JUST SAYIN’

My friend, Rachel Bender, owner of “The Sweetest Things” is an absolute artisan when it comes to baking and creating custom designed cakes and cupcakes for any occassion. The detailing on her custom designed cakes blow me away every time I look at one of her finished creations, and I’m excited as she is creating a Spider-Man cake for my son’s upcoming 4th birthday party.

From Sesame Street, Springtime, Get Well Soon, Wedding Dress and even a Fifty Shades of Grey cake, The Sweetest Things take cake decoration to another level.

Whatever the occassion, gimick, gag, celebration, fetish, hobby, profession, you name it, Rachel’s company The Sweetest Things can make you the cake of your dreams. Like her on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SweetestThingsNY!

Chanel, Louis, Fendi, The Row, Hermes… what do these designer names mean to you? Are you part of the elusive 1% who can drop a king’s ransom on a handbag without the blink of a well placed false eyelash, or are you like the overwhleming majority of America, who feels that they should be sporting what the hottest celebs are toting around but it’s a toss up between that must-have handbag or paying the mortgage this month? Or, are you comfortably paying all of your bills and you could spring for that handbag that US Weekly and Vogue says you have to have to feel complete, but you know that you really should add that disposable income to your 401K, your IRA or to plan that much needed vacation where you may actually have a meaningful experience with memories that will last a lifetime?

I know I sound a bit snarky here, but what’s the deal with handbags that cost $5,000, $10,000 or even $20,000 a pop? Are they serious? And what is in it for us, the consumer? Being a publicist and an entertainment journalist I can attest to the fact that many of today’s most photographed celebrities are “gifted” with these off-the-wall items just so that they can be randomly photographed wearing them, promting Jane Doe to feel inadequate if she doesn’t go blow her week’s or month’s salary on the same bag.

I have to call bullshit here.

Here’s the thing, I have poor friends, working class friends, middle class friends and rich friends, and not one of them feels any happier or sadder in direct correlation to a material object of any kind. Sure, we all want a cushion in the bank, a fullfilling career, a nice quality of life, but I have never seen anyone actually feel happier or more at peace because they are carrying a Birkan bag as opposed to a Coach bag or even a LeSport Sac fanny pack.

I always equate it to my three year old son. He gets a shiny new toy, he feels elated and plays with said toy ad nauseum, a week or two later that same much coveted toy is collecting dust at the bottom of his toy chest or he simply tosses it aside in favor of something new. The chase after the next best thing never seems to end. It’s a bottomless pit. Experiences, however, seem to stay with him forever and continue to put a warm smile on his face and that makes me happy to see.

Before you hand over your credit card for a pricey designer handbag because you saw Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie snapped wearing it in some celebrity magazine, ask yourself if you’re simply mirroring society’s expectations of you and fallling prey to the advertising industry’s snowjob on your delicate female psyche, or if this is something you genuinely want or need in your life.

We all like to have nice things, but how do we determine when we are trading in our soul as layaway collateral?

Vogue's 1st Country Covergirl

22 year old Country crooner, Taylor Swift, makes some candid and revealing statements in the interview that accompanies her Vogue Magazine cover. In the issue, Swift admits to superstitious fears about her fairytale life evaporating before her eyes, her need for a security teams due to stalkers, and how she deals with the pain of losing a boyfriend.

Holding little back, Taylor Swift tells Vogue Magazine, “There’s just been this earth-shattering, not recent, but absolute crash-and-burn heartbreak, and that will turn out to be what the next album is about,” describing her inspiration for her upcoming 4th studio album. Some could even speculate that she is referring to her intense yet brief relationship with Reese Witherspoon’s mutual ex, Jake Gyllenhaal. At one point things were looking pretty cozy for the pair, until Gyllenhaal abruptly ended their brief relationship.

Swift adds, “The only way that I can feel better about myself, pull myself out of that awful pain of losing someone, is writing songs about it to get some sort of clarity.”

Like most single women who have had their fair share of heartbreak, Taylor Swift claims that she is now armed with what she calls her dating “red flags.” One such red flag Swift fears are suiters who fall in love with her famous image rather than with her as a person. Another red flag for the Country singer, guys who are threatened or put off by her team of security that accompany her wherever she goes. Swift states, “I don’t have security to make myself look cool, or like I have an entourage. I have security because there’s a file of stalkers who want to take me home and chain me to a pipe in their basement.”

A third annoyance for swift is a male celeb’s rabid need for privacy to the point of absurdity. As Taylor Swift puts it, if two famous people are dating people will naturally be interested, but hey, get over it, it’s not that deep insists the singer. “If you care about privacy to the point where we need to dig a tunnel under this restaurant so that we can leave? I can’t do that.”

Admitting to her fair share of fear-based superstition about her amazing luck in the music business, Taylor Swift admits to Vogue that her biggest fear is that this will all go away one day, and as Swift puts it, “When is the other shoe going to drop?

“I am always living in fear. This can’t be real, right? This can’t really be my life.”

Celebrity Fragrance Pioneer with Passion

It seems just about every female celebrity is now licensing a fragrance (or a line of fragrances) in their famous names, but the late screen goddess, Elizabeth Taylor, was the pioneer of the celebrity branded fragrance industry when she unveiled her flagship fragrance, Passion, in partnership with Elizabeth Arden. I remember watching the television commericals for Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion as a little girl, taking the bottle off of my mother’s perfume tray and dabbing some of the delicious scent on my wrists. I loved the aroma and delicate notes of Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion back then, and I still love the fragrance now.

Passion by Elizabeth Taylor is a smoldering, feminine, and enrapturing combination of scents blended so beautifully, and the fragrance is affordable, to boot! With her violet eyes, dramatic makeup that highlighted her violet eyes, and her bedazzling jewels, Liz Taylor represented all that women want to be when it comes to developing their own signature style. I think that is why Liz Taylor’s first signature fragrance, Passion, was so successful, followed up by one of my mom’s favorite staples, White Diamonds.

Elizabeth’s style was flawless, her essence intoxicating, and her public relations and marketing campaign for her fragrance lines were impeccable and drew an onslaught of sales volume and repeat business.

Somehow, with all of the celebrity signature fragrances to flood the market in recent years from the likes of JLo, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Faith Hill, Jennifer Aniston… and even Snooki, none of them seem to even come close to capturing the essence of the first glamour girl inspired fragrance, PASSION!

Take a look at this retro Liz Taylor commerical spot for Passion:

Elle Macpherson Interview for PR.com

I just posted my Elle Macpherson interview on PR.com this morning. In my Elle Macpherson interview, I speak with Elle about her new reality competition television series, Fashion Star, which is set to premiere on NBC on March 13th. We talk about how she came up with the idea for the interactive fashion competition, working with Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie, and how viewers at home will be able to buy the fashions they see on Fashion Star, the very next day online.

Elle also opens up to me about her preference for swimsuits over couture, what type of underwear she prefers to wear, and raising her two sons in London, far from the Hollywood hoopla. Here are some great excerpts from the interview:

PR.com (Allison Kugel): Many celebrities launch fashion lines focused on upscale casualwear or eveningwear, yet you chose to create a lingerie line (Elle Macpherson Intimates). Why did you go into intimate apparel?

Elle Macpherson: I have always loved lingerie since my mother bought me my first bra and knickers as a young teenager. Coming from Australia I never had a passion for fashion. It wasn’t something that was very relevant in Australia. We had surf gear and sports gear, but fashion wasn’t something that we were dependent upon as a culture. When it came to modeling I found it really difficult because I didn’t really know how to model clothes. First of all, I didn’t wear many clothes (laughs). Give me a bathing suit and cowboy hat and I knew exactly what to do. Couture or fashion, I had no idea. I had never even worn heels before I moved to New York when I was seventeen years old.

PR.com (Allison Kugel): So when they put you in high fashion you didn’t know what to do with yourself.

Elle Macpherson: Yeah, I didn’t know what to do with myself (laughs). I would start laughing. I felt like those girls who dress up in their mother’s clothes!

PR.com (Allison Kugel): Do you always wear your lingerie under your clothes?Elle Macpherson: Always, and always matching. If I get dressed and then I decide to change my shirt and I have to change my bra because of the color, I would have to take off my pants and change my knickers as well. I can’t be miss-matched. It’s like wearing odd socks! I have a younger sister who makes fun of me and says, “It is so old-fashioned to wear matchy-matchy,” and I say, “I don’t care. I’m nearly fifty. I’m going to keep wearing matchy-matchy…”

PR.com (Allison Kugel): (Laughs).

Elle Macpherson: She wears different bottoms and different tops, and she says that’s much cooler.

PR.com (Allison Kugel): Does having the nickname “The Body” come with pressure, especially now that you’re in your late forties? Obviously, you look amazing, but do you feel like you have to live up to it, and that you need to be constantly working out?

Elle Macpherson: “The Body” has been a fantastic nickname because I’ve built a business around it. In 1989 I was on the cover of Time Magazine and they nicknamed me Elle “The Body” Macpherson. As soon as I saw it I thought, “I have to capitalize on that.” I never thought, for one second, “Oh yes, I’m the body!” I just thought, “Ok, perfect business strategy here.” So I built my business, really, on that. It’s been a really wonderful vehicle and I’ve been able to express myself in many ways using this name and image. I don’t find it a burden whatsoever. And, yeah, I’m nearly fifty. I don’t have the same body as I did when I was twenty, and that’s ok. The other thing is I don’t have the same spirit as I had when I was twenty, thank goodness! I have really enjoyed becoming the woman I am today.

Click to read the full Elle Macpherson interview for PR.com

This story is brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

Janice Dickinson & Tyra Banks Fued Heats Up!

An original panel member on the CW’s America’s Next Top Model, the self-professed first supermodel, Janice Dickinson, made a mysterious early exit from Top Model during the early years of Banks’ mega-franchise. Allegedly, Tyra Banks fired the outspoken former supermodel after just four seasons with America’s Next Top Model, and neither party explained exactly what went down… until now.

When Janice Dickinson gave a round of exit interviews after “leaving” Top Model, including one light-hearted appearance on Live! with Regis and Kelly, Dickinson made nice, explaining that she simply felt she was not the right fit for the America’s Next Top Model format and decided to move on with her career. At the time, perhaps for public relations reasons, Janice Dickinson made nice with Tyra Banks in the media, praising Banks’ innovation in creating and helming America’s Next Top Model.

Well, as the years went on, Janice Dickinson has not been quite so diplomatic, and it’s no secret that there is, indeed, plenty of bad blood between Banks and Dickinson.

In a recent interview Janice Dickinson blasted, “CoverGirl are the ones who choose the model, not any of the judges. People don’t know that!”

Janice Dickinson didn’t hold back her sour feelings for Tyra Banks, continuing, “The fact of the matter is [Tyra Banks] makes like $90 million. She makes a lot of money per year still hawking that franchise worldwide, they’re doing it in every country, and it’s CoverGirl who chooses the winner… F*** you Tyra! Eat a bag of royal skank!”

Tell us what you really think Janice. So much for PR diplomacy.

We all know that Heidi Klum is the queen of elaborate, sexy, and just plain crazy Halloween costumes. No one seems to embrace the spirit of Halloween quite as much as Heidi and her hubby Seal. Their annual Halloween Party is the hottest ticket in Hollywood each and every October 31st.

Have a look at Heidi Klum’s most outrageous Halloween costumes over the years: