MTV Style | Mary H.K. Choi

Let's Discuss: Adam Lambert's Mysterious Facial Hair

Posted 5/2/11 9:05 am EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Beauty, Dudes, Red Carpet

Adam Lambert at the 28th-annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Hollywood on April 27, 2011.
Photo: Getty Images

We can all agree that this is amazing, yes? I mean, granted it's a STRONG look and rather jarring in that there is no where in the room/world where Adam Lambert's eyes aren't following you but as two-colored giant pompadours go, this is kind of a perfect one. Upon a cursory glance he looks like an enormous surprised cockatoo that has perhaps gone to the Dark Side, but when you truly study this image—given that there's no way to tear your eyes away once you're locked in the magical tractor beam of Lambert's version of Blue Steel—you realize that this dude comes in peace. And will not attempt to tie you to a railroad track despite you wearing a white eyelet tiered dress and matching bonnet that would look SO AMAZING tied to a railroad track. Like, it would make the cover of the lookbook for sure.

And while there are at least 12 to 33 jokes that could be made about the fact that it looks like Adam chose a stencil from some vast collection to spray paint on a perfectly symmetrical down-curved 'stache and Dorito chin patch (careful not to get it in his eyes), each individual face follicle actually appears to have been MASCARA'D instead. That, my friends, is devotion, pain, and care and should be noted and admired. Plus, just LOOK at the exacting arch of his brows and the truly masterful eye makeup. The reason this whole *360-degree around the world snap* situation is so mesmerizing has everything to do with the fact that his eye shadow and lashes work in concert to draw your attention to the GORGEOUS gray-blue hue of his eyeballs. This is not amateur status and not to be attempted at home. Or can be attempted at home. But, to where you don't go out and just stay there. Preening.

***BREAKING UPDATE: According to the artist's Twitter page, it seems HE HAS SHAVED! No news as to what exactly this means for his manscaped face-coif but we await reliable photographic evidence that he remains as categorically awesome-looking as he did when the above was taken.

Tags Adam Lambert, American Idol, Beauty, Facial Hair

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Let's Discuss: Ke$ha's Intense Cat Eyeliner And Hard-Core Under/Side Part

Posted 4/29/11 9:00 am EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Beauty, Ladies, Red Carpet

Ke$ha at the 28th-annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Hollywood on April 28.
Photo: Getty Images

Ke$ha is frequently lambasted for her sartorial/tonsorial/makeup-ial decision-making, but mostly we appreciate the free-spiritedness in her videos/performance outfits/red carpet appearances because at least girl gives good interesting. Always. So... her hard-core cat's eye. I mean, on one hand, kudos for mastering the swoosh. While I'm not totally convinced this counts as "fine motor skills," considering it's not writing the Pledge of Allegiance in pig Latin on a single grain of rice (it's WAY longer in pig Latin; and of course we're talking Carolina rice since it was BORN here [we're not infidels]) to be strung on a necklace and sold on eBay for the reasonable "Buy It Now" price of nothing because it's a piece of gimmicky garbage but liquid liner is tough. That it extends beyond where her eyebrow ends is the real nut, though. I believe since the human head is undulating terrain and features are rarely symmetrical, going past the brow is where you run into a lot of trouble and I personally, from this vantage point, think she looks ever so slightly walleyed, but, again, that's me.

What I also think is kinda awesome and notable and worthy of discussion is that girl takes the flip and starts it on the Australian portion of her dome. Like, it's not a side part as much as it's an under part. Kinda G, as far as where to go in on a hairdo. That bit, I really enjoy. It's sorta surfer chic in this gloriously meta way. You know, because, as dictated by common knowledge, people surf when they're not eating marsupials and bashing each other with didgeridoos in Australia. But what do y'all think? Are you feeling the WINEHOU$E eyes? What about the comb-over from Down Under? DEEEESCUSSSSS.

Tags Beauty, Ke$ha, Makeup

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Let's Discuss: Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen On The Cover Of 'Newsweek'

Posted 4/28/11 11:00 am EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Celebrity Designers, Covers

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on the cover of 'Newsweek.'
Photo: Courtesy of Newsweek

OK, I just wrote, edited and then erased about 143 words on my thoughts on the restructuring of Newsweek, the redesign, and my thoughts on Tina Brown. Then I remembered that 100 percent of you don't care, and 111.34 percent of you think I meander too much (ha, what has two thumbs and did it again? THIS GUY), so let's just go ahead and look at this image. We've got Newsweek. A white seamless background. Some pretty hard-core lighting. And Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen looking... well... newsy? Maybe it's that they're not wearing sunglasses. Maybe it's that they're actually making eye contact. Maybe it's that they don't actually appear to be mouthing the word "prune." I'm not entirely sure, but there's SOMETHING that makes the overall effect crazily jarring to where I wanted to pull it out from our usual Cover Girl Roundup to talk about it in detail.

While not unattractive, this magazine looks like a Newsweek in a movie. Or like they used preexisting pickup art of the twins. Preexisting pickup art of the twins that was maybe taken as a joint mug shot? GUH. I know the description sounds wildly uncharitable, but at no point am I saying that I don't like it. I like it. Maybe a lot. But the lack of fashion editorializing makes me feel uncomfortable. I knew that the Olsens were incredibly prolific, canny and legitimately dialed into how to make us want their stuff. The thing that I perhaps wasn't taking seriously enough was how sort of scary they are once you pluck them out of tabloids and fashgossblogs and think about them as an enterprise.

Is it the presence of the Newsweek logo? Is it that I'm a self-hating textilephile? Is it the news that Michelle Obama wears The Row? This is DEFINITELY a late pass, and I'm almost mortified to admit it but maybe, until this cover of these two not just looking "cool" or "stylish" but looking like they'd take names and buy and sell EVERYBODY, I could still dismiss them a bit as straight-to-DVD actresses. Whatever. All I know is that I'mma read the CRAP outta this Robin Givhan story because she's a genius and if anyone's going to extract the real scoop on these two, it's her. Dudes, she won a PULITZER for writing about fashion. Read up. Oh, and I want this shrunken leather jacket for my spring throw-on.

Tags Ashley Olsen, Covers, Mary-Kate Olsen, Newsweek, robin givhan

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Let's Discuss: Christian Louboutin Wants Us In Paws, Hooves, Other Sorts Of Ghastly Stuff

Posted 4/27/11 1:26 pm EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Shoes

Look, let's all be very honest with ourselves. We are not really in any danger of ever being FORCED to wear Christian Louboutin shoes against our wills. No matter how David Lynch and surreal the terrorscape of some hackneyed kidnapping plot becomes, no one is going to put a gun to your head, take a knee and MAKE you ease on these revolting shoes. Yes. Revolting. Typically, for our "Let's Discuss" franchise we throw up a topic so that we can engage in a forthright and spirited discussion about whether or not we like or dislike something, but in this case we'd like to foist our fervent opinion that these here shoes are seriously fug.

The "Alex" pump and the "Puck" boot from Christian Louboutin's fall 2011 collection.
Photo: Courtesy of Christian Louboutin

I mean, so the one on the left is called the "Alex" and is intended to resemble the regal paw of a lion. Oooooor it's an homage to the tenaciousness of overdeveloped freak show bunions with oozing, mottled ends that are SO powerful that they push a gnarly, permanent convex shape into the suede of the shoe.

The trotter on the right is called "Puck" because it's an homage to the "shrewd and knavish sprite" of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It features a curled, long, pony nap dyed in an ombre effect, and the prospect of wearing such booties makes me feel wildly uncomfortable as though I'm preparing for a hot, yiffing appointment with a Furry.

The "Splash Fur" shoe from Christian Louboutin's fall 2011 collection.
Photo: Courtesy of Christian Louboutin

This last one called "Splash Fur" we included for its quizzically slapdash plume. It is as if some really adorable woodland creature or flightless-but-oh-so-beautiful bird got enthusiastically KICKED only to find itself lodged in the buckle of the upper. It's sort of funny in its incongruousness, and we would seriously consider owning it for sheer entertainment value were we excused from rent or spatial limitations of our tiny-ass homes overflowing with shoes we genuinely intend on wearing. So. What do you think? Do you HATE them or do you etc etc etcblablablabla?

Tags Animal Inspired Accessories, Animals, Christian Louboutin, Shoes

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Let's Discuss: Vanessa Hudgens And Nicole Richie's 'Head Thongs'

Posted 4/22/11 9:00 am EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Accessories, Beauty

Vanessa Hudgens at the 'Sucker Punch' release event in Las Vegas on March 26, and Nicole Richie at the Baby2Baby event in West Hollywood on April 20.
Photo: Getty Images

You know what I love? I love experimentation. And fearlessness. And a cavalier attitude toward something as ephemeral and subjective as fashion. Personal style? Amazing. Accessories? *slow clap that builds to a frenzy that makes your eyes water as if Pavlovian conditioned to respond to such an outpouring of genuine emotion* BUT whaahaahappa here?

Exhibit A) Vanessa Hudgens looking beautiful as always with gorgeously formed arches on her brows, genuine mirth in her perfectly made up eyes, a smile that does not quit and a python printed something or other and this tweed nubbly other thing and necklaces galore and a hair adornment that could only be accurately described as a HEAD THONG. Cool? I mean, it matches the beading of her other jewelry so that makes sense, right?

Exhibit B) HOLD THE FUGGIN' PHONE. Now, here we have Nicole Richie flaunting the same "flossing" in the form of a tighter, more skully-ish, beaded head thong. It looks much like the Mischa Barton-ish hippie-meets-native-American suede headband that hipsters were obsessed with years ago, except hers adorns the crown of decidedly Grecian finger waves that, no doubt, look beautiful. She pairs all that golden goodness with velvet, and the whole thing boasts mad richesse but um... is this going to be a trend now? Are all headbands going to feature an anchoring strand that bisects the dome like so much... posterior? We're not saying it's a bad thing. AT ALL. It's fascinating more than anything else... Would you call this a "head thong"? What would you call it? And, more important, do you like it?

Tags Accessories, Hair, Nicole Richie, Vanessa Hudgens

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Nicely Done: Jennifer Lopez Bares Midriff In An Expensive Way

Posted 4/21/11 9:00 am EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Nicely Done

Jennifer Lopez at Best Buy in L.A. on April 19.
Photo: WENN

Oh man, you know what I love about Jennifer Lopez? It has nothing to do with the fact that she was named People's Most Beautiful Woman, or whatever, because SURE. It also has nothing to do with the fact that she is a judge on "American Idol" even if I love this guy's coverage of it SO MUCH. It's the fact that here she is, lamping at a Best Buy, promoting her album wearing a Christian Cota BANDEAU, black Tibi pants and a gray TopShop slouchy blazery cardigan thing. Now, despite it not being our strong suit, let's go ahead and do some math. This woman is 41 years old. She had TWINS. That is TWO babies. TWO. Relatively simultaneously. She housed human sentience IN STEREO. And yet, her 100 percent empirically incredible genes and countless crunches means that she can look like this.

Bonus? The fact that this chick, again, because she's Jennifer Lopez, looks totally DIGNIFIED in a tummy top because her cropped, pleated trousers are tailored to fit her beautifully while showing the slight sheen of truly marvelous suiting fabric. And her asymmetrical jacket looks gloriously deconstructed in a way that whispers to either Japanese or Belgian origins. BUT that's not even true since her gray thingie is high street and just looks designer. I guess that's what it's like to be Jennifer Lopez these days. You can work a three-fer pack of nothing cotton tees like it's Jil Sander by virtue of oozing regal-assness like it's no big deal. It's like rubbing a dollar bill on her will turn it into a fiver. Magic. If she ever figures out how to bottle the secret, I'd buy it. Unless, it's like a million dollars and only for millionairesses. Or if the accompanying infomercial isn't up to the caliber of incredibleness that I know in my heart she is capable of. <3 You JENNAY. Nicely done.

Tags Christian Cota, Jennifer Lopez, Midriff, Tibi, Topshop

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Prom 2011: A Dress Made Out Of Starburst Wrappers That Took Six Years To Make

Posted 4/20/11 1:19 pm EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Video, Your Style

Photo: Courtesy of KARE 11

Holy smokes. So, there's this teenager in Wisconsin who has this mom who likes alliteration and talks about "persistence" and "perfection" a whole bunch and spent SIX YEARS weaving Starburst wrappers into a prom dress for her daughter who plays soccer. Naturally, she bought the candies 20 pounds at a time, with five failed attempts. THOUSANDS of teeny, tiny multicolored squares were folded eight times before they were fine enough to be woven into this knee-length number (LOLOLOL what if maxis were really in that season, there would've been DRAMA). The last fold had to be so precise that tweezers were used. It was that intense. Anyway, the mom is no stranger to PERSISTENCE and PERFECTION, so she made not only a purse but also shoes and a matchy-poo vest for her daughter's date, who is a very patient teen who knew from jump street that he "had no choice."

