Posts with tag animals

Some of the outfits we see on the runway during fashion week are totally outlandish and unnatural. Or so you might think.

Over at Lemondrop, the new AOL site for women, they have an amazing gallery that pairs wild runway with the wild kingdom. It turns out all those designers are just visiting the zoo or watching a lot National Geographic documentaries.

Birds, lizards, snakes and aquatic life come in some pretty wild shapes and colors...which is not to say we want to turn them into hats, shoes or bags. But we wouldn't turn our noses up at some of the "inspired by" fashions in the gallery. That gold ram headdress is perfect for a cocktail we're going to next week!

We hate the idea that, in order to create a mascara that thickens and lengthens our fabulous lashes, poor, defenseless animals had to endure testing. We absolutely hate it. However, while it's easy for us to tell the cosmetics companies that they need to find an alternative, doing so isn't as easy as all that. There wasn't an approved alternative to animal testing until now.

We've made no secret of our love for organic clothing. We also enjoy children and fluffy cute stuff. Positively Organic feels likewise and has created a line of clothing for children that is good for the Earth and frankly, cute as a button.

The company was created by a husband and wife team through a series of circumstance and life-altering experiences. It seems to be working out for them.

They run their company based on "the idea of doing well by doing good."

A lot of the things happening to our planet are anything but funny. Animals across the globe are facing extinction due to hunting and poaching, loss of habitat, and disease.

However, jewelry designer Simon Cardwell isn't sitting around moping about it. In fact, he's created a line of jewelry, Cheeky Monkey, to bring attention to the plights of numerous endangered animals in a surprisingly fun and smile-inducing way.

This is a purse, made of a coconut, covered in flamingos.

WTF, linluck?

Apparently, linluck was thinning out his/her flamingo collection. He or she must have felt inexplicably drawn to flamingos for awhile.

Totem animals anyone? I headed to trusty sayahda.com for the lowdown on flamingo symbolism:

"Because the eye of the flamingo is actually larger than its brain, they are associated with clear sightedness. Flamingos see exceptionally well, but due to the smallness of their brains they are not always able to interpret what they see efficiently."

I find that to be a fair explanation for why this purse exists. Some flamingo lover thought "Hey! That coconut would make a great goldenrod flamingo purse!" All because their brain was smaller than their eye. Simple.

The phrase ought to be coined, really. Like "eyes bigger than your stomach" for when you order or take more food than you can eat, "eyes bigger than your brain" could be for when you wear something silly like all the spring fashions at once, or Crocs, or this purse.

I like to joke about how celebrities like Paris Hilton use their pets as accessories, but I figured the world agreed that animals are not, in fact, there to make you look good, but rather living, breathing creatures that most-likely couldn't care less about how you look (or how they look while you're holding them).

That, however, hasn't stopped the people behind Pet Fashion Week from creating an enormous trade show dedicated to making you and Fido look as stylish as possible.

This past weekend saw runway models, exhibitors, and plenty of fashion-forward pets -- all flooding the W Hotel in New York, hoping to get the inside scoop on the pet lifestyle industry.

Does this seem a little over the top to anyone else?

[via Catwalk Queen]

I was actually late coming into the office yesterday because of the Today Show, which always entertains me in the morning. I don't actually watch the Today Show for news because very rarely will I find actual "news" there (I prefer watching CNN for the news). What I did find in place of news today was a very old woman discussing her dog wig company.

Yes, you read that correctly -- wigs for dogs!

Why a dog would need a wig is beyond me. Dogs are covered in fur! Dog clothing is one thing because that can be pretty cute, but wigs?! It was pretty amazing watching the segment because Al and the gang could hardly contain their laughter. There were dogs with comb-overs, blue wigs, braids ... you name it.

I wish I could give you a more informed post, but I was laughing way too hard to actually hear the interview. I think the photos speak for themselves. I managed to find a gallery online today, please be sure to check it out.

Hairstylists, like designers and makeup artists, constantly seek new inspiration. But time and time again, these creative types tend fall back on one particularly dynamic muse: nature.

When hairdresser Gianni Scumaci evoked the natural muse, he came up with a shocking idea: horse hair styling. To execute his plan, Scumaci placed an ad in Horse and Hound magazine seeking an equine. After receiving 700 emails in response to the mysterious ad, Scumaci held a casting call for 21 horse models. Eventually, Scumaci met his model in Birmingham. Named Sandokan, the pure-bred Lusitano impressed Scumaci with his gleaming chestnut mane and tall, elegant physique.

Over three days, the hairstylist created three separate looks for the horse. The first was a blond Paris Hilton-style mane that required thousands of dollars worth of hair extension and hours worth of stitching. The second look was a Mary Quant-style bob, and the third was a teased, 80s rocker look inspired by The Cure's Robert Smith.

I admit, as an ex-My Little Pony fan, who spent hours gelling, brushing and cutting colorful plastic hair, this project is right up my alley.

You know how tabloid magazines have those photographs of celebrities doing everyday tasks, which are supposed to make us think, "Hey, stars are just like us!"?

Well, according to a study produced by a Swedish University, celebrities aren't the only species who are just like the rest of us -- so are monkeys! By studying the behavior of spider monkeys in Mexico, scientists concluded that the species actually uses a perfume-like scent to attract mates. The monkeys chew up the leaves of a fragrant plant, and then apply the scented mash to their bodies.

Other species of monkeys have been known to use mashed plants to treat topical skin infections or repel bugs. But this is the first time that the plants chewed by the monkey spiders had fragrant values rather than medicinal purposes.

Monkeys: they're just like us!

[via Zee News]

A bold text across the bottom of a London-based boutique's display window reads "25 cats, 17 dogs, 8 seals, 15 badgers, 14 otters...." No, Topshop is not working on a Noah's Ark window arrangement. Rather, the Oxford Street flagship store has devoted their entire window display to support PETA's anti-fur campaign.

A mannequin wearing a long coat composed entirely of teddy bears and other stuffed animals stands at the forefront of the display; the number of toys on the jacket represents the number of real animals required to construct one fur coat.

The windows of Topshop are also emblazoned with the circle and bar no-fur symbol famous in association with PETA.

I'm not extremely familiar with fur-harvesting, but with that many animals involved, it would have to be one heck of a coat. What do you think?