By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photo
The Fafinettes—Eriko (orange hair), Ermine (platinum) and Monoka posed with fans at DFS Sunday night.

The Fafinettes come to life at the M.A.C counters at DFS in Waikiki, giving Japanese fans a thrill, with many a photo and video op.

The event was the introduction of the Fafi line for Spring 2008, with its bright lime, citrusy and neon colors inspired by the characters—Eriko, Ermine and Monoka—created by the French artist Fafi. The boutique was dressed with Fafi flooring as well as M.A.C posters featuring their makeup artists’ interpretations of the Fafi look, as well as hot pink and bright orange bean-bag chairs, all adding to the fun vibe.

Try the colors from 7 to 9 p.m. March 3 and 4 at DFS. It’s kind of a maze on the second floor, so don’t give up looking for the cosmetics section. Just when you think you’ve run into a wall at Coach, turn another corner and you’ll be headed in the right direction.

The original Fafinettes.

If you can’t make it to Waikiki, you can check out the collection at the M.A.C boutique at Ala Moana Center, where there will be an in-store event from noon to 7 p.m. March 8, plus a demonstration at 6 p.m. the same day on CenterStage. The Fafi line is also prominently featured on the second floor of Nordstrom, set to open Friday at 9:30 a.m. The highly inquisitive and/or anxious will be there at 7:30 a.m. for the Cosmetic Tailgate Party preceding the opening.

By Nadine Kam

American Idol
Jason Castro photographed looking much more polished than laidback as he did two nights ago during the men’s night of competition.

After a two-day marathon of watching the “American Idol” top 24, to me they could narrow the field to about 8 already. I hope Jason Castro stays a long time.

There’s been news stories run about the unfair advantage of some of the singers who have worked as pros, who have done tours and recordings, but I don’t think that will have any bearing on the final result. They didn’t make it “in the real world” the first time for the same reasons they won’t make it to the end on “AI,” whether it’s wrong material or sound or lack of charisma.

Top girls for me are Alexandrea Lushington and Syesha Mercado, but Jason’s a breath of fresh air, like Blake Lewis last season.

A lot of Jason’s fans are saying he looks like John Travolta. I don’t see it, unless they’re talking about his goofy wide smile.

By Nadine Kam

Along with clothing trends, New York’s fall shows hint at color trends in makeup as well. Makeup artists work with designers as the collections are being created and try to communicate the designers’ vision through makeup colors, textures and application techniques.

M.A.C created looks for 70 designers this season and the company uses the word “dramatic” to define Fall 2008’s aesthetic, with color emphasis on the lips. Here are a few of the looks from M.A.C’s Autumn/Winter 2008 Trend Report:

Illustrations courtesy of M.A.C

Luca Luca: If there’s one lesson that never changes in beauty it’s this: Pick one feature to emphasize and underplay the others. Tom Pecheux put gold and eyelids, with lips done in transparent coral. To balance the shiny eye, she has matte skin. (more…)

By Nadine Kam

More photos of Saturday’s Indashio fashion show have been posted by photographer Kyler Kwock at http://imagesbyk2.com/gallery155/0801indashio

It’s great for those who want a peek behind the scenes, or for the models and stylists who need to purchase photos to add to their portfolios. That can be done here http://imagesbyk2.instaproofs.com/category.php?event=40791&id=99202

Don’t be looking for risque stuff. This is as racy as it gets, as far as I can see, anyway.

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Jewelry on sale at Alliway.

Meanwhile, the January sales continue, such as Neiman Marcus’s Last Call, and Alliway’s 321! sale at Ward Warehouse. At Alliway that means 30 percent off Alliway jewelry, 20 percent off handbags, and 10 percent off everything else (not the staff, of course), from Jan. 19 through the 21st, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Better check if you have the day off. Call 589-1141 if you get lost.

