Sucking the Jingle from My Bells

This one comes to us from Skirt!....follow the link, view it in its original form and comment.

While the rest of you spent Thursday night and the wee hours of Friday morning in line for whatever deals you think the big box stores were serving up on Black Friday, I was in bed dreading having to get and go in to work. Thankfully I did not have to greet the sun to ensure that you bargain shoppers would be able to satisfy your consumer lust, however I did have to leave my house an hour before my shift to fight for a parking spot, which I found after having a mini panic attack. Not that I’m anti-sale or shopping for that matter, I just despise working retail during the holidays.


Every year perfectly normal people go bananas at the thought of little Jenny not opening the perfect number of presents on Christmas day, so much so that they turn into nasty, materialistic, hoarders during the holidays. It never fails; I always have to hold my tongue as a customer belittles me and reminds me that they are so much better than I am because I am nothing more than a lowly peon here to serve them. When then truth of the matter is that I graduated with a pretty solid GPA from a pretty solid university at a time when the economy wasn’t so solid and I happened to major in something that was not education, business, or engineering. I also do some pretty baller stuff on the reg, however none of that matters to the customer who is giving me their 50 cents because they were unhappy with the level of customer service they received. It also doesn’t matter how intelligent or over qualified I am to the people who keep cutting me off as I try to park and get to work on time. All that matters to these people is that they get whatever thing they came to buy, regardless of the fact that they are totally missing the point of the Holidays-fyi it’s not about gifts or condescending attitudes.

So despite the fact that sipping hot cocoa while watching The Year Without a Santa Claus happens to be my favorite Holiday activity, after the Nutcracker, I must say that I despise the season. I hate how nasty we get the second things get real when it comes to picking presents and getting stuff on sales. I hate the way most of us treat a group of people they know nothing about because in the back of their minds these people are here to serve them-you can tell a great deal about a person by the way that they treat servers, spa folk, and sales associates. I’ve also decided that this Holiday season will be the last one I EVER work in retail because dealing with the general public during this time of year truly sucks the jingle from my bells and the merry from my Christmas. And for the last time you cannot receive a refund with a gift receipt or exchange your sale items.

Bright Young Thing: Megan Huntz

This post was produced for Gamine online and is therefore property of that publication, to view the post in its original format go to BYT: Megan Huntz

On the rare occasion that we actually get dressed up, you know for those nights we go grown-up places not dive bar hopping, the go to outfit of heels, jeans, and a cute top never cross our minds. Thankfully, this combo has crossed the mind of designer Megan Huntz whose hand dyed 100% silk dresses are set to become the foil of many a pair of jeans and heels. Huntz, a native of Atlanta, studied industrial design at Pratt and even worked in graphic design for a few years before moving to Milan in 2003 to begin graduate studies in fashion at the Domus Academy. After spending years working for the likes of Max Mara and Meltin’ Pot, one of Italy’s premier denim companies, Huntz decided to leave denim to the masses and design her own line based around the most fundamental piece of a woman’s wardrobe, the dress. “No matter what you do, you can always wear a dress,” says Huntz.



While Megan Huntz’s dresses may be handmade in limited runs from 100% silk, her dresses are meant to be worn and washed. Yes you can wash these dresses in the sink or the delicate cycle to get the same deconstructed look that you get after washing your favorite pair of jeans a few times, which is no accident since Huntz applied the same finishing techniques that she learned in her denim days to silk. Recently she even threw a batch of silk into the Gulf of Mexico to see what effect the water would have on the fabric and was so pleased with her little experiment that she cut ten dresses from it. As an artist turned designer turned fashion designer, there will be plenty more art projects and experiments, like the video she did for the opening of Modern Atlanta last June, in the future.

On top of her commitment to making quality handmade garments, her love of the art of fashion and design, and her thumbs down to Vogue for its penchant for celebrity covers, Megan Huntz makes dresses that look amazing with boots, which means we have to grab every style available

FMM: Astrud Gilberto

Another MissOmniMedia.com original. To view this post in its original format go to FMM:Astrud Gilberto.

Tall and tan and young and lovely, Astrud Gilberto coolly strolled onto the bossa nova scene when she sang on the album Getz/Gilberto, at the suggestion of her then husband, João Gilberto the father of bossa nova. Her recording of “The Girl from Ipanema” established her as a jazz and pop singer, and ensured that people getting off and on elevators would be entertained for generations. Despite the fact that you’re most likely to hear her tunes on an elevator or a 50s/60s style lounge, Gilberto isn’t strictly for the geriatric set. Her recording of “Once I Loved” was featured in Juno, Cut Chemist sampled her in the song “The Garden”, and the Black Eyed Peas sampled her on their Monkey Business album-for better or worse.




This jazz vocalist’s cool and sultry voice was equally matched by her style. With her perfect black liner, blunt cut bags, and just the right amount of height in her hair-take notes Snookie and Flo-Gilberto is the kind of pretty that most girl’s today aspire to. Unlike June Cleaver or Doris Day, Astrud Gilberto has a bit of an edge to her, like a cool aunt who dresses a bit risqué, smokes, and dates around, you know like a classier Cher in Mermaids. I say classier because while her hair is closer to God and her eye-liner gives off just a hint of sex, the fact that the rest of her face is bare and her outfits are understated keeps her from going off the deep end. She also gives off the perfect balance of sex and innocence that escapes most girls today. I mean what pop-star now could rock just a fur coat and a smile and still look like the girl next door? Just saying

To Catch a Thief

She didn't look like a thief.

Now that the holidays in full swing and retailers are preoccupied with profits, shoplifters are taking full advantage of poorly trained seasonal workers and a sales team that is spread too thin. While managers and sales associates are busy following shoppers based on cultural biases, money is walking right under their noses and out the door.


With most stores barely turning a profit these days, it is no wonder that they are training their sales teams to profile shopper based on their behavior. Any sales person worth their salt is taught to be on the look-out for people carrying bags from stores not in their mall, people who continue to send you on wild goose chases all over the store, and people wearing large coats that seem to gain weight as they walk through the store, amongst other things. In sales meetings you are told that shoplifters can be anyone from stroller moms to teenage girls and that crime knows no color, however time in and time out you are told to watch the young African American and Hispanic shoppers who are less than well dressed, suggesting a certain socio-economic status, while other shoppers are allowed to move freely through the store.

