I was very surprised seeing this year’s offerings for Fall 2010. Surprised because the clothes are beautiful but they looked like they were meant for SPRING and not fall. There was a lot of silk, short sleeves, sandals, and cotton. Beautiful clothes and wonderful styles with soothing colors, but nowhere did I see heavy wool, any coats, or my personal favorite, BOOTS! I even introduced myself in one video as being at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for SPRING 2011 and not Fall 2010. How silly, but I looked at the clothes and I got confused about which season it was that they were showing. I guess I am just not up on the fashion of the times! Fashion dictates it own seasons. See for yourself. Here is the finale of the Fabulous Lela Rose show:

There were only very NORMAL looking clothes being shown too. I mean usually, the designers make a real spectacle of showing. They make some crazy clothes to mix in with the real pieces they want to sell. But I can see where the economy has made all the designers more conservative and I can also see where they cut the entertainment part of showing their lines.

Some of the bigger lines actually only showed in their showrooms also called, their “atelier.” The tents at Bryant Park were still full of lines being shown, but big names like Donna Karan, Diane von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs all have shown their lines in their showrooms this week.

Stephen Burrows had a great showing in his showroom yesterday. The colors were beautiful and the shoes were great! That is one place I can say no one skimped-shoes. Stephen Burrows had his shoes made by Louboutin.

Anyway, back to my launch of my skincare line. I have photos of the backstage craziness and some of the models- Gorgia Wass included!

By the way, Gorgia Wass was soooooo nice. I mean, when I sat down next to her to get my hair done, she immediately started to chat with me. We then compared fingernails and finger polish color (I had blue and she had blue-green with sparkles).

I got my nails done by Debra Lippmann and here I am getting my hair done by Ted Gibson:

My makeup was done by Ms. Louise for TART (which has my favorite mascara, however not raw!).

I was interviewed backstage by Fashionbeast.com, Suzanne at Glamour, and many other fabulous publications too numerous to mention. But here are a couple of photos taken during the interviews introducing the line:

I had Alexei Yashin backstage to cheer me on. Here he is in this photo and my publicist Melanie A. Bonvicino seen here at the show with me in the first row, as well as my partner Steven Krane and his family:

LeLa Rose sent me my dress which you see I am wearing in this photo.

Well, that is it from Fashion Week Fall 2010 (glad I got that right this time!).

Next week, I will blog about being down at the World Trade Center Towers at Ground Zero. I took photos from INSIDE building 7 and with some of the construction crew working down there. Some interesting stories there.

Please watch 60 minutes this Sunday for a story on Silverstein. I thank my friend, Steven Cayre for affording this opportunity to see his building and Ground Zero from this angle!

I will follow up with my blog the week after with my personal photos! Cheers and bye from Fashion Week 2010!

Brooklyn Decker, Andy Roddick’s Wife, Is 2010 Cover Girl

It’s been revealed that Brooklyn Decker is the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl, and tonight CNBC will take the wraps off the most profitable single-issue magazine in the world.

The financial news network will premiere Business Model: Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

Reported by Darren Rovell, the special reveals how business, beauty, fashion and sports come together — in the varied forms of 18 models from six locations — to create this franchise that alone generated 7% of Time Inc. News Group’s annual revenue in 2009.

The one-hour documentary looks at the history of the franchise, which started in 1964 as a five-page supplement each February to heat up the winter months. Now, it’s a billion dollar multi-platform empire, which has been dubbed the “print Super Bowl of advertising. The show also catches up with former SI Swimsuit supermodels Cheryl Tiegs, Carol Alt and Kathy Ireland. The latter talks about her marketing and design company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, which generates $1.4 billion in annual sales.

Decker’s place in the SI sun was announced on CBS’s The Late Show with David Letterman on Feb. 8. Decker is the wife of American tennis star Andy Roddick.

Written by Mike Reynolds, originally posted on 2/9/2010 at Multichannel News

And winter is what St Pete’s is best at!

On the way to the airport I was witness to spectacular scenery: every tree covered in snow and a fog that blocked the view from the “Stock Exchange” (see photos of the last blog to understand the Stock Exchange).

The Hermitage was practically invisible; it was a view and scenery worthy of Dr. Zhivago! Remember the ice castle where, I think it was Omar Sharif (who I’ve had the pleasure of doing a movie with) and Julie Christy, spent the winter freezing but together never the less?

Who knew that Russia REALLY produced that spectacular scenery by its self. I mean, you know the “magic of movies”!
I thought that they built a set somewhere!

Yet, of course, as I am not a Picture-taker-er(?) meaning that I am not really a person who takes pictures, I never thought NOT to pack my cell phone in my carryon bag now safely snug in the back of the SUV that was needed to move my mountain of stuff (again, where did I get SO MUCH stuff?)

Ok. Well, I did have a couple of Santa Clauses and a small Christmas tree that I packed hoping it would make the journey back to NYC unscathed.

It is always interesting to see what objects make the trip intact and what do not. Or, what ends up making the trip at all. Some things take a small, unplanned, DETOUR along the way, never to be found again! But that is another blog….

I have come to believe that Russians are a long-suffering lot. There has been practically no sun for at least a month now. I remember one sunny day, or at least a partially sunny day, about 5 weeks back. Everyone was in shock that there was sun. Since I was pretty new to a St Pete’s winter then, I did not understand the joy and surprise of seeing sun in the winter.

