55 Secret Street

Dove's Real Beauty Sketches #WeAreBeautiful

 

Dove enlisted an FBI sketch artist to draw women as they see themselves - and the way they are seen by complete strangers. The results were pretty interesting. Do you think your self-perception matches the way the world sees you? 

My Little Brown Eye: THE DOOR by Ava DuVernay The Women's Tales #5 from Miu Miu

 

I am a fan of Ava Duvernay (see I Will Follow and Middle of Nowhere) so naturally, I clicked immediately when she shared her recent work, a short film entitled THE DOOR, which stars Gabrielle Union, Alfre Woodard, Adepero Oduye, Emayatzy Corinealdi and Goapele (who also sings one of the four amazing songs in the film, For Love. 

THE DOOR is the fifth film in The Women's Tales series presented by Miu Miu. On my first viewing of the nine-minute film, I thought to myself, My God... I need every single piece of clothing in this piece! And then I went back to Twitter and realized that it was part of a series presented by Miu Miu and they provided the positively soigné wardrobe.  

Emayatzy Corinealdi

Adepero Oduye and Gabrielle Union

Goapele

THE DOOR is a perfect combination of style and substance.  A meditation on loss and restoration as experienced through five very different, beautiful and intelligent women of color. In the clip below, a behind the scenes look at the film, Ava says "It's a story about sisterhood. It's a story about helping one another and I think as women, we do that, but it is not often celebrated in the narratives that we see. With this film, I really wanted to make sure that each and every role had a very strong presence."

Well, I believe she achieved that goal and I think you'll agree. 

 

Photos: Brigitte Lacombe for Miu Miu.

Waiting for Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I was one of the 1,500 + people who stood in line for hours (4 1/2 in my case) for one last shot to see Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I didn't mean to wait until the last day, but I spent most of the year in South Jersey and I had a hard time fitting it in my schedule. 

But I certainly wasn't going to miss it...

I was incredibly unprepared to stand in line for 4 1/2hours - I should have brought more water, more food and forgetting to charge my phone before I left home (it was dead two hours in) deprived me of reading on Kindle for my iPhone and playing my new favorite game, Words With Friends.  I can hardly believe that I didn't even have a book on me! So, I was left to that age-old New York practice of people watching - and giving the evil eye to jerks who tried to cut the line. 

The McQueen line behind me, two hours into the wait... 

and inside, fours hours in - just before we hit the holy grail.

Once inside, the brilliance of Lee Alexander McQueen did not disappoint:

Dress, autumn/winter 2010–11

I don't really get inspired by specific women. It's not like you see a beautiful woman and she becomes your muse. It's more in the minds of the women in the past, Catherine the Great or Marie Antoinette. People who were doomed. Joan of Arc or Colette. Iconic women.  Alexander McQueen

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, autumn/winter 2002–3. Coat of black parachute silk; trouser of black synthetic; hat of black silk satin. Hat by Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen courtesy of Alister Mackie.

Corset

 Dante, autumn/winter 1996–97.  Lilac silk faille appliquéd with black silk lace and embroidered with jet beads.

“Jellyfish” Ensemble

Plato’s Atlantis, spring/summer 2010. Dress, leggings, and “Armadillo” boots embroidered with iridescent enamel paillettes

Ensemble

It’s Only a Game, spring/summer 2005. Dress and obi-style sash of lilac and silver brocade; jacket of lilac silk faille embroidered with silk thread; top of nude synthetic net embroidered with silk thread.

“Oyster” Dress

Irere, spring/summer 2003
Ivory silk organza, georgette, and chiffon

Working in the atelier at Givenchy was fundamental to my career... Because I was a tailor, I didn't totally understand softness or lightness. I learned lightness at Givenchy. I was a tailor at Savile Row. At Givenchy, I learned to soften, for me, it was an education. As a designer, I could have left it behind. But working at Givenchy helped me learn my craft. 

Dress

Widows of Culloden, autumn/winter 2006–7
Cream silk tulle and lace with resin antlers
Courtesy of Alexander McQueen

 

This video of the hologram featuring Kate Moss in the ivory silk organza and tulle gown that she wore at the finale of his Fall 2006 Widows of Culloden collection was shown next to the creation.

Fuck Yeah, Asians With Perms!

And you thought Black women were the only ones with hair issues...

In the hot mess tradition of frizzy, Aqua-net frozen mullets and juicy, drippy jheri curls, may I present  Fuck Yeah, Asians With Perms!  (For the uninitated, Fuck Yeah! is a common meme on Tumblr.)  

That's my buddy Jen Wang of Digrasian in the opening photo with her mom.  She started Fuck Yeah, Asians With Perms! after the huge reaction she got after posting an old high school yearbook photo of herself on Facebook.  Most of her friends insisted that they burned their old perm photos and Jen didn't buy it!  

From Disgrasian: 

Normally, internalized racism vis-a-vis beauty–i.e. the things non-white people do to look like white people because that’s what’s considered beautiful–is sad and sometimes dangerous and also, um, sad, but, I’m sorry, Asians with perms are fuckin’ hilarious. Besides, everyone wants hair like ours now anyway, so no one will remember that things went the other way once upon a time, follically-speaking, unless we start an archive.

FYAWP is accepting submissions so, if you know anyone or didn't "burn" your own evidence, don't let a good Tumblr go to waste...