2011 Fashion

Neuaura Shoes: Vegan Luxury

Neuaura, the vegan and eco-friendly shoe brand, offers a range of uncompromising fashion footwear to animal-friendly customers. Their shoes are an epitome of sohphistication and style, making it a must-have for every wardrobe. And the best part is, whether its their classic riding boots or suede pumps or chic flats, everything is made without using any animal products, at the same time without compromising on quality or style.
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Nominated for the 2010 Veggie Awards for the best shoes, Neuaura shoes is the brainchild of Arti Upadhyay. Born and raised in the US by very religious and spiritual Indian parents, Arti has played a major part in launching many successful national footwear brands for the last eight years, and has learned first-hand how to create fashion-forward, quality vegan footwear that is both animal friendly and more environmentally friendly.

She founded NEUAURA because she is a vegetarian who also believes in a fashion-forward lifestyle. Over the years she has come across many women like herself, who were looking for fashionable, high-quality animal-friendly products.
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Neuaura shoes do not contain any leather, fur, silk, wool, shell, or pearls. No animal by-products are used during manufacturing and/or finishing processes.
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Neuaura has once again proved that style does not mean harming animals. Style, quality and ethical treatment to animals can go hand-in-hand. We love their shoes!!!!!

Priced between $75-225, you can buy Neuaura Shoes online at:
http://www.neuaurashoes.com/ (US customers)
http://www.fashion-conscience.com/ (UK customers)
http://www.neoncollective.com/ (UK customers)
Their shoes are also available at select stores in US, Canada, Europe (Austria, Germany, UK) and Asia (Japan), visit their website for more details.

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Related Posts:
Shoe Spotting: olsen Haus
Best Vegetarian Beauty and Cosmetic Brands
CRUELTY FREE FASHION
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"king" of the moment

nadal, photographed by alastair grant/ap, during his match against tomas berdych. the O2 arena, nov 26, 2010.

i woke up this morning, really excited, thinking about...tennis.

there was a fantastic semifinal match yesterday, between my maximum favorite player and andy murray. it might have been one of my favorites of the year, and quite possibly the best indoor tennis match i've seen since 1982 (when mats wilander went down to john mcenroe in the longest match in davis cup history, a 6 hour - 22 minute grind that scarred my heart for years).

nadal defeated murray in three sets.

you know me--i couldn't rattle off the score, or remember significant points without looking at notes or a news report. but i won't forget the faces, the expressions of either player. tennis players are not an undemonstrative bunch--in between the vamoses and the come ons, they'll grimace or frown, raise an eyebrow (in the case of nadal). or he may look like he's about to choke the life out of his... racquet (murray). and then sometimes they say nothing--nerves, fear, doubt, exhaustion can be read in their eyes for a half-second between points, when they catch the eye of someone on their team. and then they shake it off. and hit a winner. not sure if there are any still photos to evidence this (probably because photographers are tethered to the sidelines). but believe me, the match was full of those moments from both players. it was exquisite, fun tennis.

i also thought of one pose after he earned the win--a few photographers got this shot.

nadal has a couple of victory moves in his repertoire (usually he's dropping down, flat on his back). i wondered after this one, how he'd celebrate. but his simple victory smile was entirely appropriate for the tone of the match and respectful of his relationship to murray and murray's home crowd. it's one of the things i like most about him--his sense of place, his sense of a moment. he seems more often than not to understand things wider than himself, even when the moment is "his." it was true when he was younger (i'm recalling his matches against agassi during the andre summer farewell tour) and as he was establishing his dominance over federer (at the australian open a couple of years ago). a few suggested he seemed almost too good?

i wonder if that will change, if someday he will change with more titles, more money, more adulation. who could blame him, i guess, if it all went to his head? i suspect it will not, but there is no way to know.

so for now, enjoy...

nadal d. murray 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6). london, uk. nov, 27, 2010.

photo: kirsty wigglesworth/AP

home style: thanksgiving, 2010

i have always had a tendency to downplay our family thanksgiving celebration.

when i was growing up, the holiday was positively traumatic for one reason: no turkey at our table. we had ham. i used to mope about how un-american it was. (the fact that my family was not american, not by birth anyway, except for me, didn't make a difference. we lived here.)

as our family grew, and my american-born cousins were old enough to collect their loud voices over "the turkey situation," our table started to take on the appearance of something more traditional. turkey is now a standby, next to the prime rib and the pork lechon and the barbeque skewers (yes, my people enjoy bbq skewers all year long). we made room for more dishes with potatoes (even the sweet ones) and green beans and brussels sprouts. we now have pies filled with apples and they sit next to pear tarts and flans and fried bananas (and other weird filipino treats).

but i'm still sometimes guilty of judging this holiday, more than any other, on ideas of what it should be, based on lore, rather celebrating what it is.

for us, thanksgiving is, more often than not, a very full house, a game of musical chairs (the music being the meal). we attack the table in waves, and shift from chair to couch to standing spot, while stories and jokes are told at a loud and fever pitch in two languages (so amid all the laughing, some of us get a little bit lost. we laugh more, anyway). and then eat more.

not sure a thanksgiving gets much better or happier than that.

here are a few photos from this year's good time.

mom's roasted brussels sprouts, with bacon.

or is it mom's bacon with roasted brussels sprouts?

homemade lumpia

lechon

filipino-style bbq

with jason (and a skewer)

does this count as a vegetable?

pancit - my aunt makes this better than any restaurant could

see, we had a turkey (not for long)

grace before the meal

cornbread stuffing--this one might be my new favorite, love the sweetness of the bread

my contribution this year: blum's coffee crunch cake

apple tart

pear tart

yes, this is a purple and orange and white dessert, made of glutinous rice.

you can understand why a kid would think this is the height of weirdness, yes?

turon! fried bananas, drizzled with caramelized sugar

6 cousins and a baby.

route 4

route 4 east

november 21, 2010

good night light

november 20, 2010

photo © anita aguilar

the sovereign rose

"as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul..."

-- pablo neruda, sonnet xvii

Best Dressed Women 2010

VOGUE MAGAZINE’S BEST-DRESSED LIST

Best Dressed of the Decade – Kate Moss
Vogue style director Alexandra Kotur commented, "No one has had more influence for the past decade on the way women have dressed than Kate Moss."
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The Bombshell – Blake Lively
Gossip Girl's Serena van der Woodsen, aka Blake Lively, makes it to the Vogue's Best Dressed List as the Bombshell, with her style choices. And she even was crowned cover girl of Vogue's special edition best dressed issue.
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Screen Siren – Marion Cotillard
French women and style are synonymous, and it won't be surprising if a French woman makes to the Best Dressed List.
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The Independent – Michelle Obama
The First Lady's has created quite a stir in the world for her fashion sense and canny style. She experimented against the usual blacks and blues of the capital steps. "She mixes the practical with the vigorously stylish and cardigan always handy" says Cathy Horyn of the Times.
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American Beauty – Jessica Biel

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Street Cool – Alexa Chung
British model-turned-TV-presenter Alexa Chung has won her admiration from the world's top fashion critics for her 'schoolgirl meets grandma' chic and is not the first time that she is listed on Vogue's Best Dressed List.
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Haute Bohemian – Sarah Jessica Parker
When the word Sarah Jessica Parker is spoken the first thing that comes to mind is stylish. Though her recent Sex and the City movie did not really make the fashion critics happy (and I totally understand why, the movie was a downer in terms of style), the lady still gets a listing on the Best Dressed List.
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Conscious Chic – Liya Kebede

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Free Spirit – Carey Mulligan
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New Classicist – Shala Monroque
Shala, the fashion writer, Editor-at-Large for Pop magazine and blogger has impeccable taste and am glad she was on the most fashionable women's list. Her style is classy but she doesn't shy away from strteching her boundaries. I love how she accessorizes with stand out pieces to add a touch of pizazz to some of her looks.
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The Visionary – Lady Gaga
Kotur says about Gaga, "What she has done is so wonderful in that there’s a spotlight on her and she’s opened up the vocabulary."
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Image Source

Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World)

Rihanna explores the new invention of music as well as fashion! Rhianna's video feels like we are watching her from Mars or an apocalyptic era where she is actually that "Only girl in the world"! This video is so fashion forward and feels like the movies "DUNE" and "Water World" collided with each other and birth a new "Fifth Element"!