A New Phase

I'm going to cut off almost all my shoulder length black hair for a short pixie cut a la Halle Berry and Natalie Portman tomorrow.

My appointment is set for 10 am tomorrow. And nothing will stop me, despite my brother and grandmother's attempts to keep me from cutting it because I have "good hair." As though my hair will be any less good when its short. And they should be glad that I'm not going any shorter because I was considering pulling an Amber Rose,

but the barber convinced me not to. But I'm absolutely going to go that low eventually. I think every woman should shave her head at least once in her life. Not because she is having a Britney moment -- you don't have to be going through a breakdown to shave your head -- but to grow stronger. More women need to realize that like India Arie sang we are "not our hair". And we can be just as strong, powerful, or even more so, without it.But thats just my humble opinion.
But anyway, I'll leave you with this great video from India Arie and Pink:

 

Wish me luck! 

And sorry that I've missing in action for the past... what, five months? Been very busy. And now my final year on uni has started its going to be even crazier. Actually, I'm supposed to be preparing two presentations now but I wanted to tell y'all about my hair before I did it.

This is the beginning of a new phase of my life, and I'm cutting my hair off to represent the greater strength and increased independence I have in my life. Plus I can't be working on my thesis and be blowing my straggly hair out of my eyes every two minutes. Truth be told, this is the main reason I'm hacking it off. My annoying unruly hair is the bane of my existence right now. It needs to go. I'm sure I'll feel much lighter and fresher and newer after!

LDN Style

I went to London a couple of years ago and one of the first things I noticed on the high streets was the style. It was amazing. Its truly just like what you see  in the video below. No one seems to give a shit in London about how they dress. And the freedom of expression that that allows is fantastic. It was particularly fascinating to me, as I was (and am) a young island girl from the Caribbean, and people around here definitely don't dress like they do in London. Anyway, without further ado, behold the video that does a better job of summing up the rebelliousness of style that exists in London better than I ever could.

10 Commandments of Dating

Hello. I'm back.* And back with a list of dating commandments. I journeyed to the top of a mountain to get them, and have returned with them to you on tablets. Why are you guys dancing around an idol?... What, Biblical reference overkill? Yeah, I think so too.

Anyway, I'm serious about the dating rules part. I was talking to the lovely Isabel of Walk Of Fashion recently, and it made me think of what things a person, especially a female should do, and shouldn't do, on dates. So here you are.

The 10 Commandments of Dating. (According to the Misnomer, who actually has no life.)

10. Don't go someplace noisy on a first date. Generally, the point of a first date is to get to know the person, and find out whether you two are compatible. So conversation will be necessary. So don't go to a club. Why? It's too loud. And how are you going to keep a convo going if you're trying to keep time with his dance movements? And he's going to spend half the night trying to get drinks for you at the crowded bar anyway. So try to go to a place where you two can sit and talk and get to know each other better. Like to a restaurant... Or if you do go out dancing, make plans to meet for something to eat first so there is some opportunity for conversation.

9. Carry money just in case. Okay, we've all been told that traditionally a guy** should be a gentleman and pay for the lady on a date. But we also know that we live in the twenty-first century, and in a world of metrosexuals, feminist rights, adrogyny and gender-blindness, the gender lines have become kind of blurred. And more specifically, the idea of a classic delicate lady, and the idea of an 'man's man' gentleman are all but disappearing. Now we have the image of a superwoman-who-doesnt-need-a-man and a guy who is confused as to how to approach this new woman. In short, he might think you actually want to pay for your own dinner. And if you do have to pay, you can't make a fuss about it. 'You women wanted independence after all. Well now you have it. Tough' might be the argument a guy puts forward. (N.B -- Don't date that guy.)

Personally, I still think on a first date the guy should pay. Afterwards, you two can split the tab or work something out based on your respective incomes. But in any case, ALWAYS carry money to be safe. (And hey, you never know, you two might fall out during dinner and he might storm out and you get left with the whole tab. You never know.)

Passion Fruit from Trinidad and Tobago

It gives me great pleasure and happiness to introduce to you -- if you have not discovered her blog as yet -- artist Brianna McCarthy who hails from the lovely region of the West Indies, and more specifically from Trinidad and Tobago.
She is an amazing artist who appears to focus on portraits of women, and what is so remarkable about her work is that instantly you know these are West Indian women, even without being told. I think it is fascinating that she achieves this as she does not produce West Indian women in the typical way. She presents them more ethereal, thoughtful and pensive than I have ever seen them before. But I'll just shut up now and show you some of her artwork, for I think it speaks for itself.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these images. They are all the property of Brianna McCarthy.

