C is devastated. Depressed, inanimate and completely useless in the store today from the shock and horror at the news that Michael Jackson had passed on. To put her in better spirits (as suggested by herself), Front Row will be playing songs from M.J’s entire repertoire in-store for a week. Michael, if you’re listening, this is C’s homage and tribute to your (inspiring but bizarre) greatness.

Here, C.. as you’ve asked. Perk up dammit. You’re needed on the floor.

M.J in L'UOMO Vogue, Oct 2007. Photographed by Bruce Weber

Disclaimer:"Take the doctor home with you" shouldn't be interpreted in a promiscuous, "voulez vous coucher avec moi" way.

In a perfect world we’d all have a Hollywood dermatologist taking care of our skin, leaving us with a complexion that looks like it benefited from a good dose of Vogue-retouching. Luckily, Dr. Frederic Brandt, dermatologist extraordinaire has come up with yet another ingenious way to take home his dermatological expertise with you, without going to his Miami clinic for a $500/30-minute consultation. It’s called Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleanser ($80) -a pore de-clogging mask that instantly rids skin of unsightly blackheads & whiteheads. (more…)

Never mind that scientists haven’t developed a vaccine for swine flu, at least we’re assured that the medical minds at Allergan (the makers of Botox) are hard at work developing a miracle eyelash fertilizer. Enter Latisse, the first FDA-approved treatment for hypotrichosis- a condition where one suffers from having inadequate lashes, which begs the question, “Do we really need a medical term for LASH ENVY?”

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The original £50m Hirst discoball

Here’s a fun project… The most expensive work of art ever created can now be a DIY weekend hobby.  Damien Hirst’s ‘For the love of God‘ (2007), a platinum skull encased in 8,500 diamonds, costing between £8m and £10m to make (which later sold for £50m), can now be replicated in a plastic skull and crystal beads for a mere £49.99.

Talk about High Art trickling down to the masses. A huge leap considering the 50-carat diamond in the middle of the original Hirst piece alone is estimated to be in the region of £3 to £5 million… versus the paltry cost of the large-sized glass crystal on the IHirst.

The IHirst

Contents: plastic human-sized skull, crystal beads (8,601 pieces), glue, paintbrush, tweezers, silver paint and instructions... make you an IHirst

iartistlondon also includes kitsch DIYs of other iconic contemporary art works including those of Marc Quinn, Tracy Emin. Rachel Whiteread, and even Banksy… Whoa!!

Thanks, Ana for highlighting the Ihirst on FB.

It seems the world’s trendy obession with Obama will not fade away with the recession this year. We get daily reports of what the Obamas are up to, what they’re buying, where they’ve been dining - a PR coup for the restaurants! Every restaurant that they’ve been to has been over-booked ever since.. especially the one where the Obamas went on their legendary Date Night - a point of contention for jealous, wistful wives against their infruriated husbands (annoyed at Obama for spoiling the market according to the NY Times.) Ah well, adding to the golden couple’s awww-inciting passion for each other; the Style icon in Michelle and her toned arms, as well as Obama’s superstar ranking - they’re just very likable.

Even a video of him swatting a fly is downright charming. I love that CNBC considers this ‘Breaking News’.

It will cost you USD$130 but when you know it’s a book - an object that brings forth knowledge - it’s slightly more forgivable.

Yes, in the midst of a financial crunch where we’re  being persuaded to spend on items tagged with hero terms like “investment value”, “extended mileage”, or “classic and timeless”, coffee table books can be deemed a good investment. After all, they stand the test of time longer than the average T-shirt or sandals (even the ridic-expensive ones), not forgetting that your choice of book will reveal you to be as cultured and intellectual as you want people to think. They are an accessory not just for your facebook profile character, but for your home interiors too. See the ‘investment value’ ? And honestly, very few things can match the smell of a new and mint-fresh book…

The 400-page Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture chronicles the brand’s “humble” beginnings as a luggage brand, to the giant superbrand it is today. The picture book focuses heavily on the collaborations and associations the brand has had with other notable names in the past years: more familiar names include Azzedine Alaïa, Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, Manolo Blahnik, Patrick Demarchelier, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Marc Jacobs, Rei Kawakubo, David LaChapelle, Helmut Lang, Annie Leibovitz, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Stephen Sprouse, Philippe Starck, Juergen Teller and Vivienne Westwood.

WOAH. Deep breath here. Sniff these pages and you might just get inspired. There’s so much genius in one volume.

One question. The book is available in English, French and Italian — Where are the Japanese and Chinese editions, seeing as Japan and China are two of the brand’s biggest and strongest markets?

Source: Hypebeast

When I first applied a mint green shade on my finger nails, approximately three months ago, my dear significant other commented that I looked “sick”, or even more endearingly, “dead”. How sweet.

But now I can rub it in his face and say “I told you so!”, thanks to megabrand Chanel’s endorsement in the form of their newest nail polish in a cool, jade green hue. I was, apparently, three months ahead of the game. (Smug look.)

The jade lacquer featured prominently in their Fall/Winter ‘09 show and had caused quite a bit of a tizzy in the blogosphere. Known for creating cult colours that subsequently sell out like hotcakes, or in our local context, Mellben Seafood’s crab noodles, Chanel knows how best to market its probably top-selling items — make it limited edition. Yes, like the previous navy blue and black varnish (both of which went on to create a global craze), this one’s only for the selected few. So get yourself on the waiting list if you’re as hardcore as the rest of the fashionphiles worldwide — I’ve already made my call.

The sneaky dog. antebellum, one of the labels under the +9 local designers’ collective, recently unearthed some pictures that he had taken of his S/S08 collection. Very annoying since we at Front Row expect to be privy to everything that +9 is doing! No Exceptions please… we want to be in the inner circle of everything. It’s because we’re excited.

Some background on +9: they’re a merry band of 9 individual fashion designers, all based locally, and stocked exclusively at Front Row. The clothes used in this batch of images from antebellum’s S/S08 were originally menswear, but owing to popular demand, is now available in XS to fit the lasses. Ain’t that fine!

Here’re some images to explain the Front Row angst:

photographer: K Hon// www.wall-management.com

stylist: Chia Wei Choong // antebellum ss09

model: Aline

antebellum is now available at Front Row | 5 ann siang road