Fashion Week T&T gets underway

So Fashion Week Trinidad and Tobago is underway and so far the few reports we are getting in are mixed.

Basically in a nutshell - love the clothes, hate the congestion.

That has been the consensus from both Caribbean Fashion Style Journal and Judette Coward-Puglisi's 5 a.m. at Mango Media blogs.

The folks at CFStyle were not happy about some of the organisational glitches on the opening night - they had issues with getting accreditation, ticket-holders could not get into the event because it was full and the traffic scene outside of the Hyatt was federation, apparently.

For her part, Judette noted that the pre-event cocktail ceremony was in a too-small room, leading guests to feel 'claustrophobic' and designers were forced to stand because there was not enough seating.

However, both were agreed that the show itself - which is of course what it is all about - was sizzling.

CFStyle described it as a "tight and hitchless showing" while Judette declared that:


"[The] debut night of FWTT  was  so hot, it practically caused a  fire  with all the  Caribbean style,  fresh faces and  nubile bodies."


We have gotten a glimpse of some of the pics from CFStyle, including Heather Jones fantastic wedding collection and thus far we would have to agree. But what do you think?





























In other interesting tidbits from FWTT, soca star Machel Montano and reigning Miss T&T Universe Anya Ayoung-Chee will make their designing debuts tonight and tomorrow night respectively. Machel's line is called Boi Boi and Anya's is called Pilar, in honour of her brother who died in a traffic accident two years ago.

Designer Claudia Pegus made changes to her ready to wear line CPFS which she was bringing back after a 6 year break. Initially, the line was to be called Illusions, in reference to the idea that Pegus' reputation as a couturier has obscured the fact that she also does ready to wear.


"It was supposed to be fun and beautiful and light," she told 5 a.m.


However, after her harrowing robbery last Friday, the tone of the line has become much darker and is titled Trapped instead.


"After the incident, I felt (and still feel) emotionally drained and as I resumed work the pieces in the collection began to take a different form. On hearing the news of what happened, many people called to commiserate. As we spoke I began to realise how many of my friends and even acquaintances had been direct victims of crime. Many are living in fear. It's like we all feel trapped. The well to do and the middle class are trapped, no matter how high the wall or strong the burglar proof. Perhaps even the bandits are trapped in their ignorance and their environment. But mostly I felt that my sense of safety and my well being had been ripped away."

Post Title

→

Fashion Week T&T gets underway

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/fashion-week-t-gets-underway.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Political power players with island roots

Eric Holder may be the most prominent Caribbean descendant on the U.S. political scene right now but he's not the only one.

There are quite a few islandistas-by-descent who are on the political scene or the power behind the throne (as it were).

They all just happen to be hugely intelligent and educated, career-minded, successful and fabulous - in other words, the definition of islandistas, even if they are some way from home. These are no ordinary women - but would we expect less of daughters of the Caribbean?

Heading the list is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, whose maternal grandparents emigrated from the beautiful country parish of Portland in Jamaica to the United States.

[caption id="attachment_1040" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Photo credit: Annie Leibovitz/style.com"][/caption]

Rice, who is featured in this month's Vogue (see pic above) is to put it plainly... super-bright.

A Rhodes Scholar, she attained her doctorate from Oxford University by 25 and joined President Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff when she was 28. By 32, she was the assistant secretary of state - the youngest ever of course. And now she is the second-youngest ever U.N. Ambassador.

Whew.

And she has two children and a husband.

Because yes, sometimes you can have it all - prevent nuclear proliferation and raise well-adjusted children.

Another prominent politico who is an islandista by descent is San Franciso District Attorney Kamala Harris.

 

 


 



[caption id="attachment_1041" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Photo credit: kamalaharris.org"][/caption]

 

 



Harris, who was featured in fellow islandista-by-descent Gwen Ifill's book 'The Breakthrough' was born to a Jamaican father, Professor Donald Harris of Stanford University and an Indian mother, Dr. Shyamala Goapalan.

Harris' election was a lot of firsts - the first female D.A. in San Francisco, the first black D.A. in California (the state that is home to the LAPD, after all) and the first Indian-American D.A. in the United States.

She told Ifill:

"There is something to be said for being the first in terms of breaking the stereotype of who can do what. It's not because  you're the first person that could do it, at all. It's just everyone's ability to imagine who should or can, do what."

She may become yet another first next year, as she's running for Attorney General of California in 2010.

Behind the scenes, but still bringing the tempo of the islands to politics is Washington D.C.'s other first lady - Michelle Cross Fenty, wife of Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Mayor Fenty himself is of Caribbean descent a good ways back - that distinctively Bajan surname is a dead giveaway and indeed his great-grandfather was a Barbadian who emigrated to Panama. People joke that he may be related to Rihanna (aka Robyn Fenty) but that surname is actually so rare in Barbados that he probably is.

However, it is his wife Michelle that has the closer Caribbean connection, born as she was in south London to Jamaican parents. 

Michelle's parents -  her father Charlie was a contractor and part-time reggae singer and her mother Annett was a nurse, emigrated to the United States with their three daughters in 1987.

That reggae influence still holds strong - at her husband's inaugural ball in 2007, she specially requested that the band include a ska number and some reggae!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="Photo credit: Rick Reinhard/bisnow.com"][/caption]

Somewhat like First Lady Michelle Obama, she was actually her husband's mentor - but in law school at Howard, rather than at work. Her husband confessed:

"I had probably seen her walking the halls for some time. I asked her to be my mentor. . . . It was love at first sight."

Like the other islandistas-by-descent in this post, Fenty is fearfully bright. She still works as a lawyer with D.C. firm Perkins Coie, in a highly specialised post as a global technology transactional attorney. A Washington Post feature on her noted:

Her legal specialty is so complex her own sister can't explain what she does for a living. "She does something that only eight lawyers in the world do," says Athena Cross, 32, a pharmaceutical representative in Brooklyn, N.Y., exaggerating a bit.

Perkins Coie managing partner John Devaney says more than eight lawyers do what Fenty does, but still, "There are just a limited number."

She is a global technology transactional attorney. Translation: Technology is patented, and different countries have different laws; "my job is to write the contracts designed so that they can build systems that can talk to each other," she said. One deal she negotiated was worth $100 million.

Lawd. See what we said? No ordinary women, these. They make us proud.

Post Title

→

Political power players with island roots

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/political-power-players-with-island.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Islandista on the rise: Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Boricua... morena! Boricua... morena!

Here at islandista we get prouder each day as we witness islandistas around the world continuing to show the depth of talent and skill emanating from these tiny isles scattered along the Caribbean sea.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated boricua Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. 



[caption id="attachment_1037" align="aligncenter" width="280" caption="Photo credit: Alex Brandon/AP"][/caption]



If she is chosen, Sotomayor will be the first Latina to sit on the highest court in the US and certainly the first Supreme Court Justice of Caribbean descent.

She is currently a federal appellate judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She was first named to a U.S. District Court in 1992 by Bush I and elevated to her current position by President Bill Clinton.

Sotomayor's parents Celina and Juan both emigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico sometime during World War II. Her father died when she was nine and she actually did not become fluent in English until after his death, because he spoke only Spanish.

However her mother is still alive and Sotomayor credits her with instilling in her the importance of education. Apparently Celina Sotomayor, like many Caribbean mummies, did not ramp when it came to education - Sotomayor said in a previous interview that she had an "almost fanatical emphasis on education" and it was her drive that pushed Sonia to attend first Princeton and then Yale Law School. Judge Sotomayor paid tearful tribute to her mother at the nomination announcement on Tuesday, declaring:

"My heart today is bursting with gratitude for all you have for me. Yet there is one extraordinary person who is my life inspiration. That person is my mother, Celina Sotomayor. My mother has devoted her life to my brother and me. She worked often two jobs to help support us after dad died. I have often said that I am all I am because of her and I am only half the woman she is."

Sotomayor was raised in a housing project in the South Bronx and like many, many other Caribbean people living in New York City, kept close to her roots.

Her cousin Jose Garcia Baez told the Associated Press that she visits the island once or twice a year, adding:

"She is a typical Puerto Rican. She always has kept in touch with Puerto Rico regardless of the job she has had."

Of course, the right wing-nuts of the Repug party are already sharpening their claws for Sotomayor. Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh have already rushed in like the fools they are, using their now standard fall-back against any person of colour  and calling Sotomayor a racist, twisting a comment she made years ago and demanding that she withdraw her nomination.

Long... dutty... suck... teeth. They still ent realise what time it is, nuh?

 

Post Title

→

Islandista on the rise: Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/islandista-on-rise-judge-sonia.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Some justice for Esmin Green at last

Islandistas, you remember Esmin Green, don't you?

Please don't forget her. Esmin Green is a potent symbol of what can happen when society is too cynical and too absorbed to notice people.

Esmin Green was the Jamaican-born former teacher-turned-New York City-housekeeper who died on the floor of King's County Hospital in Brooklyn. She had been waiting for care for over 24 hours when she fell from her chair and thrashed in distress on the floor for a long while and even tried to get back on her chair. But no-one came to her aid, even though several passed her by and she lay on the floor for an hour before a nurse realised she was dead.

The story provoked outrage and Green's family rightly sued.

Now her family has received some... but still only some belated justice for Ms.Green. Yesterday, New York City accepted full responsibility for her death and have agreed to pay her family US$2 million for her wrongful death.

However, that is not nor should it be the end. This is not a settlement. Ms. Green's family has made that very clear, with their lawyer Sanford Rubenstein saying:

“What remains most important to this family is the criminal culpability for those responsible for what happened and those who attempted to cover it up, which continues, after all this time, to remain under investigation by the New York City Department of Investigation. In no way does this settlement affect that investigation, and the family remains adamant in its demands that anyone who committed a criminal act with regard to the death of Esmin Green or the attempt to cover it up be prosecuted criminally to the full extent of the law.”

We still await true justice for Esmin Green.

Post Title

→

Some justice for Esmin Green at last

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/some-justice-for-esmin-green-at-last.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Trini fashion doyenne Claudia Pegus mugged

Shocking and yet not shocking news out of Trinidad this weekend just past, islandistas.

I know you all know of Claudia Pegus, the Trinidadian designer and one of the grand dames of Caribbean fashion.




On Friday night, she and her assistants were held up at gunpoint in her atelier in Trinidad (not in Barbados, as the Observer's Tatler column claimed) and robbed as they were preparing for Fashion Week Trinidad and Tobago which starts on Friday.

Over on Mango Media Caribbean's 5 a.m. blog, they have the (pretty harrowing) details.

An employee uses the security peephole and sees two young ladies. He thinks they are models. He cracks open the door, the women push their way in along with a man who ferociously brandishes a gun.

"All yuh better have **###*** money here tonight or ah go kill someone, if ah eh get no money ah taking someone to the ATM an doh mess with me because ah eh playing. One of of de three of alyuh gehing kill tonight. Only two leaving here alive so doh try nothing stupid cause ah go blow everybody head out... ah eh fraid to kill... ah kill plenty man already and ah eh fraid to kill ah woman, I real feeling to ##**## shoot someone here tonight!"


He points the gun to Ms Pegus' head with one hand and pushes and shoves her and the employee into the back room where another worker waits.

Jeez... nah.

 How 'sweet, sweet TnT' getting so dread in the last few years? I can't get it understand. All that oil money, free education, dollar for dollar uni education and still so much robbing and kidnapping. It ent like Trinidad poor. I really don't get it.

Fortunately, if you can find anything fortunate out of this, no-one was killed. They took Pegus from room to room at gunpoint and made her point out valuables, which they then stole in a quarter hour robbing spree.

Pegus said:

"I started praying. For sure I felt I would die and in that moment I asked God that if it was to happen then let it be one bullet, let it be quick and let it be me alone."

However, Pegus has said she will still make her showing at FWTT this weekend and use it to make a strong statement about "crime, youth and ethnicity."

Post Title

→

Trini fashion doyenne Claudia Pegus mugged

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/trini-fashion-doyenne-claudia-pegus.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Walcott's former rival withdraws over smear campaign

So yes we was rheelllll (in emphatic Trini style) surprised to hear that British poet Ruth  Padel who was Derek Walcott's main rival for the poetry professor post at Oxford has resigned from the post after... shock! being linked to the smear campaign against him.

[caption id="attachment_1020" align="alignleft" width="185" caption="...all I thinking is "ee salope!""][/caption]

Just nine days after being elected to the position, Padel stepped down on Monday after news came out that she had emailed journalists about the past allegations against Walcott.

The London Evening Standard printed the letter today, noting that even though one of their journalists received it two weeks before the smear campaign became public, they "did not wish to have any part in a smear campaign against the St Lucia born poet."

The letter, which ironically enough for a would-be literary don was filled with spelling errors, reads:

“Hi Olivia,

On the chair, there is still no other nomination except (so extraordinarily) Derek W and me. But thye close on 29th April so another or others may well turnup…

“There is aupposed to be a book called The Lecherous Professor, which has 6 pages on Derek Walcott's two cases of sexual harassment, which might provide interestigfn copy on what Oxford wants from its professors.. ALl best, Ruth.”

Of course, Padel is trying to take some of de shame off she face by claiming that the two letters she wrote to journalists were isolated and not part of a larger campaign.

At the Guardian Hay literary festival, Padel gave a press conference, saying:

"It was naive and silly of me – a bad error of judgement. I can of course see that people can misconstrue these two isolated emails of mine as part of a larger campaign I had nothing to do with." 

 She feels people will think her emails were part of the larger campaign... FUH TRUTE? YUH LIE! Where would people get that idea?

But de bold-facedness don't stop there. Padel said she was "trying in a misguided way to address student concerns" and that she "genuinely believe that I did nothing intentional that led to Derek Walcott's withdrawal from the election."

Well, well, well ... what a commess!

Post Title

→

Walcott's former rival withdraws over smear campaign

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/walcott-former-rival-withdraws-over.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Shontelle and Rihanna link up in London

Fellow Bajan islandistas, former cadets and of course singers, Shontelle and Rihanna have apparently linked up in London and it is causing a minor tweet-storm (I think I just coined that phrase) in the twittersphere witha few loyal fans (and apparently a load of paparazzi) parked outside the hotel where they are both staying, desperate for a pic or autograph and tweeting updates.

As you would know from our post on Friday, Shontelle is in the UK on tour with Beyonce as part of her 'I Am' tour.

Apparently Rihanna has flown out to London town as well which explains the pics of her at JFK airport on Friday.

She and Shontelle have been tweeting back and forth since last night. A snippet of their exchanges:



• @RiRiFenty pssst. Where r u?about 23 hours ago from twidroid in reply to RiRiFenty


• @Shontelle_Layne LONDON baby :-)about 23 hours ago from mobileweb


• @RiRiFenty me 2. I was jus makin sure. Hope I see u! Gonna DM u now :pabout 22 hours ago from twidroid


• @RiRiFenty indeed! After party 2? ;)about 21 hours ago from twidroid in reply to RiRiFenty

@Shontelle_Layne i'll see what i can do! aha i'm kidding! of course! :-)about 21 hours ago from mobile web

• @Shontelle_Layne we'll make sure of it! tomorrows concert? :-Pabout 21 hours ago from mobile web
  
      



According to fan/twitterer Patsy Travers, Rihanna left the hotel about two hours ago to go do a soundcheck, fuelling rumours that she will be performing in the London show of Beyonce's I Am Tour tonight. We'll stay tuned for that.

In other Shontelle-related stuff, here's a clip that her lil sis recorded of her performing her break-out hit 'Roll' in Birmingham over the weekend.

[youtube=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wWXDk-fE3Zs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wWXDk-fE3Zs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>]

 De wining start out a li'l social - I guess cos of the heels but she put down some respectably islandistas wining towards the middle and end!

Post Title

→

Shontelle and Rihanna link up in London

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/shontelle-and-rihanna-link-up-in-london.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Islandista we're intrigued by: Tracy Quan

Chick-lit loving islandistas may well know of Tracy Quan, even if they haven't heard of her.



That's because Quan, born to Trinidadian parents in the United States (but raised in Canada) is the author-cum-central character of the (in?)famous Diary of a Call Girl series.

In truth and in fact, the central character of the series - Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, Diary of a Jet-Setting Call Girl and Diary of a Married Call Girl - is named Nancy Chan.

But her life so closely parallels Tracy's that it is difficult to see the series as anything but semi-autobiographical. Kind of like V.S. Naipaul (who one  of her character terms "that reactionary coolie' in 'Married Call Girl, but we digress) and 'A House for Mr. Biswas'.

Like Nancy, Tracy is of your typically pelau Trinidadian ancestry - a lot of Chinese with a bit of Indian, African and Dutch thrown in. Her Trini-ness is liberally scattered throughout the books, with references to Naipaul, Mighty Sparrow and wry quips on Trinidad's unique race relations, like the following one:

In Trinidad, people don't make adoring remarks about the mixing of the races. They either take it for granted ot disapprove. My Chinese grandparents disapproved and took it for granted.

Like Nancy, Tracy also worked as a call girl, ran away from home when she was a teen and decided upon her 'career' from a young age. According to her Wikipedia page, she (Tracy) read Xaviera Hollander's Happy Hooker when she was 10 and decided then to become a prostitute, liking the idea of being an independent and self-employed woman.

I kid you not. Like we said, she is an islandista we're intrigued by. Her views are unorthodox to say the least but in her writings she never sounds like she is making excuses for a lifestyle gone awry. She was ... a happy hooker.

Quan herself admits that the lines between Tracy and Nancy are blurred. In her salon.com series which was the launchpad to her eventual best-selling series, she wrote:

I'm unable to give a completely straight answer because, well, I am like Nancy in some ways. Fact and fiction are often blurred in Nancy's life, and in mine. Like Nancy, I ran away from home during my teens, and I know what it's like to take pride in a job while keeping it a secret.

She eventually moved from sex work into writing about sex and the sex industry, first with the salon column, then with her book series. She is now a regular columnist for the UK Guardian and has an enviable writing track record, including Cosmo, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Unlike Nancy though, she is open about her now-former career and has served as a spokesperson for Prostitutes of New York,  (PONY) a sex workers advocacy group.

Her books are a tremendous read, with a lot of detail about the sex industry, layered history of the sex workers advocacy movement and the cliquism and classifications within both. For instance, take this quote from Diary of a Married Call Girl where her character Nancy muses about the social differences between strippers and call girls.

But that's the difference between the topless and bottomless sectors. Dancers and call girls have completely different priorities. For one thing, we're more concerned about appearances. See an elderly billionaire in private? By the hour? No problem. Becoming his thirty-something child bride- now that I would have to explain to my family. What people can see is what's really at stake. As a hooker, you can have sex with multitudes and still be respectable, as long as people don't know. Topless dancers have no privacy. The topless definitions of success, respectability, what's okay, what's not - it's a language I'll never understand.

The hypocrisy of it is hilarious in a way but it is also intriguing to see the thinking that would allow a woman to be comfortable with being a 'working girl' and have it broken down like that.

Post Title

→

Islandista we're intrigued by: Tracy Quan

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/islandista-we-intrigued-by-tracy-quan.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Shontelle hits the road with Beyonce

Go Shonnie, go! Pushhh iiiit!

That's how we're feeling here on islandista at the news that one of our own, singer Shontelle is on tour with the biggest female artist in the world right now - Beyonce.



Yep, she is opening for Bey/Sasha Fierce for the whole UK leg of the 'I Am' tour. Her dates are as follows:

May 22 Newcastle, UK - Metro Radio Arena
May 23 Birmingham, UK - NIA
May 25 London, UK - O2 Arena
May 26 London, UK - O2 Arena
May 27 Manchester, UK - MEN
May 29 Dublin, Ireland - O2 Arena
May 30 Dublin, Ireland - O2 Arena
May 31 Belfast, Ireland - Odyssey Arena
June 1 Belfast, Ireland - Odyssey Arena
June 3 Dublin, Ireland - O2 Arena
June 4 Dublin, Ireland - O2 Arena
June 6 Liverpool, UK - Liverpool Echo Arena
June 7 Sheffield, UK - Sheffield Arena
June 8 London, UK - O2 Arena
June 9 London, UK - O2 Arena

Shontelle has been tweeting up a storm(@Shontelle_Layne) over the last few days, all excited about the tour, asking fans for tips on her nail polish choices and talking about the soundcheck.

About an hour ago, she tweeted:

Bey is soundchecking now. I have goosebumps!

Good stuff. Keep representing for the islandistas!

In other Shontelle news, she has been chosen as the face of hair removal product Veet's summer campaign - Spray on Soiree.



And of course, the prize offered in the whole promotion is.. a trip to Barbados! How's that for cross-branding? :)

Post Title

→

Shontelle hits the road with Beyonce

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/shontelle-hits-road-with-beyonce.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

United States AG Eric Holder comes 'home'

Guess who's back? Back again?

Ok, ok, I really should not channel Eminem of all creatures for such a great occasion as this - the first black Attorney General of the United States of America visiting the island of his parents and foreparents.

That's right - US Attorney General and Caribbean son Eric Holder touched down in Barbados yesterday afternoon for his first visit since becoming the most powerful legal eagle in the USA.

[caption id="attachment_997" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Photo credit: BGIS"][/caption]

First words as he arrived? "I'm home!"

Or ... maybe he said "looka muh hey" in a pitch-perfect Bajan accent and that is why those Barbadian diplomats are grinning so much... I would love that!




[caption id="attachment_998" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Photo credit: BGIS"][/caption]

 



Anyhow, Holder is in Barbados where his father Eric Sr. was born and where his maternal grandparents are from, for a three day visit. He's set to have talks with some CARICOM attorneys general and also speak at the official opening of  the Tamarind Hall Municipal Complex in his father's native parish of St Joseph. On hearing he was coming, Barbadian officials promptly decided to name it after him - you know we don't lag on naming things for people here in de islands - look Antigua have a Mount Obama! Loves it.

Post Title

→

United States AG Eric Holder comes 'home'

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/united-states-ag-eric-holder-comes.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Fashion notes: Ri-Ri sells a milli X 12, Zoe S in Cannes & Fashion Weeks

Island Def Jam held a big party on Wednesday night for their favourite islandista, Rihanna, for going twelve times platinum.

 

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Photo credit: Wargo/Kempin"][/caption]



Congrats. All the talk, at the end of the day, her success has paved the way for other young Bajan artistes like Shontelle and Hal Linton to get major label contracts.




Of course as ever with Ri-Ri, the fashion was the real star. She wore a single-button cropped kacket with some crazy-cool geometric and paisley prints and pair of leggings that we have seen described as "perforated" but to our minds (and eyes) are see-through... disturbingly see through. Check out the slightly NSFW fuller pic of the outfit below and let us know if you agree.



[caption id="attachment_988" align="aligncenter" width="399" caption="Photo credit: Wargo/Kempin"][/caption]

Seriously, is that her curry la-la that we're seeing? Errrmmm!

In other islandista fashion news Zoe Saldana is the only damn islandista we've been able to pin down on the red carpets of the Cannes Film Festival thus far - and trust, we've been looking! She made an appearance at amFAR's Cinema Against Aids event in a nude-coloured (is that an oxymoron?) toga style dress and pulled back hairdo that we're not too sure about.

[caption id="attachment_989" align="aligncenter" width="381" caption="Photo credit: Getty Images"][/caption]

I dunno... I just don't like the hump in the middle of her head... or maybe it needed to be more dramatic. If you're going to put a hump in the middle of your head, commit to it. Cute shoes as ever though...

In even more fashion news, two of the region's bigger fashion weeks are coming up in short order - Trinidad & Tobago's Fashion Week is starting next weekend - running from Friday May 29th to Tuesday June 2nd.

[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Photo credit: Fuse the Agency"][/caption]

The big one a yaad and abroad, Caribbean Fashion Week, is coming up in Jamaica from June 10-15.

Now, Jamaiaca and Trinidad probably have two of the strongest fashion 'industries' (as they were) in the region, with designers like Claudia Pegus actually able to make a full-time living from what they do.

And certainly these two fashion weeks bring a fair amount of attention to Caribbean designers and give them an opportunity and platform to showcase their work. Last year, CFW was even featured in the New York Times' style mag, The Moment. Big t'ings a gwan right?

Are they? Some unfortunate news I heard this week about the fate of the Barbados delegation for CFW has me wondering how useful these fashion weeks are actually proving to regional designers. After being funded for the last five years by a government investment agency, a designer friend of mine out of Barbados has let me know that the funds tap has been turned off this year. Since most (all?) of them do designing for love more than money, dey get juck, basically.

But I can kind of see the agency's perspective on it - after all, what tangible benefits has funding the designers brought in the last five years? Tangible benefits like foreign exchange or even promotional benefits for the country?

And besides exposure, what do the fashion weeks really do for designers? It is pretty clear to see what it does for the models, as several girls who have walked at CFW have gone on to pretty successful international modelling careers.

But for the designers, what do they get besides exposure? Not saying that exposure isn't valuable but it has to turn into something to be valuable, don't?

Are there any buyers invited to these Fashion Weeks? Because at the end of the day, every real fashionista knows it is the buyers who have the real power- fuck an Anna Wintour. The Devil may wear Prada but she is not the one who actually chooses it for actual people to buy from an actual store.

And if there are buyers, how many sales are made? I'm just asking because generally the glowing reports I read after these events have mostly to do with how much exposure was gained and which publications Designer X's clothes were featured in. I don't tend to hear a lot about orders being made.

I'm not trying to be snide or a hater, I'm genuinely wondering. I'm not an expert on the nitty gritty of the fashion industry in the region so I'd welcome some feedback on this. How much do designers get out of it in a practical, dollars and cents sense?

UPDATE:  Turns out I'm not the only islandista (?) asking these questions. There is a great post over at Caribbean Fashion Style Journal asking some of the same questions and giving some more informed perspective on it.

Post Title

→

Fashion notes: Ri-Ri sells a milli X 12, Zoe S in Cannes & Fashion Weeks

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/fashion-notes-ri-ri-sells-milli-x-12.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Getting Crop-Over-ish in this crank...

Slowly but surely, the Crop-Over season is starting to heat up.

Brewster's Road held its first pre-Crop-Over warm up lime on Friday night and it was goooo-ood! I had friends who show up at the lime from all half hour before the 6 p.m. start and all when Saturday morning come, they were still there. Obsessive limers, I tell you...

Another Kadooment band has launched bringing the tally to three. DJ Andre 'Rebel' Elias is riding the wave of his Taboo Saturdays popularity and launching a band for the first time under his RebelVibes Entertainment banner.

The name of the band is 'Psychomania' and I must say, for a first time band, most of the costumes are looking quite nice. You know so often first time bands can look amateurish and a bit...ehhh.

 

Plenty lavishly feathered headpieces up in there and you know how we feel about feathers!

I think Superbia and Ira are probably two of the best sections.

[caption id="attachment_977" align="aligncenter" width="284" caption="Superbia (pride)/ Photo Credit: RebelVibes Entertainment"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_978" align="aligncenter" width="284" caption="Ira (anger) Photo credit: RebelVibes Entertainment"][/caption]

 In other Crop-Over related news, Baje International has launched their 'Baje Girl 2009' search - deadline is May 29th. Below a quick screenshot of their ad.

 

Baje kills me. One of the blackest countries in the Caribbean and this is their representation of a 'Baje' girl? I guess a typical Baje girl isn't quite the same as a  typical Bajan girl. Anyhoo, it could be worse... they could be Lights.

In other Crop-Over warm up news - Renee Ratcliffe's 'Jump' band is launching this Friday, May 22nd so we will soon have another band in the tally.

Post Title

→

Getting Crop-Over-ish in this crank...

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/getting-crop-over-ish-in-this-crank.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Walcott's sex scandal haunts

An interesting story this week out of England about one of the Caribbean's most famous sons - Nobel Prize winning poet, Derek Walcott of St. Lucia.

Walcott was up for the post of professor of poetry at Oxford University but withdrew suddenly this week after an anonymous smear campaign was launched against him.



The  poetry professor is an unusual post in that it is not exactly like what it sounds - a university professor. Rather, prestigious candidates are selected after their names are put forward by supporters and then the Professor is elected by a group that includes Oxford academics and anyone who holds a degree from the uni. The poetry professor serves for five years and is required to give three lectures a year.

Anyhow, the title is considered a highly prestigious honour but the wheels came off of the whole process this week when dozens of academics at Oxford were anonymously sent packets containing photocopied pages of a book detailing sexual harassment allegations of sexual harassment made against Walcott in the 80s and 90s.  



From the New York Times:

The charges of sexual harassment date back nearly 30 years and were detailed in the book “The Lecherous Professor: Sexual Harassment on Campus,” by Billie Wright Dziech and Linda Weiner — excerpts of which were sent in the anonymous packages. They describe how, in 1982, Mr. Walcott was accused of saying a number of provocative things to a woman who was a student in his poetry workshop at Harvard, including “Would you make love to me if I asked you?”

When she rebuffed him, the student said, he gave her a C grade.

Concluding in 1982 that the complaint had merit, Harvard reprimanded Mr. Walcott and changed the student’s grade from C to “Pass.”

In another incident Nicole Niemi, a student at Boston University, sued Mr. Walcott for sexual harassment in 1996. She accused him of “offensive sexual contact,” claiming that he told her that unless she had sex with him, he would prevent a play of hers from being produced.

The case was settled out of court.

Explaining his withdrawal, Walcott told the Evening Standard in the UK:

“I am disappointed that such low tactics have been used in this election, and I do not want to get into a race for a post where it causes embarrassment to those who have chosen to support me for the role or to myself."

Another twist in the tale came later this week when the latter of Walcott's alleged victims, Nicole Kelby (nee Niemi) defended Walcott, saying she was "appalled and saddened"  by the campaign and urged him "not to walk away" from the election.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Kelby goes as far as to say that Oxford should scrap the whole contest rather than letting it be undermined by dirty tricks. She also said that Walcott's sexual (or over-sexual) nature is part of his genius.

However, while I believe that it is not appropriate to be sexual towards students, I also realize that it happens. Writers, by nature, have reckless hearts. Poetry is a passionate art. That is why it is crucial that institutions have strict policies against sexual harassment and are not too embarrassed to allow concerns to be heard. It is impossible to legislate behaviour, but to allow a student an opportunity to question behaviour in a safe and open forum is within our grasp. I believe that Oxford is capable of dealing with any situation of this nature.

Derek Walcott is not an evil man. Like any man, he is flawed. But, like any great man, he is retrospect and understands that his flaws are universal. And from them, he creates art.

 

Boy... what a ting.

Islandistas, what do you think of it?

On the one hand, as true independent-minded islandistas, far be it from us to defend sexual harassment. It is low and dirty and it is at its heart not about sexual attraction but about asserting power over the victim.

And God knows, that the allegations against Walcott were just the official documentation of what had been rumoured in literary cirles around the Caribbean, especially in St. Lucia for years - that Walcott would try a ting at nearly anything. On more than one occasion I remember hearing a family friend, the wife of another Caribbean literary man, suck her teeth and refer to Walcott as "dat wutless man".

On the other hand, does Walcott's alleged inappropriate behaviour have anything to do with him being honoured for his poetic talent? As Kelby indicated, if we were to exclude writers (and artists on the whole) from being honoured because of their inappropriate sexual behaviour, there would hardly be anyone left to honour.

Artists, moreso than other people, tend to be sexually aggressive, exploratory and even inappropriate. While we don't condone it, we should be able to seperate it from their art.

It is all frankly quite dirty and for me the comments of Walcott's leading competitor (and now odds-on favourite to win) British poet Ruth Padel when she says:

I just feel scooped out inside. He’s my colleague, and he’s a poet, and I don’t want poets to be humiliated. Of course we should take harassment seriously, but there are other issues here, too, and it seems horrible, this anonymous campaign.

Eh-heh. If she feels so scooped out inside, why doesn't she withdraw from the contest? A group of Oxford academics issued a letter yesterday calling for herself and the other candidate, Indian academic  Arvind Krishna Mehrotra to do just that, as that is the only way that today's election can be called off.

An Oxford spokesman stated:

"It’s a bit like the Grand National, it wouldn’t stop unless there was not a single horse left standing."

But tellingly, neither Padel nor Mehrohtra have pulled out so the farce goes on and the cloud of suspicion darkens.

Post Title

→

Walcott's sex scandal haunts

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/walcott-sex-scandal-haunts.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Wait boh... Lights like it launch

We have to thank our readers for giving us a heads up when necessary. Jane Doe and Socamommy set us right in our last post with some useful tips.

Apparently, Ravurz is not the first Kadooment band to have launched. Harbour Lights (aka Blue Box Cart) launched their band on May 3rd with a showing at the club.

Funnily enough, there has been nothing about Lights' launch on the regular Crop-Over sites such as kadooment.com or cropovercarnival.com. There has been nothing in the paper nor even mentioned on radio - not even on Mix 96.

There is not even anything official on Harbour Lights' website.

It's almost... as if they did not want the general public to know that their band had launched.

Funny, funny, funny... why would that be? I can't imagine... (racking brain)

So let me rephrase... Ravurz is the first band to let the general public know that they have launched.

There is not even anything official about the Lights launch on their Facebook page, Harbour Lights Crew. However, the enterprising Anja managed to snag some grainy pics from a friend who went to the launch so you can take a look at some of the costumes below.







Hm. Like the models.

In other news, Socamommy has let us know of Fay-Ann's post-baby touring arrangements. A nanny is now part of the Asylum Family and both baby and nanny will be touring with Fay-Ann this summer.

I like it. Do what you got to do Queen Fay!

Post Title

→

Wait boh... Lights like it launch

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/wait-boh-lights-like-it-launch.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Summer Carnival season is here!

Islandistas, can you feel it?

The summer carnival season is ready to get going!

In fact, in St. Vincent and St. Lucia, whose carnivals fall on July 6-7 and July 20-21 respectively, the Carnival season is already starting to buzz.









Just For Fun, Toxik, Red Unlimited and Royalites are among the bands that have launched.

In fact, even in Antigua, where Carnival is not until August 3rd - the same day as Kadooment Day in Barbados, the band Myst launched since the end of April. 


 

 I like it - early launch, dat we seh! The artistes have been bringing out their music earlier and earlier every year - it is about time for the band leaders to start doing the same!

At least one band in Barbados has taken the hint and has already launched - Ravurz launched their band, seen below, this week.

 Errmmm... not too sure about all of the fake flowers - flowers just never do it for me on a costume  but the costume at the far right looks nice.


Anyhow, bands up up north have also been launching -Bacchanal Mas for London's Notting Hill Carnival is one and several bands for Toronto's Caribana have also launched.





This costume, 'Birds of a Feather' is from Tribal Nights and I lurrrrrrrrvvvvvvvvv it! Look at all of those pretty feathers... I have a thing for lots of feathers in a costume... I may have mentioned this weakness before. So this costume was a winner from me from the time I laid eyes on it... who cares if the side feathers mean that you have no peripheral vision? That's so overrated anyhow.




In other summer Carnival news - a bit of news and a bit of suss.


Starting with the confirmed news, Triple Queen Fay-Ann Lyons is set to make her first appearance since giving birth just after Carnival. She will be performing this weekend self in Toronto along with husband Bunji Garlin at Kool Haus. The comeback fete is being put on by Toronto's top soca dj, Dr. Jay.


I guess this answers the question of how long was Fay-Ann's 'maternity leave' going to be. On the one hand, no-one wants to leave a child that is just two months old.


On the other hand, with the summer carnival season coming up and coming off the biggest year of her soca career, how can she not tour?


Still, expect the critics to come out with claws sharpened...


In some suss, we have been hearing that one of Barbados' premier bands, Baje International may not even be holding its regular weekly band fetes this year. We have heard that they will just hold a few of their 'major' parties that are crowd-pullers, like their Paint fete for Foreday Morning.


Though they would probably deny it publicly, Baje has been having a rough time of it the last two years. The awe that other bands and party-goers used to hold them in, is long gone and it is starting to show.


Last year, most of Baje's band fetes were not well attended while the more down to earth Brewster's Road was full to bursting - literally people were tearing down the fences at Cricket Legends to get in there, forcing their (rumoured) switch to the larger location of Tim's On the Highway this year.

Before time, Baje's band fetes used to be the hot band fetes to go to but Baje's well-earned rep as 'bouge international' and pissiness over some of the elitist habits (pre-selling a section of their band to Trinis while Bajans are scrapping for a place and the ya-gotta-ask-someone-who-know-someone-to-get-in b.s. with the affiliated Booze Cruise) have turned people off. Their formerly hot Christmas Night fete is a prime example of how the mighty are fallen. No-one would have dared go up against Baje on Christimas Night about 5 years ago. You were bound to get slaughtered. But in 2007, several people went up against Baje on Xmas night and the Emperor was shown to be kinda naked.

I'm not trying to hate on Baje - I've partied and jumped with them in the past, but I telling it how I hearing the people on the street saying it. Baje is not what it used to be.

Of course, with time comes change and it is not like the Baje principals are suffering. For one, dem fellas have big names like Haynes and Mottley so they could never suffer but for two, they may be changing their business model, since Baje front man Richard Haynes was the organiser of last year's blockbuster Cohobblopot show that packed Kensington Oval. So maybe the thinking is who needs band fetes when you got a sweet contract like that?

We'll see...

Post Title

→

Summer Carnival season is here!

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/summer-carnival-season-is-here.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Rihanna [ft. Lady Gaga] - Silly Boy

Rihanna new song called Silly Boy which is featured on her new upcoming album next year or this year. this song is like a dance club banger. Silly Boy is featuring one of the hottest pop sensation star Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga music is so Incredible..... Check it out this is newmusic...... Download: Silly Boy

Post Title

→

Rihanna [ft. Lady Gaga] - Silly Boy

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/rihanna-ft-lady-gaga-silly-boy.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Karina Pasian - In Sync [New Song]

Karina Pasian, Karina Pasian, who released her debut album, First Love last year is back with a new track entitled, “In Sync.” The child prodigy, who is now 17, is working on a new project. “In Sync” is produced by none other than Scyence.
Although First Love didn’t do so well on the charts, Karina is still signed to Def Jam and they are looking towards big things for her on this upcoming project. She was also nominated for a Grammy this year.
Download: In Sync

Post Title

→

Karina Pasian - In Sync [New Song]

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/karina-pasian-in-sync-new-song.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Soulja Boy [ft. Karina Pasian] - Kiss Me Thru The Phone [Remix]

Soulja Boy new single Kiss Me Thru The Phone [Remix] which is featuring Sammie and Dominican-American rn'b singer Karina Pasian. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em released as the second single from his 2008 album. and this song is really a great remix I love my cuz Karina!!! Download:Kiss Me Thru the Phone [Remix] (featuring Sammie and Karina Pasian)

Post Title

→

Soulja Boy [ft. Karina Pasian] - Kiss Me Thru The Phone [Remix]

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/soulja-boy-ft-karina-pasian-kiss-me.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Skerrit Bwoy responds...

Well, well, well, looka dis here.

Remember, Skerrit Bwoy, the Antiguan deejay/'dancer' we ripped a while back for his display of daggering (and table throwing) that has been youtubed around the world?

We weren't too complimentary of him, were we?

Turns out we hurt his feelings a bit because a commenter using the name 'the real skerrit bwoy' has responded to our post.

We'll give Jack his jacket ... he has at least explained his comments over on Mad Decent where it seemed like he was boasting and he has pointed out that his display appeals to his audience. See his response after the cut...



“Gal get beat up when dem dance! I love dem. they love me. but i gotta express my love physically. i only hit you cause i love you girl.” thats a song that i got name “domestic violence” from 2004. i could understand that your upset. but you dont have the right to ridicule me. what im doing is entertaining to me & my fans. and yes i get paid for this form of entertainment. so what is the problem? who are you to ridicule me, when im working to feed my family? is freedom of expression no longer available in the usa? if ya have a problem come see me at my show, we could discuss it over some antiguan food. lol

 

What can you say, eh? I ent know if to laugh, kiss my teet, shake my head or bawl.

On the one hand, he makes a reasonable argument. He gets paid for this form of entertainment and it is entertaining to him and his fans. Boggles the mind, but he does have a point - after all, like we said, pure people were on his MySpace bigging him up.

On the other hand... He. threw. a. TABLE. at a woman and then bodyslammed her like some dancehall WWF fighter. He has thousands, maybe even millions of people around the world laughing after us Caribbean people and is giving fodder to to those who would wish to pull us down.

But on the other, other hand (ye, three hands mi seh- wha?) rock fans like moshing whereas in the Caribbean, any artist who was fool enough to fling themselves offstage into a crowd, would see them part like the Red Sea just before they ate dirt.

The point is, it's bizarre but it's not the most bizarre kind of entertainment out there and to each their own?

But still, on the other, next hand, he threw a whole table at this woman and lick her down. Not even a little coffee table or bedside table or a foldable plastic card table. The table could easily have seated six for dinner.

I just can't... let's agree to disagree Skerritt Bwoy, but thanks for stopping by! Next time I'm in the USA, maybe I'll take you up on that offer of the Antiguan food - fungie and pepperpot pull long!

Post Title

→

Skerrit Bwoy responds...

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/skerrit-bwoy-responds.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Islandistas at the Met Costume Institute Ball ... at last!

Shame on us - look how long we promised to bring you our take on the Met Costume Institute Ball and we're only now getting to it!

Trust, it has been a hectic week islandista-wise and other stories kept pushing our Met review further and further back.

So now, without further ado, here are some of the islandistas who graced (or in Naomi's case, was supposed to grace) the Met's Costume Institute Ball.




Rosario Dawson was as gorgeous and on point as ever in her coral column gown. I feel like she could have gone a little more high fashion though - the dress was pretty but it was not a standout on a night like that.



Model Arlenis Sosa was in an Alberta Ferretti dress with black booties. Maybe it's the picture, but this dress is not doing for me on Arlenis. You can barely notice the beautiful thread-like material of the dress and it just looks a bit shapeless on her.

 

One of our our favourite islandista models out there, Jourdan Dunn was fab in a gun-metal grey gown.




And Naomi Campbell did not actually show up to the Met Costume Institute Ball. There was a bit of a kerfuffle when her designer and long time friend Azzedine Alaia pulled the seven dresses he had made for the gala, after finding out that his work was not going to be in the exhibition. Alaia had made dresses for seven models including Naomi's fellow 'supers' Linda Evangelista and Stephanie Seymour. Campbell's spokesperson said:

As Naomi has been the muse of Azzedine Alaïa for 23 years, she feels she doesn’t want to attend unless she can represent his work.

However, Alaia did have a post-ball party and Naomi wore this aqua Alaia mini. We are ... not too certain about this dress. It fits beautifully and the colour is great but it reminds us of a mermaid. A very hot, statuesque, fierce mermaid, no doubt but it is still making us hum 'Disney's Under De Sea' very softly.

Everything's better, everything's wetter...

Under de Sea!

Post Title

→

Islandistas at the Met Costume Institute Ball ... at last!

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/islandistas-at-met-costume-institute.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

RTI update... it nuh really a go so

So remember a few weeks back when the news was that the two premier Jamaican Independence weekend events ATI and RTI would be combining and it was going to be the way it was back in the good old days before dem split up?

Remember Kamal Bankay, spokesperson for the newly created Negril Dream Weekend saying:

"What's really happening is that the strongest events in Negril have come together to make one band where the strongest will survive. So the so-called RTI band and ATI band that we're used to for the last two years as it stands, is now one band."

Turns out... not so much. Alex Chin of Absolute Entertainment, the originator of the whole ATI/RTI concept has let everyone know that RTI is still very much in the works for this summer.

In an interview with the Jamaica Star, Chin said:

"RTI is still on with the same parties except for Daydreams."

Actually, both Daydreams and Wildsides have gone over to NDW but RTI still has a tough line up, including Stages, Joker's Wild, Tempted, Pretty in Pink and Temptation Live.

Our sources say that the new (sort of) weekend holiday boys on the block are having a tough time getting sponsorship - as yet there is no title sponsor. However, it seems that corporate Jamaica has not committed to one or the other as yet since according to Chin, Absolute Entertainment is currently in negotiations with Red Stripe to maintain their title sponsorship and the details are being sorted.

Hmmm... and the story unfolds.

Post Title

→

RTI update... it nuh really a go so

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/rti-update-it-nuh-really-go-so.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Trend alert: Distressed jeans

Like it or not, the 80s fashion train keeps rolling on... and on. Isn't 20-odd years just a little too soon to be bringing trends back, though? Then again, maybe that is how people felt in the 90s when trends from the 70s came back in (boot cut jeans = bell bottoms as far as my mother was concerned) so it is our turn to feel old.

Just ... the 80s. Damn. That was such a sad decade for fashion, I really thought we would have skipped that one and just gone straight to the 90s. Ah well...

The latest trend from the 80s train? Distressed jeans - or damaged jeans as we used to call them or "what the hell is that - you buy new brand jeans that rip up already?!" as our mothers used to call them.



Distressed jeans are roaring in as one of the biggest trends of the summer. Though I have not spotted many chicks wearing the look yet here in the islands, it is only a matter of time as celebs galore, both islandistas and non-islandistas, have been rocking them with a vengeance in the last few weeks.

 Rihanna of course has been at the front of the pack, wearing distressed jeans with anything she can find - blazers, corsets, jackets. Islandista-by-descent Cameron Diaz (ha! didn't know she was an islandista did you? Well she is - her late father Emilio Diaz was Cuban-American. Cameron however, no habla espanol) also wore distressed jeans to the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards a few months back.  




Beyonce, lil sis Solange and singers Keri Hilson and Ciara have also been spotted wearing distressed jeans. 

Chicks have been doing everything from dressing them up to dressing them down, wearing them with sneakers or with stiletto heels, wearing them rolled up or just straight and everywhere from the airport to shopping to dinner at Mr. Chow's.

So don't say we didn't warn yuh. Distressed jeans in yuh pweffen this summer.

Post Title

→

Trend alert: Distressed jeans

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/trend-alert-distressed-jeans.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Rihanna in scandal, Amy Winehouse in shambles

Well, well, what a weekend for the islands and islandistas!

First, on Friday night, pictures leaked of Rihanna... all of Rihanna. Nude pictures that were allegedly hacked from her computer surfaced and quickly spread all over the net.



Her record company, Island Def Jam records has already asked at least one site to take down the pics, calling them "a violation of the artist's rights" and saying they are "unauthorised photos purported to be Rihanna".

And that is the question that is being hotly debated on every gossip site... are they? Def Jam's vague response is certainly interesting because it is not a flat out denial - they only say they are "purported" to be Ri-ri.

And what makes it all the more confusing is that you cannot see Rihanna's face in any of the NSFW  (that means NOT SAFE FOR WORK so don't go opening them at work just so and then get shame, oui?) flat out naked ones, seen after the cut.



There are other shots from the series that show her face but she is dressed in those, wearing what looks like a sweater.



It's sticky because we're being asked to believe the pics are Rihanna based on the bits and pieces. We have a shot of her face and a shot of an ass but we don't know if the face and ass go together. Someone is being slick here and we ent sure if it is Rihanna or the hacker/leakers.

Honestly, the most damning pics are the first one where the camera/phone are up in front of her and the one below with Chris Brown (or is it?) with a pair of pink panties on his head.



Awoooaaaahhhh! A so dem did freaky? That one is pretty damning because the mouth looks long like Chris Brown's and the tattoos on the arms do seem to be like the ones he has.

Moreover, this is following hot on the heels of Cassie's nude pics being hacked from her computer and leaked as well and in those you can see every damn thing.

So that puts more doubt in folks' minds as well - if the Cassie pics were legit (and she has admitted it and said people should stop acting like they have never seen a titty before) then it makes you wonder if the Rihanna ones are legit too.

Hmmm...

In other news - not islandista news but it happened at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival - one of the hottest annual tickets for islandistas from all over. Amy Crackhouse... sorry Winehouse was an absolute wreck at St Lucia Jazz on Friday night, according to all reports.

From Saturday morning, my Facebook home page was on fire with disgruntled islandistas and islandistos in SLU, lighting into Winehouse for her slurry, stumbling, fumbling performance which finished abruptly amidst a sea of boos.

On top of that, the torrential rain (the rainy season is here peoples) caused technical problems, but the main problem was Amy who inexplicably took off her shoes, cussed, fell over, stopped singing songs halfway through and when she did sing, it was... not good.



One friend said it was the worst performance they have ever seen in their life and the general sentiment was along those lines. Damn. Crack is wack kids. Stay away.

Post Title

→

Rihanna in scandal, Amy Winehouse in shambles

Post URL

→

http://nickiminaj-tdr.blogspot.com/2009/05/rihanna-in-scandal-amy-winehouse-in.html

Visit nicki minaj for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection