RIP Yves Sait Laurent

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent, aka Yves Saint Laurent was a French fashion designer who I personally consider to be one of the greatest visionaries in high fashion. I use past tense because he just recently passed away on June 1, 2008 from brain cancer. Yves Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria, where he acquired a fashion sense from his mother and friends. He first studied at the Chambre Syndicale, and then he went to work for French designer Christian Dior at the age of 17.

When Saint Laurent was only 21 years old however, Christian Dior passed away and left Saint Laurent in charge of saving the House of Dior from going bankrupt. It wasn't until 1962 when he was finally released from Christian Dior, and he and his lover (Pierre Bergé) began their very own fashion house. During the 60s and 70s, the couple brought many fashion trends into the mainstream, including safari jackets, the beatnik look, thigh-high boots, tight pants, and women's tuxedos. Saint Laurent was the first to popularize the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 20s, 30s, and 40s (which we still do today). He also introduced ready-to-wear clothing lines, with Rive Gauche. But above all, Yves Saint Laurent was the very first to employ black models in his runway shows.

In 1999, Gucci bought the Saint-Laurent brand, and designer Tom Ford was asked to design the ready-to-wear collection, while Yves Saint Laurent designed the haute couture line himself. After Ford left in 2004, Stefano Pilati was left to design the prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) line.

As I've already mentioned, YSL is one of my absolute favorite designers, and I get inspired everytime I look at one of his pieces. Let's start with the YSL Tribute shoe and handbag. Here are Halle Berry and Drew Barrymore, sporting black patent leather Tribute bags. I'm not gonna lie, I paid more attention to the bag than who was carrying it. That's how spectacular it is.

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...And then there's the YSL Tribute shoe. I almost shed a tear when I first saw these because they're that gorgeous. Jessica Alba, Paula Abdul, UK singer Jamelia, and Victoria Beckham seem to agree with me.

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Here is an image from the Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2008 New York City runway show by designer Stefano Pilati.

And this is an image from the YSL Spring/Summer 2004 Rive Gauche collection. This would be Tom Ford's final spring/summer show for Yves Saint Laurent.

Although the House of Yves Saint Laurent is no more, the label still lives on thanks to celebrities and red carpet events where the designer's brilliant work will eternally be showcased. Check out two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank in a stunning white YSL dress at the P.S. I Love You premiere. And who could forget Nicole Kidman in the flapper-style YSL dress at the 2004 Golden Globes?

Angelina is Her Name, Glamour is Her Game

The word jolie is French for pretty, and it goes without saying that Angelina Jolie is one of the most beautiful women in the world. She was born in Los Angeles on June 4, 1975 to actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. Clearly, she was destined to be an actress, as well. However, Jolie has once said that watching movies at a young age made her want to become an actress, it wasn't her parents' influence. At age 11, she began attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in LA, and later Beverly Hills High School. Believe it or not, she used to get teased for her looks because she was so thin, wore glasses, and had braces. Eat crow people.

Anyway, Jolie went on to have a flourishing career as a movie actress with starring roles in films such as Gia, The Bone Collector, Girl, Interrupted, Gone in 60 Seconds, and the Lara Croft series. She also garnered three Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award.

Outside of Hollywood, Angelina has also made quite the name for herself in the world of philanthropy. She first became interested in humanitarian work after filming Tomb Raider in the poverty-stricken Cambodia. Ever since, she and her partner Brad Pitt have gone around the world adopting children, doing charity work, and generally making the world a better place. She currently has four children (Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh, and Pax Thien), and twins on the way. As a result of her high-profile relationship with Brad Pitt, Angelina has been hounded by the media. Poor woman, she literally has to look presentable at every minute of the day. Well, at least she's doing a good job at it.

Here she is carrying little Zahara. She's wearing an all black outfit, with an elegant white Valentino handbag.

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...And here she is with another child in one hand (Shiloh), and a fabulous bag in the other (Gerard Darel Dublin 24 Hour Bag).

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With her flawless bone structure, nobody wears a pair of shades quite as well as Angelina Jolie. Here she is sporting a pair of Tom Ford Whitney sunglasses.

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Although she's naturally stunning and gorgeous, when Angelina isn't off fighting world hunger and strife, she cleans up really well for a red carpet. She looked absolutely radiant arm-in-arm with Brad Pitt at The Cannes Film Festival 2008 in a green Max Azria gown. The cut of this dress did more than flatter her figure, as she is pregnant with twins. In my opinion, she won Best Dressed at this entire event.