So I was suppose to be up early today to set up the Black Friday promos but Thanksgiving definitely put a hurting on me. Sleep is so much better on a full tummy and a late night sweet potato pie snack.
I love this tweed cropped jacket. I bought it years ago and it always remains stylish.
Its really cold outside. I think I'm going to start taking pictures inside...me and the cold don't mix. People always ask if I'm ready to go horse back riding because of my boots. Well, well, well look what finally became a trend after all these years!
My bags are packed and I'm going over the boarder to Toronto for the weekend. Getting away is good for the soul. Be safe and have a great weekend!
Forget the presents and the costumes, Thanksgiving is pretty much my favourite day of the year and yesterday definitely lived up to all the things that come with the special holiday- food, friends, and the festivities really allowed me to catch up with family that I hadn't seen in awhile.
Since my sweet heart and I decided to go to my in-laws in the country, I thought it was fitting to wear my lumberjack plaid shirt and my new pine green heels. I did an impromptu shoot with my sister-in-law after I conveniently found a pile of tree rubble outside the house. Yes!
It was ridiculously cold, so we only took 3mins worth of pictures...
Did someone say they needed fire wood?! It actually looks like I'm getting ready to chop my own foot off
Freeing the lumberjack inside of me
I love these shoes! I got them on my day off last week for dirt cheap!
I love how the wood pattern in my shoes mimic the tree stump
Some people are just extremely pretty...and then there are some that just fly off the richter scale of beauty onto another level (if there were ever such a thing). Necar Zadegan is one of them. She's been in the industry for awhile now, but I first saw her as on the tv series, 24, as President Hasaan's wife and I was floored by her beauty. Cheekbones, profile, physique, the whole nine. And then tonight while I wasn't looking she appeared in HD on my tv as Isabelle in The Event. (this show is definitely growing on me)
I love new faces with great talent and she is definitely one to watch out for. She's a great looking alien on The Event! Her eyebrows are phenomenal too!
So which cosmetic line or fragrance company is going to snag Zadegan for an ad campaign???
The heart beats of men, young and old, will be racing a little faster than normal this week due to Beyonce's new ad for her first fragrance, Beyonce Heat, but British audiences will have to wait until dinner time to watch the commercial. The U.K. group called The Advertising Standards Authority, which is responsible for maintaining advertising standards, has declared the ad to be aired after 7:30pm due to complaints that the images were too offensive. A spokesman from the ASA stated that the Coty ad was considered "racy but not explicit", and would only be broadcasted after hours when children would most likely be sleeping.
I'm not too sure how successful the commercial is in persuading me to run out and bathe myself in the fragrance but then again maybe it's trying to seduce men before the holidays to buy the fragrance for their wives or fiances. But the fact remains, no matter how much perfume I spray on, I'll never have hips or a strut like hers.
This may only be for locals in the Rochester area but I thought it would be nice to share....
Just in time for the holiday grind was the opening of the new Old Navy location in Marketplace Mall. The relocation was a great strategic move for the company and the mall before the holidays to catch the consumers that will be shopping in the mall, just days away from Black Friday. If you remember, this is second time Old Navy has moved in less than six months. Earlier this year Old Navy's lease ended in South Town Plaza so the company moved to the old DSW building while the new store was being constructed. The Wilmorite family owns that entire land surrounding the mall so the move to DSW was only temporary.
The store opened a few hours after I arrived-just in time to give me a chance to look around. It's definitely a beautiful addition to the mall inside and out with its clean architectural design and well-lit lighting fixtures from within. While I was yet a few feet away from the entrance, I was thankful for the automatic doors on such a chilly day. I'm always cold- so anytime when I don't have to take my hands out of my pocket while outside is a good day. Yea it sounds lazy but its the truth...
The sales were pretty good as compared to their website to kick start the holiday season.
Although the retail giant opened today, the grand opening will be held this Saturday, November 20th. All graphic tee's will be $3 for men and women and the first 200 shoppers will receive tickets to win a free pair of jeans, a t-shirt, or a $500 gift card for a shopping spree. If you're not one of the early birds to receive a free prize that morning, make sure to arrive between 3:30pm-5:30pm for 98PXY's contest in order to enter the MODELQUINN contest. I dress mannequins all day so I'm not too sure I'll be entering that competition:)
Ask anyone of my friends or family members and they will tell you that I am a pack rat right down to the core. There are just some things that I refuse to give up, donate, or throw away into the dumpster never again to be remembered or admired. So because of this I have a stash of clothes that haven’t been worn in years, just begging to make their debut on the cusp of the next trend cycle, or at least I hope so. I usually end up wearing them anyway just to mix it up a bit so my clothes are never fully retired. But getting back to my pack rat problem, I think I have a slight compulsive hoarding problem when it comes to clothing. The inability to throw anything away-like my strawberry shortcake t-shirt that my parents gave me when I turned 1…yes, I still have it and its chillin’ in my closet, seriously. I’m sure I’m not the only one with this dilemma. Maybe one day I’ll start a support forum for “apparel hoarders.” (ohhh idea!)
