Fashion Inspiration: Stella Jean

Winter is here and the harsh weather is upon us.  I'm tired of wearing black, grey, ivory, and camel to work everyday, and I'm becoming too fond of a certain pair of sweatpants.  As Andre Leon Talley says, "It's a famine of beauty – a famine of beauty, honey!! My eyes are starving for beauty!" 

Not Impressed.  I don't blame him.

Luckily, Aídah introduced me to the work of Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean, and it is a much needed jolt of fashion inspiration in this dreary season. Anyone who knows me knows that I love a print (if it's African print that's even better). Furthermore, the bold colors and high waisted skirts of Stella Jean are just my style.  I love the way that Jean mixes traditional African fabrics with cotton tees,  chambray and oxford shirts.

Prints Courtesy of J.Crew and 125th Street

Speaking of her work, Stella Jean says "The stylish mixture never strays into caricature or parody, remembering that knowledge and respect should never be subordinate to latitude, but instead must be a a priority."  Despite this sentiment, and the fact that she uses fabrics crafted by people in "disadvantaged" communities in Africa-it was hard to find pictures of women of color in her runway shows.  Some of the images of her work are arresting in the fact that they are beautiful, yet veer into domain of costume.

As ALT says, "that's too much fashion!"

Unfortunately, seeking legitimacy in fashion means embracing whiteness even if you are creating magic with "ethnic" fabrics.  Since that is the case, my hope is that she collaborates with J.Crew.  I love her work and wish that I could afford it!  (What is fashion if not rich with irony!?!)

Stella Jean

Director Ava Durvernay in Stella Jean

Read more about Stella Jean here.
See pictures of Rihanna wearing Stella Jean here.

Sunday Brunch (With One of the Strongest People I Know)

Annie: A Metaphor for the Times

I wanted to see Selma, but Chloe wasn't having it so this Friday we went to see Annie.  My mother took me to see Annie on Broadway when I was a kid so it was nice to be able to do something similar with Chloe.  It's interesting to look at the controversy surrounding the Annie clothing line in Target because when I first saw Annie, Ms. Hannigan was played by Nell Carter who was upset that a white actress appeared in the television commercials for the play.

Photo: playbillvault.com

Nevertheless, Chloe and I are both big fans of the original movie, so we headed to the Magic Johnson Theater, ordered our chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks, and took our seats in the dark theater.

My plan was for us to wear matching red dresses, but Chloe wasn't having that either!

I was prepared not to like the remake, despite the black additions to the cast.  I'm not sure why, but I think that it had something to do with with the horrible wig that they put on Quvenzhané Wallis.  Bad wigs really bother me; especially on children.  This one was too far forward on her forehead, and the hairline was not at all natural.  It distracted from the expressiveness of her face. (And yes, I just wrote an entire paragraph about a wig.  If you know me, it makes sense).

Citibike product placement, when Citbike doesn't exist in Harlem

As I sat there alternately fawning over Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and coming up with a list of critiques in my head (Jamie Foxx phoning in his performance, Cameron Diaz being miscast as Miss Hannigan, the awkward dance numbers) I looked over at Chloe and she was grinning from ear to ear.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Nash, a Punjab for the 21st century

In the original Annie, the story was a metaphor for Depression Age America.  In 1933, the year that the play was set, America was looking for a Daddy Warbucks to set the country on the right path.  The remake makes this clear in the first scene when Annie does a presentation on FDR's New Deal in her classroom.

In the new version, Annie's story is a metaphor for the fatherlessness that many children face today (motherhood has always been incidental in Annie).   As the movie played, I could see Chloe looking wistfully at Mr. Stacks; at one point she even said  aloud "it's not fair."   I relaxed and tried to see the film through her eyes, and I realized that it was enjoyable to her because it is a fantasy.  Annie tells girls that if  they are witty and cute enough, they will be able to get the attention of a father figure who will buy them pretty red dresses and take them to fancy places.  What girl doesn't want to be rescued from invisibility;  provided for and protected?

What Annie offers girls looking for attention from their fathers is hope.  If they aren't getting what they need now, there is always potential for something wonderful to happen.   Quvenzhané Wallis is a nuanced, magnetic actress, and there is a moment when you see her moving from disappointment to hope and you suddenly understand the meaning of "Tomorrow, Tomorrow."

The Little Things

Happiness comes in all sorts of packages . . .

1. Sephora + Pantone Universe Matte Lip Creme in Masala: The search for the perfect nude lipstick led me to Sephora this week.  My intention was to exchange a Nars lipstick that was too light for a deeper shade from the same company.  When I complimented the beauty consultant on her lip color she led me to this Sephora brand lipstick.  Masala is an intense rose colored brown, which is considerably lighter than the colors that I usually wear.  Because Masala is the Pantone Color of the Year, many of the beauty consultants were wearing it, and I was able to see how flattering it is on women of all skin tones.

The texture of the lipstick is creamy without being shiny, and the packaging is fabulous! Plus, the Sephora brand lipstick is almost half the cost of the Nars.   The only downside is that it has the smell and taste of drugstore lipstick.  My New Years Resolution is to stop being such a lipstick snob :)

Available at sephora.com

2. The Affair: The Affair comes on Showtime after Homeland, which is one of the shows that I watch religiously.  However, after looking at part of the first episode I realized that the amount of sex on the show precluded me from even thinking about turning it on until way after Chloe went to sleep.  Once I finally had a chance to watch it, I was immediately drawn in by the dual-narrative format of the show.  This is the story of an affair (and a murder) told from the differing perspectives of the two people involved in it.  The Affair makes you question the nature of the truth and the stories we tell about ourselves.  As Toni Morrison says in The Bluest Eye, "to find out the truth of how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer."

 Oh, and Dominc West is fine! If you liked him in The Wire, he's basically playing a more education version of McNulty on this show.

Photo: Baltimore Sun

3. The Men We Reaped: Last year, I read and enjoyed Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones. Her use of metaphor reminded me of Toni Morrison, and even though I wasn't interested in the plot of the story her language and characters kept me engaged.  The Men We Reaped is a memoir which describes her experiences growing up in Mississippi and the deaths of several of the male members of her family.  The subject matter is depressing, but Ward's interpretation of it is frequently insightful.

Photo: mobilebaymag.com

4. Perfect365: I'm probably the oldest person on Instagram, but I could care less!  I follow celebrity stylist June Ambrose, and after looking at her pictures I began to suspect that she was using some kind of app to give her skin a glowy, even tone.  After some research I found the FREE app called Perfect365.  The picture on the left is an unretouched selfie.  In the picture on the right I evened my skin-tone, softened the bags under my eyes, slimmed my face a bit, and added more blush.  The result is subtle, but noticeable.  If this is what I can do in a few minutes for free, imagine what celebrities do.  Everything is indeed an illusion.

(Be careful with mixing the retouched picture with Instagram filters.  The result can be waxy-fake looking skin.)

Wearing my new lipstick from Sephora!

5. Grilled Skuna Bay Salmon @ Minton's.  Charli, Chloe, and I headed to Minton's this Sunday for a reunion dinner. With the exception of having to watch a  European woman with an iPad dancing around in what looked like her pajamas, we had a great time.  The standouts of the meal were the Arugula Salad with poached pears, boiled peanuts, and black eyed peas, and the Grilled Salmon served with with Fried Dirty Rice, Peanut Butter Collards, and Mustard BBQ  Sauce.  So yummy!

6.  Lush Tender is the Night Massage Bar: I have always been into Lush bath bombs, and their Karma perfume is my signature scent (although it has been impossible to find recently).  I like that their products are natural, but don't smell like vanilla or musk.  The Massage Bar is part of the gift basket that I received from Misa (that child has good taste!) As you rub the bar on your body the cocoa-butter melts into your skin like a lotion.  I've even been using it on my scalp in the paths between my cornrows.  Chloe uses it too and she says "I like this because it's soft and it makes your skin shiny."

www.lush.com

7. Brunch @ Lido: Lido is definitely my favorite restaurant, and you can't go wrong with good friends and bottomless mimosas! Happy New Year!

Beloved

Here, she said, in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it…No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off and leave empty. Love your hands! Love them! Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face ‘cause they don’t love that either. You got to love it, you! And no, they ain’t in love with your mouth. Yonder, out there, they will see it broken and break it again.What you say out of it they will not heed…What you put into it to nourish your body they will snatch away and give leavins instead. No they don’t love your mouth. You got to love it.

Photo: Huffington Post

This is flesh I’m talking about here. Flesh that needs to be loved. Feet that need to rest and to dance; backs that need support; shoulders that need arms, strong arms I’m telling you. And oh my people, out yonder, hear me, they do not love your neck unnoosed and straight. So love your neck; put a hand on it, grace it, stroke it, and hold it up. And all your inside parts that they’d just as soon slop for hogs, you got to love them. The dark, dark liver - love it, love it, and the beat and beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet…More than your life-holding womb and your live-giving private parts, hear me now, love your heart. For this is the prize.