Business Partner: Jimmy Choo is just a cobbler, he did not design a single shoe for the multi-million dollar brand named after him!

Tamara Mellon has told how her business partner, Jimmy Choo did not design a single shoe for the multi-million dollar brand named after him.

During an interview this morning on the Today show, the 46-year-old revealed that she never received a sketch from him during the years they worked together; 'Not one', she clarified.


Unaware of Mr Choo's lack of design nous when they joined forces, she said that she had to quickly hone her skills and use experience from her fashion writing days to guide her.




Lifting the lid: Tamara Mellon has told how her business partner, Jimmy Choo, did not design a single shoe for the multi-million dollar brand named after him


Ms Mellon, who worked at British Vogue for five years soon after dropping out of school, said: 'The original idea was for Jimmy to design the collection and I would run the operations of the business.

'But it soon became very clear that Jimmy's skill was in making shoes. He’s a cobbler.'

In her new memoir, In My Shoes, the mother-of-one reveals how she turned to Mr Choo's niece, Sandra Choi for help.

While she would come up with the ideas, Ms Choi would sketch them out and the two of them would go to vintage stores along Portobello Road in London, to look for inspiration.


Not a design man: Ms Mellon said that Mr Choo, seen with a fashion student, was a skilled cobbler but lacked creative spark
 
Business Partner: Jimmy Choo never designed a shoe



Her creations soon became a hit with A-listers, including Victoria Beckham and Princess Diana, and in 1998 a pair made their way into the script of Sex And The City - turning Jimmy Choo into a household name overnight.


However, it was Mr Choo who went on to gain global recognition, not Ms Mellon.


Noting her increasing bitterness about the situation, she writes in another part of her book: 'By the end of 2000, Jimmy Choo was turning a profit of around £3 million a year.


'We had our own London boutique and were represented at 450 more stores, including Harrods and Selfridges.


'To top it off, we’d won a British Fashion Council Award, which Jimmy insisted on accepting on our behalf, even though his design contribution had been nil.'

Ms Mellon said from there her relationship with Mr Choo deteriorated to the point that any conversation was 'out of the question'.

Eventually, after much confrontation, Mr Choo sold his share in the company in 2001.

Ms Mellon, who remained with the firm until 2011, said the years that followed were tough as she dealt with the death of her father in 2004 and a divorce from her 'playboy' husband in 2005.





Design process: Ms Mellon said that she would come up with ideas and Mr Choo's niece, Ms Choi would sketch them out and the two of them would go to vintage stores to look for inspiration







While it might have been more sensible for Ms Mellon to have gone into business alone, she admits that she met Mr Choo after going through a rough period in her life.


'One glass of wine for me turned into 6 o’clock in the morning and calling the coke dealer and then realizing, "Oh my God, I've got to be at work in three hours,'" she recalled.

After losing her job at Vogue at the age 27, Ms Mellon entered rehab. The experience marked a turning point for her. She emerged determined to pursue her dream of starting her own shoe business.


In my shoes: Ms Mellon offers a glimpse into her eventful life in her new memoir



That’s when she reached out to Mr Choo, a cobbler from London’s East End whom she knew from her Vogue days.


Today, armed with a wealth of business experience, she gearing up for the launch her own namesake label this fall.

The Tamara Mellon line will be carried online at tamaramellon.com and at stand-alone stores landing in New York, where she is based with her daughter 'Minty', in November and London by 2014.


The line will of course carry shoes, but also will include ready-to-wear clothing and handbags. She calls it 'affordable luxury' with a prices ranging from $295 to $4,500.


She concluded on the Today show: 'If I have a bid of equanimity now, and I'm better at standing my ground, it's only because I've fought my way through the rites of passage.

“I can't believe that it's actually happened . . . I had the dream and the vision. And now it's a reality.'

In her memoir, she attributes her success and determination to a childhood that revolved around a difficult relationship with her mother and unwavering support from her father.



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Sinitta speaks out about aborting the baby she was expecting with Simon Cowell.

Sinitta has spoken out about aborting the baby she was expecting with Simon Cowell.

The singer - who dated the music mogul on and off for over twenty years - revealed she had an abortion in the 80s but has defended Cowell, saying he stood by her and was very supportive.





She told The Sun: "People are saying I aborted Simon's baby in 2009 and that he only found out the other day," Sinitta said. "That's all lies - I'd never do that to him.

"Reports saying this was something Simon knew nothing about and that I did it behind his back to hurt him, and that he is devastated and is exiling me are vile."

"It was a long time ago when we were both young. Simon was very concerned and by my side."

Sinitta also confessed that she had always dreamed of marrying the 'X Factor' boss and settling down with him.

"I have always admitted I wanted to marry him and have children with him - not just because I love him, but because I thought I would be good for him," she said.

"I think he thought he didn't want children and he would never want children. And I believed him," she added.

"I thought that one day we would have them. But it wasn't something we were fighting over. He was always honest with me and we had different life expectations."

And despite not getting her man, Sinitta insists she is happy for Simon and his girlfriend Lauren Silverman - who he is expecting a baby with.

"I still love Simon but I'm not 'in love' with him," she continued. "I haven't been in love with him for two or three years. I'm in a relationship with someone else now.

"[Lauren Silverman] is in love with him and he's in love with her. I'm happy for them and I mean that."


Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman


 Sinitta had previously admitted she felt 'betrayed' by Cowell when she discovered Lauren Silverman was expecting his child.

Speaking about the moment she was told the news, Sinitta told The Mirror: “I was completely and utterly stunned. I was in such a daze, to the point where I wondered if I was dreaming it.

“He sounded… odd, calm, strange, which threw me. I don’t mind admitting all sorts of emotions were running around inside me.

“He was concerned about how I’d take it, which, on reflection, he didn’t need to be. He didn’t owe me that consideration.”



#huffingtonpost

SHOOTING ON CAPITOL HILL: Wild car chase which started near the white house and ended minutes later in gunfire at the U.S. Capitol, leaves suspect dead

 
A police officer and K9 inspect the scene after a car chase and reports of gunshots fired outside of the Hart Senate Office Building on Captiol Hill on Thursday, October 3 in Washington. Police said the U.S. Capitol was put on security lockdown.

The female motorist who led police on a chase through the heart of Washington was hit by gunfire and pronounced dead, said D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

A U.S. Capitol Police officer injured during a police chase between the White House and the U.S. Capitol "is going to be fine," officials said Thursday evening. The officer is a 23-year veteran.


Rescue personnel stand around a smashed U.S. Capitol Police cruiser near the Capitol.

People take cover as gunshots are heard.


A wild car chase Thursday that started near the White House ended minutes later in gunfire at the U.S. Capitol, creating a chaotic scene of blaring sirens, locked-down lawmakers and bystanders hitting the dirt.

Two people were hospitalized -- the woman who drove the two-door black car that sped past iconic Washington landmarks and ran red lights with police cruisers in pursuit, and an officer in one of the police vehicles she rammed in trying to get away.

A young child in the black car with the woman appeared to be uninjured.

The dramatic events brought a swarm of emergency vehicles to the Capitol complex and caused Congress and surrounding offices to be temporarily locked down.

House and Senate sessions were immediately suspended, with legislators ordered to take cover and keep away from windows. Police also closed Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.



CNN's Athena Jones, who was at a Senate office building near the Capitol, said she heard gunshots that sounded like fireworks.

The chase began when the woman driving the black vehicle got involved in some kind of verbal altercation with officers at a security checkpoint a block from the White House, an intelligence source told CNN.

As police cars arrived at the scene, the black vehicle sped away and headed toward the Capitol building.

Frank Schwing, a D.C. resident who was near the front of the Capitol, said several police vehicles stopped the black vehicle and officers "came out with their guns drawn."

The armed officers tried to open the passenger side door, he said.

"At that point, the driver slammed into reverse, slammed into a cruiser, did a 180 (degree turn), took off, and at that point, there were a half dozen or so shots fired," apparently all by small arms from police, Schwing told CNN.

Video footage by other witnesses showed the black vehicle then careening around a nearby traffic circle with a police car in close pursuit and then headed away. Shortly afterward, the black car crashed into security barriers a few blocks, witnesses said.



The woman was shot several times in the vehicle, sources told CNN, adding officers were not aware at the time there was a child passenger.

According to multiple sources, there was no reason so far to believe that the woman fired any shots or even had a weapon.

A task force prepared to execute a search warrant at her Connecticut home, law enforcement sources said.

In Congress, a Capitol Police bulletin said reports of gunshots required "all occupants in all House office buildings to shelter in place."

"Close, lock and stay away from external doors and windows," the bulletin said. Authorities later lifted the lockdown, with police saying they believed the incident was isolated with no connection to terrorism.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation, which occurred on the third day of a government shutdown due to a stalemate in Congress over government funding.

"The timing on this was really kind of scary," said Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold of Texas. "Capitol Hill police are at a lower personnel level because of the shutdown."


#cnn

5 Floor Exercises That Melt Fat

1. Push Ups

 

Push ups get your heart pumping and can build muscle in your shoulders, arms and even chest.

Most people know how to do a push up, but just in case your forgot, here’s how it’s done.
Lay on the floor on your stomach.
Use your arms to push yourself up off the floor. You should be on the tips of your toes also.
Bend your elbows and drop your body back to the floor, but do not let your body touch completely.
Push yourself back up and repeat these steps as many times as possible.

