Yasmin Warsame in Winter Banana Republic Ad Campaign

Beautiful Somalian model Yasmin Warsame is the sole brown face in the latest series of Banana Republic ads. In them she's paired with a white male model which marks the first time I can recall seeing an interracial romance themed ad from BR. It's kind of interesting to me that the last time Gap Inc. (owner of BR and Old Navy) did this kind of high profile ad it was also with an African female model (Nina Keita) paired with a white male model. I'll be honest, this kind of ad always gets my attention but I'm curious about what you think? Is it progress or more tokenism?

Chanel Iman - Harper's Bazaar - 12/08

Chanel Iman has a very nice multipage spread in the current issue of Harper's Bazaar. It's the largest spread devoted to a black model that I can recall seeing in quite awhile. Too bad the stylist couldn't suppress the urge to put her in a Dolce & Gabbana animal print dress for one of the shots. In any case, I think she looks great.

S: scanned by fer19dog

Angela Bassett for Olay Quench Body Lotion

I'm beginning to think that cocoa butter must be the "other" creamy crack when it comes to black women. The battle against ashy starts pretty early on. I still remember my mother rubbing down my legs with Vaseline before leaving the house to keep that rolling in powdered donuts look at bay.

It seems now that, in response to the sales of rival Vaseline's cocoa butter skin care line, Olay has extended the Quench moisturizer line to include cocoa butter enthusiasts.

Beautiful and ageless Angela Bassett is the spokesmodel. I just hope this formulation doesn't have those tiny light reflecting particles, I hate the way that glittery stuff looks on my dark skin.

ETA: So I picked a bottle of this up at Target yesterday and it does contain those pesky little sparkles, though they are not as noticeable as they are in the original formulation. The scent different too, sweeter probably because of the cocoa butter. I've always really liked this lotion so now that it is not as glittery, it will probably become a staple.

Essence: Another Month, Another Dull Cover

So Will and Jada will be on the cover of the December issue of Essence Magazine. He's the biggest movie star in the world and she is his lovely and incredibly stylish actress wife. What's not to love, right? 

I think they're a great couple too and I love seeing them walking hand in hand on the red carpet but c'mon, Essence! Is this the best you can do?

I've written before about how the magazine likes to play it safe and boring month after month but I was keeping my fingers crossed that with all the electricity buzzing in the air lately, that Essence would shake things up a bit.

A Barack and Michelle (or even just Michelle) cover would have been the obvious choice but if Donna Brazile (one of Essence's "Most Inspiring" people,) Condi Rice or Obama senior campaign advisor Valerie Jarrett was on the cover, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.

Looking at this cover, I feel like I already know how the interview with Will and Jada will read and I know for sure that any beauty, health or money advice article will be a carbon copy of what was in the magazine last month.

Maybe at the very least they could take a cue from People Magazine and start running multiple pics on the cover.

Last gripe: the cover banner with "win a $100 gift card"? $100? Damn, the recession really has hit the magazine industry hard.

S: LSA

Vintage D&G ad - Moesha Lewis

The Williams Sisters in Vogue

 

Andre Leon Talley has been seen all over the place with his new BFF, Venus Williams. The athlete has popped up more than once on his page in Vogue Magazine (though not in an editorial, one would have to pick up Harper's Bazaar to see that.) 

While one cannot deny that both sisters have been looking more stylish lately but who knows if ALT is behind it. He worked some serious magic when he started working with Renee Zellweger but his helpful hints didn't do a lot of Jennifer Hudson or Mariah Carey. 

Vogue Praises Arlenis' Curves

At de la Renta’s collection…she scored top honors: opening and closing the show in a color-block maillot and a strapless silver evening dress...both of which showed off her jaw-dropping curves (yes, curves!) to spectacular effect.

Arlenis Sosa. Lovely girl. Slim but relatively healthy looking figure. I don't know anyone who would accuse the girl of being full-figured but I had to look again after reading this piece in Vogue Magazine.   Everyone knows that the fashion industry is a tad masochistic when it comes to women's bodies so I wonder if their praise of her "breathtaking" curves is really a backhanded compliment. We've already read fashion insider's complaints about black model's bodies so this comment just ads fuel to the fire. To me, Vogue is saying "Arlenis may hot be right now but lets be clear, she's not like our "regular" models!" I just hope that Arlenis (who appears to be very careful with what she eats) doesn't read this the same way and try to get that "unhealthy but employed" look.

Michelle's Narciso Rodriguez: What Do We Think?

Wow.

This is how my soul feels.

I still can't believe it. I thought for sure that the other side would find some way to disenfranchise enough voters to drag this contest out for a few more days.

Last night I told my husband that I wouldn't believe that the results were real until The Obamas put in a change of address card at the post office. The victory didn't sink in until McCain's concession speech (which I thought was very gracious.) Maybe the old guy can go back to being himself now.

What I really love is that in spite of all the seriously nasty accusations being thrown at Obama by his detractors, the American people still elected him by a landslide.

I love my country.


Source: Jezebel

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