If you’ve been keeping up with Hollywood then you know there’s a writer’s strike and lots of red carpet cancellations. Hence, runway to red carpet occurrences have been minimal and we, the fashion editors, who normally watch the red carpet to see what trends have made it from the fashion week runways to the red carpet have not had many opportunity to do so this season. The Grammy’s therefore, I was sure would have been major fashion fanfare as with so few opportunities to get the glitz on, I thought for sure every celeb would have been on point with the fashion game last night. But they’re celebs…what was I thinking?!?! There were certainly more misses than there were hits last night and a few just ok. My favorite picks of the night were definitely a very smooth NEYO and a very pretty Carrie Underwood, wearing Ferragamo and Zuhair Murad respectively. Jay Z, Snoop and Luda were all very smooth with the suit game and Rihanna was in cobalt blue that really wasn’t very easy to pull off. She’s cut her hair again…soon she’ll be bald? But she keeps changing it up, gotta love her. Beyonce was a mess in a powder blue, sparkly princess gown and shorter but still wacky weave and Alicia Key’s dress was gorgeous…but her hair…hideous! Keyshia Cole was cute and girly, not sure if I’m feeling the black ‘do though.

I must mention that the dress Carrie is wearing is very fashion forward in its unusual floral print. Keep posted for more of this trend stepping straight of the fashion week runways currently buzzing in the fashion capitals.

Find more Grammy pics here.

One of the top search queries that take people to this site is still "Bembe" i.e. people looking for pictures from the popular weekly "downtown comes uptown" party that happens at Weekends on Constant Spring Road Kgn, Jamaica. I made a promise long ago to bring some pictures from the party as the fashion there truly epitomises dancehall fashion. However, I’ve still not been back! Not to worry though, there are tons of pics online especially of the one year anniversary celebration that happened late last year. So just in case you have googled Bembe and have not come across these galleries, I’ve linked a few pics of theirs to show you, spreading some love for fellow Jamaican sites. Make sure to visit the site for the full galleries and info on other Jamaican entertainment. Enjoy the fashions below, they are quite….uhmm….illustrious! I look forward to your comments. Oh the dancehall culture…gotta love it!!! Meantime I can see that I need to do a make-up update!!!

Bembe Gallery @ Watever.com

Additional info

The trend for swimsuits this year includes geometric designs and african print that Jamaican women adore wearing. The latest style at fashionable events in women’s swimwear is tankinis. A tankini is a two piece swimsuit that covers the belly. This could be a great gift idea for your girl or if you need an idea for a man; get a swatch . Buy a luxurious swiss breitling watch and make your man the happiest man alive! Staying with the swiss theme, how about luger swiss binoculars for your boyfriend?

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!

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!

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!

By now you know about DNA’s Euphoria. Its a party that gets rave reviews each year for the good vibes, flowing food and drinks and beautiful people. This year on December 22nd on the lawns of the Constant Spring Golf Club, DNA will bring us Euphoria once more, this time as a themed event. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve given you the low down on some Indian fashions and showed you some great places to get them online. You’ve seen Indian jewelry and are well taught on the shalwar as opposed to the kameez. In my pen-ultimate feature on this party, I’ll let you in on the places you can find authentic Indian gear in Jamaica…if you really want to go full out for this party. I’l also tell you what you need to do to qualify to win tickets from FOS for the party. Stay tuned next week as I bring you some alternatives…not so authentic Indian gear thats Indian enough for the theme.

Everywhere I went, each Indian-owned store I went into and inquired about authentic Indian fashions to purchase, two places were repeated over and over again. Pushpa’s spice store in Liguanea’s Northside Plaza (not the restaurant but the spice store beside Pizza Hut) and House of Spice in Marketplace. House of Spice doesn’t normally stock Indian clothing…she carries these items only around Diwali time and so only had a few pieces by time I got to her, but she does have some absolutely gorgeous fashion jewelry that would be perfect for a nite’s wear. She had three kamees left to be exact, black green and orange. I must admit, this reen one has me going…I think it would make a cute dress over a pair of leggings! Whaddya think?

But these bangles! I wanted to buy the whole stack! And she has stick on bindis as well. Check her out…House of Spice Marketplace, Constant Spring Road.

Pushpa Liguanea not only has actual outfits, but they have the silk patterned material that can be made into any outfit you like, and they were absolutely beautiful. Make your own mini-sari dress out of one

There’s more…go and check out all the beautiful options available. So……..I have a tickets (yes I said TICKETSSSS) to give away to some very lucky FOS readers plus I have that extra surprise that one lucky winner will receive in addition to their tickets! I’ll post the questions in a few hours. For now, familiarize yourself with your FOS and Bollywood trivia! See you in a few stylites!

A finalist in Miss Jamaica Universe 2007, Camesha Powell radiates beauty and elegance and these attributes are clearly displayed in her clothing line, aptly named Poshe. It is amazing that this is her debut year as a designer as she has created quite a stir with her line. Camesha is another talented Jamaican designer with no formal training in design. She describes her transgression into the fashion industry as a natural occurrence, growing up aspiring to be a model or fashion designer. She works in the fashion industry at Poise Jamaica and has partnered with Pulse in their annual model searches. I asked her about her beginnings as a designer and she relates that she was always obsessed with fashion, was always commended on her style and was always sketching designs. Having only created her first piece in January of this year, Camesha debuted a full line at Caribbean Fashion Week 2007 and is most excited at the strides she has taken since then.

I caught up with Camesha at this month’s TGIT event at the British High Commission after her fashion show, where models strutted to the beautiful sounds of Tessanne Chin. Courtney John and Cezar came out to show support as well as dozens of fabulously dressed patrons. She basked in the compliments of an amazing line and smiled brightly for the many flashing bulbs around her.

We spoke more today about her new and exciting path in the fashion field. Her crowning moment of course is debuting her line at CFW 07. She explains being inspired by the song used in the advert for the event - Fergie’s Glamorous and infused Jamaican colours into this theme. A line that drew upon the colours green, black, yellow and white, she creatively displayed the national colours in a way that was much less cliche cultural and much more glamorous indeed. She uses stretch satin in many of her pieces explaining that she loves the versatility of the fabric while keeping the glamor.

When asked about her favorite designers, Dsquared and Gwen Stefani comes to mind, both lines again illustrating Camesha’s love of glamour and the eclectic. She also names Carlton Brown as a local favorite, commenting on his excellent craftsmanship. She shares similar ails with Keneea about the Jamaican fashion industry, in particular the lack of financial assistance for fashion designers and the limited supply of quality equipment and supplies. With these limitations, designers are forced to source raw materials elsewhere in an effort to be unique and this drives up costs. At a higher prices, it can be difficult to compete with designs imported from fashion houses overseas. She wishes that the powers that be would acknowledge the amazing talent of the designers in Jamaica and invest in the industry more, as other international designers have already seen and capitalized on the vibrancy of the Jamaican culture in their own lines and achieved successes in these ventures.

She notes however that the fashion industry here will continue to thrive because of persons like herself who have that innate love of fashion and are committed to seeing the industry succeed. Currently she works only from orders and can be contacted at poshejamaica@gmail.com (tell her you heard about her here!) Plans are in place to open a store of her own in the near future, featuring her designs and others. She encourages persons aspiring to enter the industry to dive right in. Make your pieces, approach fashion houses with them, seek sponsorships from your friends, family wherever, show your desire and go for it! Hot tip: I asked Camesha what’s hot for this Christmas! Her answer? mary janes, purple and cobalt blue! Cobalt blue??? Not a common one that is…more on that to come!You can see her entire line in the FOS Galleries and more pictures of the fabulous patrons that came out to support.

Recently on FOS I featured an up and coming designer who makes swimwear, intimate apparel and costumes. She called me with the exciting news that thanks to FOS her line (Dashielle’s Dezines) was requested at a fashion event being held at the University of Technology. I was happy to have helped her boost her brand exposure and went along to capture her first event.

The event was organized by students of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and was intended to feature our dancehall fashions from the 1970s up until now. It was a lovely gathering of fashion and entertainment and while not well attended, maybe because of the rains, it was fun nevertheless.

Marlon C was the host for the evening (pictured above) and did a wonderful job of keeping the crowd entertained, along with the likes of Macka Diamond, Mr Lex and John Hype and the crew.

Snapped up a pic of Miss Dashielle at her booth

The 70s booth featured dutch pots over coal stoves, huge boom box radios and of course afros and bell bottoms.

80s fashion was very much looking like she wore that outfit just last month to the club, my how quickly the styles come back around eh!

The Bashment 90s were quite the colorful set (more pics after the cut)

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