Black Starlets: Dorothy Dandridge

For the past 2 years we have dedicated our time focusing on Black icons during Black History Month. This year we chose to spotlight Black Starlets.  Women who broke race barriers and changed the world's perception of Black women, all while having impeccable style. Join us on this journey as we take a look back and reflect on a few iconic women who have made a statement in Black culture. 

Dorothy Dandridge

photo credit

My favorite starlet is an Ohio child. Dorothy Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922. I first learned about her in 1999 like a lot of my peers while watching the HBO biopic where she was portrayed by Halle Berry, another Cleveland native.

photo credit

Dandridge has been compared to the likes of Marilyn Monroe and is often referred to as the black bombshell. She is recognized for being the first African American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress. 

The Dandridge Sisters Etta Jones, Dorothy ans her sister Vivian photo credit

At a very young age Dorothy began a career in entertainment.  Under her mother, actress Ruby Dandridge's guidance, she and her sister Vivian began touring together as The Wonder Kids, performing at churches and social events. The sisters were in demand and considered prodigies.

photo credit

 The sisters later moved to Los Angeles to find work in film. In LA, they began the trio The Dandridge Sisters with a third member,  Etta Jones. Winning contests in LA, they found regular work in New York  at the Cotton Club. There Dorothy was exposed to the who's who of the black entertainment of that time, including her first husband, dancer Harold Nicholas. 

photo credit

After a failed marriage and the birth of her special needs daughter Lynn, 
Dandridge picked up the pieces and went after her dreams of becoming an actress. Her singing talent helped land her roles in the industry, staring in movies such as Carmen Jones.  Her light completion and Caucasian features were appealing to the white audience and landed her roles in more mainstream movies such as Tarzan'a Peril. 

 Dandridge in Tarzan's Peril photo credit

She set new standards and strides in black entertainment history, though she was beautiful enough to star in leading female roles along side white male actors she was not allowed to be a love interest. Then in1957 she was paired with John Justin in " Island in the Sun", and Hollywood recorded the first time we saw a black woman in the arms of a white man.

Dandridge in Island in the Sun  photo credit

Dandridge's style was sexy and sophisticated. She put the sex appeal on for the cameras and stage with curve hugging costumes and dresses. On her off time she wore beautiful tailored feminine suits. Her casual wear, also body hugging pants, blouses and sweaters. She wore a lot of red gowns and the cut of most of her wardrobe emphasized her collar bone and decolletage.

photo credit

Dorothy Dandridge was late to be recognized for her talent and strides in history. Her talent and beauty was undeniable but her life began and ended before society was ready to really appreciate her. Her story is both beautiful and tragic. Tragic, in love including two failed marriages and many career road blocks due to her heritage and the substance abuse that ultimately contributed to her demise.  Beautiful, as she helped set in motion the beginning stages of  black women being accepted in staring roles in mainstream Hollywood movies. She was first to be nominated for an Oscar and her name rests inside a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She will always be remembered as our bombshell. 

photo credit

Yesterday I chose to honor her further by wearing a look inspired by one of my favorite photos of her. I love red as I think she may have. 

photo credit

Thank you for stopping by! 
Happy Black History Month! 
Be blessed!  Be free! 
 Be fashionable! 
Kris, 

Sources: Biography.com & Encyclopedia.com

Fun Fashion Friday

It's 'Fun Fashion Friday'! In these posts I will bring you the playful side of fashion. Fashion doesn't always have to be so serious. I am a big fan of really funky, fun pieces. I admit to loving my fun or bizarre items more than the classic ones; even if some of my friends hate and make fun of them. After all, fashion is about self expression and SHOULD BE fun.

Lisa Turtle Part 2

Lisa Turtle was the character that I related to the most. From a really young age, I knew I loved fashion. Every night in middle school, after homework I polished my nails to match the outfit I was wearing the next day. I planned my outfits for the entire week on Sunday night. I tried not to wear the same outfit twice in a school year. I was so serious about fashion and I was certain I would be a fashion designer. I remember Lisa having that same passion for fashion and we both had our hearts set on FIT. Lisa was always the best dressed girl in the scene, I wanted to be that as well. Her appearance was very important to her but she wasn't just a clothes horse, she had goals. She just wanted to make sure she dressed the part. 

A Saved By the Bell Television Moment 

Before I get into the looks I curated for Lisa, I wanted to feature a tee I found in an eBay shop. I have featured tees in the entire Fun Fashion Friday Black History Series because I love tees so much. Tees are more than 60% of my wardrobe. I collect tees and wear them almost daily with everything from jeans, printed skirts and blazers. This particular tee features an image of Lisa Turtle from the earlier years of Save by the Bell. 

