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IMAGES: Rihanna's sexy bodypaint and more fashion news!
Welcome to the weekly fashion round-up, where we bring you the latest on supermodels, style, designers and everything in-between!
Which former supermodel is lashing out at the 'size zero' obsession? Which Hollywood A-lister still gets uneasy on the red carpet?
Here's the lowdown on the latest fashion news!
RiRi gets crocodile skin painted on for new video
Rihanna, who recently made headlines for sending Adele a cake in the shape of boobs on her birthday, showed off her cold-blooded side with crocodile skin painted on her breasts.
Makeup artists plastered the reptilian additions across the singer's naked chest and back for her latest video, the Sun reported.
The Talk That Talk songstress was seen emerging from a murky swamp to plug her new single Where Have You Been.
The steamy jungle-themed video also features Rihanna in a long black wig, headpiece, wooden bangles and beads.
Last week the 24-year-old released behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage from the shoot, showing her working up a sweat in the two-minute clip.
Gisele Bundchen in cheeky topless shoot for Vogue
The Brazilian bombshell has done it again, showing off her pert derriere on the cover of Vogue Paris.
The Daily Mail reports that Gisele, 31, appears on the cover of the magazine's upcoming French edition wearing nothing but bikini bottoms.
Despite being a mother, the supermodel is in fantastic form and can be seen topless, her back to the camera as she pouts over her shoulder and drawing attention to her sand-covered pert behind.
Talk about a sexy summer look!
When I started out I didn't know a size zero even existed, says Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks has spoken out in support of Vogue's decision to ban rail thin models from its pages and praised the fashion glossy's 19 editors for banding together to put a stop to "thinspirational" editorials and called for a toast "over some barbecue and burgers".
Talking about the fashion world and its influence on the modelling industry, the 38-year-old former supermodel highlighted the way standards have changed over the years and said that as a size four, she never would have made it onto today's catwalks.
"Today you are expected to be a size zero. When I started out, I didn't know such a size even existed," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying in a letter addressed to "models around the world" recited to The Daily Beast.
She even called on other women not to point the finger at the models themselves, but at the industry that forces them to maintain unrealistic and unhealthy bodies.
Understanding the fact that models need to work like everyone else, she told how she regularly mentors young hopefuls who struggle to meet the expectations of designers and magazines.
She went on to express her hope that thanks to Vogue, her phone might stop ringing so frequently with late night calls of desperation and sobs stories.
"I don't think there will be as much of 'I'm hungry, Tyra, and I'm tired. But I still want to do runway and high-fashion work. I want to stay on top'."
"With Vogue's new mandates, things, I hope, will now change for the better," she said.
Banks has long been an advocate for female empowerment and famously appeared on TV with a ball-busting message for those who had made fun of her, after holiday photographs showed her looking heavier than normal.
Wearing the same swim suit for which she was derided, she told the haters to "kiss my fat a."
In her letter today, the voluptuous beauty also called upon mothers to take responsibility for their daughters' healthy attitude towards body image and recalled how her own mother had taught her to be strong.
She even remembered the day she was told she was too curvy to work for certain designers.
"As my mom wiped the tears from my face, she said, "Tyra, you know what we're going to do about this? We're going to go eat pizza."
"We sat in a tiny pizzeria in Milan and strategised about how to turn my curves into a curveball."
"In a way, it was my decision not to starve myself that turned me into a supermodel, and later on, a businesswoman," she added.
Jessica Alba 'dresses up for herself'
Jessica Alba has revealed that she dresses for herself and refuses to pick outfits to please her husband -- and she maintained the same stance towards other men when she was single.
The 31-year-old actress, who is married to Cash Warren and has two daughters Honor, four, and nine-month-old Haven, has never chosen her outfits to get the attention of guys and only chooses garments that make her feel good.
"There are some women who dress for men. I dress for myself. It took me some time to get here. Being a mom and feeling grown-up have helped," Contactmusic quoted her as telling Marie Claire Magazine.
