By Nadine Kam

Touchstone Pictures
Isla Fisher, as shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood, attempts to take charge of her closet. Click on the photo for the trailer.

I got a chance to interview Patricia Field yesterday in advance of the opening of “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” though we won’t be running the story until closer to the film’s opening in February.

Who can wait that long?

What was most interesting to me was that the boutique-owning stylist for “Sex and the City” and now, “Ugly Betty,” says she’s NOT a shopaholic. I mean, you’d assume a person who shops for a living might be, right? But the -holic part would suggest a form of mental illness, and she’s firmly in control of her finances and material desires.

While she loves clothing and accessories across the board, high and low, new and worn, she’s very practical about it all, saying that she probably owns less clothing than her fans would imagine, to the point where she says she basically wears the same thing over and over, changing things up with accessories. But that’s where her styling skills come into play and not everyone is so blessed.

Even so, her advice for shopaholics who want to gain control over their spending habits is to stop buying clothes because a T-shirt is a T-shirt is a T-shirt, and focus on learning how to accessorize those basic pieces to update your wardrobe for the most impact and least expenditure.

The film’s timing is good, balancing lots of eye candy with the idea that there is a bigger price to pay for overshopping than what’s on the price tag.

I sent a post off to Twitter about the interview, and fans of Field were quick to respond, including someone I know locally who asked, “OMG, did you die?”

Well, yeah. That happens sometimes when you get a chance to speak with some of the people you idolize. In fact, I’m just lucky she had a good sense of time because she wanted to give me the full 20 minutes allotted to individual journalists across the country in her marathon day of phone calls. Otherwise, I was like, “Hi, uh, um, OK, bye,” which doesn’t happen too often.

The other memorable time I was on nervous mode was talking with the film director Ang Lee, post “Brokeback Mountain” and in advance of “Lust, Caution.” When the man has time to speak, you have to take the call, and unfortunately, it happened on a day I had a five-hour photo shoot for HI Luxury magazine. The session was scheduled to end about 3 p.m., the same time he wanted to call after getting off a plane from LA to New York. With any luck, my shoot would end early and his plane would be delayed to give me time to return about $50,000 worth of clothing to boutiques and get back to my desk.

Didn’t happen. His agent called just as I left the Halekulani and I had to explain I was in my car and could we reschedule in about a half hour. They granted an extra 15 minutes, the point being that once the director arrived home, that was his sanctuary away from work. That gave me enough time to make it to Ala Moana Center and park. But while waiting in the car, I got impatient, and figured I could make a run with the bags to the shops. I had just dropped off the last bags when he called, and there I was with cell phone, trying to balance my notepad on a planter outside Dior, trying to sound intelligent and stress-free.

I don’t think I fooled him, but he is the nicest man.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photo
In Nordstrom’s Hugo Boss threads, Bruno Magli shoes and Burberry aviators, Mike Rovner made the leap from mild-mannered assistant editor and page designer to instant celeb status with these Japan visitors.

Surely you know dozens of nice guys, the kind who’s always the friend but not really the type to get the girl. Same with girls and your basic Cinderella story redone over and over in teen films and makeover shows — change the clothes, change the reaction. As much as we hate being thought of as superficial, we all carry images in our minds of who we want to be and who we want to be with and whether we like it or not, others read our clothing as the most immediate and honest expression of who we are. Sadly, people can tell lies about themselves, but appearance (i.e. clothing, hair, makeup) is a more accurate barometer of personality (or lack thereof), where you grew up, age, attention to detail, self-esteem, taste, sophistication, education and socio-economic status, etc. It’s not even being judgmental, which may come later. At the moment a person sees you, he or she is merely reading clues you’re willingly/unwillingly/knowingly/unkowingly broadcasting. And whether you know what’s happening or care, well, that says a lot too.

With the latest James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace” opening tomorrow, it seemed like a fun idea to try dressing one of my co-workers in Bond-like threads to turn him into a sexier more dashing version of himself, inspired by the latest Bond, Daniel Craig.

My first choice was sports dude Paul Arnett, who would clean up nice with a shave, haircut and clothes other than shorts. Unfortunately (or luckily for him) he’s on vacation. So we went with Mike Rovner. Assistant editor. Clean cut. Nice guy. Married, happily, with children. Middle-aged. In other words, the kind of guy no woman looks at twice. (Sorry, Mike! … It could just be me. I always did like the bad boy, to my detriment.)

I didn’t intend for it to be a sociological experiment, but as soon as we got him into his first outfit of a Hugo Boss pullover and jeans, with the help of Aloha Agency’s Andrea Galvin, Nordstrom’s Milton Taira, Trevor Isabel and Sharon Schmidt, he attracted the attention of these two Japanese visitors who wanted to take his photograph and took turns being photographed with him. Totally unexpected, but cute.

You can see our stories in the Nov. 13 print edition. The point of my story is that men don’t have to look or be like Bond to appear more attractive, and although we went with higher-end threads, updating a wardrobe with a few key pieces doesn’t necessarily cost much.

Mike Burley photos

We treated Mike as the star as well, opening doors for him, carrying his shoes and making sure he didn’t lift a finger as far as setting up lights and moving furniture.

Of course that changed after the last shot, as you can see Mike, still in an Armani Collezioni tuxedo, carrying the light stand and umbrella, with Trevor Isabel also moving a flash stand behind him.

Not as graceful as Bond, but a real trooper, scaling the wall on roof of the Nordstrom garage.

By Nadine Kam

Joker T-shirts are featured in the window at Hot Topic. (Sorry about the reflections but they were behind glass.)

With the long-awaited debut of the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight,” this weekend, Hot Topic is offering a promotion in which those who spend $20 on any Dark Knight merchandise from the store will receive a voucher good for $8 off your ticket to see the movie. That would be pretty close to seeing the movie free if you were planning to pick up some merch anyway.

They say the voucher will be accepted at Consolidated and Regal Cinemas here.I was walking by the store and of course the image of Heath Ledger as the Joker caught my eye. I had been waiting to see this movie since it was announced that he would play the Joker. It makes me sad now. If he were alive today, the T-shirts would be great marketing; now such things feel a little macabre and exploitive. I’m know I’m going to miss him forever.

By Nadine Kam

Honolulu Academy of Arts images

OK you fabulous costume lovers, Lesa Griffith, over at the Honolulu Academy of Arts sends word that the academy will be hosting a Classic American Musical Costume Contest extravaganza at the end of the month in celebration of the film series, “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance: Classic American Movie Musicals.”

How many other times will you have a legitimate reason to dress like Carmen Miranda?

The series starts July 27 with Busby Berkeley’s Carmen Miranda romp “The Gang’s All Here.” Channel your inner Ethel or Carmen and bust out your fruity, frou-frou Technicolor get ups for the 7:30 p.m. screening in the Doris Duke Theatre. The contest winner will receive four free passes to the theater.

Otherwise, non-members will pay $7; $6 seniors, students, military; $5 museum members; $3 for children under 12.

I tell you now so you can get a head start on those costumes. Happening a little closer are screenings of four classic films by Japanese animation genius Hayao Miyazaki. Starts July 12 with “My Neighbor Totoro.” The other animated films are “Porco Rosso,” “Spirited Away” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

Call 532-3033 for more info. See the full film schedules here.

By Nadine Kam

One of my favorite outfits in the “Sex and the City” movie was Carrie’s floral coat that looked like this, though with a stronger line and touch of chartreuse and purple. I liked this outfit, too, which she wore to go apartment hunting with Big.

Went to see “Sex and the City” Sunday morning and again last night to help Crystal Pancipanci and her fashionable friends celebrate her SATC victory.

The woman is on a roll having also won a Theory-sponsored drawing for a Theory bag last week. This time around, she won a pair of exclusive crystal-studded — how appropriate is that? — Manolo Blahniks valued at nearly $800.

I showed up late to the Skyy Vodka “Sex And The City ” private screening and cocktail party so didn’t get a pink feather boa like the other girls, but I did get to see her sparkling sandals before the lights went out. I wanted to take a photo but had left my camera on my desk at work, so borrowed Julie Ann Aragaki’s crystal-studded iPhone. Standing between those two I might have been blinded if the lights weren’t going down!

