbies, get a new man. And still, after a while, your nights become restless again.

You know when you’ll really have a great night sleep? (Heck! Any sleep will be a great sleep during that special time! And you won’t know what an amazing nap is until you’ll feel that the toilet seat could be your perfect pillow!) When you’ll have your baby! Supposing Jennifer Lopez isn’t reading these lines and so she won’t have to raise her eyebrows looking at the impressive number of helping staff in her service, dealing with the babies and their needs! No, I’m talking about normal people! I love me some normal moms! Some normal women who just entered the motherhood swirl and fondly embrace their maddening condition!

So, let’s pretend you had your baby, right? Like any new human being you’re beginning to have a relationship with, you’ll start by getting to know each other. You’ll have your frets and animosities, you’ll have your moments of despair but also countless reasons to enjoy each other and feel like you’ve just touched Heaven whenever you touch the other one’s hand. Now imagine you’d have to get up, leave that amazing mini – you and go work a sweat! How’s the sound of that? baby – gym. Gym – baby? Suddenly it’s not all that important to get your pre – baby body back, huh? You’ll have plenty of time for that when that cutie pie grows up and you won’t feel your knees melting each time he / she looks at you. And viceversa!

So you see, at that very moment you’ll feel deep respect and heartwarming empathy for models who just had their babies and they have to go out and work their eyes out to look just like before! Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, just a handful of beautiful young women you’ve seen looking aaahmazing in their underwear, catwalking their heavenly bodies on Victoria’s Secret runway and who had to get toned abs before enjoying simple things like breastfeeding their babies or measuring each square feet of their home, night after night, while holding their crying baby in their arms.

And you know the irony of it all? That although it’s the baby who brought all that “baby fat” upon your heavenly body, it is the same baby who’ll also take it away! Breastfeeding? It burns fat faster than ten ice cubes would melt in your morning protein shake! Holding your baby in your arms to comfort whenever his or her tummy aches? Tones your arms like a thousand biceps and triceps stretches could! Walking night after night with your baby in your arms is unbelievably toning for your legs. Putting your baby in your crib, taking your baby from your crib definitely makes your upper body work!

And until you can regain your avant baby wardrobe, you can always trick your way back into great clothes! Loose fitting shapes are de rigueur right now, every designer joined the oversize trend for two seasons already. So wearing a bubbly skirt won’t look just as camouflage as it actually is for you! It’ll look trendy! Slouchy looking boyfriend jeans are still in, season after season, fashionistas keep their BFjeans close and wear them faithfully!

Loose maxi dresses are a mother’s best friend! During the pregnancy and after giving birth, they’re perfectly comfortable and amazingly concealing! You’re certainly not a VS model to put on an abs show on the beach! You’re very concerned about the effects of the sun on your skin, so you either stay away from the beach, or keep covered while under the sun – so nobody’ll get to actually see your baby fat – it’s that simple! You’re picking up healthier habits like drinking lots of tea or plain (non mineral) water, eat regularly, healthier food, dress comfortably and enjoy every aspect of your life to never before known heights of enthusiasm and engagement! And yes, maybe you won’t be as you were before having your baby, but you know what? You’ll be better! Healthier, more motivated, happier, fulfilled and, yes, so much more beautiful!

(this would’ve never been possible without the help, support and appreciation of my amazing Adored Husband whom I love to pieces from here to eternity and then some, without our wonderful, continually challenging four kids contributing to our daily routine and then some. Or without you! My unspeakably supporting readers and virtual friends! You know what they say: good mothers have sticky floors, messy kitchens, dirty ovens, laundry piles and happy kids! Amen to that!) (the photos were handpicked from here, there and everywhere, assembled with utmost care and dedication by yours truly)

The Beach Belongs To You! Mothers Can Be Bombshells Too!

As such, model and activist Sara Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, joined efforts with one of the Jezebel writers, also former model herself, Jenna Sauers, to reveal as much as possible in a survey sent to 241 models. Of which only 85 answered. Even so, the facts stand straight and speak loud about the industry. Take a look for yourself:

Models: Facts. Numbers.

And, if I’m not mistaken, Vogue Russia is the new Vogue Paris! At least with Vogue Paris’ Doutzen cover (no offense, Doutzen, you know I love you to pieces), there’s really no doubt, Vogue Russia leads the Style Bible pack! Doesn’t it? (if you’re having doubts, click through to see some images from the inside pictorial – Hedi really tries hard to pull some fashion out of Daphne!)

As upsetting and contradictory as it may seem, this Vogue Russia cover / main pictorial brings out a lot of wrongs happening right now in fashion. One of them would be (too) young models trying to pull the sensual game and only going as far as looking esc()rt ready. Which is completely normal, given that they’re not at the right age to have (1) the confidence required by this kid of role playing and (2) the right photographers, stylists, editors to know exactly how to obtain a certain look from them.

Another flaw in today’s society, fashion or not, is overdoing it. Logos, makeup. It’s all too loud. Over the top, like Vogue Italy’s issue so well put it, much to everyone’s horror and indignation. Why do fashion people keep on wearing the hypocrisy cape? It will only sunk us deeper!

Daphne Groeneveld’s Vogue Russia April 2012 By Hedi Slimane

And because the dust has somewhat settled on that campaign, Equinox is reclaiming his place in the spotlight with a new question: Are You Skinny Fat? While the slogan can appear as slightly illogical, they figured out a way to forcefeed logic into it: by measuring the fat percentage in the global body mass. Otherwise known as “normal weight obesity”. Sounds catchy, huh? Means that not only should you worry about the numbers when it comes to your weight. But also about the quality of that particular weight.

Now: it may be too early for me to think about skinny fat, and surely a high end fitness center won’t make me reconsider the way I look at my body fat. What they want to sell, in the end, is basically the same thing: eat healthy and train regularly. There’s no revolution there. (however, if you want to know more about Equinox and their Skinny Fat thingie, head on here. Their website is full of healthy wisdom. yawn! Now excuse me while I go flex my muscles and scoop out the chocolate from that pantry top shelf – this skinny fat thing’s got me confused, I need my sugar levels back to think straight).

Are You Skinny Fat? Equinox Asks