Most lost prevention specialists will tell you that there are two kinds of shoplifters, non-professionals who steal simply because the opportunity presented itself and professionals who steal for a living. They will also tell you that despite what anyone believes, there is no certain look that shoplifters adhere to. Most shoplifters are adults who can pay for the items that they are stealing, often buy and steal merchandise in the same visit, and are very rarely caught. Armed with this information, one can only assume that the current policy embraced by store managers is allowing these experienced shoplifters to fall through the cracks, mainly because they are too busy turning their backs to follow the wrong shoppers. They also often react improperly to store alarms that are usually tripped by paying customers due to human error- experienced shoplifters hardly ever make a sound when exiting a store because they remove sensors from garments long before making their exit.

This Holiday season as you pick up your last minute gifts, take five minutes to notice who is watching whom and why. Very rarely will you see a sales associate monitor a stroller mom, a group of Starbucks carrying young women, or the well dressed gentleman who you just saw slip something into his bag because they are too busy watching the people who look like shoplifters. Much like a child will never get kidnapped by someone who looks like a bad guy, stores will never catch a thief who doesn’t look like one.

My fashion tips via Wearever the Weather.com

Dropping fashion knowledge at WeareverTheWeather.com.... I do what I can for the kids.

Rag trade 101: Sweat-shop labor, you get what you pay for

In my morning walk through the Internet I came across this piece on MISS asking consumers if they would boycott a company because they use sweat-shop labor. As I was writing my lengthy response, I remembered that I have a blog to tackle such issues with as many words as I need.

The usage of sweat-shops in the manufacturing of apparel is more widespread than most of us would like to acknowledge and there are several contributing factors that keep sweat-shops in business. At the end of the day money is the deciding factor on whether a company like Nike goes with a cheaper manufacturer whose factories may have unsavory working conditions or a more costly less sketchy factory.

Most of us know that the garments we buy are not purchased at cost, meaning markups are built in to allow for everyone involved to make a profit from the wholesaler to the retailer. Depending upon the price point of a say a pair of jeans, the markup could be anywhere from 60%-200% which accounts for the fact that they may go on sale and the retailer needs to make a profit off of that transaction as well. That said, when a company sends their team out to source everything from fabrics to labor, the team is focused on keeping the costs down and the profit margins high. They also have to take into consideration the turn around time on the garments they are sourcing, although fashion operates almost a year ahead retailers need to be ready to produce those "inspired by pieces" the second they debut on the runways giving them a shorter than normal lead time. Don't get me wrong, sourcing teams are not out there looking for sweat shops that can produce garments cheaply and quickly, they are looking for factories that fit into specific budgets and timelines and occasionally pick based on those parameters not based on human rights. (Also the production team that deals with factories and such tends to work in an office in the company's home country and only make scheduled visits to factories, and we all know that if you tell someone when they're having company over they tend to put things in perfect order.) With everything focused on the almighty dollar, is it no wonder that the majority of companies busted for sweat-shop labor tend to be at the mid to discount price range.

Companies like Forever 21, who was recently accused of using sweat-shops to produce their blatant knock-off that disintegrate in the wash, make big money by mass producing cheap products and reselling them at a price point that attracts their core customers, teenage girls. With $7 tank tops and $20 skirts, its no surprise that they are working with factories that pay their workers little to nothing and ask them to work in unsafe conditions. I'm not saying that Gucci or Louis Vuitton have never used cheap labor, but I am saying that with higher prices you'll usually find bigger budgets for things like labor and the quality of the products will tell the tale. Like the saying goes you get what you pay for.

What can consumers do to discourage sweatshop labor? Well first of all stop buying stuff for quantity instead of quality, usually high quality goods are made by adults in factories that keep them somewhat happy. If you can spend money replacing those $7 tops every other month because they don't last, you can afford to purchase one $15 top that will last you at least a year. Think of purchasing quality goods that may cost more as an investment, not as you paying too much for something that you can get cheaper somewhere else. Also look for goods that are made in the US. Yes, we do have sweat-shops  here however our labor laws require closer federal monitoring for things like safety and workers rights, and purchasing goods made in the US go a long way to stopping outsourcing, generating more jobs at home, and helping pull us out of this recession mess.

If you tried boycotting every company that uses sweat-shop labor you'd have very few places to shop in your local mall, and I'm not asking you to do that. What I am asking is for consumers to be better educated on where their goods come from and how they are produced, that way instead of behaving like mindless purchasing machines you can at least know what went into your Forever 21 top before you fork over your babysitting money.

Fashion Meets Music at New York Fashion Week

This is another MISS original, meaning this post is all their's. To view it in its original format got over to Fashion Meets Music at New York Fashion Week.

It’s that time of year again when fashion editors, stylists, bloggers, and anyone remotely involved in the fashion industry turn into Barnum and Bailey and travel from city to city in the name of fashion. While what started out as a way to attract attention from French fashion houses during World War II and has since evolved into a month long fashion marathon. While the industry folk sit front row and plan photo shoots, buys, and client pulls for next year, everyone in the audience knows that there’s more to fashion shows than the clothes.

Year after year designers, production staff, publicists, DJs, and whomever else has a say get together to figure out what music will be the best backdrop for the ‘’practical, matter-of-fact, not too over styled” clothes at Vena Cava (apparently it was Klaus Nomi). The same way that Abercrombie and Fitch insists on blasting whatever they think kids are listening to these days out into the mall, designers blast whatever music best suits their brand and collection in an effort to create an atmosphere and give models something to walk to. (How boring would it be to watch 30+ looks stroll down a runway in perfect silence?)

Since fashion is all about being new and fresh while simultaneously giving a nod to the past, it comes as no surprise that this season, like those before it, featured music from up and coming indie faves as well as tried and true acts. From Nina Simone and David Bowie to The Cure and Stereolab right down to Telepathe and LCD Soundsystem, it seems as though everyone dug deep into their iTunes and came out with playlists that are a music lover’s dream. (Check out Vanity Fair’s list of playlists from NYFW S/S ’11. Billy Reid, Timo Weiland and Prabal Gurung’s lists make me want to download some new music asap.)

According to MISS music editor Randi Hernandez the folks over at Betsey Johnson and L.A.M.B. were just as fond of mixing old school and new school on their playlists as the Vanity Fair group. While Betsey kept to a New York influenced playlist complete with songs about cycling around the city to follow her Le Tour de Betsey theme, over at L.A.M.B. Gwen further expressed her love of Ragga and laid back tracks that were the perfect accompaniment to her relaxed collection. Both ladies mix genres and obviously appreciate Kanye and Jay-Z, since they popped up on both playlists. Check out the playlists for both Betsey Johnson and LAMB, as gathered by Randi with the help of everyone’s pal Shazam-don’t know what I’d do without him sometimes- and load your iPod up with tracks to get you through the upcoming winter months.

Ears to the Street: These Boots Were Made For Walking

This is another MISS original, meaning this post is all their's. To view it in its original format got over to Ears to the Street: These Boots Were Made for Walking.

Everyone knows that your fall wardrobe isn’t complete without the perfect pair of boots. With cool weather finally knocking on our doors, slipping into a flimsy sandal is definitely not advisable however pulling on a stylish pair of boots will keep your toes warm and you out of the doctor’s office. This season the catwalks and sidewalks are filled with boots of all heights, shapes, and textures, so finding the right ones for your wardrobe needs shouldn’t be too difficult. While combat boots, over the knee styles, and calf height boots are closet staples, my favorite boot trends this fall are the kinda rugged hiking inspired ones that are the perfect mate to scrunched socks.


I’m not really the great outdoors type, I love camping and hiking in theory but in real life meh, however Tory Burch’s fall 2010 collection filled with Timberland-esque wedges, stacked heels, and stilettos would have me climbing a mountain in no time. Since we all can’t afford Tory Burch, I’ve gathered a few camp fire inspired boots by Nine West, Steve Madden, and Seychelles to satisfy your urge for new boots while keeping your wallet from hitting E. Personally, I’m already pairing my yet to be purchased boots with a comfy knit, a mini and scrunched wool socks or maybe a pair of jeggings. Actually, I could’ve used a pair today when I wore my black romper and cable knit sweater duster. Ahh the possibilities.





Christmas is coming....

Twelve out of 12 months a year I pull on a pair out boots at least once a week, which is no small feat considering I live in the South and the temperature stays in the mid-70s 9 out of 12 months a year. That said, my favorite pair of boots have taken quite a beating and are in need of replacing and these Jeffrey Campbell boots would be my first pick to as a stand in for my old faithfuls. These boots look like they've survived the North African campaign during World War 2 and lived to tell the tale so I know that they'll get through at least one year on my feet. Fingers crossed come Christmas or before.

Thoughts on Kanye West's Runaway

Hmmm....Aesthetically pleasing at times, annoying at others. Unnecessary dialogue. The emperor's new clothes. We are witnessing the death of the narrative/

You can lead a horse to water but I still can't afford your clothes



Patrice hamming it up at Saks for FNO...we still haven't gotten our offical pics from that.

 Last month the fashion industry rubbed elbows with the unwashed masses in a desperate attempt to turn party goers into shoppers at the second annual Fashion’s Night Out. Although revelers from Brooklyn to Bombay crowded shops to get a glimpse of their favorite celebrities, designers, and fashion folks, by and large they kept their cash to themselves. (Now that I think about it, I’ve been to a ton of in store events in the past year and have never seen people doing anything but talking smack, eating, and getting a buzz off of the free drinks.) This shouldn’t come as a shock to retailers who have been suffering from the very recession that brought into existence the need for a worldwide event like Fashion’s Night Out. They know that no matter how much champagne they pour and how many celebs are in store to pass it out, Louboutin’s are still out of most shoppers’ budgets right now. However, this does not stop retailers form bringing the dog and pony show to town every so often in an attempt to raise spirits and profits.


There are several reasons why luring potential shoppers into your store with the promise of free stuff and a good time doesn’t always translate into increased sales, increased traffic sure but traffic does not always mean money. The first issue is while it is true everyone loves free stuff, using the word free to gather a crowd almost always ensures the majority of the crowd is looking for FREE stuff not stuff they have to pay for. (Also people aren’t so dumb as to fall for "spend xyz dollars and get this free", especially if they don’t have xyz dollars and the free thing is worth less than the amount they have to pay. Also if I have to buy something to get something free, is it really free?) While I do understand that by drawing a crowd into your less than crowded store you are not only attempting to increase sales that night but to also generate future sales, which may or may not happen because in the freebie/sale seeking crowd you just lured in may or may not be interested in or able to afford your full priced merchandise, bringing me to point deux.

No matter what dog and pony show you put on for customers, at the end of the day they just don’t have the same disposable incomes that they once did, especially when dealing with Middle America. The end. Shoppers aren’t in search of a place to drink wine dangerously close to clothes they can’t afford, they are looking for more value for money, whether that means being able to buy more for less or spending the bulk of their money on investment pieces instead of wasting cash on trendy items.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think in store events are total wastes of time for retailers, I just think throwing a “customer appreciation” party once a month is not the best use of time and money for already struggling stores. Also its is super cheesy to go into a store and hear a DJ playing the same muzak that the stores usually play while a clumsy associate passes you J. Roget or Andre.

Booze, Broads, and isn't Mad Men about to start?

I love the 1920s, really I do. I mean women had just earned the right to vote and, despite the criticisms hurled at them by intellectual suffragettes, flappers were liberating women from corsets, sitting in bars, smoking and drinking with the boys, working outside the home, and wearing pants. The decade that brought us an immigration act, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Gatsby old chum, jazz, frozen food, oh and let's not forget the resurgence and growth  of the KKK, is also the setting for HBO's newest serial that is apparently about baby gangsters.

In addition to being a smorgasbord of everything we think we know and love  about the 1920s-gangsters, free flowing booze, flapper talk, crooked politicians-Boardwalk Empire is visually stunning. The scenes of Atlantic City the way it was way back when are so insanely beautiful that I want to rent out the place for a sweet 16 for my un-conceived daughter-complete with late night sideshow style barkers urging you to come in and watch a girl in high waist shorts do the Charleston.

                       

Aside from the aesthetics, I couldn't tell you much about the show. There are bootleggers, a bunch of dirty politicians, famous Mafia bosses in their adolescence, and a battered woman. Basically its like Gangs of New York, Casino, and Goodfellas with ragtime and fake pearls. For a show filling the time slot of another show where no one is what they seem-who knew Lafayette's new boo was a Mexican warlock?- and wraps up before a show where just when you think you know a character they change-except Betty she's pretty much the same character she's been-the fact that the characters in Boardwalk Empire are exactly what they appear to be-they are based on historic figures-is not refreshing, just not like the others. Maybe next week I'll change my mind...I doubt it

To Chop or Not?

I don't have any pictures of me as a little kid on my computer b/c there were no digital cameras n such when I was a little kid.

Ever since I can remember I've had middle length dark brown hair that has been the bane of my existence. Unlike the other girls I've known through my life-cousins, friends, classmates, you get the picture-my hair was the exact opposite of thick and resilient or super soft and curly. I blame this lack of shiny, thick, luxurious hair  on my parents because instead of expressing the hair genes of oe of my parents, I got stuck with both. Which wouldn't be bad if my dad didn't have Duke Ellington's waved do and my mom didn't have thick, tightly curled hair and I inherited my mom's thickness and dad's texture. Alas, I have oddly wavy and curly thin hair that breaks the second you look at it wrong hence it never getting much longer than my shoulders. All of my childhood I fought with my oddly textured hair and battled to get it healthy, shiny, long, and bouncy like the other girls I encountered. However, no one could get my hair to grow, let alone grow without breaking.

That's me on the right in the seond row, amongst a sea of girls that lok a lot like me...sigh cheerleaders

In high school, after several years of going to hair stylists who over processed my precious hair, I found a stylist who knew how to make my stringy hair appear to have body and life. With my mom's permission I cut it into a bob that grazed the nape of my neck and even highlighted it before shipping off to college. Since I went to a school that was 45mins-1 hr away from my home town, I was able to keep up with my hair appointments and my hairdresser who saved my fragile hair after I let a pal lighten a patch of my dark brown hair to a rusty blondish brown color-do not let girls dye your hair in their dorms bad idea it burned and lifted in under 5 minutes. After finishing school hair in tack, despite losing track of my stylist during the 6-8months after Katrina, I got my first trendy cut, a bi-level bob a-la Posh in about 2006/7 and even colored my entire head a light brown that matched my skin.

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                               At formal or maybe it was semi-formal with a long, luxurious locks

My hair battles didn't start again until I moved to Atlanta where apparently hair dressers don't know what kind of relaxer to put on hair that is not super thick and resilient, or that you can't treat colored hair the same way you treat virgin hair. Needless to say after 6 months in the A my hair was still growing strong-it grows pretty fast and always does- but it was stringy-er than ever and was breaking off to no end. I eventually began to take care of my hair myself which wasn't that bad until another set of untrained hands used a super harsh relaxer on my lil hair, resulting in a massive patch of hair falling out. I cried, died and stopped going to her asap. I tried my hands at the Dominicans but those driers on relaxed hair was a big no, no, and I tried going back to the first girl I went to in the A but the fact that she permed my hair when I told her to not when her professional expertise told her to left my hair weak and a mess.

Pre-Atl with my light brown bob smushed unde rmy cap

After much deliberation I decided to try the natural route, and ahh haa my hair is back to the length, sheen, and bounce that it had when I was at home. Apparently all I needed to do was stop processing it and let it be. The problem now is that in order to be fully natural I have to cut my relaxed hair off, which means cutting almost all of the length of my hair. Did I mention my hair has never been shorter than chin length since I was a kid? Did I also mention that I have a serious habit of touching, twirling, shaking, and stroking my hair? (Friends call it my "white girl tendencies/mannerisms" and they developed sometime between me watching the movie Clueless and starting college) I've been a huge fan of flat iron it, bump it, ponytail it, headband it, etc for bad hair days ever since I was tasked with combing my own hair sometime in 5th grade and am dreading having to do something with my mess of oddly curled short hair-that my hairdresser promises will look awesome. I mean worst comes to worst I can weave it up-I do live in Atlanta home of the 8 foot Pocahontas Indian Remy weave-however fake hair and the thought of it on my entire head makes me itchy for some odd reason. Then again, maybe I just need to get used to the idea of having short curly hair. I mean my hair does not and never will grow straight, so I might as well get over it and it'll grow back after a year or so.

I promise to post pics of my short cut next week...

Tell 'em John!

This is another MISS original, meaning this post is all their's. To view it in its original format got over to Woman is the N-word of the World.

John and Yoko said it, I just agreed

If she won’t be a slave we say that she don’t love us. If she’s real we say she’s trying to be a man…

In 1972 John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band released the song “Woman is the N—– of the World.” The song was inspired by the statement by James Connolly “the female is the slave of the slave” and tackled the issue of women’s subservience to men across all cultures. Due to the song’s usage of the N-word, which I am not completely opposed to in this particular instance, the song was banned from radio air play and Lennon’s hope to show the world how women had been and were still being treated was lost to the general public.

We insult her every day on TV, and wonder why she has no guts or confidence

If you have not heard the song yet, I suggest you give it a listen, because the issues that it raised in 1972 are still issues that plague women around the world. Women still are taught to be strong but appear weak, to be intelligent but not speak too loudly, to stand by her man through thick and thin, and to be pretty above all things. We turn on the television and are forced to choose between watching over sexualized video girls, materialistic man starved fashionistas, or strong intelligent –itches, mostly due to the appallingly low number of female directors who receive support from big studios. We are still underpaid despite having the same degrees, and we are still expected to make dinner, clean house, take care of the kids, and hold a 9-5 without complaining or asking for a day off. As far as we have come in regards to improving the condition of women and girls in this country in the past 30 odd years since this song has been released, we still have a long way to go baby. I’m not even going to touch on the countless atrocities committed against women in the developing world.

No matter what you feel about the use of a word steeped in a history of hatred and wrong doing, which is actually quite apropos, there is no denying that across all cultures, ethnicities, creeds, and colors, that women are indeed the slave of the slave.

Woman is the n—– of the world, yes she is…think about it.

Rag Trade 101: Its all in the details

With the economy in its current state, the retail trade has been riding a roller coaster that has resulted in cut backs, store closures, and a general sense of uneasiness all around. In these times, massive chain stores are grasping at straws to find magical cures as to why their customers are turning to lower price points or higher quality goods. They've brought in efficiency experts to stream line production and delivery, experts in retail planning to maximize square footage, and financial planners to cut costs, however they have completely ignored developing their first line of defense in the fight for your hard earned money, the sales associate.

Step into any store in your local mall and ask a sales associate at random questions about a garment's fabrication, construction, or styling and more importantly WHY these things matter in their products and see what they say. Speaking from several years of experience in the trenches, ie working in retail, I can  consistently say that sales associates at the moderate-to-better price points (read the average stores in your local malls) are not schooled on product knowledge unless they have been in retail for YEARS or have a background/love of fashion. In a healthy economy this lack of product knowledge at this price point doesn't matter, I mean $150 for a dress when times are booming isn't that big of a deal, however the second times get tough, the sales associate selling a $150 dress to a cash strapped middle-class soccer mom might as well be selling her a luxury item which requires an entirely different approach. Sellers at the bridge to designer price points (Bloomies to Neimans and beyond) can tell you that selling a pair of $500 slacks takes knowing what they are made of, where they came from, how they travel, how they fit into the customer's life and wardrobe, and where to get them altered. the difference between the approach at say Banana Republic, BCBG and Louis Vuitton has more to do with these details, and how each associate is armed with them, than anything that corporate is doing on the back end.

With retailers being at the mercy of their shoppers, arming the people who spend the most time with customers with the best possible tools is akin to making sure that every solider has ammunition. Arming your associates goes far beyond making sure that they greet each customer, take them to a fitting room, flatter them unnecessarily about each potential purchase, and thank them for shopping. Equipping sales associates means you teach them how to read the care symbols on a garment-many only have symbols these days-and most importantly how to communicate the value placed on every garment by those guys at corporate to every interested customer-not literally of course. Doing so may not make each and every customer buy but it will make for more return customers and help ensure that today's "Nothing worked" turns into tomorrow's big purchase.

