The season is upon us and FOS has got you covered on the latest trends, where to get them and more importantly how to ensure that you don’t end up at a party only to find you have a fashion twin! BUT before you go crazy spending what you really don’t have, maxing out all credit cards to crash and burn in January, I’m here to help you with sticking to your budget this year. This season is VERY commercialized and we’re tempted at every corner we turn to spend our money on all things glitzy and glamorous, from holiday candles and dancing santas to glittery pumps and matching clutches. I’ve got your back though, and together we’ll fight the urge to spend it all and come out on top this season with enough money to buy gas in January! (and with gas at these prices that’s a challenge in itself)

I’m no financial expert, so I combed the blogosphere to bring you the best advice from financial experts who know their stuff. Get Rich Slowly has become a favorite of mine for picking up good financial habits and they guided me to some other websites who posted about holiday spending tips. All Financial Matters reminded us to actually look at the price tags of what we’re buying, cus you KNOW that some of these stores mark up certain items for the season and often there are quite good substitutes on the shelf somewhere to the back or maybe to the bottom, that costs much less. They also reminded u to avoid items marketed for the season as "you may be tempted by the glittery holiday candles, but you can get regular red and green candles for much less and will your display suffer? I think not." I agree!

The Mighty Bargain Hunter encourages you to make your budget and prioritize now. A plan is always good to have and if you hit the malls this year with no clue as to who exactly is on your shopping list and at least an idea of what to get them, then you’re in big trouble! you’ll go on a long-winded impulse shopping spree often forgetting some people and buying things for some that were much lower on your list. Bottom line, you’ll break you’re budget. I also liked this tip that they had, some of us can definitely do this one and maybe some of us can do both:

"Ask yourself if you really need any more stuff. This is an extreme take on holiday shopping but the holidays are a great time to go on a missions trip or to donate your time to less fortunate folks. Use what money you would have spent to help others. This has many benefits, one of which is that you end up staying well away from the stores."

My personal tips?

• Remember to put everything on your budget, not only names and gifts.
  
• Factor in the parties you’re planning on attending and the cost for each ticket.
  
• Plan an outfit for each party and event now so you can see what is missing and what you’ll want to buy.
• Do the bulk of your gift buying now. It saves time and money, you’ll be saving yourself from the crazy Christmas crowds and overpricing.
  
• Most of us will be getting a bonus, PUT IT IN SAVING! Your bonus is not for blowing on Christmas, its only a couple of weeks! Try to put at least half of it in some kind of savings or towards some longtime debt you may have or prepay some of your January bills. Do something with it other than shopping, you’ll need the extra cash in January.

Get dressed in holiday style with designer dresses from the fashion bug site! If you’d like burberry style dresses, you’ll find them at this site. For those with a rich business sense style, shop from mexx and you’ll find fabulous business outfits. For the preppy girl, juicy couture should be your first and last stop. A must have this season in shoes is platform sandals from aldo for holiday get togethers. Designer women’s bras are all 40% off. Get yourself a 10% discount with any purchase of a nautica sports bra .

So my male friends all seem to have it on lock. Of course they do, they’re friends with the fashionable Irie Diva right, but sometimes they seem to go off on a tangent that has everyone wondering what they were thinking. The last time I did this is still one of my most popular posts so I had to do it again. One of the longtime fashion rules has always been to not mix black and brown. There are a few instances where it can be pulled off, more on that in posts to come, but I’m thinking this wasn’t one of those instances. I’m thinking he needs to maybe re-read my Male Work Basics post.  It is a very clean, very minimal outfit, but somehow it rubbed us in the wrong way. So as usual I’ll allow you to decide, did he get it wrong or right?

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Ever since I was a child, one of the biggest buzz was always what’s "wearing" for this Christmas. As a little girl, that’s the only thing I remember about fashion really, at Christmas time something new came out and you have to keep up with the yearly trend to be considered "in." Well, fashion evolves much quickly than once per year, I now realize, hence the need for you to keep updated to FOS! Lets have a look at our trendy options for this yuletide season. I chose the Sex and the City pic above because all four ladies can be seen in the latest and hottest trends right now. From left to right: "Charlotte" classic as always in white is rocking the status bag and matching nude pumps, "Carrie" rocks the school boy look, menswear is REALLY hot right now, from suits to oxford pumps, Miranda in today’s feature gold, silver tones and embellishments and the ever-daring "Samantha" is bold in jewel tones which are still the colors to be seen in.

Today, I’m bringing you all things silver and gold. Whether you’re bold enough to go all out or you’re donning a few embellishments here and there, silver and gold have been all over the leading ladies of the fashion world and I’ll show you a few ways to rock it well. First, let’s have a look at how its being rocked courtesy of some famous faces.

Remember how I told you I had a wonderful Shimmer spread for you? Yep that’s the spot! When I visited I saw this lovely young lady shopping and kidnapped her to be my impromptu model, which she gladly obliged. She was perfect to show off some of the shiny new pieces that will be hot for the Christmas parties this year. So here is Gail, modeling a fabulous all silver dress that comes in gold as well! And if you’re not too keen on stepping out glittering from head to toe, then just dip your pinky in the water with a dress embellished at the neck and hemline, as Gail shows us in this hot black number. You’ll be just as fab!

Or how about an embellished accessory? Sling this bag over your outfit to glam up your casual look. Notice how I found this fabulous high waisted jean and ruffle blouse to pair it with? I told you high waists are fab, this is how you rock casual! The gold and silver look goes rockstar over jeans as seen in this gold blouse from Shimmer or these silver finds that you can rock as dresses to a party or throw over some jeans as well.

So now you know what to wear to your office Christmas party…go forth and knock ‘em dead girl! Guys, you know I’ve got you covered…stay tuned. And ladies don’t go too far I still have more of what’s in this Christmas to come! I leave you with one more of Gail in this fabulous purple tent dress I was trying to convince Gail to get who was concerned about how short it was…oh, to be a size 2!

The trend watch on watches this year includes great designer breitling watches and luxurious rolex watches . In sunglasses , gradient lenses are what you should be buying this season. Don’t miss this season’s most stylish gucci sunglasses . If you’re searching for wedding rings or promise rings , know the latest trends before purchasing.

Fashion Over Style is proud to partner with DNA to bring to you all the information you need to know about Bollywood fashion. No need to go googling bollywood, all the information you need will be presented by FOS over the next few weeks. Welcome to Lesson One. I will be outlining authentic Indian wear and procedures for you to get your look just right. I’ll also tell you where in Jamaica you can get your authentic bollywood outfit from head to toe, accessories and all.

Euphoria has certainly made a name for itself as a must attend party. Each one succeeds the next in expectations and this new theme, which has never before been done in Jamaica by any of our popular party promoters, has patrons buzzing with excitement as they scramble about in search of the Indian costumes. The date is set for December 22 at a venue yet to be announced, but we have just about enough time to get you all bollywooded

Lesson one of course starts with all the terms and how-tos that you’ll need. What exactly is a sari, how do I wrap one? Everyone will be in a sari, what else can I wear? Let us begin.

Bollywood, first of all, is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India, according to Wiki. Bollywood plots have tended to be melodramatic. They frequently employ formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, family ties, sacrifice, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts of gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences. Sounds familiar right? Bollywood, welcome to Jamaica!

One website has broken down the Bollywood fashion for us, and I will in tern explain all the terms for you with pictorials so you know exactly what you’re looking for.

Elegance and grace are the key to perfection in Bollywood. From sarees to lenghas and cholis to the salwaar kameez, traditional clothing and style is continually being altered with a western twist. Bollywood is known for its elaborate costumes and designer wear. As new designers emerge, fashion is becoming more and more glamorous and new trends are transpiring each day.

Traditional men’s fashion includes sherwanis, kurta pyjama, jodhpuri and western wear. Men’s clothing is simple but seductive. Made from the finest of fabrics, the clothing is highly sophisticated and finely detailed with embroidery. Men’s accessories include ties, safas, jutis and stoles. Safas are featured in vibrant reds and come with matching stoles for weddings. Jutis is a traditional Indian footwear worn with sherwanis, also highly detailed with craftsmanship.

The traditional saree can be worn in many different ways and styles. It can be wrapped from the front to the back or vice versa. Sarees have been around for hundreds of years and make up the majority of women’s wardrobes. Sarees are delicate pieces of silk cloth, intricately designed with fine pieces of thread. They are made from five to six yards of cloth, featuring elaborate technique.

After sarees, the Salwar Kameez is the second most popular dress in most parts of India. The popularity and comfort of the salwar kameez has become a major part of new designer clothing for many designers. Today, Indian designers are borrowing from ancient traditions to give the salwar kameez a new dignified and flirtatious look. From the ethnic touch to the cocktail look, the salwar kameez is suitable for all occasions and each Indian region lends its own flavour to the variety of embroideries, resulting in endless creative ensembles.

Mehndi (or Henna) is the ancient art of body tattooing in India. It has recently become a western phenomena. Mehndi powder is made out of dried leaves from a shrub. Traditionally, Mehndi is used to decorate the hands and feet of a new bride.

The koka is a nose ring that symbolizes purity and marriage. Necklaces are made from a variety of materials, ranging from glass beads to gold and diamonds. Worn on the wrist, chudiyan (bangles) are made of silver, gold, wood, glass and plastic. In addition to these ornaments is the tika. It is worn at the top of the forehead in the parting of the hair. Usually it is a small pendant on the end of a chain that is clasped to the hair.

Was that too much to swallow? Hey I had to read it a couple times well myself! Take a minute to let it all absorb and look at the pretty pictures below. If you’re like me and like to be factual about what you’re talking about, then you can click the links for definitions of each garment, below is the pictorial, (after the cut) . Of course, I’ve tried to do my research and be true to the Indian culture however if there is anything you’d like to update me on please contact me and do stay tuned for the updates on where to cop your Indian gear! You can click each image to view larger size.

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If you do not know what a Sprawl Tee is yet, you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere and you NEED to get out! No worries, that’s what I’m here for. Sprawl Tees is making strides as one of the freshest t-shirt brands to hit the market and they mean business. They’re a graphic tee line that puts urban Jamaican sayings on their tees, appealing to the younger generation who are the driving force behind many of these sayings. I spoke recently with Kesi Gardner, the creator and driving force behind the line, to get some insider info on the Sprawl story:

Sprawl first hit the market in December 2006, at Stanley and Empress exclusive boutique in Cross Roads. It has been showcased on RETV, TheGleaner, Youtube,Hi5, myspace and facebook. We put out new designs every couple of months and to build up enough
interest we encourage people to vote for their favorite tee on myspace.com/sprawltees for particular designs.

Sprawl is a limited edition, t-shirt line. There are only 250 of each made, so its almost like a collectors item. It’s distinguished and not overdone. It is sophisticated, witty but also funny and sometimes over the top. Sprawl is not logo conscious, it is about the individual. The commentary is based on the Jamaican culture, and its for the hipster crowd who just wants to go out, hang out and have a good time. Sprawl is set to launch its online store in September 2007, as well as to continue to put out designs that the Jamaican young people can appreciate and enjoy.

Sprawl’s goals are to become a household name within a certain market, particularly younger people from ages 14-25, and to become a collector’s item so that years from now, they will still have their sprawl tee as a reminder of that time in their life.

Kesi Gardner is a graphic designer by training, she attended Pratt Institute and graduated in 2001. She works in the advertising industry. Sprawl is full time. Between delivering t-shirts and setting up the website, sprawl tees is an entity in and of itself.

Sprawl is easily identified, just like any other t-shirt brand. It is branded on the back and the inside of the tee. Sprawl is very exclusive, so you won’t see it branded all over the place. We rely alot on guerilla advertising, the web and demographic marketing. Alot of our buyers are internet users, alot of our buyers go to special live events which sprawl sponsors.
The people who rep for Sprawl range from Sean Paul, Jovi Rockwell, Katherine, Wayne Mcgregor of Black Zebra, Rootz Underground, Supahype, Cezar to people like Andre Bello who is a motivational speaker and boom party promoter, and Steve Wilson, owner of Mystic Urchin.

The website has since been launched so wherever you’re reading from, make sure you’re sprawling out as well. I visited the website to participate in the voting process and their “unable and worthless” design has a soft spot in my heart for reasons known to some of you. Of course I voted for that and if it comes out in the next set of designs(which it should since its one of the leading designs by votes) I will be first in line, iIt should be a hit at the day job! Check out what I’m talking about exactly here and vote for your fave.

After so much success in the relatively short time since Sprawl hit the shelves, the new designs are now being anticipated and should become available this Christmas. Kesi sure has a winner on her hands. Remember that Sprawl boasts exclusivity so get yours early before they’re all copped and Sprawl out fresh this Christmas!

Well not really but quite close. Do you remember these absolutely adorable shoes I posted on back in August? Well I found them!!! Fashion Mania in the Pavillion Mall (HalfWayTree, ST. Andrew) has these too-cute-for-words polka dot shoes that come close enough in style. Their # is 876-920-1225 call them up and ask them what size they have because they didn’t have them left in my big ‘ol size :(  If you buy them please please please lemme see a pic!

Anyway moving from HWT, I went to spend the better part of my afternoon with my dear friend Stacy from Shimmer and my good ‘ol taste buds had to go and pick out the most expensive shoes in the store to like. They are too cute and with the embellishments on them I would be hot on that trend! Check them out below. I have a great Shimmer spread coming up, got some great pics of what’s hot now AND I’ll let you in on what will be “wearing” this Christmas! Stay tuned!

Droooool…. today’s “out of my reach” is brought to you by my blog surfing and spotting these fantabulous Gucci shoes over at Habitual Beauty Normally I like to stick to my sites that have shoes that are at least pocket friendly, cus window shopping can be so painful. But I couldn’t help going over to the site and checking out these shoes. Shoes are definitely the key to this Diva’s heart and my heart definitely sang out when I laid eyes on the wide array! I chose to focus on mainly pumps today, the shoes that you can spice up a work outfit with. Oxfords are the new “it” shoes right now and the Gucci ones pictured above spoke to me. I couldn’t answer it’s call though, at a whopping US$995 all I could do was say hi!

Of course I went in search of more affordable Oxfords to appease my appetite and stumbled upon a few other items that were fabulous in their own right and much more pocket friendly. You can click each image to be taken directly to the product page.

So….I’m doing my research to deliver up a fantastic post on work-ready underwear especially for the ladies who love to wear those tight rayon pants…and I stumble upon the C-String. Excuse the slight nudity for a minute please my dear readers, I’m uncomfortable just looking at the models! My first reaction was….are you serious?!?!?! Well…panty lines are very taboo…how far are you willing to go to get rid of em while still wearing underwear? I thought that I should definitely give the C-String a try, you know, in order to give an accurate description of the product *wink wink* however I came across one mom’s week long experience with the product and thought it did the job. Here’s an excerpt:

This is the stuff of nightmares. I am walking down the road pushing a buggy when I have to bend down to pick up a dropped toy.

A passing van driver leers at me and then beeps his horn. But it’s not because of my blonde hair: it’s because I look as if I forgot to put on any underwear that morning.

Dressed in hipster jeans I wander gingerly downstairs. Already the pants are chafing. I rapidly realize that hipsters are the wrong item of clothing for the C-string

I take the children to the park and fall into conversation with a pleasant-seeming couple with a child a little older than Archie.

Our children smile shyly at each other and take turns on the slide. And then Oscar, my youngest, falls down and I bend over…an apparently underwear-free mother. The couple make their excuses and leave the park quickly, glancing behind them as they leave.

Of course, there are those who think the product is the next best thing, mostly those of the size 2 blonde variety however. These were a man’s sentiments on seeing the product:

"Back to reality. About 1 women in 1000 look good in this. The other 999 give me nightmares with flabby loose skin . If it ain’t good, keep it under cover and let us fellows use our imagination. Don’t stick it in our faces!"

Gotta love those men! The website recommends wearing them as swimwear, cus you know, tan lines are evil! And of course they are only available in small and medium and the medium is recommended for persons between 115 and 140 lbs. I’m happy that they haven’t included a large size actually…we do have some delusional big women out there.

I found this product pitch from Love Honey hilarious!

"As a major league tan fan (with lashings of sun lotion of course), the C-String is an absolute dream come true. As well as helping to avoid those unsightly tan lines and looking a darn sight sexier than your average bikini, I’ve also found that the C-String doubles up as a retro style hairband and is perfect for nights on the town - a clean pair of course. Just don’t tell anyone that the PR Manager of LoveHoney trips the light fantastic with knickers on her head!"

Thats what I thought when I saw them too…cute headband I’ve also heard it being referred to as a glorified sanitary napkin….eeww…lol

Grab your accessories from the juicy couture site. Tell your friends and family to use them as wedding gifts for your wedding shower. While you’re doing that, pick up some designer handbags or your own designer wedding dress . The engagement ring trend for 2008 includes smaller stones in platinum and white gold. For the groom on his wedding day, choose from luxurious rolex watches .

November 10-17 is the week this year for going out to all the fab restaurants and eating up all the lavish food like its going out of style! Its the week when the finest restaurants of Kingston City opens up their doors and offer up a menu just for us nomads in the eating out world who maybe wouldn’t otherwise wander into these restaurants, save for a special occasion, because of their prices. KRW allows us the chance to dress up, get all fancy and eat where the lifestyles eat on the regular and dine on specialties (to us locals) like duck, snake, calamari (squid) and octopus, cuisine certainly not found in the usual Friday night hangouts. At Mac’s Chop House, its hard to even find chicken on the menu! (ok fine, so its a steak house but I’m just saying can a sister get some chicken?) While my palette may not be as adventurous as some when it comes to the plethora of meat options out there, I certainly welcome the opportunity to restaurant hop in style! Mac’s would be a great start, though I fear I may be unlucky as I am aware that their waiting-list is quite long.

Last year I only made it to 2 restaurants, after much planning with my partners in crime on which restaurants we would stake out and alas, almost no follow through. This year, most of the same plans are in effect, hoping to increase my KRW count by at least 3(?) this time around. Plans this year are to conquer the popular Marketplace location that houses the fabulous Cafe Aubergine, East Japanese, Habibi Latino and Jewel to India restaurants. East Japanese, who I heard makes a fabulous green tea ice cream and some good sushi, unfortunately has not signed on this year but we’ll make up with the others.

Where are you planning to go this year ? Click the flyer to get the details of this year’s event.

I’m noticing a trend here…I seem to like milky products…never mind that I’m intolerant! Next cocktail time I’ll be sure to take a break from these wonderful creamy delights…but for now the spotlight is on the banana daiquiri. I noticed some girls are not too experimental with their drink choices. They sip Smirnoff Ices all night long and if they’re feeling to step it up a notch they order strawberry daiquiris. Come on ladies change it up a bit. This is a smooth, creamy, refreshing change from that of the main strawberry daiquiri. My bartender Ryan from Indies as usual hooked me up with his bad-ass banana daiquiri last night, and it was just the pick me upper I needed while waiting on all this rain and traffic to ease up. Its the kind of drink that’s gentle and mild and very calming to the soul. Would be perfect for a dinner date I imagine. Try one, next time you’re out, or throw these ingredients together from your wet bar.

Banana Daiquiri

• 1 1/2 oz Light rum
• 1 tblsp Triple sec
• 1 Banana
• 1 1/2 oz Lime juice
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 Cherry

Combine all ingredients (except for the cherry) with 1 cup crushed ice in an electric blender. Blend at a low speed for five seconds, then blend at a high speed until firm. Pour contents into a champagne flute, top with the cherry, and serve