The Best of the VMAs Fashion 2011?

In the words of Adam Levine, "the VMA's. one day a year when MTV pretends to still care about music. I'm drawing a line in the sand. fuck you VMA's." hey he said it not me, and that's exactly what I did. I watched the 9/11 Interview with George Bush on National Geographic and another 9/11 documentary special. But I knew that when I came to the world of the Internet I would be bombarded with VMAs highlights and of course the fashion or...I wouldn't really call it fashion, but there were clothes that worn, but calling it fashion....I was going to intentionally not do a blog until my sister convinced me otherwise.

I don't really nowhere to start. Out of the pictures I've seen I don't like any there are 2 okays 1 alright, and the rest...if I stay professional and critique on those 3 it will be a short blog. But if I talk to you the way I always do like the girl that I am gabbing about my favorites and fashion and what's cool and not on who it will be long. So far the paragraph above and the one I'm writing is me trying to make this blog long. So while I'm listening to MJ's music on his birthday I will try to keep it cool and be nice since my last two blogs before the Aaliyah one were continuous rants. Okay here we go.

So the world apparently, stopped turning and all praised that of Beyonce being pregnant. I will say I'm shocked because I never thought I would live to see that day...well I take that back, not until the next 5 years because after all her album is still brand new, she's promoting, an apparent tour would be underway but with a baby on the way, it looks like an upcoming tour will be out of the question. But then again this is Beyonce we're talking about who performed after falling down a flight of stairs onstage. So this is the 1st "ok" look although, I'm all in favor of Beyonce wearing more clothing it's obvious she's glowing and happy. And I'm not pulling a Khloe and saying she should "show" off her pregnancy by dressing skimpy, and wearing tight clothing, but I do wish that this Lanvin dress was a bit more tapered around the waist. This dress is very 70s. I don't know if B was going for that look, with the 1950s Veronica Lake wave bang but it's nice, a good change for her whose always showing legs, plunging neckline, and tight clothing, that she normally wears. And the performance getup was cute, very Broadway, but let's hope she keeps with this demure but glam look.

Rebecca Black is a 14-year-old singer, who sings a song called "Friday"....14? This? Ummm.....okay so I will give her this, she dressed a lot better than the other young stars. Demi Lavato (19) Miley Cyrus (20) and Selena Gomez (19). 10 years ago people got on Britney for dressing "skimpy, sexy, and vampy". Unlike, the 3 aforementioned starlets, her dressing up until 21 wasn't inappropriate save for a few revealing photoshoots (Rolling Stone 99) and performances (VMAs 01) but mainly all she did was show her belly and wear lowrider jeans. She had didn't show her legs that much, wearing a lot of pants and wore a lot of crop tops, sometimes, tube tops, hardly anything extremely short. So my point is, these starlets are growing up too fast. But like I said this look is a lot better than Demi, Miley, and Selena who are still heavily associated with Disney and whose shows are in constant repeat on the channel. And isn't Selena still making shows? If this outfit was worn on either of them, kudos. The only thing I would change to make it appropriate for someone who wasn't 13 too long ago, I would lengthen the shorts by at least 3 inches, so it's about an inch 1 or 2inches above her knee.

And here is the 1 "alright". I'm not a huge fan of Katy's music, but I do like the songs I've been hearing from her and one of these days when I get around to it, I'll probably buy her CD, I do like her style, it's very colorful, happy, quirky, a little wacky, but very Katy. That said, I think she can get away with anything, but...I just don't know what to say. It's okay. Normally, when I see her in an outfit I like it. I think the "record" dress with the "record" fascinator is adorable, it totally fits, her hair color is cute by the way. I've seen pictures of her trying different colors over the past few weeks and I'm glad she got it right. It just works. For the second look...okay I blame Kate Middleton for this one. Apparently, it's a "fascinator" and who could forget that horrible thing on Princess Beatrice when she wore an octopus/toilet/it-looks-like-a-kid-made-it fascinator to the wedding? Had it not been for Princess Kate and her lovely wedding bringing out the fascinators in not just England but apparently everyone we wouldn't see a block on Katy's head. The outfit itself is mismatched, the skirt makes her look dumpy, the top makes her look frumpy, the only thing working besides her hair are those fabulous shoes! I'm just confused. The third look, very 1940s Hawaiian girl look. I'm not a fan of the fabric. But seeing it from a distance, it works. The 4th and final look. WAY too matronly, if the neckline wasn't up to her chin it would've been okay. The lace didn't help the belt, I don't understand. The neckline would've made a difference. Had it not been for the neckline it would've been okay. So 2/4 isn't bad, which puts hers in the "alright" category.

So that's it. That's all I can say. For me to relive what I saw an hour ago on the "fashion" of the VMAs would be a complete utter nightmare. And I really don't feel like talking about how horrible it was and a obvious one who shall not be named. I will say for this one entertainer, if you can call her that, or maybe she entertains you with her getups. Dressing intentionally like...I don't even know what to say. It's okay to get inspiration from previous or current singers, but make it your own you know? So Gaga came dressed up like she was straight out of "Grease" okay that's cool, but for another person who shall be nameless dress like your peer...apparently, someone told her this was a competition and to out shock, and outdress like your peer, Gaga. Even "rivals" that the media tried to make them; Mariah/Whitney, Madonna/Janet, Britney/Christina didn't dress alike and do everything their peer did, they were who they were. I feel that dressing like this is to show that she doesn't have much talent and relying heavily on her getups is sad. It's cool to have a gimmick, like Bettie Page had with S&M, but really? Now EVERYONE knows you're trying too hard. Trust me, I read the comments and they all say the same thing. What's wrong with being yourself? If she's not copying Lil Kim or Cher, she's copying Gaga, I mean really? At least, Cher and Kim are older then her. So sad. Talent ain't what it used to be. That's my 5cents I hope it was long enough.

"Street but Sweet" Aaliyah Style

10. The number/word can mean a lot of things, when I was growing up being a size 10 was the perfect size. 10 seconds until the new year, a child's 10th birthday, to a couple a 10 year anniversary. But in the R&B world on August 25, 2001, 10 is how long we have been without Aaliyah. In years 10 seems like a long time, but for some reason when we lose somebody it feels like yesterday. And to a lot of fans, friends, and family members of our Fallen Star, it feels like that. 3 studio albums isn't enough. She's been gone for 10 years but she was only in the music scene for less than that. And even less on the scene because she finished school and made a movie between her album, "One in a Million" (96) and making her third album, "Aaliyah" (01).

But I want to not remember where I was when I heard the terrible and unbelievable news, nor do I want to cry and be sad because her beautiful physical presence isn't here to be the star that she was. I want to talk about her fashion. To me I didn't feel like she had a long enough time in the music industry to make a huge impact, like a Janet or Michael although, she did make somewhat of an impact both musically and in fashion. Since I was young when she came out (10 years old in 94) I knew that she was hot because of the songs and videos she was out. So if she did have a major impact I wasn't aware of it.

I remember when she came out in 1994 I was like shocked. Here was this girl who was 15 wearing a sports bra, baggy jeans undone, underwear showing, and a big jacket and do rag with sunglasses. I was a HUGE Brandy fan so you can see the difference there.

But I couldn't stop listening to the song, "Back and Forth" it was so easy to start groovin! Although, I liked the song it was hard for me to get past the image because I didn't understand what kind of person she was trying to be or if she was from the streets and she would end up being like the female Tupac. Then she released her second single, "At Your Best" a cover by the Isley Brothers she was covered more but still wearing baggy clothes and a lot of black to keep that air of mystery about her which she would always have. Aaliyah said that she wanted to be known for her voice and not for image. How smart she was in saying that, today, too many celebrities rely on their image and lack of talent. If you took away Aaliyah's amazing beauty you still had a great dancer, good actor, and a beautiful voice. It's too bad I can't say the same for majority of new celebrities now.

Her style was definitely street but her voice and personality was sweet, and she quickly honed that title "street but sweet".

