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The so-called “Kate Middleton effect” — by which anything the Duchess of Cambridge wears becomes an instant best-seller — seems to know no bounds.

She has graced the covers of countless magazines; entire blogs are devoted to what she wears. And, as it happens, the duchess is the perfect style icon for observant Jewish women.

“She’s modest, demure and modern,” says Adi Heyman, founder of the fashion blog Fabologie.

So it’s perhaps no surprise that one of Middleton’s signature style pieces — the fascinator — has caught on as a head covering in synagogues on this side of the pond.

In case you’re wondering, fascinators are headpieces attached to the head by clip or headband. They’re often ornate and are typically smaller — or at least cover less hair — than hats. And it’s not only the Duchess of Cambridge who’s made them fashionable.

Sarah Jessica Parker also helped popularize the style when she donned one that looked like a garden (with monarch butterflies, to boot) to the London premiere of the “Sex and the City” movie, Lady Gaga’s been spotted in fascinators, and the headwear selections of several guests at Middleton’s 2011 wedding to Prince William set social media abuzz. (Post-wedding, sales of fascinators reportedly climbed 300 percent — so much so that an inevitable backlash is underway.)

But for observant women, fascinators offer a fashionable take on a rule in the Mishnah Berurah — a 19th-century commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, a Jewish code of law — that forbids any blessing or prayers to be said in the presence of a married woman with her hair uncovered.

Today, some fashion-forward Jewish women now wear fascinators in place of a hat or lace doily during services at synagogue.

“It’s always great when Jewish law and fashion can coexist,” says Allison Josephs, the Orthodox founder of the website Jew in the City. “Fashion is one of the ways observant Jewish culture can grab pieces of larger culture, and women don’t have to feel cut off.”

More observant women wear fascinators atop their wigs.

“Women who wear wigs aren’t going to replace one with a fascinator, but they’ll add it,” Josephs adds. “It’s a fun accessory.”

Bella Basaleli, who owns Bella’s Hats and runs hat parties in the New York metropolitan area, says nearly half the headpieces she sells are fascinators.

For women in the more liberal modern Orthodox synagogues, they’re a trendy alternative for those moving away from wearing the more traditional hats.

“A lot of these girls wouldn’t wear anything otherwise,” Basaleli says.

Most of Basaleli’s fascinators cost $40 to $120. She decided to start her business after paying “way too much” for a fascinator for her son’s bar mitzvah at a boutique on Long Island two years ago.

“I wanted headwear that was different than what I would normally wear to shul,” she says. “As it was a special occasion, I decided to wear a fascinator. Fascinators were becoming very trendy at our shul, and it was the first time I had ever bought one.”

Leah Zweihorn wears fascinators to her modern Orthodox synagogue in Queens with some regularity (when she first married, Zweihorn covered her hair all the time; now she only does it at synagogue). At a recent family wedding, she picked a fascinator to match her dress.

“They’re just more fun than hats,” Zweihorn says. “Also, I find it harder to talk to people — especially in a crowded room — with a hat, since it blocks some of my view. But even more significantly, many of them come down over my ears and it’s harder to hear.”

Zweihorn gets plenty of attention when she wears a fascinator, she says, and at shul she tends to opt for larger ones that cover more hair.

“My husband feels strongly about women covering their hair in shul, so I like to wear something a little bit more substantial,” she says.

Indeed, not all synagogues or rabbis agree on the legitimacy of the fascinator as a head covering. Some synagogues in England — where fascinators have enjoyed long-running popularity, even prior to the ‘Kate effect’ — explicitly state the headwear is not permitted.

For example, the website at the Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue, just outside London, states: “All Jewish married ladies must wear a hat or other head covering (not just a ‘fascinator’) while in the Synagogue.”

But Rabbi Benjamin Skydell of Congregation Orach Chaim, a modern Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan, explains that a fascinator — even one on the smaller side — may be entirely kosher. The passages in the Talmud that deal with the standards of hair covering mention little about how much hair must be covered, he says. There’s even discussion as to whether wearing just a basket on one’s head is enough (remember, women way back when carried baskets).

“A fascinator may very well fit the minimum requirement,” Skydell says.

But the rabbi also recognizes that many women who wear fascinators to synagogue are less concerned about the Talmudic rules and see it more as a fashionable take on a long-held tradition.

“For a lot of modern Orthodox women, it’s a vestige of the past,” he says of these women covering their heads in shul.

For women in Conservative congregations, the emergence of fascinators is a sign of changing times. Johanna Ginsberg, who attends an egalitarian synagogue in New Jersey, says she’s seen them pop up in in recent years. She even held a hat party earlier this year where fascinators were among the pieces for sale.

