Architecture- The John Portman Way

Skyscrapers are not new to United States but this state of the art Westin Peachtree Plaza is the tallest hotel in Western hemisphere.Built in 1972, this cylindrical shaped, 72 story hotel is the epitome of pure perfection. The architect of this hotel - John Portman has created a lot of other remarkable buildings with Atrium design being his signature style. He created the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, too which is the world's first modern Atrium hotel with 22 floors! And in 1985 he built Atlanta Marriot Marquis hotel which is still the city's largest hotel.

Holiday Flee Markets

So the Union Square Holiday Market is back again for Christmas only with more stalls and more products this time. There are so many cool things from all over the globe. Hats, scarves, jewellery, antiques, clothes, household stuff food and drinks. The spirit of the market is very vivacious and gets you in the mood to shop. The things are 10 times the price of what they are in stores but people are still buying. So what is a recession?

Fusion Music

New York is home to more than 100 cultures. So the New yorkers  can't do with  just American music which is why the Fusion music which combines two or more different forms of music is getting very popular. These pictures were taken, at Daddy Yankee's Spanish Hip Hop Night and an Indo - Latin music concert respectively. One of Daddy Yankee's song was amongst the final nominations for FIFA World Cup theme song. These concerts attract larger number of people as they cater to more than one culture. Is the music being inspired from multicultural clothing lines or is it the contrary?

Mikimoto- The King Of Pearls

The trend toward back to basics is not just restricted to clothes but also implies to jewellery. More and more people are becoming intrested in Pearls. Pearl pieces are the most hot selling jewllery pieces right now which explains exotic innovation in Pearl necklace, bracelate and earring designs. Especially Mikimoto's collection in his 5th Avenue boutique is mesmerising! Its very modern and Chic and very expensive too. A double strand white and black pearl bracelet costs a whooping $8000. But when you look at it, you know its worth it!

Worn Out

Once restricted to just Denim the frayed, ripped apart look is also spreading to leggings, cotton shirts and  t-shirts. What would look like shortage of clothes years ago is hip these days. You don't have to wait for it to come in the market. Just take a knife or a pair of scissors and get creative with that old, Boring faded tee of yours!

Diamonds By The Yard

Last month, I bought a fine chain on the 16th street,which looked exactly like this. Not until my visit to Tiffany & Co. this Monday did I realised that, it was a knockoff from the famous Italian, Fine Jewelery designer, Elsa Peretti's "Diamonds By The Yard" Collection. These are timeless chains in gold, silver and platinum studded with diamonds at uniform distance and can be owned by anyone regardless of age. Its simple yet elegant, classic yet contemporary, a must have for every woman!

Animation Movies

In movies the current hot trend is Animation!

With the huge success of, "A Christmas Carol" , getting great reviews, the filmmakers' hopes have built up. Also the current trend is not just making any animation but bringing a fairytale or a short story on screen. Like "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is a based on Roald Dahl's novel. "Princess and The Frog" is a popular fairytale and also the much awaited Tim Burton's, Jhonny Depp starrer is "Alice in Wonderland" scheduled to release in March 2010 is a famous novel. This is an expression of wonderful fantasises brought to life onscreen !

Fifa 2010

No wonder so many designers are doing sportwear lines. They are taking cue from companies like Adidas and Puma who are doing their FIFA 2010 ad campaigns to capitalize on the intersts of football(soccer) lovers. On the left is a picture of Ralph Lauren's sports collection for Spring 2010 and right is an image from Adidas advertisement for the same. So all you football people, are you ready to "Bend It Like Beckham?"

Remembering Fulton Fish Market Art Exhibit

The 4th annual Art Exhibit displaying the scenes from the Fulton Fish market which moved to Bronx 4 years ended Sunday. The paintings and sketches by artist, Naima Rauam were vivid reminiscence of the busy life at the seaport. It was full of Nostalgia. Its that festive time of the year where all stores, windows, art, movies and even clothes are full of nostalgia(red for christmas)!

Junky Fashion Jewllery

These pictures were clicked today at Union Square. If you take a closer look you would notice the use of lock and key in the waist band accesory which is intresting and all those rings. The whole look, apparel as well as accessories have all been synchronised very well!

Jhonston Elgin Accessories

On Monday, I went to this Corporate office of Jhonston Elgin, a company found in 1797 in North Scotland by Jhonston family. They are very well known for their scarves, socks and cahmere sweaters, in Europe. Now they are expanding in New York. They only sell in boutiques and specialty stores. Their designs are contemporary classic and they manufacture for brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry and Hermes. Needless to say their collection is very very sophisticated and high profile.

Shoe Mania

Its interesting to see how trends evolve from being experimental to religiously followed fashions. Shoes are the most important accessory being as important as clothes and also contributing to maximum sales in any stores. Various kinds of colorful sneakers have been done by a lot of fashion brands such as Nike, Puma and Adidas but its not just the sneaker companies anymore. These shoes are from some store in London and they effectively demonstrate good use of colors to make a perfect example of stylishly fashionable, fun footwear.

Whip it !

I saw this movie(Whip It) last week and it was great to see how certain trends like Punk and Hiphop keep evolving in new ways. This roller derby flick is all set to revive the harsh punk look to make it more soft and dewy and the inorganized hiphop look to a more chic one. Ellen Page has a very relaxed style of the 80's with leggings, skirts and t's and she has enough Impact to inspire a whole new generation. The movie has great reviews and might as well genrate a new trend called the Derby girl trend! 

I Love The New Ann

Ann Taylor has revamped its target customer image and is back with all new cutting edge designs with more younger and sexy appeal to it.The stiff  is soft ! The styles are more modern and offered at great prices!These pictures were clicked at a free standing store in Union Square displaying some of the new designs silhouttes, fashion collages and giving discount cards to people who went inside. Also the company has done a great deal of outdoor promotion on NYC busses and some of the prime payphone locations. And I think the effort is worth it, people have noticed the brand and it seems to be doing well at the retail level.

Couture Fashion Show or Catastrophe

 Yesterday, I went to New York City's Webster Hall Club to attend the NYC Couture Fashion Show in order to observe some trends and start this blog. But the show was a complete disaster. The picture here shows one of the designs worn by a singer performing live at the show. The designs looked as if they were designed for some punk artists or probably even they would refuse to wear those hideous costumes. Also a very

intresting thing to note these days would be that people are dressing up more casually for these social events than ever before. Is this good or bad..........?