android kindle

Watch Out Manchester New Hampshire...I'm Coming Back!






In less than two weeks, I'll be making a very special "Return Trip"...to Manchester, New Hampshire! Last year, I was invited to be the Special Guest Lecturer at the 2012 95.7 FM WZID Women's Expo and I had a BLAST. It was so much fun doing my lecture as well as styling some lucky New Hampshire ladies and turning them into "Nick Divas".







I guess it was big success, because they've invited me back...







The theme this year is "Makeover Your Mate!". Women are going to
nominate their burly hubby's and they are going to get made-over with the help of me (Oh
lordy--This is going to be fun!).






The top 3
vote-getters will win a makeover from Arcadya Salon and Spa, a $500 gift
card to Macy’s, and a shopping trip with ME!
Then, we’ll reveal your man’s new look at WZID’s Women’s Expo! On top of styling the Makeover Your Mate Contest Finalists and going on a Macy's Shopping Trip with them, I'll also be at the WZID Women's Expo 2013 to give a special Style Lecture (for both Gals and Guys!) and do a Meet & Greet. If you come out, you are GUARANTEED to get on my BLOG here--or at least we'll take pics, Tweet and Facebook!







Can't wait to see you again New Hampshire! 




Here are the Details:







What:

2013 WZID Women's Expo Presented by Hannaford Supermarkets



Makeover Your Mate Contest Winner, Style Lecture, and Meet-and-Greet with Nick Verreos



When:

Saturday, February 16, 2013

10 am to 4 pm



Where:

Radisson Hotel Expo Center

700 Elm Street, Manchester, New Hampshire 03101



Tickets:

Click HERE



And See You in New Hampshire!!!

Pairs GLITTER:











Gretchen Donlan and Andrew Speroff--The Pairs Team of Donlan and Speroff finished 6th overall. For their Short Program to "Nocturne" by Ennio Morricon, they wore these costumes above designed by Bobby Pearce, Paul Ginandes and Yumi Barnett-Nakamura. I liked the black/gunmetal silver/gray colors and I especially enjoyed the "nocturnal sky" beading in her neckline. It was also a great idea to line the skirt with the contrasting gray. Now, in terms of his look, it was OK, but...I would have liked a variation on her sequined sky on his shirt--as opposed to wearing a shirt that could have been bought from Macy's.






Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier--I liked these costumes they wore to their "Malaguena" by Ernesto Lecuona Short Program.The costumes designed by Joey Santos reflect the theme of the music and give a subdued España vibe. I also like the fact--unlike Donlan and Speroff--the male here looks like he really belongs with his female partner. Both of their costumes finish off the total presentation.





Tiffany Vise and Don Baldwin--Vise and Baldwin ended up in 10th place (last) overall at the 2013 U.S. Nationals in Omaha. The costumes in the above photos are for their Short Program to...







I like the purple and black colors of the costumes, designed by Erin Ovens-Scalzitti and Mare Talbot. I thought Tiffany's look reflected a sexy Latina-esque beauty but there were some details I was confused about such as the white bra/bandeau top peaking out from the plunging neckline and maybe too much criss-cross straps with less-than-expensive looking diamante trim. I think her costume needed some editing and revising.




 On a good note, I especially LOVE his "Mariachi" metallic hardware on the sides of Don's pant legs.




Felicia Zhang Nathan Bartholomay--Zhang and Bartholomay got the Bronze overall. They skated their Short Program to...









Kudos for that. I liked that they brought in the pool water into the colors of their costumes (smart!) and I also enjoyed (naturally) a little bit of the sparkle seen in both their looks. I will say this however: I am NOT a fan of the "Ross Dress For Less" belt I see on a lot of these men--both Singles, Pairs, and some Ice Dancers. And here, it just distracted me from the rest of the look. Everything else looks put together and costume-y...but then, there's that belt. If I were a Costume Designer I just don't know what I would do; I just know it wouldn't be that.






For their Long Program/Free Skate to Music from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein, these costumes were just right. Felicia went fuchsia colorful and pretty but not 60's period while Nathan kept to the 1961 "movie/musical" script and looked just like one of the Jets or Sharks. Now, for Nathan, the belt which I normally HATE--works here. Because it is part of the outfit/costume and theme. PS: two belt looks for Nathan,...I guess he really loves himself a belt! Both the Short and Long Program Costumes, by the way, were designed by Dawn Imperatore and James Peterson.





Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim--Scimeca and Knierim got the Silver overall at the 2013 U.S. Nationals. These two have only been skating together since April 2012 and so far so good! For their Short Program to "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven, they donned what I call "Figure Skating Classical" ensembles which I liked. Alexa looked elegant and pretty in white with strewn crystals throughout. The criss-cross back straps were great as well as the bust section with chiffon inset. My favorite part was her hair accessory:  a sequined "side crown". Oh, and yes, Christopher's costume was an A+ in terms of being in synch with hers. The ombre white-to-black deep v-neck with convertible collar and three-quarter sleeves was nice and still sparkle-y enough to make an impact during their skate.





Speaking of a costume impact...For their Free Skate to "La Vita E Bella (Life Is Beautiful)" by Nicola Piovan from the 1997 comedy-drama film which garnered director and actor Roberto Benigni a Best Actor Academy Award, Scimeca and Knierim went Crystal Crazy as you can see above. Christopher stuck to his love of a  three-quarter sleeve but this time, it was a button-down. In addition, he donned a bedazzled vest that looked two minutes away from something one might see the piano player wearing at "Musical Mondays" at your local gay bar! I liked Alexa's red costume because of the bright red lipstick color juxtaposed with the nude illusion and the asymmetrical details kept me interested.





