To New Beginnings (and a New Beverly Hills Beach Club)

Anybody remember the awesome beach club that Brandon worked at and everyone else partied at? Sadly, the new 90210 has upgraded since the early 90's and the old club is nowhere in sight. I mean, okay, everything does look pretty swanky and everything... But it's just not the same. Sigh.

Just for nostalgia's sake, here's the old gang:

Awww. Love them!

But back to the topic at hand... The new gang was back and looking more fabulous than ever. There was crying and laughing and sex, oh my! The Mean Girls have been reunited, there's a new Mysterious Hottie in town, and a John Doe has officially been pronounced dead. But who really cares about the storyline? All drama aside, let's talk about the clothes, shall we?

We first see our favorite juvenile delinquents in their last moments of summer school (an unfortunate consequence of a massive party that was busted up at the end of last season) and the fun quickly gets underway. Naomi, Silver, and Adrianna (played by AnnaLynne McCord, Jessica Stroup, and Jessica Lowndes respectively) hop into their convertible and cruise down to the Beverly Hills Beach Club.

Side note - I was recently in LA for the first time and was saddened to find out that the original BH Beach Club isn't a real place, since apparently Beverly Hills isn't actually on the beach. In fact, the location used (which was also used as the "Malibu Sands Beach Club" on Saved By The Bell) was unfortunately damaged in the 1994 Northride earthquake and no longer available.

So here are the girls, in their awesome color coordinated Ray-Bans and ice cream cones.

And in case you were wondering what absurdly wealthy teenagers in Beverly Hills wear to relax by the pool?

Super high heels, of course! Duh! Let the relaxation commence! Though, I gotta tell you, I am loving the 40's pin-up girl look Adrianna has going on here.

After some splish-splashy good times, everyone apparently heads home to re-style themselves and then head back to the club for the beach party. Now... Why wouldn't they just throw on a cover up over their swimsuits, you ask? After all... There is sand and water and everyone knows a beach party means super casual, right?

Nope. That's just not how those Beverly Hills kids roll.

Instead, they roll a little something like this:

I actually...kind of...maybe just a little bit...like it? Actually... I might even love it. I'm not crazy about that pink/red strappy dress on Naomi, but I don't hate it. It fits her well and it's not nearly as skanky as it could be, so yay! I love Adrianna's drapey Grecian goddess dress. The color is lovely and looks amazing with her pale skin and dark flowing hair.

As for Silver... Oh Silver, how I want your outfit (I wouldn't say no to having that body to go with it, not gonna lie)... It's stylish and chic, a little edgy and rocker-girl with that belt, and oh.em.gee those heels are ah-MAZE-ing.

Seriously FIERCE. What is not so fierce is the weird synchronized dance thing going on in the picture on the right there... I have no idea what was going on. I've never seen or heard of that particular party dance and come on... I am not that old and out of touch just yet. It also amuses me that Silver's newly cropped (and super adorable) hair was straight at the beginning of the party and then was suddenly wavy once the dancing started. There are people on television sets who's job it is to make sure there are no continuity mistakes like that. Clearly someone dropped the ball on that one. Hire me instead! I'll totally pay attention!

The kind of attention that would make me question how Adrianna's hair grew about seventeen feet over the summer! That has always been one of my biggest pet peeves with TV shows... Nobody ever comments on hair changes! Why wouldn't they just have Adrianna say a quick line about how she just got back from getting hair extensions, or at least have someone else comment on how great her hair looks... Something. ANYTHING!

But, irritation aside, the girl looks stunning with the new hair. It's probably hard to make a beautiful girl like that look bad, but I definitely think the long hair suits her much more. I'm not thrilled with the bright red lipstick with a lilac dress (it was way brighter on screen than in this photo) but I can handle it. And let me just say, for a former-child-star-turned-pregnant-reformed-junkie who gave her baby up for adoption a few months before this party, Adrianna is lookin' hawt. You go girl. You just keep on rockin' those extensions, darlin'.

If the premiere episode is any indication - I can't wait for the rest of the season in all its fashionable glory!

[photo credits: tvguide.com, cwtv.com]

Melrose Place: Tuesday's the New Humpday

No, seriously... That's one of the taglines for the CW's Melrose Place remake that premieres tonight, right after 90210.

See?

Ha. Hahaha I kind of love it and I kind of want to smack myself upside the head for even laughing.

According to the CW, this is the basic rundown: "In an elegant Spanish-style apartment complex in the trendy Melrose neighborhood of Los Angeles, the lives and relationships of a diverse group of 20-somethings intertwine to form a close-knit surrogate family."

And here is the "diverse group of 20-somethings":

So... Let me get this straight. Basically, it's what happens when the 90210 kids graduate and move from their Beverly Hills mansions into supersweet apartments in LA, where mommy and daddy still pay their rent so they can all have awesome "jobs" that don't really pay anything, since they're probably not really working all that much?

Okay, cool. I get it. A scripted version of The Hills. Well, a more scripted version of The Hills.

