Josephine Baker, the Bronze Venus

This is a M.I.S.S. original and therefore the lovely graphics and my thought provoking prose all are their's, which is A OK with me. To see it in its original format go to Fashion Meets Music: Josephine Baker.

When Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said that “well behaved women seldom make history” she must have been thinking of the incomparable Josephine Baker, whose life proves that being well behaved is overrated. This trendsetting chanteuse became an international star despite being born with milk chocolate skin in a country that treated her like a second class citizen for it. While some style icons come in and out of fashion as trends change and evolve, Josephine Baker’s iconic status has never wavered.

Born Freda Josephine McDonald was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri to Carrie McDonald and, according to her birth certificate, Eddie Carson, who may or may not have been her biological fathe-cue Maury. By the age of 12 the young girl who would go on to the labeled the Bronze Venus, had dropped out of school and was living on the streets of St. Louis dancing on street-corners to survive. Luckily, her talent garnered the attention of the right people and by 15 she was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show. Eventually her talent as a performer coupled with a Jazz Age love for all things seemingly exotic landed Josephine opening at the Théâtre de Champs-Élysées in Paris, where her practically nude erotic dancing made her an instant success. From there she moved to the Folies Bergéres where she performed the infamous Danse Sauvage in a skirt consisting of a string of artificial bananas reportedly designed by a lover of either Paul Poiret or Jean Cocteau. (To this day that iconic performance has been referenced by everyone from cartoon characters to Béyonce and beyond.) In due course, like many great performers Josephine’s act evolved to encompass dancing en pointe and singing which took months of training with a vocal coach. After a short while the “petite danseuse sauvage” who became “la grande diva magnifique” became the most successful American entertainer in France and starred in three films, becoming the first African-American woman to star in a major motion picture. While Josephine’s star burned bright abroad, she was the toast of Paris café society and served as a muse for everyone from Langston Hughes and F. Scott Fitzgerald to Pablo Picasso and Christian Dior, she never obtained the same reputation in America due in large part to her divine complexion.

While Josephine’s career spanned decades and even helped resurrect France’s fashion industry post-WWII with a few well designed costumes by Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, Josephine Baker is and will always be synonymous with Art Deco. Her Eton crop, adopted almost the second she stepped off the boat in Paris, sparked a fashion trend and her over the top costumes accentuated her exotic looks which were all the rage in a decade that had just seen the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. It was rumored that it was no coincidence that tanned skin became popular during her rise to stardom-that has also been credited to another rags to riches chanteuse turned designer Coco Chanel. Always one to start trends and never follow them, Josephine Baker was also known to have an intense love of fashion, occasionally sketching over images in Vogue when she was traveling by train as a chorus girl. This elegant chanteuse who definitely knew that normal gets you nowhere was also known to perform on stage with her pet cheetah, Chiquita, adorned in a diamond collar. Its also worth mentioning that in true trendsetter style, Josephine was lightyears ahead of Brad and Angeline with her own Rainbow Tribe.

Armed more gumption than a little bit and the ability to evolve without abandoning her true inner voice, Josephine Baker set the stage for legions of aspiring performers despite never gaining true success at home. As one of my personal muses, right up there with Coco Chanel, Josephine’s drive and passion prove that if you believe in yourself and are true to who you are, nothing can stand in your way.

The funny thing about branding...

Does anyone know why a Louis Vuitton monogram speedy 30 costs $730? Most people would say its because of the quality of the leather or the level of craftmanship that goes into making each bag. Wrong, while Louis Vuitton bags are very well made, those LV emblazoned bags you see girls proudly carrying around your local mall are not made from leather, nor do they pretend to be. If you go to the Louis Vuitton site you can see in bold letters that you monogram/damier ebene/damier azur speedy is made from canvas, just like that Kate Spade bag you had in middle school. Actually only the piping and handle are leather and my sources tell me they aren't made from the highest quality leather. So if your bag is not leather, although you thought it was, why did you just drop your paycheck on that easily copied bag? One word, status.