Marissa Castelli Simon Shnapir--The Gold-medal winning pairs team of Castelli and Shnapir skated their Free Skate/Long program to "Payadora" by Julian Plaza, an Argentinian Tango.  He's 6' 4"and from Russia and she's 5' 0" and from Rhode Island. Yes: A FOOT and FOUR inch height difference! But I digress, let's discuss the costumes. They were designed by Yumi Nakamura, Julie Marcotte and Paul Ginandes. I liked Marissa's red and violet lace and sequin applique costume and thought the asymmetrical illusion detail was interesting. However, I still felt that it could have been slightly more impacting and directional, in terms of it's Tango Diva theme. I liked Simon's look--especially the shirt with its satin-and-crystal front yoke. But, it would have been nice to carry over some of her red--or violet colors into his costume.

SPiN-a-LICIOUS--A Photo Recap...



What Does Ping Pong...


 Academy Award Winning Actress Susan Sarandon...


NYC Nightlife...


Mel Gibson/Braveheart...



And Señor Frog's....


Have in common? Project Runway of course!!



On this week's second episode and challenge of Season 11 Project Runway--the designers and their respective teams--Dream Team and Team Keeping It Real, went to SPiN New York, a ping pong "social club".













In case you've been living under a "Nightlife" rock (I have!), I guess ping pong social clubs are the hottest thing since over-priced tapas and mini-sliders substituting actual real dinner plates. Somehow, Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon owns this ping pong social club--SPiN.







Which leads me to my second enlightening moment while watching the episode: I didn't know Ms. Sarandon loved ping pong. But I digress...The Challenge this week was to design 4 looks/uniforms for the servers and "ball boys" of SPiN New York.  So, let's see the Best and Not-So-Much:













Stanley Hudson--His design for the SPiN New York ball boy--the guy who picks up the balls off the floor (imagine that Thanksgiving dinner conversation to your mom and dad about what you moved out to NYC to do...)--He was praised by the judges for this look. It was a good look, fitting the requirements of looking slightly fashionable yet not costume-y or impractical. And at the same time sporty enough for the theme of the club and"butch" (read: STRAIGHT-looking, whatever that is) enough so the male staff doesn't bitch (do straight guys bitch?). Judge Zac Posen didn't like the drop crotch pants but I thought they were fine. These were HUGE last year with all the fashionista/hipster boys so it does bring an element of "fashion" into an otherwise non-exiting "uniform".






Richard Hallmarq and Joseph Aaron Segal--This was a "couple" collaboration with designers Joseph and Richard working on various items in this entire look. The best part of it is that they created a harness to hold the ball pick-up stick for the ball boy. This was quite ingenious--and it looked very cool as well. I wasn't a fan of the rest of the outfit, however. The t-shirt logo was FABULOUS but, that t-shirt was too tight. It's perfect if he was a waiter at Boxers--a gay NYC Sportsbar, but for SPiN? Not so mucheey. And the pants were kind of tacky--they looked like Karate pants with a bunch of lettering on them.





The Winning Outfit was this look above--designed and created by Daniel Esquivel and Layana Aguilar of the Winning Team Keeping It Real. This was cute and the model worked it OVERTIME with her "May I take your drink order please?" catwalk.




I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of the shrunken vest. The notched lapel/collar was a little wonky (cleaning/self-facing those curved edges is not easy!). I get what they were going for with the curved shapes but, I'm not sure it worked. And as far as having to mass produce that, it's not cost-effective. I'll be curious to know what this vest ended up looking like in reality (time to go to NYC and visit SPiN New York I guess!).





But the skort was a great idea. The whole Susan Sarandon "I Have NOOOO idea what a skort was??" interaction was priceless. As I say in my MyLifetime.com Project Runway Blog Recap (below at end of this post): "Bless Her Heart".





Benjamin Mach and Matthew Arthur--Oh Dear! Look what we have here. I admit, that the way the episode was going--and the editing--was leading me to think "I bet the kilt outfit WINS!". But alas, nope, it was at the bottom and--once I finally came to my senses--I realized, rightly so. What ball boy/server at a NYC "social club" would wear this?? Unless...




 It was a social club with a "Mel Gibson/Braveheart" theme and it was run by Marc Jacobs.




Benjamin Mach and Cindy Marlatt: This look was a yawn. A secretary-bored-to-an-inch-of-her-life yawn.




But it was James Martinez' time to go--he made a tank top and board short outfit--that was supposed to be for the SPiN New York ball boy and/or server but....










With all that as an Intro...now, it's time to read my FULL RECAP of this episode of Project Runway Season 11:

















Dream Team vs. Team
Keeping It Real: this is the premise of Season 11 "Project Runway."
Sixteen designers split up into two teams and every challenge this season is
promised to be a Team Challenge-with one winner and one loser. Team Keeping It
Real had the highest scores last week with "Mustache Daniel" coming
out on top and Dream Team at the bottom losing sewing-deficient "Hot
Glue-Loving Emily." Nina described her outfit as the worst made garment in
"Project Runway" history. PS: I wonder if Emily is adding that
accomplishment to her bio or Wiki page?