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Hasbro has canceled plans to produce a line of fashion dolls modeled on the pop act the Pussycat Dolls after parents objected to the group's racy image. As announced yesterday, about a month after Hasbro announced the line as part of a deal with Interscope Records, the label that released the debut CD of the Pussycat Dolls.
Hasbro, Inc., famous for such innocuous toys as My Little Pony figurines, isn't saying much. In a statement, the Rhode Island company said the older age group targeted by the recording group meant that making a doll line was "inappropriate."
Hasbro saw the Dolls series as a line that would fit in with — and compete against — the Bratz fashion dolls from MGA Entertainment. But an advocacy group, Dads and Daughters, recently mounted a letter-writing campaign pressing the company to shelve the Dolls line.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Dads and Daughters mounted letter writing campaigns that resulted in about 2,000 letters and e-mail messages to Hasbro from shocked parents, The New York Daily News reported Thursday.
'Parents were instantly upset about it,' Josh Golin of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood told the Daily News. "They`re scantily clad. Their lyrics are sexual," he said.
Hasbro confirmed they will not be manufacturing the dolls, after having received over 2,000 letters of complaint. The more respectable Spice Girls and Girls Aloud dolls obviously set a much better example.
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So when is the last time you can say you really felt good all over? Think back to the last time you took a nice long, hot bath with your favorite bath goodies and a beautiful scented candle.
I'm sure many will agree with me when I say that there is no other feeling in the world that matches the one associated with drowning your worries away in a nice scented bath filled with the elements of nature. It has been proven over the years that certain scents trigger areas of our brain that make us feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
Did you know that certain natural essential oils are said to provide mood enhancing properties? Take for instance, Bergamot with it's sweet yet spicy scent is said to be somewhat of an antidepressant while the sweet and citrusy notes of Grapefruit can uplift the spirit making it more of a stimulant.
One of my favorites, essential Lavender oil has been used for many years for it's calming and sedative properties.
Some people may or may not believe in the powers of aromatherapy and I suppose it is a matter of opinion, but, after a trying day at work, give me a lavender scented candle and some soothing bath oil any day as opposed to any over-the-counter or prescription medication to calm my tired nerves.
Contributed by Sharla Harding, the founder and creative director of Luxury Home Elements, makers of exquisite hand-poured candles and luxurious and unique bath and body products made with exotic oils and butters. These products and more can be found at www.luxuryhomeelements.com
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No Pussycat Dolls Toy
Hasbro has canceled plans to produce a line of fashion dolls modeled on the pop act the Pussycat Dolls after parents objected to the group's racy image. As announced yesterday, about a month after Hasbro announced the line as part of a deal with Interscope Records, the label that released the debut CD of the Pussycat Dolls.Hasbro, Inc., famous for such innocuous toys as My Little Pony figurines, isn't saying much. In a statement, the Rhode Island company said the older age group targeted by the recording group meant that making a doll line was "inappropriate."
Hasbro saw the Dolls series as a line that would fit in with — and compete against — the Bratz fashion dolls from MGA Entertainment. But an advocacy group, Dads and Daughters, recently mounted a letter-writing campaign pressing the company to shelve the Dolls line.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Dads and Daughters mounted letter writing campaigns that resulted in about 2,000 letters and e-mail messages to Hasbro from shocked parents, The New York Daily News reported Thursday.
'Parents were instantly upset about it,' Josh Golin of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood told the Daily News. "They`re scantily clad. Their lyrics are sexual," he said.
Hasbro confirmed they will not be manufacturing the dolls, after having received over 2,000 letters of complaint. The more respectable Spice Girls and Girls Aloud dolls obviously set a much better example.
Read more!
Bathed In The Elements Of Natural High
So when is the last time you can say you really felt good all over? Think back to the last time you took a nice long, hot bath with your favorite bath goodies and a beautiful scented candle. I'm sure many will agree with me when I say that there is no other feeling in the world that matches the one associated with drowning your worries away in a nice scented bath filled with the elements of nature. It has been proven over the years that certain scents trigger areas of our brain that make us feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
Did you know that certain natural essential oils are said to provide mood enhancing properties? Take for instance, Bergamot with it's sweet yet spicy scent is said to be somewhat of an antidepressant while the sweet and citrusy notes of Grapefruit can uplift the spirit making it more of a stimulant.
One of my favorites, essential Lavender oil has been used for many years for it's calming and sedative properties.
Some people may or may not believe in the powers of aromatherapy and I suppose it is a matter of opinion, but, after a trying day at work, give me a lavender scented candle and some soothing bath oil any day as opposed to any over-the-counter or prescription medication to calm my tired nerves.
Contributed by Sharla Harding, the founder and creative director of Luxury Home Elements, makers of exquisite hand-poured candles and luxurious and unique bath and body products made with exotic oils and butters. These products and more can be found at www.luxuryhomeelements.com
Read more!
Stilton Perfume Of Cheesemakers
Some say Britain's pungent blue-veined Stilton cheese smells of old socks. But its fans have turned the rare odor into a perfume.
The Stilton Cheese Makers Association commissioned an aromatics firm to create Eau de Stilton, described on the association's Web site as featuring a "symphony of natural base notes including Yarrow, Angelica seed, Clary Sage and Valerian."
"Blue Stilton cheese has a very distinctive mellow aroma and our perfumier was able to capture the key essence of that scent and recreate it in an unusual but highly wearable perfume," said an association spokesman.
The perfume will be available from www.stiltoncheese.com
Via
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The Stilton Cheese Makers Association commissioned an aromatics firm to create Eau de Stilton, described on the association's Web site as featuring a "symphony of natural base notes including Yarrow, Angelica seed, Clary Sage and Valerian."