But the winter nights are very long here—the complete opposite of the summer’s White Nights, which make its appearance in July/August. The darkness lasts from 4pm until 11am the next morning, thereby leaving only about 5 hours of cloudy sky.

However, on New Year’s Eve, we walked to the Stock Exchange and we viewed the fireworks over the Nevsky River. I do believe we saw the Blue Moon AND the Aurora Borealis, the elusive Northern Lights, although it could have been spotlights. However, I have seen both the Aurora and spotlights and they are NOTHING alike…it was the Aurora and that is the story I am sticking with! LOL!

Russians eat very well, and very expensive! If we go to one of the Gourmet stores for food, it is easy to spend a couple hundred dollars and to come home and wonder what food you bought as it is not even enough to feed a hungry hockey player for a couple of days…..

But eating out is 5 times worse in price, and the hotel? Fagettaboutit!

They make Whole Foods seem reasonable, and THAT is amazing!
To shop here for clothes, thinking maybe to bring home that fun Russian piece that will become the centerpiece of conversation, save it.
Even the shopkeepers, when they heard me speak English, (or even my Russian with English accent) told me to buy in NYC—it would be 20% cheaper.

So where does a fashionable Russian girl go to buy? Paris or Italy of course! Anything less would be too expensive!
Makes you like America a bit more.

But don’t get me wrong as I have loved Russia. Mostly because I do like the people! They are hardy, don’t believe me? How about the girls that walk the street in -16C, snow, and ice in High Heels, short fur jackets, and NO hat? And they don’t even blink!

I almost killed myself trying to be fashionable here!

I stopped trying to copy the Russian girls, and their fashion style, mostly because I valued the use of my legs and because they dress so wonderfully that it is nicer to look at them than to immolate them.

I was much happier in my leggings and Uggs, ski sweaters and long-long coat that went to the floor. Totally NOT sexy but hey, warm!

I just don’t know how they do it, those girls. I would take my hat off to them, but my head is too cold. Brrrrrr!

Well, my flight is just about to be called. I guess I should pack up. I just have so many thoughts about Russia floating in my head that I wanted to get them down in print before I arrive back in Toronto and I forget the subtleties of everything I have experienced and seen.

It will be nice to see English on the Billboards again, a relief actually. I spend my time riding in the car trying to read billboards here. It has become a compulsion!

But now I understand a little better how it must have been for a Russian coming to North America to play hockey—it takes a long time to understand the society, if not the language and the Mores of life. And for working—imagine the contracts and trusting a lawyer you never knew before….

Ah well, that is another blog, too!

On one last note, I asked a 12 year old Russian friend of mine if she would take some photos of St.Pete’s to add to my blog. I was hoping that she could take some better photos than I did.

Industrious as this new generation is, she went ONLINE to find photos for me. I know they are not the personal type of photos like I took, but at least you can really see St.Pete’s in all its glory, and on a sunny day to boot!

And she did download some Christmas trees, having seen the poor quality of my personal Christmas tree photos!
And I think to add them to this blog because you, my dear reader, deserve the best photos I can find to show you what I am taking about in Russia!

So, God willing, the next time you hear from me, I will be “stateside.”

And what was that Beatle’s song…..I’m back in the USSR?
Well reverse it: I’m back in the USofA! Well, Toronto, for sure.

My trip here is winding down all too soon!

However, I thought I might share some of photos I took while here and to share what I am seeing and how I see it.

I know in my last Blog I talked about how the Russians drive compared to Americans. By the way, I must say that it seems to work for them. I hardly ever hear a Horn blowing. And having grown up in NYC and living in big cities all my life, horns are a way of life (unfortunately!)

I know horns are silly—I mean, no one listens to them anyway as most people blow them out of frustration or anger–not life or death!

But anyway, back to Russia! And my photos! I must say that I took all these photos on my Iphone! So bear with me and with the quality of them—it was minus 16 degrees Celsius! Yes, I did say MINUS!
My fingers were frozen and to get anyone to stop to take a picture of me at a site was, well, next to impossible (not to mention that my Russian is unforgivable!)
The few I got were not viewable!

I must say that I think that St Pete’s is the prettiest city I have ever seen! It just really appeals to my sense of beauty and order. It is so clean (for the number of tourists in the summer, it is actually quite remarkable!) and the architecture is spectacular! But, being that it is Christmas here and New Year’s (I think New Year’s is more important than Christmas to the Russians because it is promoted more than the Religious Holidays) the city has put on the RITZ!

I do not think that I have seen a city strut its stuff like St Pete’s does. There are Decorated trees on EVERY block! And no two trees around the city are alike! Peter the Great introduced the trees in the 1800’s after a trip to Europe. For the fact that this is not a custom that originated in Russia, the Russians have embrace the tree more and any other European City I have been in!
SERIOUSLY, they are EVERYWHERE! Happily!

I got only a couple in photos because they all have moving lights and look bare in photos

	The bridges are decorated to the hilt all year long-but at Christmas they go all-out. One bridge has a lighted Santa on it and he is bowling with snowballs. As the snowballs pile up they become a Snowman! So funny! And so pretty to watch the lights….. No, I did not photo that because it is the movement of the lights that makes it so special and I cannot capture it on my Iphone! But I did capture the lights down Nevsky Prospect! I have this photo of what it is like during the day (I know, St Pete’s is dark and depressing during the day: it is dark from 3pm-11am practically!) But at night (see side photo!) they let the dogs out!!