  In 1996 her music and image changed. Ditching the tomboy looked she looked more mature with the Veronica Lake hairstyle of the hair over one eye and got with Missy and Timbaland who would remain forever tight with Aaliyah. The best thing to ever happen to her music career if you ask me. Not only did the make the best songs, but if you play them now, they don't sound dated. Classic. Aaliyah still had the "street but sweet" look but wore a lot of leather, crop tops, bra tops, and baggy pants, not easy to do but she did it well. What I liked about her was that she didn't have the curvy figure and the Whitney Houston power vocals. She was comfortable with who she was and she worked with what she had.

She'd make appearances in videos every now and then after she was done with "One In A Million" promotion and took a break. What's even more shocking is that in 1998 escorted by her handsome brother, she sang at the Oscars "Journey To the Past" which is great all, but she wore a DRESS! She had always worn pants and even wore pants to her prom to be different and stand out. But a dress? And oh did she look beautiful.










That same year she did "Are You that Somebody" where at the end of the video she wore a very high split skirt. This Aaliyah who was 18 was becoming a woman. When she did "Try Again" it previewed what new Aaliyah we would see in 2001, dramatic makeup sparkly bustier and very low leather pants, as always the dancing was impeccable (thank Fatima) and the beat was great. She had her first debut role and what's refreshing is she didn't play a pretty girl or a singer, she played a girl who didn't take BS from anybody, and did things her own way, in Rome Must Die. If "Try Again" was a preview of the new Aaliyah, then "Back in One Piece" was epic. BEAUTIFUL makeup which enhanced her natural beautiful, hair which was once sleek and straight, had bouncy curls with color at the end, even the baggy pants had left (okay she wore them for a couple of shots but not the whole video like she did in the past) and were traded for sparkled jeans and tank tops, bra tops, and what's shocking is reptile jacket and pants and red! Up to this point Aaliyah didn't do a lot of color and had worn red only a few times. She rocked it as always looking ever so beautiful, the makeup a touch of 50s glamour with the Marilyn Monroe beauty mark, diamond studs, red lips, and false eyelashes.

In 2000, she won an MTV award for Female Video for "Try Again" and wore yet again another dress! This one was different but she rocked it as always, yellow and black tiger striped dress, with feather trim by Roberto Cavalli. Not one known for designer labels, especially since she bought her Oscar dress from the mall, I was surprised to see her taking a risk, but like I said she rocked it.

Unfortunately, the next year 2001, which started off with such great promised ended with sadness. And I hate to close this blog post because of it, but I have to. Her 3rd and final album is a classic. I was listening to her songs a while ago and they don't sound like they were recorded in 2000 (yes Naomi I did listen after all these years lol). If you listen to songs like "Say You'll Be There" from Spice Girls, or "Bye Bye Bye" from NSYNC you know when it was recorded because it sounds like a 90s song or a 2000 song, but Aaliyah's entire album didn't sound like that at all. "Read Between the Lines" is R&B, funk, and a touch of Latin which was huge at the time due to the wave of Latin singers crossing over the year before and into 2000. "I Refuse" and "More Than A Woman" if played on the radio sound like a new fresh song from a new artist. That's the genius of the trio, Missy, Timbaland, and Aaliyah. Not a lot of people can make music that doesn't date them or put them in a certain time or place.

Aaliyah's image for this album was full blown, sexy, independent, bold, woman. She wore more dresses, she became more feminine and girly. In her "We Need A Resolution" video, she looked supremely confident in the first few shots of the video. "More Than A Woman" the same thing, beautiful, confidant, feminine even though she rocked a designer jumpsuit, Chanel to be exact, she still stayed true to herself wearing leather pants (fierce I might add) and crop top. I have to say she was the rare few that didn't use fake hair and fake nails, be loaded with diamonds and high heels to be sexy through her whole career. Which I truly admire and respect.

Although, she didn't need it, her makeup was dramatic and more adult then the futuristic "Try Again" look. Photoshoots for the album and magazines, her appearances showed that of a happy woman in love and ready to take on the world.  This was the new Aaliyah that was about to make it large.