"Blue Stilton cheese has a very distinctive mellow aroma and our perfumier was able to capture the key essence of that scent and recreate it in an unusual but highly wearable perfume," said an association spokesman.
The perfume will be available from www.stiltoncheese.com
Via
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Shopping With Designer Norma Kamali
"I really had no intention of getting involved in fashion. I wanted to be a painter, but my mother kept informing me on a daily basis that that would not pay the rent, and she threatened to put a lock on the refrigerator if I didn't get it together with a real career and start contributing to the house."
So said Norma Kamali when we met up with the striking 60-year-old designer - all angular cheekbones, sharp red bob and Garbo-esque shades - at her sunny loft like showroom in midtown Manhattan last month to do a little shopping and get the lowdown on her celebrated thirty-year career, for which she won a CFDA Board of Director's Special Tribute Award last June, given to acknowledge significant contributions and commitment to fashion.
Significant contribution may actually be a slight understatement in Kamali's case. All we can say is: Thank you, Mama Kamali, for "forcing" your daughter to go into fashion. Because without her, the world would be devoid of sleeping bag coats, stylish workout wear, parachute pants, 4-in-1 dresses, ingeniously cut swimsuits and all the other (now standard) clothing innovations that Kamali was personally responsible for introducing into the 20th century fashion lexicon. Not bad for someone who graduated from FIT with a degree in fashion illustration and spent her early post-college years working a computer job in the airline industry.
"I think all designers have an antenna about what's next," said Kamali with characteristic modesty of her groundbreaking ways, as she gestured to an imaginary antenna on her head. "I don't think it's a special talent that just I have. People who are in fashion - and designers in particular - just pick up the energy and electricity of what people are feeling, and it becomes so much a part of who you are as a designer. Many times [different] designers all come out with the same thing at the same time. That's not an accident; it's a real kind of energy - and everybody's feeling it and expressing it in their own way."
"I used to collect everything and had a lot of things for the home because I had a home store, but when I turned 50 I stopped collecting," she said while navigating her way through pages of, errr, home things. "I felt like I had collected all this stuff - I had things in warehouses I never even saw - and that all this stuff was holding me back. My possessions were possessing me."
One life-confirming trip to India and a Christie's auction later, Kamali was blessedly stuff-free. Thankfully, we were there to change all that.
"Simplicity for me is really important," she said while showing us the $39 five-piece Fiestaware place setting she had chosen in sunny yellow.
"If you look at your daily routine, there's only a certain amount of space in your apartment that you can use and room that you need and things that you need," she added. "If you have things but stop using them, I think it's time give them to someone else to use and enjoy. If you let go, so much more comes to you."
At that moment, what was coming to her was a puffy sky blue comforter ($19) and (click, click) - "What is this? Save 30 percent on a microfiber blanket?" - a sublimely plush reversible blanket (on sale for $19) that was turquoise on one side and grass green on the other.
"We're not finished yet. Yellow beach towels, $5 each. Bling! $100 exactly, madam," Kamali said, her voice ringing with triumphant glee. "Not bad, right?"
Not bad at all. Someone who didn't know any better might even call it lucky.
By Lauren David Peden Via Fashion Wire Daily
Read more!
So said Norma Kamali when we met up with the striking 60-year-old designer - all angular cheekbones, sharp red bob and Garbo-esque shades - at her sunny loft like showroom in midtown Manhattan last month to do a little shopping and get the lowdown on her celebrated thirty-year career, for which she won a CFDA Board of Director's Special Tribute Award last June, given to acknowledge significant contributions and commitment to fashion.
Significant contribution may actually be a slight understatement in Kamali's case. All we can say is: Thank you, Mama Kamali, for "forcing" your daughter to go into fashion. Because without her, the world would be devoid of sleeping bag coats, stylish workout wear, parachute pants, 4-in-1 dresses, ingeniously cut swimsuits and all the other (now standard) clothing innovations that Kamali was personally responsible for introducing into the 20th century fashion lexicon. Not bad for someone who graduated from FIT with a degree in fashion illustration and spent her early post-college years working a computer job in the airline industry.
"I think all designers have an antenna about what's next," said Kamali with characteristic modesty of her groundbreaking ways, as she gestured to an imaginary antenna on her head. "I don't think it's a special talent that just I have. People who are in fashion - and designers in particular - just pick up the energy and electricity of what people are feeling, and it becomes so much a part of who you are as a designer. Many times [different] designers all come out with the same thing at the same time. That's not an accident; it's a real kind of energy - and everybody's feeling it and expressing it in their own way."
"I used to collect everything and had a lot of things for the home because I had a home store, but when I turned 50 I stopped collecting," she said while navigating her way through pages of, errr, home things. "I felt like I had collected all this stuff - I had things in warehouses I never even saw - and that all this stuff was holding me back. My possessions were possessing me."
One life-confirming trip to India and a Christie's auction later, Kamali was blessedly stuff-free. Thankfully, we were there to change all that.
"Simplicity for me is really important," she said while showing us the $39 five-piece Fiestaware place setting she had chosen in sunny yellow.
"If you look at your daily routine, there's only a certain amount of space in your apartment that you can use and room that you need and things that you need," she added. "If you have things but stop using them, I think it's time give them to someone else to use and enjoy. If you let go, so much more comes to you."
At that moment, what was coming to her was a puffy sky blue comforter ($19) and (click, click) - "What is this? Save 30 percent on a microfiber blanket?" - a sublimely plush reversible blanket (on sale for $19) that was turquoise on one side and grass green on the other.
"We're not finished yet. Yellow beach towels, $5 each. Bling! $100 exactly, madam," Kamali said, her voice ringing with triumphant glee. "Not bad, right?"
Not bad at all. Someone who didn't know any better might even call it lucky.
By Lauren David Peden Via Fashion Wire Daily
Read more!
