CELEBRITY BLOG

Monday, June 9, 2008

Fernanda Tavares Picture

Fernanda Tavares hot picture

Fernanda Tavares hot wallpaper

Fernanda Tavares sexy bikini

Michelle (wearing Maria Pinto) and the family photographed for Vogue Magazine.

The New York Times ran an article about Michelle Obama's image and style yesterday, oddly comparing her, in one aspect, to the two matronly Bush First Ladies. Both of those women, says the piece, used humor to make their spouses seem more relatable. Taking it a step further, the author claims that Michelle Obama also uses her clothing to temper her high falutin' education and credentials by wearing feminine lady like ensembles instead of corporate lawyerly power suits. That part puzzled me because honestly, I've known a few rainmaking women in my work realtionships and trust me, they are not all into severe pulled back hair and pant suits.

Says Vogue's ALT:

“Everyone knows that people respond to the way you look when you run for office,” André Leon Talley, an editor-at-large for Vogue, which featured Mrs. Obama as an “It” girl in its April issue, said last week in an interview. “A black Camelot moment is the right moment for the Obamas,” he added. “And so the faux pearls, the A-line dresses, the Jackie flip are obviously all part of how her image strategy has evolved.”

Mrs. Obama's penchant for sleeveless sheaths and shifts, that now coveted Azzedine Alaïa belt, large pearls, and knee length dresses have evoked the Jacqueline Kennedy comparison on more than one occasion. The shift dress she wore on the cover of Newsweek some months ago was similar to one that Jackie wore on a trip to India in 1962. Barack himself jokingly referred to his wife as "Jackie O from the hood" last summer and Radar magazine wrote that Obama's mimicry of the famous First Lady's style has everything to do with try to "underline their candidate's dignity and cross-racial appeal."

When Barack wrapped up the nomination last week, there were three things on the minds of many. First came the pride filled "OMG! OMG! OMG!" exclamations from the masses, then (for the unhip) the comical hullabaloo about the fist bump and lastly the, chorus of "Where did she get that dress?"

From the NYT piece:

What Ms. Taylor [Mikki Taylor of Essence Magazine] read in Mrs. Obama’s appearance on Tuesday, she said, was a message that she is primed to become first lady, although not necessarily first hostess. “Every woman I talked to was saying how she has this confidence that is empowered,” Ms. Taylor said. “The purple dress, the legs that I have to believe were bare and not wearing the prerequisite suntan stockings, all say, ‘I’m here to do business.’ ”

Of course, a public figure like Michelle Obama is scrutinize very closely, her every movement, word and gesture is immediately dissected. I wrote previously that the would be First Lady has enjoyed a relationship with sophisticated designer Maria Pinto for years. In my view Michelle Obama is fortunate enough to know what type of clothing best accentuates herself. If her classic style harkens back to Jackie O's unfussy elegance then she is in good company.

ETA: Now in Fashion: Michelle Obama from Fashion Week Daily.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Is a Dress Just a Dress?

Regarding Camille's comment in the last entry about this article posted at The FADER . Zachary's Smile is a vintage boutique that also produces clothing for its own label. This season the boutique is mad for African prints, particularly those of the Ivory Coast:

...the new printed dresses are made from fabric exclusively from the Ivory Coast. There is an endless choice of prints—from hot and tropical florals to a particularly fetching heart print—in a limited fabric run with something to tickle pretty much any girl's fancy.

That kind of cultural appropriation annoys me but then, my eye starts to twitch anytime I see a non-Asian woman dressed in a Qipao with chopsticks in her hair at some party.

There is just something about traditional clothing that is sacred to me. I'm not bothered by small elements, like a scarf or jewelry woven into an outfit. I myself have worn clothing with kente cloth even though, according to my National Geographic DNA test, my ancestors probably didn't come from Ghana. What gets me are the head to toe ensembles, and we've all seen it. You know the type, it starts off innocently enough with someone buying a conical straw hat to wear in the garden and then BAM! All of a sudden she is shopping exclusively at Uwajimaya and her wardrobe is full of mandarin collar jackets that she bought at Chico's. And black folks are not immune from this behavior, Lawrence Fishburne and Wesley Snipes I am looking at you.

But I digress. All I really want to say is that I had to roll my eyes when I read this. First of all, the assertion that because of X designer, tradition clothing is fashionable, is offensive. I hate the idea of someone buying up a bunch a fabric from the Ivory Coast to make cute little size 4 dress (only to be dumped onto a clearance table when it's pronounce "out") for the Gossip Girl set. And yeah, I'm also annoyed because really, boho black women in the US have been incorporating traditional textiles and clothing into their wardrobes forever but things like this it only seems to be noticed when white women adopt it. Cornrows? Bo Derek invented that beach ready hairstyle in the 80s. Velvet tracksuits? That's the terrain of Juicy Couture. Nameplate necklaces?* Carrie" from SATC. Remember when Carrie referred to it as her "ghetto" gold? Also no one had big ass lips until the day the heavens parted and Angelina Jolie was born.

But I'm a hyprocrit too. If the retailer was Black I probably be filling my online shopping cart with those frocks.
*as the child of a black Panamanian woman, I was issued one at birth.

ETA: Read another blogger's take on it here.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

This is Not Your Grandma's EBONY Magazine

Is there some new blood over at Ebony shaking things up? Because this doesn't look like the Ebony I remember. You know, the one that every other black beauty salon in the country has had a subscription to since 1972...and they kept every issue? There was the nicely executed "Fashion Issue" last year and then young heartthrob blood Chris Brown on last month's cover. These days the content seems to be skewing to a much younger demographic. Seeing Serena Williams and her glorious booty gracing the cover of the July issue is definitely a head turner. First of all, I have never seen her look better and secondly, the photo is not a crappy composite shot or something lifted from a photo agency.If I didn't see that iconic red and white Ebony logo in the top left corner, I would have mistaken this for an issue of In Style. I just wonder if there is an ad for Fashion Fair's Vantex fade cream in every issue.