So that's the blog I've been really feeling lately. Its nice to see us West Indian women depicted so sensitively and delicately. If you are also impressed with this young talent make sure to check out her blog here.

Hey, garcon! More salt and pepper at table six, please.

For awhile now I have been obsessed with all things Salt n' Pepa. I think their style was fresh and fun and thanks to them I am now obsessed with gold hoops and tight cropped shirts. However, its not really within my personality to bear my stomach, so lately I've just been watching old Salt n' Pepa videos with the intention of living vicariously through them. I do like that the cropped shirt style has made a comeback, but I've noticed that they are looser than Salt n' Pepa's uber tight ones. In any case, I'm not one to bare my midriff. I wouldn't say I'm a conservative dresser, but that's one area that I have never felt compelled to reveal. So when I do buy a couple cropped shirts, I'll wear it with a very high waisted pants. Urkel style! Ha!

Anyway, here are some of my fave pics of Salt n Pepa

 Aren't those over-sized gold hoops great? I love gold hoops and I do have large ones but I have thinner, wide ones, as opposed to thick, big hoops. However, Salt rocks the thick ones here!

Salt, Spinderella and Pepa look great in this colour because orange is a great colour for rich complexions... Actually its a great colour for every complexion! ...Unless you're a redhead, in which case, this colour could clash quite badly...

 Okay, okay.. one style I will admit should stay in the 90's is the plaid beret. And pants-skirts. That I will admit. Not a fan of either. In fact, I think the only person that ever could wear them simultaneously and pull it off is Salt. She was my fave member as well. She was fierce!

I can't think of a better colour than black. Wait, hang on a second. *Ponders*. Nah, there's nothing better. Black will always be the new black.

 Well, that's it. Salt n' Pepa is one of my fave fashion inspirations, just for the irreverence and wackiness of it all. (Gotta love the 90's.) When I do incorporate ideas from their style, of course its never the whole look but just elements like hoops or cropped shirts. Who are some of your fashion inspirations and what are some of the elements you draw from them?
I'm really excited to know. I already know someone is gonna say Anna del Russo or Rihanna or Alexa Chung. I feel it in my bones! :)

What the Frugality Game Taught Me

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Being the cheesy writer at heart that I am, during the frugality Game I kept thinking of an equally cheesy blog post I could write about to tell my followers how simply saving money changed my life in more ways than one. However, I kept telling myself that would be entirely too cheesy and I reckoned no one would care. That is, until someone commented saying that I would be surprised how this game would help in all areas of my life. Why, by George, I thought, that’s exactly what I was thinking! So here is your extremely cheesy blog post, and you can thank Joy for it.

1.       The Frugality Game helped me in being less self-centred:

The thing about being a shopaholic is that if you’re not careful, you can become very self- centred. While I did not become quite as self-centred as I have seen others become, I did become self- centred enough to start to dislike this trait that was emerging in my character. I had noticed that in all my conversations I would talk endlessly about this great blouse I found on sale, how it fit me so well, what hair style I would wear with it.  Or I would go on endlessly about this great lipstick I bought, and how it contrasted so well with my dark skin and hair. Every conversation seemed to revolve around my purchases and how I was (supposedly) benefitting from them.

And the thing was that while I would sometimes buy stuff for family members or friends, most of what I bought was for myself. Therefore, not only was I senselessly spending money on stuff I didn’t need, but I was also senselessly focussing way too much on myself. Now the shopaholic era is over I have found myself becoming more interested in other people’s affairs and less on myself and my expenditures.

2.       I have more money.
       

Shopping landscape of the Caribbean

 Fashion landscape of the Caribbean, and how different shopping is on a whole.

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I live in the Caribbean, and understandably, everything here is quite different to other more metropolitan countries such as the U.S.A and England, which have huge cities such as New York City and London. That is not to say that my region is not developed. It is, very much so. I hasten to make this point as I have been told stories of well- meaning tourists who were surprised to find we have wi-fi, multi-lane highways, and a very highly-rated educational system. However, in some aspects, the Caribbean is a wee bit behind. I mean, of course, in terms of fashion shopping. (You didn’t think I would tackle a serious topic, did you? I am the fashion-obsessed Misnomer after all. J )