There was some drama queen action in the crowd after a group of friends didn’t appreciate comments made by a woman, and cast a drink at her. I was in between the two rows and hoped no more drinks were coming flew through the air while I tried to watch the previews. After much posturing, various parties left or moved seats after threats of removal by security.

I was going to write something after seeing it the first time, but felt emotionally drained by the experience. That was surprising considering I had a “Yeah, yeah, been there” attitude about the whole thing. I was never a rabid SATC fan and just from watching previews of the movie I had the whole story arc plotted out, so there were no surprises for me, but I thought the heartbreak scenes were realistic and painful to watch.

Carrie in Vivienne Westwood. The bridesmaids wore Zac Posen.

Of course the clothes were pure eye candy. I tried to count up the 81 outfits Carrie allegedly wore in the film (the story takes place over 6 months, which means she could wear each outfit two times, or double that if you count nights), but only counted 65. I didn’t count times when she just threw a fur or coat over something, and I may have missed a couple of wedding gowns, just because I was enthralled. I think I forgot to breathe between the Christian Lacroix and the Lanvin.

My favorite outfits were a trapeze floral coat Carrie wore with trousers and a blue jacket while shopping for furniture with Charlotte, and a blue tunic she wore with over-the-knee socks while strolling in a park with Miranda. Dunno who made those, but you can bet every piece of clothing in the movie cost plenty. I imagine it only bothers fashion followers that a real-life Carrie — a freelance writer not backed by a trust fund or sugar daddy — would never be able to afford such a wardrobe. And it was rather unrealistic that Carrie wore a string of pearls to bed several times, though of course, they weren’t going for an Academy Award here. Just a good-lookin’ reunion.

The only thing missing was subtitles for the fashion. Only the wedding gowns were accompanied by a recitation of the designer’s names: Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Lacroix, Lanvin, Dior and Vivienne Westwood.

By Nadine Kam

Jay McCarroll with his illustrations for “Transport,” his Spring 2007 collection, based on the work of Archigram, a group of 1960s architects who envisioned living spaces full of hot-air balloons, flying cars and moving streets and other contemporary cityscapes.

“Eleven Minutes”
Part of the HGLCF Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival
Screening 2 p.m. Saturday, May 24 at the Doris Duke Theatre at Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Admission is $12

If you get a chance to see “Eleven Minutes,” part of the Honolulu Gay and Lesbian Cultural Foundation’s Rainbow Film Festival Saturday, go.

The documentary film by Michael Selditch and Rob Tate tracks Jay McCarroll’s journey from “reality to real-life designer” as he tries to live up to the “Project Runway” premise of becoming the “next great American designer.” The tone of the piece is bittersweet as he scoffs at the title, yet it’s made so clear he has bought into the idea. Considering the amount of wit, confidence and bravado he presented on the show, he’s only human and the criticism he received after the show in failing to become an overnight sensation, takes its toll on his psyche.

Considering his desire to parlay his 15 minutes of fame into a career, they could have called it “15 Minutes,” but I believe the title, reflecting the length of a fashion show that takes six months to a year to plan, might have been inspired by “Onze Minutos, “a 2003 novel by Paulo Coelho based on a young Brazilian prostitute who seeks a better life in Switzerland, only to find that reality is harsher than expected.

For anyone in the creative arts, it is mesmerizing to watch, but in the end rather depressing to see so little payoff, in spite of McCarroll’s very real talent. It’s tragic, to me, when celebs lacking any fashion cred can suddenly call themselves “designers” by capitalizing on the work of hundreds of people like McCarroll, who don’t have the finances to break out of their sweat-shop roles.

Images of hot-air balloons cover this outfit.

My feeling is that McCarroll has been the most talented and original of the parade of designers in all four seasons of the Bravo series. But, as the first season winner, he was the one most closely scrutinized and reviled after failing to produce. He famously rejected the program’s prize of $100,000, reporting that acceptance would have meant 10 percent of his brand would be forever owned by the Weinstein Co.