While I applaud this mother's tireless and valiant efforts and adore the DIY spirit behind making your own dress or flipping and reversing some other CRAPPY dress and making something MAGICAL (also, I am a huge fan of duct tape prom, remember duct tape prom?), I am worried about this amount of labor going into ONE NIGHT when there is such a thing as a WEDDING to consider in her daughter's future. I'm just saying, she might not be doing such a good job at managing expectations, but what do I know? I am a terrible curmudgeon who is not seeing the forest for the trees. Maybe I'll feel differently when I have a daughter. I just hope this mom is getting a jump on making her baby girl's wedding dress NOW because who can say how long that will take.

Photo: Courtesy of KARE 11

The boyfriend. Who, to his credit, is pretty cute for getting into his lady's theme. Oh, and the entire family lucked out since the prom theme for that year was "Candyland." Well, played everyone.

Photo: Courtesy of KARE 11

Peeptoes. I do love the rickrack effect on the soles. It looks really difficult. Man, I can imagine mom now, wearing a jeweler's loupe under a lamp into the wee hours of the night. DEDICATION, MOM! (*note to self: call own mom).

Photo: Courtesy of KARE 11

A clutch. Naturally, can't have anything detracting from the main show.

Photo: Courtesy of KARE 11

Tiers! So on-trend for any year. Also, note that there is in fact stretchy fabric upon which the wrappers were overlaid. Mom didn't actually shred the wrappers into strips to WEAVE everything. Something to think about for next year! KIDDING.

Photo: Courtesy of KARE 11

What mom saw when she closed her eyes at night.

+ WATCH THE FULL VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP!!

Check Out These Dorbs Louis Vuitton Animals

Posted 4/20/11 11:33 am EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Accessories, Designers

Chameleon Louis Vuitton!
Photo: Courtesy of the Louis Vuitton Press Department

Crazily nimble-fingered artist Billie Achilleos has been picked by Louis Vuitton for a second time to create four animal sculptures made from the luxury brand's leather goods. The monogrammed critters are laboriously crafted with an attention to detail that is simply astonishing, and they were seen at LV's AW11 press event held in Paris earlier this week. Billie, who is also a puppeteer (of all delightful things), was selected the first time by the retail giant to create the debut windows of the Louis Vuitton Bond Street "Maison," wherein she housed a menagerie of glass dome-encased amphibians, birds, and crustaceans that evoke a superlouche wonderland of Jim Henson's Creature Shop-ish awesomeness. Her windows were unveiled in New York in January as well, but check out her site if you missed it. OK, so, not to stray from the meat of this post, BUT in stalking her site we've learned a couple of things that make us love her desperately. Things like this super short bio:
"I graduated from Wimbledon College for Art in 2007 with a B.A. in Technical Arts and Special Effects. Since then I’ve had my fingers in many pies — opera, theater, film, window display, advertising…. I thrive on variety. No job too small, or too weird. Or too big. Or too hard. (And no budget too large.)"

Also, this series of pictures where she built a human boy puppet and walks around with it in a super-creepy but undeniably cool way. HARD-CORE girl crush.

Grasshopper Louis Vuitton!
Photo: Courtesy of the Louis Vuitton Press Department

Beaver Louis Vuitton!
Photo: Courtesy of the Louis Vuitton Press Department

Armadillo Louis Vuitton!
Photo: Courtesy of the Louis Vuitton Press Department

Tags Animals, Handbags, Louis Vuitton

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Let's Go Blouse Shopping For Kanye West!

Posted 4/19/11 4:50 pm EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Dudes, Performance Outfits

Kanye West performing at the Coachella festival in Indio, California, on April 17, and a look from Céline's spring 2011 runway.
Photo: Getty Images

It's sorta weird that everyone's freaking out about Kanye West wearing a Celine blouse from Spring/Summer 2011 when he's been wearing hyper-low-cut-fairly-androgynous diaphanous shirts since like VMA time last year. In fact, Kanye has never at any point been a one to be sartorially run-of-the-mill and we here at MTV Style are TWO-THUMBS-UP-ON-BOARD with men wearing women's shirts. See, the thing is, while menswear blogs may tout the arrival of the (*gasp*) spread collar and vaunt the resurgence of the ("zut alors!") club collar or wax euphoric on how certain shirts boast a slimmer cut or feature washed out floral prints or have looooooooong pockets that merit its $700 pricetag, the silhouette overall remains faithfully orthodox. The sleeves start right at their shoulders. The collar is exactly where you'd expect and the hem is such that it can look cute and outdoorsy untucked or dashing tucked. The end. While the Belgians have long created uniquely complicated and beautiful shirts that are his and hers (Ann Demeulemeester, we will love you forever), womenswear ready-to-wear shirts will reliably go to town on insane prints, asymmetrical hems, crazy-long-plackets, gathered sleeves, leg-o-mutton sleeves, dropped arm's eyes and looooooooooong gauntlet cuffs with a bajillion buttons and it just doesn't seem fair that we're the only ones who get to have fun. So, in the spirit of sharing. We go blouse shopping for Kanye!

