MARYMOUNT STUDENTS DESIGN FOR MICHELLE OBAMA

About two weeks ago, USA Today contacted Marymount University's Dean of the Fashion department. Their purpose was to get some designs from a few selected design students for Michelle Obama's inaguration gown. Yes, thats right they called on good ol' Marymount for some sketches other than the high end designers we all know. The select group of senior students only had a few days to complete the sketches and when they were done, a photographer came to take pictures of the sketches. It was said that the sketches are supposed to be reviewed by Tim Gun and then voted on by the public via USA Today's website. So... USA Today has the sketches and now we have sit back and see what happens next. Good Luck to the MU girls!!

This Fashion Blog...

The objective of my fashion blog is to discuss more than just fashion as it pertains to the industry and commerical puposes, but it also aimed to explore the cultural adspects of culture as well. Fashion is such a broad subject, therefore mysubject matter is a mix of leisure writting and also serious issues that involve fashion. Through my post I have realized that fashion touches people in all different ways and different extremes. Blogging allows me to incorporate my own vioce in the things that we see in fashion everyday, and at the same time it allows me to shed light to some of the things that many people do not even notice about fashion. Truthfully, fashion is more than looking pretty and chic, but it is a lifestyle to me. Every second of my life, everythought that I have is usually iniciated by fashion and creativity and then goes furthur into the social norms and how people percieve certain types of fashion. So, blogging is a creative outlet of mines that the entire world can access if they so chose and I hope that this blog will not only entertain you, but I hope that it will help you to identify other aspects of fashion that you may have not thought about before because no matter how much people try to avoid fashion's golobal influence, we are all influenced by fashion in someway and fashion is apart of every human beings life indefinitely.

Inaguration Dresses

We all know that Michelle Obama is a fashionista in the White House. She’s smart, intelligent, a great mother… and I must admit that the woman has style. Not only has America realized it, but now we are waiting to see which designer she will be wearing next month.

Designers are compiling their best designs for Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama for the Inauguration of President (Elect) Obama. Designers like Eliza Gran, Bonnie Young, Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera,Betsey Johnson and Diane Von Furstenberg are just few of many designers that have designed dresses for Michelle and the girls. I must admit that some of the dresses for Sasha and Maila look a little matronly. For example, Best & Co. and Eliza Green’s designs for the girls are not my favorite. First off the colors are atrocious and secondly, the designs look to ‘American Doll-ish”. However, Bonnie Young is one of my favorites for the girls, I just wish that the dresses were not so long, but the dresses look gorgeous. Kudos to Isaac Mizrahi because he designed Michelle and the girl’s dresses with such perfect unity. I can really imagine them in these dresses. As far as Malia and Sasha are concerned, they are age appropriate and they do not have the ‘little American girl’ look, but they are not too adult at the same time.There are currently 40 designer sketches for the First Lady’s dress. Did I already mention that Isaac Mizrahi has stolen my heart? Betsy Johnson’s dress for Michelle… lets just say NO. It’s such a cliché with the red, white and blue and fading fabric, I just think that it is a little bit too much. Marc Jacobs for Michelle… let’s just day NO! Does Marcy Marc really think that his yellow and silver concoction of two garments that don’t really go together is going to work for the First Lady because I don’t think so. Monique Lhuillier, Diane Von Furstenberg are a few of my favorites. Christian Lacroix’s design was a little too dramatic, but I like how he mixed the red, blue and black unlike Betsy Johnson. Elie Tahari’s goes in one of my top five picks because it is an elegant silhouette and drapes beautifully. Oscar de la Renta’s sketch was good, but once again that red white and blue thing is kind of being over played.

I am curious to see which dresses are chosen for the women of the first family. After the whole election night fiasco I am pretty sure that Michelle will be picking wisely. (Which by the way I do not think that the dress that she wore election night was that big of a deal, it just caught the light in an awkwardly). With that being said I wonder what the critics are going to say this time around. As long as she doesn’t go for Marc Jacobs, or Betsy Johnson I think that she is pretty safe. As for the Sasha and Malia, Best & Co., Eliza Green are a no go. Isaac Mizrahi will be perfect for all three of them and he definitely gets my vote. Who would have thought that all this would be a good deal anyway? I don’t know, but it’s a big deal.