Reverse crunch – Lie down on the floor and put your hands on the floor. Bring your knees towards your chest making a 90 degrees angle, with your feet together (or crossed). Now contract your abs in order to curl hips off the floor, reaching your legs towards the ceiling. Lower down and repeat 1 to 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions.

Twisting crunch – Lie down on a floor mat with your legs on bench. Put your hands behind head. Flex and twist your waist in order to raise upper torso to one side. Go back until your shoulders touch the mat. Change twist and do it to the opposite side.

Thai crunch – Lie in a position for a normal crunch. Bring your belly button in and crunch off the floor towards your right and touching your elbow to your right thigh. Hold there for 3 seconds and lower your upper back to the floor. Now crunch your left elbow towards your left thigh and hold.

2. Crunches/Abs  

Crunches are the best way to build abs and lose the fat around your stomach. Crunches are easy to master and the more you do them, the faster you will see results.

Lay on the floor on your back.
Bend your knees and make sure your feet are flat on the floor.
Place your arms behind your head and sit up to bring your chest to your knees. Repeat as many times as desired or possible.

3. Squats

Squats work your thighs and abs and can help burn fat from all over your body. This exercise is fairly simple, but a few squats in and you will start feeling the burn of a good exercise.
If you really want to add some difficulty, do your squats with your back flat against a wall.
Stand with your feet spread shoulder length apart.
Bend your knees and squat down.
Stand back up and repeat.

4. Lunges

 Lunges tone your buttocks, thighs and back muscles. Many people do lunges to stretch out their muscles before a run, or a workout, but the exercise has benefits aside from stretching.

Stand with one leg out in front of you and the other a little behind you.
Bend the front knee and lean your body forward, keeping your back leg in place.

Alternate legs. Lean as far forward as possible and do as many reps as you can handle.

 

Most popular lunge variations

Pulse lunge – Put your feet hip width apart, then bring a rope overhead and stretch it tight. Make a step forward with your right foot into a lunge, forming 90 degree angle with your knees. Now slowly pulse up and down by an inch. Do it 10 times. Repeat the same exercise with the other leg.

Jumping lunge – Stepping forward with your left foot, lower into a lunge position. Jump off the floor, swing arms forward and switch your legs in midair, just like scissors. You should land in a lunge position with your right leg forward. Repeat several times.

Reverse lunge – Put your legs next to each other, hold your hands on your hips and line them with your shoulders. Step back with your right leg and bring it down. You can lean your knee on the ground, but try not to rest it. Come back up and do it again, now switching legs. Exhale when coming up, inhale when going down.

5. High Knees

High knees can be considered a cardiovascular exercise and they also tone your legs and abs.
Here’s how they are done.
Stand and pull one knee up high. Put your foot down and pull up your other knee. Alternate knees and increase your speed.
The best thing about these floor exercises is that you can do them anywhere there is a floor and some open space.
Do them at home, outside, even in your office.
Once you have mastered each technique and determined how many reps you can do for each exercise, set goals for yourself and exercise regularly.



#mydiet.com

 

 

PHOTOS: At least 130 dead including children and a pregnant woman after boat carrying african migrants catches fire and sinks off coast of Italy

At least 130 people are now thought to have been killed after a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Italy.

Another 250 people are still missing after the boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank just south of Lampedusa.

The disaster occurred when the boat's motor stopped working and the vessel began to take on water, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said.

People on board burned a sheet to attract the attention of rescuers, starting a fire on board.



WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT







Horrifying: Dozens of African migrants have died and more than 200 are missing after their ship caught fire and capsized off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, spilling hundreds of passengers into the sea







Origin: The migrants were from Eritrea, Ghana and Somalia, the coast guard said





Difficult: It is one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in recent times and the second one this week off Italy

Tragic: Bodies of drowned migrants are lined up in the port of Lampedusa this morning


This afternoon it was revealed that Italian divers have seen at least another 20 bodies around a migrant boat on the sea floor raising the death toll to at least 114 people.

But that figure is now thought to have risen to at least 130 with 103 bodies so far recovered.

One woman, who was initially thought to be dead was revived by medical personnel after she was brought back to the port.


Coastguard Commander Floriana Segreto says 'divers of the coastguard have found the boat on the sea floor at a depth of 40 metres (130 ft). ... The divers have yet to go inside the boat.'


She added that they are waiting for the weather to improve and will then start recovering more bodies.



Rising death toll: Military personnel bring bodies to the back of a waiting ambulance after they were pulled out of the Mediterranean



Rescue operation: Emergency workers continue to add body bags to those already lined up on the harbour



Emergency situation: A coastguard vessel heads away from the harbour after unloading body bags containing African migrants who drowned in the tragedy





Soldiers from the Italian Army unload bodies on to the harbour today


'Once the fire started, there was a concern about the boat sinking and everyone moved to one side, causing the boat to go down,' he told a news conference.

The 20-metre (66 ft) vessel sank no more than 1 km (half a mile) from shore.

Bodies fished from the water were laid out along the quayside as the death toll rose in what looked like one of the worst disasters to hit the perilous route for migrants seeking to reach Europe from Africa.

'It's horrific, like a cemetery, they are still bringing them out,' Lampedusa Mayor Giusi Nicolini told reporters.

Alfano said three children and two pregnant women were among the victims.

Dangerous: Migrants frequently land on Lampedusa, just 113 km (70 miles) from the coast of Tunisia, often picked up at sea in dangerously overcrowded boats by the Italian coastguard








Traumatised: A man is helped off the boat following the rescue



Coast guard brings bodies ashore as dozens die in Sicily boat...



The disaster happened four days after 13 migrants drowned off eastern Sicily, and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said action was needed by the European Union to stem 'a succession of massacres of innocent people'.

Last year, almost 500 people were reported dead or missing on the crossing from Tunisia to Italy, the U.N. refugee office UNHCR says. Syrians fleeing civil war have added to the numbers.

A fishing boat raised the alarm at around 7:20 a.m. (0520 GMT) and began pulling people out of the water before coastguard vessels arrived on the scene. The coastguard said 151 people had been rescued.



Tragedy: The ship apparently capsized, spilling the passengers into the sea near Conigli island


Between 450 and 500 people, most either Eritreans or Somalis, appeared to have been on board the boat, which had come from Misrata in Libya, Alfano said.

'If they had been able to use a telephone, they could have been saved,' he said.

The search for survivors and victims continued within a four nautical mile radius, in water around 30-45 metres deep.

Rescuers planned to extend the radius later in the day, in case bodies had been pulled away by the tides, he said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres praised the rescue effort, but said: 'I am dismayed at the rising global phenomenon of migrants and people fleeing conflict or persecution and perishing at sea.'

Spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration in Rome, Simona Moscarelli, said that the boat capsized after all the migrants moved to one side to escape the fire.

She told the BBC that only six of 100 women on board are thought to have survived.




Safe: A group of youngsters are brought safely to the shore after the tragedy off the Italian coast




Rescue: A woman receives assistance at the Palermo Civico hospital, Italy, after being rescued





Treatment: A man is carried off an ambulance to receive treatment

Desperate: Mayor Nicolini said the ship had caught fire after those on board set off flares so it would be seen by passing ships





Hunt: Coast guard ships and helicopters from across the region, as well as local fishing boats were on the scene trying to find survivors, said Coast Guard spokesman Marco Di Milla





Shocked: Some of the immigrants after their rescue early this morning

Bodies seen in water as rescuers take Sicily boat survivors...



Migrants frequently land on Lampedusa, just 113 km (70 miles) from the coast of Tunisia, often picked up at sea in dangerously overcrowded boats by the Italian coastguard.

Pope Francis, who visited the island in July on his first papal trip outside Rome, said he felt 'great pain' for the 'many victims of the latest tragic shipwreck today off Lampedusa'.

'The word that comes to mind is 'shame',' Francis said in unscripted remarks after a speech in the Vatican. 'Let us unite our strengths so that such tragedies never happen again.'

The stream of migrants is a humanitarian and political problem for the Italian government.



Victims: 13 immigrants drowned off the coast of Sicily after their boat ran aground on Monday





Horror: Rescuers pause to pay their respects to the 13 victims of the tragedy

About 15,000 reached Italy and Malta - 13,200 and 1,800 respectively - by sea last year, the UNHCR says. Thousands more have arrived this year.

Calling the deaths of migrants 'an endless tragedy,' Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said: 'The rescue operation began immediately but it is getting more difficult because now the weather is getting colder, they don't know how to swim, they don't know where to go.'

Migrants who arrive in Italy are allowed to apply for asylum. Many of them are ordered to leave the country but often slip away to become illegal immigrants in Italy or elsewhere in the European Union.



Coastguards patrol the area where the boat capsized off the coast of Italy

Italy has pressed the European Union for more help to fight the crisis which it says concerns the whole bloc.

'This is not an Italian drama, this is a European drama,' Alfano said. 'Lampedusa has to be considered the frontier of Europe, not the frontier of Italy.'


In a separate incident today, around 200 migrants were reportedly escorted to the port of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, when their vessel encountered difficulties five miles off the coast.

THE DESPERATE JOURNEY TO ITALY

Sicily and the surrounding islands are hotspots for illegal immigrants arriving by sea from Tunisia, Libya and sub-Sahara Africa hoping for a better quality of life.
A growing number of Syrian immigrants have fled to the region hoping for protection from their civil war.
In August, six migrants died after they jumped out of a boat off the coast of Sicily.
In July, seven drowned after they tried to hold onto a fishing cage which was being towed to shore off the coast of Sicily.

#dailymail