I also went to see a little crafts fair—yes, yes!! In -16C!

At one point I told my guide: “OK, if it comes down to a hot cup of tea at SINGER (pronounced zinGer) or a Santa Claus—the cup of tea wins out!” So we went to Singer….. I happen to love Singer- it reminds me of the 50’s sweet shops! Not that I was alive then, but I HAVE seen pictures! I don’t think they have renovated this shop in many years, but they take such good care of it—and it is SO nice. Life slows down here! You can sit in the big windows and look down on the hustle and bustle of the Nevsky and feel warm and cozy with a nice cup of Jasmine Green Tea! I Only got two photos of the building itself.

It has snowed for the last couple of days for as much as it snows, I was surprised to see that I got only one photo of the snow! The photo I got of the snow is this one from the front window of the car! It is while I was driving down the Nevsky that I got it. You can just barely make out the snow oh, and the Nevsky lights! I mean, it is hard to shoot photos here because it is always so dark!!

One beautifully decorated area that get honorable Mention is this area called the Stock Exchange. This was an area where all the boats used to dock to bring goods into St Petersburg.

Then they would take the goods into this building And be “traded.” I have never seen a building done up quite like this one! These lights go ALL THE WAY AROUND the building! Every column, every window sill, every eve! By they way, marriages are very simple in Russia. The couple goes to the town hall, signs in and then takes a limo around town to shoot photos. Maybe they stop with their friends to eat… I mention this because this area is also a favorite stop for newly weds taking photos. This is their Hummer limo! I went to see a Modern version of Cinderella— I will not discuss the fact that it had a scene with Prince Charming in a section of town frequented with “Women in RED!!” And a scene with all men…..(ah! Modern take on an old classic!) But I will tell you that the Merinski Theater is BEAUTIFUL inside
And out

I will be going to Christmas Mass in one of my two favorite churches. This church, The Church of the Sacred Blood, is made totally of tiles and mosaic! There is not one PAINTED wall in the WHOLE church! This church was bombed during WWI and WWII. Thank goodness they decided to put the church back together and not tear it down. It is a unique church. I don’t think I have seen another like it.

And my OTHER favorite church is this one. I call it the Church of the Miracles as it has a an Icon of Mary and Jesus that people line up for hours to wait to light a candle and to kiss the Icon! I have done it at least twice. Well, time to go work out! The one good thing about being here (I mean there are many good things here, but for me, right now, I want to rest and take care of ME!) Anyway, the one good thing about being here is the GYM at my hotel!!! The best GYM I have EVER seen. Makes working out a pleasure—well, almost! I eat RAW so I don’t HAVE to work out, I work out because I want to work out! And I think that makes all the difference in the world!

So:
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE:
MERRY CHRISTMAS and THE BEST NEW YEAR EVER!

KISSES,
CA

I am sorry to all my fans if I have been a bit delinquent in answering my webmail, but I have been traveling in Russia to all sorts of small towns and big cities—some with limited web access. As it takes sometimes 6-8 hours for me to answer all of my mail and questions on the site, I have not had that kind of time in any one place for the last month.

However, I thought that perhaps you would forgive me for this fact if I would share my experiences in Russia with you.

I am still a bit of a technical “loser” as I forgot to check my webmail until I got a pleading email from Vlad (my webmaster at Attention Interactive) asking for me to please check my mail and answer.

Actually, I love to answer my mail, but half the time I’m in disbelief I’m actually getting any mail at all, and half the time I forget. And what mail I get! You guys really ask good questions! You are paying attention and I am proud of you all…..

Anyway, I will take you along on the journey that is Russia and when I have more than just one hour I will answer the questions that were posted in the last month! (I am writing this offline at 4:30-6am St Petersburg time! Imagine? And I will post it when I get web access.)

First of all, I have been traveling in some of the smallest towns and cities in Russia because since I was a kid, Russia has just fascinated me! And for good reason, I believe. The History is just amazing and incredible; especially to an American who has only 200 or so years of history to drawn on. For me, WWI and WWII were another generation and fought a world away. The Russians, on the other hand, were front and center and absolutely the object of Hitler’s lust. Russians tell me they lost over 20 MILLION people in WWII to Hitler’s war machine. Neighborly, Hitler was NOT! It is hard to think that Hitler wanted to raze St. Petersburg (then known as Leningrad) and flood it to make a big lake! When you see the beautiful buildings and architecture you understand what a loss this would have been. (Just think Le Hermitage!) But he also wanted to kill most of the residents and keep only a few hundred-thousand Russians as SLAVES!

He already had the invitations to his Victory Party in the famed St Petersburg Astoria Hotel made up! The Astoria Hotel was across from the German Embassy in the city, and Hitler wanted a full victory-worthy reception!

What a different world it would have been had Hitler succeeded!

I don’t think as Americans we have ever come that close to being annihilated.

Anyway, I believe that some of the towns I have visited have not changed since pre-communist days! That is really amazing to a person like me, who was born in NYC, as the city that changes while you sleep at night!

But it’s the people that make this country so fascinating!!

I mean, they look like us. For example, my boyfriend (who is a Russian) has my coloring: big, round, blue eyes, and brown hair. You could mistake him on the street for an average Caucasian American male until he opens his mouth. They just don’t think like us!

