TWO WEEK FIERCE LIST BREAK

Ladies (and Gents if any),

Sorry for the no show last week and I have to say sorry for the no show this week too. I'm under serious pressure at work (yes, us self employed peeps can crack the whip on our own ass also). I'm busy prepping for a few pitches which potentially could be really great for the business so please forgive me. I plan to be back on form for next week Friday, giving you the overdue issue of FIERCE LIST, promise.

Until then take it easy. Oh yeah, can you believe BNP received 957,000 votes in the European General Elections?! What a sad, sad week in UK politics, that's all I can say.

Til next week.
xx

ISSUE 20 WELCOME TO THIS WEEK’S FIERCE LIST…

Hey, hey… the sun is shining and I’m in a good mood. Work will soon be over and the weekend will official be here, so start to unwind and read through this week’s FIERCE LIST which includes posts on ARISE African Fashion Week, the melodic Asa, H&M AIDS t-shirt collabo, statement necklaces and a decent cheaper option nail polish .

Enjoy.

Rx

THIS WEEK EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT… BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT FINALS

It’s quite simple… for me it’s between Flawless and the Welsh 12 year old Shaheen whose voice puts some current UK acts to shame.

Susan Boyle, whilst she does have a good voice, she has benefited from WORLDWIDE exposure and will probably do well anyway should she win or not. For Flawless they’ve been working hard at their dreams for years and having worked with them previously, I believe they deserve this break. They’re professional, hardworking and I want them to win! As for the cutie Welsh kid – I love him loads too and if Flawless weren’t in the final I would want him to win, but as I have loyalties I want him to come second with a record deal by Simon. Oohh and as for Stavros Flatley… they need to come third… the Dad gives me too much jokes!

Let the finals begin… Saturday 29 May, ITV

NEWS FROM BACK HOME …. ALL ARISE… AFRICAN FASHION WEEK IS HERE!

ARISE Magazine, the UK’s first magazine to celebrate global African achievement in fashion, music, culture, business and politics has signed a 5 year deal with African Fashion International (AFI), organisers of the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban Fashion Week. The annual fashion week will continue to showcase the continent’s leading fashion designers at the Sandton Covention Centre in Johannesburg from the 12 - 20 June 2009.

ARISE Africa Fashion Week is an eight day celebration of the aesthetic and unique design signature of African fashion, brought together under one roof. With 51 designers from 21 countries participating, ARISE Africa Fashion Week is creating history and it is set to become an annual event, travelling around Africa each year. I’m in the process of trying to blag myself a free ticket to J’burg and to the shows, but as it’s in a matter of weeks, me thinks I’ve left if a bit late to attend this years. Might have to start the blagging in prep for 2010.

Africa has produced many notable fashion designers who have made their mark and are recognised on the world fashion stage, including the celebrated Azzedine Alaia from Tunisia, Oswald Boateng from Ghana, Deola Sagoe from Nigeria and Marc Bouwer from South Africa, all of whom have dressed celebrities, politicians and models to great acclaim for some years. Many of the designers participating in ARISE Africa Fashion Week have dressed celebrities themselves. Lalesso, a Kenyan design and manufacturing operation, with South African distribution, has seen their garments on Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Rihanna and Estelle. With a concession in the Topshop flagship store in Oxford Street in London, they are already fast becoming a name to know in the fashion industry, despite being in operation for only four years. Nigerian born, Samantha Cole has shown her work in London and New York, winning best women's wear designer in 2008. Having trained at London College of Fashion and honed her craft in the Burberry design room under the creative directorship of Christopher Bailey, Samantha now brings her own designs back to Africa. I’m especially excited to see Sika Designs (Ghana) whose designer, Phyllis Taylor is based here in the UK. Her line sells in the fashion boutique Cherry Picked, Greenwich Market and I was only there last week going through the rails of her wonderful African inspired dresses with a modern twist, she has there on sale. Also Tina Atiemo another designer who resides in the UK is representing for Ghana, so good luck to you both, I can’t wait to see what you send down the catwalk!

The Tiffany Amber label from Nigeria, has also received a favourable response from the critics in New York during her participation within the ARISE Africa Fashion Collection at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week earlier this year. The final look was walked out by the superstar singer Grace Jones, to an overwhelming response from the crowd. Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, chairperson of African Fashion International, says, “At AFI, our mission is to take African fashion to the world. In fulfilling this mandate, I take enormous pleasure in launching the inaugural ARISE Africa Fashion Week. This event affords the regions' creative economy with a world-class opportunity to showcase to a global audience. This is the first step in ensuring that the region receives the benefit of its own creative intellectual property, history and culture.”

I have high hopes for ARISE Africa Fashion Week… don’t you dare fail me…

FASHION NEWS: FASHION AGAINST AIDS T-SHIRTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH H&M

Fashion retailer H&M launched their 2nd year t-shirt collaboration with AIDS awareness project Designer against aids earlier this month.

The collaboration was developed to reach out to young people using their favourite celebrities from the world of music, fashion, sport and arts, to raise their interest in finding out more about AIDS as well as more about what the project actually does.

This year the joint venture sees the likes of Dita Von Teese, Katie Perry, N.E.R.D, Cyndi Lauper and Estelle (whose design is one of my favs) come together to help maximise awareness on the project.

Pick up a vest top from £7.99 and the remaining t-shirts for £9.99 from your local store.

I’VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU… ASA

You may sense me becoming a little patriotic in this post as well as my previous ‘I’ve Got My Eye on You’ post and you would be right in thinking so. I believe it can’t be helped as I’ve been discovering some fantastic Nigerian talent which needs to be shared with you all. You don’t have to be ‘African’ to appreciate these artists, as they’re sounds are so melodic you naturally find yourself moving to the beat, fully taking in each bar of the tunes regardless if your hair is naturally afro or flowing with blond locks.

Anyhow I digress… this week its all about Nigerian songstress ‘Asa’. Born in Paris and moved to Lagos, Nigeria with her family when she was two years old, Asa is a singer, songwriter and in my eyes a truly under rated talent.

She’s actually had a UK top ten hit with her track ‘Fire on a Mountain top’ (not that I remember it being one) and had a Mobo nomination in 2008 so I suppose that is the start of a wonderful music career, however as her debut album is one I’ve had on repeat on my ipod for a while now I’m irritated she’s not MORE well known. (Sorry I’m only blogging about her now)…

I’d say she’s like a modern day Tracey Chapman, with a hint of Ms Hill and a pinch of Ms Badu. You can listen to snippets of the track from her official website http://www.asa-official.com/ – check out track 3, Bi’ ban ke… a beautiful love song. Love the way she mixes English with Yoruba too.

Anyway, I’ve gushed enough about Asa, check out the video for ‘Fire on a Mountain top’ below

TREND WATCH: STATEMENT NECKLACES

As seen all over the catwalk from Marni to Marc Jacbos, statement necklaces are in and their in and looking fab-ul-ou-so.

Whenever I’m on an accessories shopping spree the obvious places to visit are the high street chain stores like River Island, Topshop, H&M and Accessorize and whilst every Tom, Dick and Harry may end up in the same jewels, it can’t be helped as some of these stores are actually carrying some great bits.

The above necklace is from Accessorize for £15. I love the deep purple set against the gold rustic looking rings. On a naked neck, with a simple white tee, skinny jeans and heels – this outfit would be complete due to this one piece being added. Or you could use it to jazz up an evening look. Either way, the sun is out and by default more flesh is bound to be on show, so make the most of it and add statement jewellery to your look.

I’M IN NEED OF A … SIKA DESIGN DRESS

I think I mentioned earlier in one of today’s posts about going into the Greenwich Market boutique named Cherry Picked earlier and rummaging through the fantastic dress from Phyllis Taylor’s label Sika Designs. Well, the above dress is one of the items which got me asking myself whether I was brave (and stupid enough) to rob a bank, just so I could continue funding my shopping habit. The dress is tres sexy and such a slim line, figure hugging fit. I for one would need to wear my spanks when wearing it, but reckon I could actually rock it fabulously.

The sharp cut and the quality vibrant coloured material used are all key to making it look fab. I haven’t thought of anything else (clothes wise) for the whole week as this dress plus another from the collection have been stuck on my brain. From memory I think the sales assistant said it costs £95, I would have to go back and try to actually pay attention as to what comes out of her mouth, rather than being engrossed of holding up the dress to my chest whilst starring in the mirror dancing which such excitement.

Check out http://www.sikadesigns.co.uk/ for more or visit Cherry Picked Boutique, 5a Greenwich Market, SE10

BEAUTY BUYS: H&M NAIL POLISH

H&M overload? Sorry, but it can’t be helped as I have to tell you about their nail polish range.
So according to my sources the retailer launched their new make up line earlier this year and I must say, my initial thoughts were that their products would be rubbish, but I now think I was wrong to jump to that conclusion.

Last Sunday I was out my cousin in law’s house and I came across her Red H&M polish (see above). We were all going out in the evening so I asked her if I could use her nail polish (one last thing I didn’t have to worry about doing when I got home)… Anyhow, once applied, I was pleasantly surprise. I didn’t think it would be that great on. Was thinking the colour wouldn’t be as vibrant and it would chip almost instantly, but I was wrong. The colour only started chipping yesterday (four days after applying) unlike the ’60 Seconds’ quick dry nonsense Rimmel are selling which chipped of the following day after I applied it. Also my nails were dry in probably a minute of me putting it on, which was great considering my cousin was in the process of kicking us all out when I finished painting them. Anyhow I didn’t really need to put a second coat on, but I did anyway…

I’d consider purchasing this one ladies, if you’re not one to spend more than a tenner on nail polish. I haven’t been out to check the price yet, but I don’t envisage it being any more than 3.99?

THE LAST WORD… BYE, BYE ER

Did anyone catch last night’s episode? It was as good as ever, had me sobbing in parts like when the old man’s wife died to which he replied “I’m not ready to lose her” and when the pregnant woman with twins gave birth, and then suffered from a ruptured cervix… too sad.

I for one will be sad to see ER leave our screens, however I do actually plan to buy all 15 years worth of episodes on DVD as somewhere between 1994 and 2009 I got too busy and stopped watching them. I wasn’t too vex about it as I said to myself I’d always buy the boxset (as per 24… I’ve only completed series 1 and 2 have 3-8 to go and for Prison Break I’ve watched series 1 and 2 and think I have one more to watch?

Anyhow, I’ve got a lot of TV drama by the looks of it to catch up on, so I’ll sign off now and get started… I’ve still got to watch last week’s Sunday’s Hollyoaks Omnibus which I sky + before watching this Sunday’s!

Til next week. xxx

ISSUE 19 WELCOME TO THIS WEEK’S FIERCE LIST…

Hope your weeks have been good…

This week’s issue is about The King of Pop, sultry singer Chrisette Michele, Exclusive designer sales, the trend they’re calling ‘jeggings’, American Apparel and this week’s episode of the Apprentice.

There should be something here for all of you… I'm off to bed.

Rxxxx