If You Want to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

Apart from my Mum there are not many women who I look up to. There are women who I like a lit and admire such as Michelle Obama, Stephanie Savage, Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers. Mara Brock Ali. Well you can add Kelly Cutrone to that list: the no nonsense taking entrepreneur is a real role model for ladies. If You Want to Cry, Go Outside contains personal and professional stories from Kelly about her secrets to success without compromising your soul and values. She draws on her vast experience in mentoring women on how to make it in fashion to create a modern lady's guide. If you do not have the 'perfect' life ie hubby, kids, career and home then this book will most definitely talk to you. Kelly's main mantra is that you should create the perfect life for you by finding out what it is that you want and what makes you happy. She also advises that you stick to this philosophy and do not let anyone steer you away. She points out that today's society teaches us to ignore our inner voice and follow the crowd but in this book Kelly enables us to stop pretending and start living.

I normally do not do self help or how to books as I find them to be cheesy and frankly only produced to make a fast buck or two. I picked up this book because after been made redundant I have reached a bit of a crisis in terms of my career plans. Also I am fascinated about how Kelly got her fabulous career and not to mention that wonderful loft apartment. I admire her feistiness and success and really wanted to know more about her and how she got where she was. The book is not a chronological narrative of Kelly's career but instead it is theme based. Each chapter has a message and an example from Kelly's colourful life which has taught her a valuable lesson and she merges both personal and career together into a seamless tale. If You Want to Cry, Go Outside is a book that really makes you think about your contribution to society is. There are a few complaints from PR wannabees that they were expecting the book to be mostly about breaking into the industry, I guess that is only natural given Kelly's background however, Kelly does state in the introduction that this is not the case.

If You Want to Cry, Go Outside is available to buy from amazon.

Push

The Hills and The City both come to an end on Sunday. whether The City will continue on our TV screens remains to be seen but it is most definately the end of the road for The Hills. Coincidentally Push, the British version of The Hills hit our screens last night. It featured Sienna Miller lookalike, Lydia Harrison who has moved from Glasgow to London in order to pursue a career in fashion journalism on a glossy magazine. Armed with a popular blog, Lydia sets out to get as much experience as she can so we see her meeting with key people in fashion at Nicole Farhi, Models 1, Cult Beauty and Elle magazine in order to work on several projects. As money is tight she is crashing at her cousin, Chloe's funky studio flat in Shoreditch. Chloe is a ballerina who after an accident is struggling to learn how to dance again. Like The Hills. Push has its share of drama such as Lydia's ex boyfriend, Jake showing up out of the blue after he cheated on her. We also get introduced to Lydia's friends such as Alex who is her GBF and works in marketing and Tom who is an aspiring photographer. Push is a 10 week series where we will see Lydia working towards her goal, contributing to fashion blogs, working alongside top models and assisting stylists while navigating her way round the vibrant city of London. In Devil Wears Prada style we get to see her graduate from wearing high street clothes to designer labels.

They have been talking about making a UK version of The Hills for a few years now but nothing came of it so I was really surprised to hear about this show. The look and feel of the reality drama is quite dark and edgy; the shots are very much like the ones in The Hills and The City with over head paramanic views of London's skyline. I found the drama reality to be watchable but it did not draw me in like I was expecting; for some reason I just did not find the lead character very charismatic. She seemed really stiff and all her lines came across as extremely forced. However I guess as the series goes on and we see her getting more engrossed in her career I will start to engage more with the programme. There were a few things that niggled me though such as the lack of clarification on a few basic things. For a start what is the name of Lydia's blog? Also Lydia has just moved from Glasgow yet she has a very sloaney London accent - is she actually from the South of England and only lived in Glasgow for a few years? Lydia is seen hanging out at hip and trendy places in London. Quite how she can afford this with no real source of income is beyond me. But I guess that is the beauty of the show, presenting an enviable lifestyle. My final gripe is the name of the show - Push? Really? What on earth does that represent? It sounds like something featuring a bike. Not sexy at all.  The promotion of the show has not been great and I only heard about it by chance on Twitter when DisneyRollerGirl retweeted a link to an interview in Media Week with Anna Jones, the digital and strategy director at Hachette who publish UK Elle. There were no adverts in Look, Company, Grazia and Stylist whose readers are the key audience. It is a shame really because Lydia's lifestyle is something that a lot of young women covet and I am sure it would be very popular if they were made aware of it. Still Rimmel London are sponsors of the programme

Push is aired on Fiver at 10pm on Wednesdays.

Kell on Earth

Those of you watch The Hills and The City will know that Kelly Cutrone does not joke. The PR Guru takes no prisoners and does not mince words when she has something to say. She is no doubt one of the most entertaining and enigmatic characters in the two hit reality shows. Lauren Conrad who The Hills was based on and Whitney Port who is the star of The City just pale in comparison to Kelly. So it was of no surprise last year when I heard that good old Kelly is getting her own reality TV show. Aptly titled Kell on Earth, the programme will focus on her company, People's Revolution which reps fashion designers and stylists such as Jeremy Scott, Paco Rabanne, Vivienne Westwood, Sass & Bide and the legendary Patricia Fields.

Kell on Earth airs on 1st February on Bravo TV and I cannot wait to see it.  With a book due out in the same week it looks like Kelly will be a very busy lady.

Check out the clip above and tell me what you think of it.

