Olga Belogolova - Boston University
Olga Belogolova's Blog
March 11, 2010 - 4:45pm
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Ok everyone. Here we go again!

Twilight Saga fans have the right to get excited in...
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The Eclipse trailer has officially been released by Summit Entertainment.
Well, most of it. A snippet tease of it has been released on the web the day before a new official full-length trailer debuts online, Friday morning at 9 a.m. The movie itself, based on Stephanie Meyer's novel Eclipse is set to come out on June 30, 2010.
If you've forgotten, a crazy, scary and sort of hot redhead (who is actually played by a different actress this time around - Bryce Dallas Howard) basically chases everyone around and the cold sparkly ones and the hot shirtless ones fight it out, as is to be expected.
Bella (Kristen Stewart), wearing a brand new...wig, wants to join the vampire clan so that she can finally feel accepted by someone in Forks. Jacob (Taylor Lautner), ever shirtless, won't stop fighting for her "until her heart stops beating," which is sort of creepy. Edward (Robert Pattinson) is still mood, pale and scrawny.

If that wasn't enough, you could always wait for more tomorrow at 9 a.m.

For now, Twi-hards, you can breathe again. On June 30, "it all begins with a choice" - will you or won't you attend the midnight showing?

University Chic -
University Chic's Blog
March 11, 2010 - 3:29pm
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We've seen it in the news. We're heard it from former pledge classes. Looking a certain way can sometimes mean the difference between scoring a choice invite to join the hottest sorority on campus...or spending your freshman year on the outside looking in.

A recent study out of Northwestern University has come up with some new information that supports the theory that pledging a sorority can have a negative impact on body image. "Here's looking at you: self-objectification, body image disturbance, and sorority rush," written by Northwestern University graduate student Ashley Marie Rolnik (with the support of researcher Steven A. Miller from the psychology department at Argosy University) studied 127 midwestern college freshman girls (half of which who were pledging and half who were not) and found that “women who participated in sorority rush had higher levels of self-objectification" while also demonstrating a higher than average negative attitude towards their own body mass index (BMI) by the time they finished rushing.

Subjects were asked to fill out an email survey at the beginning, middle, and end of rush dealing with questions concerning body image and eating habits. Further results showed that while body consciousness didn't increase for those rushing, they did exhibit signs of bullimia and food preoccupation moreso than those not rushing a sorority.

We can't say we're all that suprised by the results, given the slew of "wear this/don't you dare show up in that" edicts MANY sororities blast to potential pledges over the course of rush. Image is certainly important, but not to the point that you literally make yourself sick trying to live up to someone else's ideal of what a perfect sorority girl is supposed to look like.

Ellie Krupnick - Barnard College
Ellie Krupnick's Blog
March 11, 2010 - 10:36am
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On the surface, this most recent celeb collaboration makes even less sense than Mary Kate and Ashley for J.C. Penney: has Madonna ever even stepped foot in a Macy's?

Apparently that makes no difference: Madge released a statement yesterday revealing a joint venture with a group of licensees called Iconix to produce multiple fashion-related projects for Macy's. Up first is a juniors' line appropriately called Material Girl, which will include clothing, bags, shoes, and jewelry aimed at tweens with prices ranging from $12 to $40. Lourdes, Madonna's 13-year old daughter, will serve as the muse for the line (it pays to have a famous mom!) and has already gotten involved in the design process. The collection will hit stores and macys.com in August, just in time for back-to-school.

The business deal includes permission to use Madonna's name on a whole slew of collaborations, meaning the pop-star is looking beyond junior's fashion to build an entire lifestyle brand. As Neil Cole, Iconix CEO, stated, "Madonna has been building brands for other companies for a long time. Now, it's time for her to build her own brand." That means other projects to follow, such as eyeware, as well as possibly using Madonna's name to promote other Iconix brands like Ed Hardy (God help us) or dancewear brand Danskin.

Given Madonna's monumental icon status within American culture, it is utterly unsurprising that she's the latest star to market her identity as a lifestyle. But the choice of a teen-aimed clothing line is intriguing seeing as Madonna's longtime celebrity is rooted in the 1980s and 1990s. The Madonna name holds more sway among fans now in their twenties and up-- will 13-year old consumers even pick up the collection's reference to "Material Girl" when the song debuted in 1984?

More importantly, what exactly does Madonna envision 13-year olds wearing? We're guessing Jean Paul Gaultier-inspired cone bras in size 32 AA, leather thigh-high boots in size 13 kids, and cutesy tank tops cut to reveal perfectly toned biceps. Sounds like good back-to-school wear to us, no?