"If I'm going to wear something short, it has to have a high neck or a little sci-fi toughness to it, an edge."
"Now that I'm older, I've learned how to own it (my sexuality), but I'm still not very overt," she added.
The Fantastic Four star insists she felt pressurised to dress and act sexy when she got her first acting break in sci-fi TV series Dark Angel, which first hit TV screens in 2000.
The screen beauty struggled to cope with the preconceptions of her as an "action girl" when she is demure and "elegant" in real life.
"I had a show that premiered when I was 19. And right away, everyone formed a strong opinion about me because of the way I was marketed."
"I was supposed to be sexy, this tough action girl. That's what people expected."
"(At premieres) I felt like I was being objectified, and it made me uncomfortable. I wanted to be chic and elegant!" she said.
Charlize Theron still gets uneasy on the red carpet
Charlize Theron still gets nervous on the red carpet despite her lengthy career as a Hollywood star.
The 36-year-old actress, who adopted a son, Jackson, in March, admitted that she is moved when fans come out to greet her at premieres but still gets anxious at the glitzy events.
"Red carpets are still the same so far as anxiety and nerves," News24.com quoted her as telling BANG Showbiz on a special green carpet at the UK premiere of Snow White and the Huntsman in Leicester Square, London on Monday.
"I don't think that ever goes away because it's a lot of attention! But it's so moving that everyone comes out to support us. That always, always amazes me. It's flattering. It's sweet and I try not to think about it. Of course it's intimidating!" she added.
Discussing her role as the evil Queen Ravenna in the Rupert Sanders adaptation of the classic fairytale, Theron revealed that she did not want the character to be entirely two-dimensional as no person is ever defined by just one trait.
"We wanted her to be a human being. She had to be someone who was really struggling with her conflict. I think of them as just evil and struggling. I don't think any of us are just one thing," she said
Theron was joined on the green carpet by stars of the film, including Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Ray Winstone.
Jennifer Love Hewitt gets `vajazzled` for special occasions
Jennifer Love Hewitt has revealed that she doesn't just get dressed up for special occasions, she gets vajazzled.
During A&E Networks 2012 Upfront event on Wednesday, The Client List star said that beneath her cleavage-bearing Alexander McQueen dress she was vajazzled because "it's a special occasion."
The 33-year-old actress created a stir several years ago when she told then-TBS talk-show host George Lopez that she was a fan of vajazzling.
Vajazzling is when women apply glitter and jewels to their nether regions for esthetic purposes.
Jennifer was also asked if she was emblazoned with clear crystals, which are said to balance energy disturbances when placed on the body, and she enthusiastically confirmed it.
"I'm full of good energy," the New York Daily quoted her as saying.
Lady Gaga rocks another meat dress in Tokyo
The unforgettable meat dress Lady Gaga wore at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards is said to have made a comeback.
The 26-year-old singer recently wore another raw design, this time at her Born This Way Ball concert in Tokyo.
On Monday, she tweeted a photo of herself performing her song Americano while wearing the meat dress 2.0, surrounded by what appeared to be fake animal carcasses.
The getup, more modest than the first, featured a sweetheart neckline and bubble skirt, People Magazine reported.
The singer's first jaw-dropping meat look was made out of real slabs of beef and designed by Franc Fernandez.
Although Gaga didn't confirm or deny this new look was made out of actual raw meat, it is suspected that it wasn't since she wore it while performing.
Gaining and losing weight means big paydays for celebs
Celebrities like Valerie Bertinelli and Kirstie Alley have proved that waging a public battle with the bulge is no longer a detour from stardom.
Rather, the public war with fat leads to their filling their coffers.
Celebrities "are able to monetise just getting fat and losing weight," explained Jo Piazza, author of the 2011 book Celebrity Inc.: How Famous People Make Money.
The key, Piazza insists, is teaming up with a weight-loss company.
Bertinelli became the face of Jenny Craig and lost 50 pounds in the process.
