Superior Smizers: Caroline Brasch Nielsen

Caroline Brasch Nielsen is a Danish sweetheart. She was born in Copenhagen on June 21st, 1993, making her currently at the ripe age of 19. I know. I just spent the last half an hour at least watching model interviews and it turns out that Jac is only 18! Can you believe that?? And Aymeline Valade is only 21! I digress. Caroline was picked up to be a model by a scouter from Elite while having lunch with her friends in 2010. In March of that year, she debuted at Dries Van Noten in Paris. In her first season in the shows, she opened for Valentino and walked in Balenciaga, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, and Chanel. That is big. I don't know of any model who became that successful in her first few days on the job. I still can't figure out how she did it. 

Since then, Caroline has been featured in editorials, on magazine covers, and has opened and closed some of the biggest shows in fashion. In 2011, just a year after beginning her career as a model, she became the face of both Marc Jacobs and Valentino. She has been working consistently with Valentino on their campaigns since then. 

In addition to being a really cool chick in general, she has incredible style. She is frequently photographed by street style photographers for her quirky take on classic shapes and garments (see: leopard print fanny pack). If you thought Hanne Gaby had awesome clothes...you were right. But Caroline has got a pretty bangin' wardrobe as well. You gotta check her out. 

[Photos via harpersbazaar.com, hanneli.com, intothegloss.com, and tumblr.com.]

The subtle change in direction of the stripes on her breast pocket combined with the Alexander Wang-esque (or maybe just straight up Alexander Wang) skirt and the leopard snap-purses-cum-fanny-packs. Not one, but two. In varying sizes. It just kills me. 

Caroline looking cherry lipped and classy hatted for Into the Gloss. 

Are those her hands? Are they someone else's? The world may never know. 

What an angel. 

 

You remember this photo from yesterday, don't you? The jacket is still really awesome. 

I could call it a derp face, but she looks more like she's barking. 

"Rrrrruff!" 

Damn, look at those smizing eyes. They are penetrating your soul, I can just tell. 

You should also check out this video of her from FashionTV. I watched nearly all of my favorite models' interviews, and it was quite an incredible learning experience. Anyone who happened to be on my blog's Facebook page about an hour ago would have seen first hand how I excited I got about the videos. I think I posted about five in a row. 

Have a happy weekend, guys! Is it just me, or has it been Saturday all week?

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Superior Smizers: Karlie Kloss

Modeling is a tricky business. Like a lot of professions in the fashion industry, it's primarily dominated by non-Americans. It's always a nice surprise to find out that one of my favorite models is American. The sensation is similar to that of finding a plastic light-up Indiana Jones spoon in your Honey Nut Cheerios box. Glad we're on the same page now. A time when I experienced this particular, well, experience was when I discovered that Karlie Kloss was from Chicago, Illinois, reppin' da USA! I'm really not a patriotic person at all, but it's comforting to know that there is a place in the fashion elite for people from this country. Another huge shocker? Karlie was born on August 3rd of 1992, making her nineteen years old. She's not even a legal adult yet and she's walked, let alone opened and closed, doors some of the biggest shows the global runways house: Calvin Klein, Chanel, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Zac Posen, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, and has even walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Some small town girl that grew up in St. Louis, Missouri is now ranked 3rd on models.com's list of the top 50 female models. This shiz is the real deal.

Karlie officially began her modeling career in 2007 when she signed with Elite Model Management after participating in a charity fashion show in St. Louis two years prior at age thirteen. In 2008, she left Elite and signed with NEXT Model Management and that year walked sixty-four shows in one season collectively at all four major fashion weeks (New York, Milan, London, Paris). That year, she was only sixteen years old. OH. MY. GOD. From therein, her career exploded (figuratively). Since then, she's been in advertisements for Donna Karan, Chloé, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Gap, Dior, Hermès, Oscar de la Renta, Topshop, Barneys New York, and Marc Jacobs as the face of the brand's fragrance Lola. That's not even all of them, I just didn't want to bore you to sleep. Karlie has been either inside or on the cover of every major magazine you can think of, in issues published in countries all over the world. This girl has it made.

