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Monday, November 12, 2012

A Disney Fashion Report: Alfred Angelo, Harrods & Sephora

As part of the Cinderella anniversary celebration last month, along with the new Disney Bridal collection for 2013, Alfred Angelo debuted the Cinderella Diamond Collection. Part of what is so special about these 5 dresses is that they come in blue, but a bride can also get them in white or ivory.


The first two and the last one are my personal favorites! If you love any of these gowns, you had better hurry and check out one of the trunk shows they'll be located at. They will only be available to try on through March 2013. For tour dates, just head to alfredangelo.com.

Of course, the regular collection has some nice additions to the Disney Bridal line, too. This first one, the new Belle gown, is my personal favorite - I can't help but think this is what the bridal baby of Ines Di Santo and Kenneth Pool might look like.

Belle
Snow White
Rapunzel
Tiana
Ariel
Jasmine
Cinderella
Aurora
Alfred Angelo isn't the only one designing Disney Princess-inspired gowns, though. Oh no. For Harrods' holiday window display this year, many of the big-name designers have created their own spin on Disney's popular princesses and heroines' ensembles to create some really stunning gowns and fantastic displays.

Cinderella by Versace

Aurora by Elie Saab
Ariel by Marchesa

Mulan by Missoni

Jasmine by Escada

Belle by Valentino

Pocahontas by Roberto Cavalli
Rapunzel by Jenny Packham

Snow White by Oscar de la Renta
Tiana by Ralph & Russo
Gorgeous, aren't they? I only wish I could see these displays in-person myself! For more info, check out this link at Vogue here.

As for Sephora, the Cinderella Collection has proven to be quite popular. I was informed that women have literally been fighting over makeup palettes. Ladies, I understand the love over this Cinderella makeup, but please, let's not hurt each other! Besides, from what a little bird told me, Cinderella will not be the only Disney Princess Collection released at Sephora.




Apparently Cindy was just the first princess to be released, and we should expect to see a long line of Disney Princess Collections released. I personally cannot wait to see which princess gets introduced next!

In the meantime, however, if you still want your Cinderella pieces, you'd better hurry up and get them quick! The Sephora in Anaheim in Downtown Disney is the last to have any on display, acts as the main stocking location for these items, and once they're gone, that's it! No more! They are clearing out their inventory for the holiday season and these beauty buys will not last forever. It may not be as soon as midnight, but it is coming. If Disneyland is too far away, you can still order some of these items online. Everything is quite nice, and of good quality. I especially enjoy the perfume. It is light, elegant, and can easily go from day to night.

Disney is quite fashionable this time of year, isn't it? What do you think about the new looks from the runway and the Harrods displays? Are you planning to grab any last-minute Cinderella Sephora buys, or have you already? What do you think of them? Are you excited for the future collections coming? Let me know in the comments section!


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The Lucasfilm & Disney Deal & What to Ponder

I'll be honest with you all - when I found out about Lucasfilm being sold to Disney, I essentially freaked out - and that may sound overly dramatic, but it's the truth.

I mean, here I have my two childhood loves officially becoming one entity. It's a really, really big deal.

But like all unions, one must enter with caution, and not so lightly. A seventh Star Wars film? Really?

After the prequels, any OG Star Wars fan should be nervous. I haven't watched Revenge of the Sith since it came to theaters - once was enough, thank you. Painful dialogue between characters, too much CG hurting an audience-member's eye that craves some practical sets, plot holes and confusion hurt what could have made three truly spectacular films. But as RedLetterMedia has pointed out, the prequels were a set of stories that didn't really need to be told in the first place. Part of what drove the creation of those prequels and what drives the creation of this seventh movie is pretty easy to distinguish - money. Those prequels were not well-received by audiences, but they still came out in droves to see them. I'm pretty sure Disney is counting on this. The success of marketing these characters (well, the right ones) at the parks has proven to be very successful.