I have to admit that I never watched the original Melrose Place. It was hard enough to convince my mom to let me stay up and watch all the original 90210 partying, hooking up, overdosing, etc. No way was she ever going to let me get an extra hour of debauchery in on top of that. I'm kind of curioius to see how this new show goes. The 90210 remake doesn't hold a candle to my beloved original series, but I still watch it out of some sick sense of nostalgia...or something (the cute guys and fantastic clothes might have something to do with it). I don't really have a reason to watch Melrose, except that Ashlee Simpson attempting to act might be good for a laugh or twenty.

I do have high hopes for the fashion, though. I'm thinking it could be a suitably entertaining thing to have in the backround while I'm reading endless textbooks and wishing I could have been born one of those trust-fund brats running around LA in my fabulous Christian Louboutins.

And frankly, when it all comes down to it... Having these people on my television screen for an hour a week...

Might not be so bad. At the very least, chances are good that I'll feel like a genius in comparison, right?

I say bring on the New Humpday!

So what do you think? Excited for the new show? Would you rather stick a fork in your eye than be subjected to Ashlee Simpson's "acting"?

[photo credits: tvverdict.com, melroseplaceblog.com]

Gossip Girl Meets the Roaring 20's

Oh no! My favorite Upper East Siders graduated at the end of last season! How am I supposed to deal without seeing Serena's inventive and inappropriate variations on a school uniform? Or Blair's Queen Bee headbands??!!

Okay, if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about... No worries. I've got you covered.

Here's the recipe:

1. Take one part Beverly Hills 90210 for the rich kids with little-to-no parental supervision

2. Add two parts Dawson's Creek for the far-too-witty-to-be-high-schoolers dialogue and the romantically incestuous group of frenemies

3. Blend together and spread out all over a super glamorous backdrop - Manhattan (without any of those pesky realities like subways, crowds, closet-sized-apartments with five roommates, etc.) and the occasional tragically-hip neighborhood in Brooklyn

4. Sprinkle in some straight-from-the-runway fashions and accessories (some that I wouldn't hesitate selling my soul straight to the devil for)

5. Top with more teenager angst than the last twenty years of soap operas combined

6. Promote with some raunchyyyyyyyyyyyy ad campaigns just to piss off any potential Puritans who might catch a glimpse

VIOLA! Gossip Girl Souffle! A light and airy, yet sinfully delicious guilty pleasure with an outstanding wardrobe, unbelievably good-looking cast, moderately acceptable acting, and an absurd amount of fun.

I love seeing the photos from the set of Gossip Girl and this latest batch certainly doesn't disappoint. As far as I can tell from what I've read so far, it looks like the gang is heading to a 20's themed Halloween party and their costumes are gorgeous!

Here are the lovely ladies - from left to right:

Blake Lively (as Serena Van Der Woodsen) - What can I even say? HOT.

Hilary Duff (guest starring) - She's adorable and that dress is beautiful. You go, Lizzie McGuire!

Taylor Momsen (as Jenny Humphrey) - No. Just NO. No way, no how, just... UGH. I'm not sure who Taylor pissed off in the wardrobe department, but they consistently give her the short end of the stick. And, please, for the love of everything holy... EAT SOMETHING.

Leighton Meester (as Blair Waldorf) - Unfortunately, this is the only shot I could find of her in costume and you only get a glimpse of white fringe and a few layers of a dark necklace. Leighton's outfits rarely disappoint me, though, so I'm not concerned about her. I'm still very concerned about Taylor. In fact, I cringe every time I look at that photo.

And though there's less for me to comment on with the boys, I've got to say that they're not lookin' too shabby themselves.

Ed Westwick (as Chuck Bass), Penn Badgley (as Dan Humphrey), and Chace Crawford (as Nate Archibald) are definitely all bring the sexy back to my television screen. Can't wait!

Okay, I have to do a close up of Serena's outfit, the details deserve a full on Oh.Em.Gee.

Sparkles and lace and satin and that flower at the bottom... Le sigh. Be still my heart.

So, what do you think? Anyone else a fan?

Purple haze all in my brain...

Is it just me, or has purple been the it color for like...years?

Not that I have any problems with purple. In fact, I'm a pretty big fan. I have tons of clothes and accessories in every shade from lilac to plum to violet and I use them regularly.

But purple makeup is a stumper for me. I always oooh and ahhh over it at makeup counters. I'm constantly told that purple shades will make my hazel eyes appear more green, which is something I love since it's sometimes hard to convince people I even have hazel eyes because they're kind of dark. I also have a drawer full of various shades of purple that I absolutely love...in theory.

I'll use a dusting here or a sweep there and that's about as far as I ever go. I even have purple blush that does quite a brilliant job making me look bright and glowy (thank you Bobbi Brown Violet Face Palette!) but I even find myself shying away from that and have no idea why.

Well, color me totally shocked when I saw this on the Sephora website and immediately wanted to drool:

Oh. Em. Gee. Make my eyes look like THAT!! Pretty please?? (a little lighter on the eyeliner, especially under the eye, and I think this could even be considered appropriate for daytime)