House of Deréon/Deréon: Two different fashions. Don't get it twisted.

Like many of you fashionable people out there, I have not been a fan of Deréon clothes. You know them when you see them. Flashy, ghetto fab clothes on the racks of stores like Macy's or Dillard's, or your local ghetto fashions store. I hate it. I find it tacky, and a waste of child labor.

But what I was made aware of recently is that there are two separate lines with the name Deréon. There is the House of Deréon, which is run by Beyonce and her mother Tina. Those clothes I can actually appreciate. The line are nice. It's a good combination of the 40's, 70's and modern era. This is the right line to look too. Of course there are a few mistakes, like the lace dress, but overall they are brand new in the fashion world, and every designer makes mistakes. If you want proof, look at Ugly Betty. You've seen her clothes, right? It's a known fact that all of her clothes are designer couture. The stylist for the show intentionally finds the ugliest pieces of designer collections for Betty. Yeah ... so I can certainly forgive a lace dress from a newcomer.

The other line, the one people are most familiar with, is Deréon. I don't like this line.

This is the tacky, flash-filled disastrous line. I was interested to find out that Beyonce extended this line in collaboration with her sister, Solange. Why am I not surprised by this? That child's taste does lean more towards the ghetto fabulous, and slightly "scoochie," as Jamila calls it, styles. She just doesn't have Beyonce's more polished appearance. That is a shame because I would say Solange is more high fashion than Beyonce in her looks. Beyonce is typically beautiful. Solange has a beauty through several flaws ... which is a recipe for high fashion modeling. But lord her taste in clothes do not match up. And she proves with her own line of clothing with Deréon. Most of it is a hot tacky mess.

So, that is pretty much the extent of this blog. I wanted to make clear that my ban against the clothing line is directed at Deréon, not House of Deréon. That does work smoothly with my feelings of the two leaders of both lines. I find Beyonce to be a classic, and yet innovative dresser, and her line follows suit. Solange is a hot mess, and her line follows. So, if you have the money, check out House of Deréon.

Here's to style. Cheers!

All Sizes Do Not Fit One

Meet Thom Browne ... fashion designer/anarchist. I say anarchist because what he is doing to fashion is not innovative by any means in my book. It is an overthrow of the most basic ideas of style. And the fashion community is eating it up. His suits have even attracted the attention of "The Bible." Yes, y'all ... GQ has now featured him in their latest issue. Not only did I find his suits featured as a hot new item, His suit even appeared in a section of the magazine where they photograph everyday people walking around. So, there is at least one person in the world who walked down the street in this ill-fitted suit with no socks. What is wrong with this picture?

I am all for revolutionizing style, and creating new and interesting looks. But this is a suit that in no way fits a man's body. High-hemmed pants, tightly-tailored jackets. You're spending thousands of dollars to look like you grew and extra foot or so overnight. Remember the movie "Big"? This is what it looks like summarized in clothing. I don't get it.

Is this what we've come to now? The only way to be creative in fashion is to look as tacky and unpolished as you can possibly manage. It is one thing to play with gender roles in clothes, it is quite another to cram yourself into a Steve Urkel's pants.

I will compliment his choices as far as the overall look. If you look at some of his clothes that have hit the runway, they are very creative, and I love the overall look. I would certainly find his suits more appealing if they just fit the body better.

This look with the half-cut jacket is very good. That is artistic and creative: the pants become the rest of the suit jacket. That is something worth parading on runway. But Pee Wee Herman cuts for clothing? Shouldn't be vogue. And yet, the fashion world eats it up. I guess fashion has been so deadly safe for years to the point where anything shocking is gold, even if it's the wrong kind of shocking.

Well, welcome to Thom Browne's high-hemmed suits. They have gone from catwalk to sidewalk. I just hope they stay off my block.

Here's to style. Cheers!

The Best Suit You Can Afford: A Birthday Suit!

I was talking to Courtenay the other day, and she brought up an old memory from law school that inspired me for this blog. Courtenay, Nnena, and I teamed up for a calendar to raise money for a student organization. We went with more fashionable photos, with lots of skin. It looked great. Courtenay brought up the idea of turning it into a business rather than practicing law. That's not an entirely bad idea. The "Birthday Suit," as it is often called, is far more photographed these days than clothing. Do we all recall the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog? Was there ever an actual article of clothing on anybody in that catalog? I don't remember.

So, the question of the day is this: has fashion lessened the old adage "Less is more" to the point where naked or near-naked is what's selling the clothes? I'm starting to think so. Editorials are more about skin now. It stands out so much more sometimes. And, let's be honest, it's just nice looking at an undressed beautiful body isn't it?

I am seriously rolling around the idea of a calendar business. Some skin here, some fun there, some money everywhere. It could work. I could even use the photos as attention grabbers for an image consulting business. Wouldn't you want to know more about a company advertised by hot nakedness? lol

I have seen some great photos taken ... very artistic, and barely any clothing involved. But, it's still high fashion photography. I could get down with a business revolving around looking good, and talking people out of their clothes. Not a bad life at all.

To be serious for a moment, the human body is a thing of beauty all by itself. Man or woman. So often people don't appreciate their own au naturale appearance. We cover up everything we don't like about our bodies with clothing. That's not the point of clothes people! The point of clothes is to enhance what you already have. Let's not use it to hide what we don't like. We should feel sexy naked and sexier clothed.