You Gotta Love Yukimi Nagano!

This is another MissOmniMedia.com piece, and therefore all images and such are property of that publication. To view the piece in its orginal format go to Fashion Meest Music: Yukimi Nagano

For a country that is about the size of California with 15% of its area sitting pretty inside the Arctic Circle, Sweden definitely proves the adage that size doesn’t matter when it comes to producing a culture of cool. The country that gave us the Nobel Peace Prize, Ingmar Bergman, Ikea, H&M, and True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard, is also the home of Little Dragon and their amazing front woman, Yukimi Nagano.


If you haven’t heard of Little Dragon, I suggest you scroll down to the bottom of this post and check out a few of their videos or even better, Google them. Both the band’s first and second releases, Little Dragon and Machine Dreams, are filled with the typical experimental electronic beats that our generation is so fond of layered with elements of jazz, soul, and 80’s pop with Yukimi’s angelic voice serving as the band’s center piece.

The 28 year old half Japanese half Swedish-American vocalist, who started out as a jazz singer, was born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden listening to the wide range of music her mother played, and eventually developed a love for R&B. With influences that range from Prince and Chaka Khan to John Coltrane and Kraftwerk, it is easy to see how Yukimi is quickly becoming the muse of quirky indie loving fashionistas. Her style is as soulful, energetic, and innovative as her voice, and is far removed from the mass produced fast fashion brought to us by her fellow Swedes Hennes & Maurtiz. With her adorable short hair and ability to look at both times quirky and polished, like those cool art/design/music school girls you see on the train and immediately want to style jack, reveals the accessibility of her style that refreshing when compared the sea of stylist-on-speed-dial pop stars on MTV. This accessibility is perhaps the most endearing quality of Yukimi’s style for me; girls love seeing their favorite singers dressed in things they can put together themselves without the need of a glam squad.

Check out the videos and performances below to familiarize yourself not only with Yukimi Nagano’s almost spiritual voice but with her fresh sense of style as well. With a current spot on Gorillaz’s latest, Plastic Beach and internet rumors that Little Dragon is working on their third album, it’s safe to say that Yukimi isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Creatives Wanted!

So Tricie, from that other blog I used to run, and I have decided to forgo the usual path to employment and are currently in the process of building a super hot brand new site for you to feast your eyes on. Currently, we are seeking fellow creative types who, due to the recession, are unable to find rel work and are looking to express themselves and build thier portfoilios at the same time. As of today we are in need of writers, graphics folks, and photograhers to help us fulfill our vision of a high quality online fashion/lifestyle publication that covers things we actually want to read. If you are interested shoot an email with a brief bio and links to your blog and/or work samples to contributors.online@gmail.com.

FYI: I'm not getting paid just yet from this therefore this is all about protfolio building. Also we will be accepting pitches, story ideas and submissions from writers asap and will be getting that email address to you later this week.

That is all...Good day!
xo
anab

Vogue Africa Denied by Conde Nast

This post was orginally written for MissOmniMedia.com and the images and copy shown here are property of that publication. To view this post in its original format got to Vogue Africa Denied by Conde Nast.


For a continent that is often grossly misrepresented in the mainstream media, fashion publications included, a chance to change the way that the rest of the world view’s their shared culture and contributions would have been mind altering to say the least. However, with Condé Nast denying Cameroonian photographer Mario Epanya’s proposal to develop an African edition of Vogue, the culturally diverse continent once again is relegated to safari spreads and pleas for aid.



Condé Nast has yet to comment on why, with 18 editions of the magazine published and distributed from India to Australia, Vogue Africa did not fit their criteria for licensing the Vogue name and likeness. Speculators have alleged everything from the more pressing issues plaguing the people of Africa to the logistics of distributing a publication to 1 billion people in over 2,00 different languages. The most disturbing reason being cited has to do with the lack of diversity in the mainstream fashion media.



After Vogue Italia’s Black issue way back in 2008 and the recent calls for more realistic models, Condé Nast had no problem with Vogue Italia launching Vogue Black and Vogue Curvy sections of their website-all in perfect English by the way-to satisfy the masses calling for diversity. The problem with both of these sites is that, as we Americans learned over 50 years ago, separate is not always equal. By segregating these populations into their own online editions, we are in fact placing a band-aid on an issue that need to be remedied not covered. Instead of focusing on featuring more girls who look like Sessilee Lopez and Crystal Renn on the pages of Vogue-did you notice its always Vogue Italia attempting to display more diversity-we push these girls into their own site on away from the mainstream. I didn’t know Vogue Black existed until recently, and as an African-American woman I was appalled to find a site where Tyra Banks interviews people and stories on stereotypical Black issues are featured-FYI there is already a Vogue Black in print, it’s called Essence. Again, the issue with this is not the clichéd images of women sporting natural hair and Black models smiling backstage, the problem is that there needs to be equal representation on the pages of mainstream outlets to remedy the diversity issue.

Getting back to Vogue Africa, without a definite statement from Condé Nast all we can do is speculate as to why they passed on the opportunity to showcase such a culturally rich continent in a positive light. All too often Africa is still portrayed as a war-torn land of savages ravaged with infectious epidemics, the fact that there are areas of affluence, a rich tradition in textiles and the arts dating back centuries before the founding of America, a diverse array of cultures and traditions, is often left out when mainstream media attempts to define the entire continent with brief snippets from a few countries. Hopefully with this story burning up the blogs, Condé Nast will at least look into expanding the Vogue brand to Africa not only in an effort to inject more diversity into the fashion periodical section at Barnes and Nobles but to also show more of the world the truth about Africa, which is not a country despite that popular misconception.

Are you Size-ist?

This piece was written for and posted on MissOmniMedia.com, all images and copy are proprty of that publication. To the post in its original format (leave comments), go to Are You Size-ist?

This past weekend the Internet was all a buzz over “plus-sized” model Crystal Renn’s latest photographs. The pictures, taken for non-profit Fashion for Passion by photographer Nicholas Routzen, depict a decidedly less curvy Renn wearing a black Fashion for Passion t-shirt. Everyone from fashion bloggers to the Huffington Post have been whispering that the outspoken anti-size 0 model has dropped weight and caved to industry pressure. From careful observation of the photograph one can say that maybe she did lose a few lbs but she still is far from industry standard. The real issue at hand has more to do with our society’s growing obsession with size, than it has to do with whether or not an already average sized girl got a little closer to average.