Anyhow, I pulled this Bart Simpson t-shirt from the archives which I’ve owned since I was a teenager so don’t think I just lucked up on a cool find at a thrift store. Not that Vogue is featuring the comeback of “Bartmania” or anything. For me, this shirt has so many memories! How can anyone forget the piles of paraphernalia that clogged up the aisles or retail stores worldwide when Bart Simpson made his debut on FOX as a character on The Simpsons? His yellow spiky hair and protruding eyes were plastered on almost every printable object, ordering you to eat his shorts or not to have a cow. His rebellious nature against order and conduct infected the minds of teenagers who were itching for a reason to rebel across America. As foul mouth as he was, Bart was their hero.
As with every popular brand, people started to bootleg the cartoon icon into various interpretations, leading Bart into a horrendous case of schizophrenia: Teenage Mutant Ninja Bart, Air Simpson Bart, Stoner Bart...and the list goes on.
I don't even remember how I acquired this shirt but this is someone’s interpretation of Rasta Bart. I soooo should not even be wearing this shirt as a Jamaican! (What in the stereotype?!) I might as well be wearing a t-shirt of the Red Stripe dude in the beer commercials<<<I HATE that commercial!
I customized a pair of glasses to go along with the look:
Did I mention that I made these glasses:)
I can still hear his annoying voice in the Butterfinger commercials:
One after another, celebrities have been publicizing the debut of their fashion lines more frequently than local newspapers can keep up with wedding and baby announcements combined. Madonna's 80s inspired line entitled "Material Girl" sold exclusively at Macy's this past August, while Jessica Simpson's self-titled shoe and accessory line continues to soar in sales. So naturally, today wasn't any different in the land of publicity and "oh no, not again" hype. The Jackson 5 announced today that Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy Jackson have collaborated on a fashion line entitled TheJ5 Collection which is expected to hit stores next spring. (seriously). The line will include iconic images of the band during the height of their career along with carbon copies of popular styles from Michael Jackson's most memorable videos.
I did a quick search to see if I could find any debut pieces to see what it was all about and found these on The J5Collection Facebook fan page:
I was kinda ho-hum about the idea until I saw this.....
I WANT THIS! NOW! NOW! NOW!
Just so I can have an excuse to grab my crotch while screaming
"BEAT IT"
Does that mean I can request the black buckled outfit and boots in the "Bad" video???
Sundays were made for mother-daughter days and today was no exception. The four of us, my mother and her three girls, braced ourselves to watch the movieFor Colored Girls, based on Ntozake Shange's award winning playFor Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,to understand the intricate lives of women affected by deteriorating relationships and insurmountable challenges.
The all-star cast including, Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Whoopie Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, and Kerry Washington have proven themselves in individual projects as superb actresses, now raised doubts in my mind, and many others, of the movie's credibility under the direction of Tyler Perry. Needless to say the movie was beautiful and awe-inspiring. Without ruining the film, it gave brilliant insight into the complexity and mannerisms of the women on screen that may parallel the women we encounter within our own lives that struggle from the same issues and addictions. In a nutshell, the film reminds me of a cross between the 1989 movie The Women of Brewster Place and Six Degrees of Separation, fusing a human web of lives effected by one another caught between grief and betrayal but united in the fragility of life and love.
My love is too fragile to be thrown back onto my face.
Below is the outfit I wore today on our movie date
I've had this jacket since high school! I added a fringe tassel to the sleeves
because I've always tried to disguise my short sleeves with delicate trim
As a Visual Display Merchandiser, I was thrilled today when I read that Bergdorf Goodman's window designers, David Hoey and Linda Fargo, have announced the release of a coffee table book entitled Windows at Bergdorf Goodman this month which chronicles the elaborate window displays of the luxury retailer.
The New York Times article, Window Dressing Warriors, briefly covers the history of window display including Andy Warhol's pop art visuals in the 1960s and describes the most memorable master pieces of visual display framed in a 13 foot area of space for the street crowds to view. I absolutely love when Hoey questions, "Are we worried about specifically selling merchandise? No, we don't think of it that way. We're just focusing on the art and characters. That part takes care of itself." Although I may not be one of his five assistants, David Hoey took the words right out of my mouth. Despite the main reason that visual displays are meant to drive business, I always seem to lose myself within the process of creating and building a presentation and watching it all come to life. After I've smoothed the final touches on the wallpaper, hammered the last prop to the wall, and dressed and hair-sprayed the mannequin's wig into place, the absolute worse is when a customer asks to take the dress off of the mannequin I just perfected (or better yet, when a disgruntled teenager pulls the pants down to the mannequin's ankles thus exposing the goods).
Windows at Bergdorf Goodman is expected to be released this month for $550. And since only 1,000 copies will be printed, I'm hoping that the Public Library will be one of the 1,000 that will invest in the future of young fashionistas...because I plan to be the first one to reserve the book upon its arrival.
Here are a few pictures from a photographer that photographs window displays at Bergdorf Goodman called anothernormal.com:
