These are some new photos of Sofia Vergara at the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style event last night, honoring Iman and Missoni. So, obviously, Sofia showed up in Missoni. I don’t like the dress on Sofia… it looks really cheap on her, right? Like she just wrapped a Missoni knockoff towel around herself. I think the color is throwing me off too – I like that Sofia wears a lot of color on the red carpet, but sometimes those bright colors and patterns look “cheap” on her.

Sofia has just returned from LA after a vacation with her still-on boyfriend, Nick Loeb. Sofia, as always, was tweeting during her vacation, and she ended up posting this bikini pic that has everyone all riled up:

GAH. Her body is so amazing. Look at how toned she is! Usually, Sofia is committed to wearing one-piece swimsuits… I guess because her body is so bangin’, she doesn’t want to start a riot on the beach. I guess she was just in a bikini mood, though.

I’m also including a photo of Iman at the Missoni event – she was being honored with a plaque on Rodeo Drive. What do you think of her dress? I really dislike it.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Sofia’s Twitter.

Harper’s Bazaar has a great interview with Iman in the December issue. I’m pretty much in love with Iman after reading this, and that’s saying a lot because I already really liked her. It’s not even that she’s saying really awesome, hardcore things, it’s just her attitude. I hate to bring up her age, but I think it’s the simple fact that she’s 55 years old (!!) and she has experience and savvy and wit, and she simply knows how to act like a professional and give an interesting interview. That’s a quality sorely lacking in so many celebrities these days. Anyway, the full Bazaar interview (conducted by Simon Doonan) is here, and here are some excerpts:

Simon Doonan: How many times a day do you Google yourself?
Iman: Every five minutes. I simply can’t take my eyes off myself. Kidding! I would rather Google other people than Google myself.

SD: Have you ever thrown a cell phone at anyone?
Iman:No! And if anyone threw one at me, it would come right back at them like a boomerang. If I feel frustrated in a situation, I take a deep breath and walk away.

SD: Do you and David ever fight? [Iman has been married to rock god David Bowie for 18 years.]
Iman: David doesn’t fight. He is English, so he just stays quiet. I’m the screamer. Then he always makes me laugh. It’s like cabaret. I keep him entertained too. I still fancy him—totally!—after all these years.

SD: Which Bowie song do you adore?
Iman: So many! “Heroes” especially. “Suffragette City” always gets me dancing with my little girl, Lexi [age 10].

SD: Who takes more time to get ready?
Iman: David takes five minutes. Me? I don’t do anything by myself. I have a whole crew to get me ready every day.

SD: How many falls and wiglets do you own?
Iman: Millions! I believe in glamour. I am in favor of a little vanity. I don’t rely on just my genes. Looking good is a commitment to yourself and to others. Wigs, killer heels, Pilates, even fillers—whatever works for you, honey.

SD: What is the worst thing about being a parent?
Iman: The early mornings. There is soccer and music class at 7:30 A.M. Remember, I am 55. I can only take so much!

SD: I have seen you throw together a home-cooked meal in your kitchen. I was impressed. Was that just for PR purposes?
Iman: I vowed to myself when I got married that I would cook every night. I find it very therapeutic.

SD: What’s for dinner tonight?
Iman: Branzino with lemon. And David likes risotto, but I can’t do risotto tonight. It takes time, and I have homework to do with my daughter. Maybe a salad and orzo. And David buys dessert.

SD: You could be a lady of leisure if you so desired. Why not just lie around eating bonbons and listening to Ziggy Stardust?
Iman: Even Ziggy Stardust would put on 125 pounds if he ate bonbons all day! I come from Somalia. We start working young, and we understand that kind of life. I would be bored to death not doing anything creative.

SD: Who have you ever had homicidal feelings toward in the fashion business?
Iman: Geoffrey Beene! I loved his clothes but not him. Years ago, we were about to walk the runway and he pushed me. I said, “Don’t do that!” “You work for me!” he said, and I replied, “No, you’ve hired my services, dear. I don’t work for you,” and I left.

SD: Who is your favorite young designer these days?
Iman: Alexander Wang is one of my favorites. But he is like my daughter. He is like 12.

SD: I heard you were at the White House a while ago. Did you crash, or were you invited?
Iman: Cheeky! I met Mr. and Mrs. Obama years ago at Oprah’s Legends Ball. Oprah sat me next to Mrs. Obama because I majored in political science before modeling, so she thought we would have something to discuss. And then I went for lunch at the White House. It was brilliant! Mrs. Obama could not have been more gracious or beautiful. She is very smart, and for me, the thing I most envy is her children. When is the last time we saw two girls that age at the inauguration, and their mother did not have to say, “Sit still!”?

SD: Are you a true New Yorker or a Somali girl?
Iman: Absolutely a New Yorker. I can tell you exactly when I switched. We moved downtown when Lexi was born. When 9/11 happened, 12 of our neighborhood firemen were killed. I looked around at the country that had adopted me and I became an American.

SD: You seem like an optimist and a positive force, but you must have done something appalling in your past.
Iman: I was once very rude to a young model. Just before I retired from modeling, I was at this shoot. The photographer said he was reading a biography of Marie Antoinette. The young model asked us, “What agency is she with?” [Shrieks of derisive laughter] We made fun of her, of course! When we were leaving, she said to me, “I hope I look as good as you when I’m your age,” and I said, “Don’t worry, darling, you won’t.” And then later I felt bad.

SD: Have you ever dropped acid?
Iman: No, but I have dropped a lot of other things. I did the whole Studio 54 thing. My saving grace was that I always knew when to leave the party.

SD: Who do you idolize?
Iman: My father. He taught me how to be a parent and gave me a positive connection with men because he is a gentleman. And that is what attracted me to David. He is a gentle soul.

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

Don’t you like her even more now? Even the incident she describes of making fun of a young model – well, it’s not that bad. Naomi Campbell probably would have considered that incident “an act of sainthood.” Naomi would have beaten that poor model with a bedazzled boomerang phone just for making eye contact. So if that’s the worst thing Iman’s ever done, darling, she’s just fine.

Photos courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar.

Iman gave an interview to Parade, and she’s claiming that First Lady Michelle Obama is “not a great beauty” but is merely “interesting looking”. It’s actually a backhanded compliment, because Iman is talking up Michelle’s brains, and saying Michelle has much more going on for her than her looks. Iman might have said it differently in that case, but I get what she’s saying. She’s saying beauty doesn’t stick around, and wouldn’t you rather have better qualities? This coming from the immortal beauty of Iman is bit rich, though.

As people across America fall in love with the grace and style of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, it might seem odd at first to hear any negative critique about her always flawless appearance.

But for Iman, the 53-year-old supermodel and wife of David Bowie, Michelle is more than just a pretty face.

“Mrs. Obama is not a great beauty,” Iman tells Parade. “But she is so interesting looking and so bright. That will always take you farther.”

Iman, who could easily pass for 40 with her glowing skin and gorgeous smile, thinks looks can be totally overrated.

“When you’re a great beauty, it’s always downhill for you,” she explains. “If you’re someone like Mrs. Obama, you just get better with age.”

If “going downhill” involves looking like Michelle or Iman, sign us up!

[From OK! Magazine]

I find myself agreeing with Iman – I don’t consider Michelle Obama beautiful because of her looks. I find her beautiful because of the whole package – the looks, the intelligence and compassion, the fact that she’s a great mother and wife. I’d add to those compliments that Mrs. Obama is one of our “hottest” first ladies, which seems to appeal to a certain male demographic. The evidence? Michelle placed 93rd on Maxim’s Hottest Women in the world. For the record, Michelle is way hotter than Olivia Wilde. When describing why Michelle placed on the list, Maxim editors wrote: “President Obama may be dealing with two wars, an economic meltdown, and a rapidly graying dome, but at least our Commander-in-Chief gets to come home to the hottest first lady in the history of these United States.”

