Justin Timberlake

The concept of sub-zero resorts is turning twenty this year. The original ICEHOTEL was built in 1990 in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, a small village 200 km inside the Arctic Circle. Each year since then, an extravagant hotel is made from scratch from snow and sculpted pieces of ice borrowed from the free flowing Torne River.

Following the considerable success of Jukkasjärvi, developpers worldwide started building destination hotels taking their roots in igloo design. The city of Québec, Canada - host of the Winter Carnival, the third-largest fest in the world after Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans - launched its own Hôtel de Glace in 1996. Other locales include Alaska, Romania and most recently, Japan.

But what's so cool about those, besides the temperature, you may ask?

Source: Hôtel de Glace

Is it the romantic suites that attract exotic travelers from all over the world to pay the big bucks and spend their honeymoon in a freezing cold igloo? The pic below was shot at the Iglu-Dorf in Germany, but you should also check out the Ice Church for weddings, back in Sweden.

Props for adding a disco ball to the kitschy aesthetics of the decor! Is ice the new Vegas? ;-)

Source: HotelChatter.com

It could be the larger-than-life outdoor spa amenities where you can chill out - literally - that keep tourists coming back for more...

As spotted in the brand new luxury hotel in Alpha Resort Tomamu’s ice village, on Hokkaido Island, Japan

Source: MyModernMet.com

or the glow-in-the-dark drinks served at the Absolut Ice Bar... that make funny tongues!

Source: Cool Hunting

Meanwhile, every year, The  ICEHOTEL in Sweden redesigns its suites and commissions new artwork from carefully selected international lighting artists and sculptors. Guess that's one benefit of having a melting ice stucture huh? 

Source: Hôtel de Glace

Stunning, ain't it?

In truth, ice hotels aren't for everyone. But if you like adventure or if you're thinking a visit to Antartica may be in the cards in a couple of years, these ice hotels are a good way to test your mettle. 

Would you ever lodge in one of those?

We've all been there. You find an artist you really love and admire and they become so darn important to you that in addition to listening and collecting all of their music, you just want to know everything there is to know about that person. What inspires them? What's their favorite food? How would they act at your dinner table?

But rarely do we ever act on these impulses. Unless you are Lily Allen, that is.

Or at least Liy Allen in her video "Who'd Have Known." Poor, poor Elton John...

FYI: "Who'd Have Known" is the fourth single to be taken from her fabulously titled second album, It's Not Me, It's You (out now through Capitol). Despite her recent 'retirement' from MySpace blogging and Twitter, we like that she still has a tiger (and sense of humor) inside of her.

Oh- and in case you're wondering, we think the use of the Elton look-a-like was probably prompted by the rather public spat the two artists had at last year's GQ Men Of The Year Awards in London, England - and ensuing make up. (After all she was invited to Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball and Benefit - along with Justin who memorably performed.)

(Photo: Matthew Salacuse)

NEXT RELATED MUSIC POST: CMJ HIGHLIGHT: WE HAVE BAND

(Photo by Pete Miszuk of Stylesightings.com)

Street Style blogs are multiplying faster than taco Stands in El Segundo these days. (We highlighted 5 of the best street style blogs here. We featured Stil in Berlin a while back during William Rast' Bread and Butter debut and found two more hip ones today: streetstylings.com and Asia-centric facehunter.blogspot.com.) Not just that, but handful of style boggers have gained fame and heathly incomes - signing book deals, ad contracts, and mag features (Garance Dore has a feature now in French Vogue; The Sartorialist in GQ.com, etc, etc.) Are we sick and tired of it yet? Have they sold out?

Not even close. Instead, we couldn't be more happy about the expanding trend. Porquoi?

5 Reasons Street Syle Blogs Are Worth Paying Attention To

1) They are Democratic: Gone are the days that empirical print conglomerates dictate what's hot or not. These days, style comes from the people. The street-style blog format showcases real civilians as muses and hences encourage other civilians with normal-sized wallets to express themselves - sans $$$$ price tags. 

(Photo by Pete Miszuk of Stylesightings.com)

2) All Ages: Not only are the writers themselves young, old, slim, chic and everything in between, so are the people featured. Gone is the of 6 foot tall 100 lb skeleton worship.  Instead we get "Realistic role models." Gasp! A term no longer an oxymoron for fashionistas! Let there be cake! So eat that french fry darlin' and shake that ass!

3) Mix and Match: Indeed - both blogs and magazines boast (justified) exalted coverage of designers, like Alexander Wang's newest collection and Chanel's extravagent shows. But RARELY do fashion blogs feature an ensemble that's all one designer - or all designer label period. Instead, what is celebrated is the whole bangin' package - the summation of which needn't cost $5000. Mathematical translation: 1 trip to Salvation army + a little creativity equal if not greater than 1 chanel suit. Philosphical Translation: One small, inexpensive step for one's wallet, one grand leap for mankind.

(Photo by Garance Dore)

4) Magical Photo-Realism: First off, these blogs are proof that you don't have to be Annie Leibowitz (plus 26 assistants) to eulogize jaw-dropping fashion. Second, they are also offer raw form of artistic integrity - an unphotoshopped version of life now through the lens of style. Imagine how interesting it will be to browse these artchives in 10 years - a remembrance of things past - flooded with color and strangers' bravado.  It's a mobile yearbook for fashion, people. Take that Facebook!

(Snapshot of Streetpeeper's global fashion perspective)

5) International Perspective: The consortium of blogs these days provide a Free and holistic perspective of international style. Some bloggers travel to each fashion show around the world; others have a correspondent in each place; and the rest simply linking with other style bloggers around the world. Regardless, the effect is they are blurring the line between city and state. Plus, they are providing a free, glamorized trip around the world, sans jet lag. Cha-ching!

Quirky Bangkok fashion (Photo via The Facehunter.com)

MORE JT.COM FASHION COVERAGE HERE

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