Trinidad, Anya Ayoung-Chee and Project Runway: Supporting Our Own

via laura ferreira studios

Anya Ayoung-Chee by Laura Ferreira

It has happened. Trinidad's fashion chief Anya Ayoung-Chee has prevailed, and is the newest winner of the Emmy award-winning show Project Runway.

It's a funny thing to be invested in something that you technically have no personal stake in, but that's how every Trinidadian felt over the last 2-3 months as we sat and watched Anya prevail time and time again against designers more experienced than herself. 

I was a fan of the show before Anya became a contestant. But this season I found myself torn between loyalty to my fellow Trinidadian (and Convent girl), my personal tastes, and my need to judge the show objectively. Because as much as I am glad that Anya won, there were times when she floundered and others when I simply was not personally taken with her design. (See looks 3, 8 and 9 below).

via tom and lorenzo

Anya's looks from this season's competition

As far as I was concerned, it didn't really matter if she was auf'd early. Making it to the show at all after battling through the "I just learnt to sew" narrative was validation enough for me. She would have made it, and people would know her name. But she fared far better than anyone could have hoped. She was a designer, she was a Trinidadian, and she was GOOD.

It cannot be denied that Trinidadians were biased. It's not a surprise, or even a problem since we had no say in the outcome. We are a bandwagonist society; but we are also fiercely loyal. Even in her "darkest hour" (Reggae Jesus I'm looking at you) Trinis rallied in support of a subpar offering; one that Anya herself acknowledged was less than exemplary. Instead of recognizing the misstep, we praised Reggae Jesus that she was spared elimination. Typical Trini logic.

But this season, what impressed me most about Anya was not her design capabilities but her sincerity. There were very few times when Anya felt the need to denigrate her fellow competitors, and she was genuinely upset when Joshua McKinley's bad mood over losing the L'Oreal challenge carried over into the next week. She managed to form genuine friendships with people who had every right to resent her successes. That to me, speaks highly of her character.  

I  was also impressed by the fact that she made sure to keep the Fan Favourite vote as positive as possible. When things started turning nasty between her fans and Anthony Ryan's in the last few days of voting, she made it clear that they were actually friends, and that she supported his initiative The Rock One Foundation, just as much as her own. After she was announced as the winner, Anya opted to share half of her winnings with Anthony Ryan to help him launch his foundation, which seeks to raise awareness of testicular cancer. With the rest, Anya plans to start a micro-finance fund to benefit other creatives in Trinidad and Tobago. She has stated that it is her way of giving back to the people who dedicated their time to supporting her throughout the competition and providing a means for other artistically minded Trinidadians to follow their own passion.

via apartment 17

Anya's final collection for MBFW

On the show, Anya mentioned feeling the pressure of having to live up to the nation's expectations, and commenters online wondered if the pressure was all in her head. Since I knew better, something struck me about the immense support back home for her: Anya is ours and we are immeasurably proud of her. 

Trinidadians are quick to claim any person who is even vaguely well known as a compatriot. We've claimed Nicki Minaj, Nia Long and Tatyana Ali, but with the exception of Nicki (sometimes) have they ever claimed us? Anya's success resonates so deeply with the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago because she is wholly and truly ours. She grew up here, she went to school here, she represented us at Ms. Universe, she started her fashion career here and she speaks our lilting dialect. She is ours to claim completely and outright. 

So Anya, if you haven't gotten tired of hearing it already, congratulations again on winning Project Runway Season 9, and thank you for representing us so well, with equal measures of talent, class and dignity.

Music: We Found Love by Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris

Rihanna's newest video was released last night, and I don't know why, but something about it just entrances me completely.

I've watched it about 5 times in a row, and I still can't get enough. I genuinely think that this is one of her best efforts to date, and I'm probably going to break my own rules and buy this on itunes. 