He’s grateful for the opportunity that “Project Runway” presented, saying, “I can’t imagine having no notoriety and trying to do what I’m doing,” but faces the realization that talent is 10 percent of the success equation. What’s also needed is business acumen, good advice, sweat equity, luck and money. It’s the reason stars with no design skills, taste or originality whatsovever are able to produce and market their own lines, while many individuals like McCarroll, who can design, make a pattern and sew, are forced to toil behind the scenes, with no recognition of their own.

Although people assumed he had help from the show’s producers, that is not their focus. Their job is to entertain. Period. If anything, they tend to exploit talent to increase their own market share. After the show stopped airing, like McCarroll says, “The cord was cut and it was done. Ten percent of it is opportunity, 90 percent was mt hard work and that was unnoticed, until now.”

The feeling conveyed is that this runway show and documentary are his last hope of making it on his own.

He won “Project Runway” in Feb. 2004 and filming started in February 2006 in advance of preparation for a Sept. 2006 New York Fashion Week presentation for the Spring 2007 season. In his view, it was his last shot at being recognized for his talent. “I’ve been trying for … two seasons now to get this show on the road. I have a shelf life so if I don’t show this coming season, people aren’t going to care anymore … If I f*** this one up, I may have to reconsider some things.”

He didn’t mess up, but the quest continues.

More info:
www.jaymccarrolldocumentary.com
www.jaymccarroll.com

By Nadine Kam

Warner Bros. photos and illustrations

Just saw the preview for “Speed Racer.” Not really one for the kids; not for adults either. It’s totally about the creative set: game designers, animators, and believe it or not, the fashion crowd. Well, I had to look at something being that the story is simple, the dialog campy, the characters cardboardy, but the clothes they do work with everything that’s going on in CGI. Let’s just say it’s the first film that ever made me feel like running off to Hollywood to be a stylist on a costume crew.

The weird thing about the movie is that it is so futuristic yet it’s actually set in the early to mid-1950s. They reference a pivotal 1943 race when Speed was about 10 and the action takes place in his young adulthood. The costumes reflect the period with crisp polo shirts, sleek sheath dresses and other narrow, spare silhouettes. The early half of the film is full of bright primary and complementary colors and a lot of royal purple. In the final Grand Prix race icy silver, metallics and brocades dominate. Total eye candy. It was so retro, yet so contemporary it didn’t look much different from what’s on high-end retail racks today.

As I watched the credits scrolling I noted they had one vintage buyer on staff. What a great job, though I imagine it must have been difficult to come up with costumes that could hold their own against such a fantasy landscape.

Of course, being susceptible to images, I have a new inspiration for my summer wardrobe, and it’s not Christina Ricci, but the Korean pop star Rain as the racer Taejo.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Arriving fashionably late to Oscar Night America at Halekulani were, from left, James Alberti, Christina Simpkins and Brett Wagner. Simpkins and Wagner are back after five successful screenings of Wagner’s “Chief” at the Sundance Film Festival. While there, Simpkins said she talked up Hawaii in hope of bringing more filmmakers to shoot their projects here. Next project for Wagner is another short film he wrote.

Just because we’re miles from Hollywood doesn’t mean we couldn’t celebrate the spirit of Oscar night with our own Oscar Night America red-carpet event at the Halekulani.

Escada was prominent, with no fewer than nine Escada gowns appearing on the red carpet. There was plenty of spring color too, brightening the usual field of black at these types of events, and echoing the real Academy Awards red carpet. I felt like they all had the same makeup artist because most of the presenters had the same combination of blue eyelids, rosy pink cheeks and lips.

Otherwise, I missed all the E! red-carpet commentaries, but from what I saw on the broadcast, I really loved Marion Cotillard’s shimmery white mermaid gown. Otherwise, the stars tend to dress alike in solid-color column gowns. It’s great that “Juno” screen writer Diablo Cody dared to be different in a flowing leopard-print gown.

Attendees facing about a dozen photographers upon arrival said they felt like celebrities.

Color filled the red carpet.

Wearing Escada, from left, were Yukako Sakakibara, Noriko Sasakawa and Yumiko Sakaue.

Man of the hour, Chuck Boller, head of the Hawaii International Film Festival. (more…)