So I’ve worn a few saris in my life. Although my father always refers to them as “the most elegant dress in the world” let me just say that they are surprisingly tough to pull off. Most of the traditional saris worn by actual Indian women will be made of either cotton or a thick silk (that’s usually been treated with something). As saris made their way to the Western world, more fabric choices came around, including what I can only guess was a light, gauzy silk chiffon that Elizabeth Hurley wore last night at a London gala (with husband Arun Nayar).

The problem with Liz’s outfit (and saris in general)? Most women who rock the sari put something under it, for two reasons. First, wardrobe malfunctions happen all the time in saris. There’s nothing holding that piece of fabric across your boobs but a humble prayer to Vishnu. Second reason: Because most women who rock the sari don’t want to dress like wh-res. Like Liz. The overwhelming majority of sari-wearing women put something under it, like a quarter-sleeve top, a tank top, or what I can only describe as a special Indian tube top. Most women don’t want to flash their nips in traditional garb. Most women are not Elizabeth Hurley.

This is actually one of my favorite lists of all of the year-end lists. Every year, PETA compiles their list of the “worst-dressed” celebrities. It has nothing to do with fashion, though. It’s all about who wore fur or any kind of animal skin. Call me a hypocrite, but I think it’s totally unnecessary to wear fur, but I don’t see why people (or PETA) get worked up over various leathers. Leather is okay in my book, which means that a half-dressed PETA representative (probably a totally drunk and jacked Pamela Anderson) will be picketing my house in ten seconds. But fur? Why do people even wear fur anymore? Yeah, it’s cold. Put on a lambswool sweater. NOOOO!!!

Kate Moss, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Elizabeth Hurley are used to dominating society’s best-dressed lists. But this week they will find themselves topping a more dishonourable fashion list.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Foundation has drawn up a roll call of the fashion world’s Worst Dressed Celebrities based on their penchant for pelts. The Duchess of Cornwall and Shirley Bassey will also grace the list, as will football Wags Coleen Rooney and Alex Gerrard, and the singer Rihanna.

The “winner”, to be chosen in an online poll, will be announced in February by Stella McCartney, a vegetarian who refuses to use any leather and fur in her designs.

The award is considered to be a powerful weapon in the fight against fur. Last year Paris Hilton and Christina Ricci announced a change of heart about wearing it after being nominated. “I never meant to hurt nor anger anyone with my insensitivity,” said Ricci. “For what it is worth, I have received the message loud and clear and will not be wearing fur in the future. I apologize for my offensive actions.”

Moss is hot favourite to win this year in recognition of her collection of fur coats, sealskin Mukluk boots, rabbit-skin bedspreads and sheepskin rugs. Elizabeth Hurley is also tipped as a likely winner after agreeing to pose in a selection of mink coats for fur house Blackglama.

“Among the most vulgar offenders this year is Catherine Zeta-Jones, who can’t seem to leave her room in New York without covering herself head to toe in the dried-out skins of several species – not just fur coats but leather pants and crocodile bags,” said Dan Mathews, vice-president of Peta. “She looks more like a serial killer than a star. We’ve written to Rihanna in the hope that the furs she’s been flaunting are fake, but it seems the cat’s got her tongue. The Duchess of Cornwall, not to be thwarted by the fox-hunting ban, has gone hunting in her grannie’s wardrobe. Then there’s the old guard like Shirley Bassey, who has a skin-crawling fashion sense. Elizabeth Hurley’s wardrobe is now as dead as her film career.”

A growing list of fashion icons have sworn off fur, from Carla Bruni and Michelle Obama to Pink and Lady Gaga. But times have changed since the early 1990s, when supermodels such as Naomi Campbell declared they would rather go naked than wear fur.

Now Campbell fronts a campaign for the furrier Dennis Basso – and campaigners admit that, on the catwalk and the high street, the trend is hotter than it has been for years.
Fur coats made an appearance during the New York, London and Milan fashion weeks. Karl Lagerfeld covered motorcycle helmets with mink and chinchilla. Dolce & Gabbana added bright pink fur sleeves to jackets. Fur also featured prominently in the collections of Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Prada.

Last month French Vogue featured the Brazilian supermodel Raquel Zimmermann in a flurry of fur. Keira Knightley attended an awards ceremony in a karakul lambskin coat and Jennifer Lopez makes no secret of her fondness for mink and chinchilla.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, is unapologetically pro-fur, running positive editorials and fur-themed photo shoots. “Fur is still part of fashion,” Wintour said this year, “so Vogue will continue to report on it.”

Celebrities’ enthusiasm for fur has seen sales rocket. In 2007, fur sales worldwide totalled $16.5bn, up by 11% on the previous year, following nine years of continuous growth. Last year the fur trade contributed $21bn to the global economy.

Campaigners admit they are concerned that the industry is winning its fight to redefine fur as something worn by chic, edgy kids rather than the sort of moth-eaten, fusty choice made by traditional grandmothers.

“Young people are more comfortable showing their love of fur,” said Mathews. “Hopefully, our Worst Dressed Award will wake these cold-hearted celebs up to the truth about fur.”

[From The Guardian]

Sigh. My mother had a rabbit’s fur coat. I remember it vividly. It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but it was crazy warm. I think she ended up giving it away several years ago, but that was just because she wanted more space in her coat closet. Anyway, my favorites of the offenders are the people who used to swear they wouldn’t wear fur, and now do. Can you really love fur that much? Think of the bunnies! And the other little furry woodland creatures. Sob!

Rihanna in December, performing in fur in New York. Catherine Zeta-Jones on December 20, 2009 in New York, wearing mink, maybe? Kate Moss on November 13, 2009 in London. Elizabeth Hurley on December 13, 2009. The Duchess of Cornwall on November 25, 2009 (I couldn’t find a photo of her wearing fur, but I just liked that picture). Credit for all: WENN.

Generally, I’m pretty “meh” on Elizabeth Hurley. I think she’s very pretty, I think she tries too hard, and I think she gets a bad rap about a lot of things, some of it deserved, some of it not so much. Liz is out promoting her new line of organic food, from her new organic farm in England, that her Indian billionaire husband bought her. So Liz is doing what she does best, which is a little self-promotion. But it sort of went off the rails – Liz admits that to keep her model figure in check, she’s had to cut out wine and coffee. Now, she says, she just drinks vodka. And she only eats one meal a day. Damn. That’s not right.

Her perfectly toned body is the envy of every yummy-mummy.

But at the age of 44, Liz Hurley has confessed how she has been forced to adopt a more extreme dietary plan to keep her famously svelte figure.

Miss Hurley has revealed how she has had to cut out coffee and wine from her diet. Now, instead of enjoying a glass of claret when she is at a social gathering, the model and actress has turned to vodka to keep her midriff trim.

Asked whether she missed wine, she said: ‘No, I don’t miss having a glass of wine because I’ve switched to vodka. I don’t really like vodka that much but if I’m at a party I have a small one with a lot of fizzy water and a huge squeeze of lime. Initially it’s like medicine but I’ve got used to it now.’

Miss Hurley, who lives in Gloucestershire-with husband Arun Nayar and her seven-year-old son Damian, admitted: ‘I used to drink an awful lot of coffee, but I was told after the age of 40 you have to be careful with coffee and wine. Apparently, that can be one of the reasons older women get bloated around their stomach.’

With her acting career sidelined, Miss Hurley has instead concentrated on her swimwear range and modeling.

Following the birth of Damian, she revealed how she only eats one meal a day and often goes to bed hungry. It was also reported last year that she has just one square of organic chocolate or one tablespoonful of ice-cream when she wants a treat.

[From The Daily Mail]

Alright, first I do have to give Liz credit for actually admitting how extreme her diet is. I get tired of girls claiming that they “eat everything” when they’re in reality cokehead anorexics. So, Liz gets a point for being honest. She loses points for actually being on that kind of extreme diet though. I do have to admit a few things – I’m not a coffee, wine or beer drinker either, and part of the reason is my concerns about the extra caloric intake (except for coffee – I’ve just never had a taste for it). I prefer hard liquor too, if I’m having a drink while watching my beloved NCIS. I have a Scotch, just like Leroy Jethro Gibbs (he has his straight, I take mine on the rocks). Then again, I eat three meals a day, so what do I know?

Here’s Elizabeth in London at the Emerald Ball held at Harrods to support the Elton John Aids Foundation on November 5, 2009. Credit: WENN

Our readers in the UK can rejoice. There will be no reality show starring Liz Hurley trudging through the mud in her Wellies while she bends over to weed, her boobs hanging out of her t-shirt. The show has been scrapped due to Liz’s excessive demands. We reported two weeks ago that Hurley was pitching a Simple Life type reality show that would focus on her day-to-day life on her 400 acre Cotswolds farm. Liz said in a statement “I know that people always imagine me with perfect hair and stuck in high heels since I was a child, but that is not who I am, at least not all the time.” She is demanding, though, and the show won’t happen now that producers realize how much money it’s going to cost them. It was said to be a cooking show, not a reality show as we stated, but it hardly matters now:

The 43-year-old face of Estée Lauder had been in secret talks with Channel 4 about making a cookery-themed show based at her Gloucestershire farm.

But the station reportedly turned down the idea because she was too expensive.

A disgruntled insider tells me: ‘Elizabeth wanted far too much money.

According to some people she was also rather difficult to work with.’

Adds my mole: ‘The final straw came when she insisted anyone referring to her on-set as Liz would be asked to leave.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Hurley has another career to fall back on, she’s launching her own line of organic packaged food that she’s producing on her estate. She actually said “One day, hopefully, they will be dominating the world.”

It looks like Hurley’s going to have to try a little harder to get publicity for her products. It’s a shame she wanted so much cash for that show when it would have been free advertising for her. If only her ego didn’t get in the way, she could have made more money in sales in the long run.

Liz Hurley is shown promoting the lanch of Estee Lauder’s new perfume Sensuous at Bloomingdales in NY on 7/8/08. Credit: L. Gallo / WENN

[thanks Geronimo for the tip on Hurley's food line.]

43 year-old sometimes actress Elizabeth Hurley is resorting to reality television to make some cash and prolong her waning fame. The British star known for wearing a safety pin dress and getting cheated on by Hugh Grant is going to start her own “Simple Life” type reality show. In her statement acknowledging the show, Hurley suggests that she’s going to be playing at rural life, and admits that even her husband was surprised to see her stuck in the mud for the first time:

Elizabeth Hurley is currently working on her own reality television program, which will focus on the life of the former actress in a country setting. The show will also give viewers opportunities to join her and her husband, businessman Arun Nayar, on their lavish estate.

According to reports, Elizabeth has just splashed out 3.3 million pounds on a 400-acre farm in the Cotswolds for the reality show. The star revealed she decided to work on the show since she is well aware that the audience is looking forward to seeing a completely different facet of hers. The actress also stated that Arun was taken aback at seeing her during the shoot of the show.

“I know that people always imagine me with perfect hair and stuck in high heels since I was a child, but that is not who I am, at least not all the time,” Elizabeth said in a statement. The beauty went on, “Even my husband got a surprise the first time that he saw me in the country. He found me in some Wellingtons covered in mud, with holes in my jersey, and he thought that I was playing a joke on him. But we English are not as elegant as we seem.”

[From Celebrity-Mania]

Hurley seems completely full of shit to me, and I have no interest in viewing whatever show she creates to pretend that she’s down to earth. It sounds like this would be featured on British television and we won’t be subjected to it much anyway. The Sun reports that she’s in talks at this stage, so it’s not a done deal. This is the woman who was accused of paying her maid $2.50 an hour and forcing her to work from 7:30 am to 3:00 am the next morning. When the maid complained about the long hours, she was kicked out of the couple’s NY home, where she lived at the time. If anyone deserves to be ignored it’s Hurley.

Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayer are shown at a fashion show on 5/24/08. Credit: DSM/ Fame Pictures.

Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley are currently in NY together, and The Daily Mail reports that Liz’s new husband, software company CEO Arun Nayar, is nowhere to be found. Grant and Hurley have also gone to great lengths not to be photographed in each others company:

Hugh Grant has been caught trying to avoid being photographed in New York with former girlfriend Liz Hurley, the Daily Mail reports.

The Four Weddings and a Funeral star went to extreme lengths to conceal that the pair had attended a dinner party together on Sunday, sparking rumours that the former couple may have reunited.

Moments after 42-year-old Austin Powers star Hurley arrived at a Manhattan hotel, Grant arrived — but an hour later, he emerged in a different suit.

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Minutes afterwards, a car arrived to pick up Hurley. Just a few blocks down the road, the car stopped and Grant jumped in.

A few blocks before the venue of Valentino’s dinner party, 47-year-old Grant stepped out of the car, which proceeded to the door to drop off Hurley minutes before Grant arrived.

The next day the two British actors were spotted at an exclusive restaurant, Fred’s, for lunch — again with staggered entries and exits.

[From News.ninemsn.com]

It’s possible Liz and Hugh are in NY for different reasons and just happen to be staying at the same hotel and going to parties and restaurants together. They live quite close to each other in London and have remained “friends” after their breakup in 2000. There was a rumor that Hugh’s last girlfriend, Jemima Khan, was jealous of his close friendship with Hurley and that’s what hastened the end of the relationship.

Hugh took a tropical vacation with Elizabeth and her entire family, including her husband of eight months, last month. Maybe they are just close friends.

Grant has his own purpose for being in NY. He is looking for a home in NY City after earning $22 million from the sale of a 1962 portrait of Elizabeth Taylor by famous pop artist Andy Warhol. Is it wrong of me to think that he should have waited until Taylor died to sell it?

Hugh Grant is shown on 2/21/07 at the Music and Lyrics By premiere in Rome. Elizabeth Hurley is shown on 11/8/07 with her husband, Arun Nayar, at the Women of the Future Awards in London. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Elizabeth Hurley and her Indian fiance Arun Nayer have tied the knot at a castle in England, but the real celebration is yet to begin. The couple leaves for India on Sunday to celebrate their wedding Indian style, complete with horse rides and star studded Bollywood dance numbers. The wedding celebrations will last six days, and culminate in the mother of all weddings on Friday, March 9th.

Now here’s the juice we’ve learned so far.

The couple prefers to receive gifts of livestock instead of traditional wedding gifts
In England, guests the likes of Elton John and the Beckhams, had to choose between giving a pure-bred pig or a flock of sheep to the couple as a wedding gift. This is because after they wed, the Nayars plan to settle down on the 400-acre farm in Gloucestershire that Hurley bought in 2003. The Nayars enjoy country life, says husband Arun Nayar, “I’ll take Damian out on the tractor while Elizabeth cooks….like the Waltons.” Hurley adds that her country home is the only place she would like to be, and can’t wait to get “organic status” so they can become full-fledged farmers. We’re going to have a herd of cows and proper sheep and proper chickens, and we’re going to have Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs.”

Yeah, I can just see it now. Arun riding around on a tractor with little Damian, both wearing matching overalls, and Liz in the kitchen, wearing an apron and cooking chicken curry from organic chickens. Celebs have such boring dreams.

There’s a dress code for the guests attending the wedding in India.
Liz has sent each of her wedding guests an “orientation packet” with their invitations to help them learn the rules of engagement, so to speak, of what to wear and what to expect during the week long celebration in India. Guests are advised to bring their own mosquito repellant and travel irons, but to leave most of their party clothes at home. That’s because Liz wants all the ladies to wear hot pink saris and all the men to wear turbans and long orange tunics (kurtas) during most of the events. The attire during the rest of the celebrations should range from “glamorous casual” to “glamorous and fabulous”. Liz doesn’t want her guests to have to worry too much about dressing for the events in India, and has taken it upon herself to shop for them and stock a private wedding boutique inside the Hilton Towers Hotel in Mumbai:

They have written to friends to say they are opening their own private wedding “shop” at the Hilton Towers Hotel in Mumbai, which will be stocked with saris, turbans, kurtas and bindis, traditional markings worn on the forehead by women.

Guests will be able to buy appropriate attire for the six-day celebrations taking place in Mumbai and the desert in Rajasthan. The couple’s letter says: “Please don’t panic … all Indian clothes can be bought when you arrive in India, where they will be much nicer.”

Hurley’s friends say she has been busy looking for saris to buy to stock the shop, where tailors will be on hand to alter garments. The bride herself will reportedly be wearing a £4,000 pink sari.

Can someone say, bridezilla?

The Dress
Liz’s pink wedding sari, which is about $7,800, is going to be designed by one of India’s most renowned wedding designers, Tarun Tahiliani. Although we don’t have a photo of the dress yet, here is an example of one of Tarun’s bridal dresses.

To add to your knowledge of useless trivia, Tarun Tahiliani is the same dude who designed Jemima Khan’s wedding dress when she married Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan. Jemima is the the ex-fiance of Liz’s ex, Hugh Grant, and a sworn enemy of Liz. Neither Hugh nor Jemima will attend Liz’s wedding in India. Huge Grant was also a no-show at the England ceremony according to the Sunday Mirror.

I can’t wait to see the photos from this gig. Really. Just to see how this all looks. Ladies in pink saris (Posh will wear one too!), guys in orange kurtas, Liz’s Indian wedding is playing out like no other Bollywood production I’ve ever seen. It is even being reported that she plans to arrive to her wedding ceremony sitting on top of an elephant, like an ancient Indian princess. If her intention was to top the TomKat wedding, she seems to be off to great start.

The Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a ball last night to celebrate the opening of an exhibit on British design. Sienna Miller, wearing an awful gold sequined minidress and black tights, served as co-chair for the event.

The guy dressed like a cabaret pirate posing with Charlize Theron is Dior designer John Galiano. He’s responsible for her monstrosity of an Oscar gown with the giant shoulder bow. Sienna Miller is shown with Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s creative director.

We have over 100 pictures from the event. Stars and designers attending include Alexander McQueen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, John Galliano, Charlize Theron, Lindsay Lohan, Victoria Beckham, Emmy Rossum, Eva Mendes, Gisele Bundchen, Gretchen Mol, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, Lenny Kravitz, Donatella Versace, Rupert Everett, Linda Evangelista and Amber Valetta, Jessica Alba, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Melania Trump, Donald Trump, Molly Sims, Rosario Dawson, Scarlett Johansson, Stella McCartney, Amanda Peet, Andre Leon Talley, Naomi Campbell, Angela Lindvall, Angie Harmon, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Bridget Moynahan, Tom Brady, Chloe Sevigny, Ciara, Dita Von Teese and Marliyn Manson, Drew Barrymore, Elizabeth Hurley, Erin O’Connor, Matthew Williamson, Eve, Gina Gershon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ivana Trump, Jacquetta Wheeler, Jason Lewis, Jessica Stam, John Legend, Johnny Rotten, Josh Lucas, Joy Bryant, Julia Stegner, Iselin Steiro, Karolina Kurkova, Lily Cole, Lauren Bush, Lily Donaldson, Gemma Ward, Liv Tyler, Francisco Costa, Lydia Hearst, Mandy Moore, Minnie Driver, Nick Cannon, Petra Nemcova, Rachel Roy, Damon Dash, Ralph Fiennes, Richard Gere, Cary Lowell, Thandie Newton, Selma Blair, Shalom Harlow, Sienna Miller, Christopher Bailey, designer for Burberry, Zooey Deschanel, Sophie Dahl, Ivanka Trump, Mark Ruffalo, Taye Diggs, Idima Menzel, and Sarah Wynter.

Elizabeth Hurley, Ashley Judd, breast cancer survivor Anastacia, and Elton John and his partner David Furnish were among the attendees at “The Very Hot Pink Party” in New York last night. Proceeds went to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Elton John and Tony Bennett performed.

Elizabeth Hurley is launching her own line of swimsuits and has just signed up to represent the handbag firm, Lancel.

Elton John has done a lot of charity work recently. He cleaned out his closets to donate more than 10,000 items with the proceeds to benefit his Aids foundation.

Here are the photos from the benefit. Ashley Judd is shown with her husband of five years, Italian racecar driver Dario Francitti. Elton John’s partner David Furnish escorted Elizabeth Hurley to the event.

Update: pictures from the ribbon cutting on Elton John’s closet.