Wear the ROBOGLOVE, don’t let it wear you…

Beyonce’s album Sasha Fierce is soon to hit stores and her behaviors before its debut have been very peculiar. For example, she wants to be called Sasha Fierce and particularly the glove she wears in the “Single Ladies” video. She has worn this glove at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Saturday Night Live , and in a Gotham Magazine spread. The glove is an accessory to her alter ego Sasha. The roboglove was handcrafted by Lorraine Schwartz in New York. Schwartz is the longtime jeweler of Beyonce. The one of a kind glove is made of titanium. The glove is made to fit Beyonce, it was drafted from a cast of Beyonce’s arm. The roboglove is made of three parts; the ring, the glove and the upper arm cover. The scary part is that Beyonce’s alter ego is taking over with the help of this roboglove, but the roboglove is so well crafted that you can’t blame her for not wanting to take it off.

Levi's has the booty in mind

Who would have thought that Levi’s had the booty in mind? Finding good fitting jeans are always a challenge. Apparently Levi’s has come up with a solution to the problem .Levi ‘s has introduced the Ultimate Lift jean . The Ultimate Lift jean is the newest edition to Levi’s jeans. The Ultimate Lift’s sole purpose is to lift the booty. The jean is made of propriety technology with fabric and design elements that life the backside. The jean’s design is made to cup the booty to create the lift. The stretch fabric has toning properties and has great stretch recovery. The Levi’s ® Ultimate Lift ™ 544 jeans are made in boot-cut, slim straight and flare legged and are sold at $48.00.

For girls like me, it is extremely hard to find jeans that are made to fit my body type. Not to mention that Levi’s do my body no justice, I am very curious to see if they offer everything that they are promising. My experience with Levi’s has not been successful. I bought a pair of straight legs last year that left me with an illusion of a saggy bottom. Apparently the stretch in those jeans has terrible recovery. Needless to say, they did not do anything for my derriere. Furthermore, the Levi’s that I have tried on in random dressing rooms has boxy shapes or fit too large at the waist and too tight at the hips. So thank you Levi’s for thinking about us girls who have certain issues with your ill fitting jeans.
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METALLIC LEGGINGS

Now that we are in the Christmas season, it is my guess that metallic is going to make a stronger comeback than this fall. Sure we had the liquid leggings in gold and silver, we even saw tops and vest made of metallic and sequence fabrics. Its easy to stay safe in black, but how do you pull of gold and silver? I honestly have not seen anyone pull of the shiny look successfully. So here is a little how to guide to fight the holiday metallic challenge.


This trend can be versatile in many ways. Of course you can always go simple with a tunic, leggings and boots, but layers are key to make a statement. Unless you are wearing all black , I do not opt for the monochromatic color scheme. The trick is to play with textures to achieve a clean, chic look because you do not want to look like a Christmas present or a blob of gold paint.

Bronze Leggings:




Silver Leggings:





Black Leggings:






Don’t limit yourself to the shoes that you can wear with these leggings. However, do be mindful with the length of your leggings and the leg height of your shoes. As with the top choices, play with the texture of your shoes like, matte leather, patent leather, animal prints, satins, ect. Whatever color that you chose make sure that it compliments the leggings. Gray boots with bronze leggings may not be the way to go, but other neutrals like browns and blues may work fine. Also, socks can be a fun edition to the trends.


Whether your look is simple, chic or rock star with these leggings accessories will help the outfit to pop. Long chains, hats and scarves can help bring the outfit together.


These leggings do have a personality of their own, so you do not want to down play them or over do it either. Take a chance to become a fashionista the right way.


