Michael Buckner is a fashion and celebrity photographer who travels around the world taking pictures on the red carpet. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the hottest entertainment industry events.


It was a sunny afternoon at the Pasadena Civic Center, where the 10th annual ALMA Awards hosted by hot housewife Eva Longoria in 15 different dresses, all my Latin designers. My Favorite was this over-the-shoulder shot wearing Venezuelan designer Armando Piquer.

We're sure you recall our pant crush on Bonobos. How could you not, the way we went on and on about the waist and the chimps and the ninjas and the stuff. It makes us all giddy just thinking about it. In fact, if we weren't doing real guy stuff, like sitting around in our boxers, drinking beer and watching the Olympics, we'd be wearing a pair right now. That's how we roll.

The guys at Bonobos like to look good, but they're over the whole tie thing. They decided to do something else with the silk- make it into belts. They are offering "premium tie silk wrapped around a durable backing, in a colorful array of styles and colors" in limited editions. That means buy quick.

Michael Buckner is a fashion and celebrity photographer who travels around the world taking pictures on the red carpet. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the hottest entertainment industry events.


Former Dawson's Creek star and Tom Cruise wife, Katie Holmes, debuted her new line of clothing at the Tropic Thunder premiere last night. The stars swooped in at the last minute to a baffled crowd of photographers, who were amazed they came. Holmes has been working on a clothing line for Georgio Armani, and this might be the first ever look at what she can do.

The dress looks amazing, blue satin on the bottom half with a leather halter-top and a strap running around the neck. I know one thing: she sure can design for her bottom frame.

Along with TomKat, came the stars of the film Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr and Jack Black and surprise co-stars Matthew McConaughey, Justin Theroux, Amy Adams and Tobey Maguire.

Seemingly mere minutes after we told you that Lauren Conrad doesn't actually design the clothes in her collection (about which we're sure you were shocked beyond belief) comes other LC fashion news -- apparently, she has been asked to design dresses for the Emmy Awards.

Yeah, we're pretty baffled, too.

Michael Buckner is a fashion and celebrity photographer who travels around the world taking pictures on the red carpet. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the hottest entertainment industry events


It's been a while since my last post from Miami Fashion Week. I spent last weekend in San Diego for the International Comic Convention, where high fashion was sci-fi T-shirts and cargo shorts. Batman costumes took over the hallways of the convention center, so there wasn't much to post about. I missed Styledash, but I'm back with a bang of an event.

Critically acclaimed director Woody Allen's 43rd film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," brings together actor Javier Bardem and girlfriend Penelope Cruz with the ever talented Scarlett Johansson. The Los Angeles premiere brought them together again in top designer dresses. Scarlett in Monique Lhullier. Penelope in Herve L. Leroux. Selma in Balenciaga. These women of Hollywood stormed the red carpet in high fashion.

Scarlet won the fashion contest for last night in the Phillipino fashion designer's red gown, and with two of Hollywood's fashion elite on the carpet, that's a victory that deserves a trophy, right?

See the dresses from the premiere in my gallery below.

Many of us have been mystified as to what to wear to weddings. If you are one of the many fumbling for the appropriate attire wedding after wedding, you are in luck my friend.

Here is a quick break down of wedding types and what that "black tie" or "beach casual" notation really means.

The first thing you might notice on the ShopBarbara site is the "$5 Shipping" banner at the top. Yay! If you live in the United States, it's $5. DON'T COMPLAIN, EUROPEANS, or we'll pelt you at an exchange rate of 1.6.

We ordered a couple items and they came fast! So, that's a good start.

Let's talk about what they're selling: Flattering casual wear, dresses, bras and panties, and accessories.

We realize it's supposed to be a joke, but deep inside our hearts, we believe these guys might be on to something real with The Fuxedo!

Stuckey and Murray don't mention the price, but how can you put a price on genius? There are many men in our acquaintance who would very much appreciate a graceful sewn-in cummerbund and bow tie. Most have spent their lives searching a graceful two-way zipper fly.

So much grace for one item of clothing! It's practically couture.

Oh, don't just take our word for it. You must see for yourself. Safe for work, unless you sit near someone with delicate fashion sensibilities. You know, the kind who get hives from sale racks. They just won't get it.

Venus Williams has made a lot of fashion statements throughout her tennis career, and often, we're not the biggest fans. However, we couldn't be more in love with her look from this year's ESPY Awards -- game, set, match, she was the big winner in our book.

Not only was it event appropriate, but it was perfect for her body, which is really important for athletic girls. We know she has a rock hard body, but this dress showed it in a way that was feminine and sexy, and we hope to see more ensembles like this on her in the future. But, for now, we'll all have to be content with using this dress for inspiration -- to see how you can score this look, click through the gallery.

Okay, so we caught Lauren Conrad wearing some fringe Minnetonka sandals. Say what!? Yes, fringy shoes that are actually cute. So we did a little detective work and found that there are fringe benefits all over the place for fall.

Check it out!

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today we'd like to introduce you to independent fashion designer Kpoene' Kofi-Bruce of Mignonette, which means 'cute girl' in French. Kpoene' recently launched her new bridal collection, which includes custom gowns.

She might have had to wear all-white for Wimbledon, but 14-year-old girls' singles winner Laura Robson went with a totally different look at the Champion's Ball, choosing a short black dress and fun pink shoes.

Wow, Bunny1313witch. There's a lot going on here. This is a sparkly, peach, crocheted, stretchy vest with "lures" dangling from it. We hereby declare this vest ludicrous.

How do these things get made? The listing says "Sorry label is no longer there." Our question: you mean this was purchased at a store? Someone with an actual label made this. . .like this? Covered in glittering plastic bait? WTF?

We love Jennifer Hudson. She's a fierce lady with booty for days. Her voice is fantastic as are her acting skillz and she's besties with Andre Leon Talley of Vogue fame (heart!). However, this Peter Soronen dress had us scratching our heads. Puzzled some might say. Bewildered for others.

It's almost as bad as the caped crusader fiasco at last year's Oscars. Her posture isn't as confident as usual, the bronze hue (which is tough to pull off as is) overwhelms her lovely skin tone, and the hair is too severe paired with such a strong dress. To top it all off with the bronze shoe is just too much. Maybe with some softer boob length waves and a strappy shoe in another color this might've worked but definitely don't try this look at home.

Formal events are often the events for which we want to look our very best. You might be seeing people you haven't seen for a while, or meeting new people you'd like to impress. Either way, you want to look absolutely amazing.

The thing is, formal gowns often show body parts we normally keep covered, like our backs, shoulders, and arms, and they sometimes cling to our stomachs and hips in ways that are unflattering -- not exactly what we're going for on a big night out, right?

Here are some tips for working with your figure when finding a dress for a formal event: