UPPERS
Still Diet: As a comment on our cultural obsession with celebrity weight loss, Italian photographer Dan Bannino captured the unusual and frequently ridiculous ingredients of a variety of fad diets in a series of still life photographs that mimic the dark tones of Dutch Old Master paintings.
Brands and the City: French artist Pierre Buttin has created a nine-minute video that counts the number of times every brand was mentioned in all 94 episodes of Sex and the City. Overall, there are 324 brands mentioned 838 times. Check out the montage below:
Redefining Realness: Transgender author and activist Janet Mock has joined Marie Claire as a contributing editor. “To have a magazine say ‘No, we know that girls and women come from various walks of life, and you’re just on one path, but that doesn’t negate from the experience of what a woman is or who a woman is,’” Mock says. “I find that to be revolutionary.” Also this week, Cosmopolitan published a list of their signature sex tips for lesbian women. Progress!
Beggin’ for Thread: On September 9, Banks will release her highly anticipated LP Goddess. She has already released five of its 18 tracks, and this week shared the more radio-friendly Beggin’ for Thread, offering yet another very promising insight into what looks set to be one of the best debuts of the year.
3.1 Phillip Lim x NARS: Inspired by “colours that exist in the shadows”, the limited edition nail collection features nine shades, ranging from rich jewel tones to chic nudes to muted opaques. Lim explains, “These colors are for all-seasons, all-time, anywhere, anyplace. To me, these are the essential 3.1 Phillip Lim colours.”
Actually Call Saul: A real-life billboard for Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul has appeared in Albuquerque, advertising the services of a younger Bob Odenkirk (formerly known as Jimmy McGill) and the phone number actually works! Listen to the answerphone message below:
DOWNERS
Blake Lively’s deathstyle site: This week, the Gossip Girl star officially launched Preserve, her nightmarish new online “creative space”. We couldn’t possibly choose our favourite part: Lively’s painfully earnest editor’s letter? The gothic colour scheme? Terrifying array of fonts? Or perhaps the ghostly imagery…
Lady Gaga’s jazz album: Gaga has chosen to put ARTPOP (and presumably the Terry Richardson/R. Kelly scandal) behind her by reinventing herself with a new look and a new jazz album. Apparently, Gaga “will be dressed ‘elegantly’ on tour — no eggs, no meat dresses”, dashing our hopes of seeing Tony Bennett as vomit artist.
“Unacceptable”: Nicki Minaj took to Instagram to address criticisms of the cover art for her upcoming single, Anaconda. In a series of posts, Minaj pointed out that when more petite models with lighter skin tones flaunt their bodies, it’s “angelic, acceptable” but when she does it, it’s “unacceptable”.
VB’s bling rings: Posh has apparently gathered 13 engagement rings during her 15 year marriage, totalling a reported £4mil.
In the FROW: Would you pay $95,000 (€71,000) to sit on the front row at a runway show? A charity auction is offering a package deal for #frow access to Prada, Fendi and Giorgio Armani at Milan fashion week. Considering each show runs for an average of 15 minutes, that’s €1,578 per minute.
The Dark Knight Returns: Jaden Smith, Twitter philosopher and sometime rapper, reappeared in his Kimye wedding costume at Comic-Con this weekend. Enjoy:
