VS Fashion show:
The good and bad
STYLE RECAP
Glitz, gold and
tans for this year’s
Angels
By Daily Style Writers
At the Victoria’s Secret Fash-
ion Show, there was music, bras,
Kris Jenner being a “cool” mom
and the sensual sounds of the
Weeknd, what more could you
ask for?
BEST: Kendall Jenner
Kendall Jenner seems to absorb
a crowd’s attention whenever she’s
on the runway. Maybe it’s her
stunning beauty, the mass amount
of attention placed on the Kar-
dashian/Jenner clan or a mix of
both. Either way, as Jenner made
her debut as an angel she was the
highlight of the show’s first cat-
walk routine. Donning underwear,
bra and corset that were brought
to life by their rich primary color
pattern, Jenner took it to the
next level with a flowing skirt, an
aggressively large gold necklace
and custom-made Brian Atwood
platform sandals. As she posed at
the end of the runway Kris Jenner
snapped pics and Caitlyn Jenner
teared up. —Christian Kennedy
WORST: Ellie Goulding
Ellie Goulding was clearly the
weak link in Tuesday night’s run-
way show. The Weeknd brought
sensuality and his singular look
with “Into The Night” and “Can’t
Feel My Face” while Selena Gomez
stunned the crowd during her
performance of “Me & My Girls.”
And while Goulding vocally suc-
ceeded, her dress failed to emulate
the glitz of the show. Loaded with
metal embezzlements and two-
too-many straps, her black, red
and white dress failed to flatter the
pop-singer. Nonetheless, her song
choices of “Army” and “Love Me
Like You Do” brought just the right
sound. — Christian Kennedy
BEST: Elsa Hosk
The wonderful part of the
VS show is the delicate balance
between amazing underwear and
lavish ensembles. Sadly, this year
only a few lingerie pieces looked
beautifully crafted as is typical of
VS. One exception would be Elsa
Hosk’s Winter Wonderland look
that featured a delicately embroi-
dered white bodysuit with an
elegant cutout and striking neck-
line. The enormous white furry
earmuffs and mittens were a major
plus, as were the glistening jewels
around her neck. The true Queen
Elsa, Hosk glided down the run-
way like an ice princess with snow-
flakes sprouting from her tanned
body, putting us all into the holiday
spirit with every step of her knee-
high fur boots. — Mara Maclean
BEST: Selena Gomez
In my book, Selena Gomez
stole the show on Tuesday night.
Wearing a deep plunging Jolibe
Atelier gown with a high-slit and
cut outs, Selena outshined every
model that walked by her. Don’t
get me wrong, I think the Victo-
ria’s Secret Models are beautiful
women. But there is something
to be said for women who know
how to show the curves they’ve
got. Selena was absolutely the
real “Angel” that night. —Julia
Doyle
WORST: Gigi Hadid (as a fire-
fighter)
Being in the VS Fashion Show is
obviously a huge honor for all mod-
els. For Gigi Hadid, I’m sure that
was no different. After months of
training and dieting in prepara-
tion for the show, I’d be ecstatic
to flaunt my unbelievable body in
some million-dollar bra and tiny
panties. Unfortunately for Gigi, she
got the honor of wearing a sports
bra and weirdly wide firefighter
pants. Not only was that a let down
for Gigi, but it didn’t seem to fit the
typical look of the VS show. It’s safe
to say that I am slightly disappoint-
ed. — Julia Doyle
BEST: Maria Borges
Maria Borges made history at
this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fash-
ion Show. She is the first model to
wear her hair completely natural
for the fashion show (except for
some hairspray). Borges looked
absolutely stunning in her pink,
yellow and blue feather peacock-
inspired “wings.” Walking the
arguably biggest fashion show
sans extensions shows that Borg-
es has confidence in herself —
something even more beautiful
than the lingerie and wings she
was wearing. — Carly Colonnese
WORST: Gigi Hadid (as a
tragic butterfly)
While Gigi Hadid, arguably
the it-girl of the moment, is pret-
ty much perfect in every way ...
but at VS, not so much. This trag-
edy that made its way down the
runway was just a huge let-down.
This being the first year she was
accepted into the high-profile
fashion show, I was expecting big
things from her runway looks,
but was met with utter disap-
pointment. In a half-assed but-
terfly ensemble that reminded
me more of a sad green plant, the
makers of the show did not let
Hadid shine like she could have.
— Mariam Sheikh
BEST: Cindy Burna
Flawless, dripping in gold and
looking completely immaculate,
Burna stunned in each and every
look she wore this year. My per-
sonal favorite? While it may not
have highlighted the classic VS
bra, the sheer nude bodysuit
dripping with rainbow embel-
lishments stole the show. What
was most amazing was how the
body-form jumpsuit even morphed
over her sky-high heels, making
her look effervescent from head to
toe. Donning feathers in an uncon-
ventional way in many shapes and
colors, of course to resemble angel
wings, Burna managed to look
angelic and was perhaps the best
angel on the runway. — Mariam
Sheikh
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
Daily Arts Writer
There are many ways to tackle
Ugly Sweater Season. After three
years’ worth of Christmas Par-
ties hosted at my parents’ house, I
consider myself well-seasoned in
the new millennium’s trend that
often ends in a once-worn sweat-
er covered in a variety of festive
drinks and food.
The first (and most obvious)
factor in festivities is the sweater
itself, and it would be naive to
assume all sweaters are created
equally. There’s the classic, gen-
uinely ugly sweater — it’s more
than likely very bright, its materi-
al all but filled with embroidering
and it (naturally) itches like hell.
The Sweater Store will be one of
the first links discovered for those
on the hunt for the sweater that
will perfectly represent “you”
this winter. While its collection
appears extremely ugly, yet some-
what endearing, the true ugliness
rests in vintage stores and poorly
designed e-stores further down.
The second type of “ugly”
sweater is just the opposite —
cute. Often, while still brightly
colored and overwhelming in
design, the cuter sweaters seen
under the mistletoe stem from
more mainstream roots — Urban
Outfitters, Forever 21, Amazon
to name a few. Cuteness aside,
mass-produced “ugly” sweaters
are problematic on their own — if
cute is what you aim for and you
would like to stay in the tongue-
in-cheek spirit, then Ebay, with
its seemingly endless pages of
vintage sweaters, is just the place
to find the perfect paradoxical
cute ugly sweater for you.
Funny sweaters are, truly, the
end-all-be-all of holiday par-
ties. You can buy them from the
pros at Tipsy Elves or the mas-
terminds of Etsy, where I pur-
chased a white crew neck with a
screenprinted Miley Cyrus’s face
(tongue and all), complete with
tinsel and blinking lights (10/10
would recommend). But ulti-
mately, the largest feat of Sweater
SZN is the ideation and imple-
mentation of bomb sweater ideas.
(Pinterest is always fair game.)
Screwing Reindeers and pissing
Santa Clauses are hilarious and
always welcome, but more than
often it’s the three-dimensional
Ugly sweater season
prompts style choices
DIY sweaters that will always be
remembered best. For example,
my mom (whose name happens
to be Joy) made a simple sweat-
er with two gloves glued to the
chest above the phrase “Feel The
Joy” last year, winning the best
female sweater.
Other clothing is simply there
to support the aura created by
your sweater. Sweaters nearly
across the board can be paired
with dealer’s choice of jeans or
leggings (or no pants at all, if your
sweater is longer). Reindeer ant-
lers, santa hats, festive socks and
shoes are all extra credit. There’s
no shame in building a flatter-
ing, cohesive outfit around your
sweater. And similarly, there’s no
shame in dressing to the north
pole and back in holiday-themed
accessories — someone’s got to do
it, right?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter
what style sweater-outfit suits
you. Look online, craft away,
borrow from friends, but no
matter what your choices are,
just wear a damn sweater. If you
don’t, it’s been confirmed — we
are more fun than you.
Songs of 2015 you
should be listening to
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
Daily Arts Writer
2015 was a big deal for music
and me. I went to my first music
festival, expanded my musical
tastes tenfold and finally listened
to the entirety of Channel Orange
(I was embarrassingly late to
that party). More important than
my own musical year, though,
there was simply a ridiculous
amount of good music released,
with hopefully more to come
(@BadGalRiri,
@FrankOcean
& @KanyeWest). Nonetheless,
between Adele, Justin Bieber,
The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar
and many other major releases,
some time-worthy tracks got
lost in the shuffle.
“Lady” - Noé
I first heard Noé’s strong-
willed
pleasure
anthem
on
Not Mad as part of a Q&A with
the Berkeley School of Music.
Extremely polished for an artist
as unestablished as Noé, the
song should be raking in Spotify
listens and climbing iTunes
charts.
“Kamikaze” - MØ
Danish singer MØ is best
known for her feature on Major
Lazer’s “Lean On,” which was
this year’s number one streamed
song
on
Spotify.
Currently
awaiting the release of her
second LP, MØ graced fans with
its lead single, “Kamikaze.”
Produced by Diplo, “Kamikaze”
follows the same formula of
post-chorus instrumentals and
MØ’s singular voice is unlike
any other in popular music’s
landscape. That, coupled with
expert
production
and
the
(literally) unforgettable lyrics
gives the track more and more
intrigue with each listen.
“Let It Happen” - Tame
Impala
“Let It Happen” opens the
Australian
psychedelic
rock
band Tame Impala’s third album
Currents.
Written,
recorded,
performed and produced by
Kevin Parker, “Let It Happen”
is, in my opinion, the best song
on one of 2015’s best albums.
“Let It Happen” is a tour de
force of one man’s musical
landscape.
The
intricacy
present in the multitude of
instruments manages to keep
listeners interested, especially
at each sonic transformation
throughout its almost 8-minute
runtime.
“Yoga” - Janelle Monae
“Yoga,” in short, was the
summer banger of 2015 (for me
and a few others). Immediately
from Jidenna’s deep “Let your
booty do that yoga,” followed by
a bass drop and Monae’s debut
“Party at the beach down in
Copacabana,” the song comes
to life in its first verse and
carries its energy through the
remaining 3 minutes.
“In Time” - FKA Twigs
Off her third EP M3LL155X
(her best work yet), “In Time”
might be her most mainstream
track to date. Twigs employs
all her tricks — brilliant lyrics,
beats that take on a life of their
own without overpowering the
vocals, voice distortion (in just
the right amount) and finally
her raw, emotional delivery
brings her music to another
level.
“Levels” - Nick Jonas
Despite Nick Jonas being
fucking everywhere this year,
the single from his self-titled
release didn’t receive nearly
as much love as it deserved.
Arguably better than “Jealous”
or “Chains,” “Levels” gains
all of its hook through Jonas’s
on-point delivery. His high-notes
maintain traces of raspiness and
the often subtle trail-off of those
notes make the song extremely
fun to sing along to. (@ Tailgate
DJs of The University, play this
next year, please.)
“Instigators”
-
Grace
Potter
“Instigators,”
off
Grace
Potter’s
debut
solo
album
Midnight, is one of the LP’s
many highlights. Immediately
from the electro-pop synths
and contrasting guitar riffs,
Potter’s newly found sound is
The Nocturnals without the
“alternative” qualifier allowing
her vocals and personality to
fulfill a void in pop music’s
current
offerings.
Unafraid
to
commit,
the
vocals
on
“Instigators” flirt with the line
between singing and screaming,
but in the end Potter’s ability to
deliver high-notes with power
and control.
“Who I Want You To Love”
- Bleachers & Natalie Maines
Originally
on
Bleachers’s
Strange
Desire,
the
album-
closer makes a reprise in 2015
featured on the release Terrible
Thrills Vol. 2 with guest vocals
by Dixie Chicks member Natalie
Maines. Maines’s breadth of
talent ranges from her southern
humor on commonly known
throwback “Goodbye Earl” to
her rock chops on solo track
“Trained.” Her vocals combined
with Jack Antonoff’s lyricism
on “Who I Want You To Love”
is revolutionary. Without the
eccentricity
on
Antonoff’s
delivery on the original, the
song takes on a new aura in
Maines’s seasoned hands.
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MUSIC NOTEBOOK
A ridiculous
amount of good
music released
this year.
The song
should be
raking in
Spotify listens.
STYLE NOTEBOOK
CBS
The Weeknd is having the best day of his life.
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Arts
Friday, December 11, 2015 — 5