(Photo:cheap evening dresses)Is a beauty pageant any way to “normalise” the transgender experience? Hmm, let me think. No. The bottom line for anyone possessed of even a smidgeon of feminist understanding is that beauty contests are a bad thing. However they are dressed up – and I don’t mean swimsuits v ballgowns – they encourage women, often quite disadvantaged women, to compete by conforming to exaggerated patriarchal ideals of womanhood and attractiveness. And a trans contest? Well, that just doubles down on the insult, diminishing all women, trans and non-trans alike. For not only does it buy into the inherent sexism of such a competition, but it also reinforces the notion that trans women must conform to conventional feminine ideals, propping up the gender binary.

These arguments became particularly pertinent last night, at the finals of Miss Transgender UK, a pageant – or, as some have described it, a beauty contest – exclusively for trans women. A series of regional heats were the road to Egg, a north London night club, where I watched 20 trans women compete against each other for a range of prizes, including cash, modelling contracts and, most controversially, a £10,000 voucher for gender reassignment surgery.

The pageant’s objective, according to organisers, was to recruit a new generation of trans ambassadors. But many in the trans community are unhappy. They view the surgery prize as unethical, and the entire process as damaging to trans women. There was also much concern that this event had appropriated the memory of the deceased trans teenager Leelah Alcorn, after whom the main prize of sexual reassignment surgery was named.

Of course, there is a place for contests that subvert the very notion of a beauty contest, and I have spectated and cheered on the occasional queer contest that did just that. It is also the case that the organisers of Miss Transgender UK remain adamant that theirs was pageant, pure and simple: not specifically a beauty pageant. Some 50% of the marks were awarded to contestants according to how they answered a range of quite challenging questions about their experience as trans women: their coming out, discrimination and lessons learned.

But then it was back to the swimsuits and gala dresses and girls showing off their talents, and even if the intent was to recruit trans ambassadors – a truly positive aim – we were back in beauty territory.

So should we just tick the “bad idea” box next to this and all future trans competitions, and move on? Not quite. Because the other thing in the air last night was something I see very little of in activist and campaigning circles. And that was a peculiar mix of enthusiasm and celebration on the part of the contestants, tinged with raw anger over how this event was being represented. This was their chance, their catwalk. For one brief moment, they had a platform, from which they could answer back to a world that sometimes seems to hate all things transgender with a passion.

Like so many trans women up and down the UK, the contestants still suffer every day for the simple fact of being who they are. There were many stories, onstage and off, of individuals afraid to leave their homes, rejected by their families, or forced to wait years before even a first encounter with the NHS. Many would argue that anything that gives these stories greater prominence has to be useful.

When people talk glibly, as they sometimes do, of trans people taking resources away from cancer patients, I wonder if they know just how long some individuals – desperate, suicidal even – must wait for any sort of treatment; whether, indeed, any critics of trans healthcare would accept a 12-year wait before their own medical issues were addressed.

Last night’s contestants, like the majority of trans women – like the majority of all women – do not possess the privilege of some of the activists who engage with government, the press and the civil service, who have the resources to work through some of the difficult, winding processes we face. So while it is politically “correct” that trans activists scold the organisers of such events for their failings, including that highly controversial decision to provide gender reassignment surgery as a prize to the winner, I found myself uncomfortably reminded of a similar divide that afflicts women’s issues and other campaigning groups more widely.

Which is: sometimes people’s options are limited, and far from ideal. When you are trying to balance a screaming toddler on each arm, and an unhelpful husband and not enough money to last until the end of the week, it is likely that none of the choices on offer are going to be good ones. In this situation it is beyond unhelpful for the feminist sisterhood to scold you for failing to live up to their principles.

So, no, I still don’t “like” the idea of Miss Transgender UK. I see it as a diversion and a celebration of the wrong values. It doesn’t “normalise” trans people; as Italian actress and politician Vladi Luxuria mischievously suggested last week, what might really affect that kind of change is if Miss Italia were open to trans women.

But this was a form of normal life, of ordinary women, under pressure, doing what they could to improve their chances. And until society as a whole does better by all women, trans and non-trans alike, this is probably as good as normal gets.Read more at:celebrity dresses

Milan may be weathering a few financial storms at the moment (not to mention actual storms – it’s freezing and the rain’s biblical) but over at Philipp Plein, the only thing that’s raining is cash. £150 million worth of it, if annual turnover figures are to be believed.

Plein, a German-born, Cannes-dwelling, Swiss-headquartered maximalist designer devoted to injecting the fun back into fashion, puts those figures to good use come Milan Fashion Week. Each season he seeks to outdo himself, staging a show so spectacular it makes Miley Cyrus look pedestrian. Previous pageants have featured a cage fight followed by a Snoop Dogg performance, a jet ski duel between two male models on a swimming pool catwalk, and last season’s rollercoaster constructed underground beneath a 1920s Milanese building (with accompanying hashtag #rideordie) and Azealia Banks playing. Pyrotechnics are par for the course – Plein owns his company himself, with no debt, so if he wants a fire-breathing dragon to singe models on their way down the catwalk, for instance, he gets it.

Budget estimates for the shows, which have previously been produced by Etienne Russo, the mastermind behind Moncler and Chanel’s mega performances, hover around the €2.5million mark. This show was produced by Eyesight. Who knows how much the latest one, staged in a studio east of Milan on Wednesday evening, cost – but it must have been up there in the millions.

A 200-page magazine – show notes, schmo notes – on my seat announced that “each collection weaves a narrative, and Plein immerses himself in the theme he chooses, like an actor preparing for a specific role.” To that end Plein built a giant conveyor belt catwalk surrounded by guitar-and-drum-playing robots. Their role became clear when Courtney Love slid into view and they began accompanying her as energetically as any long-haired rocker, to a backdrop of lasers and hovering drones. Once Courtney’s number was up, models started shooting down the moving runway, stopping only to receive a handbag or a pair of sunglasses from more robots parallel to the catwalk, who picked up individual items and handed them to the girls, all of whom were either in slinky, barely-there white prom dresses or punkish, studded leather jackets and tulle ballet skirts.

If it was just entertainment – and the clutch of blondes jiggling along next to me in their Plein studded boots and slashed jersey blue prom dresses certainly enjoyed themselves – then it was spot on. If it was meant to be a parody of the fashion industry – the conveyor belt demands of the schedule, the robotic nature of trends, the deliberate mechanics behind product placement – it was even better.

(Photo:one shoulder prom dresses)Sartorial correctness isn’t necessarily easy when you’re a woman in an investment bank. If you consult UBS’s ‘dress code’ (since withdrawn), the woman in finance should never display her toenails, never wear a shirt that’s ‘tight against the chest’ or a coloured bra beneath a white shirt, and should always wear a nicely folded necktie in the style of a cabin assistant. And if you listen to Nomura, you should never wear a skirt with a deep slit, or ‘gay colour nail polish.’

If this guidance is insufficient, there is – fortunately – additional help at hand. Libby Hart, a former vice president at Deutsche Bank and director at SocGen, quit banking three years ago to devote herself to dressing professional women. You can see her collection of ‘office appropriate workwear’ here. Meanwhile, this is what Hart says about the real art of looking the part when you’re a 35 year-old woman with three children, a sometimes unreliable nanny, and a one hour commute.

1. Face it: you are not 22

When you’re in your 20s, dressing for a banking job is easy, says Hart: “You just go to Zara, where everything is tiny and too short and you can just about get away with it.”

Life gets more difficult once you get to your late 20s and beyond. At this stage, you should eschew Zara office wear for something with more gravitas. However, you don’t want to look “frumpy,” or “mumsy,” says Hart, and you don’t want to spend a fortune. “I know very few senior women who get it wrong,” she says. “The people who make mistakes are the mid-level women who are still wearing pencil skirts and cardigans.”

2. Invest in some ‘proper’ dresses

Hart refers to her clothes as “investment pieces.” Costing around £200 for a dress, they’re not cheap, but Hart says – as is to be expected – that they’re worth it. Moreover, you need a few of them. “It’s easy to slip into a routine of wearing two or three outfits on rotation, especially when you’are starting at 6.45am. But if you really dress up, it will give you a confidence boost. It’s sad but true that you will be judged by what you wear in a masculine environment like banking.”

3. Sleeves, you need them

When you’re shopping for seasonal clothes to wear to work in banking,you need to remember that every season in the office is fundamentally the same thanks to air conditioning. It’s just outside that’s different.

“The summer work wardrobe is a real challenge – it’s freezing in the office and boiling on the Tube,” says Hart. All her dresses have sleeves to allow wearers to survive the office micro climate.

4. Cleavage must be constrained

Don’t even think about displaying cleavage. A v-neck top with a tiny “hint at cleavage” is fine, says Hart. Too many people go lower. “You see a lot of men oggling at women’s cleavage in meetings. As a senior woman, that will undermine you.”

5. Heels are your friend

Think Teresa May. “I’m pro-shoes,” says Hart. “The higher the better. The extra height gives you gravitas and a better posture.”

6. Skirts should be of a decent length

There’s no need to show some leg. “If your skirt is a bit short you will spend your whole life trying to pull it down,” says Hart. “You shouldn’t be worrying about what you wear all day long. You want to look at good as you can. It’s all about looking amazing whilst looking demure, that’s the key.”Read more at:prom dresses london

(Photo:mermaid prom dresses)Every girl wants to look her best on her wedding day. So, it’s only advisable that the attire is chosen after much thought.

Be more experimental, try out different drapes, keep the lehenga embroidered heavily and go subtle on the choli for getting a royal look on your D-day, says an expert.

Designer Masumi Mewawalla from the Mumbai-based Pink Peacock Couture has shared some tips for choosing the perfect bridal wear:

Be more experimental

Try out different drapes and patterns. Bridal wear not only has the lehenga-choli but the saris, jackets, gowns, draped gowns and ghaghras. You must surely experiment to find your correct look and correct fit to get the perfect look.

Keep either the lehenga or choli little sober

In bridal clothing, keep the lehenga embroidered heavily and go subtle on the choli or the vice versa. Add a jacket choli on the top, and leave a nice silk lehenga below it.

Opt for outfits which make you look more graceful

Go for comfortable fits and just not the the beautifying outfits. Having maximum comfort on your special day will help you move around and do things in a better manner.

Do not forget the embroidery detailing in your outfits

Pick the most royal yet subtle embroidery. Go for zardosi, add some kaanch (glass) and resham (silk) in correct proportions and add some sequence for an extra oomph factor.

Colours

The trendy colours are surely the blues, wines and purples. But still have a soft pick for the pink. Pastels are still a favourite for brides.Read more at:one shoulder prom dresses

(Photo:prom dresses online)Donna Karan turned out Wednesday to support Public School’s Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow, the new creative directors of her namesake DKNY, as they debuted their first collection for the brand since her departure from the company she founded 31 years ago.

There were no radical leaps in style as models made their way down a long, 250-foot runway set up under a ceiling of exposed industrial pipes in a gleaming white underpass at the PATH train station at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

The designers, with New York roots as strong as Karan’s, honored the hallowed location in deconstructed cityscapes on some outfits, and they held tight to the DKNY look in playful pinstripes in asymmetrical wool wrap dresses, jackets and coats, a familiar play on classic tailored suiting.

So what did Karan think of the collection done in gray, white and black, with a touch of blue?

“She liked it. She was happy,” Chow said backstage after the show.

Osborne added: “She’s been so supportive, you know, throughout the process. It means a lot to us for her to be present and supportive like that. It’s been amazing. … Hopefully it’s in good hands and we’ll take care of it.”

This is a big moment for Osborne and Chow. They’ve always had Karan’s blessing, but where do their voices join with the brand’s creative foundation? Karan stepped down in June.

“Funny enough, we titled this season Missing Pieces, knowing that it’s a journey. … We still don’t really know this girl altogether. We’re still putting the pieces together,” Chow said. “We’re still trying to find ourselves, but we know that it’s a long journey and we left ourselves enough leverage to have some fun in the future.”

The two chose the location to honor the city where they grew up and where Karan made her name. And they chose to tinker with tailoring as a nod to DKNY’s DNA, using pieces of photos taken by Peter Lindbergh in a 1990s ad campaign for the brand.

One black-and-white coat included part of the face of Rosemary McGrotha in sunglasses from an old DKNY video.

The designers said their DKNY girl will remain a New Yorker. She’ll be determined and focused and comfortable in the rest of the world as well as the two hope to foster a younger customer base.

“She wants to be taken seriously,” Osborne said, “and she wants her clothes to reflect that without taking herself too seriously.”

Count actress Kate Mara, who sat on the front row, among DKNY fans excited to see how the Public School guys do.

“I wear a lot of their stuff just in my regular day life when I’m not working,” she said. “I’m also a huge fan of the black and white. Those are my favorite colors to wear and I feel like you can always rely on them to find those colors in their collections.”Read more at:cheap formal dresses uk