What's so great about this Karlie Kloss chick, anyway? you may mutter aggressively under your breath. According to basically everyone, she's known for her powerful and graceful runway strut as well as her unique yet classic look. Karlie has described her walk as a "moody gait," and attributes it to her training in ballet. People magazine named her the best model of the year in 2008 and Tyra Banks has praised her on Twitter. I guess if the original smizer herself tweets about you, that's the be-all-and-end-all of your modeling career. Apparently, Karlie is fo' real. Also, she's BFFs with mah homeboii Derek Blasberg, so she's chill.

Photos via tumblr.com, style.com, and harpersbazaar.com. 

She's like a little cat! I just want to have a sleepover with her, don't you?

The smize. See the smize.

This is a prime example of the klassik Karlie pout. 

Okay, not only is she a babe when other people dress her, she's even more of a babe when she dresses herself. This is the sign of true fashion immersion. 

Salut, Karlie! That was a pun because she's saluting the camera but that word also means "hi" in French, and this photo was taken in the Tuileries in Paris. 

Here, Karlie has put on her I'm-trying-to-seduce-you-with-my-eyes face. It's working.

Don't feel too bad, she likes baking cookies and biking, just like you and me! She's a human maybe! Even if she is six feet tall! Whatever, man, I like being 5'3"-ish. ...I mean, it's okay. It's mediocre.

Happy Bastille Day to all mah Frenchies out there! For those of you who didn't see this on my blog's Facebook page earlier today, here's something to brighten your evening a bit: Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing Jacques Brel's "La Valse A Mille Temps," aka one of my favorite French songs since I was a wee lass of seven. Enjoy his beautiful face, gorgeous voice, and charming demeanor and then go watch "(500) Days of Summer." You can thank me later.

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Superior Smizers: Hanneli Mustaparta

Hanneli Mustaparta has become somewhat of a staple on this blog. I mention her so often that she's even got her own label. I suppose that my love for her began when I met her at the ADAM Spring 2012 show back in September; I saw her sitting in the front row and I knew she looked famous and familiar, so I took her picture. Little did I know that I was photographing/interacting with/slightly fangirling in front of a fashion celebrity. When I found out who she was when I got home, I recall flippin' my flippers out. This beautiful and extremely stylish model, blogger and Vogue magazine contributor has even become part of a joke here on You're A Tulle. Do you guys remember Hanneli Gabiele Mustaparisian? It's probably unnatural how proud I am of that creation.

Hanneli was born in Baerum, Norway, on October 13 of 1982. Why is that the best people are always foreigners? Emma Watson, Alexa Chung, Hanne Gaby Odiele...at least we can claim Arizona Muse.  There's surprisingly little information about Hanneli on the interwebz, but I did find out that she was discovered in 1999 at the age of 17 by the fashion photographer Per Heimly. She started her blog in March of 2009, so she's been doing this for quite a while. She contributes to Vogue quite often and occasionally models, but in recent years she's felt more comfortable behind the camera (she's a pretty darn good street style photographer). I advise that you check out her blog, Hanneli. It's yumyumyumyumyum delicioso!

Photos via hanneli.com and harpersbazaar.com. 

Hanneli is a huge fan of white. She wears it all the time. It takes a certain amount of courage to wear white pants, I think. It also takes a great deal of knowledge to know how to mix pale colors properly without looking washed out. She grounded her pastels perfectly with a dark belt and black heels. 

More white. See? I told ya she likes the color. The Opening Ceremony cat shirt is actually so perfect, especially when paired with white wide leg pants, white gloves and a black purse. Mind you, this was taken during February Fashion Week, when it was approximately 40 degrees Farenheit outside. She must have been insane. Hanneli really is dedicated to her craft. 

I don't quite know where this was taken, but based on the scenery it looks like a place in Europe. I've said it twice before and I'll say it thrice: Hanneli's wardrobe consists mostly of white garments. There is literally something white in seven out of eight of the photographs in this post. The sheer top paired with matching pants look modern but the retro sunglasses and platform brogues add a little twist. Where does she find such beautiful clothing? Halp me Hanneli!!! 

When you're a model, you can walk around wearing an abstract floral print bra, a matching jacket and a midi-length white pencil skirt and no one will judge you harshly. I usually don't like matchy-matchy outfits, but by pulling out the white from the blazer and mirroring it in the skirt, Hanneli avoided looking too monochrome. 

This is the only photograph in which Hanneli is not wearing white. The leather skirt and leather purse play nicely off of the pumpkin colored top. The silhouettes lend to a schoolgirl style, a theme that is also touched upon in Hanneli's hair clip. By keeping the silhouettes simple and not wearing any prints, she made the outfit look sophisticated and fresh instead of young and childish. 

And the white returns. I think Hanneli also has a thing for leather, and cool sunglasses. There is probably no one less perfect than this woman--or, at least no one more well-dressed. She has mastered the art of dressing oneself, and it is a pleasure to see the fruits of her labor. This look is very Parisian (Hanneli Gabiele Mustaparisian, eh?)

Leather and white, all in one piece of clothing. That's pretty fancy. The masterful mixing of colors, textures and hemlines is quite impressive, I think. 

Hey. Hey. Guess what color her dress is. It's freaking white. I love how flowy and free the dress is. I don't know why it seems to work so well with her mega tall boot-heel hybrid shoes and that cute lil' pastel bag, but it just does. That's the magic of Macy's Hanneli. 

Hanneli Mustaparta might be one of the best dressed people I know (I can say that I know her because I met her twice and she petted my ostrich feather jacket and told me she loved it). She is a huge inspiration to me, even though I know that her style doesn't really fit my aesthetic. A girl can dream, ya know. It's called REM sleep.


I don't know how much more of this "school" business I can take. It's really cutting into my down time and tampering with my sanity levels, so bear with me. Just know that I'd rather be blogging.

Here's to another long, rainy week. Cheers, mis amigos.

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Superior Smizers: Arizona Muse

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I have a massive girlcrush on Arizona Muse. I have a label for her on my blog; that's how often I mention her. I can't remember when exactly my love for her began, but I know that it's been going strong ever since I laid eyes on her. Don't think I only like her for her looks--that would be superficial. No, no, she has a beautiful soul as well (Jesse McCartney references, anyone?). How many active supermodels do you know of that have had a child? Hmmm? She's also one of the only smizers who is not considered underweight and is often used as an example of a healthy model. How perfekt is she? Madd perf yo. 


Enough fangirling for right now, let's get down to da facts. She was born in Tucson, Arizona on September 18, 1988. I'm actually laughing so hard at the fact that her parents literally named her after the state in which she entered the world. That's like how a girl I know told me that her friend's parents named their daughter Female (pronounced Feh-mahl-ay) because when they received the birth certificate they thought the doctors had already named her when in fact they were just looking at her gender. That one gets me every time. I digress. Arizona's childhood was spent in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she led an average American teenage life. Or perhaps it was a secret life of the American teenager, because she gave birth to her son Nikko in 2009 at age 21, which is kinda young. Not really sure who the baby daddy is; maybe we could do a gel electrophoresis test to find out (using big words I learned in science class will make the peers enjoy me and put money in the pockets). Arizona began modeling in 2008 as a long-haired blonde from the midwest...it's no surprise that she didn't really make it that far. She took a hiatus for about two years during which she had Nikko, cut her hair to a chin-length bob and dyed it brown. In 2010, she reemerged in the fashion industry and became one of the biggest models in the world. She started off modeling for Urban Outfitters, which is where I discovered her. (Fellow Urban model Anais Pouliot also became a supermodel after she stopped working for the clothing store; she's now one of the faces of Louis Vuitton.) Arizona has walked in every big show (think Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Jil Sander, Chloe, Isabel Marant, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs, Alberta Ferretti; the list goes on and on and on and on) and has become a street style favorite. She's won the hearts of editors such as Anna Wintour, who has said about her: "When I look at Arizona, I see shadows of Linda Evangelista and Natalia Vodianova, but most of all I see her, a gorgeous, smart, grown-up. And how could anyone resist someone with that name?" The woman speaks da troof. The name Arizona Muse is practically begging you to worship her. 


Now you must experience for yourself the beauty that is Arizona Muse. 


Photos via harpersbazaar.com, tumblr.com and urbanoutfitters.com.

Those eyes...those eyebrows...that smile...she's literally perfect. 

Even without a lot of makeup on, she's freaking gorgeous. Even with no makeup, she's freaking gorgeous.

I could probably stare at her forever. No offense to my mom, but I kinda wish Arizona had given birth to me instead. Nikko Muse is a lucky little bastard (I mean that literally--Arizona is not married).

This is what she looked like as a model for Urban Outfitters. This is how I found her. You understand now why I fell in love with her.

This is her on the Stella McCartney spring 2011 runway. She was one of the first people to ombre her hair, and thus began a revolution. An epidemic, if you recall. 

This was taken soon after she cut her hair (Emily Weiss got to her first, though; Arizona told her all about how when she was getting ready for the Vogue Paris shoot (see the first photo in this post), the hair stylist Christiaan just kept chopping away and it ended up like this. Needless to say, pictures of Arizona dominate my haircut inspiration folder on my computer.).

Spotted on the streets of some fancy European city, no doubt. Arizona lookin' perf in a basic black dress and a bare face.  

I could probably devote an entire blog to her, but I'll just quit while I'm ahead. 


Enjoy your Saturday, and remember to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY! Time is running out! You have around 36 hours to follow my blog, leave a comment with your name and email address (and maybe follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Bloglovin' for extra entries) in order to win an awesome Threadsence dress! FOR FREE! 

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Superior Smizers: Hanne Gaby Odiele

I have begun yet another segment on this here blog entitled "Superior Smizers." Smizers is not, in fact, a real word, not even on Urban Dictionary. I will define it for you right here and now. "Smizer" is essentially a synonym for "model," because the verb "smize" means to smile with your eyes (as coined by Tyra Banks, on the television show "America's Next Top Model"). I just created the noun form of smize, is all. I thought it was way too boring to name this series something like, "Favorite Models." Nuh-uh. Superior Smizers it is.

This segment is not an excuse for me to touch upon the serious(ly controversial) issues people tend to discuss about modeling. That's not what this blog is for. It's fo' fashion, ain't it? I look at a lot of runway shows on my computer, and after a while I begin to recognize the faces. Most of the time these models are just used as walking mannequins to showcase the designers' clothing. They're not really acknowledged much. Unless they're Kate Moss. Sometimes they become muses for designers or artists, but a lot of the smizers that put their heart and soul into what they do aren't recognized as more than pretty faces. They're also hated on so much: for being very thin, for being shallow, etcetera. The truth is, they have a difficult and physically taxing job; they're forced to walk in incredibly high heels, wear uncomfortable clothes and sometimes go on trapezes in designer garments over the open ocean. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound so easy to me. Their feet are bruised and destroyed by the time they get to Paris Fashion Week after a month of walking in runway shows. That's intense, is it not? I want to show you all what these girls look like on the catwalks, on the streets, and even before they were legit smizers, as well as some little tidbits of info about them. Byaaaaaay! 

First up we have Hanne Gaby Odiele. She is one part of the mystical being Hanneli Gabiele Mustaparisian.

She was born in Kortrijk, Belgium on October 8, 1988. She was discovered at a Belgium rock (as in music, not the stones and pebbles sort of rocks) festival and signed with Supreme Management modeling agency in 2005. She's walked in all the big shows: Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Alberta Ferretti, Givenchy and Balenciaga, to name a few. In 2006 she became the face of the Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti and Topshop fall campaigns. Later that year, in December, she was hit by a car and broke her legs. (Holy crap, right??!!) She didn't go back to the runways until 2008, but did some shoots in the intervening time. A mega-plus in my book about Hanne Gaby is her impeccable and unique fashion sense. She is completely unafraid to experiment with trends and non-trends, therefore making them trendy. She's become somewhat of a street style star. Basically, she's totally perfect. Shall we check her out?

Photos via harpersbazaar.com, hanneli.com, fashionistable.blogspot.com, and fuckyeahhanne.tumblr.com. 

I thought we'd start off with a close-up. Oh hey girl, how you doin'. 

Her perfection is killing me. You don't know how badly this makes me want her sweater  her Nina Ricci veil  her adorable bag her gelato.

She's totally tapping into the green-purple color scheme that my mom is so fond of. Somehow I feel like Hanne Gaby is doing it a bit better than my mother dearest. 

That hair...

Do I spot a leather collar, a top knot and crotch embroidery?! I think I do! Gotta love Hanne Gaby. 

I will reiterate what I said last time I used this picture in a post: "Running shorts, a crop top and a hot pink cape coat have never looked so good. Or looked good at all." That is a direct quote from myself. Yeah, I'm being that person.

Graphiq pantz!!!! Phre$h off da runw@y!!! (A note in normal English: you can tell she just came from a show because she's got intense make-up on; models tend to go barefaced when they're just chillin'. They're just that gorgeous.)

I don't always want to be other people, but when I do I want to be Hanne Gaby Odiele.

Happy Easter! (Remember this post? I think now would be an appropriate time to call it back.)

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