A Few Good Men

http://www.mrporter.com/styledirectory/icons

"Let's hear it for the boys!" said in my very best Denise Williams Footloose voice.   An old friend of mine recommended the above site to me knowing as everyone does of my undying interest in fashion for the sake of ...... fashion.  I stumbled across the Style Icon link and was instantly riveted for the next half hour, as I realized that I had been remiss in showing the honor that is due to our most esteemed fashion counterpart, Men . 

This site has an inspired list of this past centuries most influential male trail blazers.  It takes the time to list them with iconic photos,  and provide a brief recap of how these gentleman happened to fall into such good company. My top two faves?

Gianni Agnelli & The Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie.  When it comes to Agnelli how can you hate on a man who had mastered the art of wearing his thousand dollar watches over the sleeve of his fine tailored dress shirts?  While Selassie.... you simply have to give it up to a man who's official title was: His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Elect of God.  Need I say more?

BHLDN

BHLDN promised to give you a fresh take on weddings. In that area they delivered. However be advised that fresh take is gonna cost you about  1400.00 - 4000.00 per wedding dress.  And to me that sounds like the  same old, same old.

Aside from the fact that I refuse to crack open my wallet for these prices, these divinely inspired looks cannot be ignored.

Fashion Week Fall 2011

• M. Patmos: Your runway models could not have looked more matronly.  Recruit a new hair stylist and try again next year.

• Jason Wu: You did so many things right! #1 Fav
• Click Here for Wu Fall 2011

• Diane Von Furstenberg:  I.Want.This.Bag!

• Tommy Hilfiger: Pass, Fail, Pass. 
• Pass on almost every one of your sweaters
• "Uber Fail" (as Mchl Strch would say) on all of those 1970's mobster business suits you were trying to push on us ladies.  
• Pass again on the felt brown fedora that kept showing up in between pieces.

• Rebecca Minkoff:  Thank you for showing women that if you have to wear leggings, there is a right and a wrong way to do it!

• Thakoon: Loud & Juvenile

• Nicole Miller: Sorry I was simply not able to look past your very loud digitalized & psychadelic prints

• Wes Gordon: so fun!
• Click here for Wes Gordon Fall 2011

• Victoria Beckham:  Touche'. You were my 2nd fav
• Click here for Victoria Beckham Fall 2011

A Real Decision Is Not Like A Preference...

This is for all of my people (and there are allot of you out there) who want different lives, who want change.  It's for everyone who is struggling with how to get from who they are to who they want to be.  The formula is as old as time.  It's really the same bible based truth we learn at every Kingdom Hall meeting.  However sometimes when the same old point is said differently from someone else..... for some reason it finally clicks.  I get motivated when I hear this.  I hope you do to.  Happy Living!

Kush

Vladimir Kush

Just sitting at home viewing one of my favorite artists web sites when I decided that I should share. So lets see.... basically if you were to take Salvador Dali and leave him stranded on a desert island with Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney you would get Vladimir Kush.  If you enjoy surrealism, you cant deny the genius of this Russian born artist.  Kush leaves nothing to chance, you know exactly where he wants his viewers eye to be drawn because he lays his subjects out on canvas with a surgeons precision.  No single stroke of his paintbrush is wasted, no image left unfinished. 

I first discovered this artist on my fourth trip to Vegas back in 2006.  I was trolling the (then) Alladin Casino mall when I chanced upon  an inconspicuous art gallery in the middle of the mall passage.  As I passed I did a double take and quickly found myself mesmerized.  I spent about an hour pouring over the 10 peices that the gallery housed and found myself back again the next day, and every  year since.   My favorite has always been "Red Purse".  Which one will be yours?

Adore Being A Girl?

This Old Thing? Actually Its New!

I was so excited when I stumbled across this NY times article.  Finally!  At least from a fashion standpoint women everywhere seem to be starting to grasp the concept that femininity ...... is a blessing.  With the increased popularity of vintage inspired clothing lines like:  Stop Staring!, Modcloth, and even mass produced Anthropologie, the softer side of being a girl appears to be on the glorious up rise.

I'm not talking hard pressed, fashion forward Sex in the City style femininity (which has its place, don't get me wrong.  Long live Carrie Bradshaw).  I'm talking about old fashioned soft curved femininity, along the lines of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and Grace Kelly.  Back when women actually understood that there was artistry involved in dressing.  And many trade secrets were passed on from mother to daughter, sister to sister, or between two giggling girlfriends who drew black lines down each other bare legs to mimic the nylons they couldn't afford.

I don't know about you guys but I am so over slouchy shirts, lazy leggings, and the ratty brown leather shoulder bags draped across the chest.  My fashion intelligence is always insulted by the ones who by throwing on a hat are trying to tell me that they have just accessorized.  Sorry honey your lazy and uncreative, plain and simple.  I get it, sometimes you just gotta go.  But when that becomes your uniform of choice, as opposed to your choice for the moment, something has got to give.  And whoever you decide to give it to.... leave it there.  Because it's time for an upgrade.