“Older women in the Conservative community carry more baggage when it comes to head covering,” she says. “They see hats as anti-feminist and prefer to wear kippot,” which were traditionally seen as a necessity for men only, not women.

“But the younger women don’t feel the way because they haven’t had to confront this issue. Many of those women like hats and fascinators because they feel more feminine than the kippah.”

One downside to the look has absolutely nothing to do with modesty.

“It’s potchky,” Zweihorn admits, using the Yiddish expression to mean time-intensive.

Rather than a hat, which can be plopped on your head and fix a bad hair day, a fascinator requires perfect placement.

“I don’t like it to look like I’m wearing a headband, so I need to cover the band with my hair,” she explains. “It takes more time.”

The end result, though, is worth the trouble.

“They’re fun to wear,” Zweihorn says, “and I fully intend on expanding my collection.”Read more at:black prom dresses

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Kenzo Takada, an active pioneer in global fashion circles among Japanese designers, is as busy as ever in Paris this year, the 50th anniversary of moving his work base to the City of Light.

Recently, I visited his atelier, which is located in a historical building with a spectacular view of Paris and adorned with paintings and works of art. When talking about making clothes, he gave a mild smile, an indication of his warm, unaffected personality.

Based in Paris, he has made his "Kenzo" brand known worldwide. People's craze for the brand in the 1970s and 1980s is still a topic at Paris Fashion Week. It is said one of his shows was forced to shut down as too many people flocked to it.

A Hyogo Prefecture native, Takada was born in 1939. He learned clothing design at the Bunka Fashion College before moving to Paris. The capital of fashion seemed to be very sophisticated for the young Takada when he arrived there in 1965.

"I felt it was as if women had slipped out from fashion magazines and were walking on the Champs-Elysees avenue. For men, slim suits were trendy, so I couldn't wear clothes I brought from Japan as they looked so unsophisticated," Takada said.

In 1970, he held his first collection featuring clothes with ethnic flavors and vivid colors, which was accepted well.

"At that time, I wanted to use my Japanese identity as my strength in making clothes," he said. "I incorporated linear forms as seen in kimono and used Japanese fabrics and coordinated their motifs and vivid colors such as coordinating a kimono with its accessories before putting it on."

His dress using kimono fabric bearing a traditional motif of hemp leaves was selected for a cover photo for the Elle fashion magazine in 1970. It was an unforgettable, joyful event for Takada.

He is said to have been a pioneer in incorporating amusing elements into fashion shows, such as letting models walk freely to music.

"I did these things just feverishly without calculation, and they were accepted as new," he said. "At first, I asked acquaintances to be my models without fees. I used music and clothes that were just what I had at that time. We did it with no rehearsal."

Shoes for a show arrived right before the event. Buttons were being stitched to clothes up until the very moment of a show's start. This last-minute work style also stemmed from his strong desire to surprise people.

"When I moved to Paris, some Japanese residents there said to me, 'It's never ever possible for a Japanese to work in the fashion industry in Paris.' It was because Japanese were regarded as carrying a camera to copy apparel designs," he said. "But journalists in Paris evaluated my works fairly. Now, Japan and Japanese culture are really adored by young Parisians."

With the globalisation of the fashion industry, Paris Fashion Week has changed, according to Takada.

"In the 1980s, designers presented more than 100 clothes at each collection. Now, the number is about 50 at most," he said. "Due to the development of the Internet, information is delivered instantly. So transitions of fashion trends have been accelerated over the past 20 years."

He also said: "The meaning of collections has changed, too. Fashion brands tend to put more emphasis on presenting products that can sell well, rather than freely making what they want to make. I feel a bit sad about it."

He's also concerned young Japanese designers have been less adventurous or curious about new things. "I say this because I was nothing but adventurous and curious," he said. "In this globalised society, Japanese designers should find their own value in presenting things that are not found in the West."

He was decorated with highest-rank Commandeur (commander) of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1998. He was also decorated with the Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government in 1999.

He retired as a fashion designer in 1999. He is now involved in designing tableware and interiors. "Recently, I worked with an architect to help design a hotel in Cambodia," he said. "Working with young designers in their 20s and being stimulated by them is my source of energy."

Fashion may seem pale in the run of things but in fact has enormous power because clothes reflect society and casually deliver the feeling of the time to people, Takada said.

On Sept. 17, he held an event in Paris to thank people for his 50-year stay in France. He entertained about 750 guests with a Japanese drumming performance and cancan dancing. Two elephants made a surprise appearance.