Besides the fact that he is extremely intelligent, he looks at a situation without empathy and without emotion. He looks at the actual center of the problem. I, on the other hand, look at everything the problem is; the emotion, who is involved and the relationships of the people involved. In reality, most of the time when I look at the situation as he looks at it, I am able to resolve it immediately. If I look at it my way, I get bogged down by the relationships and the emotion. It takes me longer to figure out the resolution!

Maybe it is just me and maybe I am too empathetic. But, man, being able to clear out some of the emotion of a problem and to just see the actual problem has been a relief.

It is also interesting to see how a non-American/non-Canadian is able to see our country and put to use English words. This is cute and charming and sometimes really funny. And it certainly sets Russians apart! In Russia most people don’t speak English so don’t think you are going to go to Russia and it is easy to get along. Even if they take English in school, the theory is way different than the practice. When you do get a Russian who speaks English or who will try to speak English, it is disarming.

Alexei, my boyfriend, is the perfect example. He eats “smashed” potatoes, and asks me to do him a ‘Favorite’-instead of a favor! And well, if you think about it he is correct, too, as he takes things literally! We do smash the potatoes and he is special to me so I will do something for him because he IS my favorite! I mean, he asks me to do him a favorite and I just about melt. He could ask me to do anything for him…..and well, he knows it.

But also, it took him being his “literal” self in Whole Foods Market for me to see how important it is to BE Literal.

One day he kept asking me: how do they have ORGANIC SEEDLESS GRAPES?

Well, here we go I thought, I have told him how organic works- why is he asking me again?

“Well,” I start out in that wisecracking way that I am when I think I have answered a question for him more than once and I think it is a language problem, “I told you what organic is: they do not use conventional DDT’s or chemicals on the plants. They are as found in nature.”

“But, Organic seedless grapes….” He kept quietly repeating.

“What do you not understand?” I am thinking and I try to placate him: “They grow them in clean soil. Soil that has been fallow without chemicals for 7 years-“
“But ORGANIC SEEDLESS grapes,” he kept repeating patiently.

What is he driving at??

He is making me crazy; I have answered this question so many times….”as found in nature…”

“But, Organic SEEDLESS grapes.” He patiently repeats again!

Oh my gosh! He is right because he is taking everything he sees on a literal basis, he is asking how can grapes be SEEDLESS and ORGANIC when the very definition of organic is “as found in nature” and, well, God did not make seedless grapes—man created them in a hybrid fashion! He was right and, of course, I had to apologize because I was not ‘getting’ what he was asking.

I am not so literal and I am used to Marketing practices which mislead the consumer. Therefore, he has become my consumer barometer because he picks out the inconsistencies of marketing that his literal sense of the English language makes apparent to him but not to me……

But this is just language.

There are so many customs in Russia that I find so incredibly different. For example, do not pass the salt from one person to another directly to their hand. This will make a Russian “rewind” like a video and force your hand to the table where you MUST put the salt down on the table so that they can pick it up. No matter how many times I tell my boyfriend that this is a superstition that is a left-over from the days where salt was an instrument of trade (like gold). To pass it from one hand to another without a bag meant that you could be cheated as salt could stick in the cracks of your hand and you could short change someone.

It does not matter. Drop the salt or drive your Russian dinner guest from the table.

Another rather strange custom is that you can drink alcohol right on the street! You can walk down the street or hang out on a street corner with an open bottle of whatever you wish: beer, vodka, or wine! No one stops you. The police do not care. It is amazing to see people at the end of the workday walking home with an open beer and a cigarette.

Which reminds me—they smoke everywhere. Even in Italy, which is THE smoking capital of the world where babies are practically born with a pack in their hand, they have No Smoking Laws. But Russia just won’t give in and every time I arrive back in Russia and I walk into the lobby of the hotel I am startled to see people walking around smoking in the elevators and even at dinner. Just as I am about to say something to the people I am with, I remember and catch my breath (mostly because I’ve got a lungful of smoke) and remember: they CAN smoke everywhere.

This includes their cars, buses, taxi’s…..which reminds me: Russian drivers are not like any drivers in the world.

I mean, I grew up in NYC! We are THE “he who hesitates is lost” city of the East! But we do not compare….

I have driven Mercedes in Italy and motorbikes in India; Audi’s in Brazil and Ferrari’s in France, but my managers and friends will not allow me to drive in Russia. Russian drivers bring new meaning to the idea of “your heart pounding in your ears.” Where in other countries it is the joy of a FAB car that makes your heart pound, here it is the experience of kamikaze driving that is not for the faint of heart.

Even Russians who have been in America for a bit of time who come back to Russia and drive end up cursing under their breathe for being stuck in one spot for half an hour as no one waits in a line.

If you want to turn left, first, you have to fight the cars that come from behind you and cut you off turning left in front of you. Then you have to battle the drivers who just push through the red light.

Police are everywhere, but Russians tell me you just pay them and move on. No points on your license…..so no real incentive to follow rules…..

