BK Fashion Week(end) Opening Night: ReCap!

IS BROOKLYN IN THE HOUSE!?1?1?1?

 

 

Is it me or is Brooklyn on the map right now? With the grand opening of the Barclay Center last night and events like BK Fashion Week(end) happening this weekend, Brooklyn is definitely the source of a lot of

 

Although I didn't make it to the grand opening of the Barclay Center Friday night I did have the pleasure of attending BK Fashion Week(end)'s opening night in Sunset Park this past Thursday. The theme was GREEN. No not the color, but the concept of reusing, recycling, and re-purposing, materials that otherwise would be considered waste. This eco-friendly clothing design concept is accurately titled The Smarter Clothing Project The designers took the concept and ran with it. There were a lot of creative pieces that certainly caught my eye.

Simple yet chic...

I NEED this dress for work.

Who said burlap could not be sassy.

These looks did not only look like pieces I would wear to work or out for an evening of fun but I was impressed because they were designed by students at Maxwell High School. Yup, high school students.

One of the young designers...

Another designer that caught my eye was Trudy.  Many of the looks she came up with were good for a night on the town with a hint of a re-purposed look to it. This appealed to me because if I am wearing

The designer, Trudy.

The designer that I enjoyed the MOST was Sohung. All his pieces were daring, creative, and detailed.

 



The designer of Sohung.

After having the experience a few weekends ago of cleaning out my closets and donating about a dozen bags of clothes and shoes to the The Salvation Army watching this fashion show made me take another look at my sewing machine. Other than inspiring me to delve into yet another hobby BK Fashion Week(end) impressed me by the amount it gives back to the community. For example on opening night they collected donations for Soles For Souls. Soles for Souls collects new shoes to give relief to the victims of abject suffering and collects used shoes to support micro-business efforts to eradicate poverty.

Fro Fashion Week was this past weekend as well, and you all know how I feel about natural hair...lol... so I was not able to attend the other BK Fashion Week(end)'s events. I have however  found some amazing pictures on their website (www.bkfashionweekend.com). If you find yourself in BKLYN in time for the  Fall/Winter 2013 installment do yourself a favor and attend. ; )

Be on the lookout for the rest of my pics on my FB page!

Up next... My 'Fro Fashion Week recap..

Nelly.
 



Up Next: Fro Fashion Week....

Happy Friday everyone!

Next week around this time my bags will be packed and ready to fly to Atlanta for the fall edition of 'Fro Fashion Week.  This weekend I will be in and out of malls looking for a few ensembles for the weekends festivities and of course searching the web for inspirations for my hair (if you all have any ideas please let me know...seriously)!

It's not too late to purchase tickets, so if you are interested in the complete schedule of events click HERE.  I am most looking forward to the Penthouse Party:

and the Fro Fashion Show:

I am also looking forward to" Protective Styling 101" and the  "How to: Haute Head Scarves" workshops because with winter quickly approaching I need as many styling options in my natural hair toolkit as possible. I hope to see some of you there! For those of you who can't make it I will share as much information as I can with you guys.

Nelly

Natural's Night Out meets Fashion's Night Out...the ReCap

A few Thursday's ago  I was invited to attend Naturals Night Out: A Curly Fashion Fix at Pranna. It had been a while since I have attended a natural hair event so I was eager to not only go, but have a  chance to mingle with my fellow naturals. Rockie and  I arrived at the venue at about 8pm. Mind you, this was almost an hour after the event was scheduled to begin and the venue was PACKED! There were naturals everywhere...in the bathroom, in the waiting area, and in the lounge. I knew this was a sold out event but I must say I was taken aback by the sheer number of ladies who were in attendance.  As I made my way through the crowd I found out that there were Miss Jessie's goody bags floating around but all of the bags I came across were already claimed, sadly. I did however manage to snag a Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter sample from their publicist. I was grateful (thanks, girl) because I have always wanted to try Bee Mine Products but have not been committed enough to order them online. Despite being shocked by the crowd and slightly disappointed about the goody bags I liked the vibe of the event. Naturals were everywhere conversing with one another,  the music was good (and was being spun by a natural dj, DJ S. Whit), and there were natural hair bloggers and vloggers in attendance. This wasn't so much a meet and greet as it was a celebration of natural hair.

DJ S.WHiT

Karen of Karen's Body Beautiful and Jenell of kinkycurlycoilyme

 

CharyJay of  CharyJay.com ...her hair is even MORE amazing in person!