That being said, there is a lot of.... questionable content in the video :) I have a ton to say about it, but I'm hopped up on red bull at the moment and I can't keep everything in order in my brain, so I'm going to break it down into sections:

Visuals

I love the look of this video. It reads to me like an indie movie montage set to a soundtrack. The feel of everything is just so authentic, and the chemistry between Rihanna and model Dudley O'Shaughnessy is pretty tangible and it makes the entire thing a lot more interesting to watch. There are a lot of the little things: Her inhaling the cigarette smoke that he blows out, and him tattooing "MINE" on her ass (which in itself is problematic, but that's another story), and all of the face sucking. Separately those elements seem mundane, but taken together, you realize thatt these are actually the important things. These are the little pieces that make up any relationship; that inside perspective that only those two people are ever priivy to. It's positively genius. Cinematically,  there is a lot going on that speaks to what the message is, and what we should be taking away from the video, but I'll address that in more detail a little lower down.

Attitude

One of the reasons I love this video so much is because it shows a different side of Rihanna than I'm accustomed to. I'me very familiar with dolled up, sexed up Rihanna, but this new fresh-faced, casual, friendly and dare I say it, ordinary Rihanna is very refreshing. In this video, she comes across as one of my reckless friends. She's someone I want to hang out with. Someone I want to get into mischief with. I really liked that because it had this "celebrities are people too" quality about it that I found very arresting.

Fashion
This kind of lends itself to what I said about attitude above. Because this is regular girl Rihanna, we get a lot of regular girl clothes. And not just regular girl clothes, but "girl in a relationship" clothes. There is a lot of wearing of boyfriends clothes including his jackets and boxer shorts. I love it. It plays perfectly into the whole picture that she's painted about this relationship and the two people whose lives revolve solely around it. Their actions tell us they are each other's whole world, and the styling choices reflect that very well and very cohesively.

Similarities to other Work

On my facebook newsfeed, someone compared this video to Cee Lo's video for No One's Gonna Love You. As far as I'm concerned, the videos are no more similar than Dudley and Chris Brown are similar for both having cropped blond hair. To me, the videos are similar in the sense that they explore the same themes, but if Rihanna copied this video, then she also copied every indie movie ever put into production. The "reckless couple on a road-trip of self destruction" trope is a well trodden one. This is different than say the S&M video where the references to David La Chapelle's work were much more overt, direct and obvious.

Social Issues
I'm always a big proponent for celebrities who reject the "role model" label simply because I think that an entertainers role in the market is to entertain, and not to teach become a poster child for any particular issue. However, at this point I think Rihanna is actively trying to piss off the PTC. And on the one hand, I'm totally with her. It's not her job to raise anyone's child. But I do think that when you know that a large portion of your fanbase is not in the demographic that can responsibly interpret the message that you're sending in your craft, you do have a bit of a duty to tone it down a bit, or at the very least say that the material isn't suitable for consumers under a certain age. I'm oddly very concerned that there will be a lot of young girls who will come away from this video with an entirely wrong message, and completely miss the actual point that's being made. Teenagers just don't have the maturity to process the fact that not everything is literal. In this ONE video, there is tons of smoking, allusions to heavy drug use, shoplifting, and the implication of a highly combustible relationship. While none of these things is bad in itself (in fact I think they contribute significantly to the video's authentic feel) I guarantee that at least 100,000 young girls are going to leave this thinking "I will start smoking and find a boyfriend. Then I will be as fabulous as Rihanna."

Message/Interpretation
I've rambled on about what the video isn't about. Here's what it is about:

"This is probably one of the deepest videos I've ever done. Its all about love and love being like a drug... you definitely get that from this. The good feeling of it and the dangers of it. That's what this video is about." Rihanna

Oddly enough, I think that the message is actually very clear. When I watch this I see the story of two people who are deeply in love. Two people who revolve entirely around each other. They're so consumed by each other's presence that it borders on destructive. Every day is a whirlwind for them. They're reckless and irresponsible but that's what keeps them together. What we start to see by the end though is Rihanna recognizing after a particularly rough night out that they can't continue down that road, getting out before they destroy each other. As to the perceived references to Chris Brown... steups.

