Lisbeth Salander

Lisbeth Salander of The Millennium Series by Stieg Larsson represents many things, but first and foremost she is a fighter.  The introduction of her character in Swedish author Larsson's books, followed by the amazing film adaptation (and soon to be release US adaptation) has had a profound effect on me.  She is not your typical female lead, which is what I love about her, she breaks traditional gender stereotypes, and she also breaks the "sexy tough girl" mould set by actresses like poor Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious, S.W.A.T., Avatar, Machete and Battle: Los Angeles) who has been typecast from day one.

Which leads me to my next point, we are all familiar with the glitter and dirt of Hollywood and the incessant strain it puts on those desperately seeking stardom to be thin, attractive, stand out blah blah blah etc... I am firstly proud (although it banes me that the US feel the need to remake a perfect international film for their own market...) that director American director David Fincher has decided to re-write the screenplay from the book and to try to do as faithful an adaptation as possible - for the US market.  The actors on the bill provide interesting an comparison to it's Swedish counterpart, and seem to have been selected for not only a similarity in appearance to the Scandinavian actors, but for their resemblance to the book's description of the characters as well.  It is evident, however, that appearance seems to be a little more important to US audiences than European ones...

Lisbeth Salander

Noomi Rapace (Sweden)

 

Rooney Mara (US version)

.... I'm pretty sure Lisbeth wouldn't have done this...

Androgyny Collection by Damien Rinaldo - inspired by Lisbeth?

Mikael Blomkvist

Michael Nyqvist (Sweden)

 

Daniel Craig (US version)

Erika Berger

Lena Endre (Sweden)

Robin Wright (US Version)

My Summer Wardrobe: Fiji

As per my early posts, you may know that MinkPink is one of my favourite labels, so naturally I have my Summer wardrobe all picked out for my November trip to the beautiful Fiji!  A few pieces from the MinkPink Swim collection to start with, and a few pieces from the last season collection for good measure!

Sunset Drawstring Kaftan (MinkPink Swim) $60

 Bell's Rouched Kaftan (MinkPink Swim) $60

Twice as Nice Bodysuit $40

Nightmare on Elm Street Shorts $60

Eleven Raindrops is another gorgeous label stocked at Globalize stores.  Unfortunately they do not have an online store or website of any sort, but they do have great clothing designs.

*similar to Eleven Raindrops cropped zip tank. $40

*similar to Jay Jays Mint Cherry dress $39.95

ANTM: The Shoot Shortlist 2

Too many gooduns to fit them all in one blog entry!  I must also note, that not all of the photographs work in terms of modelling, however, the shoots themselves in concept and execution are gorgeous.

Cycle 11 - Water shoot by Nigel Barker (2008)

Cycle 12 - Exotic Bird shoot by Tyra Banks (2009)

Cycle 7 - Circus Shoot by Mike Rosenthal (2006)

Cycle 14 - Shadows shoot by Tyra Banks (2010)

Cycle 11 - by Tyra Banks (2008)

ANTM: The Shoot Shortlist 1

One of my many guilty pleasures lies in watching hours and hours of Top Model.  Be it Australia, Britain or grandmama America's Next Top Model, the most exciting part of any episode (apart from the makeover ep!) is well and truly the photo shoots.  Its a walking and talking encyclopaedic foray into the world of fashion photography, what to do, what not to do, and provides a whole heap of visual inspiration to boot.  Countless photographers have attempted to emulate the iconic and adventurous shoots conducted by world renown photographers on the shows.

Here are some of my all time favourite top model shoots in no particular order.

Cycle 13 - Bi-Racial shoot by Tyra Banks (2009)

Cycle 15 - Lucha Va Voom Wrestlers shoot by Eddie & Moshe Brakha (2010)

Cycle 9 - Great Wall shoot by Tyra Banks (2007)

Cycle 15 - Fallen Angel shoot by Anne Menke (2010)

Cycle 9 - Blazing Car in the Desert shoot by Trevor O'Shana (2007)

Cycle 14 - Vampire shoot by Sarah Silver (2010)