After that beautiful video she shot for "Rock the Boat" and that final scene of her looking like she was floating to Heaven. It seemed like EVERYONE wanted to be Aaliyah. Ciara, Toya, Tweet, Ashanti, all tried that "Street but Sweet" formula in music and fashion that Aaliyah made her own. The purring voices with hard beats, the dancing, the look, everything that Aaliyah was naturally, it seemed like everyone tried (and failed) to do. Aaliyah looked up to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Michael and Janet, but she didn't try to be them, she mixed her influences in her music and performances and the rest of the 95% was full Aaliyah. The way Selena left a void in Tejano music, is the same void Aaliyah left in R&B. She was here for 7 years (music/movie wise) but those were years to remember.

Royal Wedding vs. Royal Wedding?

For some reason people well some entertainment writers and TV stations (E!) to be exact keep comparing "the Royal Wedding of the Century", that lovely couple from across the pond to a "royal wedding" here in the U.S. where we have no monarchy and it is listed in the history books, and on documentary specials of Camelot, Jacqueline and Jack Kennedy "the closest the U.S. will have to royalty." And some have said "Jackie Kennedy was like an American Princess." With that said, how in the world can there be a "royal" anything if you get famous off a sex tape? Not to mention constantly whoring yourself and your family out for attention, and selling your wedding to E! to make even MORE money. Whereas, that lovely couple donated a million to their favorite charities, and asked guests not to bring any wedding gifts. I know having 2.5 billion people watch a wedding must have irked her mad, and that's just counted by TV sets, and viewers streaming on their phones and internet, we're not even including the people that had parties and invited MORE people to watch the Royal Wedding. Yes I'm talking about that couple, that person, who thinks she's royal in her head and has convinced family and friends of hers that it's the "royal wedding" people will talk about. Once again a lot of the comments I have read pretty much said the same thing; there is no comparing, who cares, Kate/Wills are classy,  I give them 8 months, etc. etc. And having your wedding cake the same as the Royals and have Lindsay Lohan show up in a white dress like the lovely, Pippa, and wear the EXACT same dress Pippa wore to the wedding reception but Lindsay wore it in white...really? Can you so originality? I thought your wedding was supposed to be of your dreams and not someone else's? Oh not to mention Temperley who designed Pippa's dress say they were honored and wanted to give the dress to her, but true to classy form, Pippa insisted on buying it, when Lindsay wanted the dress, they sold it to her and said nothing. I'm saying this it is August 2011, by August 2012 there will be a "honeymoon" special and another reality show of life as a married woman that will be on E! Mark my words! Since E! are intent on comparing the down to earth, classy couple, to this travesty of  a "celebrity" couple. I will say this....never mind, I'll let class speaks for itself.

Website update-CMFD (Candace Michelle Fashion Designs)

So I was trying to update my website last night and Angelfire/Lycos decided to become Hitler and not let me do anything. I tried it again this morning same thing, so I've had to scout around for a new host. I was hoping that the glitches would've been fixed by Monday but it looks like it'll be longer than a few days. I'm on a completely new hosting site and this stuff is high tech (which I like :-)) So if I stayed glue to my computer for the next 7 days it'll be finished. Finding time to eat and shower we'll be a feat. At least I'm a computer nerd so this won't be hard to do. So that's an fyi for you I'll let you know when the site will be up. You can go to my facebook, CMTV Candace Michelle and there are designs up for sale so if you're interested you can e-mail me at fashiondiva1984@yahoo.com or you can send me a message on FB. Off to website/techy land. I'll see you on the other side.

Kourtney Kardashian the next Pippa? A new low for E!

Okay so I was minding my own business surfing the internet, when I saw a link that said "Kourtney Kardashian the New Pippa Middleton, compliments of E! Excuse while I go laugh..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Okay I'm back now. Last night I had a "royal" night, I watched "Wild About Harry", "Crazy about Pippa" and "Prince William and Kate: Baby Watch?" on TLC. It was lovely. I sat in front of my TV just loving every minute of it. A breath of fresh air. And then I get on the Internet and see this insult. I'm a lady so I won't say anything bad, but really that's straight blasphemy why in the world would you put trash with class? You might as well put oil in your cereal, they just don't go. Just like geographically Pippa and Kourtney are apart, so are they socially, fashionably, and other lys. I just don't understand why E! won't officially become K! for Kardashians or what I like to call them "Whoredashians." I mean you might as well say that Madonna is the next Princess Diana, (sorry Di, I hope you're not spinning in your grave). Pippa, right now is minding her own business, WORKING two jobs for her family, and staying classy in the process, loving the attention but not whoring herself for it. And then you have the immoral plastic sister, whoring herself, her baby, and deadbeat boyfriend/baby daddy on TV just like her other fake plastic, too much botox, fat injections but says no she didn't have surgery on her booty, sisters. It's pretty disgusting and vile, when, your sister has a sex tape (and from what I hear an extremely dirty raunchy sex tape at that, people have said Ray-J peed on her! Really? Come on!). Cries about it on national television, whores herself out, in the most raunchy and disgusting way, denies ANY surgery although RADICALLY looking different from when she first appeared, and is the most vein, stuck up debauchery for a woman this side has ever seen. The saddest part is that she's proud of it, she may not say it but her actions prove how proud of that sex tape she is, and I wouldn't put it past her if that was totally planned.

To compare the two is like saying Britney Spears is the new Celine Dion, it's just blasphemy no matter how you spin it. Collectively, the Whoredashians look just like that, whores, and they have the nerve to pick on women who don't "sex up" their pregnancy for every day wear? This coming from the ever so lovely Khole. I mean really? Has it ever occured that maybe, now here's a thought, just maybe, all women don't want to wear a skirt and call it a dress while carrying a growing human inside their belly and hooker heels with bad makeup? Did it ever occur to you that maybe they are dressing for comfort, for themselves, and that they are ladies? That wouldn't hit her like a brick in the head would because all she sees is trash, it's too bad the whole family is.

Sexy isn't about stripping and wearing tight revealing clothing showing off EVERYTHING it's....it's better to show you then explain it.

There's a right way and wrong way to do things, and above, is sexy done naturally of course, but the right way, the wrong way is forcing something that you're not born with and trying too hard.

And the lovely Pippa ever so grounded was quoted saying to a friend "I know this all just a flash in the pan, and it'll be over." Wow. Spoken, like a level-headed classy lady who knows what time it is. I'm glad she has a watch. Pippa is her sister's best friend, keeper of everything she does, which is what sisterhood is all about. Somehow I don't get that same chumy feeling from the Whoredashians who are CONSTANTLY competing each other for the spotlight and cussing each other out calling each other names.

The Middletons, great name seeing how they were middle-class, lol, but back to the point, know when and how to keep the trash out. Their cousin, Katrina Darling, is a burlesque dancer nothing wrong with that if you're not related to a cousin who is married to a royal, but then there's that issue of stripping, which is what she does, didn't get an invite to the wedding. I mean if you saw how bad her makeup was on the "Crazy About Pippa" special, you wouldn't either. Which means that opposite for the Whoredashian wedding, any and all crazies will be there, and trash and debauchery involved. I hope to God in Heaven that chick isn't wearing white, but something tells me my fears will soon be realized, which is a shame, considering the 7foot size of Pau Gasol, list of men she's been with.

Bottom line (pun intended for Pippa :-)) Pippa doesn't even win this because there is no competition and even if there was, she owns it hands down. She has dignity, class, elegance, and is a smart cookie. But I guess I shouldn't be so hard on Kourtney I mean it's true what they say "money can't buy class."

*most of the commenters agree with me:-)

http://www.eonline.com/news/kourtney_kardashian_new_pippa_middleton/257184

Update August-3-2011

I wanted to update you to let you know that I have two new designs up for sale they are the circle skirt and A-line skirt. They are cherry print cotton fabrics. The A-line has a red trim down at the bottom, that fits a size 6-8 and sits on the waist the circle skirt fits a size 8 sits an inch above the waist. So go to http://candacemichellefashiondesigns.angelfire.com and check them out! :-)