Tag Archives: fashion

Fall is gone and we have come to another Minnesota winter so I thought it appropriate to end with one last color filled, fun fall post before the cold and dark toned winter takes over our lives. I absolutely love color-blocking! I remember as a little girl my mom always saying any solid could go together, I didn’t know what she was talking about and it didn’t really make sense to me then. All I knew was I wanted to match, but that was the 90’s. Solids are the key to color-blocking. Taking simple solid pieces and pairing them with others of a different color can create a look simplistically dynamic. For this look I kept it real simple but between the colors, accessories and hair i wouldn’t call this overall look simple. I had fun wearing this, very relaxed fit all over which is what I prefer. But because of the colors this look can go from very casual to chic, easy. V-neck, pink t-shirt paired with a pair of mens sky blue dress pants and mint green dress belt to add the division necessary for color-blocking. The accessories also helped take this look from casual to chic, featuring black, cream, and gold beaded necklaces to meet casual chic right in the middle.Hair:These yarn braids were done by Anita Hutchinson, a good friend of mine and young lady who truly does wonders for natural hair. I choose to get these braids after several months after the big chop and going natural in an attempt to help grow my hair. I had reached a very awkward stage in length and I wanted something different, something other than the micros, kinky twist and sew ins. I wanted a hair style that still reflected a natural state of black hair, I was quite pleased with the results.

Contact Info: hutchina@augsburg.edu

This is an insert from a short essay written by Marita Bonner in 1925, it’s one of my favorite pieces of the time because it addresses the negative situations blacks went through during that time period especially women. It challenges women to dwell on these situations but to also outsmart them, which is what we still have to do today. I thought it would be nice to introduce literature as I continue with this blog and connecting beautiful style with beautiful words.

On Being Young, a Woman and Colored By: Marita Bonner (insert)

“… Why do they see a colored woman only as a gross collection of desires, all uncontrolled, reaching out for their Apollos and the Quasimodos with avid indiscrimination? Why unless you talk in staccato squawks-brittle as seashells-unless you “champ” gum-unless you cover two yards square when you laugh-unless your taste runs to violent colors-impossible perfumes and more impossible clothes-are you a feminine Caliban craving to pass for Ariel?

An empty imitation of an empty invitation. A mime: a sham: a copy-cat. A hollow re-echo. A fruit, a foam. A fleck of the ashes of superficiality?

Everything you touch or taste now is like the flesh of an unripe persimmon.

. . . Do you need to be told what that is being . . . ?

Old ideas, old fundamentals seem worm-eaten, out-grown, worthless, bitter, fit for the scrap-heap of Wisdom.

What you had thought tangible and practical has turned out to be a collection of “blue flower” theories.

If they have not discovered how to use their accumulation of facts, they are useless to you in Their world.

Every part of you becomes bitter.

But—“In Heaven’s name, do not grow bitter. Be bigger than they are” –exhort white friends who have never had to draw breath in a Jim-Crow train. Who have never had petty putrid insult dragged over them-drawing blood-like pebbled sand on your body where the skin is tenderest. On your body where the skin is thinnest and tenderest.

You long to explode and hurt everything white; friendly; unfriendly. But you know that you cannot live with a chip on your shoulder even if you can manage a smile around your eyes-without getting steely and brittle and losing the softness that makes you a woman.

For chips make you bend your body to balance them. And once you bend, you lose your poise, your balance, and the chips gets into you. The real you. You get hard.

. . . And many things in you can ossify . . .

And you know, being a woman, you have to go about it gently and quietly, to find out and to discover just what is wrong. Just what can be done.

An ascendancy of wisdom. An incalculable hoard of wisdom in all fields, in all things collected from all quarters of humanity.

A stupendous mass of things.

Things.

So, too the Greeks . . . Things.

And the Romans. . . .

And you wonder and wonder why they have not discovered how to handle deftly and skillfully. Wisdom, stored up for them-like the honey for the Gods on Olympus-since time unknown.

You wonder and you wonder until you wander out into Infinity, where-if it is to be found anywhere-Truth really exists.

The Greeks had possessions, culture. They were lost because they did not understand.

The Romans owned more than anyone else. Trampled under the heel of Vandals and Civilization, because they would not understand.

Greeks. Did not understand.

Romans. Would not understand.

“They.” Will not understand.

So you find they have shut Wisdom up and have forgotten to find the key that will let her out. They have trapped, trammeled, lashed her to themselves with thews and thongs and theories. They have ransacked sea and earth and air to bring every treasure to her. But she sulks and will not work for a world with a whitish hue because it has snubbed her twin sister, Understanding.

You see clearly-off there is Infinity-Understanding. Standing alone, waiting for someone to really want her.