Most people (at least 50%) of the country have LADA’s that are pre-World War II anyway, so one more scratch does not matter. But the fact that they have these cars, and they still are in good shape and they still run, is unbelievable. Their motto is: if it runs and gets you there, it is a car. And anyone is a taxi. If you have a car, you can be a taxi. They have taxis, for sure. But you can just step into the street and wave your hand and anyone can stop and pull over and if they are going your way, they will negotiate a price and give you a ride. Hitchhiking, it is called in America, and we warn our teenagers NOT to do it. In Russia, it is an art form: to pick the right car and the right time to step into the street to flag down that car, to wear the right clothes that will make a driver pull over (not every driver pulls over) but that does not scream money so that you can negotiate a fair price for the ride….

And believe me, on a cold Russian winter night, you WILL dress the part to get a ride. Either that or you freeze to death in the street. Nothing like getting home quickly when it is cold out.

Speaking of home, I have noticed that Americans are very interested in what the outside of the house or apt looks like. “Curb appeal” is the technical term. Russians, on the other hand, take painstaking care of the inside of their house. I have been in buildings that actually look condemned from the outside only to find the most brilliant apartments done with painstaking care inside.

And their sense of History is unrivalled! They do not take down a building because it is old. In fact, it becomes a celebrated part of their history, unlike Americans who take down a building the minute it celebrates its 20th year or if it is sitting on a great parcel of land, even more reason to clear it off and build new.
Speaking of Old and New. It is amazing to see little old Russian women selling pickles and cabbage on the streets of major cities in plastic baggies—right in front of huge new futuristic shopping malls.

This is really where the past meets the future in Russia.

100 rubles, less than $4 American, is a tip worthy of a hotel housekeeper going to a dictionary to learn to say “God Bless You” in English. While the bag of choice for Russian women with money is the $10,000.00 Birkin by Hermes. The difference between the have and have-nots is as wide as Russia is BIG!

It takes 10 hours to go from St Petersburg to Harbinsk. (In America NY to LA is only 4.5 hours)

I haven’t yet figured out North to South yet. Or if they go from Sun to Snow like we do in America from Florida to Maine.
Oh and speaking of Snow. Have I yet mentioned the SNOW? Or how about shoveling snow?

In a country that manufactures snow from September to May, it is unbelievable that they do not shovel the sidewalk. To see these little 90-year-old babushkas (Russian for grandmothers) walking on ice and snow to sell their pickles for 50 rubles in little rubber boots on dreary winter days is just beyond belief. I say ‘beyond belief’ because if they fall, there is no recourse. In America an un-shoveled sidewalk would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Here there are NO lawsuits, which is somewhat of a relief because they have a greater sense of personal responsibility than we do in America but at the same time they care less about some public safety issues: stairs to metros and icy sidewalks being just a couple of examples.

How about plowing the streets you ask? What’s the matter, can’t you drive?

Russians drive on snow, ice, rain, sleet-if it is in the road they will drive over it. (See paragraph above on Russian drivers!)

No right or wrong on either side, just different; just one thing in a long line of little things that makes us so different from each other.

But these are just outwardly things. I am constantly amazed how differently they think, and the food they eat (they juice everywhere!) and how they view the cold war with America (this has led to some lively discussions with Russian ex-military), and how they celebrate holidays (chicken is the bird of holiday feasting for example)
Oh and how- just for the record: Russians hardly EVER say sorry or thank you. So don’t feel bad if they don’t thank you when you do something! It is just not the custom.

But I think THAT blog is for next week—right AFTER I answer my webmail.

See ya then!

The shelf life of a fashion model is four years at best.

Supermodel Carol Alt was able to parlay her “product” – herself – into a career that has spanned three decades using a strong work ethic and fearless business savvy.

“I’ve been around for 30 years in the modeling industry and have never been without a day of work. And that’s really a feat in itself if I do say so myself,” Alt told the World of Fashion class at Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls on Nov. 13.

“Some girls came, and some girls went,” she said, but others such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Lauren Hutton, Brooke Shields and Elle Macpherson have had staying power.

“We’ve been around because there’s something different in the way we think. And the difference is that we think in terms of business.”

Alt told the students of Susanne Shand that “the business of fashion and the business world are really one in the same.”

Great clothes, great shoes, great fashion and great parties aside, modeling is “the hardest job you’ll ever love in your life,” Alt said. “If you’re not 100 percent focused on this business and this career; it’s not what you want to do. This takes everything you have out of you. It’s nights, it’s weekends, it’s holidays, it’s birthdays, as my sister can attest to.

It’s everything. So once you decide you want to do this, the most important thing is to focus. And that’s what I was able to do because I came into this business as a 17-year-old kid. I didn’t know from anything. Alt was waiting on an ROTC scholarship as a high school senior, when she decided to try her hand at modeling. “Always have an alternate plan,” she said. She got the ROTC scholarship, but found modeling more appealing.

Alt told the students – who are studying design as part of the curriculum – there are a number of aspects to the fashion industry in addition to modeling, including agent, photographer, stylist, and studio prop handler. “But behind all of that the real engine that makes this whole thing run is the designer. Without the designer, the model has no job. Nothing to wear. Whoops! Without a designer you don’t have anyone to print in a magazine … a photographer doesn’t have a job.”

Designers never work by themselves, she said.

“There’s the business mind and the creative mind. Gianfranco Ferre had Dario (Pagliuca). And Valentino had Giancarlo (Giammetti). There’s always a creative mind and a business mind.”

When Alt faced the end of her lifespan as a model in 1983, she asked, “What do I do now?”

She knew marketing would be the key to her success.

“Marketing is everything. You can have the best product in the world; no marketing? Nobody knows about it. You can have the worst product in the world and the best marketing and you have a hit,” she said.

“My product is me; that’s all I got. I’m not creating anything … other than showing up in a studio and having my picture taken. I made other people’s creations look great.”

She considered doing a poster as a means of marketing herself. She took the idea to her agency. “They looked like I was crazy. John Casablancas said no way. I went to my agent and asked how can I do this without John.”

She did the poster and followed it up with four others, all successful.

But she said it got boring. While living with model Janice Dickinson, Dickinson and her sister, Debbie, landed a calendar assignment for Suntory beer in Japan. So Alt asked why not a calendar for herself? She made the suggestion to her agency and they gave it to another model. “I did my own and had five successful calendars.”

In 1987, Alt was onto exercise videos. Then it was two books on health. And then it was her own skin care line.
Alt told the class that to find something that they each really love and stick with it.

“It’s a real long (life) to do something you really don’t love to do.”

Her parting advice to the class was:
“My wish for all of you here is that the decisions you make further what it is you want to do and don’t hinder it. As you get older and you get out in the business world you’re gonna see that’s probably the most difficult thing in the whole world; to do the thing that’s right to further your career and at the same time make you feel good about what you’re doing.”

We think it’s a treat for our body when we exfoliate, moisturize and polish, but are we actually making ourselves sick? A recent study by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, estimates that the average woman wears 515 chemicals a day — from eye shadow ingredients linked to cancer to perfume ingredients linked to kidney damage.

In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found extremely high levels of lead in lipstick. In addition, recent research from the Washington, D.C.-basedEnvironmental Working Group (EWG) showed that teenage girls are exposing themselves to potentially hormone-altering substances by engaging in that seemingly-innocent coming-of-age tradition of applying makeup. Yet, despite the dangers, women need to bathe and groom — and most of us like a little extra color on our faces. So what can we do to stay healthy and still look good?

The quick answer is: Use fewer products and educate yourself. The average American uses 10 products every day, and chances are, she doesn?t know what?s in them. “It?s simple: Read the labels and be a smart shopper,” says Leann Brown of EWG. “Buy from companies that disclose their formulations.” Since producers aren?t required to make their ingredients public, many choose not to. “A company that discloses all ingredients and keeps out ingredients of concern will probably have lower risk products than cosmetics with mystery ingredients,” says Brown. These transparent products are likely to be equally effective — your hair will be just as smooth, your cheeks just as bright — but without the lurking health hazards.

When shopping, there are a few key ingredients to be avoid. However, due to lax regulation, you may find them in products marked “organic” and “all-natural,” so be on the lookout. Choose from the many nail polishes that have been reformulated to remove a common “toxic trio:” Dibutyl phthalate, a reproductive toxin; toluene, which affects the nervous system and may cause headaches; and formaldehyde, which can cause allergies and irritation. Stay away from sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate, which are spopular in cleaning products, such as body washes, as they can cause skin irritation.

Triclosan and triclocarban, which pop up in antibacterial hand soap, can damage both the thyroid and the environment. Instead, use plain soap. If you wash for 20 seconds, you?ll be just as germ-free.

Finally, stay away from parabens, common in shampoos, lotions and shaving gels. These preservatives have been so widely and publicly exposed as toxic contaminants that it is now relatively easy to find clearly-marked parabens-free products. Brown also counsels cutting out fragrance completely, since the term “fragrance” is poorly defined and could contain any number of mysterious and unhealthy synthetic compounds.

If the ingredients sound too long to remember, the Cosmetics Database offers a free pocket-size ingredients guide, where you can also find out more about over 50,000 products. If improving your health and helping the environment isn?t enough, think about this hidden benefit: Eliminating every mascara with toxic ingredients will make choosing from the overwhelming array of drugstore brands (Thickening! Lengthening! Double-thickening and lengthening!) much quicker and easier.

The workouts

Actress Ricki Lake, 39, has dropped an astonishing 127 pounds over the past few years, from 250 pounds to 123 pounds—all without surgery or pills, she says. Lake told Us she lost those last stubborn 20 pounds by following a strict 1,200-calorie-a-day diet. For exercise, Ricki now takes 90-minute hikes and does weight training three times a week.

Oscar winner Renee Zellweger, 40, is an avid swimmer and yoga enthusiast, but running is her true passion, reports Marie Claire. “That’s my alone time….my thinking time,” she has said. Zellweger jogs up to five miles per session several times a week, and when she hits the gym, she focuses on circuit training.

Dropping that baby weight

Few things are more mind-boggling than when celebs regain their pre-pregnancy figures in record time. Being a mom myself, I can affirm that it takes patience and consistent effort to get back in shape after nine months of pregnancy. These days, many Hollywood stars recapture their taut physiques almost immediately after birth—-some only a couple of months after delivery! Here are their secrets.

Brunette stunner Jessica Alba lost almost all of the 25 lbs. she gained during pregnancy just three months after giving birth to daughter, Honor Marie, in June 2008. “Jessica went from a size 8 to a size 4 pretty quickly,” Alba’s personal trainer, Ramona Braganza, told People.

Alba, 28, who has been a fitness fanatic for years, got back into shape by following a low-fat, low-carb diet and working out six times a week. Jessica’s exercise routine centers around cardio workouts using an elliptical machine and treadmill, as well as circuit training and core exercises. “[The workouts] were horrible,” Aba has said. “I cried.”

