A Diva State of Mind

I was drooling over the crystal pumps Anne Hathaway wore with her sexy custom Lanvin suit while hosting the 2011 Academy Awards.  And according to twitter, others loved the shoes too. So of couse I had to do some research. 

The fabulous shoes are Swarovski crystal-covered Brian Atwood pumps that were made exclusively for Anne Hathaway!

Kudos Rachel Zoe (Anne Hathaway’s stylist)! These pumps are HAUTE!

Traveling on a mission trip is truly a calling so I was extremely proud when I found out two of my friends had been called to travel to the Dominican Republic in March.

On March 13, 2011, Jackie Dillon and Jovonne Williams will travel with the National Community Church to rehabilitate and improve Las Palmas church and community center in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The center is very active in the community providing feeding programs, vocational skill courses, and community youth programs.

Funds are needed to build walls and support the purchase of other building related materials. These ladies and the National Community Church need our help to raise $35,000 to fund this trip.  To show your support, Jackie and Jovonne are seeking your donation through the purchase of blocks.

Each block is $10 and includes all necessary materials for construction.  Suggested donation amounts are $10 (1 block), $50 (5 blocks) or $100 (10 blocks), however donations of any amount will be accepted; every dollar amount will make a huge impact!! Any additional funds raised will go to vocational scholarships for local residents.

As I have stressed so often,  we should all give back to our community whether that community is near or far.  If you’re interested in learning more about this Dominican Republic mission trip and would like to show your support, please visit www.DCtoDR.com.

We’re used to witnessing Nicki Minaj in over the top outfits and hairstyles, so it was quite shocking and refreshing to see her on the cover BlackBook.  We FINALLY get to see her in outfits that can be worn by other people besides her and Lady Gaga. While the makeup is bright, playing on her animated personality, it looks great with her curly wig; a look I think only she could pull off.

Kudos to the stylists; Nicki Minaj looks gorgeous! What do you think?

Photos courtesy of Coco and Creme

Nude pumps are the hottest trend of the Spring/Summer season. What I love most about nude pumps is that they go with EVERYTHING!  This means you can purchase a pair this year and not have to worry about them going out of style next year. Nude pumps are classy, sophisticated and sexy all at the same time. While they look great with all colors, nude will look extremely fabulous with navy and coral.

I LOVE “All Of The Lights” from Kanye West’s most recent album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. However, the video is not as impressive; it won’t have people talking like his “Runway” and “Power” videos.It begins with a little girl walking the streets of New York and then it randomly transitions to a lot of bright colors.  Fellas, you all will definitely enjoy Rihanna’s appearance.

Now that New York Fashion Week has ended, it’s time to prepare ourselves for DC.  The city is gearing up to launch its 14^th DC Fashion Week. Events begin Monday, February 21^st wih a kickoff reception at Kellari Taverna Greek restaurant.

What makes DC Fashion Week so unique from other fashion show events is that it focuses heavily on international designers.  This year, designers from Norway, Thailand and Nigeria, just to name a few, are showcasing their designs. 

Check out the schedule below for more details on DC Fashion Week.

Monday, February 21^st: Kickoff Reception 6 p.m. to 8p.m. at Kellari Taverna (1700 K Street NW). Free Admission. First 75 guests will receive a complimentary glass of champagne. Special Jewelry & Accessories Fashion Show at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, February 22^nd: COLORS OF OASIS Central Asian Ikats at The Textile Museum (2320 S Street NW) from 10 a.m. to 5 .p.m. Free Admission, however a $8.00 donation is suggested.

Wednesday, February 23^rd: SECOND LIVES The Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles at The Textile Museum. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free, however a $8.00 donation is suggested

Thursday, February 24^th: Fashion Industry Networking Party 6 p.m to 10 p.m. at  Tabaq Bistro on U Street.  This is a great event for networking to meet others in the fashion world including designers, stylist and talent agencies.  Free admission

Friday, February 25^th: CORJOR INTERNATIONAL Fashion show at Mood Lounge at 9 p.m. DC based designer Ean Williams premiers his new collection Free Admission with codeword “DC Fashion Week.”