But she is so far out there is not way to snatch at her and really drag her in.

Piggybacking off of my last post about using a basic t-shirt as a canvas for your accessories this is what I also did for this look. I told you I like to wear t-shirts in the summer time, the effortlessness of it is what I like but unfortunately it can read unfashionable and lazy. That’s why it is crucial to ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE!!! You must draw the eye somewhere, the purpose of this is to show other ways I wear a t-shirt. How something as simple and basic can be presented chic.Accessory Details: Ethnic style beads were my necklaces of choice this time around, specifically for the colors and patterns. Since this look lacks color and prints I choose to highlight my necklaces. What I love most about these beaded necklaces is they pretty much go with everything, they’re easy to mix and match with each other and the color choices are always nice. Paired with a red clutch purse from H&M and matching earrings make deep red the accent color. (Makeup by: Anita Hutchinson)

Later that day I wanted to switch the look up for a boat ride. This is where the clothing became the focus, Nothing specific about this look but what I like most about it is how it feels. Sometimes when dressing I go for a whole look that makes me feel a certain way, for this I wanted to feel modernly old fashioned. Like it could work in the 60’s as well as today. It presents a very tailored look but still remains relaxed because of the styling.

Fit Details:

Vintage Culottes: The star of the show are a pair of vintage culottes I came across thrifting. A style of pant (and I can be honest) I never thought I’d wear let alone awe over. These pants are impeccably tailored with a front box pleating detail so simple and perfect.

Ralph Lauren Shirt: What I love about this shirt is not only does it present ease and a great fit (well after taking it in a few inches) but the color and print. A simple navy polka dot speaks volumes and joins crisp and fun together.

In contrast to the photos above this is where you would keep your accessories to a minimum, if you want your clothing to be the statement. Paired with a matching vintage purse and of course making the accent color red the look was finished. Tailored, relaxed, chic and all the way modernly old fashioned.

FOR MY MOTHER

The thing is, I owe a great deal of my fashion sense to my mother. Even though I was born in the late 80’s my mom clung to the 30’s, 50’s and 60’s her old soul was passed down to me. Growing up you hate to hear those words “you look just like your mom,” but since I looked more like my dads side I never really heard them. Now it’s “girl you dress just like your mom when she was your age.” I CRINGED. Now looking at my sense of style. I smile. Knowing where it comes from, even before a seed and before I was thought of the essence of me formed deep in her ovaries. Where the faint smell of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds lingered. And in her heart beating in unison with The Jackson 5’s Who’s Loving You, Green Onions and smooth jazz music notes danced their way down to her fallopian tubes, around and with her ovaries. Seeped in and formed me on purpose by accident. I believe this ovary was purple. Feeling her every move from the tilt of her foot to slip on a shoe to the reach to pick out the earrings to match and 8 months later on June 8th I was born already knowing me, already knowing my own heart beating in unison to a few jazz notes beating in unison to her heart my eyes danced all the way up to hers. She is my heart. This is me saying thank you now for what my eyes expressed but could not say with my mouth. Thank you mom for everything, I LOVE YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Embellishing the Basics: The T-ShirtSo it’s hot out and when it gets hot I stray towards keeping things very simple. The t-shirt becomes my best friend in the summer, embellished the right way it can become a very fashionable piece. Varying in colors from plain white to solid colors and prints it becomes all about the accessories to take this shirt from blah to BAM! Here I wore a rust orange t-shirt and decided to accessorize with brown and natural colored accessorize to keep a relaxed look but bring it up a notch to create versatility.

Essential Subtleties: Accessorize: When it comes to the accessories you must pay attention to detail and use discretion. There is nothing more tacky then someone who is over accessorized but when pairing the right pieces with a t-shirt you don’t have to worry about that. If you look at the t-shirt like a blank canvas and the accessories as decoration each piece plays an important role. They must be cohesive, create dimension, and lead to a focal point.

Accessory Details: Vintage stone and gold earrings: These earrings are mood earrings, they change colors depending on the temperature. They turn from green to blue to deep purple, in this photo they are deep purple which I was pleased with. It added a surprise element of color to the look. Buckle bracelet: This bracelet was attached to some winter boots of mine I never wore I took them off the boot, placed them on my wrist, and buckled them. Vintage necklaces: I decided to pair a few necklaces together; I put a green stoned necklace to add some color, a square pendant with a dynamic tribal necklace that added dimension to everything. Giraffe Print sunglasses and Vintage Braided belt: I found these thrifting

What is Love?