To see the effects of an overly size conscious society on young women all you have to do is sit in any fitting room, at any mall, on any given day to hear women in denial of their size. The ugly battle plays out between the size-ist stores bent on making everyone a size 10 and below and the size conscious women who were a size 4 three years ago but now fight to squeeze their size bodies into that old size 4. As a sales associate at stores that very rarely carry anything over a size 10, if they carry a 10, I have been given the side eye, talked about, and told off just for suggesting that the obliviously size 6 client may not be able to fit into a size 0. On the other side of that same coin, I have been asked some of the most personal questions by customers regarding my size as a means to determine whether or not plus sized shoppers where in the right store. At the heart of this issue is both fashion and retail’s blatant disregard for curvier bodies, and the fact that the general public has no idea what sizes actually mean.

As far as fashion and retail goes, they will never care about plus-sized shoppers and curvier standard sized girls unless you hit them where it hurts, right in their profit margins. Stop supporting retailers that do not support you that means stop trying to cram your Beyonce booty into Kate Moss’s jeans. Moving on …As a consumer you need to realize that sizes literally do not mean anything. Really, they don’t. Marilyn Monroe was a size 10, which in 2010 is probably closer to a size 6 due to vanity sizing (vanity sizing is where retailers increase the actual measurements of clothes without increasing the nominal size ie a size 4 now may have been a 6 ten years ago) and we all know Marilyn was and still is a fox. Also in addition to retailers trying to make you feel better by changing their measurements but not their sizes, clothing sizes in the US are far from standardized. Personally, I wear everything from a size 2-6 depending on the store and that is unacceptable.

The lesson here, ladies and gents, is that not only is it unacceptable to measure yourself worth or the self worth of others by a silly little number in a garment but watching to see if a model eats or not is a waste of time. At the end of the day whether Crystal Renn is a size 10 or a size 8, she still is far from plus-sized and the fact that she is an anomaly in the modeling world speaks more about fashion and society’s obsession with size than anything else. You don’t see more Crystal Renn types opening shows, landing huge campaigns, and on the cover of Vogue these days do you?

FashionMeets Music: Kelis "Acapella"

This post was originally produced for MissOmniMedia.com and all images, logos and copy are property of that online publication. To view this piece in its original format go toFashion Meets Music: Kelis "Acapella"

Kelis is one of the most underrated performers out there. By and large her work before and since “Milkshake” has slipped under the radar, which is the main reason why it has taken me almost three months to see the video for “Acapella” the first single from her latest album Flesh Tone which will be released on Tuesday.


Acapella is the perfect mix of a high fashion editorial and a native hunting excursion with Kelis as the model, art director, and hunting guide. Her barely there outfits, showing off her post baby body, reminds us that long before Gaga was playing with her Haus, Kelis was that beast. On top of the vividly colored outfits and the visually stunning sequences, Kelis rocks some seriously next level make up. From the white face paint and Coming to America meets Pocahontas head dress to the Bond Girl body paint with the Statue of Liberty crown, Kelis keeps us entranced for the full four minutes of Acapella. Let’s not forget that she’s rocking a silver mullet of sorts on top of her head that at times looks both awesomely bad and crazy good-don’t act like you didn’t know Kelis has as many fashion hits as misses.

All fashion and visuals aside, the best part of the video is at the end when we get a glimpse of her adorable son Knight strapped to her back. Not only is he ridding piggy back in his mom’s hottest video, but he’s doing in style. You know this kid is going to be amazing with parents like Nas and Kelis and his first video cameo before he can walk.

Flesh Tone hits stores, and iTunes, tomorrow July 6.

Really, Americn Apparel?

I told you something was wrong with that company. Now after sexual harassment allegations against their CEO (who happens to look like a 70s porn star and behave like one as well), sketchy hiring procedures, and the announcement that they are on the brink of defaulting on a multi-million dollar loan, American Apparel is now in trouble with the New York Stock Exchange for failing to file their quarterly report with the SEC. Just because you don't bring your mother your report card doesn't me she won't find out you got an F.

All funsies aside, the possible demise of this company brings another blow to America's clothing manufacturing trade. As the largest clothing  manufacturer in the country, closing their LA factories will have a devastating effect on the company's over 10,000 employees. While I do feel sorry for the thousands of people who stand to lose their jobs should the company fail, I do not feel sorry for the people making the decisions that have lead to this point. Again, no one wants $60 lace leotards, Mr T starter kits, creepy shrink wrapped gay porn, and overpriced headbands made from scraps of leggings. The second you tried to be ironic is the second your company became the the mockery that its is today.

If I were in charge at American Apparel, I would cut back on the breadth of products being offered, return the company's focus to wholesale rather than opening more crowded disco stores, and stop trying so hard to prove that AA is the clothier of choice for young hip city dwellers. Again, the second you try to be cool, you aren't, but that's another story.

Let's stop pretending we care about soccer.

Every four years when the World Cup rolls around, Americans get insanely jazzed up about a sport that they ignore the rest of the year. While the guys who make up the American World Cup team are toiling all year long playing games, gathgering points and doing whatever it is they do, the rest of the country is immersed in football, basketbal, baseball, and hockey. While most of us can name at least 5 teams in the NFL and rally around the TV for college sports, no one can name the soccer teams that our USA guys play on during the pre-World Cup years.  The question raised here then is why oh why do we flock to pubs and brew houses with a vaguely European feel to sit on pins and needles watching a sport none of us really know the rules to (I should note we are forced to pubs n such to watch these games bc unless you have a satellite dish with the extended sports package you can't watch World Cup)? The answer is two fold, first Americans love displays of patriotism-as they should- and second we love any excuse to drink copious amounts of liquor at random times through out the day. In case you haven't noticed, Ameircans love drinking as much as the next country, we even celebrate holidays of other cultures-St Paddy's and Cinco de Mayo- as an exucse to drink and party all day long, nevermind that we have no idea what we're drinking for.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't watch the World Cup and cheer on our country, who never gets very far in the series due to the fact that we do not care about soccer. What I'm saying is that we should acknowledge that unlike the rest of the world who cheers on their local teams year in and year out, we really don't know much about the sport but we do know a ton about beer.

That was my rant for the weekend.

Rag Trade 101: Targeting the unemployed

From ages 16-23 you could find me on any given day walking lazily through my local mall spending my parents’ hard earned cash and pushing my credit cards to the limit all for the sake of picking up more disposable clothes. As a child born during the height of the “me” focused 80s and an adolescent during the prosperity of the 90s, being brand conscious had been hardwired into my very soul the moment my mom slipped me into my first pair of Oshkosh B’Gosh overalls. At that tender age, my love affair with quality over quantity began and like most of my peers I soon associated certain brands not only with quality but with my social status and ultimately my self-worth.