Toia of ToBNatural, her sister, and I!

I was also able to learn about some upcoming Natural Hair events. For example, I met Mirielle of goingnatural.com who is in the planning stages of the next round of America's Next Natural Hair Model contest and a gentleman by the name of Anthony who is working on a natural hair documentary.

In addition to  the fabulous hairstyles, interesting people, and the Friday night vibe, there was a variety of finger foods available. I know, I know, that comment came out of left field BUT I  have to mention the food because this is something I thought was missing from this summers Naturals Night Out event. My eyes lit up as I saw the trays of treats making its way through the crowd. Snagging a sample however was a bit of a challenge. I was able to taste the sweet potato fries and some type of chicken wrap, which were both delish. I love the fact that there was food available at this event, next time I would consider serving it in a variety of locations so that more people would be able to enjoy the appetizers.

All in all I had a good time and look forward to the next Chic and Kinky event!

Raffle Winners

Karen's fro #naturalhairatitsbest

Rockie!!  : )

This Thursday...Natural's Night Out!

Thursday September 6th

7PM - 10PM

PRANNA NYC 79 Madison Ave at 28th Street

 

 

I'll be there! Will you?

Rihanna, Oprah, and Me!

What is life without setbacks? Without hiccups? Without unforeseen circumstances? @#$!, it's not life! I can be transparent and say I hit a rough patch. Well...more like a transitional period in my day to day life that has kept me from doing the things that I love, like blogging. Am I truly past or over that "rough" patch, I am not sure. Nonetheless, today I watched the latest Rihanna interview with Oprah and felt the need to share it with you all (although I am sure most of you have saw it). I have been a Rihanna fan for years  now, however watching the 45 minute video left me in awe. No matter how you feel about Rihanna's wild, bold, and audacious ways her poise and realness during this interview is admirable. I have trouble sharing matters of the heart  with friends, especially the type of matters that can be easily misunderstood (ie. Rihanna's current relationship with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown) but Rihanna navigates this topic with equal amounts of grace and vulnerability. I am proud of my Bajan sistren.

Want to see the interview for yourself? Click HERE!

Guess who's back...

Well people I'm back.  Actually I have been back from Barbados for about  a week but I finally can say I feel settled into my regular schedule. I have so much I want to share with you all ( I feel like I always say that -_- but it's true)! There are some  natural hair events on the horizon, some reviews I need to share, a rant about a particular airline, and of course pics from Barbados' Crop Over 2012.

I don't even know where to start....

Hair! As I promised earlier this summer, I am still rocking kinky twist extensions. This time however they are cornrowed into a high bun with a side bang. I wish I could say that I was in love with this style, but the truth is this is one of my least favorite hairstyles. When I envisioned myself in this style I pictured a huge dramatic bun coupled with a dramatic pompadour. Unfortunately, the hairstylist and I had two different visions and I ended up with this:

Cute....but I was going for more of a regal look, not cute. I tried dressing this style up a bit with a scarf as often as possible but no matter what I did I always had the same reaction, "I can't wait to take this @#$! out".

This style will no longer exist by this weekend and I will be giving the kinky twist extensions a rest for a while as well. Why? My hair needs to breath. Plus I have three boxes of Henna that I need to use before the end of this year! Waste not, want not!

That's all for now peeps! I'll be back shortly with some Crop Over reviews! What have you all been up to?

Sesame Flyer's Mas Camp Visit and Adios...

Well yes! Trinidad Carnvial season is in full swing. The carnival bands Paparazzi, Tribe, and most recently Fantasy have recently launched. Meanwhile Bliss and Yuma are  scheduled to debut their 2012 carnival offerings this week (check out trinidadcarnivaldiary.com for pics and reviews). Although in a few short hours I will be in Barbados for Crop Over REVELING a small part of me deisres to be in Trinidad attending band launches. In an attempt to quench my costume thirst I headed down to Sesame Flyers Mas Camp to look at some of my favorite costumes for Labor Day 2012 up close and personal.

Guys...this is a nice option for you all. No funny looking collar, so you could wear this all day.

Frontline... also comes with a highwaist panty option.

Mid Line- This section is AS IS no subsitutions...and from what I heard only about 5 costumes left...