Spring 2011 looks from Balenciaga, Marni, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Photos: Imaxtree

Balenciaga is an obvious choice for Kanye especially circa Nicolas Ghesquière where there's a great deal of textural interplay. Kanye often wears leather or majillion-dollar denim jackets so a gauzy shirt would be a tremendous addition to his ladyshirt repertoire.

Okay, we know this Marni thing is a tunic. We also recognize that it has sequins and while we understand that there are barriers to entry for both we also KNOW that if anyone can do it, it's Kanye. Hear us out. This, front-tucked (only, no back tuck) into jeans like it's no big deal with Air Yeezy 2s? Fire.

The YSL is a no brainer. Unbuttoned all the way down. Untucked. Shrugs. Everybody loses their minds over the awesomenitude.

Spring 2011 looks from Cacharel and Hussein Chalayan.
Photos: FirstView

This Cacharel is just obviously so sick it's insane. I want it. Kanye should want it. And hell, we could both wear it exactly this way. As a matter of fact, pop a top button and Tyler the Creator couldshould want this too.

A Hussein Chalayan is just a good investment. Worn in any number of ways, this shirt is versatile, memorable and could close out any show or performance with a drama-sleeved bang. Plus, I want to hear to hear the polysyllabic interplay of "Hussein Chalayan" being name-dropped in a sixteen. Fashion <3 Rap = 4 EVA.

Tags Balenciaga, Cacharel, Guy Fashion, Hussein Chalayan, Kanye West, Marni, Yves Saint Laurent

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Breaking News: Rihanna Had Mad Cute Style Even Before She Was Rich And Famous

Posted 4/18/11 5:17 pm EST by Mary H.K. Choi in Beauty, Ladies

Rihanna as a teen, and Rihanna at her Reb'l Fleur launch in Lakewood, California on Feb. 18.
Photo: Splash News/Getty Images

So the Internet's eyes are spinning like Catherine Wheels and smoke is coming out of its ears and its hair has frizzed like it spent 20 minutes hugging a large-scale static electricity orb over the news that Rihanna has this entire secret family from her suboptimal father's unsavory, dalliance-filled past. Well, sure. I mean, we all know how babies are made. We've all known that RiRi has two younger brothers but apparently she has THREE OLDER SIBLINGS and this is melting the faces of all surfers of the world wide web. We here at MTV Style soooooorta think the entire world is missing the point. Uuuuuuuum. May we suggest you outright ignore all the gossip because headlines like, "Yes She Clan: Rihanna's Secret Carib Sibs" are just gross and weirdly racist-feeling and because let's face it, the real story here is that Rihanna has ALWAYS had the BEST skin and artfully arched natural eyebrows. AMIRITE? Who cares about the rest of it when the main story should be that Rihanna used to have braids down to her butt. Now, THAT'S MAJOR. Plus, you can tell that the Barbados beauty was incredibly mindful and diligent about keeping her coif chic at all times even then. And while we can never know too much about the entire narrative or world behind this one individual snapshot, we know that the odds were in our favor that Rihanna would be holding a comb, toting a hair tie (sure, it was a scrunchie but this was a LONG time ago, people) with a bared midriff that would remain maddeningly taut in the latter years of her life.

Tags Childhood Photos, Rihanna

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Let's Discuss: Adam Lambert's Mysterious Facial Hair

Let's Discuss: Ke$ha's Intense Cat Eyeliner And Hard-Core Under/Side Part

Let's Discuss: Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen On The Cover Of 'Newsweek'

Let's Discuss: Christian Louboutin Wants Us In Paws, Hooves, Other Sorts Of Ghastly Stuff

Let's Discuss: Vanessa Hudgens And Nicole Richie's 'Head Thongs'

Nicely Done: Jennifer Lopez Bares Midriff In An Expensive Way

Prom 2011: A Dress Made Out Of Starburst Wrappers That Took Six Years To Make

Check Out These Dorbs Louis Vuitton Animals

Let's Go Blouse Shopping For Kanye West!

Breaking News: Rihanna Had Mad Cute Style Even Before She Was Rich And Famous

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