Fast forward a few years and the very age range that has been retailers’ bread and butter for the past 10 years is now experiencing a record high of unemployment. With 18% of high school drop outs, college grads, newly minted lawyers and MBAs unable to become productive members of society, the mid priced brands that they learned to rely on are now out of their price range with student loans, credit card debt, and things like rent constantly looming above their heads. For retailers this means that with their core customer now unable or unwilling to purchase merchandise at full price that they would have bought a few years ago, they must either shape up or ship out as they watch former loyal customers shop at lower price points. While brands like French Connection and American Apparel, both targeted at very hip and very unemployed 18-24 year olds, flounder to reconnect with their core customer while maintaining profitability, brands like Forever 21, with their fast fashion and low prices, are busy exploiting not only their usual teen and tween markets but the unemployed and underemployed recent college grads. This has forced mid-priced brands, which once placed a premium on selling quality goods for a reasonable price, to ride the trend wave like their lower priced counterparts without having the means firmly established to do so. Not only are mid-priced brands suffering from a supply chain not set up to quickly turn out trends at a fraction of their current costs, they have also began to alienate their core customer by changing their product offering in an effort to make up for some of the losses they have incurred.

American Apparel, once operating primarily as a wholesaler selling blank t-shirts to screen printers, uniform companies, and retail brands, has gone from a hipster haven of affordable basics to a parody of itself that none of their former diehards would set foot in. With ads on every blog showcasing their costume like full body lace leotards on barely legal practically nude models, and stores filled with out of print gay porn magazines, Mr. T starter kits, and overpriced vintage sunglasses American Apparel has gone from ironic to sad in the past three years in an effort to keep up with the hipstering of America (I’ll do a post on that soon I promise, as it is one of the banes of my existence). By overreacting to what they thought their loyal customer wanted and filling their store to the brim with overpriced vintage and vintage inspired goods, American Apparel has not only alienated their customers but overestimated their loyalty. Why would anyone buy a $200 pair of vintage frames when they could go to any thrift store and pick up the same pair for $5?

Eventually the recession will pick up and the once jobless Millennials will get hired and start spending that hard earned grown up money. However, due to their experiences with chronic unemployment no one knows if they will spend the way they did back in 1999.

Fashion Meets Music: Grace Jones

This post was originally produced for MissOmniMedia.com, all images and words are property of that publication. To view this post in its original format go toFMM: Grace Jones, don't miss the videos I linked to when you check out the original.

Androgynous, enigmatic, and by far one of the most original divas to ever lend her voice to the disco scene; Jamaican born, New York raised Grace Jones is the definition of fashion meeting music. The amazing Ms. Jones began her career as a model before moving into music and eventually wooing Andy Warhol and being photographed by him and his longtime collaborator, Richard Bernstein. At the height of her career Jones was in several films, including a James Bond flick, where she always played an over the top, eccentric, independent woman who was a bit of a caricature of herself. Currently, Jones is playing the part of ultimate muse to some of pop music’s most popular performers.

Model turned muse, Amber Rose is obviously a serious fan of Ms. Jones as a model and performance artist. From the top of her blond, buzzed head to her well heeled feet, Amber Rose is taking cues left and right from the diva. She even recently recreated one of Jones’s most iconic poses, FYI this isn’t the first time Amber has paid homage to Jones via a photo and surely won’t be the last. If Amber Rose is the president of the Grace Jones fan club, Lady Gaga is her second in command.


La Gaga has done the best job of channeling Jones as a performer. Her music clearly has its roots in the high energy beats of disco and like Jones, Gaga’s sound moved from the club scene to the main stream thanks in part to her kooky style. Both women used their eccentricities to catapult their careers and both insanely talented. However, while Gaga dreams of having worked with and known such prolific artists as Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, Grace Jones actually did. Jones was the pioneer for bringing the underground art scene into the mainstream through her visual appearance, thereby making performers like Gaga possible. Both women are aware of this fact, which is why Gaga recently asked Grace Jones to collaborate with her to which Jones replied,"I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not copying me, actually."

Burn. It seems as though while Gaga may be enamored with the iconic songstress, Jones is less than dazzled with the younger performer. I guess she isn’t flattered by imitation, then again no old school diva ever really is.

Reading is Sexy!

This book review was originally written for MissOmniMedia.com and the images and words are property of that publication. To view this post in its original format go to, Reading is Sexy: Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them.

Growing up in a home where my mother covered the floor of her closet with pumps, sandals, flats, and more shoes than Imelda Marcos could shake a foot at, it’s no wonder that at 25 my shoe collection is nothing to play with. Being that my closet is filled with heels ranging from 3 ½”- 5”, I was quite skeptical when I began reading Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Themby Leora Tanenbaum. While I do not plan on trading in my Calvin Klein platforms for a pair of Aerosoles, I have been convinced to be a bit more practical when deciding which shoes to wear to work versus the ones to wear on date nights.


Leora Tanenbaum is no stranger to shining a light on some of the everyday issues that plague women in this seemingly modern age, her first three books dealt with slut-bashing, cat-fighting, and women reclaiming God. As a feminist writer, it seemed only natural for her to tackle to phenomenon of perfectly sensible women wearing shoes that are unhealthy in the name of fashion and feeling feminine. In the attempt to issue a much needed wake up call to the stilettoed masses, Tanenbaum enlists a bevy of experts on feet, fashion, and the Carrie Bradshaw wannabes who walk Manhattan in Louboutins to the detriment of their bodies.

Most fashion girls won’t be persuaded by Tanenbaum’s assertion that Carrie Bradshaw is “a desperate, disempowered character” and that her closet of clothes and shoes is representation that she is unable to plant her feet firmly on the ground. They also won’t turn down a pair of Manolo’s because they read that the pointy toe box and ultra slim heel is representative of a phallus, or of society forcing us to confrom to another unattainable standard of bueaty that we are too image conscious to ditch. They will however stop in their tracks when they read a quote from Vogue’s Uncle Andre calling for them to stop being fashion beasts and get real.

I, for one, am over the mania for the high, high heel. Too many career women look like a herd of fashion beasts, aping one another in impractical shoes. -Andre Leon Talley

Overall the book is not a call for us to burn our heels but for us to become more informed consumers. Hopefully if you know that the brand new pair of shoes you just spent your entire paycheck on will eventually make your feet look like a Hobbit’s, you will think twice before wearing them all day, every day. For me, while cleaning out my closet is not an option, I have begun to notice how the pain in my feet is connected to the pain in my lower back and that a set of $12 insoles can keep that pain at bay without me having to kick off my flat boots(flats without arch support are jsut as bad for your feet as heels) the second I leave work.

Death of a legend

This morning the world mourns the passing of the incomparable Lena Horne. Born in Bed-Stuy in June of 1917, Ms Horne made history, broke barriers, and became an inspiration to all with her beautiful voice and graceful good looks. From a chorus girl at the Cotton Club to an award winning actress and singer, Lena Horne's career has spanned generations. Her presence will surely be missed althogh her legacy is sure to live on.

Girls bully too.

This article was originally produced for MissOmniMedia.com, all images and content if property of that publication. To view this piece in its original format clik here, Ladies, can't we all just get along?

Recently Phoebe Prince, a 15 year old high school student killed herself after suffering months of bullying at the hands of her peers. The sad thing is that situations like Phoebe’s are becoming more and more common. Young girls are wounding each other beyond repair over guys, clothes, and whatever other superficial things teenagers obsess over these days. Even more serious is the fact that these teenaged aggressors, unlike the characters in Mean Girls, very rarely learn their lessons and go on to become mean women. Ladies, why can’t we all just get along?

From age 12-17, I went to an all-girl’s Catholic school and know firsthand how vicious teenage girls can get when a false sense of competition is involved. I’ve seen girls get nasty and force alienation on someone who they perceived as a threat, and make that person’s life a living hell. They hunted in packs like wolves and wielded the female tendency to form bonds verbally and emotionally as a weapon. It was more like watching a pack of wolves take down an animal on National Geographic than watching high school drama. Sadly, almost ten years later I know for a fact that some of these ladies only got older and not wiser. Need proof, just turn on the TV.

The women of The Bad Girls Club, Real Housewives of ATL/NYC/the OC/Jersey, and that new abomination Basketball Wives, all prove that for some odd reason women have been made to believe that we are in constant competition with each other. I bet if you look back into any of these “ladies’” pasts you’ll see that they were high school mean girls or girls who were bullied and believed that the only way to survive was to eat or be eaten. These are the same women who spread rumors at work, get crazy when their man looks at you in the club, and are prone to insane amounts of drama. Trust me ladies, being a professional mean girl is a sure way to end  up alone, no man wants a drama queen and no one wants to be friends with one.

At the heart of this petty behavior are deep seated insecurities that often stem from a false sense of limited supply and unlimited demand. Since I’m no Frasier Crane, nor do I pretend to be, I have to say that we need to wake up ladies. There is no need for this, whether you’re 18 or 48 it is not acceptable to go around hurting other people for whatever reason your therapist made up this week. Do you realize that if we pooled all of energy, time, and creativity wasted on tearing each other apart and focused it on doing whatever it is we were put on Earth to do, women could rule the world? Instead we’re stuck dodging bullets from middle school to the nursing home. Shame on you.

Movie Merchandise: Who buys this Stuff?

This piece was originally written for MissOmniMedia.com, all images are property of that publication. To view this post in its original format click here, Movie Merchandise: Who buys this stuff?

Remember back when times were simpler and movie merchandise was relegated to lunch boxes, tee shirts, kid’s meals and the toy aisle? Back when a new Disney movie dropped and you were anxious to get a Princess Jasmine toy with your cheeseburger or an Aladdin for the boys. In the golden age of Disney movies, waaay before Hannah Montana, I had the Aladdin sheet set, a Pocahontas that rowed in the bath and Land Before Time hand puppet. Now, years later, I’ve started to notice that the same movie execs pushing Disney merchandise in the 90s have caught on to the fact that those of us weaned on buying movie merchandise have grown up therefore are now selling random merchandise for PG-13 flicks.

I don’t remember my mom or older cousins buying Waiting to Exhale anything, besides the book, or snagging “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” martini glasses. However it now seems that no movie goes unmerchandised. Sex and the City has spawned Christmas tree ornaments, walk clocks, and even a set of character themed thongs, all of which are aimed at girls in their late teens and twenties. Alice in Wonderland’s recent release brought us the usual Disney merchandise along with make-up palettes, nail polish, and a line of Disney Couture jewelry, not to mention a ton of pieces inspired by the film. I won’t even being to touch on the madness that I am assaulted with when entering my local Borders that goes by the name The Twilight Saga, Harry Potter may have an amusement park, but Edward Cullen has perfume. Even B movies like the upcoming Kick-Ass have branded merchandise these days.

Seriously, as a die-hard movie and fashion fanatic who grew up with a mess of movie memorabilia, I have to ask who is buying this stuff. Admittedly, I did get a Twilight t-shirt as a gag gift for my 24th birthday but I never wear it in public, and as hard core as I am about Harry Potter the closest I come to HP merch is my collection of hardbacks. While I may pick up an item that was expertly placed in Carrie Bradshaw’s closet of a piece inspired by a film, as a grown-up I would never buy something that has a movie’s logo or characters on it. I also tend to shy away from movies that over saturate the market with a ton of junk-yeah James Cameron, I’m talking about you and your Avatar stuff. I also get a wee bit embarrassed when I have to wait in line to see blockbuster movies on opening night, but I digress.

Someone has to buying this stuff…not it!

Fashion Meets Music: Andre 3000

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Since it ain’t where you from its where you pay rent, it is seemingly safe to say I’m an Atlantan, for now. That fact, in addition to me being born and raised in the South, makes this post a little bit sweeter for me. Since hitting the scene in 1994, Outkast and Andre 300 have become the ambassadors of cool for the South in general and for Atlanta in particular.

Before the cartoon, the clothing line, Erykah Badu, and being named one of the “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities”, Andre 300 was Andre Benjamin, Atlanta native, a student of the violin and already picking up both musical and sartorial influences like a sponge. When Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik dropped in ’94 Andre was far from the space-aged, Southern gent that we now know him to be and was more of just your typical guy from around the way knocking around in his Braves jersey. Nothing about mid-90’s Andre hinted at the brilliance simmering under the surface. From there both his style and Outkast’s music took a turn to the surreal, obviously influenced by funk and his relationship with the equally trippy Erykah Badu, with the release of both ATLiens and Aquemini. At the same as his music took a turn to the space age, so did his style. What began with turbans to accent his outfits turned into high-waisted pants, wigs, and a sort of 70’s revival complete with multicolored outfits and crocheted hats. Eventually, Andre exited the mother ship and returned to the influences from his middle classed with his album The Love Below and again his style followed suit, with the introduction of Depression Era threads, seersucker, and pastels.

Perhaps the most appealing element of his style is his ability to constantly reinvent himself. Andre’s evolution, unlike that of some other celebrities, has as much to do with his own personal journey towards truth and discovery as an artist than it does record sales. His ability to find something from the past and reinterpret it for today’s audiences in a way that keeps him constantly perched on the next level.