A Chic Ape?

When someone utters the words "urban wear" I usually think of trendy, young, hip-hop based looking clothing, so designers such as rocawear or babyphat come to mind. These brands being fashionable in their own way still do not hold their own against labels such as true religion or Miss Sixty. Well thanks to one Japanese designer, Nigo, urban wear is taking on a new popularity. Nigo, is the designer of BAPE (A Bathing Ape), this company sells a variety of items such as their most famous printed hoodies. Although this clothing brand is much more popular in its native country of Japan, celebrities such as Pharell, Lil Wayne, and President of Def Jam Jay-Z, are quickly bringing the edgy clothes to the United States. A Bathing Ape, comes from the popular phrase "bathing in lukewarm water" which is used to explain how quickly the Japanese youth are willing to follow trends. It's no wonder that the brand is so highly sucessful. The downfall to this is, how exclusive the makers are keeping the products, knock-offs seem to be plentiful, stores are rare and go un-advertised to mantain exclusivity and usually if you are fortunate enough to find a store you may purchase only one item. The one item policy prevents their products from appearing on the black market. But if you do manage to obtain one of their products their ever popular brightly colored camo with "BAPE" studded with Swavorski Crystals on the front are hard to miss. Or one of their brightly colored sneakers that mix hip hop flavor with a skater shoe. You'll surely be the talk of...well wherever you may be.






(Side Note: BAPE has also expanded its company into Baby Milo and Bape Cuts, Bape Gallery, Ape sounds (recording label), and Sneakers Bape Sta Trainers, the company is branching out to whatever industries that attract the youth, talk about entrepreneurship!)

The Divine Secrets of the Shoe Sisterhood

In recent months my entourage and I have had long discussions involving not men or politics but simply shoes. We talk for hours over the phone or over some Chick-fil-A about the stilettos, the flats, and the wedges. We as a whole have no problem with knowing what's divine and what's a out of line, but rather where to find the treasures with out stumbling upon fool's gold. So I thought to myself surely we couldn't be the only women in America with this dilemma. Now if you were married to Tom Cruise or any other rich fellow you would not have this crisis for your choices of footwear would never be limited by the price tag. But the average Lucy isn't quite as lucky. So because I truly want every shoe to find a loving and caring home. I will reveal a secret shopping spot for you all to enjoy. Foot candy shoes
this online store's regularly priced shoes are of a laughing matter as they carry designers such as Pucci therefore the prices soars well into 300 or 400 dollars. Fear not ladies their sale sections are to die for with prices going as low as $25 granite from time to time you may feel that their selection for a lack of a better word sucks but keep your eyes peeled because you never know what might pop up.
(The picture in the upper left hand corner is by Edmundo Castillo and can be found in the store's $100 bargain basement)

Sshhh...

Do you want to know a secret? Well I think I'm ready to reveal this amazing shoe power in this post. These stores have proved to be magnificant in my area carrying every brand from GUESS to BCBGirls and even Coach. My fashion associate in Tennessee questioning my sanity, seems unable to find the shoes that I am so in love with. These stores are Marshalls and TJMaxx. Before, I would have turned my nose up at the two stores. For they made me feel as if I was at a yard sale. But, on one faithful day I travelled to their shoe section and nearly fainted. After trying on five pairs of shoes I dashed to the cash register, while almost forgetting my Dooney and Bourke purse, and found that the prices were amazingly low. A consumer of the store could easily snag a pair of Steve Madden shoes for around 20 bucks. Although not all areas may prove to be as lucky, but I thought the people need to know! On a downside their websites do not serve the stores justice which basically eliminates e-shopping.

Von Who?

Oh the brands, the designers, they engulf our pop culture. But, here lately one brand has bothered me the most, Von Dutch. In late 2004 if you had offered me a Von Dutch bag I would have been ecstatic, or if I spotted a hat of the brand on a random girl I would think, "Now she has style". But here lately I question how legibly popular the brand actually is. I once again I consulted a few friends, some still had feelings for Von Dutch, others never really cared for the brand in the first place. Mostly people suggested to me Louis Vuitton rather than the once beloved brand. As you would guess these answers puzzled me to a certain extent. Of course I knew Louis Vuitton had grown in popularity immensely since the beginning of 2005. But how could society jump from $100 to $500 bags? The answer I knew but it broke my heart. Knock offs, they are made constantly to replicate the extremely popular LV bags. Knock offs or replicas to some extent can be good for designers they show that the brand is important enough to have imitators and followers. But LV has gotten out of hand since they have not changed their print in a few years the knock offs are much more plentiful than the actual product. So even if you do have the luxury to afford such an item people assume it's an imitation :(. All in all I pray Von Dutch will come back or there will be an even more fabulous new comer other than LV but until then, I am left here pondering at what I missed.

Cutsie Cosmetics

Up to this point you all have been listening to my takes on the trends of clothing and of course shoes. Well as if SHOES and clothes were not fabulous enough, I hope to let this article take my blog to a whole new level. Cosmetics, they can make a girl look stunningly beautiful or stunningly in drag. The question all gilrs ponder however is how do I know what colors or what products are right for me? Even the highest paid experts can not dispute with the fact that most women are intemidated by cosmetics and by the large variety. Even when I was much younger I confess to having hooker make-up. Not because I wanted to or liked hookers, I just simply didn't know. So stop! Don't be frazzled because I, being kind-hearted, have brought you all a solution. Sephora; This store may be familiar or you may be oblivious to the fact that it is a fabulous make-up store. Either way this store can be largely used to your benefit. First, I suggest just looking around the site and taking in all the high quality cosmetics at once. Then If your are still at a lost or just don't know which colors of your favorite brand to choose just holler at them. That's right ladies you now have the luxury of make-up experts at your finger tips. They reply at about 2 or 3 weeks and the responses tend not to disappoint.To carry out your FREE consultation click here



(Pictures: Too Faced Electric Lash in Jolt $18.50 it gives an instant sparkle to the eye, Too Faced Carribean in a Compact $25.00 perfect bronzer for light and or pink complected girls since it has a pink base)

Beach flab to beach fab

No one is perfect, as we all should know. Yet, it is hard to accept that fact when we are being compared to numerous other women when we step onto the beach. Each year it seems we find ourselves in a bathing suit that is holding us over until we find the ONE. Well I am here to put an end to summer sneaking up on women. This year if you follow these tips you will be the envy of every season-shocked woman. If you find yourself still carrying that ham from Christmas in your belly try a fun tankini. It covers the problem area with a not so obvious fun twist. For our girls with hourglass figures cut out bathing suits are this season's must have and will look absolutely flawless on you. Now to travel to the other end of the figure chart if you feel like you want to accentuate your small chest buy a bikini with wide-cut cups these will shift your *mmhmms* to the middle for cleavage. But maybe you need to balance out your lower and upper in that case go for a triangle bikini. To hide hips boy cut shorts do the trick in a snap. With these tips hopefully you will be the beach babe you want to be. But remember this, regardless of what bathing suit your wearing or what your body type is, you are beautiful whether its all natural or you bought them in LA.

(Pictures: Cut out bathing suit in upper left hand corner found at Bebe's, tankini in upper right hand corner found at Nordstrom's, Boy short in lower left hand corner found at target, and wide-cut cup bikini found at www.mermaidsboutique.com.)

Classy Cinderella

Cinderella to children its a magical fairy tale, but to me it is one of the most fabulous make-overs to ever hit the scene. Although here lately Cinderella is hit with some of the most fierce competition to hold her title as the make-over queen. Who is daring to take on Cinderella? Hollywood's own Lindsay Lohan and suprisingly Nicole Richie. Lindsay's make-over took place a few years ago as she went from homely to party animal. Nicole's though more recently took the exact opposite direction she went from paris hilton's side-kick to chic glamour girl. Though it sounds like a hard transition after research I have found that it came quiet naturally to them. Lindsay started hanging out more with people such as Tara Reid and now Paris Hilton, she grew somethings** over night, tanned, created fabulous hair, deepened her make-up, and was out on the town everynight of the week. Nicole on the other hand ditched Paris, up-graded here bling bling, wore classic gowns instead of ripped up shirts, lost the extensions, recieved a couture haircut to die for and started acting a little more proper. though on two different ends of the table I think we can all agree they both look more fabulous than ever.