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Homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat is still remembered today as a great artist with something to say. As an inspiration for artists, fashionistas and Blacks everywhere his legacy will live on forever.
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How an Adult Store Put the Fun Back Into Shopping
Do you remember spending afternoons browsing the shops? Here's why this simple pleasure can lift your mood in our tech-obsessed times.
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Happy Birthday Dr. King!
Martin Luther King Jr. 's ability to provide guidance, in his time, and our time makes him an African-American who needs to be remembered for Black History Month and beyond.
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Nostalgia: Hello Kitty Style 2015
It doesn't matter how old you are, where you come from or what you believe in because Hello Kitty is for everybody.
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Today's Costume Designers Don't Let Money Get in the Way of Creativity
Do you ever wonder why the actors on your favorite T.V. shows look like they do and where they got their clothes? Through the collaboration with a costume designer they become the character.
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Diane von Furstenberg: One of the First Wrappers
Diane von Furstenberg is one of the most well known designers in the world thanks to the wrap dress she created in 1974. Now it's celebrating its 40th anniversary and is as relevant as ever.
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Laying it Down for Tap Day
Tap dancing isn't just a wonderful art form that keeps on growing, National Tap Dance Day on May 25, allows fans and dancers all over the world to celebrate it together.
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Vintage On Venice: A Store That Reminds One of Home
Every once in a while you walk into a store that feels like someone's home because it's so beautiful. That's the way I felt when I visited "Vintage On Venice" in Mar Vista, California.
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Three Cheers for Today’s Stylish Man
Well-dressed men have always fascinated society, from Beau Brummel to Barack Obama, now that they're in vogue again it's exciting to see one like Quentin Thrash in the flesh
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How to Shop Your Closet
When your budget doesn't allow you to hit your favorite mall or website you can still look stylish by looking to your closet for inspiration. With a little imagination and planning it can even be fun.
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You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Fashionista!
Nothing says femininity like floral fashion. I always feel my prettiest and when I'm wearing floral prints. Right now one of the hottest trends also happens to be one of the most beautiful.
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David Bowie: A Glam Sensation
David Bowie is one of the most influential artists I've ever read about and listened to. He helped me get through a difficult adolescence and continues to inspire me to this day.
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Living to Tap and Tapping to Live
After over 10 years of tap dancing I didn't think it would become part of my livestyle, but it has regardless of how I feel emotionally or physically and whatever else I'm going through.
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African-American Flava: Black Style So Hot It's Cool
During my 20 plus years as a professional fashion writer and fashionista I've been influenced by a lot of different looks, but none have personified me as much as the looks from my own culture as an African-American. Whether it's retro, vintage, contemporary or street I always refer to my culture...
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How I Learned to Get Organized
Organizing is never easy especially when you've accumulated years of stuff. Due to a few life changing chapters in my life I learned how to do it with style and proficiency.
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In Love with a Dress
Have you ever had a favorite garment that changed your life? Well I've had several, but this dress was my first. It still means a lot to me and out of all of my style changes and moves it's remained very special.
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Dressing for Youself: How to Be Your Own Stylist
Have you ever had to find a great outfit and you didn't have an unlimited budget, a personal stylist or a lot of time? If you have, you know what it's like for the modern shopper.
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My Tap Audition
Even though I'm not taking tap classes right now I still continue to practice, create routines, come up with costumes and look for music as if I were. Who knows someone might find out that I tap and ask me to put on a show and do my thing. I hope you're inspired to do the same with something you...
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Shooting the Light
I never knew how magical it was to shoot into the light and become the subject in a photo until I took Andrew Hall's "Shooting the Light" photography class at Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center. Not only did it help me learn how to see in a whole new way it also introduced me to a new way to...
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Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: A Timeless Duo
Have you ever been inspired by a television show or a famous character? It can happen any time and any place. If you'd like to know how one of my favorite shows inspired me you'll enjoy reading this article about the classic mystery character, Sherlock.
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Going On With the Show!
Have you ever been in a situation when you had to pull out all the stops to make it go right? If you have then you'll know how I felt when I realized that I'm a brave person and my own hero. I hope this hub inspires you to find the hero inside of you.
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Dancing in Another Year!
Recounting this memory was one of the most enjoyable writing experiences of my career. I loved going back in time to remember the happier times in my childhood and some of my best friends from that era.
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Style is the Best Revenge
Have you ever put on something and it made you feel wonderful and like you could conquer the world? Well, if you like feeling like that whenever you go out in public you know how I like to feel. Clothes and fashion have that power for me so I hope you'll enjoy reading about how and why that's so...
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Raining Taps and Rhythm
The big day finally came and I was going to tap again at the Cancer Support Community's Holiday Open Mic on December 17, 2011. I had just created a new routine, "I Got Soul," to James Brown's record "Soul Power, Part 1," that I hoped would inspire the audience as much as the last tap piece I'd...
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Soulful Tapping with James Brown
It's December 2011 and I was back for another go at tap dancing at the Cancer Support Community's Holiday Open Mic. This time my inspiration was soul music and my childhood. This was a really challenging routine but I learned a lot from it and enjoyed doing it as much as the one I'd done in October...
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Laughter is Always the Best Medicine
Whenever I'm faced with a stressful situation I turn to something that will give me comfort, whether it's a toy, good luck charm or saying. This time, when I had to go in for a new procedure, I needed a new comfort thing that would help me so I turned to Mary E. Walter's comic book series "My Year...
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Hanna Hartnell Creates Fashion Art
Have you ever chosen a garment just because of the fabric? If you have you're a textile lover. The material a designer chooses is just as important to a piece of clothing as the construction. I witnessed, first-hand, at the "TEDx Fabric As a Medium For Beauty" exhibit that fabric actually gives a...
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California Fashion Designer, Gina Ellis, Recreates Modern Style with Class
If you thought the only options to jeans and t-shirts were baggy old sweats you haven't been informed of the new sportswear revolution. Gina Ellis, designer of "Prayer Haute Couture", has been part of this phenemenon ever since she noticed a need for more luxurious casual wear. Sophisticated,...
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Tappin' The Blues Away!
Tap dancing is hard, especially when you're battling cancer, but it's also fun. It allows you to make music with your feet, move your whole body and drift away to a better place. Whether you're performing on-stage or in the audience it allows you to feel alive.
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Kindness is the Best Accessory
Do onto others...well you know the rest. Are you like me and wonder what's happened to make some people so mean and inconsiderate? In this article I analyze the meanness trend and insist that it's always better to be nice than nasty.
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How I Became a Lady at the Vintage Fashion Expo
Women from other eras had it made, when it came to clothes, because not only were their things beautiful but they were taught how to carry themselves in them. Whenever I looked at an old movie I always wished I could trade places with a beautifully dressed actress just once. I finally got my chance...
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Dave Temple Brings Vintage Glamour to Culver City, California
Vintage clothing collectors are on the look-out for one thing-a good place to buy fresh stuff. For years if you missed the Vintage Fashion Expo, or didn't live near "Meow", you were out of luck but now Culver City, California has a new pop up event. Cozy and ultra-friendly this new place in the...
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Watch Out Chemo, I'm Looking Good!
Chemotherapy treatments are hard, your looks take a real hit, you feel exhausted and sick and the last thing you want to do is dress up and go out. It was with this attitude that I participated in the American Cancer Society's "Look Good...Feel Better" workshop. Giving a blow by blow description I...
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What Could Be More Fun Than Wearing the 1970s!
The 1970s was a lot of things but it was never boring. Fashionably we're still wearing some of its hottest trends too. For me it meant high school, college, glam rock, Soul Train and becoming a young adult. By looking back I've highlighted the '70s as a person who grew up then and still remembers...
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Creating Magic with Jewelry Designer Mystixsprings
While some of us are happy to just do something simple to relax there are those of us who want to get something out of their leisure time. In my interview with mystixsprings, a writer/bead artist tells how she does just that with her hobby. The same communication skills she uses for her writing she...
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"The Catcher in the Rye": A Classic with Staying Power
Reading can do a lot for you, from giving you a place to escape to inspiration for how to live. "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger has done both for me. By correlating 1940s fashion with Holden Caulfield's (the book's protagonist) world I've shared how this classic has given me such a passion...
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Age is a State of Mind
Ageism is an ugly thing. Once you finally reach the time of your life when you're self-confident, beautiful and intelligent someone tries to tell you you're over the hill. In a first-person account about my own ideas about age I confronted modern-day prejudice about what society and the media's...
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Elizabeth Hawes: The Thinking Woman's Designer
Mentors are hard to find, because they need to have qualities that you want to emulate. When I read Bettina Berch's book about Elizabeth Hawes I knew I'd found one of mine. Contrasting my reading of the book with the turbulent time I was going through I described how special Hawes' contribution was...
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Literate and Chic: Virginia Woolf and Anais Nin Made Boho Dressing Acceptable
The amount of disposable income you have doesn't determine your ability to fling together disparate pieces and have them make sense. Anais Nin was my first introduction to the urban type of bohemianism I personally related to as a writer myself. By following its history to how one can dress like...
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The Sartorial Tabula Rosa: The White Button-down Shirt
Tabula rosa means "blank slate", and besides being one of my favorite terms, it also describes to me what a white shirt is. When I look at those words, and equate them with it, I can't help admiring its versatility. From an historical account to fashion coordination tips I've shown respect for this...
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Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn: Two Icons with Class
Idolatry comes in many forms from popular culture to religion but the type that emanates from the fashion industry is special. Two of the most influential icons, Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn, became important because of their signature styles. In a description of their timeless looks I've...
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California Dream Weaver: Harry H. Culver's Culver City
Los Angeles is a place where people come to start a new life. Out of all of the fascinating stories that make up its history Harry H. Culver's (the founder of Culver City) is the best. Known for its historical landmarks and Hollywood back stories his town remains a great destination.
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Hello Kitty Is For Big Girls Too!
It's not unusual for creative people to have a muse and "Hello Kitty" is mine. Our relationship has been so long and significant I can't see a day without her. In an homage to my favorite toy I've shared what she's been up to and who else has been touched by her as well.
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There's No Such Thing as Pain in Tap Dancing
Pain is a strange thing, once you start doing something you enjoy, you don't feel it as much. Pleasure, whether it's intellectually stimulating or visually satisfying, often makes the activity worthwhile. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, in 2011, I thought I'd never tap dance again but with...
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Japanese Street Style is My Favorite Fashion Inspo
Being different these days can be very challenging especially when you see stores pushing the same looks. Where do you go for inspiration? In the early 1980s I discovered Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake and muse Tina Chow, then Hello Kitty became my muse, and in 2004 a graphic designer...
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The Art of Stylish Dressing
When you get up in the morning finding something to wear might be a maddening obstacle. As you stand in front of your closet full of clothes you probably see individual items but not coordinates. By considering a few simple tricks utilizing classics, inspiration and accessories your can discover...
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How to Create Your Own Fashion Resource Bible
Looking through magazines, like "Vogue" and "Harper's Bazaar", you might feel overwhelmed by all of the clothes presented on their pages.How do you decide what to buy and wear? By compiling and creating your own style reference book that more accurately meets your needs.
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Pink is Always My New Black
The color representing breast cancer just happens to be my favorite color too. Whether it's mixed with with white to make it look pale and soft or a darker shade I love it and have worn it. As a survivor I've learned how to substitute it for black, and other darker neutrals, to raise my spirits and...
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Horton the Elephant Keeps On Tappin'!
It's hard fulfilling a dream no matter how old you are. You sometimes feel insecure because you're new and don't know the ropes yet. If doesn't help if others make fun of you when you're trying your hardest.But with persistence and support anyone can be a winner.
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Vintage Must-Haves for Today's Girly-Girls
Now while it's true the price of vintage finds have gone up significantly, its still possible to add a girly-girl edge to your wardrobe if you also add secondhand and retro to the mix.
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Bread Was the Stuff of Life at Culver City's "Helms Bakery"
Today when you visit the Helm's Bakery building the most significant thing you'll find is the original delivery truck in "H.D. Buttercup" and the Art Deco architecture outside.If you're familiar with the area you'll remember the company's heyday from the 1930s to the late 1950s. As the city changes...
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Breast Cancer Chic: Fashion with Attitude
Living with a life threatning illness can be very traumatic often taking a toll on you emotionally, intellectually and physically. As you adjust to your bodily changes your attitude about your appearance changes. Throughout my experience with breast cancer I've learned how to transform my negative...
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Puppy Love at Urban Dog Playcare
Having a dog can be very rewarding but it can also be a big responsibility. What do you do when you have to work or school and you can't take care of your beloved pet? The ideal solution would be to take them to a place where a devoted group of professionals can do it for you.
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Invest in Your Work Wardrobe Everyday
Making the transition from college student to employee is difficult especially when you've been wearing jeans and t-shirts everyday. What kind of clothes do you buy to make an impression on future employers? Ones that you can wear for years and get a lot of mileage from.
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Galerie Sommerlath: An Antique Lover’s Paradise
Interiors change as often as the seasons. One minute "Shabby Chic" is hot and the next it's "Southwest". The one style that doesn't seem to adhere to this trend is "Modern". In my profile with Michele Sommerlath, owner of "Galerie Sommerlath" in Culver City, California, I discuss with her what...
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Jewelry Designer Sam Katz Creates Tap Bling for Stylish Dancers
If you thought the only way you could enjoy tap dancing is by throwing down steps you're missing out on its style potential. Sam Katz, a jewelry designer who specializes in tap jewelry, is determined to change your mind and help you represent on and off the stage with a personalized line of lovely...