Anyhow, a seventh film has no necessity in the Star Wars universe. There is so much extra canon from books, games etc. It bothers me that the creation of a sequel was literally the first thing that Disney declared it would be doing with its new rights over Lucasfilm. Reports claim that this new sequel will not really be directly connected to the characters and events we've seen unfold from previous films, but rather be its own new story. Star Wars is about R2-D2 and C-3PO though, so I hope they will still be present (and I mean, they're droids - they can't die, after all). If any of the original characters are in this film, they need to be played by the original actors. I'm pretty sure Anthony Daniels will always make himself available at the very least.


This acquisition isn't just about Star Wars, either. It's Lucasfilm as a whole - so it also raises a red flag for Indiana Jones. Are we going to see more Indy sequels with Shia? Please, please no. I did have a friend make a suggestion that Indy could be the new Bond, and new actors could play him every so often. It's not the worst idea, but Harrison Ford was my first love - not quite sure any other actor could quite live up to that image. Maybe something along the lines of this would be the most ideal:


The other thing is that, not too long ago, Disney acquired Marvel. They seem to be on the warpath to control the biggest and the best in entertainment offerings and merchandise. While this may provide some convenience to consumers and provide fun crossovers, I think the last thing any of us want is one giant entertainment monopoly. Monopolies are bad because without competition, a business will not strive to do better by consumers. If Disney owned every single toy a child would want, prices on items would most likely go through the roof, and no one would be able to have choices and no company would challenge Disney with better deals. Let's just hope they don't buy Hasbro.


But this new acquisition also has it upsides, which gives me a "new hope." (Yes, I had to do it.) Lucas can't toy with his creations and hurt them anymore. The man became too rich and powerful and those around him were too afraid to speak up and tell him something was a bad idea. Placing Lucasfilm in the right hands could strengthen it's properties. And it's not like Disney just gets to run around willy-nilly with it - Kathleen Kennedy, who has been the Co-Chair of Lucasfilm with George, will become President of Lucasfilm and report to Alan Horn, the Chairman of Walt Disney Studios. There seems to be at least a decent amount of checks and balances in place here.


Shopping could become easier, too. It might be somewhat jarring, but I'd love to be able to walk into my local Disney Store and actually purchase Star Wars and Indiana Jones items (let's hope the adult crowd doesn't get alienated here - I mean, Disneyland carries some awesome Junk Food Star Wars apparel).


Speaking of the parks, that's what I'm really excited about regarding this deal. Who cares about Avatarland when we could potentially get whole lands/areas devoted to Star Wars?! I'm sure Disney sees how good of an investment that would be. And since Disney can't create any Marvel attractions in Walt Disney World due to the agreement with Universal...well, let's just say that Universal is probably stressing right now. Let's hope those Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion plans are extra spectacular! In any case, this will be good, healthy competition. Disneyland is too short on space to really create a Star Wars land (and logistically it can't work with the Iron Man attraction coming, Space Mountain etc.) but perhaps when more expansion plans are created, we could see another Star Wars attraction somewhere. And hey - maybe, just maybe, somewhere down the line we could see that original Indiana Jones multiple-attraction concept come to fruition. Where not only would guests ride through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in jeeps, but also on a mine cart roller coaster, on Jungle Cruise boats and aboard the Disneyland Railroad. This piece of concept art always has Disney theme park fans swooning.


I know that some of you are probably worried about Disney cheapening Lucasfilm - not just in image by making it more "family-friendly" and sticking Mickey ears on every character (I will admit, if I see one more "Disney Princess Leia" art piece, I'll lose it), but in terms of financing. Lucasfilm has been a huge innovator in terms of special effects and that kind of work never comes cheap, but has a huge payoff when done right. While Disney has cut corners in the past on things, they are usually skies-the-limit when they know the product will be a success - Disney loves to make anything they can a franchise. Franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones rake in a lot of money, so anything done with these properties will get the proper support financially and creatively. Let's not forget that Pixar actually came from Lucasfilm - Disney is very generous with John Lasseter and everything that comes out of that studio. I'm positive that Lucasfilm will get the same premium treatment.

It is also important to note that Disney will be saving as much as $20 million a year because of this deal through ILM, which is pretty amazing, and will only mean bigger and better effects for their films.

So, in conclusion, while I may have my reservations about this merger, I think that some really amazing things could be coming our way as a result. I am hopeful, but remember, Disney - Solo is watching!