Try an exercise I like to do daily. After you get out of the shower, and dry off, take a look at yourself. Yes ... butt-booty naked. Just take a look. From head to toe. I want you to find something on your body that you usually overlook and compliment it. I don't care if it's a kneecap, a fold, a nook, or a cranny ... just compliment it. Do that daily. Rather than criticize what you don't like, turn it into a positive. And for each body part, think about what clothes you want to wear for the day to make that part look or feel sexy to you. Believe me, there are certain parts of your body that no one will see in your clothes, but that part will feel sexy to you in that outfit. If it doesn't, it's the wrong outfit, or you need a new wardrobe. Now that's a new spin on "less is more." The less you criticize your body, the more confidence you'll have in it, and the better you'll feel about yourself.

Confidence in the best look on anyone.

Here's to style. Cheers!

Give and Take: How Sharing Ideas Can Help Your Style

Like many of you out there I keep a Facebook page. It is loaded with law school friends, college friends, high school friends, hometown friends, and so on. It's collection of people I've come across in my life. It's where I can share my ideas, and receive new ones, all in a centralized location.

A few days back, I posted an interesting Note about shunning those with different ideas than you. Several people provided their input, and today it struck me about how that discussion relates to fashion. In an ideal world, we enjoy different viewpoints, ideologies, and tastes coming together, and through the sharing of our individualism with other people, we come to understanding. We each grow as a better person, and that would eventually spread through the world. Well, that's the ideal. Why not bring that same growth to your wardrobe?

Have you ever thought about being around people with different styles than you? Is there someone in your clique that loves the rocker look? How about a preppy? Someone who always dresses too sexy? Someone classic? Someone "All-American?" What do you all think about the clothes each other wears? Do you like them, love them, envy them, hate them? Have you ever tried to take that friend's style, and work it into your own?

Let's try a little experiment. Think about the people in your life and what they wear. Now, think about why they wear certain clothes or accessories. Can you take their ideas of what's fashionable, and weave it into your own looks? How about an example ...

Take a person who is a Gap, Old Navy, all the way. Say she has a goth friend, a Vogue, trendy friend, and a sexy scantily dressed friend. Goths love dark clothing and makeup, and a lot of metal accessories. A Vogue girl is bit French, European prêt-à-porter. And of course the sexy friend tries to show a lot more skin. So what can the Gap take away from these friends? How about this:

I personally love a nice oversized, gaudy ring. This Vampiress ring works nice with the following look that combines a bit of the other friends:

What do you know, Gap has some European inspired clothes. This dress is quite trendy these days, and it has that Gap conservative, cover a lot up, design with the sexy show some skin flair. But, because the Gap girl is a conservative dresser, she can wear the stocking or leggings so that she doesn't feel too exposed with skin. Pair it all up with a chunky shoe like the ones above (I said chunky, not ugly...there's a difference), and you've got a look. And for those of you a little more daring with Goth, go for a dark shade of fingernail polish ... even black. I wouldn't go for black lipstick, but a deep shade, and a strong smokey eye could work. It's a bit daring, but it combines the best of all the looks into one finished, fabulous look. In fact, your friends should have some of those pieces for their own looks, so you all could swap pieces, and combine. There is fashionable goth, so don't give me that line.

What do you think? And all you had to do was open your mind to the possibility of someone else's ideas ... funny how easy and beneficial that is to do.

As I have said before fashion is a reflection of society. Don't you want your society to be a mesh of all things and, from the collective, achieve greatness? It can only be done by an open sharing of ideas, and a respect for the differences you have. I'm not saying embrace the differences, but work with them. Respect is something greater than tolerance. If I can do it with clothes, it can be done with people. A lesson not to let this country turn into GAP people, huh?

Here's to style. Cheers!

The Color Purple

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." — Shug Avery

Well, for the fall fashion season, the designers have taken Shug's advice and made sure that everyone notices the color purple. Traditionally, the fall season is a time for subdued colors. This is a time for rust-colored orange, browns, yellows, reds. Colors that blend in with the autumn scenery. Well, for fall 2008, we don't blend, we stand out and overpower. Welcome to a new day.

New York fashion designers have shifted from the usual dull autumn hues, and opted for more bright, exciting colors. What's the No. 1 must have color for fall? Purple. A deep, rich royal purple jewel tone. This the "It" color on the fall runways. It's bold, exciting, vibrant, and breaks the norm for the season. I love it.

But the designers didn't stop there. Jewel tones are all over the place in a variety of bold colors. I'm much more fond of blue, but that's just me. So, get out there and pick up a few pieces and mix it up. This year is not about muted shades. You want to stand out.

And, to help you out with what to buy -- now that you know the colors you need -- here are a few of the style trends for fall:

1. Tailored blouses tucked into high-waisted pants or skirts

2. The layered look

3. Jackets are longer this season

4. Long trench coat

5. Flashy jewelry -- the big, gaudy, chunky kind that draws attention to your face. (Don't overdo this trend. Mix subtle pieces with larger pieces. Take a look at Women's Wear Daily for examples of the chunky jewelry. Just remember that you should only have a piece or two that are bold. The rest should serve as a background.)

6. Belts are bigger

7. An oversize, patent leather purse

Any of these styles can incorporate the new colors. But never do all trends together. That is just tacky. Be sure to mix the old with the new, the flashy with the subtle, and so on.

Here's to style. Cheers!