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

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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!

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!

Sometimes, jeans and a tank won’t cut it. Sometimes, a summer dress just won’t cut it. Every now and then, a girl needs to go all out. Every now and then we need to dress it up a little more, spend a little more, take it to them THAT much more! Melyse is your store for such occasions ladies. Melyse Collection in the Pulse Fashion Complex (38a Trafalgar Road, Kingston 10 876-906-0606) has that little black dress, that little silk number, that dress that Vivica Fox’s character spoke about in the movie Two Can Play That Game, you know that scene where she slips into her “kill em dead” dress and goes and KILLS Morris Chestnut’s character? Oh yes ladies she was right, everyone of us should have one of those dresses. Tuck away Melyse in your must-have secret collection list, share it with your girlfriends and fear not that they will buy the same dress as you, because Melyse does not stock 3 and 4 and 5 of the same item. Melyse is your place for unique, for those times when you break out the strappy sandals showing off your freshly done pedicured toes and your oh-so-sexy clutch and accessories.

You can find your statement bag there as well, Coco Chanel, D&G, big, small, branded, trendy bags. This purple one did catch my eye so!

Speaking of purple check out this lil number for your purple fill…. But on to those cute lil dresses I was tellin you about…I could only manage to snap a very select few as she wants to keep her masterpieces under wraps…you’ll have to visit the store to find your perfect dress. Here’s some inspiration meanwhile….after the cut (more…)

Heroes weekend is upon us and while not as popular as say Easter weekend or Independence weekend…any long weekend is an excuse to get out of town. Ocho Rios is the destination of the young and “hip” party goers and those a lil more grown will be taking their stab at Negril. Fame FM has a fabulous weekend planned at Hedonism III in Negril and the Frenchmen and the Sky Dock people entice you to visit them in Ochi. Stragglers left in Kingston will be hanging at Levels at the Quad (Kingston’s premiere nightclub) as they try to convince us to come out in camouflage (so not happening)

If you’re looking for an outfit for the beach this weekend, Fashion 911 has the hook up - Bikini’s and cover-ups galore. You can find their address in this here post. The silver bikini seen on the mannequin would look too cute with the pink mesh pant cover-ups me thinks. They have them in many more colors so mix and matching is easy. Remember to accessorise…its a party not a day at the beach

These gaucho style pants would be incredibly cute worn with you bikini top if you’re stick thin. And notice the cropped tops in a million colors they have there on the shelf? Layers are you friend! Throw them over your bikini top to add depth and interest.

Now, while in the store i saw this absolutely adorable green, patterned, satin halter dress. It was in red and purple as well but the green was amazing. I wanted to try it on but was in a hurry so you’ll just have to use your imagination What I wanted to know is…where in the world would I wear such a dress? Any suggestions?

70% off? Now that’s my kinda sale!!! AND it says even on new arrivals! Shimmer is one of those absolutely great stores I visit when I want to treat myself for being cute They are a tad on the expensive side but they have an excellent selection of items that will make you stand out from the crowd. (just make sure they don’t have too many of the same item in stock) When stores have sales its normally the totally hideous stuff and you wonder to yourself what in the world they were thinking, but this seems like it is indeed the sale of the year. Yours truly will be on the scout tomorrow checking out the fine print of this here sale. Check back for pics tomorrow and if you happen to pop into the store make sure to tell them you heard about the sale here for an even deeper discount (I’m sure)

Wouldn’t you love to stay at home and browse the offerings of your favorite boutique to at least see what they have to offer before you go on the road for the tedious guess-and-spell task of shopping for an event? Boutiques in Jamaica are making tons of money buying items off summer clearance racks and selling it back for an arm and a leg, I think its time they offer us some other services than the usual phone call when they’re clearing out their old stuff or have “new stuff just in.” Gas prices are high, its expensive to drive from store to store looking for the right fit. Just show me what you have and give our budding web developers some work to do around the place. It would be great for me to be able to compare what stores are carrying the same designs too… I just hate going out and seeing someone in my outfit!

Did you know that Lee’s Fifth Avenue has a website? Well I checked it out and I was quite pleased at my visit. It was a cute site…displaying a very, very, very small selection of what they had to offer in the stores and offered some advice on what they deem fashionable trends for various categories… i.e. casual fridays, partying etc. (the picture above is their green trend pairing, yeah they need some help…) It’s a great start, but it could use a whole lot of updating…it has so much potential (I wonder if they wanna hire me) Lee’s is like the Jamaican Macy’s, its a great department store to get everything from casual pieces to home accessories to shoes and perfumes. I like that they have this online presence and I encourage them to make more of it than what it is now.

Here’s to hoping that our small boutiques will start to follow suit…so I can start building my outfit in my head before I leave my house.