The Coldest Blue (designed by Caprice and Akin) ...omg! The headpiece on the Mid Line option (above) alone makes my heart flutter. I am not sure if I am bold enough to play mas in a jeweled  panty though. I am a slightly old school and would like a waistbelt (even though those are getting smaller and smaller) so I could pretend to be covered up!

BOLD

BOLDER

BOLDEST

Hypnotice (designed by Exotica Ladies)...another favorite. I love the unique color combination (gray, teal, and a dash of red) as well as the futuristic feel to this section. From the mesh sarong and bodysuit, to the wire bra there is no option in this section for the shy.

Concoction designed by Sibongile! I had to check this one out in person! What do you get when you add mesh, fishing line, feathers, gloves, and one extra low cut panty? I guess it depends on who you ask...
 I did notice some changes were made to one of the prototypes:

Notice the addition of shoulder pieces and a chain belt for the waist....

In addition there seemed to be an addition to this section for the guys...

Check out the rest of the pics on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kinkychronicle ! Oh... and  click the LIKE button (please)!

What do you think of Sesame Flyers so far?

Next stop Barbados! ; )

The Fly Cut

I came to the conclusion a few months ago that Groupon (and it's long lost twin Living Social ) was the devil in disguise...lol.  Yes, at one time I could often be found purchasing discount movie tickets, facials, brunches, make up lessons, and even cake pop making classes on a regular basis. The list is endless. The problem I had with Groupon (and similar sites) is that I would spend all this money on all these random experiences and forget to use them. Eventually they would end up expiring and I would miss out. So, I swore off of it all...or so I thought.  Recently I was introduced to The Fly Cut, a website similar to Groupon that sells daily discounts for hair salons that specialize in Black/Ethnic hair in NYC.

One of the available deals on www.theflycut.com

Although, I am not one to frequent hair salons I would not mind treating myself  to a blowout at Miss Jessie's CurlBar for $50. Add to this the fact that The Fly Cut is owned by three black women (who happen to be sisters) and I am sold. I always admire and try to support minority owned businesses. So far the only salon I have noticed deals for is Miss Jessie's CurlBar but I am hoping that in the near future there will be many more options from a variety of salons (I can really use a good trim).  ; )

If you check out the website let me know what you think....

Gorgeous...

You all know I am a Solange fan...

www.mydamnblog.com

www.mydamnblog.com

I am totally in love with her new look. I wasn't sure how I felt about the length of these braids, but these two pictures sold it for me. I know at this very moment someone is sitting in a salon chair with one of these pictures requesting this style.

Summer Hair Update

Hey folks,


I realized I have been really quiet about my hair lately and thought it was about time I gave an update. For the majority of the  summer I have been rocking a combo of kinky twists and cornrows. Why? It's simple, they resemble my natural hair, I wake up every morning  and style my hair with ease, and unlike braid extensions they are easy to put in and remove!

Pic time! These shots are all random shots from my camera over the last 2 weeks or so. My apologies...I usually take pictures of my hair right after getting it done however this time around I did not have a chance to do so.

I may have shared this pic already. The cornrows this time around are super tiny...which was a blessing and a curse!

A close up of the style.  The kinky twists are mainly in the front of my head and I roll and pin them as I see fit....

Even closer.... This is a make up check pic: I always take a pic of my makeup before I go out to make sure I blended well...lol. #paranoid
Oh...my earrings are  from Geishagirl.bigcartel.com... my sister's website! These were $5... 

I've shared this pic. View of the front of the hair style...

Although I loved the overall look of this style I found it way more difficult to maintain than my previous style. I am not sure if it was the humidity in St. Lucia or the size of the cornrows but this time around my hair seemed to get frizzy quickly. To maintain this style I tied my hair with a satin scarf nightly and sprayed with Organic Root Stimulator's: Nature's Shine. I not only love the smell of this hair product, but the ingredients are amazing. The first ingredient listed is Coconut Oil, you can not go wrong with that. Although I purchased the Karen's Body Beautiful Hair Blossom Moisture Mist specifically for my Kinky Twists I decided not to use it. My rationale? I was combatting hair frizz and I felt as if the mositure mist would create more frizz since it is a water based product as opposed to the ORS Nature's Shine which  is an oil based product. I was able to keep this style for 3 weeks, but to be honest  if I wasn't out of the country I would have taken this style out after 2...

At the moment I am giving my hair a break from Kinky Twists (well at least until this Friday) and I am rocking my hair like this...

Flat twists, regular twists, a few bobby pins and voila....