Geri Halliwell, of the Spice Girls fame, has stripped off to a bikini for Hello magazine’s current issue. The article is accompanied with Geri commenting on her discomfort and self consciousness stating, ‘I haven’t been willingly photographed in a bikini for seven years – and I don’t think I’ll do it again.’

There is no doubt that Geri looks amazing in her bikini aged 36, putting women half her age in the shade. However, it wasn’t that long ago Geri was doing sterling work as a UN ambassador, in an attempt to be taken more seriously. It is also a concern that a woman who was so publicly open about her eating disorders, is verbally uncomfortable about the shoot.

What message does this send to the legion of old and now new spice girls fans regarding publicity. Whether you like it or not, you have to take your clothes off to sell pictures? Is this the girl power the Spice Girls so animatedly promote? Hello?

For tips on looking good in your own swimwear see, swimwear trends or swimwear styling for your individual shape;

• Tall
• Petite
• Large Bust
• Small Bust
• Large Bottom Half (hips/tums/bums)
• Small Bottom Half (straight and flat hips/tums/bums)

A large group of women dressed only in their underwear posed in front of a billboard at Charing Cross Road today. They were there to promote the launch of wonderbras new D to G cup range.

The advert is a mosiac made up of 8000 ‘real’ (as in not paid models), womens underwear shots. The individual photographs make up a large picture of new wonderbra model Katie Green.

The company are hoping to capitalise of the previous success of the “Hello Boys” poster campaign from ten years ago. The old advert featured model Eva Herzigova, now sadly a lot more ‘boy’ than ‘hello’ having shrunken to skeletal proportions.

The range has been launched to “answer the demands of the ‘dress to impress myself’ generation” according to wonderbra. Wonderbra spokeswoman Julia Nolan also said: “This is the most inclusive lingerie billboard in history and we’re so proud of our one thousand girls, who are now Wonderbra billboard models”.

The company website has an interactive version of the billboard, which is also being put up at Tottenham Court Road today, so that each of the photographs can be viewed full screen.

The campaign is an interesting response to Marks and Spencers negative press regarding the inflated charge for larger sizes. Wonder if wonderbra will do the same?

Follow link for tips on choosing swimwear for a large bust.

Male grooming is now worth an estimated £700m in the UK and is the fastest growing sector in the beauty industry. It seems that men are no longer content to buy or more commonly borrow (I would say steal), their partners products. Loreal have capitalised on the powerhouse that is celebrity endorsement, with their legion of Alpha males now telling the boys they too are “worth it”.

Superdrug have just launched their new Taxi Man range of male cosmetics. First up is the brilliantly titled guyliner and manscara (both £6.50). In September, we will see a concealer (£6.50) and lip balm (£5, £5?!) There is also my ego cosmetics , and lets not forget that clearasil have been subtly promoting their tinted cream in non gender specific teenage advertising for years.

Lots of reports covering the new Taxi man range for superdrug are overlooking the facts. This is not ground breaking, men have worn make-up since the beginning of time. The Egyptians were all about eye liner, let’s not pretend this is a new thing. What about the reign of Elizabeth l? Apparently the nomadic tribe Niger Wodaabe have highly made-up male beauty contests judged by the women.

Wonder if the men feel objectified? What would Superwoman think?

For more details than you could ever wish for on the history of men’s make up, see A history of men’s grooming.

In 2007 Jodie Kidd the 29-year-old supermodel was reportedly caught selling cocaine to undercover reporters. As a result of this she lost her  £250,000 contract with M&S. The highly successful advertising campaign now featuring Myleene Klass, Twiggy, Erin O’Connor and Lizzie Jagger has since gone from strength to strength.

Jodie Kidd

The car manufacturers Maserati also distanced themselves from Jodie Kidd, who represents them at a number of sporting events, including the annual Gumball Rally. A source said: “Maserati were talking about severing all ties with Jodie and at one point wanted to confiscate the car they gave her. Jodie will have to wait and see what happens.”

Jodie, who has worked for some of the top names in the industry, including Chanel, Gucci and Alexander McQueen and many others, dropped out of London Fashion Weeks Charity Catwalk event in 2007 following the incident.

The story was the result of an undercover journalist for News of the World

Jodie Kidd has been ditched by her model agency after she reportedly gained too much weight.

Jodie Kidd, is not known for being even curvy let alone overweight and regularly battles media attention for alleged eating disorders due to her stick thin frame. Despite this her Agency, Independant reportedly dropped her after gaining a few pounds.

Jodie’s increased eating habits (for that read normal eating) are reported to have started after she lost her contract with Marks and Spencer following the cocaine scandal.

As the credit crunch hits the US hard, A bride in the US has taken the unprecedented step of autioning a place at her wedding in the guise of a brdesmaid or bridesman, to raise funds. The New York Times reported;

Being a bridesmaid can be expensive, as any woman who has been fitted for a dress she did not pick out, or spent hundreds of dollars for a plane ticket, can attest. But, then again, most bridesmaids know the bride.

Then, there is Kelly Gray and her fifth bridesmaid. Ms. Gray, a Virginia Beach hairdresser, auctioned off the chance to be a bridesmaid in her April 2009 wedding on eBay. The winning bid on Wednesday was $5,700. Ms. Gray, 23, had long dreamed of being a bride, but she and her fiancé, Karl Gau, could not afford the $7,000 wedding they have planned at the Virginia Beach Conference Center. “While other children would say they wanted to be a teacher or singer when they grew up, I would always say that I wanted to be a beautiful bride!” Ms. Gray wrote on eBay. She said she did not want anything fancy, no horse-drawn carriages or ice sculptures, just a three-layer cake and dancing. “I want a wedding,” Ms. Gray said in an interview. “Normal is expensive.”

Ms. Gray said she had tried entering contests, saving money and writing to talk shows to help pay for the wedding, but nothing worked. Her boss, Gwen Lala, came up with the idea to auction off a spot in the wedding party.“I thought it would be fun,” said Ms. Lala, who said she had trolled eBay and realized people would pay for bizarre things. “They just have to stand up in the bridal party, and we hope somebody wants to come and do it.”

The winner, whom Ms. Lala would not identify, must also pose for pictures and the wedding video and join in “any other wedding activities.” The bridesmaid will wear an apple red dress and shoes of Ms. Gray’s choice. The dress is likely to be A-line and floor length, Ms. Gray said. She might be renting a tux, however, as she is willing to have a bridesman. The winner can eat from the still-to-be-chosen buffet, but must pay all travel expenses.

Ms. Gray realizes she is taking a chance, but she and her fiancé are undeterred. “I know some people out there are crazy,” she said. “We just want anybody who is willing to have fun. We’re fun, and we’re hoping someone won’t come in and ruin it for us.” Source

“I know some people out there are crazy?!” Wow, what a great way to talk about the your wedding benefactor. Let’s hope they’re so fun they can look past that comment.

Chameleon Fridays

Continuing with the success of their popular range of clothing for H&M, the cheeky designers Viktor & Rolf

The design duo launching the range

have ventured into the wedding market.

Launching their collection with only one dress, fashion concious shoppers snapped up the gown, only for them to appear on Ebay at double the price hours later.

They have also included a mens tuxedo and other wedding appropriate wear to the range. See High Street Brides for more budget alternatives.

Chameleon Fridays

Marks and Spencers have recently come under fire for charging £2 more on bras from certain ranges. The additional premium is put on bras at a size DD and larger. Beckie Williams set up the group Busts 4 Justice on facebook in response to the tax on bigger bras, and an ‘unsatifactory’ response from the retailer to her complaint. The group now has 1526 members and is rising daily.

Marks and Spencers response to the complaint stated that, as there was extra material used to produce larger sizes, it equated to more money at the register. Beckie has since argued that this is not the formula used for any other type of clothing.

The High Street retailer said that the added cost – typically £2 – was “standard industry practice”. M&S added it found most customers “were happy to pay a small premium for the specialist work” needed to make larger sizes of their bras. Full article

Giorgio Armani has been presented the French award “Officer of the Legion of Honor” by President Nicolas Sarkozy. The award, akin to a British OBE, has been given for his services to fashion. Celebrities there to watch the ceremony, included Carla and Silvia Fendi, Nathalie Rykiel, Lady Helen Taylor, Eugenia Silva, Mafalda von Hessen and Oscar winner Helen Mirren. Tina Turner also sang an impromtu version of Simply the Best. Full Article

Chameleon Fridays

Prada have now lunched their haute couture range of bags.

For £2,500 Prada will now make bags “to order”, with a variety of material and colours to choose from. This bespoke service can be ordered from Harrods‘ or Prada’s Sloane Square store, with a delivery time is around two months. Who says fashion waits for no one!

Chameleon Fridays