Nick named the Oscar’s of the east coast,the Met Ball celebrates the opening of the Metropolitan Museum’s fashion exhibit at the costume institute. This “red carpet” evening is when celebrities dress to impress. Hosted by Vogue, it’s the time and the place to go all out. Let’s put it this way, fashion comfort, affordability, and practicality is not an issue. Although I saw some real “duds” like Marc Jacobs in his black lace number, there were definitely more “real” defining outfits of the evening. My fave for the night was beautiful gold sequence dress that Karolina Kurkova wore; styled by “The” Rachel Zoe. I can see myself in this… totally.

I have to say Beyonce get’s a huge honorable mention for her daring Vegas show girl style Givenchy gown. Only Beyonce could have pulled this one off. This is why she’s known as the hardest working entertainer in show business. Who was your favorite?

1.  Do you agree with the statement, ” my self esteem is closely tied to the way I feel about myself.” Please explain.

2.  On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) how satisfied are you with your self image?

3.  If you had a fairy godmother who could easily make you feel and look more attractive, what wish or good deed would you ask her to grant you?

Thank you.

Here’s to a Life of Happiness & Beauty!

Last night was one of the biggest nights of the year for fashion. Yeah. We know it should really be about the artists and their performances but it’s really not! Even scheduling the NBA All-Star Game the same night couldn’t take us away from all the fanfare.

Before I go on,  I’ve got to say this.   It really kills me how these so called “fashion experts” think they know so much about fashion. All you have to do is look at their outfits and know they’re full of s%#@. I mean come on… I would not say Rooney Mara was the best dressed. That white Givenchy gown was nice but the girl looked lucid on the red carpet. As one commentator mentions, you couldn’t figure out where the dress and the actress’s skin begins. Too gothic. I’m not ready to die yet!
While everyone made a big deal about Angelina Jolie’s dress, I thought it was tacky for her to keep making a point of showing a little leg. I agree with the View’s Joy Behar when she said, Angelina Jolie needs to have a cannoli. She’s waaay too skinny!

Here’s my Red Carpet best dressed list for last nights Oscars, in no particular order.

1. Gwenyth Paltrow in Tom Ford–simply chic, refreshing, and simple.
2. Jennifer Lopez looked stunning and sexy in her sleek redo of the Marilyn Monroe redo.
3. Viola Davis–Looked reborn in her Vera Wang green goddess gown. She topped it off with her natural, short cropped looked which showed off her beautiful facial features. Are you taking notes, other cocoa divas on the red carpet? She looked flawless! Even if she didn’t win, she’s still a winner in my book.
4. Michelle Davis looked on point and stunningly beautiful in her tangerine, Louis Vuitton gown. So pretty and fresh! She reminds me so much of Mia Farrow in her heyday. She stands out in a crowd.
5. And last but not least, Academy Award Winner, Octavia Spencer. She’s doing the right thing by sticking by her favorite “go to” designer Tadashi Shoji. He’s been her designer of choice for all her red carpet appearances. She makes a girl proud to be curvy. Never change a winning team!

Have fun but personally, if you can only have one new addition to your wardrobe, make it a coat – for all the right reasons. They’re off the hook! Bold statements, varied textures, and abstract shapes, scream style!

I received an email from stiletto woman media in Atlanta, Georgia. They notified me, I made it as a finalist in a pool of 300 entries in their annual Entrepreneur of the Year initiative. At first I thought it was some sort of fluke or joke even. “This can’t be real I thought- they must be selling something.” I kind of ignored the message for about a week until a received another email, announcing the awards conference. Umm.. It took me going to the SWIBA website and a little background research for me to realize, this is the real deal. After I had a look at the competition, I really got excited!

Whoever entered Beauty Full of Color into the SWIBA Entrepreneur of the Year Competition, I salute you. Thank you for standing up and encouraging sister businesses to be noticed and recognized for making the world a better place. Nowadays, it’s like a little feather in my cap. Even if I don’t win, I know I have to continue sharing my mission and standing up for what I believe in.
I realize more and more, it really is about the journey, not the destination.
And it’s worth it!

It made me wonder what really gets into the minds of hiring managers when looking for qualified candidates.
As an image specialist, I know one thing for sure; people judge us based on what they see. Depending on their frame of reference, they make assumptions. Let me put it bluntly, “they make judgments”.
You may be an expert technical writer or the best communicator on the planet but that doesn’t mean that you’ll get the coveted position you’ve been stressing over.
You see, hiring managers, are after the “Total” package.

What exactly is the total package? It’s a combination of four basic qualifiers. Many people have two or even three and if you have all four, then you have a better chance of standing out in a crowd and winning over the competition. Check out the basics of the “Total Package.”

1. Skills
2. Attitude
3. Looks
4. Manners (etiquette)

Once you have the “total package”, you will win the recognition and financial rewards you desire.

The next time you don’t get the big promotion or awarded the big contract, ask yourself, ” am I the total package?”
What public person has all four qualities of the “Total Package?”

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Tastes and interpretations of what’s attractive is questionable. According to Daniel Hammermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, it matters a lot. In his book “Beauty Pays: Why attractive people are more successful”, he says not only are attractive people more successful; they earn more. “if You are not attractive, you will be penalized for that, so your best best is to look for a profession where you’re not as visible. In other words, don’t be an actress or a newscaster, rather work behind the scenes as a director or producer. Ouch! Reality is painful. You won’t get a memo that you’re not being considered for sales director because ….ah um, you’re not cute, sexy, or fine enough.

Secreting your firm is saying “everybody knows attractive employees sell more.”
This is a form of discrimination especially when the more attractive person is paid more. The argument Hamermesh seems to give is, attractiveness tends to raise productivity. It’s definitely a hard case to prove as others would argue that it’s simply an indulgence of peoples’s tastes and preferences.
I say, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” The good news is you can definitely improve your chances of getting the coveted position or the kind of money you deserve.

True enough- looks are only one of manythings that effect how much we earn. Why settle. Up your game and be a contender. As the saying goes, don’t get mad, get even. Go ahead and show ’em. Accentuate your strengths! At the end of the day, we get what we get at birth and we kinds grow into our looks. It can go either way- you do have a choice in all this. The motto of this story is, work what you got! You can still be you but just a more polished version of you. If you had the choice, wouldn’t you choose the shinny new penny over the old tarnished version? It’s still only a penny but we love the way it shines!

Beauty is a good investment and pays in more ways than one- as long as you don’t go crazy nurturing you beauty addictions.
Do you think attractive people get paid more and move up the ladder faster?