10 Ways To Make Your Wardrobe Pop With Accessories
Posted on March 11, 2010
Under Style U | By Anna Breslaw
Let’s assume you’re not a crazy person, you pass your fashion take-home test and own all the spring wardrobe essentials. Like black and nude basics, skinny khaki trousers, a military-esque cargo jacket and wedge heels (If you are missing one/all of these, please hit up Macy’s or the Gap, stat).
One thing it’s easy to forget about as the season changes are accessories. But since this year’s basics are so, um, basic, always remember the Importance of Being Accessorized. So I handpicked some baubles that range from the classic to the avant-garde.
Wristlets serve a practical purpose as well as add some intrigue and color to your outfit. I like the non-patterned classic ones like this one in red from Dooney & Bourke via Macy’s.
Pretty sure everyone on the Eastern Seaboard is over the bow headband, but that doesn’t rule out simpler picks like the classic braided grosgrain headband from Urban Outfitters.
Necklaces pretty much make the look. Awhile ago I stumbled across this amazing bubble necklace from the MOMA Store and have been obsessing about pairing it with a classic tee/sundress combo ever since.
- If that’s not your speed, second choice is this grade-school throwback Best F-ing Friends necklace from Bona Drag, one of my favorite online boutiques, provided you have a friend to split it with.
- If you don’t have a friend because you’re tough and independent, this Hematite twisted chain necklace from Hot Topic proves that our favorite angsty middle school stores pack some surprises occasionally.
Handbags can also totally determine the kind of look/girl/human you are. I’m into soft leather totes, and this one from indie designer Clare Vivier is the perfect size. She also has smaller and larger with the same high quality.
One fun trick is to use an oversized wallet as a clutch. I’d go for something fun, bright and cheap like this yellow patterned one from Wet Seal. You might not use it past the season, but it adds a pop of color to your ensemble without breaking the bank.
I’ve collected a variety of sentimental rings over the years (old ones of my mother, my high school class ring, etc.) but rarely buy rings for style purposes. Maybe I’d change that with Fred Flare’s Antique Keyhole Ring.
My favorite spring scarf is this Anthropologie one in grey by a mile. I love the detailing, and it’s light as a feather. Wear it with a polo and a flowy skirt, hair up in a messy bun and dreamy earrings.
I’m over those ubiquitous Ray-Ban Wayfarers. My dream sunglasses are probably the Moscot Lemtoshes and it’s okay to invest in a classic accessory. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.’
Finally, this straw hat from Charlotte Russe has a cute little bow detail and is cheap enough for you to try out and maybe decide to hate the way hats look on you (if you’re like me).
Go forth and accessorize!
This post appears courtesy of Ology Media
The Color of Love
Posted on March 8, 2010
Under Culture, Media | By Ashley Singh
I’m not one to read a lot of magazines, but the ones I do read are Glamour, Allure, Marie Claire, and the occasional Essence. I really like those magazines because those are the ones that tend to pay particular attention to their readers. I was reading the March issue of Essence this weekend when I stumbled across an article titled, “If I Were Your Woman,” by blogger Jamilah Lemieux. This article was written in response to the overflow of comments Essence received regarding its February 2010 cover featuring football phenom Reggie Bush. The only reason that people were so angry about this cover is that he’s dating Kim Kardashian, a woman who is not Black. There were a number of negative comments featured about their cover: one person commented that Essence should “stop promoting Black men who do not support Black women!” while another person commented that “…In a society and world that ignores, demeans and maligns Black femininity and womanhood, it is important that Essence uplift Black women’s self-esteem and self-worth and put Black women first.” There were only two positive comments featured about the cover, one of which said, “…I think we’ve come far enough where we could applaud a functioning and healthy relationship, regardless of whether both people in love are Black.” I share the opinion of this last comment.
In the article, Lemieux comes off as bitter and narrow-minded. It’s like she’s saying, Hey white women! Are there not enough white men that you have to come after our Black men? Get your own! She shares the viewpoint of a comment she read online saying that a Black woman will only get a Black man if she is successful, when women of other races just have to not be Black to in order to get a Black man. The author says that “no matter how illogical or unreasonable it may appear, I’m not okay with Black men choosing to spend their lives with non-Black women.” She goes on to give statistics of the dating game among Black people and how Black women are good enough to do all the work that helps make Black men successful but are just not good enough for them when they are successful. She says that “in a world that still marginalizes our beauty, diminishes our presence, and tries to reinforce stereotypes about our attitudes, ability and sexuality, we should expect to find solace in the arms of our men.” I get that; I get that there is a mystery surrounding why Black men choose women of other races to be with instead of Black women. And yes, more often than not we do see Black men dating women outside of their race and it leaves less of an option for Black women who want to be with a Black man. My question is, did I miss something here? When did we revert back to the narrow-minded concept of no interracial dating? I thought this was 2010, not 1960.
I couldn’t care less about the skin color of the person I choose to end up with. So what if there are fewer Black men to date—what matters is the love between the two people (see: Our Family Wedding, March 12, 2010). The problem here is not the shortage of Black men available for Black women to be with or that Black women are not good enough for them to be with. No, the real problem here is the Black women who make the conscious decision that the men of other races are not good enough for them to be with.
P.S. Did anyone stop to notice that Kim Kardashian is Armenian??
Make Something Cool, Win $10,000
Posted on March 3, 2010
Under Techno-file | By Ben Shestakofsky
AT&T has just announced its 2010 Big Mobile On Campus Challenge. If you’ve got the skills to make an innovative e-learning mobile app, the $10,000 scholarship that goes to the winner will definitely help pay the bills. Last year’s winners created an app called Rover that connects Harvard students, faculty, administrators, and local merchants.
This is My Generation
Posted on March 1, 2010
Under Culture | By Ashley Singh
Have you noticed a shift? A shift in culture and parenting as well as in our hopes for the future? Or maybe it’s me. I’ve noticed that the kids I babysit and come across who are in high school or younger than me are, in general, just different. They are being raised differently, taught differently, spoken to differently, nurtured differently. Don’t get me wrong—change is good, change is progress, and after all, change was the platform during the campaign of our current president! And look out world, here come the Millennials.
In case you haven’t heard of them, the Millennials are of Generation Y. They are described in this post by College Parents of America as “optimistic about the future, realistic about the present, resilient and hard-working, and very much into setting goals and meeting those goals.” They are the children of Generation X—themselves the children of the baby boomers, who are making up for the mistakes of the baby boom generation by becoming much more involved in the lives of their children. The involvement in the lives of the Millennials by Generation X is the result of their desire to have their children attend the college that is best for them, which was not a luxury enjoyed by much of Generation X.
The Millennials value “civic duty, confidence, achievement and street smarts,” which is all a result of the play dates and team sports where everybody is a winner and there are no losers. They are accepting of authority and want to be taught by passionate educators and to be loved by supportive parents. The Millennials know their technology and are constantly plugged-in and available 24/7. They would rather communicate via text messaging or emails and instant messaging than face-to-face. In the workplace, they favor flexible hours, more creativity and positive reinforcement from their employers, which is revolutionizing the structures of the workplace. Because Gen X parents did not want to make the same mistakes as their parents, the Millennials were nurtured and pampered by their parents and are confident (sometimes overly), ambitious and achievement-oriented. They are also loyal, committed, and inclusive. They crave attention, feedback, and guidance, which is why they demand much from their employers.
Now, with all of their great aspects, the Millenials aren’t perfect. Because they favor the technology, the importance of interpersonal skills is fading, as well as the art of writing and literature. They can sometimes be perceived as lazy, unmotivated, overly idealistic, narcissistic, “want[ing] to roll into work with their iPods and flip flops around noon, but still be CEO by Friday.” I say bring it on, Millennials! I think the structure of the workplace needs to change and it needs to be people like the Millennials to change it. I’m getting ready to graduate from college in a matter of months, and getting a job is different now—it’s not just about finding work, it’s about having a career that you actually enjoy, while at the same time working hard to get to the top by doing what you have to do and paying your dues. It’s like my journalism teacher says: “Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
Rushing to Change
Posted on February 23, 2010
Under Uncategorized | By Ashley Singh
The quintessential college experience is not complete without Greek life. If you’re lucky enough for your campus to have fraternities and sororities, I envy you. This was originally on my list of college demands, but Georgian Court offered the best scholarships. I remember watching that Amanda Bynes movie Syndey White and wishing that I went to a school that had sororities like hers did. Then I thought back to when my brother pledged his fraternity, Delta Chi at Rowan University (http://www.rowan.edu). When I helped him move into the frat house, I was astonished at how disgusting it was: Solo cups everywhere, grimy hardwood floors, and the whole place smelled of beer. I remember wondering, what sort of hijinks take place in this house and how many people have passed out in these hallways? One weekend he came home and said that Rush Week had ended and he couldn’t tell us a thing about it. That’s pretty much where my fascination with the whole thing ended. I had convinced myself that some sort of initiation ritual had taken place, which is why he couldn’t tell us anything, and I’m probably not far off.
I read this article about Cornell’s Pi Beta Phi sorority’s strict guidelines for pledges. The author of the article likened it to the movie Mean Girls, but I think that this is taking the whole thing to another level. Pledging a sorority is a difficult process, and it just adds even more stress to discovering who you are in college, but at the same time, I imagine that it’s a huge honor to be selected to join after the extensive process. On their website, Pi Phi describes the rushing process:
• Round 1 - Days 1 and 2: Recruitment week begins with open houses where PNMs* are given the opportunity to meet the ladies of each of Cornell’s 13 chapters.
• Round 2 - Day 3: House tours are given to the PNMs called back through mutual selection.
• Round 3 - Day 4: Each chapter performs a skit to highlight attributes about its members, and shares its philanthropic activities with PNMs. Girls are given time to connect with another member.
• Preference Round - Day 5: This is the most formal of all rounds where PNMs are asked up to 3 houses. On pref round, PNMs reflect on which sorority is the best fit for them and rank their choices.
• Bid Day: Each new member finds out which chapter she has been invited to join, and New York Delta excitedly welcomes its new members!*PNMs are Potential New Members
If you’re wondering what the university is doing about these guidelines, Cornell spokesman Blaine Friedlander believes that the sorority hasn’t done anything wrong. He insists that, “The Pi Phis have every civil right to speak their ideas. They haven’t done anything wrong other than issuing fashion guidelines.”
So there you have it. Not only do we have to deal with the media telling us, as women, how we should look and act, but now some of the most influential people in our lives are dictating it as well. If you want to check out the extensive list of demands, click here!
Toddlers and Tiaras and Tantrums
Posted on February 16, 2010
Under Culture, Media | By Ashley Singh
My mom told me the other day that when I was a baby, some woman came up to her and told her that she should put me in beauty pageants. She told me this while we were watching this absurd reality show called Toddlers and Tiaras. It’s on TLC and it follows families who have daughters in the beauty pageant circuit circus. The first thing I can’t understand about this show is why the parents continue to say that their child is having fun when obviously she is not—it’s the parents who are living out their dreams through the child, hence the temper tantrums that erupt whenever it’s time for the pageant to start. The kids have fake tans, fake teeth, hair extensions, and makeup that would make a drag queen gag. These kids are learning the worst kinds of values: materialism, winning is everything, beauty is only exterior, and it’s only when you look beautiful that people will like you.
TLC’s website for Toddlers and Tiaras says:
On any given weekend, on stages across the country, little girls parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes. Toddlers and Tiaras follows families on their quest for sparkly crowns, big titles, and lots of cash. The preparation is intense as it gets down to the final week before the pageant. From hair and nail appointments, to finishing touches on gowns, to numerous coaching sessions or rehearsals, each child preps for their performance. But once at the pageant, it’s all up to the judges and drama ensues when every parent wants to prove that their child is beautiful.
But why do you need to prove that your child is beautiful? Kids are just growing up way too fast these days.
Good Morning America recently did a feature about how parents are letting their little girls wear high heels. Now this is something I really don’t understand. Little girls just want to be like their moms, all grown up and fabulous, with all the jewelry and pretty clothes; but high heels on a child, really?
This is all a result of people letting celebrities and shows like Toddlers and Tiaras influence the way they raise their children. As for pageants, I commend those women who turn out great and go on to become Miss America, but I hope that the rest of the girls don’t turn out to be as narcissistic as they are portrayed to be.
Recession Hits Students Hard
Posted on February 8, 2010
Under money | By Ashley Singh
I don’t understand finance. I’ve never been good at math, the stock market confuses me and I still cannot understand what i, x, and n have to do with algebra. My good friend Maria is a math and education major and in my opinion she is doubly blessed for even wanting to deal with kids and because she enjoys math. Most economists are saying that the recession is pretty much over. Financial guru Suze Orman said that the economy is off of life support but is still in ICU. Now, if that’s true, why is America’s higher education system stretching our students thin?
I recently read an article about how even though the economy is said to be looking up, tuition costs keep rising on college campuses across the country. Students in Florida can expect to have their tuition raised yearly by 15 percent; students at the University of Illinois students should expect a nine percent increase. At its main campus, the University of Washington will raise its tuition by 14 percent more. Protests over the more than 30 percent increase in tuition in California have heated enough to bring back memories of the infamous 1960s sit-ins. I can recall two instances of heartfelt regret yet hidden sarcasm over tuition increases from my college.
One of the more valuable things I’ve learned from this whole economic downturn is how to manage my money and the reality that I am going to be paying back my college loans for most of my life. Now, I’m not complaining about the whole thing and I’m very grateful for my education—remember, there was once a time when higher education (or education at all) was for the privileged upper class and the white man. I’m just confused because it seems to me that education is the last thing on the minds of those who are in power. The University of Illinois has a budget deficit that is “expected to top $11 billion this year,” according to interim President Stanley Ikenberry. “The state of Illinois owes the university more than $430 million.” What is that?
I know I’m an idealist, and call me crazy, but families should not be scrimping in order to send their kids to college. I really hope the president’s loan-repayment plan gets passed soon. But until then, I guess the whole “poor college student” nickname will continue to hold true evermore.
The Psychology of Fear
Posted on February 5, 2010
Under Culture | By Anna Breslaw
When I was about ten, I was obsessed with a series of YA novels called Fearless.
From the mind of Francine Pascal (creator of the equally-implausible high school fantasy Sweet Valley High), the series revolved around a 17-year-old girl named Gaia Moore who was born without the gene for fear. Because many teenage girls are sort of ruled by fear (fear of cliques, fear of judgment, fear of romance), the conceit is immensely appealing.
Fear dominates so much of everyone’s lives that it serves as a basis for emotions, decisions, and even entertainment, e.g. thriller and horror films. The false scares and cheap shocks of a psychological thriller, like the upcoming Gothic Scorsese-DiCaprio venture Shutter Island, stimulate our amygdala, clusters of nuclei deep in the center of our brains that play a role in the neurobiology of fear.
It’s the fight-or-flight response without the real risk of danger. Some of us seek the fear, and others shy away. Check out the trailer and see which one you are.
This post appears courtesy of Ology Media
[pic via Fantastic Fiction]
State of My Union
Posted on February 4, 2010
Under Politics, The Youth Vote | By Ashley Singh
When I watch the State of the Union address, I rarely expect to hear anything that is relevant to me as a young American in this country. Whenever I watched Bush do the State of the Union address, or speak for that matter, I never felt like he was talking to me. But from the moment I watched him speak at Invesco Field on that cool August night, I knew Obama was talking to me. It’s probably because he’s such a great orator or because I feel like with him as president my thoughts and my views are represented even more than they were with Bush as president. My parents say it’s because I want to change the world, but I say it’s because the world needs changing.
I wrote a post in August 2009 called Free Health Care? Or Free College?, in which I referenced President Obama’s education plan. He said,
“We need to put a college education within reach of every American. That’s the best investment we can make in our future. I’ll create a new and fully refundable tax credit worth $4,000 for tuition and fees every year, which will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public college or university. I’ll also simplify the financial aid application process so that we don’t have a million students who aren’t applying for aid because it’s too difficult. I will start by eliminating the current student aid form altogether—we’ll use tax data instead.”
Well, this was just the beginning of his plan for higher education.
In his State of the Union address last week, the president announced his plan for college graduates
“to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years—and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. And it’s time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs—because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem.”
This plan is said to cost the government roughly $1 billion, while his proposal for Congress would “eliminate the federal system that provides subsidies to private student loan companies, saving the federal government an estimated $87 billion over 10 years.” The president wants to use that money to increase grants and lower interest rates for students.
So as a soon-to-be college graduate, I for one support this plan. I think it’s really great that the president is doing something that will benefit me directly, and he has me in mind in his decision-making process. This was my goal when the whole election season began in 2008—to be represented in my government; after all, that’s what the founding fathers intended when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. The government is for the people, by the people, and intended to serve the people, and “when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security.”
Leonardo DiCaprio Fan: Growing Up Tween
Posted on January 29, 2010
Under Culture, Media | By Amy T
Like most tweens in 1997, I saw Titanic for the first time, and that was enough to turn me into somewhat of a Leonardo DiCaprio fan — you know, making my dad subscribe me to a Leonardo DiCaprio merchandise magazine so that I could make him buy me Leonardo DiCaprio coffee mugs, mouse pads, calendars and key chains, discreetly ripping fold-out posters from the pages of Tiger Beat and Teen Bop in the aisles of CVS, and insisting my mom tell me why Jack Dawson had to die whilst sobbing for literally an hour and half straight in the car after seeing Titanic in the movie theater — for the third time. “Why is life so cruel?” I pleaded to her. “WHY?” And for a woman who had always been nothing but supportive and understanding of my out-of-control celebrity crushes, even she looked at me in that moment like I had completely lost it.
That same year, I remember watching a show similar to 20/20, and no joke, one of the segments was actually about a scientist who studied Leonardo DiCaprio. He showed a close-up diagram of his face and revealed that it is in fact perfectly symmetrical — the technical epitome of beautiful. I looked at my mom and angrily said, “SEE. I told you.” It’s called “issues,” okay?
Leonardo DiCaprio is my generation’s version of Robert Pattinson, the difference is that Leonardo DiCaprio can act, (snap!) and even after decades doing it, he’s still making good movies. What began as an obsession with Jack Dawson the character became an obsession with Leonardo DiCaprio the actor, as I went so deep into his catalog that I rented a movie called Total Eclipse, where he plays a gay French poet, snuck down into my basement and embarked on a very confusing-yet-enlightening hour and a half to say the least. I even bought a ticket and sat through The Man in the Iron Mask, and if that’s not love, I don’t know what is. But what I liked most, and have always liked most about him, was that he was beautiful, and he knew was beautiful, and he hated that he was beautiful — and the attention and the screaming girls — and so he hated people like ME, and call me masochistic, but that only made this thirteen year-old love him more. While he cared about “the craft,” “the environment,” and stupid things like “charity work,” I knew what was most important in life, and that was rewinding the pool scene in Romeo and Juliet one more time.
As I got older, however, I knew it was time to move on, and just as Rose had to let go of Jack (even though she NEVER LETS GO) I had to let go of Leonardo. I scrounged up the courage, boxed up my Leonardo DiCaprio mugs and mouse pads and slowly tore his posters from my bedroom walls. They looked so naked without him. It was a bittersweet day in 1999, but I had finally matured into a woman free of dependence on an actor whom I knew I’d never be with. Plus, ‘N Sync just came out and Justin Timberlake was like, so hot.
This post appears courtesy of Ology Media
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