I honestly love this video and I think it's positively mesmerizing. There's a great message in there if you're paying attention enough to find it, and it suits the song well. This is a side of Rihanna that I hope we see more of. 

A+

Sound Off: Dark Girls

Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.

You know, I found this video almost literally the day before it started blowing up all over the web, and I had planned to do a big write up and explain my feelings about it. But in the long run, I don't think that a whole lot needs to be said.


The 10 minute clip of this documentary says so much on its own that I don't think that I need to add my two cents to the conversation. To me, I'm West Indian, and I'm black. The two are not mutually exclusive. And one of the things that I learnt really early on being in the US, is that the Afro-Caribbean experience is drastically different from that of the African American. 


I've never had to deal with these things. I've never even really been aware of my 'degree of blackness' as it were. But seeing this clip, and listening to these testimonials.... it breaks my heart. I almost feel guilty for not having had this experience, and for not being able to stand beside these women and say "This line of thinking is damaging to me too." And that's ridiculous, and i know it is, but I almost cannot conceive that this kind of thinking is so pervasive. I've never encountered it. And the worst part is that this self-hate is internal. It's coming from us. black men and women. no one else.



The most heart-breaking scene to me was of the little girl who had already internalized the 'white is right' attitude at such a young age. Isn't it sad that at no more that 5 years old, we've already taught her to hate herself? The two other clips that struck a cord with me were the clips of the young man saying he disliked dark girls, and the young woman saying that natural/kinky hair was nasty and disgusting. I've had my own struggles with my body image and what i thought was 'pretty'. When i was younger i wanted long blonde hair. But recently I went natural and started dreadlocks. the only regret i have is that i didn't do it sooner. Hearing someone say that; that I'm now ugly for a cosmetic choice i've made.. it troubles me.


From the looks of this clip, this documentary is going to be powerful. I cannot wait for it to premiere and I will be first in line to see it. It is shining a light on an issue that not a lot of people focus in on, sumply because they do not see it as an issue.


In the mean time I leave you with this quote from a poster on the upcoming film's facebook page: 

"If our beauty could be bottled and sold, it would be. Oh, wait they do sell it. Women getting injections for fuller lips, the new butt enhancing implants and risking cancer to tan skin as dark as possible. So, I am born with all that naturally and yet I am seen as less attractive than someone who buys all that? I 

thank God for making me, me." -Linda Caples

to learn more about the origins of colourism and discrimination based on skin clour, read this entry on wikipedia and then watch the documentary short below for some extra context about the same issue in other cultures.

Shadeism from Shadeism on Vimeo.

Sound Off: I'm a Cross Dresser. So Are You.

*Note: This post was inspired by a blog post I read in early January on Nerdy Apple Bottom and is long overdue. The post gained national attention and shone some light on the issue of fashion and gender identity. i apologize in advance if i do not adequately explain what i'm trying to say. feel free to comment and voice any concerns, problems or disagreements. 

Here we go again. 

An innocent young boy is subjected to the scrutiny and prejudice of mean-spirited adults. 

I have a problem with this.

how can you fault that adorable little face? :)

via nerdy apple bottom

Here are the facts:

Cop's Wife allowed her son Boo to dress as Daphne from the cartoon Sccoby Doo for Halloween.

Scoby Doo is his favourite cartoon.

Boo goes to a church pre-school.

Boo is 5 years old.

Apparently when Boo and Cop's Wife arrived at said pre-school for the halloween party/parade/whatever he was subjected to ridicule by the mothers of other children. Cop's Wife was not happy about this.


take that in and digest it, then read this and this and proceed. Going forward, I want to make it clear that everything else i say is completely MY opinion, and has nothing to do with what Cop's Wife may or may not think.

this is anne hathaway at the oscars. 
she looks beautiful.
she is wearing a suit and bow-tie.
men wear suits and bow-ties.
she is still beautiful.
she is still a heterosexual female.
wearing a suit did not make her gay.


fashion is a very lofty thing. we like to think of it as absolute, and that what we wear sends a definitive message about who we are. that's why our mom's get so upset when we enter that 'micro-mini-skirt' stage of adolescence. they're worried the other moms will think they have a 'slutty' daughter. but you want to know the big secret that the fashion industry doesn't want you to find out? it's JUST CLOTHES. i promise. contrary to whatever people might think, what you wear does not define you, and being 'sartorially promiscuous' as it were has no bearing on the person that you are. fashion is a TOOL of self-expression, not its definition.


what does this have to do with poor little Boo you ask? it's relevant because Cop's Wife was accused of promoting homosexuality by allowing her son to wear this costume. yup, you read that right.


this was so upsetting to me that i actually called a friend and cried when i first read it. i'm not gay, but i'm pretty sure that wearing a dress does not make you gay. and the idea that you could make your son gay by allowing his 5-year-old self to explore the world that he knows... it blows my mind that people that ignorant still exist in this world. but i will refrain from climbing atop my soap box and addressing the religious implications of this issue because i will inevitably offend some. instead i'll get to the real issue i'm trying to raise:


apparently, i'm a cross dresser. if you're a woman then chances are that you're a cross dresser too. there are very few societal double standards that don't benefit men, but this is one of them. a man who wears a dress is cross dresser. but why? by that logic, women who wear pants are cross dressers too. frankly my grandmother still thinks pants are vaguely obscene.

i distinctly remember bringing this up with my psych 101 TA in freshman year. why is a man wearing something designed with women in mind deemed abnormal, but not the other way around? if a man wears a bra or a skirt or makeup, he's a deviant or a transvestite, but if a woman wears her boyfriend's shirts or boxers, it's cute. hell, the entire idea of boyfriend jeans revolves around wearing clothing designed for the opposite sex. 


now some people might say, "that's not the same thing. dresses are for women." i'm sure that some people will even raise this as a feminist issue. i disagree. dresses are for whomever decides that they are pretty and wants to buy them. and why wouldn't men think that dresses are beautiful? they are! women are always complaining that men don't care about how they dress and that they don't appreciate the work that we as women put into getting dressed for them. why shouldn't men be just as able to appreciate the artistry that goes into creating a couture gown? (granted most men aren't running around in couture trying to make a statement)

james franco does not look pretty in a dress. but that is not his fault. 

via milky twilight

my point is this. clothing has no gender. wearing a certain article of clothing is not a testament to one's sexuality. people wear what they wear for various reasons, be it occasion, comfort or taste. for example there is a girl in my journalism class who comes in every week heavily tanned and made up, wearing sweatpants. every time. without fail. what conclusions should we draw about her because of that? none. because it's not our business. there is a difference between appropriate dress for a specific occasion and appropriate dress for a given person. why is it that men wearing skirts are 'dressed as women' as opposed to simply 'dressed'? why can men only wear dresses with the explicit understanding that it is in jest? things like this and thinking like this only contributes to the repressed society that we live in. the idea that a young boy could be shamed into thinking that there is something wrong with enjoying a cartoon character just because that character is of a different gender infuriates me. 


when i first read this article, it was soon after the rash of suicides by homosexual college students, and it pains me that even though things like that keep happening, no one is acknowledging that this kind of shaming is only a tiny part of a greater umbrella idea that continues to belittle people for being who they are. we ingrain in ourselves this tangible sense of polarity, and ostracize anyone who doesn't easily fit into one extreme or another. it's divisive and it's destructive.


i am a card-carrying female heterosexual and i wear pants.
i am a cross dresser.
that is all.