The Hills: Alive and Kicking

The O.C may have only been around for four years but it certainly made it's mark and when the teen drama shut down shop in 2007 it left behind a few things. For a start the birth of Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson as style icons and the introduction of the creator, Josh Schwartz to TV heaven. However in my eyes the main legacy of The O.C is the fact that it became the inspiration of The Hills. For it was the lavish lives of the teenagers of The Orange County that led to the reality show, Laguna Beach and it was here that we met the likes of Stephen Colletti, Lo Bosworth and a certain Lauren Conrad. The pert Lauren left Laguna for the heights of LA and moved onto her own reality show The Hills and the rest is history. Over the last five years we have been caught up with the drama and tribulations of Lauren's world. We have cried with her, laughed with her, laughed at her and watched her fall out with friend after friend.

Now Ms Conrad is about to say goodbye to her life on the small screen and will move onto new pastures new. Such as? I hear you ask. Well for a start she has penned a book called L.A. Candy and is about a young lady who moves to the city of angels and ends up on reality show. Wow, I wonder how long it took her to come up with that concept? But you know what? I can't wait to read it. Going by the spiel on the HarperCollins website, this book has all the qualities that I look for in my fiction. Fun, drama, glamour and with the odd bit of fashion thrown. L.A Candy hits the stores on 18th June but if you can't wait till then you can read an excerpt on TeenVogue. Quite fitting considering Lauren spent a great deal of her vital years there. HarperColins have signed Ms Conrad to write three books for them so look out for more literary works from Laguna's finest.

So with the commercial success of The Hills, other characters from the show have taken the opportunity to work on other projects. First we have Brody Jenner with his diabolical reality show, Bromance. She-devil boss, Kelly Cutrone has been granted her own reality show called Kell on Earth and is also writing a self help book to young women on how to rule the world. I am sure it will be riveting as Kelly is. Oh of course lets not forget Whitney who is riding high with the success of her own fly on the wall series, The City. Looks like the hills are alive and kicking.

The Dress

Carine Roitfeld is not the only fashion icon to be given the documentary treatment courtesy of CNN. Last year Belgium born, Diane Von Furstenberg aka DVF was featured in a short film that gave us an insight into her glittering career which resulted in the iconic wrap dress. The documentary gave us an insight into her life in the 70s when the knitted jersey wrap dress was introduced and also covered her remarkable comeback in 1997 when she launched her high end luxury collection. It would be fitting to say that DVF has come a long way since her early days and is now a heavy weight in the fashion industry what with her position as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) oh and lets not forget her role in The City. Although she has expanded her empire into a fully fledged lifestyle brand aimed at the young and beautiful who live life to the full, it is the wrap dress that everyone associates her with and it is the wrap dress that is now a staple in every fashionista's wardrobe. "Feel like a woman - wear a dress" is DVF's slogan. Women all over the world certainly felt feminine in the belted wrapped item made in pretty printed material that was inspired by a kimono. What I love about dresses is that not only do they look chic and elegant, they are so easy to wear because you do not need to worry about finding a matching top or bottom. Also they are flexible and can be glammed up or down depending on the situation. Over the last few decades some amazing dresses have made their way onto the scene and passed the strength of time.


The Galaxy Dress
This was created by Roland Mouret in 2005 and worn by almost every celeb on the land. Named after a street in London this dress made more appearances on the red carpet than I care to remember. Sienna Miller, Kiera Knightley, Victoria Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Rachel Weisz were all seen donning the figure hugging creation.


The Mini Dress
This was inspired by Mary Quant who introduced the mini skirt in 1964. The likes of Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy were seen parading in A line dresses and sleeveless shifts. Today it is still as popular as ever with shops from Topshop to H&M to Selfridges stocking it.


The Little Black Dress
What on earth would we do without one of these? This was designed by Coco Chanel back in 1926 and is still relevant today. So iconic that there has been an exhibition on the Little Black Dress aka LBD exploring the history of the piece. The LBD has also been embraced by the music industry with R&B group, En Vogue wearing black dresses in their video Hold On. Robert Plant also had a group of models wearing LBDs while acting as backing singers in his video Addicted to Love.

So it looks like the dress is here to stay for many years to come.

The City

Hooray, my favourite Hiller, Whitney Port has at last been granted her own fly on the wall show. Next year we will see the LA native move from her home town to the Big Apple after landing a job with iconic designer, Diane Von Furstenberg where she will pursue a brand new life with love and friends thrown into the mix. The show is titled, The City and Whitney will be able to offer more than the predicted pre-emptive questions to Lauren Conrad about her dramatic life as we have seen in the last four series of The Hills. Smart, sassy and classy, Ms Port really has all the attributes that are needed to front a fantastic reality series. She may be regarded as the quiet and steady one in a show that is full with drama queens and a great friend to Lauren but there is something about her that is so intriguing. So it will be interesting to see the angle that MTV take on the show we all know that The Hills is scripted but Whitney does not have the volatile nature of Lauren or her drama fueled lifestyle. Therefore there is a danger that The City may not get the huge ratings of The Hills but if the producers play it right they could have a slick and savvy show on their hands. With Philip Lim, Marchesa and Valentino down as her favourite designers, we expect to see Whitney boasting a stellar wardrobe and rocking that amazing NYC lifestyle combined with living in a stunning loft. Her stints at Teen Vogue and fashion PR company, People's Revolution will certainly hold her in good stead.

The City will be aired on MTV in early 2009.

Check it Out
If you are doubtful as to whether Ms Port has what it takes to rock her own reality show then check out this trailer below.