"I believe in Jenny Craig. They've gotten me to where I am today," the former One Day at a Time star said in a 2009 interview with ABC News.
After shedding the weight, Bertinelli went on to become a best-selling author with the book Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time and even bagged a starring role in the cable sitcom Hot in Cleveland.
Piazza claims that celebrities take home anywhere between 500,000 and two million dollars for endorsing diet programmes.
New mother Jessica Simpson has reportedly signed a Weight Watchers deal worth three million dollars.
"Jessica has not been shy about gaining weight with this pregnancy," Piazza said.
"But I think that she hasn't been shy about it, because she knows that she's going to do a diet endorsement deal when all of this is over," she said.
Piazza estimated that Valerie Bertinelli's earnings equalled roughly 60,000 dollars for each pound she lost.
On average, she said, celebrity diet endorsers earn about 33,000 dollars for every dropped pound.
But they don't do it alone. Piazza said that, unlike your average dieter, celebs often have the benefit of personal chefs and personal trainers.
Stars like Bertinelli have kept the weight off...but putting it back on doesn't mean disaster for them either, the case in point being famous yo-yo dieter Kirstie Alley.
Alley signed on to work with Jenny Craig in 2005. She went on to lose 75 pounds, according to a Jenny Craig spokesman, but then gained it all back and then some.
Today Alley is svelte once more after competing on ABC's physically grueling dance competition, Dancing With the Stars last year and starting her own grassroots fitness campaign, '100 Days of Dance'.
Alley even started her own weight-loss programme, called Organic Liason, consisting of weight-loss products, dietary supplements and online tools such as a menu planner.
"Now, instead of just being paid by Jenny Craig, she's making all the profits," Piazza said.
While female celebs fronting weight-loss products have included singers like Jennifer Hudson and actresses like Bertinelli and Alley, former athletes seem to be preferred weight loss role models for men.
Piazza dubs retired quarterback Dan Marino, a spokesman for Nutrisystem, a "breakout star."
"Athletes are aspirational to men. Every man secretly thinks that he's Dan Marino in his prime -- he just has to lose about ten pounds to get there," Piazza said.
In contrast, ads by Seinfeld star Jason Alexander for Jenny Craig just didn't have the same impact, Piazza said. Alexander made his 30-pound weight loss debut during a press conference at The Pierre Hotel on May 17, 2010 in New York City.
"Jason Alexander's ads were hilarious, but frankly, men don't want to lose weight to look like George Costanza," Piazza said, referring to Alexander's Seinfeld character.
Charles Barkley is one of the latest former athletes to jump on the weight-loss bandwagon.
The retired basketball player-turned-sports commentator said he's lost 42 pounds while being a spokesman for Weight Watchers.
"I can't believe I'm getting' paid to lose weight!" he told 20/20 correspondent Deborah Roberts.
"This is the greatest country in the world!" he added.
'Faja' girdles are style set's extreme new answer to hourglass curves
The faja, a super-tight girdle traditionally worn after liposuction surgery is enjoying a revival among New York's style set.
Originally created more than 50 years ago in Colombia, it works like a corset that shifts a woman's organs and flesh in order to create the much-coveted hourglass silhouette made popular in recent years by Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks.
But unlike other popular shapewear on the market, many believe that the restrictive garment is too extreme for daily use.
Jean Pierre Velez of Colfajas, a Colombian-based exporter, told The New York Times that his US distribution rates increased by 47 percent last year.
He shipped 60,000 fajas in total which was "thousands more than in past years."
The faja, which takes its name from the Spanish word for wrap, was widely rejected by clothing retailers in the '70s as it was considered too extreme, as well as a symbol for anti-feminism at the time.
Up until recently, it was predominantly used as a medical garment to help keep the skin of liposuction patients tight as it healed.
The new demand is believed to have been fuelled by Latin American women living in Queens, who use the faja as a body contouring device.
"In the beginning it was almost only for Latinos and black women. Now the white people are asking for fajas," the Daily Mail quoted Monica Arias, a Long island importer of the garment, as saying.
Lisa Cipriani, the owner of Caralinda Mis Fajas in Queens, told the paper that the garment is especially popular among younger women.
"I'm from the '70s; we rejected it. This is the new generation and this is an option," she said.
She claimed that a faja can suck a stomach in so tight that a wearer may lose their appetite as a result. Fajas are even popular among slender women who might seemingly not need any shaping undergarments.
Full-body jumpsuits and tight belly bands are just two of the varieties on offer to men as well as women.
It can cost anywhere from 20-70 dollars and is available in a variety of fabrics including lycra, cotton, nylon and latex.
Being pear-shaped like Kate Winslet `better for women than being apple-shaped`
Women with pear-shaped figures like Kate Winslet are healthier than their apple-shaped counterparts, a new study has revealed.
In other words, those with a defined waist and shapely derriere like the Titanic star are better off than those with a small bottom who are plumper around the middle.
Former government adviser Margaret Ashwell worked with a nutritionist from Oxford Brookes University to review data from dozens of studies on the best method of judging someone's health from their vital statistics.
And their conclusion could mean the end of the body mass index, or BMI -- a mathematical formula linking weight to height which has been in widespread use since the early 1970s.
To calculate your BMI, you measure your waist around its narrowest point and divide the result by your height.
A result of between 0.4 and 0.5 is considered healthy, while below 0.4 is classed as underweight and above 0.6 is dangerously overweight.
However, this formula fails to distinguish between fat and muscle, meaning some athletes are classed as obese.
An alternative measure of health is waist circumference, which is considered important because fat that gathers around the stomach is known to be particularly harmful.
Not only does it produce more dangerous chemicals, but it is also closer to the body's vital organs than flab on the bottom, hips and thighs.
But this method is flawed too, as it doesn't take into account differing heights. So the solution, says Ashwell, who runs independent consultancy Ashwell Associates, is to look at waist measurement in comparison to height.
Her analysis of 31 studies involving 300,000 men and women from around the world showed doing this to be a better predictor of health than either BMI or waist circumference.
As a rule of thumb, we should aim to keep our waist circumference measurement to under half that of our height.
So, a woman who is 5'4" should try to keep her waist below 32" and a man who is 5'10" shouldn't let his waistband exceed 35".
Any bigger than this and their shape starts to turn from pear-like to apple-like.
Using waist to height as a measure should pick up potential illnesses quicker than BMI and is also suitable for all ages and all ethnicities.
"Keeping your waist circumference to less than half of your height could help increase life expectancy for every person in the world," the Daily Mail quoted Ashwell as telling the European Congress on Obesity in Lyon.
"You can measure it in centimetres, inches, miles, anything you want. It's super-simple," she added.
Pear-shaped celebrities, who are wider below the waist, include actress Kate Winslet and singers Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce.
Among the apples, with less-defined waists, are singer Adele, model Elizabeth Hurley and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Gwyneth Paltrow new face of Hugo Boss fragrance
Gwyneth Paltrow has signed up to become the face of Hugo Boss' new fragrance.
The Oscar-winner will represent the newly launched Boss Black Boss Nuit Pour Femme perfume in the latter part of 2012.
Paltrow -- who is the mother of two children -- described the product as something for a strong yet feminine woman.
"To me, the Boss woman is driven, ambitious and goes after what she wants, but she balances being strong and very feminine at the same time -- characteristics that I strive towards in my own life," Contactmusic quoted her as telling Women's Wear Daily.
The finished product of her campaign for the brand won't be out until later this year and when it is released, it'll be on a multi-platform of advertisements.
The wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin will be appearing in TV, print and online campaigns for the scent, which is inspired by "the elegance and sensuality of the little black dress."
The 39-year-old style icon is no stranger to high-end marketing. Earlier this year Gwyneth debuted her second collaboration with Coach with a series of fashionable print commercials -- she is their international brand ambassador.