Photo: Tre Thomas

I am so excited to present to you guys the first ever Not Carrie Bradshaw Chats. This new video series will feature monthly interviews with some of our favorite influencers in fashion, media, pop culture, and music. This month I sat down with model, entrepreneur, host, and media personality Malyia. You may recognize her from the viral video from The Today Show, wherein she was a natural hair model, and the stylist just had no idea what she was doing with textured hair. In the inaugural episode of NCB Chats, we discuss post-election anxiety, what it means to have diversity in media, and what our role as black women in media should be to push forward the task of being active citizens.

Details on my look will be in next week’s fashion story.

Photo: Lyn Hughes Photography
We kicked off our first red carpet event of the year at the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund’s 80^th Annual Geoffrey Beene National Scholarship Awards Dinner. The event took place at the Grand Hyatt hotel, where guests celebrated the 2017 Fashion Scholarship Fund class, and nearly $1.5 million in scholarships were awarded throughout the evening.

Photo:Lyn Hughes Photography
This is one of the many functions held to honor, encourage, and facilitate young talent in the fashion industry.  Former NFL player, current Good Morning America host, and fashion entrepreneur Michael Strahan was among three honorees who were recognized for their contributions to the industry.  I would’ve loved to have gotten his thoughts on some things, but his team was adamant that he was only allowed to speak with pre-approved media outlets.  In spite of the very obvious fame of this site (I say that with heavy sarcasm and a hopeful heart) we were not allowed to speak with Mr. Strahan, but he looked nice (Stevie J. voice).

We were, however, able to speak with Geoffrey Beene’s newly appointed Brand Ambassador, Kellan Lutz.  Many of you very kindly commented on how nice I looked, but were clearly very overwhelmed by how fine the Twilight actor is, and understandably so.  I cannot emphasize enough how kind and personable he was.  As obvious Twilight fans crowded the designated press spot on the red carpet snapping photos and videos, he made sure to give every writer/reporter ample time and attention.

Lutz spoke very highly of his former cast members, and after reporters were instructed to stick to questions about the event, he went on to say how important charity is today, and why he jumped at the opportunity to represent Geoffrey Beene, adding that cancer has so strongly affected his life after losing an uncle and a grandmother to the disease. Working with a company that gives so much to helping those in need was the catalyst.

What is your favorite fashion moment thus far in your career?

KL: I would have to say being friends with Roberto Cavalli and having him design my suit for Breaking Dawn, the second part of Breaking Dawn.  Roberto Cavalli, he’s so legendary, and having me as a guest on his boat for like a week, that goes down in my memory book for life.

What role has fashion or style played in your career?

KL: You know I never finished college, and I always had an interest in fashion.  I started my clothing line about five years ago, and it’s just been such an epic learning environment to be a part of.  Especially with the different fashion weeks.  It’s just the best education.

Do you feel like people have taken you under their wing?

KL: I really do.  I’ve had very good mentors.  Roberto Cavalli, Joseph Abboud, those are like the main ones.  Then some people in the press as well, and like PR firms.  I’ve definitely had great people in my corner.  You know as my life continues and with my clothing line, you know if I want to start another one in a different kind of environment, I would have people to go to.  So it’s really been, I’m really lucky.  I’m really blessed.

Dude, I am trying to have friends like Roberto Cavalli.  I want to hang out on a yacht, and learn more fashion.  Where does one sign up?

Can I just tell you how excited I am about today?  It’s the Friday before a Holiday weekend, so we leave work early, AND it’s payday (which really just means that a bunch of white people are about to get my money because bills are a thing).  So let’s jump right in and discuss this week’s best looks.

Today was such a good day.  Emphasis on was.  Ever since the election I’ve been caught in a space between being highly motivated to take responsibility for my life and contribute something good to this world, and crippling fear over what our soon to be President is going to do to this country.  Today, I was on the good side of that.  I was on the side that my forever President Barack Obama encouraged me to be on per his farewell address.  After watching Being Mary Jane, I thanked God for opening my eyes to the fact that it is always a good idea to work on yourself before you commit to someone else.  I even wrote a little about it:

“If you subscribe to the beliefs and teachings of any higher power, then at some point in your life you have hopefully endured some experience that showed you the principle of perfect timing.  We call it God’s perfect timing, or His perfect plan for our life.  This guiding principle gives us peace in knowing that everything we need is ours according to His perfect timing.  With that being said, is it so illogical to believe that if I am not in a relationship right now that maybe I don’t actually need that right now?”

As I was typing this, I casually asked a co-worker how she was doing.  I could tell from her posture that she was really going to tell me the truth.

“You know at the end of 2016 I told myself 2017 is going to be about me.  It’s not gonna be about my kids or my husband, it’s gonna be about me, and that just didn’t happen.  I’m telling you Jessica, value this time now.  Be present in it, because you’ll never get this time back.”

Feeling even more assured that I am on the right path, I typed this out with such vigor, conviction, and pride.  Sometimes we need a reminder that time to ourselves is a valuable commodity that every woman doesn’t have.  The love and companionship of another person always seems to be at the forefront of our desires, but I decided a while ago to put myself at the forefront of my desires.  I have this time to myself for a purpose.  The phase after this is a husband and possibly children, and we all know that one must be selfless in the role of wife and mother.  I tell myself all the time I can’t be more eager to commit to someone else than I am to commit to myself.  With this burst of energy and certainty, I responded to emails about upcoming events, execution of plans for my brand, and I felt so good adding things to my calendar.  And then I really looked at the calendar.  I mean I really looked.  I looked forward, and I realized that Valentine’s Day is coming up, and that I have to be okay being alone on that day too, and my whole day went to shit.

I don’t care what anybody says, it sucks to be alone on Valentine’s Day.  You can be as happy and content in your single life as you want to be, but when Valentine’s Day comes, and everyone around you is getting shit and feeling loved and shit, it sucks.  I can’t even solidify plans to have a girl’s night out, because my friends aren’t reliable when it comes to that kind of thing.  So I started thinking what can I do by myself that won’t also make me feel lonely?  I googled and came up with zero good ideas.  I mulled this over in my mind a hundred times.  What do I really want to do?  What would I want to do if I had a guy?  And then I realized that it is a whole ass month away.  I climbed down off the ledge in my mind, and said relax bitch, it’s a whole ass month away.  Let’s worry about it when it comes.  I will check in with you in a month to let you know if I dipped into my 401k to pay a matchmaker.  Standby.

Last night’s 2017 Golden Globes awards were amazing, because two of my faves were deservedly honored. Atlanta won for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy, and Donald Glover (the show’s creator) won Best Performance By An An Actor in a Television Series Musical or Comedy. Not bad for the show’s first season. Moonlight won Best Motion Picture Drama and I cannot begin to tell you how happy this made me. Neither Atlanta nor Moonlight exploited black pain, or black violence, or black sexuality, yet they still managed to tackle some very tough issues that we as black people prefer to sweep under the rug. This proves that it is possible to create black art without exploiting the black experience. Who knew?

The first highlight of the evening was Donald Glover thanking Migos, who made a cameo on Atlanta. He didn’t thank them for appearing on the show, or for the award, but for making the song “Bad and Boujee,” which, let’s be honest deserved to be acknowledged.

The second highlight of the evening was Meryl Streep for doing what I hope to see everyone do for the next four years, shade the hell out of President-Elect Trump. Additionally, I love her for calling journalists to task in an era where journalism seems to be losing its integrity. Viola Davis’ speech honoring Meryl Streep’s work was such an emotional experience. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if she was going to read her, or honor her, and she did a bit of both while also being very much the successful auntie we all imagine her to be. Question though: are you guys out here putting barbecue sauce in your collard greens? If so, why?

Now to the fun part. The red carpet. Let’s jump right in.

Fashion Friday 1.6.17

A video posted by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Jan 5, 2017 at 6:11pm PST

Let’s take a moment for the brown goodness that is Gabrielle Union in Thakoon headed to the premier of the new movie Sleepless.

Photo: Corkcicle
On Wednesday night my manager/friend/sister Nikki and I did the most New York thing ever. We attended a fencing match between Victoria’s Secret supermodel Adriana Lima and world champion fencer Miles Chamley-Watson that took place in a warehouse where Questlove was the DJ.

 

 

A photo posted by Brandon Maxwell (@brandonmaxwell) on Dec 5, 2016 at 1:57pm PST

Photo: Instagram
Jourdan Dunn’s wigs always stress me out a little, but when she gets it right, the girl gets it right.  The designer of this look worn at the British Fashion Awards, Brandon Maxwell, is one of my favorite designers. He strikes the perfect balance between minimalism and glam.

 

It has been a great season for black television, and I don’t mean BET. I mean black creatives in television are showing out and giving us amazing content we didn’t even know we were missing. I have already sung the praises of Atlanta, but now that Insecure has concluded its first season on HBO (and has been renewed for a second) I have to show major love. Insecure takes place in L.A. with the show’s protagonist Issa (played by the show’s Creator Issa Rae) going back and forth between the guy she’s with, and the guy she’s most attracted to (you know that one trash ass ex who reappears right when you’re happy) while also figuring out how to perform well at a job she’s not sure she should be doing. Her boyfriend Lawrence (played by the ever lovable Jay Ellis) is down on his luck and trying desperately to get it together, which puts an even greater strain on an already lackluster relationship that has kind of plateaued. Meanwhile, Issa’s best friend Molly (played by Yvonne Orji) is a successful lawyer with an amazing wardrobe who is climbing the legal (?) ladder, but whose love life looks like one long, endless Drake song. She has taken L after L in the relationship department, and discovers (through some tough love via Issa that she is actually the problem).

A few things I loved:

 

Photo: A24

Moonlight is by far one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Not just in the realm of black movies, but period. There was so much care taken to tell the layered story of a young black boy growing up in Miami, trying to understand his sexuality and survive, but without the exploitative factor. The movie stars Naomi Harris,  (whose red carpet game is beyond notable) Trevante Rhodes, (one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen) and Mahershala Ali (one of my favorite actors). For once, the young black kid is not saved by a well-meaning white woman, in fact, there aren’t any visible white people in the entire film. There are no shoot outs, or gang violence, or hyper sexualized black bodies. There are moments of high emotional intensity, endearing characters, and a true, but careful exploration of a very specific, yet often occurring black experience.  At its core, it is a love story.  It is not the usual love story that comes with most movies, black or otherwise.  Moonlight is the story of how all of the love we receive or don’t receive shapes who we really are.

Set in Miami, Moonlight is broken into three parts of the main character’s life: Little, Chiron, and Black. At each phase, he is trying to find himself and where he belongs in the world, in his world. We see the effects of the crack epidemic on black families, the fallout of the fragility of the black male ego and how it impacts their expressions of their sexuality, and the impact of kindness and mentor-ship. We see that every hero in a child’s life is not a perfect being, nor do they have to be to make a difference in that child’s life. We see that when boys are not allowed to cry, to explore, and/or express their feelings that, that suppression manifests itself in painful ways. There was so much care taken with this story to make sure the focus was where it should be, and that’s what gave it such depth.

Initially I was very taken aback by the fact that the theater in which I saw this film was filled with white people. I felt that weird embarrassment that some of us feel when the word nigga is used in mixed company. But the thing is, that’s who needs to see these stories the most. Our spirits are fed by seeing authentic depictions of black life, but their minds are. We are so often just preaching to the choir when we discuss the black experience amongst ourselves. Those conversations are necessary and beneficial within our circles, but for positive change to happen, it’s important for those outside of our community to see films like Moonlight, and to learn about what it means to be black in America. It’s important for others to see the world through our eyes, from our perspective, with our voice, without the unnecessary displays of black pain. Please go support this movie, and learn something about an experience that may differ from yours.

View the trailer below.