Blog Posts by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger

photo by Hill & AubreyHere is the perfect parka for the long, dark, and lonely days of winter. "Everybody needs love, don't they?" asks emerging menswear designer Si Chan on his blog. Chan says he designed his eccentric kelly green puffer jacket, which features a row of clasped hands running up the front, to make the wearer feel "warm and hugged."

Tips: Kelly Osborne's Fashion Advice for Real Women

While Chan, who recently graduated with top honors from London's College of Fashion, purposely exaggerated the padding to resemble a kid's stuffed toy in order to emphasize the warm and fuzzy vibe of the jacket, there's also something a little creepy about it and some of the other touchy-feely items in his collection of six outfits. The grabbing hands conjure up straight jacket from a future planet or tree branches-turned-arms from a child's nightmare.

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Courtesy Si ChanChan explains that hugging hands are a symbol of what makes it possible for humans to "express love" and "depart from

Read More »from Hug Me Jacket: Coat for the Cold and Lonely

The long summer days are waning but there is still time to indulge in some hot, steamy fun and pretend that August lasts all year long. Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to kick back and check a few items off your vacation bucket list. Need inspiration? Here's what Shine's editors plan to pack in before sweater weather truly arrives. -Sarah B. Weir, Shine Staff Writer

September VogueShine's fashion and beauty section has seen a lot of retouched photos over the years, and we've come to assume that unless an image of a model or celeb is specifically called out as being 100% organic it is actually chock full of artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Victoria's Secret models 15 pounds lighter/heavier? Yawn. Kim Kardashian with a 22-inch waist and no cellulite? Snore. Still, this behind-the-scenes snap of Lady Gaga being shot for the cover of September's Vogue shook us out of our jaded slumber.

PHOTOS: Celebs Without Photoshop

The cover shows Gaga wearing an electric purple Marc Jacobs mermaid gown with her hair in a flaxen halo. Her face is lean and composed like an alabaster statue of an ancient Egyptian cat goddess, her bust perky, and her waist impossibly tiny--impossibly being the key word. "I'm a COVER GIRL, and its FAB" she tweeted when she leaked the image on August 8 in advance of its newsstand release.

Check out: Lady Gaga Channels RuPaul for

Read More »from Lady Gaga’s Extreme Photo Retouch Makeover for Vogue

Old Spice Muscle Music from Terry Crews on Vimeo.

Full disclosure: I'm still pining for the Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" uber hunk Isaiah Mustafa, but the company's eye-popping new "Muscle Music" ad with Terry Crews, 44, is a must-watch. Over 1.8 million people have checked it out on Vimeo since it was posted on August 20. Created by the agency Wieden + Kennedy, the spot features the former NFL defensive end and current star of the Expendables 2 as a kind of cyborgian one-man-rock-band with electrodes glued all over his ripped physique. He twitches his guns, pecs, quads--and many other muscles so tiny and isolated who knows what the heck they are called--to control a funky set of junkyard percussion instruments while chanting (ok, shouting): "Muscles, muscles, muscles, flex!..." The really neat thing is that viewers can use a computer keyboard code embedded in the video to manipulate Crews' incredible body parts and create and share their own music video.

Read More »from Terry Crews Interactive Old Spice Ad: “Muscle Music”

Photo courtesy of El MundoMichelle Obama has graced magazine covers from Time to People to Vogue looking powerful, beautiful, and downright regal, but now a Spanish magazine is picturing her bare breasted, and as a slave.

VIDEO: Chris Matthews Accuses Romney of Playing "Race Card"

The cover of Magazine Fuera de Serie, which is widely available in Spain as a newspaper lifestyles supplement, shows the first lady's face superimposed onto an 1800 portrait of a female slave by Marie-Guillemine Benoiste, a French neoclassical painter.

According to the magazine's editor, the picture is meant to honor Michelle Obama who they call the "gran mujer" (great woman) who "conquered the heart" of the man who would be president and "seduced the American people."

Related: Spanish Town Stumped after Local Artist Disfigures Painting of Christ

Many commentators aren't seeing it that way. "Let's be clear: This image has nothing to do with acknowledging Obama's enslaved foremothers, and everything to do with

Read More »from Spanish Magazine Courts Controversy with Michelle Obama Cover

Linda Sirois, Angel Hebert, and baby MaddenWhat's the nicest thing mom has ever given you? Chances are it won't top Linda Sirois's gift to her daughter Angel Hebert: a healthy baby boy. The Portland Herald Press reports that the Maine grandmother, 49, acted as a surrogate for Hebert and her husband Brian and delivered their son Madden by C-Section on August 17.

Related: Women Who Fear Childbirth Have Longer Labor

The arrangement sounds a little strange, but Hebert, 25, has a heart condition that made it too dangerous for her to get pregnant. Her cardiologist said it would be risky for both her and her baby. "It was pretty disappointing," she says. She and her husband are high school sweethearts who started dating eleven years ago.

Previously mom had told Hebert she was willing to carry a baby for her. Now it was time to see if she really meant it. "I called her last summer," Hebert told the Herald Press. "And I'm like, 'So, you know that offer...Is that offer still on the table?'"

Related: Single Embryo IVF Cuts

Read More »from Maine Woman Gives Birth to Own Grandson

Urban Outfitters T-Shirt

The clothing chain Urban Outfitters is promoting a provocative new line of t-shirts with slogans such as "I Vote For Vodka" and "USA Drinking Team." A version modeled by a young woman, who appears to be a teen, is emblazoned with blurred letters reading, "I Drink You're Cute." Sadly, what's apparently meant to be a joke isn't far from the truth: alcohol use is associated with increased rates of sexual activity for teens as well as decreased condom use.

Related: MADD supports National Drunk Driving Crackdown on Labor Day Weekend

A recent survey reported that one out of five teens is drinking, using drugs, or smoking during school hours. For parents already rattled about kids and booze, it's a jolt to discover these items when fall clothes shopping with one's teen or 'tween. The majority of customers at Urban Outfitters (whose representatives did not respond to our calls and emails) are between 18 and 24 and the second largest demographic is under 18. "Kids shouldn't be wearing

Read More »from Urban Outfitter’s T-Shirts Glorify Drinking: Just in Time for School

Souffle style pancakesHow do you make breakfast pancakes extra light and airy? Clayton Miller, Executive Chef at Wit and Wisdom, the new tavern at Baltimore's Four Seasons Hotel, developed this unique method early on in his career when he worked as a pastry chef. "One of the items on the menu was a classic French soufflé," Miller tells Shine. "That's where I got the inspiration for this dish." The secret is folding in extra egg whites, but he promises, "The pancakes aren't temperamental like a soufflé."

Read: Chef Sara Moulton Answers Cooking Questions

Miller says the dish is delicious with butter and maple syrup, but a simple caramel banana sauce makes them swoon-worthy.

Related: McDonald's New Breakfast Time: Midnight

Soufflé Pancakes (adapted from Clayton Miller)

Makes 6-8 substantial pancakes

5 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 whole eggs
2 eggs yolks
3 egg whites


Pre-heat oven to

Read More »from Fluffiest Pancakes Ever—in 8 Easy Steps