The Right Style » Celebrity https://test.therightstyle.com Not just any style, find your right style Tue, 21 Apr 2015 20:53:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.1 5 Reasons Why Black Girls Rock Rocks the World https://test.therightstyle.com/5-reasons-why-black-girls-rock-rocks-the-world/ https://test.therightstyle.com/5-reasons-why-black-girls-rock-rocks-the-world/#respond Mon, 06 Apr 2015 17:37:27 +0000 http://test.therightstyle.com/?p=959 Last night’s semi-annual awards ceremony for Black Girls Rock! was well, rockin’. The show, broadcast until infinity on BET and Centric, is a celebration of trailblazing and landmark Black girls and women in all spheres of life. In the world of Black Girls Rock, you don’t need to be a superstar with a hit record […]

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]]> Last night’s semi-annual awards ceremony for Black Girls Rock! was well, rockin’. The show, broadcast until infinity on BET and Centric, is a celebration of trailblazing and landmark Black girls and women in all spheres of life. In the world of Black Girls Rock, you don’t need to be a superstar with a hit record or a summer blockbuster. All you have to be is a woman who is dedicated to being a leader and being the best she can be. There are SO MANY THINGS I loved about last night’s show…Here are the Top 5 Reasons why Black Girls Rock rocked so hard.

  1. The Honorees
  2. The Music
  3. The Fashion
  4. The Sisterhood
  5. The Message

The Honorees.

First of all, take a look at these categories, y’all! Star Power. Rock Star. Shot Caller. Living Legend. Social Humanitarian. Change Agent. There’s nothing to be scared of when people call you these kinds of names.

  • Star Power award winner, Jada Pinkett-Smith quoted her, “Afro-Futurist” daughter, Willow and addressed that Deadline article.
  • Shot Caller Ava Duvernay talked about the “light, camera, action” that she uses to govern her own life and saluted the beautiful black woman filmmakers that came before.
  • Dr. Helene D. Gayle accepted her Social Humanitarian award with flawless grace and shared words from her mother that sound strangely familiar: “You have a good brain and a big mouth, now use them.“
  • Principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, Nadia Lopez, was shot to well-deserved fame after my favorite Humans Of New York kid, Vidal, called her his biggest influence. Now a little over two months have passed and the kids of Brownsville’s Mott Hall Bridges are going to Harvard and Principal Lopez is on stage accepting the award most fitting for a Change Agent like her.
  • Cicely Tyson is a Living Legend. But we already knew that.
  • Erykah Badu, my soul sister, is a Rock Star. I was all here for her speech and digging her deep groove as she wove “Master Teacher” and “Soldier”. Check this right here.

The Music.

And that brings me to the music. Nothing touched this medley by Lalah Hathaway, Faith Evans and Fantasia.

 

The Fashion.

The following images are entitled: “YAAAASSSS!”, “Werk.”, and “Killin’ ‘Em!”

The Sisterhood

We live in a world with too much Love and Hip and Real Housewives of Atlanta and not enough of alla that. Seeing beautiful sisters including the First Lady of the United States (!) on that stage celebrating each other and celebrating all of us in our uniqueness moved me in a way that I have not been moved in a long time. Seriously, this was me last night:

The Message

Black Girls Rock is more than just an awards show, it’s a movement. Black Girls Rock is a no-profit dedicated to the development of young Black women, teaching them to serve, to be leaders and innovators. By expanding a young woman’s worldview today, the organization is making sure that we have strong Black women to lead us into the future. And that, my friends, is why Black Girls Rock will rock the world…today and hopefully, forever.

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]]> https://test.therightstyle.com/5-reasons-why-black-girls-rock-rocks-the-world/feed/ 0 Let Bruno Mars Uptown Funk Up Your Day Job https://test.therightstyle.com/bruno-mars-uptown-funk-up-your-day-job/ https://test.therightstyle.com/bruno-mars-uptown-funk-up-your-day-job/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2015 17:43:02 +0000 http://test.therightstyle.com/?p=801 Friday. I’m so restless. I want to be out in the wide world, frolicking and dancing, singing and twirling. But mama’s got bills to pay, so I’m at work. Fortunately, I’m a creative and blasting the jams is part of my PROCESS.  Producer Mark Ronson’s newest release, “Uptown Special” is near ready-made for getting the […]

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]]> Friday. I’m so restless. I want to be out in the wide world, frolicking and dancing, singing and twirling. But mama’s got bills to pay, so I’m at work. Fortunately, I’m a creative and blasting the jams is part of my PROCESS.  Producer Mark Ronson’s newest release, “Uptown Special” is near ready-made for getting the creative juices flowing. The first release from the album is “Uptown Funk” featuring my petite brown prince, Bruno Mars. The groove flowed all the way through me. All the way. Before long, I had the song on repeat and Bruno was practically my cube-mate. Since Bruno was bringing ALLA the funk to my day job, taking sartorial inspiration from the man was a natural next step.

Do that dance, boy!
Do that dance, boy!

The elements that made Bruno’s outfit retro and hilarious could easily be translated into a sophisticated but eclectic workday style.

The result:

Uptown Funk You Up

 


 

Trading the baggy undershirt for a sleek sheath, the shapeless salmon blazer for a structured magenta jacket, and the multiple gold chains for a layered gold necklace takes the look from masculine to undeniably feminine. Though I cannot guarantee your job security if you try to sport that scarf underneath your fedora, let me know if you try it. I love a good laugh.

Go get your hair done and get ready for the freakin’ weekend!

Roller set recommended but not required.
Roller set recommended but not required.

 

Take me home, Bruno! Get “Uptown Special” available on iTunes.

 

 

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]]> https://test.therightstyle.com/bruno-mars-uptown-funk-up-your-day-job/feed/ 2 Michelle and Alicia: Sisters in SOTU Style https://test.therightstyle.com/michelle-alicia-sisters-sotu-style/ https://test.therightstyle.com/michelle-alicia-sisters-sotu-style/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2015 05:29:31 +0000 http://test.therightstyle.com/?p=789 It was a shady, shady night folks! If you were watching President Barack Obama’s penultimate State of the Union speech, then you know just the moment I’m talking about. Obama: “I have no more campaigns to run.” Republicans: *applause* All: *laughter* Obama: “I know because I won both of them.” But the real star of […]

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]]> It was a shady, shady night folks! If you were watching President Barack Obama’s penultimate State of the Union speech, then you know just the moment I’m talking about.

Obama: “I have no more campaigns to run.”
Republicans: *applause*
All: *laughter*
Obama: “I know because I won both of them.”

burnCaption
Damn, Son!

But the real star of the night (for me, my mother and my sister, at least) was First Lady Michelle Obama’s fly suit. The grey, nubby suit was perfection on Mrs. Obama and seemed to be made to be worn by a powerful, self assured mother of two— gasp! I had seen that suit before! Michelle was channeling the other First Lady, Alicia Florrick.

Ok. Alicia, played by the luxuriously-browed Julianna Marguiles, is a fictional character. She lives inside of the television and fabulously-armed Michelle is a real person. But I insist that this was a coordinated plan to unify the strongest woman on TV with one of the strongest women in America. Sisters in Style. Michelle and Alicia forever.

I am in negotiations to have this suit, well the jacket, really, as my very own. You can match me and get the jacket here.*

*Update: It looks like the jacket has sold out in the 20 minutes since I started this post. I am actually crying real tears.

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]]> https://test.therightstyle.com/michelle-alicia-sisters-sotu-style/feed/ 6 Movie Style: Selma https://test.therightstyle.com/movie-style-selma/ https://test.therightstyle.com/movie-style-selma/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:03:12 +0000 http://test.therightstyle.com/?p=764 I am an ENTHUSIASTIC viewer of the Golden Globes. Every year, I take to the couch and limber up my fingers in preparation– this night is Twitter intensive. I have tons of opinions and dammit, I’m going to share them. This year, my dog in the movie race was the powerful and utterly moving, Selma.  I […]

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]]> I am an ENTHUSIASTIC viewer of the Golden Globes. Every year, I take to the couch and limber up my fingers in preparation– this night is Twitter intensive. I have tons of opinions and dammit, I’m going to share them. This year, my dog in the movie race was the powerful and utterly moving, Selma. 

I had my reasons for going hard in the paint for Selma.

  1. Harpo Films. Oprah executive produces it? I’m there.
  2. Common. I’m afraid that if I have to explain this to you, than our relationship may be in trouble.
  3. Carmen Ejogo. I don’t have any explanation. I just kind of love her.
  4. David Oyelwolo. British accent. Beautiful man.
  5. Ava Duvernay. Read this article, dare yourself not to cry and then you will have my explanation.
  6. An amazingly compelling and heart-wrenching true story.

The movie could not have come out at a more opportune  time. 2014 brought a lot of pain particularly in the heart of minds of many Black Americans. Violent reactions from those sworn to serve and protect brought upon Black boys and men committing either minor offenses or occasionally, just living their lives, has become an unfortunately commonplace scenario. Revisiting the events of Bloody Sunday at this point in history was, for me, almost too much to bear.

As I’ve talked about before, fashion has always been political in the African-American community, and in Selma, the appearance and dress of the characters played an essential role of conveying not only the times but the sensibilities of the people represented and their ideology.

Costume designer Ruth Carter intentionally dressed Common’s James Bevel in the denim overalls that were generally found worn by the younger and more radical members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She chose to dress this one character in denim in order to pay homage to the history, but not distract from the story.

Selma_Common
Diane Nash (Tessa Thompson) and James Bevel (Common).

 

Coretta Scott King, played by my girl Carmen, was always dressed beautifully, both as a representation of the real Mrs. King’s elegance as well as a representation of many of the Black women of that era, where dress and grooming were of the utmost importance in a world where they, at times, have little control.

Selma_finalmarch
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr and Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King in “Selma”‘s final march.

 

Having worked as a costume designer  and being an image consultant myself, the power of costume on stage and screen is not lost on me but after reading the words of designer Ruth Carter, I’m looking forward to re-watching and re-visiting the costumes with my new context. Read Carter’s interview with The Root here.

Selma_CorrettaAndMartin
Coretta ties Martin’s cravat before his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance. He expresses uncertainty at the fussiness of the neck piece.

 

 

Selma-movie-corey-reynolds-david-oyelowo-and-colman-domingo
The diversity, ethnic and religious, of the protesters is poignant as they march toward the violence of “Bloody Sunday”.

 

Have you seen Selma? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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]]> https://test.therightstyle.com/movie-style-selma/feed/ 13 Another Again: Miss Jessie’s Titi Branch, Gone at 45 https://test.therightstyle.com/titibranch/ https://test.therightstyle.com/titibranch/#respond Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:58:07 +0000 http://test.therightstyle.com/?p=707 Titi Branch was a woman who could not be missed. Her explosion of gorgeous blonde highlighted curls made you take notice and say, “Who is she?!” When I first saw Miss Jessie’s co-founders, Miko and Titi Branch, I immediately said, “Damn, I’ll have some of what they’re having.” I discovered Miss Jessie’s during my short-lived […]

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]]> Titi Branch was a woman who could not be missed. Her explosion of gorgeous blonde highlighted curls made you take notice and say, “Who is she?!” When I first saw Miss Jessie’s co-founders, Miko and Titi Branch, I immediately said, “Damn, I’ll have some of what they’re having.” I discovered Miss Jessie’s during my short-lived stint as a long-haired naturalista. I was always on the hunt for products that would make my super-fine hair do things that it was not naturally inclined to do. I admired the sisters and their story, who took their home whipped hair concoctions and grew them into a successful startup with a product carried by national chains and a veritable lifestyle brand. The two of them seemed to be living a perfect dream– sisters working together and building wealth and acclaim.

I heard the news of Titi’s passing, an apparent suicide, via a middle of the night Facebook update. The Bloggers Like Me network  is a community of multicultural women throughout the country who share experiences and advice about life, business and of course, blogging. The BLM Facebook group is always a hot bed of activity and the news hit the group, some of whom are natural hair bloggers, pretty hard. She was someone who brought our beauty to the mainstream and helped to give women permission to love their hair. To me, the loss felt like another defeat.

Depression can be like a ghost. It follows you around, lurking in the shadows, hidden to everyone’s eyes but yours. Sometimes, it’s hard to acknowledge that what you feel is real and choose, instead, to keep it hidden, tucked out of sight, away from people’s prying eyes and solicitous questions. I know that feeling. I have been deep inside of that feeling. So when I hear about another celebrity suicide, another death of someone I admire, I hang my head and cry. Sometimes, it feels like the darkness always manages to win.

Fortunately, there is help available. If you or a loved one are struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call them at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). People are there. Help is available.

Love and peace to the family of Titi Branch.

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]]> https://test.therightstyle.com/titibranch/feed/ 0 #BEbeautiful: Misty Copeland https://test.therightstyle.com/bebeautiful-misty-copeland/ https://test.therightstyle.com/bebeautiful-misty-copeland/#respond Fri, 01 Aug 2014 20:34:47 +0000 http://test.therightstyle.com/?p=330 Under Armour has found a winner in Misty Copeland. The first Black soloist in American Ballet Theatre, she is one hundred percent the definition of beautiful for me. I grew up as a little black girl in a largely white ballet world, depending on my mother to interpret costume requirements of “light pink lipstick and […]

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]]> Under Armour has found a winner in Misty Copeland. The first Black soloist in American Ballet Theatre, she is one hundred percent the definition of beautiful for me. I grew up as a little black girl in a largely white ballet world, depending on my mother to interpret costume requirements of “light pink lipstick and peach blush” to colors that would look good on her little brown baby. (I will say nothing of the constant search for nude dance tights when your skin cannot be matched to “beige”.) I remember growing into a little brown woman and watching my body change into “wrong”. I stopped taking ballet and found my joy in more diverse forms of dance. I am no Misty Copeland– I didn’t have the heart. She heard the “no” and changed it into her “yes” and ultimately, her success.

I had never really thought of Under Armour as a brand that moved like this– this video has changed my mind. Watch it below:

Photo: Misty Copeland 2013 Calendar, Photographer: Gregg Delman

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]]> https://test.therightstyle.com/bebeautiful-misty-copeland/feed/ 0