(click on images to make larger. Garments available at forever21)

OVER OBSESSED WITH STYLE? STYLE MOB

nikes classique

The story behind the look: i want these! <3>

We all know there are some over obsessed fashion people in the world. Well, I ran across a web site that enables those who suffer from this OCD behavior. The website that I am referring to is called STYLEMOB. It is basically an online community in which people upload pictures of themselves and others to allow fellow members on the site to vote on how good or bad their style choices are. The style categories are WHOLE LOOK,HEAD+HAIR, THINGS, and ECT. Under the WHOLE LOOK you can find anything from Christian Dior models on the runway, vintage vixens or your average Joe who thinks that they have impeccable style although they are only wearing a sweat shirt and jeans. HEAD+HAIR features pictures of hair styles, mostly 1960 inspired ponies, platinum blonde bobs and others. It also has an array of hats and scarves and also features make up fanatics with their large lashes and expressive red lips. THINGS are mostly accessories and shoes. There are vintage shoes and hand bags, fetish shoes and more. ECT is pretty much anything having to do with style. There is photography, artwork and total randomness.
There is even a section in which people seek out advise. Sort of a ‘q and a’ forum thing that those hopeful stylish beings seek out information from self proclaimed style moguls. Everyday the mob picks 3 winners under the categories of MOST WOW, MOST VIEWED AND MOST MOBBED. The mob also has contest, the most recent contest is “THE DELICIOUSLY UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER”, which speaks for itself.
The site is fun because it allows freedom in choosing what is fashion and what is not. However, I initially thought that unless they are winning money for these fabulous opinions and digital uploads, it is just a waste of time. But to my surprise, these mobers really do win money and shopping sprees. Okay, so now I have a better outlook on this whole online community of OCD behavior. Not only are they having fun, but there is an incentive to the whole thing. I wonder do industry people search this website like record execs do Myspace and Youtube trying to find up in coming artist. If so, there is even more motivation for this mob of stylist!

visit www.stylemob.com

Mickey is ‘so hood’

We all know the Mickey Mouse as the friendly little black and white mouse with the unflattering red pants. Recently, Disney has decided to transform the traditional Mickey Mouse into a an urban brand. Disney has launched an urban brand called BLOC28 on November 12th. The brand’s target market are those who are into urban wear, which is obviously a change in Disney’s market appeal. BLOC28 features t-shirts, New Era caps and vinyl figures as well as bikes and guitars. The caps are sold in over 40 stores in the United States. Artist such as Chaz Bojorquez,Ewok and Mear One are a few of the artist that made the ‘so hood’ Mickey come to life. Mickey is portrayed as Zorro in many of the illustrations, the artwork is colorful and surreal with a mix of graffiti.

Disney has definitely stepped out the box. I compare the brand to LOT26, but the designs for BLOC28 are more intense and have a stronger urban feel. Although, the work is amazing, the urban market is a hard one to stay strong in. What may be hot today will not always be what is hot tomorrow. I must applaud Disney for taking a risk to appeal to a different audience. The brand has potential to be successful . As long as BLOC28 stays new and fresh their popularity among those who love street wear and adore skateboard fashion will grow.


picture taken from http://www.bloc28.com

EVENT ALERT: Inspiring Global Fashion

Recently, on October 28, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in DC hosted a trunk show and forum called “Inspiring Global Fashion”. Sally Singer, Fashion News/Features Director of Vogue was the commentator of the discussion featuring Julie Ward, Gallery Asha; Brenda Winstead, Damali Afrikan Wear; G.Kofi Annan, Annansi Clothing Co.; and Korto Momolu, designer, stylist and Project Runway contestant discussing African clothing and fabrics being incorporated into Western fashion.

“There is a set day to be African… we put on our traditional African clothing for a day…” Korto stated when talking about the social disconnect associated with African clothing in American society. She continued to say “We should be able to say we are wearing a beautiful garment, and the fact that its African inspired is a cherry on top”...

Singer really exhibited her incompetence in understanding the cultural aspect of African clothing being incorporated in everyday fashion. “… Africa will never be able to compete with Milan, Paris, London and New York..” Her statement created tension in the room filled with various ethnic faces of diversity. A Ghanaian man replied to Singer’s statement saying that she was not accurate in stating that African fashion only consists of wraps and sashes. He added that all African fashion does not consist of wraps and sashes; rather there are tailored and structured garments as well. Singer with her industry experience and large accolades was silent in the exposition of her ignorance pertaining to the variety of fashions born in Africa and from African designers. However, in the conclusion of the discussion she expressed how raw and emotional African textiles are.