Iman is shown on 5/12/09 and 5/4/09. She is also shown with her husband, David Bowie, on 4/30/09. Credit: WENN.com

Heidi Klum launched her line of Jordache Jeans at Bloomingdales in Beverly Hills yesterday. The 34 year-old model and mother of three answered a reporter’s question about comments from model Iman, who hosts Canada’s version of Project Runway. Iman said that she has much more experience with high fashion than Klum, who hosts Project Runway in the US.

Klum said that Iman was right and that she is more qualified to host a fashion design show:

“She [Iman] has done all the big big fashion shows that I’ve never done. She’s been doing it for a little while longer, and she has met all the big big designers in the world.”

The 5′ 9 1/2″ 130 pound Klum also added that she doesn’t have the slight build required for a high fashion model: “I never really fit in the clothes. I tried. But I never got to walk in Paris and do all the big big fashion shows.”

[Quotes transcribed from E! Online interview, available below]

So much for any feud between Heidi and Iman. Heidi Klum bugs me sometimes because her wide mouth seems to plaster nearly every drugstore and billboard in Germany where I live. She always comes across as funny and gracious in interviews, though and she certainly handled this issue well.

For her part Iman seemed like she was answering a specific question about the differences between herself and the US host, Heidi, and she was honest and not too snotty about it. She said “Definitely Heidi and I come from two different places. I’m not belittling Heidi Klum, but I have been in fashion much more than she has. Not to toot my own horn, but I have been one of the best runway girls.”

Most of you agreed in the comments that Iman was just being upfront about her experience, and Heidi thinks so too.

52 year-old Somali-born former supermodel Iman currently hosts Project Runway Canada, and she’s not shy about touting her qualifications for the job. Iman says she’s much more qualified to host the fashion-judging contest than Heidi Klum, the host of the US version. Iman starts by saying “Not to belittle Heidi Klum…” and then goes on to sort-of do just that, saying that she has so much fashion experience while we’re supposed to come to conclusion that Klum is less knowledgeable about the industry:

She says, “Definitely Heidi and I come from two different places. I’m not belittling Heidi Klum, but I have been in fashion much more than she has. Not to toot my own horn, but I have been one of the best runway girls.

“I know clothes, and I know about working hand in hand with designers, I mean, I’ve worked with Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano. Yves St Laurent – he created a whole collection for me. Tom Ford, Valentino. Versace. Jean Paul Gaultier. Thierry Mugler… I could go on and on.”

[From Starpulse via Gossip Rocks]

Iman has been married to rock legend David Bowie for over 15 years, and they have a daughter together, Lexi, 7. Iman also has a 28 year-old daughter from her first marriage to basketball player Spencer Haywood, and is the stepmother to Bowie’s 37 year-old son from his first marriage. Iman says she’s a “total domestic diva” and that she cooks every night at home. She has her own cosmetic company and published a book in 2005 called The Beauty of Color: The Ultimate Beauty Guide for Skin of Color.

When I read this story I was surprised that Iman would say this as I remember seeing her on Oprah and she didn’t seem full of herself to me. I also watched another interview with her on YouTube and again she didn’t give the impression that she was stuck up. Maybe that goes along with the territory when you’ve been a supermodel though, and it’s possible this quote was taken out of context and someone asked her specifically about the differences between herself and the US host of the show. Heidi Klum isn’t exactly famous for her high fashion experience and is best known as a swimsuit and Victoria’s Secret model, although she certainly has catwalk experience.

Iman is shown at “A Night of a Thousand Lights” Benefiting Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital on 4/23/08, thanks to PRPhotos. She looks amazing.

Church and local officials are saying they won’t put their stamp of approval on Tom and Katie’s wedding, which is said to be taking place in the Italian town of Bracciano in just over a week. Tom and Katie haven’t filed the paperwork to make a civil marriage legal in Italy, and it sounds like they don’t have enough time left to do so:

The priest with jurisdiction over the dreamy lakeside castle tipped as the chosen location for the wedding says his parish won’t marry Cruise, and the mayor says she can’t because the couple haven’t done the official paperwork.

