October 2014Faces of Black Fashion: October 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Five Things I Want for Fall











Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Faces of Black Fashion Salutes Oscar de la Renta

Earlier this week the fashion community lost revered fashion-designer Oscar de la Renta. Oscar de la Renta spent over five decades dressing first ladies since Jacqueline Kennedy and some of our world's leading public figures and movie stars. Faces of Black Fashion salutes his legacy. 

Oscar de la Renta escorts Oprah to the 2010 Met Gala



Halle Berry wears Oscar de la Renta at the Die Hard Premiere in 2004




Kerry Washington in Oscar de la Renta at the 2013 NAACP Image Awards

Credit: FayesVision/WENN via styleblazer.com


Lupita Nyong'o wows in Oscar de la Renta at the White House Correspondents Dinner

Credit: eonline.com

First Lady Michelle Obama wears an Oscar de la Renta dress during the White House Fashion Education workshop she hosted earlier this month. 

Credit: cocoafab.com

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Fall Thrift Lookbook

Self impression has always been something that has been of the utmost importance to me. When I discovered my love for fashion I knew exactly where my creative juices would flourish. For me trends were a gift & a curse, I love to see the latest creations in fashion but I despised looking like everyone else. Thus the modern day natural was born. I found a way to get the best of both worlds, THRIFTING! In my fall thrift look book every outfit has something that was thrifted. Thrifting is something that takes patience, but it does wonders for your budget. Here are a few looks I put together, maybe you too can thrift your way fabulous!






Fall Thrift lookbook







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~Tiana

Saturday, October 18, 2014

My Birthday Trip to Napa Valley



Last weekend, I celebrated my 30th birthday in the Bay area with one of my  "nearests and dearests" who lives in San Francisco.  On the second day of my trip, we went wine tasting in Napa Valley.  My friend recommended Domain Carneros Wine Estate, a beautiful picturesque estate that sits on a hill overlooking the vineyard. Although I've visited Napa Valley once before, it was my first time at the Domain Carneros winery, such a beautiful sight to behold!







The winery offers sit down tastings on their outdoor terrace. Since Domain Carneros is famous for their sparkling wine, we ordered the sparkling wine sampler. The champagne lover in me leaped for joy. I enjoyed the sampler, but my favorite was the driest wine of the bunch:  the 2009 Brut Cuvee. 




I enjoyed my 20s, but I am excitedly looking forward to the next phase of my life! To read about 10 Life Lessons I Learned in My 20s, visit my personal style and lifestyle blog HERE


Cheers,
~Nika

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

What Makes You Different Makes You Beautiful: Model with Vitiligo Embraces Her Beauty

Chantelle Young is stunning! At four years old, she was diagnosed with vitiligo, a skin condition that causes white patches on her brown skin. Growing up, the Jamaican-Canadian model experienced bullying and social isolation, but  her fierce resilience  enabled her to rise above the negativity.  After being discovered by a photographer as a teen, Chantelle now has a blossoming modeling career including being the face of Desigual's Fall campaign . We salute Chantelle for embracing her beauty and for being the embodiment of  the beauty of diversity. What makes us different, makes us beautiful. 







via cosmopolitan.com

Show studio x MACHINE-A Photographer: Nick Kngiht






Cheers,
Nika

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Introducing Tiffiny of BodyWealth & WellBeing.


Today's it's my pleasure to introduce public health professional, figure body level competitor an entrepreneur, Tiffiny. Read more about Tiffiny and her company BodyWealth & WellBeing below. 


Tell us about yourself, who is Tiffiny?

Hi my name is Tiffiny Fambro, I’m a wife, daughter, sister, friend, entrepreneur, public health professional and figure level body competitor.  Needless to say I wear many hats.  I am originally from Detroit Michigan which is my home town.  I also previously lived in North Carolina where I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and my masters of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  After college I spent a few years working for various public health and research companies in NC.  I eventually met the man who was to be my husband and we moved to Atlanta, Georgia and have been living here for the last 4 years. 
Growing up I always struggled with my weight, gaining and losing, going on various starvation diets just to lose then gain it all back.  I was never really athletic and really did not incorporate consistent physical activity in my lifestyle.  When I got married I told myself that I wanted to strive to always be beautiful and healthy for myself and my husband.  So I started walking everyday after work until I was able to walk /jog, then fully jog.  I started eating healthier and researching the concept of clean eating, which is virtually just eating whole, minimally processed foods. I started to lose weight and really for the first time in my life learned to control my weight the healthy way. 
Before Weightlifting. 

This made me want to challenge myself even more, so in 2012 I made the decision that I did not just want to lose weight but gain muscle and optimum health.  I started heavily researching and reading fitness and bodybuilding blog sites, all of which led me to the world of bodybuilding competitions.  I started to read so many stories of women who decided to not only lose the weight but get on stage and compete.  Needless to say I made the decision that I wanted to gain muscle and compete.  I quickly realized that in order to get competition type results, I needed a serious trainer.  With the help of a friend I was quickly connected to a trainer who had the experience I needed.  I started working with him in January 2013; I was 5’2.5” tall and I weighed 145lbs at that time
From January 2013 to around May 2013, I lost 20lbs and gained muscle mass.  I was overjoyed and continued until I was ready for my first bodybuilding figure level show.  I competed on July 20th, 2013 and won 5th place in the SNBF (Super Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Organization) Novice figure class.  This only got me thirsty to keep going and on November 2nd, 2013 I competed again, this time in the SNBF Novice figure and Open figure class.  I won 1st place in Novice figure and 4th place in Open figure.  Encouraged by my trainer I continued on to compete in my first NPC (National Physique Committee) figure competition.  On April 12, 2014 at the NPC Indiana Natural competition I placed 2nd in figure class B. That competition qualified me to be able to compete in a National competition which was major for a person that had only been competing 1 year and 3 months. I was overjoyed, thrilled and most of all proud of myself.
Tiffiny's weightlifting transformation.

 The competitions have been a wonderful experience; I’ve met some really great people, kept my weight off, and I’ve learned a lot about fitness and nutrition.  But what’s even more wonderful is the person I’ve become on the inside as I’ve gone on this journey.  I now realize that it wasn’t my body that needed to transform as much as it was my mind.  I truly believe that we all possess the power to accomplish what ever dreams and goals that we set for ourselves; all we have to do is start. 
I currently teach group fitness part-time at the YMCA and also work in my own business BodyWealth & WellBeing. In my professional daily life I work for an international consulting firm to research, implement, and evaluate disease prevention and public health projects. As I move forward I plan to expand my health background and experience by continuing to gain various fitness and nutrition certifications.  I have always enjoyed working in the health field so my transformation experience has just become an expansion and testimony of my personal values.

What's the inspiration behind your business BodyWealth & WellBeing?

The inspiration behind my business, BodyWealth & WellBeing, really are the stories of people (famous and not famous) that have dramatically changed/improved their lives.  Whether through fitness, healthy eating, Holistic methods, or learning how to gain a healthy mental wellbeing.  I believe that there is more than one way to find one’s true path in life; my way was through weightlifting.  Weightlifting gives me such a wonderful natural high, I almost wish I could bottle up the feeling and give it to people for free.  It helped me gain physical strength, better coordination, balance and agility; but it also gave me a sense of inner mental strength, mental stability/balance and higher confidence and self-esteem.  So for me the idea of BodyWealth & WellBeing means that one has the ability to use one’s body to give outer and inner joy without consuming toxins or chemical enhancers (drugs, alcohol, etc.).  The idea that a person can become rich, gaining abundance, success, value and quality, naturally through the body, by giving it what it needs to thrive at an optimum level.



What can people expect when they come to BodyWealth & WellBeing, and how can they find out more about your services? 
When people come to www.bodywealthandwellbeing.com my website, they are going to be able to find resources on nutrition, fitness, mental wellbeing and alternative Holistic methods to gain BodyWealth.  I will be interviewing other people in the fitness and health industry as well so they can share their stories, their experiences and how they continue to gain BodyWealth.  The other part of my personal services include group fitness parties where I will come to a person’s home or location of their choice and instruct a group fitness class.  It’s the idea of celebrating with a workout instead of just going to a club or lounge.  It also puts a spin on the idea of training alone; you can invite friends over and have a fun private fitness session!  I am also pursuing fitness modeling and can be contacted for speaking engagements.  For more information I can be contacted at tiffiny@bodywealthandwellbeing.com or on the contact page of my website.  The company is also on: Facebook @BodyWealth & WellBeing, Twitter @BWWB_Fit, or Instagram @BodyWealthandWellBeing.




What tips or advice do you have for women who may be considering or pursuing entrepreneurship?

I would say, you will have some tough days, you will have people who doubt your abilities or do not believe in you, you will have some obstacles to overcome, but if you believe in your business and it is truly your passion, then never ever give up working to build your dream and making it a living breathing reality.  I would also say to surround yourself by people who are pursuing their own business or who are already successful business owners or entrepreneurs.  It is very important to surround yourself by positive people who are on the same path as you are on.




Anything else?

Thank you Nika for giving us all a platform to tell our stories and hopefully encourage others on their journey!

Best, 

Tiffiny Fambro, MPH, CEO
BodyWealth & WellBeing




Thursday, October 9, 2014

Introducing Banke of With Love Banke

Today it's my pleasure to introduce super stylish blogger, MPH candidate and model, Banke, and her blog, With Love Banke. Enjoy!



Tell us about yourself, who is Banke?
My name is Banke Balogun and I am the author of With Love, Banke. I am also a  full-time MPH candidate at UCLA. ​I remember becoming interested in fashion when I was entering the 6th grade. In middle school, I was known as the student who always wore a different bag everyday. I was even nominated as the most fashionable student in my middle school. It wasn't until I ​turned 16​ that I became
very serious about fashion. When I was 16, I left Virginia to
​model​
 in California. It was
​at that moment, that​
 I realized I want to have a career in fashion for the rest of my life whether it
​ be continuing to model or​
 
​becoming a stylist.
​​ As a model,
I was exposed to many different types of fashion. I am grateful for that because​ now, when I blog
​,​
I never shy away from a certain style. Modeling was
​ definitely​
the catalyst that
​ caused me to become serious about a career
 in fashion. 
 

 What inspired you to start blogging
It's a very interesting story how I actually got into blogging. I've been following fashion blogs for over 3 years now​ ​but not once did it occur to me that I would ​one day have my own blog. During my undergraduate studies at Cal State Long Beach,​I ​constantly ​"dressed up" to class and would sometimes
I feature
​ these outfits on my ​
​I​
nstagram
​. ​
I remember it was my
​oldest ​
sister
​who said I should just make a fashion blog instead of posting my outfits solely on Instagram
. In January
​ of 2014​
​,​
I created a fashion blog with nothing but my boyfriend's Samsung Galaxy s4 camera
​(​
which surprisingly did the
​job)​
 and a free blog layout I found after a few h
​ou​r
s of searching
​for one on G​
oogle. When I first started blogging
​,​
I was very confused on how to manage my blog, promote it, maintain it
​​
etc
​.,​
but now I'm
​ proud to say that I am​
finally getting the hang of it. 
 
 


 What are some trends/pieces that you're wearing this Fall?
O​k​,
so I think this is w
​here ​
I differ from a lot of bloggers
​,​
but I try
​to ​
stray away​
 
​from​
follow
​ing trends for different seasons
 and there's also the unfortunate fact that I reside in southern California so we don't
​necessarily experience Fall (unless you're living in Big Bear Mountain) ​
but
​,​
if I had to choose colors
​that I would wear for the fall, I​
 would choose olive green, taupe, black
​(​
I love wearing black
​)​
and cream
​!​
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Where do you find style inspiration?
​I find my style inspiration within myself and my surroundings. In addition to this, I like to try to feature looks from different eras because I feel that each era had a very memorable look.  ​


Anything else?
​If you would like updates on my style, visit my site Withlovebanke.com or check out my Instagram @Lebanke!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Visit Banke's amazing blog HERE!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

10 Tips on Self-Confidence From Trailblazing Black Women

Enjoy these confidence building tips from ten amazing women!


Oprah Winfrey, media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. 



Michelle Obama,  Lawyer & First Lady of the United States


Kerry Washington, Award-winning Actress


Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar winning Actress


Sophia Nelson, Lawyer &  Author of Black Women Redefined and The Woman Code



Chimanda Adichie, Author. Her works include Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah.



Nina Simone, Singer, Songwriter & Civil Rights Activist


Corinne Bailey Rae, Grammy Award-winning Singer


Ursula Burns, Xerox Chairwoman & CEO



Misty Copeland, Ballet Dancer for American Ballet Theatre



Cheers,
Nika

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Black Fashion Week 2014, Paris

Created by Parisian Senegalese Fashion Designer, Adama Ndiaye, Black Fashion week shines the light on black designers and models from across the African Diaspora.  Black Fashion Week Paris took place this past weekend, and I have been following updates via social media.  Below I have included photos from Instagram (visit Black Fashion Week's Instagram page to be blown away by more talent and beauty). Enjoy!!!

Black Fashion Week 2014, Paris




French actress, Sonia Rolland, attends Black Fashion Week, Paris





~Cheers,
Nika