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

FLY FUNKY DIVA'S BIG COME BACK!

Divas,


First, please excuse the drama and extranesss in the title.

I started this blog during my senior year in college. That was in 2007. I'm a television reporter now, I've since transformed from a northeastern metropolitan diva to an honorary southern belle, and I'm wrapping my first literary project (published in 2010, hope so). So... I really don't have time to be an ardent blogger of style, sass and class.

But I really want to!

What I loved best was being able to blog about cute little styling tips and beauty tricks that don't cost a bundle, but can make a woman feel and look like a million bucks. Well, as a young tv personality, whose fame far outweighs her paycheck, I've stumbled on so much stuff I can share with you all. This blog is calling me back. And here we are, a year after I called it quits, and people still visit it regularly--- and leave comments.

So I say this all to say-- I think I'm breaking my hiatus, just in time for the New Year. But don't expect crazy, crazy posts. A sister has a full time job. A literarybaby on the way. And another blog that I sometimes do (Noni Jones in Harlem).

Cheers-- to new posts,

Ike

Publish Post

My New Blog: "Noni Jones in Harlem"

Hey divas-

It has been awesome serving you style and culture here at Fly Funky Diva. This is not the end of FFD, but I will be updating it significantly less. I have a brand new literary endeavor in the blogosphere

Ladies and gentleman the Fly Funky Diva presents--

Noni Jones In Harlem!


This is a fictional blog, an on-going saga, that takes place amongst 3 funky divas living in Harlem; Noni, Caroline and Geneva.

Take a look at excerpts. Visit the site and if you love it, pass the good word onto a friend.:

Noni

Fast forward to the good part. Carter comes home Wednesday night. We haven’t had sex in a good week and I’m feeling horny as hell. I welcome Carter to Merlot and Sushi (take out) and then we have one of our royal sexcapades…. A twelve pack of condoms on the night stand, right next to the KY and massage oil. Incense burning, candles and his locks in my face… all night… all morning… all afternoon, into the next night. Close to 24 hours we stayed cocooned in the bedroom, only breaking to eat, get water and use the bathroom. It was the perfect way to reconnect.

The next day, I contract a UTI. I tell Carter about it and we both assume that we just went way too hard. The following evening while Carter is playing with a new composition, I took a hot bath before retiring to bed. I soaked for a good twenty minutes, dried off. Then I pulled back the comforter and sat on the bed applying lotion. As I carry the lotion back to the bathroom, I get this weird sensation between my legs. I stop walking and look down at something hanging out. Lord have mercy…. I pull. IT IS A SOGGY CONDOM THAT HAS BEEN LODGED IN MY DAMN CERVIX SINCE I DON’T KNOW WHEN.

I call Carter into the bathroom demanding an explanation. “Baby, I have no idea….” He’s smiling at the sight of the stretched out condom but ain’t shit funny. I could be pregnant. I mean, I’m not on any form of birth control except…. latex-latex-latex!!! Clearly he and I were so doped up on love and alcohol that we could have overlooked an umm… missing condom. (???) I send him to CVS for Plan B. I’ve never taken it before and it gave me a killer headache, but I realized as panic overtook my entire body… I am not ready to be anybody’s mother right now. Not even if my sable Clarke Kent is my baby’s daddy. Clearly, I have some growing up to do.

Caroline

11:13. I’m now watching a Sex and the City rerun. It’s the episode where Carrie loses her Manolo Blahnik at a get together and her friend decides to be trife. I mean, I feel her pain but really… at 11:13 I’m feeling the throbbing between my legs. I’m sitting on my couch in a burgundy negligee, no panties. Flexing my toes, realizing I need to stop in for a pedicure tomorrow after work. Still no call.

What the fuck?

So I text him. “Hey. Are you on your way?”

I lean back in my couch, stomach churning with butterflies. I’m staring at my phone, waiting for the buzz from his return text. Ten minutes later, the phone vibrates against the glass coffee table.

“Hey. Something came up.”

Oh hell no. No this clown didn’t. My mouth is agape, literally for like two minutes. I’m staring at the text with my mouth wide open. I get desperate. In a move, I’d never pull with a man for whom my feelings surpassed my vagina, I call him. Not once. But twice. I realize as I listen to his voicemail that it wasn’t something that came up, but probably someone….else.

Geneva

It’s 4 AM. Do you know where your man is? In the damn bathroom. Wait, is he peeing. No, he’s talking. To himself…? No, not to himself.

I sat up in bed, afro all smashed out of shape. He was speaking so low with the damn door cracked I could barely make out what he was saying. It coulnd’t have been an emergency. WTF? I laid back down but I didn’t close my eyes. He knew I’d heard him. He walked back in, beautiful and butt naked, put the phone on the night stand, rolled over and went to sleep.

The next morning he woke up and made us eggs and sausage. I threw on my robe, brushed my teeth, washed my face, sprayed on some scent. He acted like he was all into his food.

“What happened last night?”

“Whatchu mean” he said reverting to his Brooklyn Speak.

“You were in the bathroom on the phone?” NEGRO!!!

“Nah. I’mma need you to not be in my business like that right now.”

Say what. I preceded to tell his nappy headed ass that it is my business because it’s my bathroom and that if he wanted to have private conversations at the crack of dawn then he could go outside on the sidewalk with the damn crazies and do so.

We got in an argument that consisted of me saying twice as much as he did. Arguing with Paul is like having it out with a wall. He left. Haven’t heard from him.

Where you been girl?!?!

So as my loyal readers may have guessed, I took a hiatus. Six months ago I began my foray into broadcast journalism, working crazy hours as a reporter in medium-town Florida.

As I have begun doing free-lance work and a hefty non-fiction venture, I assumed I would put FFD down. But I can't. Readers have yet to abandon me (which makes me feel great), and I'm reluctant to abandon them. And all this writing I do-- I need to let loose!!!

So---

I'm coming back. At least weekly, with the random commentary you know and hopefully love.

Flyness and Funk,

Ike
Also-- you can stay up to date on my blog posts, articles, random thoughts and if you're in my neighborhood appearances by following me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/flyfunkydiva.

Fab Affordable Products: Relaxing Bubble Baths

Hey divas,

My form of meditation is the night time bath. Sometimes it's rough on my edges but at least four nights a week I like to light a candle, play some nice music, and fill my tub up with steamy bubbles. Not only does it help me relax and thus sleep better, but its great for reflection and-- my pores! Steam is the answer to great skin.

Nevertheless, I wanted to share with you some great and affordable bath elixirs that really set the mood.



Johnson and Johnson's "Melt Away Stress" Body Wash- This product contains J&J's exclusive aromasoothe fragrance with hints of chamomile and lavender, a winning combo in aromatherapy for relaxation. It is marketed as a body wash that you can use in the shower, but it makes an incredible rich and moisturizing bubble bath. It sells for a little over 6 bucks, depending on where you get it, and will last even a bath crazy person like myself a good three weeks. I always have a great sleep after bathing in this stuff.

Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Luxury Bath in "Black Currant Vanilla" makes me feel like the sexiest woman alive-- even if it's just me in the house! It is a fantastic sensual fragrance grounded in notes of black currant and vanilla with an almost hypnotic combination of pumpkin, rosemary, and patchouli. I'm telling you, this is one masterpiece of a scent (totally needs to be an eau de parfum) and it relaxes me and just goes to my head! It's also fabulously moisturizing. Get a bottle for 16.50 and your local BBW and it will last between 5 to 7 uses. (Wonderful if you want to get in the mood before you and your sweety have a date night- or just bathe with him)




And this one doesn't have any bubbles, but "Stress and Tension" Liquids Mineral Bath by Village Naturals (the Village Company) is still fabulous. When you really have had a rough day and you need to just clear your mind and ease your muscles this will do the trick. It is a combination of relaxing menthol, and essences of juniper to releave stress and orange to rejuvenate. It is also mostly composed of naturally derived products, so no crazy chemicals in this bottle. Actually I bathed in it last night to relax and afterwards my body just felt so good and tingly. That menthol increases blood circulation. I fell right asleep afterwards and when I woke up I was amazed at how soft my skin was. Maybe it was the castor oil and aloe vera combo. Nevertheless, you won't regret soaking in this, especially if you're an hard working diva. It will set you back about 5 bucks as well.

WITH FLYNESS AND FOAM,
IKE

She Said What??? Black Women Quotes

"I don't think the relationship will work. I am 'sniff, swirl, sip'. He's more ' puff, puff, pass'."

- every once in a while these quotes are taken from personal accounts

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)

Your First Resolution: Get Over, Get On

"Before the clock strikes 12, or at least before you get started on your new resolutions, first resolve to get over those who you feel have gotten over on you."

As we look toward 2009 we are inevitably setting new goals. This will be the year to find true love, drop ten pounds, finish that novel, and move forward in your career. I'm sure of it. But amidst your anticipation of a brand new year, have you closed the book on 2008?

The film Waiting To Exhale chronicles the journey of four single women through bouts of twisted romantic relationships, toward self-love and peace of mind. If you recall, it begins and ends with a New Years celebration. In the final scene they sip champagne and rejoice over a bond fire. (They also sing Roberta Flack's 'It Might Be You'... gotta love that song) But, that fire symbolizes the destruction of their anguish over failed relationships. It is their choosing to move on from slights made against them and past dreams unfilfilled. It symbolizes them taking back the pieces of their dignity that those men once took from them. And in the midst of those ashes is a fresh start.

Do note, I am not suggesting that you light a fire or that you light your ex's car on fire with his things in it. Think theoretically.

We tend to convince ourselves that we are ready for change when we really are not. Before we can venture closer to our ideal selves we have to overcome the pain that we have caused others and those that others have caused us. Before you can welcome sweet love into your life you have to accept those past heart breaks and grow from them. Before you can progress in your career you have to evaluate your past failures, recover, and then strategize for the future. And before you can move on with your physical goals, you'll need to amend any negative thinking and understand that the outer you is ultimately a reflection of what's going on inside. It'd be wise to love both.

You can not move into this next year still feeling like a victim of the past. 'Now' is a precious opportunity.

Before the clock strikes 12, or at least before you get started on your new resolutions, first resolve to get over those who you feel have gotten over on you.You don't have to like them, but don't allow these people, or their memory, to keep you down. I departed 2007 still sulking over a heart break, and you know what... I carried that entire burden through out 2008. Thoughts of him and what could have been clouded my decision making certainly put a damper on my love life... Until recently, I compared every man that I dated to him, fatefully, deciding to be miserable. I choose to leave those thoughts in 2008.

So as Erykah Badu once sang "Bag lady, you gon' hurt your back, carryin' all those bags like that..." step into 2009 knowing that "all you must hold onto is you". Learn from the past, realize that life is an eb and flow. Our lows guide us to our peaks. As the seconds tick toward midnight, live in the moment. See the blessings that are bountiful in your life right now! Leave all your sadness, drama, and baggage in 2008.


May your new year be filled with health, love, blessings, sass, soul, and all that your heart desires.

Love,

IKE

Dr. Elizabeth Alexander Named Inaugural Poet

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced this week that Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, a poet, author, and Professor of African-American studies at Yale University will be the praise poet featured at President Elect Barack Obama's Inauguration. She will be the fourth poet to read at swearing-in. Robert Frost was the first at JFK's inauguration in 1961. And who can forget Maya Angelou's 1993 reading of "On the Pulse of the Morning" for President Clinton? It's featured below.



Now I'm elated because Professor Alexander is a former professor of mine and one of my favorites. Her class was deep and she believed in my work. I'm so proud of her! For a poet, this is really our nation's top honor. Congratulations!

She has authored poems, plays, essays, and short stories in addition to having molded hundreds of bright young minds. In 2005 she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. To learn more about Dr. Alexander, visit her website.

Here is a selection.

Ars Poetica #28: African Leave-Taking Disorder

The talk is good. The two friends linger
at the door. Urban crickets sing with them.

There is no after the supper and talk.
The talk is good. These two friends linger

at the door, half in, half out, ‘til one
decides to walk the other home. And so

they walk, more talk, the new doorstep, the
nightgowned wife who shakes her head and smiles

from the bedroom window as the men talk
in love and the crickets sing along.

The joke would be if the one now home
walked the other one home, where they started,

to keep talking, and so on: “African
Leave-Taking Disorder,” which names her children

everywhere trying to come back together and talk.

SPOTLIGHT: Diana Ross, Take Me Higher, Ed Sullivan Show

Diana Ross singing her dance hit "Take Me Higher" on the Ed Sullivan show during the nineties. It's a song I work out to every morning. You will not be able to watch this and not want to dance along! She looks incredible, sounds incredible, and whats more awesome is that her effervescent spirit just radiates during the interview. Werq Miss Ross!!!