So the cities that dictate fashion trends have been telling us to go out and get grey. Coming out of a very bright and colourful summer and heading into a time where they are getting ready to don boots, mittens and scarfs, they could definitely use a little toning down! Of course here in the warm sunshine we’ll make little changes to follow the trend but we wont go all grey drab. Greys look super cute paired with the bright colours that reigned this summer and will add instant chic to your already fabulous wardrobe. Like this Bebe skirt is absolutely amazing and I think it would look incredible paired with one of those banana yellow or turquoise camis that were popular over the summer, peaking under the jacket. I got this striped top in Best for Less in the Blvd Supercenter recently. It pairs the grey with a bright pink and is too cute. It was also available in a yellow and a turquoise stripe.

Thanks to Style Bubble for the amazing grey collage pictured above. Check them out for more on this fall trend.

So because of the imminent move in the very near future, I’m keeping all my hot, new, local stuff under wraps to be revealed on the new blog. Tho its burning me up so! Meanwhile, I thought i would rant a little more about my obsession with what some may deem odd shoes. Hey I just like to be differently cute! I still want to keep it Jamaican tho so I’ll tell you where I find my cute selection of flats…keep reading.

I popped into a bargain store the other day that normally has some nice, pocket-friendly work basics and I wandered around to their shoe section. Hey, you never know where you’ll find a treasure you know! And indeed after much browsing through the stuff I found these absolutely gorgeous peep toe shoes! the were black and white striped and i couldn’t stop running through my wardrobe dreaming up all the possibilities. I didn’t get them because it was a cloth material and were already beginning to look grungy. But they were so cute! I couldn’t find the image online but how cute are these? (found on odgirl )

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Oh lord! Now I have seen Winston Sill’s photos many times and wondered if he’s just a pervert taking pics of anything exposed or if he’s a comedian having himself a good laugh when I view these pictures he offers up in the Jamaica Star’s "Femme Fashion" column. Seriously, let’s analyse some of these beauties and hopefully help some of them find a path to a better fashion over style! This week’s take - how can I not zoom in on this trend of removing our eyebrows and marking them where we wished they would have grown. Often times we see a tip or a trend from an expert and we try our hand at recreating the look, but we neglect to practice in front of a mirror first and ask honest opinions on how it really looks.

Edit: My STAR photos got lost in the transition of servers however I felt these Bembe patrons will give you the EXACT feel of what I’m talking about…esp homegirl in the yellow with the coloured pencil crayon drama going on [tho I'm feeling her dress]… (click for larger)

Do we know that our eyebrows actually serve a purpose? I’m about to get scholastic up in here! How Stuff Works says "We know that eyebrows help keep moisture out of our eyes when we sweat or walk around in the rain. The arch shape diverts the rain or sweat around to the sides of our face, keeping our eyes relatively dry. The most obvious advantage of this is that it lets us see clearly when we’re sweating a lot or out in the rain. Without eyebrows, getting around in these conditions is a little more difficult. The shape of your brow itself diverts a certain amount of moisture, but eyebrows make a significant difference in your ability to see. Diverting the sweat away is also good because the salt in sweat irritates the eyes, making them sting a little. "

Now, those of you that have Number 2 pencils for eyebrows, imagine that stuff mixing with the sweat, that’s just wrong! Heed my advice, please!! Pencils are for filling out thin areas and highlighting, not for completely remaking! I am by no means any expert on eyebrows, for the most part I leave mine be. But well done eyebrows are gorgeous and so I understand the need to tamper with them. Therefore I went and dug up some how to’s hoping to inspire at least some thought before we tweeze! We love to DIY (diy = do it yourself), but research is key!

