Rocky Ashbrook, Author at OutCraze

A History Of What We Wore During The 1990s.

5Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Fashion

A History Of What We Wore During The 1990s.

Our difficulty wasn't locating the traits of the nineties; our situation was identifying those exceptional facets of the decade which once challenged and now support current trends. Nineteen nineties traits akin to goose down evening tops, Doc Martens boots, choker necklines, and loose-fitting dresses are still incredibly popular with their own distinctive flair. The 1980s are remembered for their volume, whereas the early 1990s were marked by minimalist ease. The slip dress, one of the decade's most enduring garments, is perhaps the most glaring example of this. Spaghetti straps held up barely-there silk dresses, swapping the frills of the '80s for minimalist ease. Weekends were about biker shorts and turtlenecks as well as high-waisted jeans and baggy logo tees. Hair was scraped into...

The Partner Of The Australian Host Who Was Detained In China Expressed Fears Over Her Own Health.

2Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Politics

The Partner Of The Australian Host Who Was Detained In China Expressed Fears Over Her Own Health.

Attention is rising regarding the case of Australian television host Cheng Lei, who has been detained in China for two years after being arrested for an interview with her partner where he was rumored to have alleged the authorities had restricted her access to embassy officials and had restricted her food. Cheng, a former undertaking presenter for CCTV China and mother of two, is accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, a charge that carries potential incarceration of as much as five years. The Chinese-born Australian artist and activist Yang Li was arrested in August 2020 amid rapidly worsening ties between Canberra and Beijing, the capital of China. Her partner Nick Coyle, the outgoing head of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce, told CNN affiliate Sky News Aust...

Will Smith And Chris Rock Need To Talk This Out, And Hopefully They Can Reconcile.

2Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Entertainment

Will Smith And Chris Rock Need To Talk This Out, And Hopefully They Can Reconcile.

Jada Pinkett Smith briefly addressed the Oscars awards ceremony slap on Wednesday's episode of "Red Table Talk." In March, Pinkett Smith's husband, Will Smith, took the stage at the Academy Awards and slapped presenter Chris Rock after he made a joke about Pinkett Smith's close-cropped haircut. The actress suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss. On Her Facebook Watch show, Pinkett Smith had as a guest the mother of 12-year-old Rio Allred, who died by suicide after being bullied for having alopecia. "This is a really important 'Red Table Talk' on alopecia," Pinkett Smith said during the show. "Considering what I've been through and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories." She added: "I'm using this moment to give our alopecia family an op...

Blake Lively Was Transformed To The Met Gala In A Velvet Versace Gown.

2Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Fashion

Blake Lively Was Transformed To The Met Gala In A Velvet Versace Gown.

Blake Lively provided a stunning performance that wowed the fashion crowd and observers at the Met Gala in New York City on Monday evening. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively co-hosted the event, and while Reynolds wore a classic tuxedo by Ralph Lauren for the theme "Gilded Glamour and White Tie," Lively stunned in a custom Versace dress inspired by Art Deco design and the details of some of New York's most famous landmarks. Actress Blake Lively arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute Gala, wearing a beaded and sequined Versace gown. The evening's dress code was inspired by the Gilded Age, the 30-year period at the end of the 19th-century that saw skyrocketing wealth for industrialist families in the US and over-the-top fashion for New York City's upper crus...

Snapchat Has Unveiled Its Updated Spectacles Sunglasses With A Highly Expensive Price Point.

1Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Science

Snapchat Has Unveiled Its Updated Spectacles Sunglasses With A Highly Expensive Price Point.

Snap isn't walking away from its high-quality smart shades. The parent company of Snapchat, Snap Inc., recently announced Spectacles 3, an upgraded version of its video-recording sunglasses with new 3D effects and an eye-popping price tag. The device will ship in the fall but is available for preorder now; it retails at $380, more than double the cost of its previous version. In 2016, Snap Inc. launched a pair of video-recording glasses called Spectacles through vending machines. The glasses were a viral hit; people waited hours to get them. Some resellers listed them on eBay for more than $900. But the hype fizzled, and the company ultimately had to take a nearly $40 million writedown for excess inventory. Last year Snap (SNAP) brought back the Spectacles, which had...

A Number Of Fashion Trends Have An Affinity For Feet.

1Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Fashion

A Number Of Fashion Trends Have An Affinity For Feet.

As part of its spring couture collection at Paris Fashion Week, luxury fashion house Schiaparelli debuted a new, instantly adored line of gilded corsets, cosmos-inspired designs and dramatic black-and-white silhouettes. But each runway look was offset with a curious sartorial detail: either a pair of black pumps with gold dagger-like toenails (dubbed "claw couture" on Schiaparelli's Instagram) or a manicured set of toenails carved into a pair of slingbacks. Last summer, the brand's footwear collection had a similar flourish, featuring a round toe cap with five sculptural-looking extremities dipped in gold lacquer -- most recently worn by Doja Cat at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night. In recent years, designers have increasingly turned to toes for inspiration. In May 20...

Goodfellas’ Co-Star And Others Posthumously Honor Ray Liotta.

1Jun

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Entertainment

Goodfellas’ Co-Star And Others Posthumously Honor Ray Liotta.

The sudden death of Ray Liotta triggered an outpouring of emotion in Hollywood. Actor Ray Liotta, who was in the Dominican Republic working on a project, died in his sleep Thursday night, his publicist told CNN. He was 67. Actor Ray Liotta died at age 61 on April 15, 2019, after suffering complications from kidney failure. He had a long career in film and television, including his portrayal of real-life mobster Henry Hill in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas." Director Martin Scorsese said in a statement to People that he was "absolutely shocked and devastated by the sudden, unexpected death of Ray Liotta." "He was so uniquely gifted and adventurous, and he had such courage as an actor. Playing Henry Hill in 'Goodfellas' was a tall order because the character had so many ...

Delta Airlines Plans To ‘Strategically Reduce’ Flights This Summer.

28May

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Travel

Delta Airlines Plans To ‘Strategically Reduce’ Flights This Summer.

Early next month, Delta Air Lines announced that it would be re- home from schooling about 100 daily flights from its schedule. To achieve this, the airline took measures designed to "mitigate disruptions and find quicker fixes when they do arise." Delta announced on Monday that it would reduce its daily departures between July 1 and August 7, citing "rising demand and the challenges of 'rebuilding Delta's full-scale operation.'" The cuts will primarily affect markets in the US and Latin America. Delta Airlines plans to continue adjusting its schedule in the coming weeks. Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s chief customer experience officer, Allison Ausband, said in a statement that the factors currently impacting Delta's operation -- weather and air traffic control, vendor staffing and high...

Gene-Edited Tomatoes May Soon Be Sold In The UK.

28May

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Science

Gene-Edited Tomatoes May Soon Be Sold In The UK.

Several of the very first gene-edited tomato plants (that boost the uptake of vitamin D by the human body) to be distributed in the United Kingdom will be none other than tomato paste. Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have created a new strain of wheat that can grow in very salty soil. The researchers turned off a specific molecule in the plants' genetic code, making them more tolerant to salt. A bill is to be introduced on Wednesday to allow commercial growing of gene-edited crops in England. The technique is currently not used for food production in the UK because of rules set by the EU but Brexit has enabled the UK to set its own rules. A study published in Nature Plants found that one out of every six people in the United Kingdom is deficient in vitamin D, w...

Tired Of Being Forced To Be ‘Sexistized And Invisible,’ Asian Artists Are Changing The Narrative.

28May

By Rocky AshbrookNo Comments

Life Style

Tired Of Being Forced To Be ‘Sexistized And Invisible,’ Asian Artists Are Changing The Narrative.

In most of the Western art that is classified as ethnic, Asian women are usually depicted simply as one-dimensional characters -- sometimes likened to ingratiating supplicants, and at times regarded as exotic, hypersexualized creatures. Such representations fail to portray the diversity found across cultural backgrounds. The show "Wonder Women" seeks to allow more brash and unconventional representations, particularly in the depiction of Asian American and diasporic women. Susan Szpyra and Kathy Huang are the curators of this show at the Jeffrey Deitch gallery in New York. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Huang expressed her interest in being fetishized and invisible in pop culture, referencing Genny Lim's poem "Wonder Woman." In her poem, the narrator is observing t...