Since before I can remember Louis Vuitton, like most high end labels, has been associated with having a certain socio-economic standing. Much like the car you drive, what part of town you live in and how many languages you speak, carrying a Louis Vuitton speaks volumes about your tax bracket, or it used to. Brands like Louis Vuitton work tirelessly to ensure that they maintain their top tier status, from pricing and positioning to deciding which celebs they want to align with their brand. Why do you think you've never seen Louis Vuitton bags on sale? Markdowns and promotions every other season are fine for bridge brands or department stores trying to clear their seasonal inventory, however they can cheapen a brand in the eye of their target customers. What about sample sales, you ask. Well sample sales are usually exclusive events that fly under the general public's radar-you have to know about them or be invited to attend-so they have an air of exclusivity which is key to maintaining the prestige of a luxury brand.

In the end kiddies, I'm not telling you to stop buying Louis Vuitton, unless you are going broke and hungry which is so NAGL, all I'm saying is know what you're buying. Never for a moment believe that a designer item is priced at an arm and a leg simply because its of better quality. While they probably do use better fabrics and legit production facilities, the only reason they are priced that way is to make you think they are better. After a certain price everything is of comparable quality,take this from girl who spent 4 years learning how to evaluate the quality of the garments you buy, actually I have it on good authority that a large portion of luxury brands are made in the same factories as their bridge and better counterparts. How else do you think some knock-offs, I mean inspired by, pieces look almost like the originals and fly off the sewing machines at the same time?

Ask Ana!

For some reason the people that I know think I’m some sort of stylist/fashion savant/a go to person for all things fashion and style related and although I know a thing or two about a ting or two, I am not any of those things. However, since I get at least one style related question a month via twitter, facebook or my inbox-not counting the in person/text requests I get-I’ve decided that I’d just go with it. So if any of you lovely readers have any fashion/style related questions shoot them my way. I may not be Rachel Zoe but I have a pretty solid vocabulary of fashion terms stored in my long term memory, I get dressed almost everyday and I’m honest in a “Yes, those jeans definitely make your ass look huge, because it is” kinda way. I can’t guarantee that every bit of advice I give will be perfect but again I’m just a girl giving her opinion on stuff.

If you have a fashion/style question send it over to submissions@cherchezlagamine.com, subject ASK ANA and I’ll do my best to answer it. Send your other life questions to the same address but put Is That Normal? in the subject line and Patrice will do something with it.

xo
Ana “Its not you its the clothes” B

Straight ZEF!!!

This is a M.I.S.S. original for their weekly Fashion Meets Music column where I play connect the dots and wax poetically on how music and artists influence our sartorial choices. To view this post, and the images accompanying it, go to Fashion Meets Music: Yolandi Visser of Die Antwoord.

Ask anyone under a certain age who is the hottest female MC rocking a mike these days and I’m sure 85% of them would say Nikki Minaj. Not one of them would tell you to check out a bleached blonde, mullet sporting, South African who could probably eat Nikki and Lady Gaga for breakfast and wash them down with a 40, but I would.

As the female co-front of South African rap group Die Antwoord, Yolandi Visser is one of the most wholly original ladies stepping on stage in the past few years. Instead of relying on recycled, tried and true formulas showcasing big boobies and nasty-as-I-wannbe lyrics, Yolandi’s lyrics are so zef-which means trailer trash fantastic as far as I can tell- that they border on satire. (Side note: As I was doing a bit of research for this week’s FMM I found that Die Antwoord is Yolandi and Ninja’s third hip-hop project together and may really be more of satirical comment on South African society than a real couple from the ‘hood making a way where they can.) While her lyrics are explicit, duh, they are far from your typical my lady-parts are so good everyone wants a taste/I’ll take you and your man/I’m so ride or die I’ll hide the murder weapon in my panties. Actually, her fun, flirty tongue-in-cheek minus the overused clichés and metaphors flow reminds me more of what female MCs did in the late 80s and 90s than anything being played on your local Top 40 station-satire or not.

With an ultra blonde mullet, a too long to type acrylic set, cropped tops salvaged from Goodwill and gold leggings, Yolandi’s style is straight trailer fab. Her nails are sicker than anyone I’ve seen working the desk at the DMV and the fact that she seemingly prefers sneakers to heels speaks very highly of her. Although she has a special love for American Apparel’s shiny gold tights, she’s also been spotted in outfits that seem to be composed of 80s and 90s castoffs found at the thrift-store and worn as is-no clever remixing vintage to look brand new in Yolandi’s closet. While she loves old school ghetto-gold and sneakers, it seems as Yolandi’s favorite furry accessory happens to be white mice...you know like lab rats. Not that I’m judging but since mice kind of gross me out, couldn’t she just go Paris Hilton and carry around a toy dog? They look mouse like, but I guess that’s kind of the point.

Whether you love her style, and music, or not, no one is going to argue that Yolandi Visser, née Anri du Toit, is far from your run of the mill star. Check the videos and see for yourself-warning they are not for kids.

Always a lady, Lena Horne

This is a M.I.S.S. original, the images and content are property of that publication. Go to Fashion Meets Music: Lena Horne to view this post in its original format.

When it comes to exuding class and lady-like charm, no one has ever been able to come close to the legendary Lena Horne.This incomparable quadruple threat, singer, dancer, actress and activist, broke barriers and set the standard for generations of female prefomers.

Born in Bed-Stuy on June 30, 1917, Lena Horne was destined for greatness-with an actress for a mother, a famous inventor for a grandfather, and an uncle who would go on to advise FDR how could she not be amazing at something. At 16 Horne joined the chorus line at the famous Cotton Club and a few years later she was touring with Noble Sissle’s Orchestra, recording her first album and replacing Dinah Shore as a featured vocalist on an NBC radio show. By the time she made her silver screen debut with MGM in Panama Hattie she already had two films under her belt and was established as a nightclub performer. Just to back track a bit, when Horne signed with MGM in the 1940s she became the first African-American performer wot sign a long term contract with a major studio. After appearing in Stormy Weather, Cabin in the Sky, Ziegfeld Follies, Meet Me in Las Vegas and a handful of other films, Horne was blacklisted from Hollywood for her left-leaning political views in the 1950s and returned to her first love, the stage. She briefly returned to film, girl was gorgeous as Glinda the good witch in The Wiz, and eventually went back to performing, squeezing in a few TV appearances here and there, until her death in May 9, 2010.

Before I move on to Lena Horne’s oh so lady like fashion sense which was typical for a woman of her era who made her name during Hollywood’s golden age, I have to comment on her role as an activist which may be reason number 1 that she was blacklisted. Coming from a middle-class, well-educated family, Horne was nothing like today’s starlets. She lent her star status to the Civil Rights movement, spoke and performed at the March on Washington and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lunching laws. Most importantly, her work in films and on stage allowed little girls to dream that they could one day be in the movies no matter their skin color.

Sartorially speaking, Lena Horne was very much a woman of her times from her well coiffed do to her gorgeous gowns and manicured nails. As many of our grandparents can attest to, back in Lena Horne’s day women were ladies down to the way they entered a room. Horne’s amazing gowns worn on and off screen were so breathtakingly beautiful that they could still take best dressed at the Oscars over 50 years later. Although her style evolved with the changing times and her changing body -no woman looks the same at 65 as she did at 25- her classic sense of old Hollywood glamour never faded. One could say that as Lena Horne aged her grace and beauty only began to shine more.

Fashion Dramz/Racism Still Alive They Just Be Concealing it

Last week the blogosphere erupted with tales of John Galliano's drunken, anti-semitic tirade and its aftermath. From here to Refinery 29 bloggers stood in for fashion execs and gave their $.25 on the matter. After watching how things have played out and reading one well written op-ed after another, I've decided to throw my pennies in the ring so to speak.

Before I go in on John Galliano's Mel Gibson moment, I have a little story to share that sums up fashion's diversity issues and how JG's views fit into all of this...In March of 2008 I was in New York interviewing for internships and apartment hunting, I knew I had to be in NYC to eat, breathe, and sleep fashion so I was making it happen. I grab a cab from my hotel that was a few blocks away from the World Trade Center crash site and headed uptown for my 10:30 interview at the showroom of a well known celebrity jewelry whose name I will not reveal. I got there with time to spare and rode in the oldest elevator to the showroom where an assistant brought me into their office-which was being renovated at the time. I was interviewed by a top level assistant in a small room full of people who weren't interviewing me but felt the need to throw in their two cents every few seconds like saying that I must not have gone to a good school because the English girl interviewing me hadn't heard of it-not like this chick went to Harvard. After being shot at by the firing squad the designer's sister walked in to my interview and began to chat with me. She asked me about the brand and how the position fit into my career goals and then, out of nowhere, informed me that "...this is a Jewish office, do you have a problem with that?" Since I'm obviously not Jewish, I responded no-I was raised a Catholic and last time I checked Jesus was a Jew so I'm cool with them as a people, as individuals I judge them on an individual basis like any other group of folks. Shortly after being asked if I was down with the Jews, my interview was wrapped up and I was released back onto the streets of Manhattan. I could have easily said that this particular jewelry designer did not like people who weren't Jewish and therefore would not hire me based on that one fact, however I thought "Ahh fashion, if you aren't a part of the right group you have to fight like hell to get in."

This brings me back to John Galliano. The fashion industry is notoriously youth, beauty and money obsessed, much more than a group of 16 year old queen b school girls. No matter how much the public whines and moans about more racial and physical diversity, they aren't going to listen because their constituents are the "haves" not the "have nots." With an industry geared toward an elitist appreciation for all things elite, why does it shock you that a one of their golden gods harbors such views? It should upset you but not shock you. Kinda like it wouldn't shock me if I found out that Karl Lagerfeld is a racist-he's like 100 you know-it would really piss me off but not shock me one bit. When your currency is how exclusive your products are and the more exclusive the more highly valued, having anti-semitic, misogynistic, racist views doesn't come as a surprise. I would be shocked however if someone in fashion was homophobic since 95% of male designers are gay, but then again I wouldn't be shocked to know that a few female editors n such called them F-words behind their backs.

You see anytime you have a culture based upon who is better, whether its because of their skin color, religion or that they're wearing last season's Prada boots, you create a climate that breeds prejudices. Maybe its because I'm a minority that I feel this way about these things, you know a large portion of people hate me for something I can't control, or maybe its because I'm realistic. In the word of Kanye West "racism still alive they just be concealing it." Or elitism rather.

Yay Spring!

Or pre-spring at least...here are some polyvore sets I threw together in anticipation of warmer weather. There is content to go with these guys at Gamine.

Lazy Girl Chic!

*This post was done for Gamine, my personal pet project, to view it in its original form go to DIY Adventures: Lazy Girl Chic.

Despite that fact that I manage to look pretty decent 95% of the time that I am out on the town having coffee at various places and doing whatever else it is I pretend to do, I am very lazy at heart when it comes to fashion. I love clothes and I can navigate any shop like its my second home however, the effort required to shop, maintain a closet-I’m an uber virgo who color codes her clothes by function-and plan outfits on the reg always eludes me. For these reasons, and because I find it incredibly vain and narcissistic oh and lame, I have never nor will I ever keep a blog dedicated to daily outfits and my personal style, I’ll leave that to the folks at Lookbook.nu. What I have mastered in my years of being a procrastinating perfectionist is how to get dressed in under 15 minutes and come out looking like a winner and I owe it to two things, the dress and my winning addtiude.

To master the “I just rolled out of bed and threw on the first thing I saw but I look great” look all you need is a few work horse dresses, I call them my old faithfuls, that you can dress up or down. A great basic dress to start with is this one from AA. Say you have a cocktail type thing to go to and you’re running late, all you need is this dress, a killer pair of heels, a blazer and a swipe of red lipstick-blazers and red lipstick confuse people into thinking you’re polished with little work-and bam instant outfit. Now say you have a day date with someone you kinda want to impress, take the same dress and pair it with a denim vest, gladiators, a cute but not too big bag, and pile your hair into a top knot with a swipe of lipstick-seriously whenever I don’t feel like putting on make-up I put on lipstick it really fools people-and there you are lunch date/internship/general day time activities ready.

I have to admit that not every occasion calls for dress that is so basic, in those cases I dress down a more formal dress. For example, I actually own this French Connection dress that is a bit of an anti-boner and in a period of two months I wore it twice styled very differently to two very different occasions and guess what? Winner! First, I wore it to Jeffrey’s Fashion Cares Atlanta where I belted it with a skinny belt only in the front, I was going for a Grecian godess meets belted huke look, added my over the knee riding boots and you guessed it red lipstick and was ready to meet Jack and Lazaro of Proenza Schouler in under 15 minutes. A couple of weeks later I wore the same dress with a pair of heels, no belt and a super old clutch from Banana Republic to a wedding of one of the BF’s college buddies. That night I got quite a bit of compliments and got ready in the time it took my nail polish to dry.

Here’s the thing about dress dressing, not every occasion calls for a dress but as a woman you have the option to make every occasion a dress occasion. I’ve pulled off many a tee-shirt/over-sized button down/tank and leggings/jeans/skirt combo without thinking to hard on it-benefits of a well organized closet and dresser-but its not as easy and putting on a dress and boots and causing all kinds of style crushes.