The Ghanian man’s statement bought attention to the fact that people of Western society do not consider nonwestern traditional garments as being anything but ‘traditional’. In other words, they have no room in the main stream fashion industry for growth. Sure you can say that Michael Kors has inspired African silhouettes and fabrics in his previous collections, but the truth of the matter is that it is still considered American fashion in the hands of an American designer. However, in the hands of a non-American person or designer, the fashion is no longer pertinent to American culture because it is too different to be accepted merely as Western fashion. The industry’s heavy hitters may not be able to understand the cultural relation with ethnic clothing.

Brenda Winstead said that she wants to “respect the fabric” that the women from West Africa spin for her. Julie Ward says that her fabric is only printed in limited quantity because of its exclusiveness and importance to its culture. G.Kofi lets out a subtle laugh when he says that he wants to convey the essence of Africa in his clothing and allowing it to be translated universally.

In my opinion African and other nonwestern clothing should and will be apart of Western fashion without having to be categorized as “African”. There is a void of mainstream ethnic fashion designers in the industry because their work is considered “other” according to the norms of Western society. Will Africa or India make it as big as Milan, Paris, London or New York? Who knows, maybe if the minds of people change and begin to realize that “other” is universal and that Western civilization and fashion is not the most supreme, but it feeds of the differences of others and later stamps it as ‘its’ own.

EVENT ALERT

Ebony Fashion Fair

The Ebony Fashion Fair has been on stage since 1956. Ebony Fashion Fair not only created an avenue for black models and designers, but it has also demanded the respect of the uniformed fashion industry. It is the worlds largest traveling fashion show and has given 54 million dollars in scholarships.

The show features designers such as Anna Sui, Oscar de la Renta, Missoni, Vivienne Westwood, and the unforgettable Yves Saint Laurent. With an all-star designer line-up, the fashions were sure to keep the audience captivated. That was until the models broke out in break dances. Reminiscent to a Baltimore Ball, the show is clearly aimed to entertain rather than showcase fashion. More so, the intermission is a clear indication that this is a production of theatrics. There were a few models serving the runway, but those beautiful walks were over taken by the over choreographed strides. I am all for a little fun, but it was hard to focus on the garments when the models become actresses and prance all over the stage.

It cannot be ignored that the Ebony Fashion Fair has given priceless opportunities to people of color from the past and present. Truthfully, this fashion show has survived the times of Dr. King. It may not be the traditional industry fashion show, but its contribution goes beyond fashion and manifests itself in a historical context. And in my opinion that is the most important.

Once Hated, Now On The Runway

By first glance one may wonder what Thom Browne was thinking when he “co-opted streetwear’s sagging clam-digger look, and solved the slippage problem by attaching the inner waist-bands boxer shorts”, written in the September 15, 2008 issue of DNR. What is the problem with sagging pants from the beginning and how did he solve the problem by attaching the boxer shorts? There is no question that hip-hop inspired fashion will show a little boxer here and there, but in reality does this fit in with those fashions that are not hip-hop related?

There has been controversy in the past years about the history of oversized or sagging pants. Some scholars who have done ‘endless’ research suggest that the trend came from inmates, or the other famous theory that gang bangers on the West Coast started the trend. However, my theory as well as others like me believes maybe it came out of something less violent related, like hand-me-downs. You know… those pants that your brother couldn’t fit anymore, but they were too big for you. Not a gangsta related trend, rather a habitable related trend. It’s like having old jeans with a tear in them, but you cannot afford to buy a new pair so you either tear another hole in them or try to patch them up. Furthermore, some way or another it end up being a trend. If sagging exposes ones undergarments isn’t the concept of revealing the boxer shorts still the same, then no, Mr. Browne did not solve ‘the problem’ because there is no problem.

It maybe unclear to say that the trend is gang related or promotes violence, but one must agree that it’s a style preference. Some posh upper-class lads may only wear their pants over their waist with their sweaters tucked it, it’s a preference. Everyone from white, black, Latino and Asian rock the sagging look and it doesn’t stop at gender, you may spot a girl or two with their pants below the waist. I am not saying that the whole world should be able to see private parts, but I am saying that acceptance is a virtue.

I am thankful that Thom Browne created this wonderful garment that struck a nerve in my thinking, but I am also curious to enter the minds of others that come across this picture.
Truthfully speaking, the generations of youth that made this sagging pants trend have now grown up into young adults who tend to wear their belts now-a-days.