Yesterday, I went with my family to Zoo for its annual Halloween extravaganza. It was fun, but what was more fun was my wardrobe for the day. I didn't wear a costume or go as a character, instead I wore what you see in the video. I kept it simple with a red hat, readers, black skinny jeans and combat boots. The main attraction is my Trench Coat! It is full length and Christian Dior, yet I only paid $35 at my local Thrift Store. What a deal. I loved the look and it kept me warm. What do you think of my zoo look?
I already gave a look at my shoes, now here is the rest of the outfit. My pants, belt, bow-tie , and blazer are from H&M (I love a European fit). My shirt is Marc Anthony for Kohl's.
Last night was The Finale Runway Show at CMH Fashion Week. I, being the press coordinator, worked the press. It was a fun and amazing experience and all of the designers and local models did a great job with their collections and walking. I will have a full picture of my Finale Runway show look in another post, but here is a little shoe cam courtesy of The Women's Book. My shoes are from Aldo and socks are Gap.
To be successful in Fashion PR it is best to work at the best PR agency and People's Revolution is one. People's Revolution is owned by Kelly Cutrone and has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Paris. It is the best fashion and most well know Fashion PR firm in the world. In order to get a job there it is important to start from the bottom and work your way up. It is going to take doing the grunt work, being a team player and make a mark by being yourself. It is important to apply, sending your resume to the company either in January or August for a job. Interns are hired either from January to May, June to September, and September to December and must be able to work three days a week. To get your resume read you have to have something that will prepare you for a high-ranking fashion career: other internships, a knowledge of the industry, a knowledge of the city you're applying to work in and another way to make money while you seek work. Be sure to proofread your resume and cover letter and have another person look over it for you as well. People's Revolution was founded by Cutrone in 1996 and produces shows for all of the major and indie fashion designers in London, New York, Paris, Moscow, and Milan.
I finished reading Kelly Cutrone's book; If You Have To Cry Go Outside and I was really impressed. Not only did the book give insight about working in fashion PR, but it gave sound spiritual advice as well. Seeing that I bought the book I was able to go through and make notes and highlights of things that I wanted to come back and remember. Here are a few of my points that I found to be important for a person who want to work in Fashion PR:
Find your tribe. In a sense this means surround yourself with people you admire and who can serve as teachers and mentore. kelly says, "Start by identifying people in your community you look up to and then, graciously and with their blessing, use their hard work and experience to your advantage. Pick their brains. I can't imagine anyone refusing to be a mentor if they're asked in a spirit of sincerity and humility." page 24.
Fake it to make it. What you believe about yourself is what you will become. Kelly says, "Self-assurance was 90 percent of the game, it turned out; if you act as if you know what you're ding, and as if you're in charge, you'll be surprised how many people will let you be in charge." page 29.
"If you don't let what you don't know stop you from doing your best in every situation, you will surprise yourself over and over in life." page 40
The truth hurts. Kelly is known for her blunt honesty and I like to think that I'm a very blunt and honest person as well. To succeed in PR you have to be honest, so the public will continue to trust you. Kelly says, "sometimes the truth just hurts. You can either let someone be protected from reality or let them be sculpted and birthed by it. I firmly believe the latter option is best." page 64.
Worrier to warrior. I believe that it is pointless worrying about things, instead Kelly advices be a warrior. "As you move through your career and your life, you will have to learn that if you're not what you do, then what you do has no business keeping you entertained at night." page 84.
You are the brand. It is important that we all be in charge in our personal brands and that wjat we are selling to the world is the message that we want delivered. Kelly discusses how normal gets you no where and even has an entire book dedicated to the topic. She wants us all to be the manager of our own personal brands. "Eventually you need to get strategic about refining and communication to others who you are and what you believe if you want to succeed." & "Personal branding is about figuring out who you are and what turns you on and then monetizing it." page 128-129.
We all know that being your self is the best choice. Figue out what you are selling and how you are going to make people buy it. "If you don't have a clear point of differentiation-something that makes you special, unique, effective-you won't get far in fashion or in any other competitive industry, and you certainly succeed as an entrepreneur." page 130.
If you want to leave work at 6 p.m. every day fashion is not for you nor is being an entrepreneur.
"Don't be afraid to tell your boss what you need to meet a deadline." page 174.
Below are 10 ways of NOT to get get a career in fashion according to Kelly Cutrone:
Don't send a resume May hoping to get hired in the fashion business, as it's the slowest time of year. Instead, try January or August.
Do not Facebook the owner of a company or any prospective boss. If you do, make sure you have something interesting to say that warrants their two minutes.
Don't roll your eyes. If you do, roll with them toward the exit sign and then head out the door.
Don't expect equal rights in the workplace without being willing to do equal work, which includes transporting heavy garment bags, loading and unloading FedEx and UPS shipments, and rolling racks of clothing down New York City's uneven sidewalks.
Don't call in sick when you're not.
If you're going to be a helper around the office and do things you know your boss wants done, don't jump up and down and give them a play-by-play each time you finish a task.
Do not try to re-create your family at work.
Do not overemphasize your nationality or gender as a way of making a point.
Do not think your boss owes you anything other than your paycheck.
And finally, don't cry in the office. Ever. If you have to cry, go outside.
I'm super excited for this year's CMH Fashion Week. I will be participating behind the scenes during the week and here is a promo video to introduce you to the designers from the best Fashion Week in the midwest (Columbus, OH)....
CMH Fashion Week is October 14 - 20 and you can purchase tickets to the Finale Runway Show here.
What can I say, this video for Losing You is so fashionable I had no choice, but to share it with you all. Not only is Solange's wardrobe dope, but her friends and the people she featured in South Africa are dressed to the T!
Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think. By the way, her voice is amazing and so is this other song she released today: Sleep in The Park FT
With the release of her latest music video (watch it here), Rihanna is also Elle May 2012 Cover Girl. Take a look at the mini-movie behind the scenes video and tell me what you think.
It was just announced that Beyonce is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World. Check out the behind the scenes video below and buy your issue of People Magazine on newstands this week.
Living in Brooklyn is where I want to be. If I'm going to live there I need to dress the part. Here is my firstpostand below you will see two more looks from my future NYC wardrobe.
I recently posted about the always fashionable LaLa and thought it would be great to share an extended trailer to the new season of her reality show which begins on Monday night.
Tonight at 9:30 p.m, the new show 'Fashion Star' premieres on NBC and I'm very excited.
The show will have different designers making collections that will then be bid on by three fashion buyers and will be available for purchase the next day in that store. That is so awesome and from the preview I see that it will be both women's and men's.
It's no secret that in a year I want to move to Brooklyn and pursue a career as a Fashion Stylist.
I love New York city because of the individual fashion freedom. Where I live now would be a little to fashion forward to dress like a New Yorker all the time, but every so often I bring it out and I love it.
My goal now is to begin transitioning my wardrobe to be that of how I want to dress 24/7 when I live in Brooklyn within the following year.
The Clueless star and recently left the cast of Single Ladies is all grown up, to the tune of 46! This is not a typo, Stacy Dash really is 46 years old and looking gorgeous!
I've been following her career since her Clueless days and have watched her mature gracefully and her personal style is just as great.
She is wearing a Bebe Belted Trapeze Shirt Dress and Christian Louboutin Lady Colorblock Slingback Pumps.
I saw this video of DJ Angel Clouthier several months ago and then I came across it again yesterday. She is featured on the website StyleLikeU and they ask her questions about her style while she dresses in different outfits to give a visual of what she is talking about. It's a cool concept and she is very indie chic.
I was watching television yesterday and a commercial for a new show came on and I was instantly hooked!
It's a new reality show on VH1 starring stylist to the stars, June Ambrose. I have been following her career and her personal style and am always impressed by what she does.
I have a new found love for her because I think I have a way to blend my love for Fashion with my love (and degree) for Public Relations. She not only styles celebrities, but she helps reinvent their brand, image and entire look. If that isn't the perfect way for me to blend the two industries than I don't know what is.
She is the Master of Reinvention and I want to be one too!
'Styled by June' begins on March 19 and it looks like it is going to be great! You can watch the extended trailer below and tell me what do you think?
La La Anthony graces the cover of the April issue of Latina Magazine and the pictures do not disappoint. She wears spring colors and really looks great. My favorite look are the pants. I love the color paired with the white blazer and gold trim. Then the stylist added a bulky pink necklace that gives the illusion of a shirt and an added pop of color (poc). All of the looks are great.
This video premiered yesterday and the fashion is amazing. I've noticed that a lot of music videos are as much about the music as they are about what the singer is wearing. This video does not disappoint in music or in fashion.
Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think.
Solange Knowles has struck again. This time she is wearing a Vera Wang gown.
Thanks to Hollywood.TV we are able to see the dress in action. take a look at the video below and Tina Knowles and Russell Simmons make a cameo!
Be sure to see what Solange is wearing everyday over at British Vogue online as part of its Today I'm Wearing series. Ms. Knowles has impeccable taste and style.
Just like in college you have to decide upon a Major/Minor (Public Relations is my Major). I equally believe that it is important that I choose a Fashion Major/Minor.
Major: Fashion Editorial Stylist
Minor: Fashion Celebrity Stylist
Location:
New York City (Live in Brooklyn- Williamdsburg, Dumbo, Greenpoint, Brooklyn Hts., maybe Bay Ridge)
As I was driving home and the radio host was giving a Black History fact and it featured the late designer Patrick Kelly. I did not know who the designer was prior to listening to the radio spot.
I found his life story inspiring and it makes me want to keep pressing forward on my fashion journey!
I put together two different bios for the designer:
Patrick
Kelly was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA. He attended Jackson
State University where he studied art history. He
worked with a tailor in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, before moving to New
York in 1976 to study at Parsons School of Design.
n
1979, he went to Paris and began his career in the fashion business
by designing and selling cut-out cotton tube dresses, on the
pavements of the city. He soon has a large following for his
whimsical clothes. He also did a stint at a Rive Gauche boutique and
designed for Benetton. Kelly also became a costume designer for Le
Palais nightclub. Huge buttons, abbreviated hemlines and a
talent for tromp l'oeil, marked him as a natural New Yorker in Paris.
His colourful clothes were a product of his Mississippi childhood and
his long-held fascination with antique clothes.
He
so impressed his French compatriots that he became the first American
designer to be elected to the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture
Parisienne. Patrick was very unusual in many ways. He was
certainly one of the first openly gay black fashion designers.
Kelly's promising career was cut short by an early death on 1st
January, 1990. He died in Paris, of bone marrow disease, a brain
tumour and complications from AIDS.
On
28th March, 1990, the Fashion Institute of Technology, in New York
held a memorial to Patrick Kelly. They filled the windows of their
7th Avenue showrooms with his creations. All his friends in the
fashion industry, and the models who had worked with him, and the
clientele who had worn his clothes, gathered together to remember him
with great sadness. The first retrospective of the design
work of Patrick Kelly is being held at the Brooklyn Museum of Art
from April to September 2004. It is in celebration of the opening of
the BMA's new front entrance pavilion and public plaza, a $ 63
million dollar project of the City of Brooklyn and supporters of the
museum. -viaFashionmodeldirectory
January 1, 1990 Patrick Kelly, fashion designer, died.
Kelly was born September 24, 1954 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He initially studied at the Parsons School of Design, but in 1979 moved to Paris, France. In 1985, he created Patrick Kelly Paris and began making outfits for Benetton and upscale Paris boutiques. In 1987, Kelly signed a $5 million contract to create a line of clothing for Warnaco which gave him international recognition.
In 1986, Time Magazine described his clothing as “fitted, funny and a little goofy” and in 1988 the Washington Post said “Patrick Kelly has a witty way with fashion.” Kelly was proud of his upbringing as an African American in Mississippi and it was reflected in his work. His clientele included Betty Davis, Grace Jones, and Jessye Norman. In 1988, Kelly became the first American voted in as a member of the Chambre Syndicale, an elite organization of designers based in Paris. In September, 2004, his work was the subject of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. - Via TodayinAfricanAmericanHistory
Goal: Start Styling Clients and building a fashion styling portfolio.
This is the year that I want to officially start building my fashion styling portfolio. This means producing and styling photo shoots and working on building a clientele in my area so in a year I can make the move to NYC with a fashionable portfolio.
I'm beginning to work on the details on how this all will happen to start building a clientele and just finding ways to contribute to my styling portfolio. It's one thing to give advice on what a friend should wear to actually styling them.
I want to be at a place within six months that I can begin to get clothes on loan from the local boutique and have clients seeking me out to style them for different occasions. This then can turn into a way for me to constantly styling and working on building a great fashion styling portfolio.
Until then I will be visiting a lot of thrift stores and raiding my friends closet in order to style them and extend this into getting clients. I also need to start working on establishing my fashion styling wardrobe. It's time to make room in my closet!
I'm excited about my fashion journey and am ready to begin styling. If you want to help me and and have me style you contact me!
.jpg)
