Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed List

Secretly, now not so secretly, there are two things that will signify I've made it. They are being included in Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed List, and making the cover of Essence Magazine! Needless to stay, I'm still working on it. Vanity Fair just released their coveted 2010 list. Click here to see who made the cut.

Congrats to First Lady Michelle Obama for being featured on the list for the 4th consecutive year and for representing for stylish mocha ladies everywhere!

Flyness and international fashion,

Ike

Fierce Files: Eartha Kitt, Dance Rehearsal

Michelle Obama at Game 6

Michelle Obama and family at NBA Finals Game 6 looking fierce! That's how you do the sidelines.... werq!

10 Ways To Wear a Cardigan (as Shown by Michelle Obama)

Good afternoon Divas,

She's giving us style. She's giving us grace. And Michelle O has also given us a new-fangled fascination with the 'statement' cardigan. Not just your run of the mill, blah, twin set but fabulous cardigans--- with ruffles, embellishment, bold colors, and ornate buttons. Michelle can work a cardigan so ingeniously that when worn on different occasions you might not even recognize the wardrobe repeat. Well, perhaps the constant scrutiny forces her to be that much more creative, but for us divas on a budget-- we can learn a thing or two. A few quality cardigans can add an infinite possibilities to a divas wardrobe.

Let's have a look see.

1. Classic- Partially buttoned and worn over a shell. That was the only way to debut this gorgeous J.Crew Cardigan in London.

2. Open- Unbuttoned, over a blouse or a dress, you can be open and ready for anything. Michelle has her jeans on and sleeves rolled up as she spends time with some school kids.

3. 'Brooched'-- Michelle has an affinity with brooches and who can blame her? A new way to wear a broach, clasped at the top of a cardigan. It's quite dainty and it works best with a fabulous pencil skirt, full a-line, or a dress.
4. Belted- When she first started belting her cardigans it was-- avant garde. But now, everyone's doing it! It's a chic, and polished look and I think it's wonderful for women who share Mrs. O's pear shape, small waiste and fuller bottom half. It accentuates a fantastic upper body.


5. 'Bowed'- Michelle uses the cardigan to accentuate a bow detail. She's done this look with a few shirts too.

6. Preppy- This look is not just for Carlton Banks. Whether at an outdoor fette or walking to class on campus, this is another marvelous way to 'wear' a cardigan.


7. Sashed- Michelle appears at church wearing a dress and cardigan with a sash around her waist. This more formal look can also be done with a skirt.

8. Ruffled- Michelle shows that ruffled shirts and cardigans are a match made in heaven!
9. Collared- Such a smart look, a great cardigan over a crisp collared shirt, with a belt around the waiste. I love this look for work. I especially love how Michelle exposes the sleeves cuffs.


10. Monochramatic Mix-Up- Mom definitely said that stripes don't go with florals, but with the right monochromatic twin set, Michelle shows that-- maybe they do.
11. (BONUS) Faux Three Piece Suit- A cardigan worn over a collared blouse and under a blazer, with a belt-- love it.


With flyness and funk,

Ike

Fierce Files: Remembering Our History Through Fly Women of Color

"Jeanne Duval" was a creole dancer and singer of Haitian origin, who relocated to Paris in 1842 where she began her infamous twenty year romance with French poet and literary critic Charles Baudelaire. Jeanne was an icon, however, of style and well-known through out the Bohemian world and aristocratic circles. She is the subject of Monet's famous "Baudelaire's Mistress". (Do note that Monet portrayed her as a Caucasian woman, perhaps he was concerned with selling the painting, but by all accounts she was recognizably of African descent).


She is best known, go figure, as Baudelaire's "Mistress of Mistresses" and his muse, and this is of course during a time when interacial love was deemed "gauche". So imagine, what confidence... what swagger, Madame Duval must have exuded. I love it.

In spite of the snubs of his peers and constant turbulance, Baudelaire was hopelessly in love with Jeanne and his "Black Venus" was the subject of many of his love poems. While it is clear that she held him spell bound, his fascination with her percieved exoticism and sexuality courses though the poetry.

Below is one of my personal favorites, "Sed Non Satitata" or "Never Satisfied". It is from his anthology "Fleurs du mal" or "Flowers of Evil", much of it a commentary on the women in his life, real and imagined. This translation from French is one of many variations, but I like this the best.

Sed Non Satiata

Strange deity, brown as nights,
Whose perfume is mixed with musk and Havanah,
Magical creation, Faust of the savanna,
Sorceress with the ebony thighs, child of black midnights,

I prefer to African wines, to opium, to burgundy,
The elixir of your mouth where love parades itself;
When my desires leave in caravan for you,
Your eyes are the reservoir where my cares drink.

From those two great black eyes, chimneys of our spirit,
O pitiless demon, throw out less flame at me;
I am no Styx to clasp you nine times,

Nor can I, alas, dissolute shrew,
To break your courage, bring you to bay,
Become any Proserpine in the hell of your bed!

— Geoffrey Wagner, Selected Poems of Charles Baudelaire (NY: Grove Press, 1974)

FIERCE FILES: Remembering Our History Through Fly Women of Color

Reception in the Office of the C. J. Walker Company, 1929
(since we're talking about hair)

FIERCE FILES: Remembering Our History Through Fly Women of Color

Tina Turner during her days in the Ike and Tina Turner review.

Style Icon of the Month: Rihanna

Who is Rihanna? Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, this 20 year old Barbadian singer is currently signed to Def Jam Records and has sold over 9 million albums world wide. She has released 3 albums; Music of the Sun, A Girl Like Me, and Good Girl Gone Bad, the latter on which her single “Umbrella” went number one on the US Billboards Chart. In 2007, Rihanna won World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist & Entertainer of the Year at the 2007 World Music Awards, favorite Female Artist - Soul/R&B at the 2007 American Music Awards. "Shut Up and Drive" won best R&B song at the 2008 People's Choice Award. "Don't Stop the Music" won best international song at the 2008 NRJ Music Awards in France. Rihanna received four Grammy Awards nominations: Record of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Umbrella"), Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for "Hate That I Love You") as well as Best Dance Recording (for "Don't Stop the Music"), while her album received an extra two Grammys: Song of the Year and Best R&B Song. Her ‘Good Girl Gone Bad Tour’ began in September of 2007 and she will tour Canada, the US, and Europe into 2008.

Why is she fly? When Rihanna first entered the music scene, many of us doubted her star power. When compared to the reigning R&B divas of the day, she didn’t seem to add up. Perhaps she’d sweeten the scene with a few catchy tunes, but inevitably she’d be here today and gone tomorrow like so many fallen stars before her. However, over the past two years Miss Rihanna has proven that she is more than sugar, she’s crème, having risen to the top of a competitive industry. Lets be real, this girl is surrounded by a phenomenal group of managers, producers, and stylists but regardless of how she’s accomplished her success, she has repeatedly turned out memorable club-hopping singles, incredible video treatments, electric performances, and stellar red carpet appearances. Her fans can’t get enough.

Her place as a style icon is undeniable and well-earned. In an epoch of wavy strawberry blond hair extensions and French-manicured gel tips, she has made the shaggy black bob and dark manicure fashionable. Wow! She’s a trend setter. With slightly off-beat, attention getting designs and eclectic jewelry she commands attention on the red carpet. The world is watching her every style move. No doubt, that explains her omnipresence during this past Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. She’s young, hot, and willing to stand out in a crowd. She represents fashion’s future. Rihanna proves that a fly diva defines her own style, and then works it!

FIERCE FILES: Remembering Our History Through Fly Women of Color

A young Chaka Khan, she was and always will be fly!

Style Icon of the Month: Jurnee Smollett

Who is Jurnee Smollett? From New York City, and one of five siblings, 21 year old Jurnee Diana Smollett first captured our hearts as an adorable little girl in roles on sitcoms such as Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Martin, Cosby and Full House. In 1997, her critically acclaimed performance in Eve’s Bayou, for which she received a Broadcast Film Critics Award, and audiences took notice of her incredible skill. Her recent starring role in The Great Debaters has successfully established her as an adult actress and one of Young Hollywood’s most promising stars. Jurnee has also been an AIDS activist since the age of 12.

Why is she fly? All acting. No drama. Jurnee has emerged as a beautiful adult actress and proven her ability to be a positive role model for young Black women. I love that she has not embraced the “vixen” label that Hollywood frequently projects onto Black females. Rather she exudes dignity in the roles she chooses to pursue on and off-screen. Jurnee has risen to the top by the grace of some serious acting chops, not by the way of public romantic liasons or reckless behavior. In terms of her grown-up red carpet style, Jurnee is impeccable. She unites fifties and sixties vintage glamour with modern lines for a look that is always elegant, feminine, flirty and stunning. I’m excited to see what accomplishments this young lady has in store.

Style Icon of the Month: Michelle Obama

Who is Michelle Obama? An attorney, community activist mother of two and wife of Sen. Barack Obama, candidate for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination for U.S. President. She attended Princeton University where she graduated in 1985 cum laude and in 1988 she received her JD from Harvard Law School. Following law school she was an associate at the Chicago branch of law firm Sidley Austin, where she met Barack. She was his summer advisor. Since then, she has held several public sector positions in Chicago, including most recently, VP of Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals. She was listed as “25 of the World’s Most Inspiring Women” by Essence Magazine in 2006 and as “10 of the World’s Best Dressed Women” by Vanity fair in 2007.

Why is she fly? Behind every great man is a great woman and no one currently exemplifies this maxim like Michelle Obama. She has the mind of a CEO, the statuesque silhouette of a model, and the grace of our grandmothers. Her campaign style usually consists of classic business seperates, muted colors, tailored lines, and every ensemble is created around one fabulous center piece, like the black and white tweed blazer she wore on Oprah. Michelle style doesn’t scream for pop-star attention (like Judy Giuliani) nor is her look stiff and contrived like most lady hopefuls. The truth is, she is not your typical candidate’s wife. Michelle very well may be Barack Obama’s greatest political asset, a supportive wife who looks the part and can deliver just as fiery a stump speech as he. We are constantly wowed by Sen. Obama’s devotion to correcting the ills that face our country, but it is Michelle’s quiet conviction, her determined mien, as she sits with perfect posture just over his shoulder, that has compelled many devoted fans to place America’s future in this couple’s hands.

FIERCE FILES: Remembering Our History Through Fly Women of Color

Supremes, and friends, 1965 Shamrock Hilton Hotel. Ladies, check out the photo-ready model's t stance. This is how to be poised.

December's Style Icon of the Month: Susan Fales-Hill

Who is Susan-Fales-Hill? Author, television writer and producer Susan Fales-Hill is a staple of New York High Society. The daughter of Josephine Premice, famous Haitian entertainer who shared the stage with the likes of Ossie and Lena, and Timothy Fales, Caucasian socialite. In 1985 she graduated with honors from Harvard University with a degree in literature and history and right after that went to work as a writer for the Cosby Show. A year later she went to work as a writer for A Different World and then in 1998 she co-created the hit series Lincs. She authored the book Always Wear Joy.Today she is a staple of many New York philanthropic and social circles as well as a member of the International Best Dressed List. She and her husband (an African-American banker) reside on Park Avenue.

Why is she fly? We love her because despite growing up in the lap of luxury, this woman made a name for herself as a top student and a big player in Hollywood. On the red carpet, Miss Hill is always impeccably put together in a classic and elegant ensemble that transcends timely trends. I mean... she's on the INTERNATIONAL BEST DRESSED LIST. Not a game. She has an amazing long and lithe body and radiant skin. Her beauty is enhanced by dancer like poise.We also love that she wrote for two of our fav’ shows; The Cosby Show and a Different World. Miss Hill is worldly, she speaks three languages, and is making a place for women of color in traditionally segregated high society of New York.