Few things can strike terror in the hearts of women more than having to strut down a catwalk in their underwear in front of millions of people. Well, that’s exactly what supermodel Heidi Klum had to do–not once, but twice! In Nov. 2008, the 36-year-old mother of three bared her superfit physique in her skivvies at the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Runway Show. Klum, who’s now pregnant with her fourth child (husband Seal is the proud dad), maintains her hot bod with rigorous strength training and cardiovascular exercise three to five times a week and consumes a moderate 1,700-2,000 calories a day.

Extreme eating

Defying age apparently isn’t a problem if you’re supermodel Carol Alt. Alt, who at 48 looks as radiant as she did in her modeling heyday in the 1980s, attributes her youthful good looks and fit body to a raw food diet. Basically, this means she feasts on lots of uncooked fruits and vegetables, limits processed foods and doesn’t heat food above 118 degrees. “This is guilt free eating. My body got younger and my face got younger,” Alt has said. While eating only raw foods isn’t a program most people can follow, it’s hard to argue with the results.

When pop star Beyonce Knowles needed to drop weight fast for her role in the 2006 musical Dream Girls, she turned to the controversial Master Cleanse diet. Knowles, 27, told reporters she lost 20 lbs in two weeks on the extreme diet. The cleanser, which is basically a juice fast where dieters drink only the prescribed blend of cayenne pepper, lemon, maple syrup and water several times a day, has been used by other celebs like Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and actor Billy Bob Thornton to drop the pounds quickly.

A saner approach

For those people who want to get in shape without resorting to exercise binges or extreme diets, it’s doable: Eat healthier and be more active on a consistent basis. Boring advice, but effective.

Written by Samantha Chang. Originally published on: www.examiner.com

“Then there’s the raw milk issue. Do you know that there’s a ‘coven’ of people in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen devoted to raw milk? You have to know someone who knows someone before you’re allowed to join it, because it’s a felony in New York to sell raw milk! How ridiculous is that?! If you obtain raw milk from a farm, it can only be for your own personal use and you can only give a donation to the farm, as opposed to actually purchasing the milk, unless they have a real (meaning taxable) sales stand. Naturally, the farmer and his family are all drinking the raw milk that they don’t sell or give away; they aren’t getting their milk from a supermarket, for heaven’s sake. Well, guess what: If it’s good enough for the farmer’s baby to drink, it’s good enough for me!

“I was able to find – online, of course – a farm in California that would sell me 100% raw almonds. Another company sells me the raw pickles that I love and I give them to my friends. We all used to buy these things at our Whole Foods market, but they made it so difficult for us to get the items we need that we now shop online.

“So…I wrote a letter to Whole Foods a few months ago. I wanted to know why I could no longer find the truly raw products that I was looking for, such as pickles, even though they carry raw sauerkraut; or Just Picked frozen orange juice, which is not a concentrate nor pasteurized – it’s the pure juice as you’d drink it, but frozen. How come the Whole Foods in California can sell raw milk, but the one in New York, where I live, can’t?

“I have to say I was really happily surprised when I received a response from Whole Foods in the form of a phone call from one of their in-house RAW FOODS chefs! It showed that they had actually read my letter and taken my concerns seriously. The chef was very knowledgeable and she gave me a lot of pertinent information. Her basic answer to my specific questions was ‘it’s the law’.

“I interpret that to mean the law of supply and demand. If enough of their customers were as concerned about their health and what they put into their bodies as I am, stores like Whole Foods would make sure that they supplied the products we demand. They could at least make it easier for their customers to locate and identify the raw foods that they do stock. A huge company such as this has it within its power to be lobbying the lawmakers to use common sense when it comes to regulating the foods that the public should have the right to choose for itself.

“I wish that everyone I know would just sit down and write a letter to Whole Foods, or to their own neighborhood healthy foods market, and request that they increase their stock of raw foods AND make it simpler to locate those foods within the stores. I’m really getting tired of having to constantly phone or write my local stores, just to verify if a product they tout as “raw” really, truly is.

“Remember: I had cancer once upon a time and the only “treatment” I chose to follow was a raw food regimen. I absolutely believe it saved my life and that it’s the only way to keep my body healthy…for the rest of my life. I love it; I love the flavors of the foods I consume; and most of all, I love the way I feel. I just want the organic/health food grocers to get on board and stock as many of the raw foods as they possibly can. I really don’t think that’s asking too much.”

Carol was happy that Whole Foods cared enough to address her issues, at least by making that phone call in response to her letter. Now she’s keeping tabs on the changes that may result from that interaction. As things progress (or not), she’ll keep everyone posted.

It’s kind of a given that supermodels always have the get fit quick secrets in their back pockets. But it’s a pleasant surprise when one of them actually holds the secret to the fountain of youth in their kitchen.

Carol Alt has been a household name for decades. The supermodel superwoman has graced the cover of countless fashion magazines and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue more times than we remember. She is a movie star and at the young age of 48, the beauty posed nude for Playboy.

Sure, she isn’t the oldest woman to ever strip down in the magazine, but it’s clear she is one of the most confident women to ever do it. So what’s her secret to a smoking hot bod when most other women are feeling insanely out of shape? Food. She eats lots of it. As long as it’s raw.

“Raw food is all around you. It’s there more and more. And it’s great. It tastes good. Not only that, it tastes better than cooked food, “ she explains.

A Raw Foods Diet is based on the idea that raw foods contain enzymes, which help the body digest and absorb nutrients. Food heated above 116 degrees destroys these vital enzymes, so nothing is cooked through. Ever.

“I eat everything that a football player would eat! I just eat it prepared differently. That’s the end,” said Alt. “I’m not Vegan. I eat raw milk and cheeses. They’re unpasteurized. I eat meat if I want to; carpaccio, tartar, or even a seared steak.”

In her book “Eating in the Raw”, Alt explains that she was struggling to maintain her ideal weight of 125 lbs. (Her second raw food book, The Raw 50 was released in 2007.) She was constantly sick, run down, and hungry.

“I was starving myself. That was discipline. I was trying to maintain weight.”Alt , like many women, started dieting very early in her career. “I must have tried every fad diet in the book – I was constantly dieting and the end result was, oh, yes – I was thin enough, but I was also becoming ill! I had colds and the flu all the time; my respiratory system was a mess; and I seemed to be allergic to everything. Hell! I was even allergic to myself! And I was really becoming sick and tired of being…sick and tired.”

In an effort to improve her health in her mid 30s, Alt turned to Dr. Timothy Brantley, a Los Angeles based doctor who was prescribing raw juices, colonics, herbs and enzymes rather than pills and medicine. He instructed her to indulge all weekend on raw veggies, seared fish, and fresh fruits – with no restrictions on the amount.

“All I could think was, ‘This man wants me to eat. This is the most freeing moment of my life!” Carol immediatly felt her body turn around for the better. Gone were her chronic colds, coughs and sinus conditions. Her skin cleared up and her weight adjusted itself. And 13 years later, her clothes came off for the entire world to see.

“I feel better than I did in my twenties.” And it shows.

Raw Chocolate & Avocado Mousse
Serves 4

• 1 avocado
• 3 tbsp sweetener (or equivalent of stevia)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp coconut butter
• 4-5 tbsp raw cacao (cocoa) powder
• a pinch dash salt

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Muriel’s Double-Duo Dill ‘n’ Cucumber Salad
Serves 6

When I was a kid, my mother used to make a dill cucumber salad, mostly for picnics or barbecues, and the Alt family could never get enough of it. I wondered what made the salad so irresistible, so I asked my mom. She told me that the secret was pressing the cucumbers to “get the burps out.” I’m not sure I know what that means, but to get it right, follow her directions carefully. This is a great salad. Thanks again, Mom!

• 5 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons Himalayan salt
• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
• 1 bunch dill, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped (optional)

Place the cucumbers in a bowl, add the salt, and toss. Place a small dish on top of the cucumbers and place a weight on top of that—a blender filled with water will do—to press down on the cucumbers, squeezing them for at least 2 hours. Then drain off the liquid, and take the time to squeeze more juice out of the cucumbers by hand. Discard the liquid. Place the cucumbers back in the bowl and add the raw apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dill, and onion, if you wish. Mix well and serve the salad in one giant bowl. Let everyone enjoy it family-style!

Yashin’s Passion Fruit Drink
Serves 3

One night I was experimenting with making a raw drink. My boyfriend walked into the kitchen and sneaked a sip of the base of this drink. He asked if he could add a pinch of this and a bit of that and whatever, and before I knew it he had the frozen berries in hand and had taken over the blender. The result is a fruit drink named after him.

• 1 lemon, peeled and seeded
• 1 pear, cored
• 10 frozen fresh strawberries
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cup apple juice (fresh or unpasteurized)
• 10 distilled ice cubes

Drop the fruit into the blender, and pour in the juice. Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth.

Seventh Heaven Soup
(David Jubb, Jubb’s Longevity, New York City)
Serves 4

I met David Jubb at Quintessence Restaurant one day when Inside Edition was filming a story on eating raw that featured raw-food personality David Wolf, actress/chef Leslie Bega, and myself. In strolled this amazing, different-looking man, so full of fun and life and light—David Jubb. Everyone in Quintessence was shocked I didn’t know him. “You don’t know David Jubb?” “You’ve never been to Jubb’s Longevity?” “You’ve got to taste his food.” So I invited Jubb to be interviewed for Inside Edition and then went over to taste his food and was hooked immediately. Here is one of Jubb’s truly extraordinary raw recipes.

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 cucumber, unpeeled
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cored
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 apple, cored
• 1-inch knob fresh gingerroot, peeled
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1-2 bushy sprigs fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups distilled water
• 2 heaping teaspoons unpasteurized miso
• 1/2 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos

Topping:

• 1/4 cup cold-pressed flaxseed or olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• spirulina flakes, for garnish (available in health food stores)

Grind the sesame seeds to a moist meal in your spice grinder; it takes only a few seconds. Cut the vegetables and apple in chunks, and place in a blender. Add the gingerroot and garlic, and blend with the cilantro, lemon juice, water, miso, and Bragg Liquid Aminos to make the gazpacho. Depending on how much gusto your blender has, you may have to shred harder vegetables and blend in two batches, especially if the blender container is on the smaller side. To make the topping, blend all the topping ingredients together in a small bowl. Ladle the gazpacho into bowls, and drizzle with the flavored-oil topping. Garnish the soup with some spirulina flakes.