By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Nalani Ravelo, left, and Kate Schuette model prom dresses at Neiman Marcus.

Prom season is around the corner and Neiman Marcus is hosting a prom event today, along with their Beauty Event, continuing into March. I ran into Kate Schuette and Nalani Ravelo on the store floor yesterday when they were doing informal modeling pf prom dresses, including the ones pictured, by Sue Wong, at $390 for the gray, and $350 for the pink. Prom dresses weren’t as pretty when I was in school, or maybe they were but no one was carrying them.

With all of the spring colors available, it will be a pretty season. I’m just wondering how the economy will affect proms. In the past, retailers have told me parents spare no expenses on their children at prom time. We’ll see if that holds up this year as well.

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If you have time tomorrow, check out jewelry made by Rona Marie and friends at the Kim Chee & Jewelry Sale at 928 Wailupe Place, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 1.

I see more people opting to buy jewelry over clothing now. I guess the rationale is clothing wears out, but jewelry doesn’t, and even if you tire of a piece as is, stones and metal retain their value and can be reworked into updated styles.

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Lastly, here’s a random sighting on the street yesterday. If you have to wear a helmet, it might as well be a reflection of you:

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
“Lost’s” Michael Emerson on the red carpet.

OK, OK, so it’s been a while. Can’t a person just recover from Sunday’s Oscar Night America festivities at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel?

The event was once again presented by the Hawaii International Film Festival, against the colorful backdrop of the Pink Palace and blue skies. Guests walking the red carpet were also invited to pose for that postcard photo against Diamond Head, with some group so big, they blocked the landmark.

Photographer Jeannemarie Viggiano at work. You can visit jeannemariephoto.com or hiff.org for more photos from the event.

Some guests tried to sidestep the red carpet to avoid getting their pictures taken, but I could see how the red really highlights the person and makes what they wear pop. See how washed out it can look; otherwise, the gold would have looked terrific against red, like in the bottom photo. So if you ever have occasion to walk a red carpet, plan accordingly.

The difficult part of covering the local event means I missed seeing the actual Hollywood red carpet. Only a snippet is shown just before the Oscar ceremonies begin airing. I still haven’t caught up via TV or Internet, so when people talk about Sarah Jessica Parker’s dress or Miley Cyrus’s dress, I can’t offer an opinion. From what I saw from the awards ceremony, I liked Penelope Cruz’s dress, I thought Jennifer Aniston really needs to call a stylist, and Reese Witherspoon’s gown looked as if she had a date with Brian Boitano. The sequins and frills were a little costume-y and over-the-top, so I don’t know what happened. She’s dressed so impeccably for all her red carpet events of the past few years.

The Oscar program was great, and it was a nice touch to honor all the nominees, instead of showing yet another film clip that’s been shown dozens of times during award season. I had a couple of teary moments when Heath Ledger’s family went up to the stage, and when Anne Hathaway and Kate Winslet were being honored. They are such wonderful actresses. I see in Anne the same honesty and earnest quality that Heath brought to his roles, that made him so special, even when he appeared in lightweight fluff. It still makes me sad to think that at 28, he would have had such a brilliant career ahead of him.

Someone actually asked me if, when cameras focused on sadness in the eyes of the audience, if it was real emotion or if they were acting for the cameras. Good question. I only know I could never date an actor because it’s hard enough to gauge what’s in the heart of a normal, lousy actor sort of person.

Filmmaker Brett Wagner, left, with Christina Simpkins and Chris Lee.

Jay Chen, left, was chairman of the event and greeted guests early in the evening.

HIFF executive director Chuck Boller was the center of attention all evening. I had to drag him away for a shot, and even then, people were calling at him from behind me.

The silent auction featured a signed script, props and photos from the TV series, “House,” and some of the gear used in the George Clooney film, “Leatherheads.” (more…)

By Nadine Kam

Associated Press photos

Although the latest “Project Runway” season hasn’t even aired, the finalists showed their work at New York Fashion Week, and it looked like another sort of Rami/Christian showdown. Now that the week is over, it’ll be last season’s news by the time the episodes actually air. The program is mired in a dispute due to its move from Bravo to the Lifetime network. You can read more about it at the Times.

Whoever designed this, though, looks like a winner to me:

The show may have run its course. With all the problems in the fashion industry, few are interested in throwing money at the next big thing, in favor of keeping the tried and true afloat.

I’m more interested in seeing the start of Style’s “Running in Heels,” with its peek behind the scenes at Marie Claire. It starts airing March 1. It’s bound to be amusing.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Members of the outgoing 56th Cherry Blossom Festival Court, from left, are Miss Congeniality Keri Haitsuka, Princess Dawn Yonamine, First Princess Ashley Kaneshiro, Queen Trisha Tamaru, Princess Stacey Fukuda and Miss Popularity Jamie Lyn Migita. They’re wearing designs by Anne Namba.

The 57th Cherry Blossom Festival fashion show took place Feb. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, featuring garments from Cinnamon Girl, petite denim by Allisonizu worn with tops and accessories provided by Split Obsession and watches by Swatch, plus ready-to-wear and custom creations by Anne Namba.

KGMB9’s Steve Uyehara and Jeff Booth were the emcees who took their own turn on the catwalk before the show, which you’ll see if you have time to watch the video. I try to keep ‘em short for all the attention-deficit blog readers out there, at 3 minutes max. This one will take a whopping 6 minutes of your life if you have the time to spare. Contestants might want to make the time to study their walk. Cameras (and judges) love a good walker.

Petite denim by Allisonizu is paired with a top and jewelry from Split Obsession, and watches by Swatch.

The fashion show featured modeling by Cherry Blossom Festival contestants Kristi Akiona, Kristen Chung, Tasha Firestone, Jenna Gyotoku, Gina Maeda, Tanya Masunaga, Traci-Ann Miwa, Kelly Nakano, Jessica Taum, Kristen Teves, Janelle Uchida and Kristine Wada.

Members of the outgoing 56th festival court — Miss Congeniality Keri Haitsuka, Miss Popularity Jamie Lyn Migita, Princesses Dawn Yonamine and Stacey Fukuda, First Princess Ashley Kaneshiro and Queen Trisha Tamaru wore Namba’s one-of-a-kind creations.

The event leads up to the Festival Ball March 28, sponsored by the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, where attendees can cheer on their favorite contestant.

Visit http://cbfhawaii.com/57/ for all the details.

By Nadine Kam

Here’s a look at some of the Fall 2009 barely there makeup looks coming off the New York runways:

Thakoon
Lead artist: Diane Kendal for NARS Cosmetics

Inspired by the 1940’s, reflecting the surrealist images of photographer Lee Miller, combined with ‘80’s rock and roll glam, for a look that’s strong without being too girly. To bring strength to the face, Diane focused on creating smoky eyes and full brows, while downplaying the lips and keeping skin fresh with a light blush for a healthy glow.

3.1 phillip lim
Lead artist: Ayako, International Makeup Director, NARS Cosmetics

Hair and makeup was created to emulate Tao Okamoto’s look, a Japanese model in Phillip Lim’s Fall 2009 collection. Fused together, Phillip wanted the makeup look to mirror Tao’s mod style with a touch of rock ‘n’ roll for a “poetic mod-rock” look. False lashes were placed on the outer half of the bottom lash line and was the central focus of the look. For an exaggerated effect, matte charcoal shadow was used with a wet eyeliner brush to draw lashes beneath, as if to create a shadow effect. The wispy lashes were accompanied by shimmering pink and gold shadows, while the lips were muted with concealer. Matte skin was accented by a gentle sweep of shimmer over cheekbones to catch the light.

Marchesa
Lead artist: Talia Shobrook for NARS

Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig created their Fall 2009 collection with fairytales in mind. To highlight this theme, Shobrook envisioned of a naughty aristocrat running out of a party, “like a young girl going into the woods wearing a gorgeous ball gown, putting on makeup rather naively.” The look features wild brows atop flawless skin. Beneath the brows was a colored lid of matte white, as if applied in a fleeting moment. Soft lips complement perfect skin.

Rodarte
Lead artist: James Kaliardos for M.A.C

I really loved the sisters’ urban warrior collection, with pieces representing a patchwork of leather, tulle, lace and lamé. To go with the look, M.A.C created the stone face look inspired by sculpture, with white around the eyes and paintstick blended into the skin. Lips have a dark brown cream color base, with the addition of white and black to create a stone-gray lip.

Cassandra, left, and model Kelsey Campbell.

Coincidentally, Julie Aragaki hosted a party at Bonsai for her latest project, a magazine called Chromatic Wednesday night, where I spotted model Kelsey Campbell with “the look.” It was created for her by Cassandra, who also does makeup for Janet Jackson, so she has to be on top of trends.

I think non-models would prefer more color though. I often look washed out even WITH makeup!

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Of course, Marc Jacobs had to be different, and enlisted non other than Francois Nars himself to create a neon-glam look with a touch of 1980s Culture Club:

By Nadine Kam

Associated Press photos
Lining up for the runway.

Mattel’s Barbie turns 50 on March 9 and the fashion world celebrated early with a Valentine Feb. 14, a fashion show during New York Fashion Week, in which 50 designers showed designs made for the cultural icon.

There’s been a lot of flap over the years about the problem with Barbie and girls’ body image. Last night, “Nightline” tried to reignite the controversy, but I think that’s an old argument. Outside of the handful of women who plump themselves up with collagen and Botox, while vacuuming out fat, most girls today are too busy and too smart to aspire to becoming a real-life Barbie, instead opting to be the best they can be.

Besides, when I was a kid, I didn’t exactly relate to Barbie’s body. She was old. She looked like she was 25. The idea of boobs was not something I could identify with positively or negatively. All I knew was that they were troublesome to work around when making clothes (I also had yet to discover the magic of darts).

Barbie probably fueled many fashion ambitions, giving creative kids everywhere their first manikin and inspiration. Even so, they probably never mastered the boob thing either because most male designers seem to design for flat-chested women.

ThreeAsFour design for Barbie.

Kenneth Cole’s Barbie and Ken.

Loved Rachel Roy’s pairing of Barbie’s original swimsuit with a contemporary trench.

By Nadine Kam

Associated Press photos
Designs, clockwise from top left, by Cynthia Rowley, Jill Stuart, DKNY and Thakoon.

The Fall 2009 New York Fashion Week is underway and after four days, I’m seeing a lot of dark colors and minimalist silhouettes. What’s new is — oh, say it ain’t so — a return to the inverted triangle silhouette, with more weight at the shoulder, tapering to a narrower bottom. A look also known as death for short girls everywhere.

If you longed to see something new, behold the new shape of fall 2009. Are you ready for a return of shoulder pads? These designs, clockwise from top right, are from Yigal Azrouel, Miss Sixty, Herve Leger by Max Azria and Erin Fetherston.

To me, the ’80s represented an era of really bad fashion, so it surprises me when I talk to people and discover they really liked that period because they thought of it all as fun. Ugh. All you have to do is watch the teen movies from that era to know how bad it was. The over-permed, over-teased hair, shoulder pads and loud prints can’t be overlooked. I remember cutting all the shoulder pads out of my clothes. They were so ugly, like a folded pancake sitting on your shoulder. Double ugh!

But, I did learn something very important: If you stick to classic pieces of clothing, the photos of your youth that show up later in life are less likely to date you.

A couple of my favorite collections … so far (there are four more days to go) are by Erin Fetherston and Tracy Reese, who show two very different silhouettes.

Lean and clean at Tracy Reese:

Urban dolls at Erin Fetherston:

Check out www.fashionweekdaily.com for updates on the runway and parties of NY Fashion Week.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photo
Valerie Ragaza-Miao, who’ll be competing as Mrs. Honolulu in the Mrs. Hawaii USA pageant on May 23, draws numbers for dozens of prizes during an advance screening of “Confessions of a Shopaholic” last Thursday at the Consolidated Theatres, Ward Entertainment Center.

As expected, “Confessions of a Shopaholic” offered lots of eye candy, and I’m not just talking clothes. Actor Hugh Dancy was also great to look at, and after catching a preview with my friends we all agreed later that his character was the equivalent of the perfect man: smart, good looking, nice smile, ambitious, rich but not snobby, confident enough to ignore the notion of the obvious trophy girlfriend/wife, understands fashion but again, not snobby or obsessed about it.

Dream shopping from the movie.

Mr. Dancy

Sigh. If you fit the bill, I know at least a dozen women who would love to meet you! You don’t even have to be rich. Money is just the icing on top of all other fine traits.

The preview was also a party for friends and fans of Valerie Joseph’s Valerie Ragaza Miao, who, before the film began, offered dozens of door prizes for those who made Foodbank donations. Some, who didn’t know about the drive, wrote checks on the spot.

In spite of the frivolity at the film’s surface, it offers a starting point to talk about the intersection of desire and ability to pay. The National Endowment of Financial Education has a site Spendster.org that lets visitors confess their own shopaholic tendencies, believing the admissions actually do help people face their weaknesses.