The small Italian town of Bracciano has been swimming with picture-snapping paparazzi since Il Messaggero newspaper reported that Castello Odescalchi in the town was chosen by the couple for their wedding later this month.

But rules of the local bureaucracy and the Roman Catholic Church appear to be a lot tougher than any of the macho super-secret spies Cruise’s character regularly defeats in the “Mission: Impossible” movies.

Mayor Patrizia Riccioni told Reuters she would like the wedding to take place, but that it was unlikely any celebration would be blessed with state recognition given that the couple have not provided the needed documents.

“I don’t think it will be legal,” she said. “On an Italian level, there are papers and documents that we certainly don’t have (for a wedding).”

But Cruise and Holmes’ Los Angeles-based publicist dismissed the notion that the American couple’s nuptials depended on official sanctioning by Italian authorities.

“They are making all the proper and necessary arrangements for their marriage to be legal,” said publicist Arnold Robinson.

Cruise and Holmes announced in October that they would marry on Nov. 18 in Italy, with Giorgio Armani designing Holmes’ gown.

Oops, it looks like Italy might not have been the best location for a wedding after all, if TomKat can’t get their act together enough to take care of all the red tape ahead of time.

Mike Walker of The National Enquirer offers a little more insight as to why the TomKat wedding might not be legal. A Roman Catholic official has to preside over a church wedding according to Italian law, but Tom wants to bend the rules of course and still have a Scientology-style church wedding instead of a civil one. He may have to get married to Katie in the states first to make it legal. Katie’s parents are not happy with that messed up Scientology-style mysoginistic wedding, and want a Catholic ceremony:

Despite reports that plans for how the ceremony will be conducted are set in stone, sources say Tom’s still pushing his people to cajole Italian authorities into bending the custom that a Catholic priest must “officiate,” or a big church wedding isn’t automatically legal! And it’s highly unlikely that a Catholic church would allow a Scientology minister to officiate. An Italian civil ceremony would legitimize the union, of course, but insiders say Tom’s okay with making it legal before a church wedding by having a prior U.S. civil ceremony. But Katie’s parents are NOT happy that he’s dead-set on a Scientology – officiated wedding, with a Catholic priest present only to “bless” the union. Mom and Dad keep repeating their heartfelt request: Let our daughter be married by a priest! Last-minute pleas are being beamed to CruiseControl… but so far, My Favorite Alien’s unbending.

Maybe Tom thinks that everyone will bend over backwards for him just like Madonna.

Here are Tom and Katie at the Black Ball in NYC yesterday. Iman and Alicia Keys hosted the event, and David Bowie performed. Anne Hathaway is also pictured. Proceeds went to the “Keep a Child Alive” foundation, which benefits AIDS victims.

Hopefully Tom will get his hair cut before the wedding. And is it just me, or does Katie look really annoyed like she’d rather be shopping? Pictures from KatieHolmes.com

I know this is my second Liv Tyler post today, but she’s just so likable that I want to hug her every time I see her picture, kind of like Jennifer Garner or Jennifer Love Hewitt. Here she is at the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera hobnobbing with Naomi Watts, David Bowie, and his wife Iman. She was also photographed with with an opera-type guy that I need some help identifying designer Zac Posen.

I love these pictures of Liv as she just exudes enthusiasm. I once saw her kiss David Bowie’s hand when she met him on David Letterman. She was just showing her respect, and it came off as innocent and reverential.

Celebrities were in attendance at the opening night of The Met, where they watched a riveting performance of “Madame Butterfly”:

I’ll use this occasion to tell the story of the time my husband took me to the Metropolitan Opera. It was just two weeks after we started dating, and he had tickets to see a six hour long German opera, “The Meistersinger of Nuernberg,” with his parents. He took me along and we played footsies the whole time. I mean, the opera was beautiful and all but it could have easily been two hours instead of six. There were two intermissions it was so long. After sitting through that I can easily take on a four hour opera, so maybe he was just breaking me in.