This week the model pick of the week was hard to do. However … I just kept coming back to this picture of the BB Dakota by Jack Rich Jacket!

This red and black plaid jacket stands out so well, while it also looks and feels soooo comfortable! With its plush lining, I guess it was a good pick for this week, especially since it has been getting cooler and cooler these days!

After Kathleen did her interview with Nikia (and we realized that our models were pretty amazing young women), we decided to try and involve more of the models into the blog as often as possible. This week I got in contact with Ali Lee, who wrote me some pretty amazing things about her life, how she got into modeling and what her favorite items of the season are.

“Modeling, like dancing, is an outlet that I can use to express myself through movement and expression.- Ali Lee

After studying classical ballet for 12 years, Ali Lee made it into a modeling agency in her home of Hawaii. There is something to say about the fact that Ali grew up in Hawaii, where she states, she found “beauty in many different forms, but focused most of [her] energy into [her] dancing.” After dancing for so long, Ali Lee was trained to work hard and soon started modeling for trunk shows, fashion shows, and even got to walk for Chanel!

Ali took a break from modeling to go behind the scenes and study film at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. It wasn’t until her senior year, when Ali became friends with a musician in L.A. and started performing in his music videos, that she hopped back on the main stage.

Ali says this of modeling: “I love being in front of the camera, and I have my love for the stage to thank.“

“Fashion is an extremely fickle world, but I feel like you can never go wrong with simple basics. A good fitting pair of tapered black pants are necessary, and its worth it to splurge a little. I am currently looking for the perfect pair of black, buttery leather ankle boots with buckles and an Inspector Gadget style trench coat.” — Ali Lee

For November, the fashion magazine W is featuring a serious series of photographs conceived by Maurizio Cattelan, curated by Dennis Freedman, and photographed by Pierpaolo Ferrari.

For this series, Cattelan casts supermodel Linda Evangelista as an image of the fashion victim as martyr and saint. Dramatic photographs of Evangelista are placed between loaded images of burning peace signs and blood red meat. This series is arranged to lead the viewer through a slightly disturbing and politically charged world created by Cattelan.

I am totally infatuated with Pierpaolo Ferrari’s work, as he is one of my favorites from the Milan fashion scene. I found Pierpaolo’s work when I became friends with a couple of his assistant photographers in New York (including Alberto Zanetti, who was featured in August on our blog post Duty For Beauty). When I moved to Milan, I was even able to go behind the scenes of a few of his shoots.

Pierpaolo Ferrari treats his photo shoots as if setting up a scene for a movie with an actress. The model is integral to his photograph, as an actress to a play/movie, and he makes the props and set for her to work with. The relationship of the model to the set is one of the reasons that Ferrari’s photography works so well with Cattelan’s style.

Cattelan says this of working with the goddess of modeling, Linda Evangelista: “She’s a still actress. At the end, she was so tuned-in that all she needed were a couple of words and she knew what we wanted.”

If you’ve checked out our vintage section lately, then you couldn’t have missed our newest model, Nikia Phoenix. With her signature freckles and gorgeous look, Nikia has been building a reputable modeling career, moving from the runway to magazines and now to Lulus.com!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nikia and thought you guys would love the chance to get to know her better.

1. Is being a model all it’s made up to be? 
It has its advantages, and also its hardships. Being a model isn’t always glamorous, but that’s the portrait I paint when I step in front of the camera. I live the life of a starving artist, but it’s what I chose to do. I may not always get paid for what I do, but I love to do it. Because of this profession, I’ve met the most wonderful people. Their creativity and drive encourage me to keep doing what I do.  

2. Who is your greatest inspiration and why?
My greatest inspiration is my family. They are so loving and supportive even when they don’t understand me.  Everyone in my family is very spiritual, especially my grandmother. She’s practically a saint. This woman willingly and unselfishly gives so much of herself. God always blesses her for it, and the blessings trickle down to the rest of us. 

3. How do you stay healthy, both body and mind?
A lot of meditation and discipline. I try to exercise everyday and read something other than news and blogs. The news can be very depressing, so I try to read things that are good for my soul. My boyfriend tries his hardest to make me eat healthy food. I’m from the South, where we fry everything, but he makes me steer clear away from fatty comfort food. Let’s just be honest: there’s nothing nutritional about fried chicken.

4. What is your favorite splurge?
I’m actually pretty frugal, but I will splurge on good food. Dessert especially. Funny that this question comes right after the “staying healthy” one.  I have a sweet tooth. I know that if I overindulge, I’ll be sick. That’s why I always suggest sharing your sweets with the people you love. My sister and I always leave room for dessert, and eat it together (when I’m around, of course).

5. Favorite movie of all time?
The Godfather, but I can’t choose between Part One and Part Two. I love the combination of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, and then Pacino and Robert DeNiro. I even quote the movies quite often, but few of my friends understand what I’m taking about. “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”  See, even gangsters know how important dessert is.

6. What can’t you leave the house without?
Chapstick. Preferably Carmex.  

7. What did you have for breakfast this morning?
A cup of Earl Grey and an English muffin. On the weekends, I’ll go all out with pancakes, french toast, biscuits, etc.  Basically anything that can potentially be sweet.

8. Any pet peeves?
Disorder and dishonesty. I can’t work with chaos, and I don’t like people lying to me. And I really can’t stand it when someone leaves lights on when no one’s in the room. A small lamp is fine, but let’s not waste energy. I have moments of OCD when I go around turning off lights and rearranging things. Perhaps I need psychiatric assistance.  

9. Describe your perfect outfit.
A vintage soft t-shirt, colorful scarf, comfy slim-fitting jeans, cute heels and stare-at-me earrings. I can run errands without feeling constricted and go out for dinner without looking drab.   

10. New must haves for this year?
Over-the-knee boots and a cute leather jacket. You can never go wrong with a couple of classics.  

If you want to hear more about Nikia (and I’m sure you will!), pay a visit to her awesome blog, Model Liberation, and also check out an interview with Nikia and her mom on the Tyra Banks Show below.

Ever since I saw Anne Hathaway sporting those thigh-high Chanel boots in The Devil Wears Prada, I knew my life was missing something.

Those old motorcycle boots I wore all last winter just wouldn’t cut it. I wanted over-the-knee in every color.

Thankfully, Fall 2009 has seen a plethora of over-the-knee boots on the runway and now on the market. Perfect paired with skinny jeans or a sexy mini and tights, these boots will beg to be worn everyday.

So imagine my glee when LuLu*s ordered a variety of over-the-knee boots in various colors and textures for the fall season. The Jeffrey Campbell A-Plus Grey Patent OMG OTK Heel Boot [sold out!] is so daring and fun; it looks straight off the runway.

I happily took home a pair of the G O Max Jiera 01 Black Suede OTK or Cuffed Flat Boot. With a flat foot and a slim upper, this boot was just what I was looking for.

A fairy tale ending, if I do say so myself. Stay tuned for more boots in the future!