You may have a problem if you have a tendency to:
>> Buy things you want without thinking about whether you can afford them at the moment.
>> Buy things often to cheer yourself up or reward yourself.
>> Struggle paying your bills because you always seem to be living on the financial edge.
>> Tend to keep buying more of your favorite things even if you don’t have a specific need for them.
>> Feel intensely deprived, angry or upset if you have to put off buying something you really want.
>> Turn excessively to credit cards to buy wanted items.

Here are some suggested cures from Spendster:

>> DO prioritize: Often, we fall prey to retailer’s persuasive displays and instead of buying only what we need, we end up with a cart full of all kinds of other stuff. Before you head out to the store, make a list and keep to it.
>> DON’T remove the tags: They’re itchy and scratchy and poke you in weird places, but resist the urge to rip off the tags until you’re sure you are going to keep the item.
>> DO wait 30 minutes before making a purchase. Sometimes if you leave it, you might not want to go back to buy it.
>> DON’T make it easy: Take only the cash you need for the day. Leave your credit cards at home and freeze them if you must. Tell a friend about your situation and empower him or her to tell you “no” when you feel the urge to spend needlessly.
>> DO return it: If it’s a recent offense, dig out your receipt (tip: keep all receipts in a designated pocket of your purse or checkbook for easy recovery) and head straight back to the store. If you feel that you’re unable to return to the “scene of the crime” without either spending more or exchanging for a lower-priced item, ask a spouse or friend to run the errand for you.
>> DON’T pretend it never happened. Denial is a powerful tool, but admitting your spending mistakes allows you the insight to not repeat them. Visit a Web site like Spendster.org for some cathartic reflection. While you’re there, learn from other people that have posted their splurges.
>> DO look to prevent future binges. Plenty of nonprofit organizations have been established to help consumers get a better grip of their finances and budgeting.

Get more advice at www.SmartAboutMoney.org with a search for “compulsive shopping.”

By Nadine Kam

Bar Refaeli on the cover of Sports Illustrated much-read, or at least must-looked-at, Swimsuit Edition.

Maui’s Tori Praver may not have made the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition, having lost that distinction to Leo Dicaprio’s girlfriend Bar Refaeli, but Maui is a big winner in the island fashion sweepstakes.

Sixteen-year old Maui native Talia Gangini, for one, was thrilled to discover one of her cone shell necklaces on the cover of the magazine, which means it will be seen by 66 million pairs of eyeballs.

Another of Talia Gangini’s neckalaces.

“I sent my swimwear and jewelry in so long ago, I’d almost forgotten about it,” she said in a press release. “Hundreds of designers are asked to send in pieces, I didn’t think I had much of a chance.” Check out her Pashey Desginz on her Web site at www.taliagangini.com.

On Maui, her work can be found at the Jewelry Studio of the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Centerin Makawao, and Hana Hwy Surf and Simmer Hawaii in Paia. Talia and her younger sister Tehani also create a line of swimsuits under the name Manini Gangini Bikini.

Bar Refaeli in Letarte.

Bar’s bikini is by Missoni, and while none of the sisters’ bikinis made it into the issue, three other Maui designers — Maui Girl, Letarte Swimwear, and Beauty and the Beach Hawaii — did.

Maui Girl, designed by Debbie Wilson, had two suits in the magazine, and another 25 featured on the SI Website. Maui Girl was also featured in 2008 and 2006.

Letarte Swimwear, helmed by local designer Lisa Letarte Cabrinha, has four swimsuits in the issue and hundreds more online. This is the 9th year that Letarte Swimwear has had, with the most famous feature being the teeny red bikini on the cover in 2005.

Beauty and the Beach Hawaii is the new addition to the Maui legacy. Co-owners and designers Katie Wilson and Tami Snodgrass had two suits in the issue.

Congratulations to all! The wait must’ve been long, but worth the suspense.

By Nadine Kam

Hey opera fans, here’s a preview of Hawaii Opera Theatre’s “Abduction From the Seraglio,” with special guest Jason Scott Lee (no he’s not singing) as the Pasha, Selim, with tenor George Dyer as Belmonte, soprano Rachelle Durkin as Konstanze, bass Ashley Howard Wilkinson as Osmin, soprano Audrey Elizabeth Luna as Blonda and tenor Jeffrey Halili as Pedrillo.

The production runs Feb. 13, 15 and 17 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, and tickets are $29 to $120 for the music and costume extravaganza, complete with belly dancers. Call 596-7858 for tickets.