Saturday, February 26^th: WASHINGTON MENSWEAR COLLECTIONS 7 p.m. to 9 p.m at the Washington Post Conference Center (1150 15th Street NW).  Eight fashion designers will illustrate what’s hot in men’s fashion. Tickets are $10 and $25 (front row) and can be purchased by calling 800-494-8497 or boxofficetickets.com. After party at Ozio.

Sunday, February 27^th: Internal Couture Collections 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Embassy of France LaMaison Francaise (4101 Reservoir Road).  The VIP reception will being at 5 p.m. and the show begins 6 p.m. General Admission tickets are $60 and VIP tickets are $120 (includes front row seat, deluxe bag, champagne toast and a VIP pre-show reception). For tickets, call 800-494-8497 or visit boxofficetickets.com. Cocktail Attire is requested.

What events do you plan on attending? For more information on DC Fashion Week, visit http://www.dcfashionweek.org

The Direct Drive Record Pool and Heineken Present the DTLR Listening Lounge on Monday, February 21^st from 7-10pm at U St Music Hall.

The Listening Lounge will feature Ice Water/Capitol Records Recording Artist Raekwob and  J Records/Sony Recording Artist Marsha Ambrosius.  Both artists will be releasing highly anticipated albums, with Marsha releasing “Late Nights & Early Morning” on March 1st and Raekwon releasing “Shaolin vs Wu-Tang” a week later on March 8th.  In addition, there will be a special guest appearance from RCA Recording Artist CJ Hilton. The event will be hosted by DJ Quicksilva of WKYS & DJ Jay Claxton of WERQ. On the 1’s & 2’s will be DJ Reddz of WPGC, DJ Lonnie B of WCDX & DJ Bee of WOWI.

The Direct Drive Record Pool is run by industry veteran’s Shawn Caesar, Scottie B & Greg Baker who are dedicated to providing the DMV with quality talent. In the past , they have had many artist including J. Cole, Mickey Factz, K. Michelle, Saigon, Sean Garrett, The Clipse, Ghostface Killah, and Cee-Lo Green participate in the Listening Lounge.  The Listening Lounge is not only a place to hear great music, but it also provides a great opportunity to network with various managers, artist, publicist and DC socialites.

Direct Drive Record Pool will present the Listening Lounge once every other month. The remaining dates are featured below:

• 04/18/11
• 06/20/11
• 08/22/11
• 10/24/11
• 12/19/11

To RSVP, visit http://conta.cc/gB8ZKW. U Street Music Hall is located at 1115A U Street NW , Washington, DC 20009 The event is 21 & Up event. Doors will open at 6:30pm and the event will begin promptly at 7pm.

I know I wasn’t the only one that did a double take when Ricky Martin’s arrived on the red carpet at the Grammys in a blazer and silver jeans (or jeggings).   I thought to myself, “Why are his pants so tight?? I know he can’t breathe!”

For some reason a lot of people believe that just because something is a trend, it must be right. WRONG!!!  I’m not sure when this men and skinny jeans phenomena started, but it needs to stop.  For those of you out there that don’t know, skinny jeans, skinny pants, and jeggings are for ladies.  There is absolutely no reason a man’s pants should be tighter than mine! Don’t you all need some breathing room down there?

J. Cole has FINALLY released a video for the popular and sexy track “In The Morning” from his mixtape Friday Night Lights. I’ll admit I was very anxious to check it out because I LOVE this song! I appreciate the video because it tells a simple story of J.Cole meeting a girl, hanging out and ultimately leaving something behind.  Fortunately for us, he decided to not take the overly sexualized video approach!

The Roc Nation marketing/promotional team needs to step it up because we definitely need to see and hear more of J. Cole. He is an artist the rap game could definitely benefit from right now.

Sophisticated. Classy. Elegant.

Those are three words to describe the Donna Karan Fall 2011 Ready-To-Wear Collection.  The collection deviated from dark colors like black and olive green that has been seen so often during fashion week. Instead, Donna Karan filled the runway will pale hues. The collection still felt like Fall, but with so much more grace and elegance than if it were of a darker color palette. 

From the draped collar belted dresses to the fur accents and coats, I was watching the show wanting to take every look from the runway and infuse them into my wardrobe. Every single look down that runway was STUNNING. 

Ladies, if you’re looking to enhance your personal style to the next level of sophistication, check out Donna Karan’s Fall 2011 RTW collection for some inspiration!

Photos courtesy of Elle