TREND I-SPY

At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, as many as 26 countries refrained from sending female athletes. However, by Beijing 2008 that list had shrunk to just three nations; Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei. Four years down the line, London 2012 is set to be the first Olympics in history whereby every participating nation will have at least one female representative.  And with the inclusion of women’s boxing, it will also be the first Olympics to involve female athletes in every sport. Saudi Arabia, who had opened the doors for women participants last month, were the last one to complete the numbers when they named two female athletes on July 9.  Middle distance runner, Sarah Attar and Judoka, Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahman Shahrkhani are Saudi’s historic first-ever female Olympic selections. Attar, born in California of mixed Saudi and American parentage, aged 17, is the youngest Arab athlete competing at the Olympics. From renowned photographer, Brigitte Lacombe , an exhibiti

American Apparel is well known for their controversial marketing tactics but I applaud their latest campaign with its innovative photographs of a leggy, grey-haired 60 year old called  Jacky.  Thanks Fashionista for a great interview with Jacky. Click here for the original Trend ISpy posting A Senior Moment 

  As you all know by now, I'm fascinated by any sort of head or face covering. At his season's Couture they were ubiquitous. Whether they alluded to the Middle East both present and past, The Arabian Nights! or the Western mid-century modern ('30s, '40s, '50s) ideals of femininity and beauty, the result was the same, the exotic allure of the part-concealed and part-revealed female face.  Armani Privé  by Sarah Mower on vogue.com   Towards the finale, he sent out graceful dresses in black velvet and midnight-blue sequin, on models whose heads were veiled in crystal-edged face-coverings—a vaguely  Arabian Nights  counterpoint to the fifties netting seen in other Paris collections this week.   Christian Dior by Tim Blanks on  style.com Past and future met again in an evening ensemble that matched the athletic ease of a citron silk knit to the grandeur of a floor-sweeping silk skirt. And the veils that Stephen Jones contributed to the fi