He is as powerful and curious as ever. "I hope I continue to work for Japan and Paris. Both are my hometowns," he said.Read more at:pink prom dresses

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Nikita Bichitty launches into the powwow arena, her steps aligning with the rhythmic drumming and spirited chants, woven fabric flowing from her outstretched arms.

Bichitty, now a third-year anthropology student, has traded in her SoCal jeans and T-shirts for colorful Navajo dresses since she was in elementary school. She said she spends nearly half an hour outfitting herself in her tribal attire to participate in Fancy Shawl, a traditional Navajo powwow dance she performs every weekend.

“The shawl is used for spinning, and it makes the dance a lot more graceful and flowing,” Bichitty said.

Bichitty’s Fancy Shawl attire is one piece that will be featured at the UCLA American Indian Student Association’s fashion show Friday at the James West Alumni Center. The event is part of Native Heritage Week, an annual event aimed at recognizing the heritage of students with Native American roots. In addition to Navajo clothing, the fashion show will feature articles of clothing from the Lakota, Cahuilla Cupeño and Asian Pacific Islanders, Bichitty said.

Students and their family members will model the fashion, a combination of family heirlooms, handmade pieces and regalia from local Native American artisans from Los Angeles and San Diego tribes, Bichitty said.

Bichitty, who was born and raised on a Navajo reservation near the Four Corners, said Native Heritage Week and the fashion show help illustrate how different traditional aspects of Native American culture – such as clothing – have translated into modern American society.

“With Native Heritage Week, we’re trying to focus on identity,” Bichitty said. “There’s the cultural aspect of it, which is trying to keep all your cultural knowledge and practices intact, but at the same time trying to succeed in the modern world.”

Bichitty said sharing Native American customs is important given UCLA’s large Native American student population compared to other UC’s. However, media depictions and stereotyping have been working against the widespread understanding and acceptance of Native American culture and fashion, Bichitty said.

“A lot of people just think of the old Western cowboy-Indian thing, where it’s just a guy in a loincloth,” Bichitty said. “But there are really so many different images and versions of Native American people.”

Second-year economics student Minda Streamer’s younger cousin will wear a ribbon skirt representing Streamer’s tribe, the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño.

Streamer said she thinks the media typically poses Native Americans not as people, but as cartoons, like the NFL’s Washington Redskins mascot.

Native American stereotypes have also manifested in culturally incorrect Halloween costumes, Streamer said. This year, she said she saw three people dressed as Native Americans in feathers and buckskins.

“I was just really taken aback, like really, you couldn’t find any other costume?” Streamer said. “I hope the fashion show is a way to show that we don’t dress like that. We don’t really look like that.”

American Indian Studies graduate student Damien Montaño, who will be emceeing the fashion show, said he is aware of negative connotations attached to Native American identity. Montaño, who shares heritage with the Yoeme and Purépecha people, will read short blurbs about the history behind each piece of regalia at the event.

“(People) think we’re alcoholics or addicts or that we all benefit from casinos or that we somehow get handouts from the government,” Montaño said. “There’s this idea that Native people are somehow on top of society, but it really doesn’t play out that way.”

Montaño said the fashion show will at least chip away at some of the stereotypical images by demonstrating what Native Americans wear, why they wear it and who can wear it.

“If you show you’re a good person in the tribe, an elder might give you something, like an eagle feather or a headdress,” Montaño said. “Not just anybody wore them; every feather is earned.”

In contemporary fashion, American Indian Studies Department academic adviser and member of the Sicangu Oglala Lakota tribe Clementine Bordeaux said she has seen popular clothing stores like Urban Outfitters putting out generic tribal-print and feathered pieces that do not reflect true Native American culture.

“It’s really asking yourself why you want to wear (Native American-inspired clothing),” Bordeaux said. “If you do feel a connection, maybe instead go to a powwow gathering and buy a shirt or jewelry from one of the Native artists themselves.”

Bordeaux said she feels society is currently at a place where people are at least making an effort to have a conversation about cultural appropriation.

“BuzzFeed just did a series of about three videos where they had Native people come in and talk about Halloween costumes,” Bordeaux said. “I think we’re on a positive upswing right now.”

Montaño said he hopes the fashion show will paint a humanizing picture of Native people by displaying clothing that shows off the personalities of each distinct tribe. However, he said he acknowledges there are still significant obstacles to conquer before there is truly a higher consciousness of Native American cultures.

“People have been making the argument against appropriation for a long time, but people’s voices have not been heard,” Montaño said. “The fashion show is one of those ways we can take steps to improve.”Read more at:green prom dresses