This also marks the last few weeks to visit Lululemon Athletica’s Ward showroom. Come March, the athletic and yogawear specialists will be moving into Ala Moana Center’s new wing encompassing Nordstrom and 30 other new stores.

Lululemon’s last day at Ward, above the First Hawaiian Bank at the corner of Ward and Auahi, is Jan. 27. Then they’ll be back with free yoga classes at 10 a.m. March 3 to 7, and March 9 at Centerstage. Check Honolulu-community@lululemon.com for updates.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Indashio dresses Nalani Itomura in a dress and Vegas-thened corset.

Met up with the designer Indashio at Hotel Renew in Waikiki during a fun chat and photo shoot in a very tiny room that had photographer Cindy Ellen Russell and I clamoring over the bed to get a look at his dresses on the rack.

Indashio will show his “Viva Las Vegas” 2008 Collection at Honolulu Design Center Saturday night, Jan. 12, with all the glitz you’d expect of Las Vegas “style.” The show had its official debut during New York Fashion Week in September 2007.

Nalani Itomura wears another of Indashio’s creations.

I have to give a lot of credit to this marketing phenom who came out of nowhere to make his fashion dreams come true in four short years, thanks to gigs with Lucire magazine, the MTV series “8th and Ocean” and “Made,” and the soon-to-debut VH1 series “Sew Good,” and he’s now only 22.

He has a great positive energy and larger-than-life personality that’s just made for TV and fun to be around. You can read all about his journey in my print story in the Star-Bulletin main pages.

Here’s a video of the designer talking up his show:

Nadine Kam video

By Nadine Kam

Kiera Knightley in the attention-getting green bias-cut dress, in “Atonement.”

About a month ago, I wrote a little capsule review of one of the film award season’s frontrunners, “Atonement,” and mentioned the fabulous costumes.

Now, the emerald green dress worn by Keira Knightley in the pivotal library scene, has been voted “the best film costume of all time” in a survey done for Sky Movies and British InStyle.

“The bias-cut, backless silk gown had fashion editors raving,” the report said.

I don’t know that it’s really the best costume of all time or whether it will even be remembered along with the following memorable screen threads. I think it also depends on how iconic the film is.
Here are the other mentions:

Audrey Hepburn’s classic little black dress worn with pearls.

>> White dress worn by Marilyn Monroe,”The Seven Year Itch”
>> Little black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn, “Breakfast at Tiffany”
>> Skin-tight pants worn by Olivia Newton-John, “Grease”
>> Blue gown worn by Kate Winslet, “Titanic”
>> Tie and waistcoat combination worn by Diane Keaton,”Annie Hall”
>> Satin corset worn by Nicole Kidman, “Moulin Rouge”
>> Stockings and bowler hat worn by Liza Minnelli, “Cabaret”
>> Gown worn by Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth”
>> Dresses worn by Vivien Leigh, “Gone with the Wind”

Liza Minnelli in bowler, and not much else in “Cabaret.”

By Nadine Kam

Courtesy Marylea Conrad
Kiele Thalia Conrad appears to have been born ready for her closeup.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had run into swimwear designer Marylea Conrad while holiday shopping, and was surprised that she was out walking around two days prior to her due date, and looking ready to burst. She’s sent a photo of her baby girl Kiele Thalia Conrad, who weighed in at a very healthy 8 pounds and 23 ounces, and measured 20 inches. Congratulations Marylea!

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On Thursday in the paper I had mentioned Maggie Coulombe’s showroom sample sale Friday; it’s now continuing through Tuesday by appointment. Email promotions@blaineashley.com.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photo
In an outtake from our New Year’s Eve photo shoot for Nordstrom, Anna Adams wears a Norma Kamali dress.

Work New Year’s Eve should have fairly standard but deadlines never cease. This time it meant schlepping clothes early in the morning for a photo shoot we were doing for the February issue of our parent company’s HI Luxury magazine in advance of Nordstrom’s March opening.

Don’t want to give away too much before the issue is out, but the clothes are very colorful and feminine and enough to make you want to start purging your closet in the new year.

We were working with a really tight deadline because the clothes needed to be back in Los Angeles and Seattle Jan. 2 and 3, respectively, so clothes basically went from the model’s body into the Fed Ex box. Thankfully, our shoot was done in record time, four-and-a-half hours, so we were able to make the shipper’s 2 p.m. deadline. Whew!

Many thanks to our model Anna Adams, and Aveda Ala Moana’s Cherie Stamm-Roberts and Cynthia Williams for taking time out on New Year’s Eve to help us with our session.

Well, enjoy the fireworks! Drive safe! Happy 2008!

By Nadine Kam

Fighting Eel sends more photos of star sightings with Lindsay Lohan and Hayden Panettiere wearing their designs. You, too, can get the look, born in Hawaii.

Fighting Eel’s holiday sale will continue Fridays through Christmas, yes that means today through 5 p.m. at its headquarters at 47 N. Hotel St. Call 524-1472 if you have questions.

Details: All Spring and Summer ‘07 will be 30 to 50 percent off.
Selected Fall ‘07 will also be discounted. And there will be bins with $30, $20 and $10 items!

One of the other sales that caught my eye is the offering of RevitaLash for $119 at Fair & White Skin Care, 661 Keeaumoku St. (across from WalMart). This stuff usually sells for $149 or $150, so seems like a good deal, though the sale ends today. Call 946-7023 to see if there’s any left.

I didn’t want to pass on a recommendation before finding out more about what’s in this clear liquid that makes stubby lashes longer and fuller. You’re supposed to give it a couple of months to work, but I tried a similar product, Jan Marini Skin Research’s Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner, and it started working in 2 to 3 days. I thought it was some kind of moisturizer/conditioner, but it turns out one of the active ingredients is a glaucoma drug. It wouldn’t be the first time a drug has been repurposed because of beneficial side effects. Viagra started as a heart medication. Minoxidil was used as an oral blood pressure medicine before it was deemed to promote hair growth and reverse male pattern baldness.

Like any makeup product, instructions warn you not to get it in your eyes, but being that it’s applied over the lash line, I never once could get it on there without it seeping into and burning my eyes. Eventually, I stopped because I was just too lazy to keep applying it every night. I also find it depressing to think that you have to use this stuff forever because lashes have such a short life span before falling out.

But if you want good short-term, natural results for holidays, this is an option.

You can read a Q&A about it at http://www.revitalash.com/

By Nadine Kam

Oh happy day, the fourth season of our favorite TV series “Project Runway” starts up again Wednesday, Nov. 14. It’s been so long!

You can get a peek at the contestants ahead of time at http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/4/bios/index.php

Project Runway
Early favorite, Christian of Annapolis, Md. Gotta love a guy who is a fan of the Brits, McQueen and Westwood.

I looked at a handful of videos and can’t wait to see what Christian comes up with. I think I was standing behind him to get into one of the Bryant Park shows. Even in NY, not too many guys look or dress like him. Hope he’s not a jerk.

What I don’t get are some of the comments posted to the site, like they keep asking if so and so is gay. Why does that even matter?

One woman had the audacity to post: “just like to say that I love the show and am looking forward to this season, but are there any everyday people on this show? Everyone seems to be gay, eccsentric, tattooed or full of themselves. Just my opinion. Hope the show changes my mind.”

Like, how can this woman even say she loves the show? What has she been watching in the past, since there were gay, eccentric, tattooed and “full of themselves” personalities from the very first season? If she wants to see everyday people she should turn off her TV and go for a walk in her neighborhood.

Just goes to show you how bigotry of all types continues to thrive, though most people like to pretend it doesn’t exist until something like “Dog’s” rant surfaces.

It’s sad that no matter how brilliant or creative a designer can be, to some people they will only be recognized as “gay” or “tattooed.”