• 5 Steps to a Perfect Eyebrow Shape
• How To Shape Your Eyebrows
• Beautiful Eyebrows

Picture Source

Well fashion has taken a backseat to clean up efforts and the seemingly never-ending wait on water and light to return after Hurricane Dean came through and broke all my trees. My ackee tree was downed *tears* don’t get me started on that ackee tree man, yes I really LOVE ackee and salt fish and dumpling and banana or rice and peas. For the foreigners, the dish is pistured below courtesy of Jamaican Kitchen. Jamaica’s national dish (well not the dumpling part, lol), and Dean took away my tree!!!!!! Ah yes so while I mourn the loss of my tree I thank the heavens that I am still here to mourn and encourage all to stay tuned for the latest fashion updates to take you away from the muck and debris still surrounding us.

IRIE!

My new blogger friend Celena wrote an article on man bags recently and I of course posted the article on my favorite Idle talk forum . Of course, many of the guys burned ’nuff fire (read: Jamaican for "denounced") on these man bags, especially the ones pictured in Celena’s aticle. Some admitted to taking bags to work with necessities, while some admitted only to carrying bags but leaving them in the car. All of course said the contents of the bag were strictly work material, none of that "metro" stuff i.e. lotions and sanitizors and what-not. I thought this was quite funny. Well anything that catches on in America is sure to catch on here. I figure it will take time as even in the US it still seems somewhat metrosexual to carry a man bag, not very mainstream. Jamaican guys tend to carry backpacks eveywhere, this I hate so much! I would much rather see a messenger bag at least (the one pictured above is very utilitarian and can berely be referred to as a "man bag" though it is). Young men going to work with backpacks or drawstring bags slung over shoulders is so no cute! or Cool! or anything stylish! And bulging pockets are not cute either. There are indeed ways to lug your "tools" around thats manly and still stylish. But I’m not gonna post them here, not yet at least. I may post options that are still too "man-bagish" for the macho male populace so I encourage my male readers to send me pictures of the bag you carry. Pretty please *bats eyelashes*I’ll start by posting my friend Jermaine and his handy dandy pouch that he carries his headset needed for work. Gentlemen, send your pics to me here and let me know where you usually carry the bag and what’s normally in it.

Following the Mohawk, I notice that the day of males shaving out all manner of designs in their head is back. Somebody tell me if I’m late btw…but for me, it could have stayed where it was. Quite expressive it is though, and quite brave for some of y’all. Next, we’ll see the fuzzy Kangols and matching Clarks, I’m sure!

And J Star, close the potty next time, thanks!

One of the many great things about living in a tropical climate is that we are not confined by seasonal changes and the wardrobe upheavals involved. Our more northern neighbours have spring sandals, summer shorts, fall jackets and winter boots, here in sweet sweet Jamaica…we have lots of summer dresses, mon! (Don’t you just hate it when the tourists say mon") These calendar changes mark different eras in fashion trends and what is "hip" this season will probably be a fashion flop next summer. In Jamaica the time between trends are much longer and this is a definite plus for my pocket because keeping up with these designers can be so expensive. However…as relaxed as the changes are in between trends, I implore the masses to acknowledge when a style has done its time. As much as the view of this chic’s belly isn’t bad, I felt so nostalgic looking at the get up, peasant top and skirts? Time to park it sister…

[image lost in transition]

I wear alot of shirt blouses to work because they are comfortable, they give me smooth lines and come in a huge variety of styles and colours to match my mood that day. Its a great way for a bigger person to accentuate the right assets while downplaying other areas. I found a gorgeous array of shirt blouses recently in Brit Bran, they are in Lane Plaza (Constant Spring Road, Jamaica) They were all solid colour pieces, just begging to be accessorized and matched with other fun colours. My Only problem was of course they had mainly mediums and smalls There were in a few different styles and in too many colours to list, which is always a good thing. I only found a large in one style though, a wrap style that was very cute and would have been an instant buy had I not been totally penny less that day. It was a bit pricey for a shirt blouse at JA$2850 (a lil less than US$50) that was not any brand I recognized, but it would be a great asset to my wardrobe, do you agree?