Thursday, August 27, 2009

Fashion designer Emme

Edit Posted by Varun G with 6 comments
Ask model and fashion designer Emme whether television and other media are more accepting of plus-size people, and she quickly corrects you.

"Average women," she says.

The host of the new Fox reality dating show, "More to Love," has been on this campaign since the mid-1990s, when she began telling full-size women to be more accepting of themselves. In her latest venture, she guides a 6-foot-3, 330-pound man as he chooses among 20 women who wear sizes ranging from 14 to 22.

Television is suddenly filled with images of full-figured people — real and fictional — although not as everyday people just living their lives. The shows focus on their size — on "More to Love," the contestants' height and weight, and that of the bachelor, were flashed on the screen as they were introduced in the first episode.

Oxygen's "Dance Your Ass Off" features 12 contestants, weighing a total of 3,000 pounds, who lose weight through dancing, and Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" is about a model-wannabe who dies and comes back as plus-size attorney.

The Style Network's reality show "Ruby" is in its second season, telling the story of Ruby Gettinger of Savannah, Ga., who's down to 350 pounds from her highest weight of 716.

"I think these welcomed shows are opening the aperture," on full-size women, said Emme, whose size ranges from a 12/14 to a 14/16. "These are fun shows to watch, and they are really taking the perspective of the full-sized woman and bringing it into the type of package people can relate to."

Some fashion magazines are ahead of the curve — so to speak — on featuring plus-size models. Glamour became serious about it in past five years, featuring Queen Latifah on the cover in May 2004, said Cindi Leive, the magazine's executive editor. In the past six to 12 months, "there is just more and more of a hunger among women to see images of women that look and feel real.

"There's a sense that being a sort of cookie cutter, homogenous standard of what's beautiful has started to feel a little bit dated," Leive said.

But the reaction to the 3-inch-by-3-inch photograph on page 194 of the September issue surprised even Leive. "I am gasping with delight," one reader wrote. "I love the woman on p 194," someone else wrote.

Model Lizzi Miller, a 20-year-old who wears a size 12/14, is shown in sideways pose, her arms covering her breasts, only the string of a string bikini visible at the waist. The shocker: Her belly hangs over the string and rests just a bit on her thighs. Not only that, but she's laughing AS IF SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW.

"There's a roll in her belly that looks like every woman over the age of 16," Leive said. "And there she is, looking happy and confident and like she loves life and like she's the sexiest thing in the world."

If people do relate to the shows — and Fox hasn't decided whether to renew "More to Love" — it may be because they reflect the image that Americans see in the mirror. The average U.S. woman wears a size 14, and an estimated 56 percent of American women wear plus sizes, which start at size 14 or 16, depending on the brand.

But not everyone is getting on the curves-are-better wagon train. Who can forget the uproar about Jessica Simpson, whose true crime was one of fashion — wearing unattractive, high-waisted jeans? Or Jennifer Love Hewitt defending her bikini look with words that never should have to be uttered — "A size 2 is not fat!"

Women who are the presumed demographic for the shows aren't always with the program either.

Lesley Kinzel, a 32-year-old from Boston who runs a Web site called fatshionista, said while she's pleased that television is more willing to show women her size (24/26), she's not happy with the portrayal of women on "More to Love," which she says features "a ridiculous amount of crying." And don't even ask about "Dance Your Ass Off" with its focus on weight loss.

"More to Love" is "reinforcing the stereotype of miserable, crying fat woman who hates herself," Kinzel says. "That's not my life and that's not the life of my friends."

Forty-one-year-old Cynthia Deis of Raleigh, N.C., who wears a size 16 to 18, says she's just not interested in a show about losing weight or focused on a character's weight: "Why can't it just be a story about a woman who's big and happens to have three girlfriends who she goes out to drink with ...?"

SallyAnn Salsano, executive producer of both "More to Love" and "Dance Your Ass Off" believes the shows present positive images of full-figured people, although from different perspectives. "More to Love" focuses on people who are more comfortable with their weight, while "Dance Your Ass Off" is about people ready to make a change, she says. (Although some of the women on "More to Love" sure seemed unsteady as they cried and said they had never been on a date.)

Salsano, who says she struggles with her own weight, worked previously on "The Bachelor," where both the man and the contestants are pretty much physically perfect.

"When we were casting girls, someone would say, 'that girl's a little too thick,'" Salsano said. "And I would think, I would kill to look like her."

So when Mike Fleiss, creator of "The Bachelor" and "More to Love," came calling again, she was more than ready. "We're finally getting a show for people like us," she recalled him saying.

Still, even host Emme acknowledges that in the best of all possible worlds, the contestants would represent all sizes. And many hope for a future where size isn't such a big deal.

When Glamour recently did a swimsuit fashion shoot with full-figured model Crystal Renn and the copy didn't mention her size, readers loved it, Leive said.

"That is something that is new," she said of the lack of editorial comment. "And women are ready to see that happen."

Watch Soccer 2010 World Cup

Nike brings style & thrill to US Open

Edit Posted by Varun G with 1 comment
As excitement builds for the season ending grand slam, NIKE, Inc. unveiled its US Open apparel and footwear for Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams at a Nike-built, regulation-sized tennis court in the heart of Manhattan.


At the temporary court, located at 23rd Street and Broadway, tennis fans and youth from New York Junior Tennis League, Athletes for Charity, New York City Parks Foundation and Mentoring USA were treated to inspirational tennis tips and guidance from Federer, Nadal, Williams, and McEnroe. A youth representative from each organization had a chance to win a donation for their local group by returning balls from a tennis simulator set to mimic pro shots. The chance to hit against the simulator was also open to the public.

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“This is an exciting opportunity to bring the thrill of the US Open directly to tennis fans in New York," said tennis icon John McEnroe. "Providing a platform for kids to experience the beauty and power of this game and meet their tennis icons is incredible.”

On site, Nike also unveiled the much anticipated apparel and footwear looks for Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Maria Sharapova.

“We are very proud to raise the bar for this year’s US Open apparel and footwear collection by drawing inspiration from New York's style and energy,” said Janice Lucena, Global Tennis Design Director. “From Nadal’s taxi cab yellow polo to the sleek sophistication of Maria and Serena’s night dresses, we continue to create product that helps our athletes perform better on the court while looking incredible.”

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Apparel and Footwear
Roger Federer’s contemporary style is embodied in the details and craftsmanship of his US Open day and night looks. These looks are modern, consisting of bold red and black. Federer’s in-game polos are constructed of knit Nike Dri-FIT fabric in the body and a woven Nike Dri-FIT collar for comfort and moisture management. The body of the shirt has an embossed dot pattern inspired by the subway signs of New York, and the button placket features Roger’s black RF monogram logo, applied using bonded innovation and laser cut detailing.

As the 2008 US Open defending women’s singles champion, all eyes will be on Serena Williams as she looks to defend her title. Her day and night looks were inspired by cocktail party attire, with design call outs including soft pleating at the neckline, a starburst pin tuck detail at the back, and a hemline featuring a bold contrast of color. Both the magenta day dress and black night dress are made of Nike Dri-FIT knit fabric to wick away moisture and help keep Williams cool on the court.

Rafael Nadal has a contemporary style, and the energy of New York serves as the design inspiration for his apparel. Rafa is known for wearing bright colors and will debut a bold yellow and black look, inspired by the streets of New York City and its’ signature yellow taxi cabs. Also featuring a multi-row dot print across the chest, the polo is inspired by the colorful numeric subway signs of New York City. Nike Dri-FIT Mesh is incorporated in strategic places for breathability to keep Nadal cool.

From it's humble beginnings in 1930 the Soccer World Cup has grown to be one of the most spectacular sporting events in the world. The 2010 Soccer World Cup promises to be the planet's biggest sporting event ever. Well over a billion people are expected to follow the month long tournament between the world's top 32 soccer playing nations.The World Cup is the most important competition in international soccer and is organised by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), the sport's governing body. The tournament takes place every four years. The previous tournament was held in 2006 in Germany and Italy won the World Cup. 2010 will be the first time that the final tournament will be hosted by an African nation. For your convinience, you can get all the updates and news of 2010 Football World from Fiesta Football blog which is now one of the world most rated Soccer/Football blog. And if you are a avid Cricket fan, you must catch the on going series between the worlds best test playing nations and also the T20 ones from Cricket Sports Blog.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Satellite TV To Launch A New Film Channel

Edit Posted by Varun G with 1 comment

Sky Italia has announced to launch a new channel dedicated to local movies in order to keep itself ahead in the Italo dish market.

From July 31st, it will show Italian films from 1940s to 1990’s starting with Luchino Visconti’s “The Leopard”.
This move is the latest chapter in the bitter rivalry between media head Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset and Rupert Murdoch’s Sky. This comes just before the launch of joint RAI-Mediaset-La7 TivuSat satellite platform which is also scheduled on 31st July.

TivuSat, Dish TV provider will target 15-20 percent Italian households in the mountainous areas. People living in this area will not receive digital terrestrial television when the analog television is switched off in the year 2012. The satellite TV is seen as a revolutionary platform. Some observers say that Sky Italia is worried about the rumors that Medusa, the major Italo content producer and film distributor owned by Mediaset might no longer deal with Murdock broadcaster. And by the end of this month, Sky Italia will learn if pubcaster RAI is to block the broadcast of its terrestrial channels on sky satellite dishes.

Analyst Alessandro Bai-Badino of Deutsche Bank quoted that everyone seems to against Sky at the moment. It is almost creating a nuisance in reference to its attacks on the Berlusconi government decision to raise VAT on the subscription of satellite TV. The new channels of Sky would help boost the profile of Italian Cinema. Film personality Nanni Moretti said that as a viewer and a film buff he would like to thank Sky for bringing in a new film channel.