Lipgloss and Lies

SOON...

2010-11-14T04:57:00.004+05:00

"Are you insane? Do you want me to get murdered out there?"

Judita gets a shock of her life.

Lipgloss and Lies, New Episode, November 26

Episode 4: Sugar, Spice and a Little Bit of Ice

2010-08-21T02:55:00.000+05:00

"Grazie mille! A presto!" (English: Thank you so much! See you soon) said a delighted Margaret. She blew an air-kiss as she was coming out of the Executive Conference Room. "Yes!" she said as she jumped for joy. The news was truly exciting for her. Finally, she was going to places.

"Oh Judita! They told me that you would have to wait a little." said Margaret in a diva-kind tone.

"Why?" inquired Judita. She did not had a nice feeling about this.

"Lunch!" said Margaret while fixing her hair.

"God! I almost ran when they called." said Judita.

"You ran in these shoes. No wonder they are giving me your job, maybe they think you would be a better sport journalist." said Margaret in a teasing tone.

"What do you mean! You can't do my job." said Judita in a slightly panicked manner.

"Oh honey! They did. They gave yours and Ian's both. I am now responsible for International Events and Home Decor." said Margaret in a triumphant manner. "I guess they thought you were a bit drab."

"I am not DRAB!" said Judita feriously and marched in the Executive Conference Room.

The Executive Conference Room was spacious room. It had an oval-shaped glass tabletop standing on a mahogany stand in the center of the room. It had ten chairs on each side, it had a projector fixed on the front of the room.

"Time for...." said Isabelle. "Judita!"

Judita stopped. She was a bit embarrassed as the management panel was eating their lunches.

"Have a seat, Judita!" said Isabelle.

Judita sat. She did not dared to speak as there were people far important than Isabelle where sitting at the table.

"Claire! Please arrange the lunch in the Cafeteria." said Isabelle. "You know Judita, eating is important but how would you know. You are still a part-time model."

The tone Isabelle used was icy and subtle. It was not loud but it was venomous. "Be a good girl and don't march on us while we are eating in the Cafeteria. I know you are eager, and so are we."

Isabelle and along with her 4 people went outside for lunch.

VIVID Extra - The Modern Checklist to Buy Shoes

2010-08-10T02:06:00.003+05:00

As shoes are getting multi-purpose day by day, there was a need to put a new guide to buy shoes. These days there are so many kinds of them out there but the rules to buy shoes have not pretty much changed over the years until now. In order to buy shoes, you should always try to do the things according to this checklist:

Check your feet size regularly
Buy your shoes in the afternoon when your feet at the full size.
Make sure that they are comfortable on your heels and slip on easily.
Make sure they are aero-dynamic.

AERO-DYNAMIC! Well, you would ask why. I tell you why. You need aero-dynamic shoes to throw. Recent practices have shown that they are an effective way to get into the news and be a star, and who knows with all that throwing going on, there might be a sport hidden somewhere out there. After all, discs, hammers and javelins have been thrown too much. How about something new and totally radical, only shoes can do that. London 2012 Olympics could be a start for this new sport.

Now let’s review what shall be the four right types of the shoe for throwing.

ATHLETIC SHOES
As show-throwers would be called athletes and there is a plausible chance that they would be throwing their own shoes. They must be throwing a pair of athletic shoes. After all, what’s an athlete without a pair of athletic shoes? They are pretty light though and the endorsements would come flying.
My personal recommendation: Any brand would do but the best would be China-made. We should endorse our friend’s product after all.

HEELS
Heels can be good for throw sport. First, most of them are made out of very light materials but due to their shape, the heels can put some resistance in the flight so the athlete needs to develop a skill and use the heel effectively. If they thrown correct, they can surely make a point. People who think that the heels are a women-thing, well they need to be informed that King Louis XIV was wearing them in his time, so there will be no problem for men to use them for a sport.
My personal recommendation: Any good old 6 or 8 inch ones. Pencil ones would be the best.

ARMY BOOTS
They are strong and sturdy. They look like a boomerang, so they should fly but again a skillful athlete would be required to make it fly the furthest. With all the budgets being spent by nations over military, a little expenditure for this peace-time practice might not hurt. Beware! Some of these boots do not like being tossing around and they might harm as these boots "are made for walking".
My personal recommendation: The ones that a General wears.

MUDDY SHOES
Instead of going to specifications and all; let’s use something fairly common, shoes with MUD. Be short, long or Army-sized, muddy shoes would be best as they could regularize the weight being thrown. The question stands what kind of mud. I reckon the mud from a flood would be plenty.
My personal recommendation: Flip flops with mud.

So the next time if a government needs to save their elite’s grace, they can say that the meeting was a shoe-throw practice and the person who threw the shoes was their upcoming talent. Surely, it will give that a better image and a concern for something other than their interest percentages as well as the government TV channel’s editor would breathe easy while editing. So, who wants to join practice?

Episode 3: Big Surprises, Little Ones Too

2010-08-08T01:12:00.012+05:00

That day anyone who was asked to meet the Board of Directors had to wait in the Executive Suite. Once the Directors wanted to meet, they would call Claire the executive receptionist to let the person in. When Judita entered the Executive Suite, she was taken by a surprise, and like most surprise, this one was quite shocking.

Margaret Adrien was sitting there with one feet under the other and placed to a side of the chair. To everyone's eyes if Judita ever had competition, it was Margaret. Just like Judita, she was bodacious with all the right curves. She had glowing flawless skin and red hair. She was 28, but she did not look a day above 25. Margaret saw Judita as she entered the Executive Suite.

"Crikey! You look so nice," said a smiling Claire. "I guess that outfit is really in these days. Margaret is wearing one too, with same heels."

Judita could not just believe when turned to look at Margaret. Somehow, by a stroke of nature's conspiracy or plain bad luck, Judita and Margaret were wearing the same Canary Yellow dress, and to top it all, both of them were wearing the same shoes.

"Margaret!" said Judita in a tone that she was excited to her.

"Judita!" replied Margaret who acted the same emotion of surprise. Her mind took a spin when she saw what just happened. She hid her confusion and like a lady, she air-kissed Judita's cheek. Judita air-kissed Margaret's cheek back. The emotional cover up was magnificent. Both of the girls acted like as if they were BFFs. Smiles and cheers were everywhere. Meanwhile, Claire exactly knew that what was going on. She rolled her eyes and went back to her work.

"Gracious me! You don't grow old. Don't you?" said Judita in a cheerful tone and with her eyes a little open.

"Like they say, it shows when you are young at heart." said Margaret.

"Oh do they! By the way, that new bob-cut of yours is just AWEsome!" Judita praised.

"Oh you like! Thank you. Curls don't look bad on you either even though straight is all the talk these days." Margaret replied. "But the other day I said it in the interview that the ONLY model who can make past-season style look trendy is Judita."

"Oh my God! You said that. So nice of you." said Judita, with a wide smile. In fashion world, when a model says that she told the press something good about the rival, it is very likely that never happened. If it ever did, the statement was twisted in a manner that it has hidden meaning. Margaret just degraded Judita by telling that she is never keeping her looks current to the market.

Silence prevailed as Judita started looking at some magazines in the Executive Suite. There she saw something weird. It was a magazine named Women's Own. She picked it up and shivered at the quality of the work inside the magazine. She was disgusted by this "fashion" magazine's outlook. It had Indian women in it and there were no swimsuit or evening gowns in it. As she surfed the magazine, she thought it would be a new magazine for the South Asian niche aka DESI. Judita was against of the "desi" trend, which was taking the world by storm. She thought that Desi was too down-market and gaudy.

Meanwhile, Margaret was checking herself out in her compact. She was looking good enough and required no puffing but she was furious. The whole wardrobe malfunctioned to its last very detail, thanks to Jake. She had the instinct to wear flats but Jake and his stupid notions. Now, she looked like a joke. It was her good luck that she was called first for the meeting.

"Margaret! They are ready to see you now.", said Claire.

Episode 2: A Break in Lunch

2010-08-02T02:13:00.004+05:00

As she walked in the corridors, her Jimmy Choo's Nova made clacking sounds with the shiny floor. Her hair moved to and fro. A steady smile on her smile was visible. In her head, a thought arrived came so amusing that she could not help but to smile. Such changes would be made if she was to be the new Editor. Vivid looked old to her. She wanted a new zing to appear in the magazine and that could only be done by a talented fashionable person like herself.

She moved passed the cafeteria. She noticed the rush in there. Even though, the notice asked the staff to work on Saturday, July 31 but it did not seem as there was much work going on. Not clearly visible though but there was more slacking than working going on.

"Oh! How wonderful these Jimmy Choo sound!" a thought just erupted in her head. "Surely, these are the footsteps for success."

As she passed the cafeteria to another corridor, her heart started beating in a pace. Every step was like a journey in itself. Every step had a new thought. Just before lunch, she heard that they kicked out Ian Buff, the International Events Editor.

"Ian must have done something wrong, or else you cannot just fire a person of his importance." Another thought appeared. "I guess Issi never gelled with him well."

Suddenly, something struck her out of the blue.

"OMG! They are kicking me out too." A thought so loud that she wondered as she said it out loud. "OMG! OMG! I have been throwing a bundle of tantrums to Issi. That cow!"

She took one more step and her confidence returned. She denied her last thought as a hormonal rush. One more step, and it happened. Her heel broke, and her heart almost skipped a heartbeat.

"OMG! I am cursed," this was confidence crushing moment. Lately, the fashion world was seeing its fair share of broken Jimmy Choos. Every time one broke, the owner of that pair was involved in some type of trouble. Last week, model Gabriella Stefanov broke her Jimmy Choo on the ramp. Next day, she was arrested for crystal meth possession. A week before that Geneva Roseworthy-Bloom was sued by a cosmetic company because she was wearing a shade of a competing company while she was on a shoot in Kenya, clearly violating her contract with the endorsing company.

As these thoughts were floating in her head, another thought came to replace the present ones.

"I can't walk with a broken shoe in the meeting. Gotta replace this quick!" She looked around and to her fortune, the wardrobe was open. She quickly walked in the wardrobe. It was filled with stuff which fashion revolved on. Everything nicely stacked and labeled.

"OH MY GOD!" said Jacob Stein aka Jake, the storekeeper. "You broke a Jimmy Choo!"

"Major news! Call BBC," she said. She was looking for a suitable replacement.

"Do you know it’s bad luck these days to get your Jimmy's broken." said Jake. "Thank God! I am always prepared for emergencies."

She going to pick up a pair of flats. "Don't touch those shoes!" shouted Jake. "Don't you know that in order to break the curse of a broken Jimmy Choo. You need to wear a) a higher heel or b) a more expensive shoe than your Jimmys or c) both." Quickly, he rushed to snatch the pair from her hand. She tried to fight it but the shoes slipped out of her hands.

"Big deal! It’s just a broken shoe!" she said with her snobby tone.

"Look missy! Wardrobe is my area! I are the King here! I know best." said Jake with an Olde English accent.

"Look Jacob! Don't mess with me or else you would in my bad book." she threatened with a robotic voice.

"GASP!" Jake placed his hand on his mouth while uttering the word. "Here, wear these. Lucky you, they match." He handed her Valentino Bow Slingback Pumps. "I think they should fit."

While she tried on the shoe, Jacob opened his mouth again and said, "I have been hearing things!" He said it in a tone as he was a monk who knew mystic art of predictions.

"Jacob! You have always been hearing things. That what happens when you are alone in a store." she said in her snobby tone.

"Oh well! I guess I should keep my shut. I thought it would be nice that you'd know." Jacob goes back to his lunch of tuna salad.

"ME! What about me!" said she excitedly. "Tell me now."

"No way missy!" said Jacob. "For people like you, talk to the hand." He showed his palm to her face. She snatched away his lunch.

"Sweet move! You can have it because where you are going, they do not serve tuna salad or Valentinos." said Jacob. He snatched the lunch back.

"Let’s just say you are going East this summer, birdie!" said Jacob while making a joke out for her canary yellow dress.

"EAST! Where in EAST?" she shreiked.

"The Jacob has spoken!" Jacob shouted as he pushed her out of the door and locked. She was flabergassted by this new news.

"East! But where in East" she thought. "No way in a million years, I am going to that dingy East London office. Oh wait. Thats the office for the Financial News Weekly. They won't keep me there."

As she was making her way, her mind opened to an array of new ideas. "Let’s say east of London is Milan. Oh my God! MILAN! I guess that they want a Vivid in Italy after all but wait, I don't know Italian." Her mind wandered again.

"East! East! Did Jake mean East Coast? Oh my god. New York City. Big Apple. Vivid USA, here I come," and she thought this thought, a ray of sun lighting up the office. The rain stopped and the sun was peeking out of the clouds. The sunlight gave a magical effect to the whole premises. As she saw that, she knew it was a sign. She would be going to be the Editor for Vivid USA. She would be a fashion editorial warrior. She would fight the likes of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Oh what great fun it would be!

Episode 1: Introducing Judita

2010-08-01T21:27:00.006+05:00

Well it was not a surprise to anyone when they saw it raining. London was like this for centuries and would be like this forever, like a leaky diaper. Everyone prayed that the sun should be out by lunch. The sun was a seldom guest to city and whenever it came out, everything looked festive.

Rain or shine, it didn’t matter to Ms. Judita Shah. She was a crisp as one Features Editor can be. In the circles of work, she was a horror. In the circles of nightclub, she was an absolute darling and in parties, she was the one stealing the spotlight. Only ten years in the fashion business, the twenty six year “Fashionista” was going places. July 31st was the day when she first in the business of fashion. She was 16, innocent and cute, perfect for a photo shoot. She got bored of being on the screen after an year of work. She started as an Assistant Photo Director for the company where she had her representation. The camera loved her as she continued doing modeling till she was 20 when she was asked to be a reality show contestant for “Stranded”. It made her an instant TV sweetheart.

On her 21st birthday, she was engaged to her hot boyfriend Esteban Romero. The very same day, her new show “Model: Tres Chic” was aired. Everyone adored her as the host and admired as the judge. On her 22nd birthday, Esteban dumped cake on her and left. The next day she was offered to write a column for Gloss Monthly, the newest addition to the fashion magazines in UK. The following day, Playpen publishes a 12 page saucy photo shoot, once done by her ex-boyfriend Esteban as a token of remembrance and eternal love. Hours later, Gloss Monthly asked her to not to write. The next morning, she got an offer to do porn and she refused.

Later that year, she was offered a position at Glimmer as Lifestyle & Decor Columnist. When she turned 23rd, she again got engaged to Esteban. The next day, Esteban was featured in a shoot for The Gaze, the IT magazine for homosexual men. Revenge is sweet and that was one good birthday present. When she was 23 years and a half, Esteban took her to court. The controversy bubbled and like they say, “There is nothing such as bad publicity”, it worked wonders for Judita. She was offered to work as Junior Editor, Lifestyle, Food & Wine for Vivid. Today, it would be almost 3 years since she joined Vivid.

Vivid is a major fashion magazine. What editors of Vivid think as fashion will be eventually fashion. It was the holy grail. The magazine was only 5 years old but when it started it had staff from renowned publications like Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, InStyle UK, Numero, etc. Today, Vivid has circulation numbers next to British Vogue. The relationship between Judita and Vivid has been as potent as a real life-time relationship. Year after year, the love grew and Judita got promotions. As she worked religiously, Vivid was taken seriously by fashion pundits. Once it was heard in the London Fashion Week that “Judita is the next Anna.”

It was Saturday, July 31st. Vivacious Publishings rarely opened on Saturday and even it opened, it was for some staff who are trying to meet deadlines because of some creative leak. But today was different, in the company’s five year history it was the first time that everyone was asked to come to work. Over the few weeks, there had been rumors about the future of Vivacious Publishings. Some say they heard that it might be sold to British Vogue. Some say Numero would be buying a stake in the company. Some say that they heard the company was moving creative processes to China to cut costs. Nobody exactly knew what was happening.

Oh well, the secret had to be revealed. Judita was asked to meet the Board of Directors for an important meeting after lunch. As like her ritual, Saturdays was liquid lunch. Judita drank her peach and strawberry juice.

“Damn. Yasmina forgot ice again,” said Judita. “YASMINA!”

As she was roared to get her assistant Yasmina, her desktop phone rang. She was curious as she never got a call in the middle of the lunch hour. She thought it was the call for her to meet the Board of Directors.

“The Meeting. But why?” thought Judita. She thought maybe that old cow thing of an Editor-in-Chief Isabelle is asked to leave and she would become the new. As the thoughts floated her mind, she picked up and said hello. Shortly after, she hung up and checked herself in the mirror. Yes! She was still looking crispy. A bit of retouching and there. She was as good as she came this morning. A bit of the exotic j’Adore is sprayed. Smile test! Hair wave test! Everything is fine. Judita moved.