Jessica Alba attended the Met Gala as the guest of designer Tory Burch. She was there along with Ginnifer Goodwin, below. Both of these ladies tried to be punk, but there was something too feminine about their gowns. Alba was interviewed by Vogue.com’s correspondent on the red carpet and she said that she felt “very elegant but kind of punk rock because it’s leather.” Leather doesn’t make something “punk rock,” cut, styling, attitude and accessories do and this dress was lacking somehow. She’s in a sexy cutout leather dress which was was actually navy blue, not black. I love the lace pattern on the leather and she looks gorgeous, just not punk. Her earrings are very cool.

Check out the studded leather jacket that Alba wore over this dress. She should have kept it on for the photos and it would have been perfect.

Ginnifer Goodwin was also in Tori Burch. She tried to compensate for the safe sequin gown with some very dark black eye makeup and messy hair. She said “Having short hair has been very liberating tonight… we were trying to keep up with how incredible the dress was.” The dress wasn’t that incredible, in my opinion. It was a typical cap sleeve gown that Burch tried to make edgy with leather details. She didn’t quite bring it.

Christina Ricci was in Vivienne Westwood and I think she rocked this sexy little mullet gown. This is the kind of plaid “ska” print that crossed over into punk. (Or maybe it originated in punk and crossed into “ska,” I’m a product of the 90s!) Westwood knows punk and she married it with fashion well here. I even like Ricci’s black fishnet stockings, this is the 90s punk that I know so well.

Minka Kelly was more goth than punk in this very striking full length purple Carolina Herrera gown. This was incredible in my opinion and was such a beautiful dress. I love the sequins around the shoulders and neckline and the way the sheer lace overlay reveals a sexy fitted gown underneath. The detail on this dress is so impressive yet it doesn’t cross over into “busy” territory. I would love to wear this gown.

Photo credit: WENN.com

Christina Ricci’s dress last night at the MTV Movie Awards was one of a kind Christian Siriano, selected from his Fall collection and emblazoned with real working Timex watch faces. There are also buttons, crystals, and beads creeping up around the right side of bodice. Siriano told People Magazine that he enjoyed the challenge, and that “you want to make the dress look fashion-forward and interesting without being campy.” Some people are loving this dress, but the shiny silk taffeta fabric looks cheap to me and it seems chintzy. It’s just a simple cocktail dress with some junk sewn into it, and I do find it a little tacky. (Not in these photos so much as in close ups.) I understand if you disagree and like it though, it’s kind of cool in a way, but it’s not my taste.

Paris Hilton also went too far in a Marco Squared sequin gunmetal dress with tacky black and white beading at the hem and neckline. Look at her spiked purse, oversized matchy jewelery and giant diamond earrings. She always makes Nicky look good in comparison, although Nicky’s dress is also fug.

Brooke Hogan was ridiculous as we’ve come to expect from her. She wore this tiny Jovani bright silver number with a cutout at the stomach and mesh at the hemline and around the neck. It takes some real self delusion to step out of the house like this. Look at her giant earrings and her bellybutton stud peeking out of the dress. Trashy perfection!

The Vampire Diaries’ Kat Graham actually toned it down, for her, in Maria Lucia Hohan. Look at her working that leg. Jolie’s meme really caught on, didn’t it? This is some ugly Dynasty style dress, complete with shoulder pads. Just take a look at Go Fug Yourself’s archives for Kat and you’ll see what a vast improvement this is though.

Photo credit: Visual/WENN.com and FameFlynet, Inc

Christina Ricci covers the April issue of Marie Claire UK, and she’s wearing a yellow Louis Vuitton dress (or top) that looks suspiciously like the one worn by Lana Del Ray’s lips on the cover of British Vogue’s March issue. I think Christina is still promoting her starring role in the “Pan Am” television series even though the ratings haven’t been great and speculation has swirled of an inevitable cancellation. However, ABC maintains that the show is still in the running for a second season, so who knows. The photoshoot itself is quite lovely and springlike with lots of soft lighting and breezy fabrics. Not to mention airbrushed nips, which I’ve included at the bottom of this post. Here’s the subscriber’s cover of the magazine and some interview excerpts as well:

On hitting her 30s: “I’m so glad I’m not 20 years old any more. I was in a hurricane. I’m a lot calmer now. I don’t cause destruction for myself and others everywhere I go. I take things as they happen and I’ve learned to be calm about things. Troubleshoot as problems arise and just make the best out of things.”

On the importance of being herself: “I’ve always said to people you should never let anyone try to change who you are because the only commodity you really have is you individuality. There are a million actresses and that’s the only thing that makes you special.”

On her future man: “Somebody smart and funny that I love being with.”

[From Marie Claire UK]

I agree with Christina that reaching one’s 30s is generally a calmer period in life, but she’s only 32. Once she hits 35 or so, her attitude might change. I know that mine did, for I really miss the relative freedom of my early 20s. Still, maybe she has a real point in regards to something that she’s not quite clarifing, like say, relationship drama. As far as I’m aware, she broke off her engagement with Owen Benjamin in 2009, so the timing Christina hitting her 30s at that point makes sense.

Photos courtesy of Marie Claire

We called it when guessing that “Pan Am” was probably like “Mad Men” but with stewardesses, since the show was promoted as a depiction of the social and sexual mores of the 1960s. Sunday night’s premiere was relatively well received by critics and audiences alike, but I personally found the show a bit hollow in terms of the human element. Indeed, the International Business Times agrees that “It’s bubblegum. It’s a glossy, well researched, and fairly well-executed piece of nostalgic candy” but that “an emotional core is needed if the show hopes to have any staying power.” The NY Times also (accurately) declares the show inferior to “Mad Men” but also distinguishes “Pan Am” as “tak[ing] a more forgiving look at the 1960s” and stops just short of describing the pilot episode as “Sex and the Cockpit.”

Still, it’s a rare pleasure to see Christina Ricci on television, and here are some candid shots of her while shooting “Pan Am” on location in New York City in August. Ricci’s character, Maggie, stands out from the other three primary stewardess characters in that she refuses to wear a girdle and often gets in trouble for her so-called “rebellious” nature. It’s a fitting role for Ricci, and she’s still doing the press rounds to promote the show, including this interview with the Huffington Post:

On The Glamour of “Pan Am”: It certainly does look glamorous and fun and beautiful, but it also reminds me about the clothes and having to have my makeup done like that every day. My mother told me it took her two hours every day to get ready during those times. It reminds me that getting dressed today — the way we get dressed — is also a luxury.

On Sexism In The 1960s: Yeah, there is that as well. You can’t show this period of time without acknowledging that it was a misogynistic period of time for women. There were certainly not just double standards but blatant rules that excluded women and were very hurtful to women.

I think they were having a good time. One thing I have to say about stewardesses — they were very much in charge of their own lives and sexuality. It was a job where they could sleep with who they wanted to and travel around and not be married. Actually, they couldn’t have the job if they were married. While certainly flirting with passengers was encouraged, sleeping with passengers was not encouraged and that is something we deal with in the show.

On Her “Pan Am” Character: I flout authority. My character, Maggie, uses the plane as her own personal runway. When she’s out and about, she’s the glamour queen and gets into fights and fights for everyone else’s rights. She has her nose in everything.

On Watching Her Old Movies: I look at it and think it’s funny because I look like such a kid. I think when you know yourself, you can recognize your little kid acting voice or the way I read a line. I’m more like, “Oh, look I was 12,” or, “Look what I looked like when I was 10.”

On Her Food Temptations: I have to say my favorite forbidden food is Cheetos and any kind of McDonalds. I once ate McDonalds three times in one day.

[From HuffPo]

We’ve already discussed how Ricci has some lingering body image issues from her teens and young adulthood that are evidenced by her recent statement that she doesn’t look as good as the “average person” in a bikini. She usually comes across as quite honest and frank in interviews, so I’m wondering what to make of this admission that she often eats McDonalds. Is it possible to do so and still maintain such a lithe figure without delving into eating disorder territory? Whatever the case, Christina must be doing something right, for she is positively glowing in these set photos.

Photos courtesy of WENN

The adorably weird Christina Ricci covers the September issue of Nylon magazine to promote a few of her upcoming projects. One of them is a movie, Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star, that arrives in theaters this weekend and in which Ricci plays a waitress. The other project just happens to be her upcoming television series, “Pan Am,” a 1960s set drama that will air on ABC. I get the feeling that this show is kind of like “Mad Men” only with airline stewardesses, which means that we’ll get a hefty dose of fashion throwbacks and lots of commentary on the social mores of the era. It could be fun, no? Anyway, Ricci has a lot to say about the show, fashion, diet and exercise issues, the aging process, and why she’s heading to television:

On The Fashion Element Of “Pan Am”: “My mother was a model in that era, so I grew up looking at images of her. When I was a little girl I was sort of obsessed with the fact that my mother had been on the cover of Seventeen and I always wanted to look at her book, so I think it was ingrained in my mind.” Is she nostalgic for that era? “You know, it’s a lot of fun to be able to dress up like that, but picture today, in this heat, you have to put f&#*ing nylons on every day of your life. And the way they did their hair … today’s it’s such a luxury to get to throw a little dress on. I was looking at myself on my way out the door and I was like, ‘Your underwear is showing, but you don’t have any time. Leave.’ If this was the ’60s, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

On Vintage: “I asked my stylist: ‘What’s the rule for when something becomes vintage and not just, like, last season?’ Seven years, apparently. So, seven years later I’ve brought my Alaia dresses out again.”

On The Women Of “Pan Am”: The ladies of “Pan Am,” described in the first episode as a “new breed of woman” by a young pilot, were educated, often tri-lingual girls in their twenties (“you were aged-out at 32 in those days,” says Ricci) with progressive, sexually liberated attitudes and model looks to boot. “They were the girls whose lives didn’t really revolve around men. They were having lives that were very much based on their own merits, their own education. Yes, a little bit on how they looked — weigh-ins, all that kind of stuff — but they were in something like the top 10 highest paid jobs with the men, and they got to travel and see the world in a way that at the time, people in America, let alone women in America, had no concept of. The second episode we got to Jakarta, and it’s like, What other women, other than stewardesses at that time, knew what Jakarta looked like?”

On Her Figure: “We all have to be in bikinis in the second episode,” she says of the show. Some of the girls are like, ‘I’m not dieting, screw it!’ And I’m, like, totally dieting; I’m eating protein and vegetables. And I’m doing my Pilates exercises at night, when I’m watching television.” She orders an omelet and a Diet Coke. “My Pilates instructor wrote out three different routines for me,” she continues. “I’ve worked out, OK, this one I can do in my dressing room, and this one in the studio at lunch … It’s going to be pretty funny. People are going to be like, ‘Um, Christina’s doing her thrust-walks in the hallway again.’”

There was a time when Ricci’s teenage weight fluctuations and battle with anorexia were well documented in the press, but these days the 31-year-old sees maintaining her figure as a pressure she, not the industry, puts on herself. “I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I used to hate feeling insecure. It’s the worst feeling in the world. So, I do a lot of things in advance so that I know I won’t have to feel like crap about myself. I think probably, in my late twenties, I became a lot more like, I’ll do what I can to make sure I look the way I like to look. But in the end, there’s only so much you can do and I’m not going to punish myself because I don’t look like the average person in a bikini.”

On Why She’s Doing TV: “They don’t make as many movies as they used to, so it’s a lot harder now and there’s no mid-range either. They either make these huge, big-budget ones or these tiny ones that may never see the light of day, or with some really unscrupulous people who take you to some far out location and then all of a sudden you get there and you’re like, ‘Who am I trapped out here with?’ So, it’s kind of difficult. And you know some of the best writing is on television, and I have to say, I spend most of my time watching TV. For years I’ve been saying I wanted to do television.”

On Sleeping 10 Hours Per Day: “Because I’m the oldest member of the cast, and we shoot in HD, so I’m like Dude! I don’t want to be, like, scary old-face. I’ve been using eye cream and all that sh-t since I was 18 because I knew, I just knew that age was going to walk right across my face. I use Proactiv because the lovely thing about my face now that I’m in my early 30s, I’m aging, but I’m also dealing with acne. And now – this is disgusting – but I get it on my back. I’m like, What am I? A pubescent boy?”

Admittedly, that last part really was gross, but I sort of appreciate that a Hollywood actress is willing to admit that she suffers from backne. Like, Gwyneth would never admit to such a pedestrian affliction, right? Even though and despite all of her privileged trappings, Goop really and truly does experience breakouts.

In another Goop comparison note, I like that Christina manages to admit that she worries about her weight, and works out/diets like the rest of us have to while also not sounding like a superiority freak about it. Instead of the whole, “I can be 38 and have two kids and wear a bikini is because I work my [expletive] ass off” nonsense, Christina phrases it in a self-depreciating way that also comes off as genuine. Yes, she has weight issues and won’t pretend not to obsess about her body at times, but she doesn’t go so far to talk about how exceptional she is just because she puts the work in, you know?

At any rate, “Pan Am” actually does sound like it might be an interesting show to watch, and I’ll probably check it out if I can wrestle the remote control away from my kid.

Nylon scans courtesy of The Fashion Spot

Poor Robert Pattinson. Out of the three Twilight Saga leads, I think that he will have the most difficult time breaking away from the franchise as a bona fide actor, and he seems to believe the same. As such, the Sparkler has largely spent his hiatus time appearing in roles that are quite unlike the brooding, obsessively romantic Edward Cullen. I quite liked him in both Remember Me (as a bit of a rebel) and Water for Elephants (as the veterinarian who woos Reese Witherspoon), but it’s fairly obvious that he’ll never be described as a great actor, and there’s a decent chance that he’ll never be known as a good actor either. Of course, the bloke has a fair amount of charisma upon which to coast, so he’ll probably never be hurting for either roles or money. Emphasis on the latter.

Now, the teaser trailer for his upcoming Bel Ami movie (not to be confused with the European gay porn film company of the same name) has surfaced; and as much as I hate to admit this, Pattinson’s performance here looks moderately laughable:

Bel Ami is an adaptation of the 1885 novel by French author Guy de Maupassant. For the curious, the book is a pretty quick and easy read that doesn’t carry nearly the stuffiness as many other classic novels. In the movie, Pattinson plays the main character, Georges Duroy, who starts out as a poor ex-soldier but soon becomes a successful journalist and goes on to gain lots of power in society. Of course, it’s not really Georges’ power of the pen that causes his rapid ascent but, instead, his manner of seducing the wealthiest women (played by Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, and Kristin Scott Thomas) in town. This is Pattinson’s big chance to play a bad guy, and while the social climber aspect of the character seems fairly believable as portrayed by Pattinson, I pretty much lost it when he started yelling and gnawing upon his own fist. Still, this is only a trailer so — who knows — maybe he’ll surprise us when Bel Ami finally hits theaters this fall. Then again, maybe not.

Photos courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

I can feel the Twihards spiraling out of control, can’t you? It’s like there was a shift in the cosmos as every 12-year-old girl who masturbates to the idea of Bella and Edwards’s perfect, SO PERFECT grinding just suddenly wailed “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” So, Edward (Robert Pattinson, Mr. Sparklepants) dared to a film without his immortal beloved Kristen Stewart. It was a film called Bel Ami, and he filmed mostly in Hungary, with Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci. This whole time, I thought Sparkles’ love interest was just Uma, but it looks like Christina got some of the action too. She confirmed to Ted Casablanca at E! News that Pattinson is a good kisser, saying: “”Um yeah. He is pretty much awesome.” OH NOES. Say goodbye to Christina, folks. The Twihards are going to maim this one:

Everybody who was anybody (not at the Lady Gaga concert) was at AT&T’s launch party for the new Blackberry Torch last night in Los Angeles. We had a chance to catch up with one of our fave actresses since forevah, Christina Ricci—who dished to us about her upcoming flick Bel Ami with Robert Pattinson. Like how steamy their loves scenes got and how R.Pattz had a special lady we all know and love come and visit him on set. Let the dishing begin!

“It was really fun, I mean just aesthetically we wore amazing costumes and hair and make up was great,” Ricci told us at the fab party about her new flick. “And working with Rob was amazing. He’s such a great guy, so talented.”

Well, since she brought him up we might as well get the on-set dirt from her:

“He’s just great. We’d just make fun of each other the whole time, like ‘oh my god we’re so goofy’ or ‘my accent is so bad!’”

So exactly how close do Christina and Rob get?

“We are lovers, yeah you know.”

Relax Twi-Hards. She means they are lovers onscreen for Bel Ami!

“There’s some naughtiness,” the adorable Ricci said with a smirk when we grilled her on whether we get some good love-scenes, adding there are “lots” of them.

Natch we had to ask the question on all of our minds. Is Rob a good kisser?

“Um yeah,” Christina smiled. “He is pretty much awesome.”

One lucky girl who gets to experience Rob’s smooches on a pretty regular basis is Kristen Stewart. As we told you, Kristen traveled to Budapest after her birthday to be with Rob during filming.

“Yeah she visited,” Christina said. “I love her, she is totally sweet. And he is great!”

Although Ricci says she’s never seen a Twilight film, she totally gets the cult appeal.

“I understand where they’re coming from,” confessed the lovely CR. ” He’s an awesome human being. He’s so funny and quirky and weird.”

Who is ten times more excited to see Bel Ami now?! Glad we now get a chance to watch two of our faves together!

[From E! News]

Funny and quirky and weird? If the Twihards don’t get her for the kissing thing, they’ll definitely get her for that one. Doesn’t she know that Robert can only be described using words like “intense” and “brooding” and “beautiful” and “James Dean” and “sparkly”??? It’s like Christina is unfamiliar with the wrath of the Twihards. Personally, I’m kind of afraid of the wrath as well. It’s my big fear that Emilie de Ravin will never work again just because the loyal Twihard base will never watch anything she’s in EVER because she “tried to steal” Robert from Kristen.

Christina Ricci and her co-star Owen Benjamin have announced their engagement. The pair met in mid-2008 while filming the romantic comedy All’s Faire in Love and confirmed their relationship in October. Christina’s rep confirmed the report to People magazine. In their archives they have this comment from Christina in 2007.

“I’m definitely more at a time in my life where I want to settle down,” Ricci, 27, who dates actor-director Adam Goldberg, tells the UK’s Tatler in its June issue.

When it comes to walking down the aisle, “I think about that a lot,” she says. “Sometimes it sounds really good, but then I’m not actually sure I’d want to go through with the wedding. Although I feel like if we didn’t have a wedding, my family would be mad at me, and Adam’s family would be mad at him.”

She adds, laughing: “That’s just a whole thing – I don’t want to deal with it because you know you’re going to get in trouble. I just want to be married, or just engaged. Basically, I just want a ring. And the tax break.”

From People

Awww, how romantic.

All’s Faire in Love, the film where Christina met her fiance, is described as being a camp romantic comedy, “falling somewhere between Shakespeare in Love and Meatballs” on IMBD. No, I’m not making this up. It’s about a theater troupe competing for the best place at a Renaissance Faire.

Owen Benjamin is a reasonably unknown actor, who was in the The House Bunny film and Gaytown television series. I’ve loved Christina ever since she was in Casper when I was a kid, and it’s nice to hear she’s found love. Congratulations!

All’s Faire in Love is in cinemas sometime in 2009, a release date has not been confirmed.

Header is of Christina and Owen out to lunch on March 15. Credit: BM/bauergriffinonline.com. Nice ring! Christina and Owen are also shown out in LA on 3/3/09. Credit: VAH/ Fame Pictures

Having had to suffer through Christina Ricci’s last film Speed Racer no less than three times with my son, I can see why she might be considering a career change. According to Star Magazine, which is not always the most reliable source, Christina is planning on changing her career from B-list actress to teen counselor.

Actress CHRISTINA RICCI has set out on a new career – as an eating disorder counsellor. [sic]

The 28-year-old star has been candid about her battle with anorexia during her teen years.

And according to reports, the New York, I Love You star has registered for a series of online classes to become a certified counsellor to girls struggling with their self-esteem.

A source tells US magazine Star, “Christina went through hell and back growing up. For years she struggled with her self-esteem, so she knows how hard it is for young girls.”

The source added that Ricci hopes “to learn how she can help them get better without having to go through all the pain she did as a child”.

Contact Music

According to IMDB Christina has at least five projects coming up from now until 2010, so I guess that she won’t be making that career change anytime soon.

While Star Magazine hasn’t got it 100% accurate in describing this as a new career, Christina might be doing that some celebrities do, and undertaking training to be a celebrity face of a youth counseling line. I’m not sure if this happens internationally but when launching these kinds of services within Australia it is not unusual to get a celebrity to help promote the service. The celebrity is required to undertake the same training as the telephone operators in order to be able to talk knowledgeably about the service.

I just can’t see Christina giving up her multi-million dollar acting career to counsel youth, but it is wonderful that she is willing to do this. My sister is a counselor for child victims of domestic violence, and says that staff generally last a year in the job before moving onto something less draining. It has to be a true calling to be able to listen to and support a person who is a stranger to you, and take on a small part of their problems.

Christina Ricci is shown out on 7/9/08. Credit: Ghost/Fame Pictures

Christina Ricci is on the cover of the latest issue of Hollywood Life magazine, and she looks absolutely stunning. Christina admitted to struggling with anorexia for many years, but it looks like she’s really gotten a handle on it. Her body looks much healthier than in recent months, and she’s absolutely stunning in the photographs.

Christina’s often been criticized for her somewhat unusual looks. She’s definitely sported some odd hairstyles and unconventional clothing in her time, but with the right hair and makeup she’s clearly gorgeous. Here are the pictures from the Spring issue of Hollywood Life.