Sound Off: What Ugly Betty Taught Me About Fashion and Personal Style

anyone who's been keeping up with this blog already knows that the reason i got into fashion photography is because i fell in love with the ABC show ugly betty. (specifically season 3 episode 18: a mother of a problem) when the show got cancelled last year in its fourth season after ratings fell, i cried. yes, i actually cried.

now, almost a year later, i've focused my career ambitions and continued my dedication to the show that showed me my calling.

i recently started watching the entire series again on netflix, and i delight in the fact that i now recognize so many more faces and understand the references i didn't get the first time around. (insert nina garcia and christian siriano cameos, as well as issac mizrahi and adriana lima) watching it for the second time, i realize that somewhere in between daniel's shenanigans, the wilhemina baby drama, betty's debacle with henry and mark and amanda's nonsense, i actually learnt a thing or two about fashion. few would name betty suarez as a fashion icon, but to me, she is a pioneer of personal style. from her signature pearl B, to her loud and often floral ensembles, betty suarez taught me everything i will ever need to know about fashion. 


in the years that Betty worked at Mode, her style evolved, but she managed to never stray too far from her roots. Her quirky style remained evident even after she ditched the ponchos and bright coloured tights. every girl can learn a thing or two from Betty's fearless style. this is what i learnt:

1. Be Original:
if there's one thing betty has always been it's original. while everyone else at Mode was donning designer, she stuck to her flowers and often ridiculous bows. Through 3 seasons of ridicule and a daily blog of her outfits, Betty still managed to keep her Queens charm. Just because everyone is doing something, doesn't mean it's right for you. Fashion is about self expression and individuality, so wearing what everyone else says is in kind of defeats the purpose no? The thing that makes fashion so appealing to so many people is the way it acts as a symbol of the person that we are. We use clothes to signify to the world the kind of people that we are or want to be. (that's why moms are always a little concerned when those skirts get a little short!) the fact is, the reason we're judged so strongly on our appearance is because we all subconsciously accept that what we wear is a direct reflection of the people we are. being original and staying true to our personal fashion sense is one of the best ways to let people know what we stand for and who we are. 

2. Be Confident:

Betty would never have gotten through her years at Mode without the definite knowledge that she was good at what she did. Knowing that she deserved the opportunities given to her was one of the things that helped her wade through all the negativity being thrown at her on a daily basis. this is a lesson most of us already know. when it comes to fashion, confidence is key. i mean, let's face it, who could really wear these completely outlandish man-repelling getups without an armor of confidence and complete self-assuredness to protect them? this is a skill that betty has mastered, and it's something that we all can learn from her. moral of the story? if YOU think you look great, then hold your head up high and do what you do. (unless of course you're wearing ass-less chaps, in which case you might want to go home and change...)

3. Sometimes More is More:
much to the chagrin of her poor nephew justin, betty has always had a flair for bright colours in large amounts. the 'mode-ettes' cringe, but i say why not? obviously you can't always wear the entire contents of your wardrobe at all times, but being a little busy never hurt anyone. they key is to know what works. pick co-ordinating colours so that even if your outfit is loud, it isn't visually confusing. and pick your accessories wisely. some people like to keep their outfits simple and splurge on the add ons, some people do the reverse. betty wears everything all the time :) but at the end of the day, the most important thing is to OWN the look. if exuberance is your style, then there's no reason that your clothing shouldn't reflect that . 

4. Have a Signature Piece:

all the cool kids are doing it. betty's B has been with her since the beginning of the show, and it's one of the things that stand out about her style. having one accessory or styling flair that you can make all your own isn't a novel concept. (remember miranda priestly's white scarves in the devil wears prada?) that one thing can make you recognizable to the wider fashion community. kind of the way that some women have a signature scent. some women always wear red nails, others always wear their hair in a bun. your thing should showcase not just your fashion sense, but your personality. it should make you identifiable from afar a reasonable distance.

of course, towards the end of the last season, betty's sense of style finally evolved past ponchos and colourful socks. but i will always cherish the betty who thought that "dressing down" involved an all black ensemble with a bright pink bow on her butt. fashion is art. all it is, is another way of taking what you feel on the inside and putting it on display for the world. betty showed me that there's nothing wrong with letting people know who you are through what you wear. I salute you Betty Suarez.