Shop This Tee

Lisa Turtle's style was my favorite character style. She was the most fun and courageous. She was so true to the 80s. She wore color-block and really embraced prints like florals and animal prints. She was very coordinated. Her shoes and belt always matched. She paid attention to the smallest detail. She also incorporated Western pieces into her wardrobe. She wore cowboy boots with dresses and garments with fringe detail. 

I created three looks for the character: one look she would have worn to school, a casual look for a day outing and an evening look for a Bayside Highschool dance. All of the items featured were found in the shops of the etsy community. The live links are attached. Shop if you must!

Shop The Look

Blazer

Leggings

Camisole

Bowler Hat

Sequin Studs

Cuff Bracelet

Floral Flats 

Shop The Look
Dress
Denim & Fringe Jacket
Cowboy Boots
Leather Bow Earrings
Leather Cuff Bracelet

Shop The Look

Floral Mini Dress

Rhinestone Earrings

Rhinestone Ring

Bow Clutch

Rhinestone Bow Pumps 

 I have worn looks in the past where I see how television characters have impacted my style. I feel like I was channeling Lisa Turtle when I wore this look a few years ago to a festival.

 

I am sad that our Black History focus, based on Black  television characters, is coming to an end. My  inspiration has been renewed after researching and reliving the moments of these black television characters. I miss the days of positive black television and characters that motivated us to think about things and who strived to attain positive goals. They inspired us to seek education  and encouraged us to  go after our dreams and they did it all dressed to the nines. We love to talk style and fashion but I hope that you got more from the Iconic Style and Fun Fashion Fridays of Black History Month 2016. We look forward to bringing you something just as cool next year.

Be blessed! Be free! Be fashionable!

Kris,

 

Fun Fashion Friday

It's 'Fun Fashion Friday'! In these posts I will bring you the playful side of fashion. Fashion doesn't always have to be so serious. I am a big fan of really funky, fun pieces. I admit to loving my fun or bizarre items more than the classic ones; even if some of my friends hate and make fun of them. After all, fashion is about self expression and SHOULD BE fun.

Whitley Gilbert Part 2

We posted a review of the Whitley's Iconic style and life philosophies yesterday. Today I am bringing you a Whitley Gilbert shopping experience. If you ever wanted to dress like the whinny voiced character, I have made it easy for you with a few mostly inexpensive pieces with the help of the etsy community. Whitley Gilbert was the epitome of class and ladylike characteristics. Her style was simple yet sophisticated. I always thought she had such grown up style for the age of her character. She never seemed to be trying to find herself, she just knew what she wanted and liked. She always came across like she knew she was on another level and everyone else needed to elevate themselves. 


A Whitley TV Moment

Before I get into my three looks, I have to shout out one of my favorite brands. I know everyone isn't into style enough to want to wear an outfit inspired by a television character but who doesn't love a great tee or sweatshirt.  Accidental Genius Clothing never lets me down.When we started the Iconic Style series for Black History Month, I was pleased to find this sweatshirt on his website. I own the tee, which I have posted at the close of this post. You can find this sweatshirt and many other iconic black women like Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne and Diana Ross.
  

 Shop This Sweatshirt

It is now time to check out the looks I curated. For Whitley I have taken it a step forward. The houndstooth skirt, black top and pearls have been done so many times in blogs, I wanted to come with something different. Instead of creating looks from my head like I did on the previous characters, I took three unexpected photos featured in my Whitley collage to created looks that are very similar to things she wore on the show. I have duplicated the looks as closely as possible using items from etsy. I used the first and second photos from the top.The first look was an example of the two piece suits she wore to class. In the second photo, she turned up the sex appeal to go out. I also wanted to duplicate her casual look featuring a fur coat located at the bottom/middle of the collage. She rarely wore jeans but when she did, she was still so sophisticated like this look wearing a fur coat over her ethnic style vest and henley.

 

Shop The Look

Suit

Pearl Stud Earrings

Shoes

Bracelet

Vintage Chanel Bag

Shop The Look

Faux Fur Coat

Boyfriend Jeans

Vest

Henley

Cowboy Boots

Sunglasses

Shop The Look
Jumpsuit
Earrings
Gloves
Pumps
Bracelet
Clutch

I have never been a two piece suit kind of girl. While Whitley is one of my favorite tv characters from my childhood, her style was and still is a little toned down for me. I wore fur coats like Whitey but it was late middle through high school. At the time wearing fur was considered strange to my peers as it must have been for Whitley's peers seeing her dressed as if she was going into a paying job daily. I was a funkier kind of dresser but I recognize how Whitley Gilbert influenced my style. As a girl originally from the south, I could relate to her and was excited to see her each week. She echoed the things my mother taught me everyday about looking and being the best me I could be.

The look below featuring an Accidental Genius Clothing Whitley Gilbert Bougie tee is from last winter. It was a Kris's Closet Post.

 

Look for my final Fun Fashion Friday next week! It will feature my all time favorite character who wanted to go to college for the same thing I ended up going to college for, Fashion Design.

Be blessed! Be free! Be fashionable!

Kris, 

Fun Fashion Friday

It's 'Fun Fashion Friday'! In these posts I will bring you the playful side of fashion. Fashion doesn't always have to be so serious. I am a big fan of really funky, fun pieces. I admit to loving my fun or bizarre items more than the classic ones; even if some of my friends hate and make fun of them. After all, fashion is about self expression and SHOULD BE fun.

Hilary Banks Part 2
 Yesterday Christina talked about Hilary Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Today I add my two scents. In the 90s she was a personal style icon to me. I was in middle school for most of the show but I was very aware of fashion. I was trying my hardest not to wear anything twice in a school year and I mostly succeeded. Those were the days when my mom and I bonded by spending Saturdays shopping for the coming week. It was nothing too expensive, remember Ten Below clothing stores and Lerner New York before it became New York & Company? I remember using her style as inspiration. She and an acquaintance of mine contributed to my love of hats. If you follow me on instagram, I am in a hat in half of my photos. I remember how coordinated Hilary always was. She had a matching hat, handbag and shoes for just about every outfit. She was always shopping. She would come into the house after a serious shopping binge and ask for more money for a new hat.

Hilary Banks Moments On Tees

Wear a moment from the show on your chest from these two online shops! I love Rage On's collage tees and this one is a true homage to the pampered money loving Hilary Banks. She loved spending daddy's money to keep her appearance flawless, making the lipstick, cash and credit card behind her image so appropriate. If this tee is a little busy for you, the Memo Apparel tee with her wearing the cutest cut-out shoulder outfit is the way to go. She is still doing what she does best, "primping".  She is polishing her nails as she shoots off one of her honest but mean girl phrases.

Shop This Tee

Shop This Tee

For my true fashionistas, now it's time to shop her style. We know Hilary for her hats but Hilary also loved her color-block looks. In the 90s color-blocking was so in and she wore a lot of it. Her wardrobe was full of suits, sweaters, dresses and hats that featured color-block designs. When she wasn't in full on color-block looks and hats, she was usually going on a date or someplace cool like the Playboy Mansion. She would throw on a little black or red dress and kept it simple by wearing one color.  It is so easy to do that with black but I wondered how she could match a red dress, shoes and a bag so perfectly. That is a skill! Well, maybe not if you have the help of Philip Banks money. Well, I did my best to bring you the most Hilary Banks worthy looks. I curated all three looks using items from the etsy community. Shop if you must or use the looks for inspiration.

Hilary was not afraid of bright colors, in fact she wore a few at a time often. Though some of the looks were a little loud for some people, she was always polished and ladylike. Her style was bold, fun yet feminine. She added ladylike touches like brooches, flowers and pearls. She was also a fan of strappy pumps.  

Shop The Look

Vintage YSL Jacket

Pants

Pearls

Earrings

Charles Jourdan Heels
Hat

Shop The Look

Blazer

Pencil Skirt
Camisole
Hat 
Vintage Chanel Bag
Stuart Weitzman Heels 
Brooch 
 Necklace
Earrings

 

Shop This Look

Dress

Choker

Gucci Heels

Earrings
Clutch


This is a middle school look inspired by Hilary. I was so in love with this violet hat and pants suit as you can see from the cheesy smile on my face. I thought I was Kristin Hilary Banks.

Thank you for checking out today's Fun Fashion Friday! I hope you enjoyed the Hilary Banks looks. Next week we will be posting a new character from Black Television past.
 Hint: She was a true class act and had a high pitched little voice.

Be blessed! Be free! Be fashionable!
Kris,


 

Style Crush: Black History Month Edition

If you have been following this Black History Edition series then you have seen my past 3 posts which have featured Ty Hunter, Rachel Johnson and Ugo Mozie. To close the series I am ending with ourselves (ChristinaKristin), many of you may or may not know that jewelry design is only 1 facet of our business, we also do fashion styling. Fashion styling is actually how we started our business and after experimenting with fashion design we found our niche in jewelry design.

                                 Christina                                          Kristin

To give a little background on ChristinaKristin I am inserting our bio, this same bio is also in our About Us Section. 

ChristinaKristin Co. is a design and style duo from Columbus, Ohio. They specialize in creating handmade, one-of-a-kind accessories, including jewelry and hair accessories. To date, they've created four unique collections: The Cotton Candy Collection, The Vegas Collection, The Heavy Metal Collection, and The Global Gal Collection.

Christina is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where she earned a B.S. in Apparel Product Development. Prior to forming ChristinaKristin Co., she interned for Seventeen Magazine, worked for BCBG Max Azria and did visuals for Express.

Following the completion of her Fashion Design degree, Kristin worked in visual development for Forever 21 and as a freelance stylist. Her work has been featured in The Miami Herald and Columbus Alive.

Together, they also provide editorial and personal styling direction, including child portfolio development with Photocentric Photography. Their work can be seen in Style-ology Magazine, UK magazine New African Woman and in Beverly Hills designer Malena Ruth's look book.

Currently you can see our portfolio at www.instagram.com/styleby_christinakristin, while you're there please be sure to follow us.

 New African Woman Magazine (UK)

Assistant Stylist Credit 

Children's Portfolio Development

I hope that you enjoyed this series, and learned something new!

Until Next Time,

*Chris*

Style Crush: Black History Month Edition

For me black history month is not only about remembering important people and events from our history, but also celebrating important people of today. This month's series of Style Crush will feature Black Fashion Stylists. As much as I adore June Ambrose, there are so many other talented stylists in the industry, who work extremely hard, but are more behind the scenes. 

I chose to spotlight Fashion Stylists because more often than not, they get overshadowed by designers or the client they are styling. The stylist is so key because they get the designer's collections to the public, they create an image for music artists, the stylist takes a concept and turns it into a look for magazines, fashion shows, etc. and 9 times out of 10 they also do some sewing and other tricks to prevent wardrobe malfunctions. Fashion styling is very near and dear to my heart, it was a dream of mine to become a stylist, and with lots of hard work, ChristinaKristin has had some awesome opportunities with styling. As a bonus I will feature our work at the end of the series. Alright, so get ready for some serious style in this series over the next 2 weeks.

First up is:

Ty Hunter

Photo Credit: www.jetmag.com

This stylish gentleman is stylist to the world's most recognized soul/pop vocalist, Mrs. Beyonce Knowles-Carter. Yes, he is responsible for the fierce style she displays every time we see her. He came from humble beginnings, he was working at a trendy boutique called Bui-Ya-Kah in Houston, Texas, he assisted customers including Tina Knowles. During his time at the boutique he would put aside clothes for a local group known as Destiny's Child. One day he called Ms. Knowles (Tina), the groups head stylist and asked if she needed a hand and the rest is history.

I took some excerpts from an interview Ty did on examiner.com, I will put the link at the end of this post.

Did you ever imagine you would be where you are now? What were your plans as a child for your future?

- I was always into fashion growing up. My Mom would always ask me my opinion on what she should wear when I was growing up. I was voted best dressed a lot in middle and high school. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be where I am today. There weren’t a lot of celebrities coming out of Texas growing up.

I was informed that you got your start off of a whim with an encounter with Beyonce’s mom, please expand on this. What were your thoughts at this time, and what made you decide to stick with it?

- I was doing Visual Merchandising at boutiques in Houston, TX, and Miss Tina would come in and shop for the four girl’s of Destiny’s Child. She would always come in asking me for my opinion. The girl’s would all come in by themselves to shop. I met Michelle first, then Kelly and lastly Bey. None of them knew we all knew each other. So, one day Miss Tina told me, “I’m gonna get you out of here.” And two weeks later I was at the Grammy’s, and the rest was history.

What advice do you have for those looking to get into the fashion industry? When is the best time to start?

- My thing is to really believe in yourself. Do not let your environment keep you from doing what you want to do. I never thought a little boy from Texas would be styling one of the biggest pop groups and stars in the world.

What an inspiring story!!! Now on to the style...

Photo Credit: www.necolebitchie.com

Photo Credit: www.bgclive.com

Photo Credit: www.idyck.com

For the full interview go to: www.examiner.com

Until Next Time,

*Chris*