Ok. Shopping didn’t work out as I had hoped, but have no fear I’m still here with the style guide for the men. Gentlemen, step into my office and lets discuss your outfit for Absinthe “The Genesis” this New Year’s Eve. As my opening image shows, you can rock it out like LL or go smoooooothe like Jay Z and still be sexy, trendy, cool. Trends for men this season include gray jeans, slimmer fitting pants (don’t get crazy with the slim) and you all are in on the shine factor as well. Shirts/T-shirts with a lil bling action going on puts you in that fashion forward category. Drop a blazer over this black t-shirt for instant rock star fab. This military style blazer that Diddy is rocking will push you even further rock star as military jackets are so hot right now. This jacket + this black shirt with the bling over some gray jeans = HOTT! These jeans will do the trick. They are Guess and can be found at shop.guess.com

Of course a classic button up shirt will do the trick, this one item can allow you to still express your personal style by the print you choose. A simple stripe print is chic or a shirt with a great print on the back adds the party touch to the outfit. I like these three from Nordstrom.com they’re from simple to stylin’

Here’s another blazered look with jeans that is fabulous and trendy in that desired “understated” manner. But I mean, it is New Year’s Eve, and it is Absinthe…why go understated? Throw a vest over a classic silk shirt in a deep hue like wine red or royal blue and don a complementing fedora and be pimping! Clean white suit? PIMPING

Just don’t do like these clowns and pimp in outfits not practical in our weather…I mean come on now, fur in Jamaica??? I’m not kidding and I know you’ve seen it too!

Ciao gentlemen…see you at Absinthe this New Year’s Eve!

Say what now??? The promoter’s of Absinthe “The Genesis” has opted for this description of the dress code for one of this year’s most anticipated New Year’s Eve blow-out here in Jamaica. If you don’t get exactly what they mean, lemme break it down for ya, and if you know, but want me to give you some outfit inspirations, you know Irie Diva’s got ya back!

All it is, is a fashion-forward elegance. It’s not quite the long gown and the three piece suit, but the cocktail dress and the “pimp suit.” It’s not quite grown but more grown and sexy! It’s simply a trendy twist on a semi-formal affair. We don’t have to go all out in the long-gown-with-train ball gown or the full blown penguin suit, but we’ll take those inspiration and add some fashionable pizazz.

Being out and about this party season, I see that we’ve taken a liking to purple, leggings, high-waists and all things shiny. These are the trends that are most common at parties, so if you’re feeling these trends as well and you were thinking of rocking one on New Year’s Eve, I implore you to look for something a little different. Instead of going for a full sequined dress, look for something that embellished with stones or shiny buttons or some other type of embellishment. If you like the shiny, look for shiny that’s not satin and if you’re wearing leggings, try the kind that go all the way down into your shoe, as it seems I am one of the few that are feeling long leggings and therefore a refreshing change to the sea of black leggings with silver buttons that keep coming at me. I’ve even found it hard to find long black leggings for sale here…but my black nylons do the trick (bet you never thought about those huh)

Why am I going on and on about leggings for a understated elegance theme? Because a cute mini patterned shift dress or tunic will be very cute and very chic over a pair of long leggings, perfect for such an event. See this Roberto Cavalli dress? It’ll be totally unexpected in this season of satin and shine and therefore you’ll be different and hot pairing it with black nylons and a rose pink clutch. Patterns will be every where next year as well, so you’ll actually be very fashion forward. If you want to stick within the trends, here are a few of my picks. Notice that quite a few of them are shiny without being sequined? Look for those pieces. As usual, you can click the images for details of each item and click the flyer below for the details of Absinthe. I haven’t forgotten about my male readers. Tomorrow, I go shopping with an Absinthe patron for the ultimate party “pimp” suit!

Hey everyone! The title of this post brings back great “season’s greetings” memories to us yawdies who grew up on JBC ain’t it? Irie Diva and the rest of the FashionOverStyle.net team wishes you and your family and friends a very Merry Christmas! Eat, drink and be merry and do it fabulously! Give thanks for the Higher Power above and spread the love around to everyone you come across this season. It’s been a fabulous few month’s here at FOS and we look forward to keeping you fab in the New Year. Peace, love and blessings I wish for you and if you’re drinking, please don’t be driving!

One Love,

Cherine Anderson has been conquering the entertainment industry genre by genre, with major movie roles under her belt like the role of Tanya in Dancehall Queen and Serena in One Love, singles doing well on the music charts and colabs with artistes like Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Wyclef Jean not to mention having written songs for herself and the likes of Maxi Priest. She is a well-rounded and highly-accomplished talent that begun her theatrical background touring with the world-renowned Ashe Performing Arts Ensemble based here in Jamaica.

Cherine refers to her style of music as dancehall soul, a fusion of street meets sweet. It is a reflection of her upbringing in East Kingston, Jamaica combined with new exposures, living in far-away places like Vermont and Los Angeles in the USA and the exotic Tokyo, Japan for a year. She refers to dancehall as the foundation of her music mixed in with her early church background. A sweet and eclectic mix of music, I often viewed Cherine’s fashion sense similarly, rugged but sweet. It is rooted in our dancehall culture, skewed to her international prowesses plus mixing her own smoothness in. Cherine was gracious enough to speak with me recently about her very unique sense of style.

Cherine: Girl!!! you want the list?!?! (we laugh out loud again) I am a HUGE fan of Christian Dior, love love love his designs. Herve Leger and those bandage dresses! Even if you haven’t been to the gym (uhm…to wear Herve Leger dresses you better have a body like Cherine’s!) in a little while those dresses will certainly pull you right into shape and flatter every curve on a woman’s body. I love boutique shopping really, nothing like getting a one of a kind piece and I love getting custom made pieces as well. Shoes! I’m obsessed with shoes, I love Miu Miu and Balenciaga shoes. I love bangles as well, I pile them on thick in bright, bold colours, I’m known to make noise when I’m at radio interviews with them. In Jamaica, I find that Bottoms Up is my favorite store to shop because it gives me that Melrose feel. They stay current, carry a wide variety and now have some higher end pieces that I like.

Cherine recently wrapped a tour opening for Wyclef Jean on the world stage and hinted to me about a remix with a major female pop star that she’s just done. Hmmmm…..could it be Beyonce? Rihanna? Miss Janet J? Ok… so I have no idea, I’m really just guessing here but it sounds exciting! She’s equally excited about her latest video “You and Me against the World.” It’s a very high fashion video and I anxiously await its release as well. It was really fun speaking with Cherine, she’s a great actress, great singer and has great style. She was really pleasant, chatting with me as we giggled about shoes and bags. I’ve always admired her sense of style and thought I’d shine some light on it for you to enjoy as well, hope you do! Check out one of Cherine’s vids below or link with her at myspace.com/cherineanderson

Many of you faithful FOS readers missed us dearly during our little break and sent well wishes and “come back soon” notes. I thank you all, I’m so happy to know we have so many loyal readers out there. It was so heart-wrenching to be away from you all in the midst of the Christmas season when fashion is booming at its very finest. Not to worry, posts will come flying at you rapidly over the weekend so make sure you have time to catch up!

In the meantime, I have early Christmas presents for readers in Jamaica! Euphoria is this Saturday, yes this Saturday and we’ve covered the Indian Bollywood Fantasy theme extensively on the site so that you’d be in the know about all things India. Are you ready for Bollywood? Well join me there!!! I have tickets for this event for whoever can tell me what a salwar kameez is and which promoters are putting on this event. Yup, its that simple. Leave your replies in the comments section below and ensure to use a valid email when leaving your comment as it will be used to contact you.

I have another surprise. Yes I’ve been away for so long that I’ve made sure to bring you back many gifts! One of the lucky winners will receive make-up services at Alexxya! Make=up expert Paul and his team will be on hand this Saturday to beautify you professional style to head to Euphoria in your sari looking absolutely beautiful. What better princess treatment? Paul and his team have been beautifying our Jamaican models for years and is on call for artists, video sets, modeling shoots and Ms. Jamaica Universe and now, for you!

So if you want to go to Euphoria this weekend and experience this amazing new theme, have some spicy Indian cuisine and premium drinks while dancing the night away in your glamorous Indian-inspired attire…all for free…then hit up the comments section pronto!!!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Tricia Kong and Stefanie Thomas, winners in FOS’s Euphoria giveaway. They had the first eligible answers listing the names of the promoters not just the company. Tess and Sheena we’re disqualified for being a part of the DNA camp. Better luck next time guys…there’ll be more giveaways before the year’s out so keep your ears and eyes peeled to Fashion Over Style! 

Tonite is the party that everyone’s been anticipating for sometime now, that will properly kick off the Christmas party season. That’s “Honey,” a drink AND food inclusive event that is free for ladies and only JA$1000 [US$15] for men. Have we seen anything like this before? That’s an incredible value! Gee, I wish some of the other inclusive parties would follow suit! Of course, its not ultra or even super inclusive…but hey I’m cool with some white rum berry busters and some finger food, great way to kick off the season and warm up for parties to follow on Saturday and Sunday.

A few people have asked me how they should dress for this event. Of course, the organisers would love if you actually came out in your retro gear…but really, its not that serious. For this party, come out in your most comfortable party attire. No need to pull out the big guns of a cocktail dress and “fry-dried” hair and gentlemen, put the blazers back in the closet. This is a party where we’re actually gonna “galang bad” [i.e. behave badly] kick up a storm and get all bodied as Beyonce would say. Personally, I know I’ll be in a cute top, some jeans cut-offs and definitely some wedges or flats. Of course, its a retro house party so you’ll be uber-cute in something vintage, here’s a set I did that includes a fabulous red and black swing dress, a black and white baby-doll, a high neck ruffled blouse, purple suede skirt and slouchy sweater that wud be tres-chic with tights and leg warmers…can you see me channelling fame? “Fame! I wanna live forever!”

You can check here for a post on retro dancehall fashions. There’s also a post on swing jackets, one on shift dresses and I did find some polka dot shoes here, so there’s plenty of inspiration to get your vintage juices flowing. See you there tonight!

Here’s a challenge for you! Can you mix several fashion trends together and not look overdone? Today I have a set created with a few of my favorite trends this Christmas. I’ve taken a simple (well its covered in sequins but its simple in cut) dress from Wetseal.com and combined it with black opaque tights that I love so much when they’re paired with booties. I’ve also thrown in a clutch in a contrasting turqoise colour and a few bangles to pick up that colour. I went even further out to throw a wrap around it…you know we Jamaicans aren’t big on scarves…we have no need to as it hardly gets cold enough out here to need one. But scarves are uber-chic and brings together my outfit nicely…or at least, so I think. Do you agree? If you chose almost, I’d love hear to how you would have made it pop! I’m open to all critiques. If you’re a stylist at heart, run on over to Polyvore and lemme see what you’re made of.

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Here’s a fab tip for keeping your sequined and bejeweled outfits clean, put them in a pillow case and pop ‘em in your gentle cycle! Your wardrobe may see a few of these this season so learn how to care for them here! Thanks for the tip Angie!

Tifa is a fresh face on the dancehall scene where more and more ladies have been on the fast rise recently, giving the men of dancehall some company at the top. She has a few dancehall singles currently burning up airwaves and she’s quite busy these days shooting videos and promoting her new singles. She began singing, dancing, acting; performing in general from a very early age and toured many international cities extensively as a part of the Ashe Performing Arts Ensemble based here in Jamaica. She’s known to many as "the girl with the bruk foot" because her leg’s didn’t quite come out like the rest of us but that didn’t hinder this active performer’s abilities at all. Currently she’s working on her debut album, "Sex, Love and Lies" to be released in european and Japan markets. I asked Tifa recently where she shops because her style is always fresh and she told me she really didn’t shop much in Jamaica, so I took her to a hot new store in Mall Plaza HWT to dive deeper into her style.

Irie Diva: Describe your style for me

Tifa: Well, I’m really a tom boy at heart, love flats and sneakers, jeans jeans jeans, I have probably 40 pairs of just plain blue jeans no patterns or anything, love jeans! I went through the sneakers obsession as well I had every pair of Jordans, all the Nike, everything. You won’t really catch me in stilettos but I’m more androgynous now, I’ll wear thick heels or wedges, love 60’s inspired clothes, love ruffle sleeves and tights, love metallics, love lime green, yellow, gold, black, love punk rock looks, anything that most girls wouldn’t go for, I love! I love looking different.

Irie Diva: So do you keep up with fashion trends?

Tifa: Not really, "mi jus wear wah mi like" anything that fits my body and looks different.

Irie Diva: Where do you love to shop?

Tifa: I love shopping in the Village in New York and I love Philly, no tax! I buy alot of jeans, love Seven jeans, Diesel, True Religion, love Guess. I don’t really shop much for sneakers anymore, they don’t make them nice again. I love Coach and D&G sneakers but sometimes I don’t bother cus you know is a one wear, you get pictured with it you can’t really wear it again.

Irie Diva: Tell me how you like to dress when you’re going all out, like for stage

Tifa: Well I highlight nice features I have like I’ll wear alot of low cut tops or shorts to show off the sexy but I dont’ do too much at once like if I’m low cut I’ll wear pants or if I’m in shorts or skirt I wear a fuller top. Its like sexy meets….is like a sexed up Aaliyah look, you remember she was kinda tom boy first "mi nuh so full inna di ting" [she's not quite as tom boy with her style] I like to match up everything and I try to keep my make up light, I guess I don’t really need much, I’ve been blessed with nice features so I’ll just wear maybe a little glitter to make my eyes pop and keep it light unless its for film.

Tifa has just wrapped the video for "Dem Gyal Sittn" which is a rhythm by popular producer Suku of Ward 21 and features a number of our hot dancehall ladies. She’s quite excited about it, letting on that the video had a high budget and will be quite different from our norm, featuring Japanese animation. Dem Gyal Sittn has been getting alot of airplay here and overseas, keep posted for the video soon.

Tifa was quite the trooper as we rummaged through the racks of Alexxya in Mall Plaza (Constant Spring Rd. St. Andrew) to find some hot picks. The assistant matched the outfits with some shoes from the store and a blushing Tifa exclaimed "that’s too girly" when he picked out some gold jewelled stilettos. She was up for it tho and picked out her own pair which were quite cute! Here are Tifa’s picks from Alexxya and check out her latest video "No Tinky Winky" below. I am just loving that gold ruffled dress! Are you feeling it?

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Thanks much to Alexxya for accomodating us! Check them out in the Mall Plaza (876)968-3330

Toolbox:

When you visit Jamaican shops, pick up some hand painted earrings and gucci sunglasses . Whether its shoes, jewellery or bags, you’ll find all sorts of items cheaper than you imagined! With a wide selection of watches, you’re bound to find a watch that you’ll love. You can even purchase a telescope for at least 50% less than the regular price!

Hmm….It’s odd that this fashion diva isn’t the bag fanatic that most fashion divas are…isn’t it? A fashion blog without a single bag post? How weird is that! I think I’ve broken some kind of punishable fashion rule! Yep, right now I have the basic one black and one brown and I have two simply because I think its bad fashion karma to wear a black back with a totally brown outfit. They’re very plain too, just the staple work bags. Very nice now, cus I’m still a diva, but plain.

This past week, I went in search of new shoes (because that’s my obsession) and my friend started to gaze on some handbags. Every bag she picked up was just absolutely horrible and I was beginning to wonder if she had sniffed something before coming to meet up with me, seriously. Anyway finally she said “what about this one” and I picked it up and threw it over my shoulder. I was instantly transformed! I was in love (insert smiley with big red hearts for eyes) She on the other hand wasn’t convinced and kept asking me about some purple and orange striped duffel thingy….ew!

Anyway after some of my words (cus I’m the guru duh) she too was convinced that the bag was as hot as I was saying and bought it. Wait a minute…I liked the bag, why didnt I buy it! LOL ok….so yeah that didn’t go too well. I searched for it online but of late I am never able to find exactly what I’m looking for on the internet, so I went thru the archives of all the bag blogs on the first page of that particular Google search…and I still haven’t found one bag that makes me go “oooh i like that!” Just “ok that can work” or “that’s cute” so now if I wasn’t aware before, I definitely know now that I an not a bag lady. But I certainly welcome the change! I wants bags! Pretty bags with nice shiny things on them So these are my favorite that I’ve seen so far. Based on my selections, I welcome anyone who can point me in the direction of some cute bags, so holla at me you bag gurus! I think I would definitely start my collection with a dark red bag and a green bag, like olive green or something…..yes those are the colours I’m feeling. These bags below are courtesy of Purseuing, What’s Haute and Ebay (click each item to view) So there’s item number one on my Christmas wish list!

EDIT: thank’s to my handy dandy related-post feature at the bottom of each post I am now reminded of my very first post on bag, Man Bags! LOL

Once again a whirlwind of a year is coming to its climax with the most joyous and anticipated seasons of all - Christmas!

Christmas is the season that moves people from all over the world, brings family together, the reason we eat way too much, makes us laugh for all those times when we should have and party like the nights will never end.

This Christmas, the dna~ family invites you to slip on those dancing shoes and party like Indian royalty this December 22 ^nd@ Euphoria - Indian Bollywood Fantasy!

The Constant Spring Golf Club will be transformed into dna’s ultimate playground where reality will take a back seat and make way for fantasy.

This event is designed for the fashionably picky, the ultra exclusive and the seasonal rock star!

dna~

Creating entertainment for those who enjoy life

That was a PSA brought to you by those fine fellows of DNA regarding their party this Christmas. I’m giving you all the info you’ll need to know for this party right now…and embedded in this post will be the first giveaway question! Now I’ll know if y’all are reading! Yes indeed, over the next few days leading up to the party, my posts will have questions in them and winners will be the first correct answer in the comments section of that particular post.

Ticket outlets for Euphoria: Alexxya, Mall Plaza (876) 968-3330, Trends, Sovereign Centre (876) 946-0050, Shimmer, 121 Constant Spring Rd. (876) 969-2998 and Zippy Couriers will deliver your tickets for you (876) 925-7745. Prices: presold JA$3000 and JA$3500 at the gate.

You know by now that you can get your Indian wardrobe at Pushpa’s, Northside Plaza (876) 977-6464, House of Spice, Marketplace Constant Spring Road (876) 908-1175. To add to that list, Sonia’s sells saris at very reasonable prices (876) 868-1905 and Two Dragonfly has beautiful accessories (876) 381-6136.

Can someone tell me what a koka is as it relates to indian fashion? (use up the site’s search feature ppl the answer is somewhere here)

You are now fully equipped with all the details on Euphoria, stay tuned for more giveaways!