Love is the extent of just living to fulfilling ones destiny, to embracing every perfect flaw. Love is not being suicidal at the very least but enough to be the ultimate love. Waking up hating your life but loving yourself just enough to live it. True love prevails and overcomes even the deepest seeded hate and keeps your eyes open through the toughest times. Love will not let you kill yourself. In all honesty the worst bum on the street should have your upmost respect. For waking up to life, still being here and not giving up when their lives have seemed to hit rock bottom. Lacking motivation to lift ones self up, a lifestyle even the “strongest” man may not be able to handle. Woke up and lived another day. Didn’t take his/her own life, that is love. Maybe a grim, dim love but love none the less. And in the end probably fulfilled their destiny regardless, to inspire another to do better. That is love, the slightest amount having a greater effect. That is God.

These are the photos from a photo shoot I styled and directed. This shoot was completely my vision, I came up with the concept behind it. As you all know I love the androgynous look, I see this look having potential to become a classic look and maintain longevity well at least in my life. It’s like the trend I’ve been waiting for. So for this theme I decided to take a fun approach while still maintaining sex appeal but in an unusual way. I hope this shoot is empowering to women and I hope everyone enjoys it!!!

This shoot also gave me a chance to style menswear, which I must say being that I am a woman was more difficult then I expected. However thanks be to Styling Expert Keith Dorsett, owner of Elsworth’s Menswear which provided all the clothing used for this shoot and is where the shoot is located. I had the opportunity to intern with him I learned a lot and overall the shoot was successful. Click here to check out his stores site.

If you don’t have one, then I’d advise every woman to get one. In my book it’s definitely a staple piece in my closet, the basic white dress shirt. The one I am wearing in these photos is a plain Calvin Klein from Macy’s. What I like most about this shirt is its fit, because of its relaxed fit (It’s actually a boys shirt) it becomes very versatile. It is a basic shirt not to be confused with plain or boring. It can be dressed up with accessories, you can wear it with a suit, or dress it down with some denim. It will make almost any outfit look clean and polished without looking stiff. Even worn alone this shirt can hold it’s own, that is really what makes this staple piece so great. It’s effortless!

ACCESSORIES: Not a huge fan of earrings that dangle, I prefer studded earrings that sit close to the earlobe. I thought some very fem earrings made more sense seeing my hair was in a short hair style, paired with an ascot styled scarf for a little more color and to switch up the prints gave the look a little something extra and unexpected with an ethnic feel.

“SHUT UP” SHOES: 5 1/2 inches of pure “SHUT UP!” A floral print heel, we all know floral prints are in right now. Even though some are skeptical about the print worn in abundance with any look. I absolutely love a good floral print! This serves as a great alternative to those shy of prints to utilize accessories such as shoes to bring in some print and color but not potentially over do it.

A MUST HAVE: This purse is a favorite of mine, I got it second hand. A vintage mini brief styled shoulder bag. This purse style I can see myself wearing for a while and I’ve started investing and searching for similar items. It is all leather and will give any look a masculine edge however the sling strap mixed with the belt buckle and rounded edges keeps the purse feminine. I must also say I love the color scheme of the purse, it has a very fall color palette and I love to mix elements from the fall with ones from the summer.

The Bible says we must be quick to listen and slow to speak and anger. But I got something to say, I just hope you’ll listen. Sometimes I wish my black people would get pissed. So fed up they REFUSE to dismiss the fact that this system was not made for us. Although built on our backs not allowed to crack. Sometimes I wish black people would get sad. Programmed to feel nothing, we wear the mask. That grins. and lies. hides our cheeks. shades our eyes. This debt we play to human guile. with torn bleeding hearts, smile! Damnit Smile! In a country built on our blood sweat and tears we are not allowed to cry. Sometimes I wish my black people would just be black and realize that in doing so you can not and will not break. We once carried this world in our hands. on our shoulders against will and with the same shoulders we can not lean. we can not stand. You see our color formed this system. our tears built this country. And our anger Freed us. It’s time to hold our own.

For this look I decided to have a lil fun and bring in pops of color. Even though Minnesota hasn’t seen too much of summer yet and the days are very iffy one minute it’s nice and sunny the next gloomy and rainy. I like this look because it kinda straddles that fence as well by pairing some fall colors; the muted tans and grays with a bright red, blue and hint of lime. The heavier slack compliments the loose light weight tank baring skin for a summer appeal. You can look forward to seeing more ill fitted clothing tailored to my body type to give off the androgynous appeal; too big slouchy pants (like in these photos), and tailored menswear with a fem twist.

I am a versatile individual

not to be confused with a chameleon

but more like a mood ring

In tune with myself over anything

Shifting when I feel like it

and changing when it’s time

moving forward and not looking back on what or who seems to be left behind…for now.

It is important to explore almost critical to thoroughly examine ones talent