Monday 30 May 2011

Red carpet round-up: 64th Cannes Film Festival

The films are in danger of being eclipsed by the dresses during the Cannes Film Festival. We saw some absolutely knock-out dresses this year and plenty of new faces on the red carpet. Last year's undisputed break-out style star was Fan Bing Bing, and she didn't disappoint in 2011. Queen of the Cannes red carpet this year has to be Uma Thurman. Her choices were flawless and she has never looked better. Here's our round-up of the best dresses from this year:


Karolina Kurkova in Armani Privé at the opening ceremony.


Another blonde glamazon: Uma Thurman in Versace.


Rachel McAdams in Marchesa at the premiere of 'Midnight in Paris'.
Love the vampy 1940s hairstyle.


Fan Bing Bing in a dress designed by her stylist Chris Bu Kewen.
She looks like an empress.


Model Bianca Balti in a white Alberta Ferretti gown and some big ol' emeralds. And the sugar daddy who might have bought them.


Ines de la Fressange in a plum tone satin column dress with accessories by Roger Vivier. Ines recently wrote a book called Parisian Chic: A Style Guide.


Diane Kruger in the first of many silver dresses we saw at Cannes. This one is by Calvin Klein. I know that Diane is supposed to be one of the great beauties of our time, but to me she always looks slightly uncomfortable.


French actress Melanie Laurent - the new face of Dior fragrance Hypnotic Poison - in a black organza gown by Dior and jewellery by Chopard.


Sarah Jessica Parker in Dolce & Gabbana. Not sure about all the pearls but the hair is amazing.


Actress Tang Wei in a white column dress with organza frill detail by Valentino. What a beauty!


Fan Bing Bing in Atelier Versace. She looks like a floating lily.


Sarah Jessica Parker at the premiere for Wu Xia, wearing an Elie Saab printed dress. One of my favourite looks from the festival.


Here we have Cheryl Cole in Roberto Cavalli. Metallic gowns are extremely popular this year. I do wish she would wear less make-up - she has youth and beauty on her side but it's impossible to look chic when she's covered in Snog Marry Avoid amounts of bronzer.


Fan Bing Bing in one of the most striking looks of the entire festival: ruffled gown by Atelier Versace.

Last year Zoe Saldana wore a vaguely similar dress by Givenchy to the Academy Awards.


Angelina Jolie in a dark chocolate satin gown by Atelier Versace.

Gwen Stefani in a sequin jumpsuit by Stella McCartney.


I think Iman worked it better in bronze at the Met Ball the other week...


Fan Bing Bing in Oscar de la Renta taffeta gown with a Restoration-style neckline. The chartreuse colour and simple braid hair keep the look contemporary.


Bar Rafaeli in a sapphire Pucci gown. I'm not sure about the 80s-style 'facial contouring' bronzer... She looks like one of The Human League!


Kirsten Dunst in a mustard-colour midi dress by Chloe for a daytime photo call. Beautiful pleating and perfect for the occasion.


Zhang Ziyi in a black dress with a strong 1940s silhouette and peacock sequin detail.


Milla Jovovich in Prada. This hairstyle is so pretty on her.


Uma Thurman in a dove grey gown by Chanel haute couture.


Gwen Stefani gives a sleek Armani Privé gown a little punk attitude.


Rosario Dawson in Roberto Cavalli.
This girl has such a beautiful smile.


Actress Blanca Suarez in a silver column dress by Gucci.


Uma smoulders in a royal purple maxi gown by Armani Privé.


Karolina Kurkova in Roberto Cavalli. His designs were the most popular on the red carpet.

Next red carpet event: CFDA Fashion Awards on June 6th. We will be posting pictures from the ceremony in real time on our Twitter account - to follow us please click on this link.

Monday 16 May 2011

Web exclusive: our big summer sale is now on!

2011 has been a really exciting year for Juno Says Hello and our dresses have appeared on the red carpet at the Elle Style Awards, the BAFTAs, the Academy Awards and the royal wedding. To thank our customers we are offering 20% off ALL dresses with free UK postage and gift wrapping until Monday 6th June.

Each beautifully packaged purchase also includes a scented candle (white tea and jasmine fragrance) and a large printed Juno Says Hello canvas bag. To activate the discount just enter 'JSHSS11' at the checkout. Here are some of the gorgeous dresses on sale now:

1950s Lola dress by Suzy Perette, available to buy here.


1950s silk-mix rosebud print frock, available to buy here.


1950s black cocktail dress by Bernetti, available to buy here.


Super glam 1970s leopard print maxi, available to buy here.


Sheer 1970s spotted maxi dress, available to buy here.


1960s lace shift by Horrockses, available to buy here.


1970s silk evening gown, available to buy here.


Estorille cocktail dress, available to buy here.


1930s velvet Greta dress, available to buy here.

Our central London studio is 2 minutes from Kings Cross station - customers are very welcome to come in to browse and try on our dresses, with no obligation to buy. We can open up very early or very late (including weekends) to work around your schedule. To make an appointment please contact us via this link.

We have many more dresses not yet online, so if you are looking for something in particular we may well have it in stock - get in touch and let us help you find the perfect dress. We can also source petticoats, accessories and corsets to complete the look.

We regret that international customers are not eligible for free postage.

Start browsing now...

This month's giveaway!

This month we're giving away a brilliantly useful - if bizarrely named - hair accessory: Bumpits. Each box contains several combs that work to create volume in the hair. No more nasty backcombing! This video shows how easy they are to use.

I love this picture of Jean Shrimpton on the cover of Newsweek - this is exactly the sort of hairstyle that Bumpits help you to achieve:


Here's the photo from the front of the packet:


You can use the Bumpits for long hairstyles or chic up-dos, like Ms Holloway:


A bit of volume on the crown also looks good on a pony tail:


Get the Eva Mendes look:


Gwyneth Paltrow with a volumized up-do:


The gorgeous Olivia Palermo with a 60s volumized bob:


We are giving away a set of Bumpits in mid-blonde (we'll be giving away other shades later in the year). To be entered into the competition all you have to do is sign up to our newsletter via this link. Our monthly newsletter includes details about private events, sale previews and exclusive discount codes. The winner will be notified by email on 16th June. Good luck!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

The 2011 Met Costume Institute Gala

Film premieres and award ceremonies are excellent red carpet opportunities for film stars and celebrities, but the Met Gala is the event of the season for true fashionistas. Designers, models, stylists and historians fly in to New York from all over the world to be received by Anna Wintour, left, editor of US Vogue.

The Costume Institute contains more than 80,000 costumes and accessories. It used to have a permanent gallery space in what was known as the 'basement area' of the Met, however, due to the fragile nature of the items in the collection the Costume Institute does not maintain a permanent installations. Instead, every year it holds two separate shows organized around famous designers such as Cristóbal Balenciaga, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent as well as style doyennes such as Diana Vreeland, Nan Kempner and Iris Apfel.

The Costume Institute's annual benefit gala, co-chaired by Anna Wintour, is an extremely popular - if exclusive - event in the fashion world; in 2007, the 700 available tickets started at $6,500 per person.


This year the gala coincided with an exhibition on late designer Alexander McQueen, curated by Andrew Bolton (see photo above). Guests were greeted by a receiving line of actor Colin Firth, designer Stella McCartney, and Vogue editor—and gala organizer—Anna Wintour. Suzy Menkes wrote a very interesting review of the exhibition for the New York Times, read it here.

Now to the dresses! There were some fabulous outfits (and some real turkeys) but I've compiled some images of the best ones... specifically those which are vintage-inspired or chime with a certain vintage look.

First up is Isabel Lucas, wearing a 1970s-style coral pleated maxi gown by Louis Vuitton. What a great face.


Also working a strong 1970s look was Florence Welch, wearing a white gown with bell sleeves by Yves Saint Laurent. Have you noticed how Flo doesn't smile much for photos anymore?


This girl always gets it right: Margherita Missoni. She has a beautiful face and a very fresh look - just like Ali MacGraw. Here she is in Missoni:


Also channeling a vaguely 1970s vibe was hostess Anna Wintour. I really didn't expect her to wear something like this! It's Chanel haute couture...


Here comes Iman to show us all how it's really done. A vision of 1970s disco perfection in a bronze sequin jumpsuit by Stella McCartney:


Jennifer Lopez glammed it up with a red silk gown with feather shrug by Gucci. We don't really get to see her wear this colour very often - it looks fantastic and much better than her usual beige or black choices. She's still Jenny from the block though... the girl can't resist baring her midriff!


Working back through the decades, there were a couple of dresses that were very 1960s in style. Fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker wore a fabulous embellished maxi gown, complete with beehive hairstyle. Here is a photograph taken in her dressing room before she arrived at the event. Do I spy an empty bottle of Veuve Clicquot in the background? It's a blessed relief to know she's just like us and enjoys a few jars before going out on the town.


Here we have Bee Shaffer, Anna Wintour's daughter. She wore a very grown-up gown by Balenciaga, featuring a 'watteau' train that was a very popular feature for evening dresses in the 1960s. She looks great but it doesn't feel right for May - do you agree?


Next we have one of my favourite dresses of the evening: model Jessica Stam in a petal-pink tulle gown. The silhouette and fabric are typical of 1950s evening dresses, but the hem and accessories give the look a modern twist.


Actress Dakota Fanning wore a sensational couture gown by Valentino. This is a really elegant dress with exquisite flower details, but I think she needed a more sophisticated hair and make-up look to carry it off.


As usual, Salma Hayek was a vision. She was one of the honorary chairs of the Met Gala this year. We sold a dress very similar to this one a couple of months ago - it was so beautiful it didn't even make it on to the website as it was snapped up by a girl who came in to the studio before I had chance to upload it. It had exactly the same rose detail on the hip but was in a very pale apple silk chiffon, instead of the blush tone Salma's wearing.


There were quite a few guests working a strong 1940s look. One of them was Nicole Richie, with a Lana Turner hairstyle and a gown by Jason Wu:


Diane Kruger also wore Jason Wu. The embellished bodice is superb - but I wonder whether the skirt would work better without such a big slit?


Next up: Madge! I thought this was the best she has looked in ages. Not only does the colour work very well on her, but only a real fashion icon could carry off a star-embroidered train at an event like this. She's pop royalty and she won't let you forget it! Dress by Stella McCartney:


Here is Lucy Liu in one of my favourite designers, Vionnet. Her dress isn't particularly 1930s (in fact the hairstyle is definitely 1960s) but I wanted to mention the design house as their history is fascinating.


Madame Vionnet (1876-1975) was known as 'queen of the bias cut' and specialized in Grecian goddess-style gowns. Eschewing corsets, padding and anything that distorted the natural curves of a woman's body, her clothes were famous for accentuating the natural female form. Influenced by the modern dances of Isadora Duncan, Vionnet created designs that showed off a woman's natural shape. Like Duncan, Vionnet was inspired by ancient Greek art, in which garments appear to float freely around the body rather than distort or mold its shape.

Here's a wonderfully atmospheric picture of two models (the one of the left is Marion Morehouse a.k.a. Mrs e e cummings) wearing her designs. Photograph by Edward Steichen.


Actress Amy Poehler does a fine Jean Harlow impression with her J Mendel 1930s-style gown and hairstyle:


Here we have one of my favourite dresses of the evening: Maggie Gyllenhaal in Stella McCartney. The silhouette and draping is very 1930s but the blue sparkle gives it a 1970s disco twist. Maggie always looks so happy and relaxed - here she looks utterly serene. I guess the army candy helps.


Karen Elson looked sensational in a gold evening gown by McQueen. The silhouette of the dress is quite 1930s, but the fabric and shredded hem make it unmistakably contemporary. This sort of juxtaposition is signature McQueen.


And finally, here we have model Chanel Iman wearing a white embellished shift by Dolce & Gabbana. This was another of my favourites looks from the evening. It's quite hard to pull off high-octane glamour in a short, pale dress (especially when you're surrounded by guests in floor-length gowns) but she manages it!


Look at her beautiful 1920s hairstyle in this shot. Left to right: Chanel, Bar Rafaeli and Isabeli Fontana.


Whenever there is a big event involving beautiful dresses on a red carpet, we tweet photos in real time on our Twitter account - if you want to follow us please click on this link.

We love your comments so please do let us know whose dress you liked the best - or if you think we missed anyone out!

By the way....

We're having a big online sale in a week - 20% off ALL dresses with free UK P&P (with gift packaging) - please sign up to our newsletter so we can email you the discount code.

Start browsing now....