Fashiona

Fashiona is ready to answer two outstanding questions:

1. How do you pronounce Fashiona? It is pronounced Fash-in-a.  Only Col. Dad and Mr. Random are allowed to say Fash-own-a  
2. What happened to that  class that she was supposed to teach?  Long story short: lesson plans were done, the offer letter was sent and start date was set…twice(true story), but alas the class was canceled.

Ironically, the WWD, otherwise known as the fashion bible, reported this week that enrollment in fashion colleges and schools  including: Parsons, Pratt Institute, FIT, St. Martins, Savannah College of Art and Design has increased at least 25-30%. Both the schools and the industry heads agree that even creative students need  to be more well-rounded and learn business skills as well as honing their crafts. 

Fashion 101: School adjust to the economy.Photo by Tyler Resty as shown on WWD.com

…so Miss Fashiona has other irons in the fire…got that shoe habit to support.

And yes she will bring the funny back tomorrow.

Day went to Night of Thousand Gowns‏ and has the pictures to show for it. Hail to  the queens…

One of biggest compliments that  Fashiona’s mom  has paid her recently is on the “quality of her close friends.” While Fashiona is  generally a friendly and upbeat person, she surrounds herself with like minded people and quickly divorces herself from equally toxic people.  Having traveled the world extensively, she has found that  race, religion, title, career choice or  background is of little consequence  when Fashiona is choosing her friends.

What DOES matter to her is that they are loyal and honest and agree to disagree.  They support her (and viceversa) when she is on the right path and give her tough love when she is being self-destructive.  Another quality that her close friends have…is their ability to  learn from their mistakes and to resist the “woe is me” mentality.

Consider celebrities like:

• Mary J. Blidge vs. Lil Kim~Mary has evolved from a being young woman with a troubled past into a dynamic wife and step-mother with an admirable singing career.Lil Kim is turning herself into a Barbie doll.
  

• Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin~Both suffered a major political defeat last year. Mrs. Palin has continued whining incessantly while  Ms. Clinton accepted the position of Secretary of State.
  

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In the example of Tyra vs. Naomi Campbell: They are both about the same age and achieved comparable success in their respective  modeling careers. Tyra has traded in her swimsuits for a TV career (not that Fashiona particularly cares for either show but does applaud her growth).

Ms. Naomi (who even more beautiful in Fashiona’s opinion)seems to be finally emerging from her cycle of cell phone temper tantrums and using her fame for good causes. Ms. Campbell first launched her Fashion for Relief in 2005 to help bring aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Photo Credit: EPA

Naomi Campbell modeling for her Fashion for Relief event London last year.

Next week she is partnering  with  India’s Vikram Chatwal  to help Mumbai recover from the horrific terrorist attacks they suffered last year. Some of the most glamorous designer labels in the world, including Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Zac Posen, Roberto Cavalli, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Matthew Williamson, Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik and Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee are all lending their  designs to  a charity fashion show held on March 28. to help kick off Lakme Fashion Week.

Has Naomi really turned a corner in light of her more positive recent headlines? …Fashiona certainly hopes so and maybe it hints to  Naomi  “cleaning” up her inner circle?

Yesterday, Fashiona had every intention of going to Saks to meet the lovely Shoshanna…but she had an allergy attack worthy of a 30 minute Zyrtec infomercial…she elected to protect the women and children and stay home to recover.

Fashiona took her meds, ate a cookie (just one),tucked herself in bed ridiculously early, and woke up just as early, perhaps the reason she absentmindedly left her wallet at home.  Still  a much better start than her   disastrous Friday the 13th in February.

Back to Fashion:

While Fashiona was gallivanting in Atlanta, Paris was wrapping up their Fall 2009 Fashion Week.  The French ALWAYS put on a good show…fashion and otherwise.

Leave it  to the Parisians to show  real crystal glass slippers…like the ones in Cinderella (the cartoon version was first movie that Fashiona ever went to).

Maison Martin Margiela, the ultra reclusive designer who is Belgian (like Hercule Poirot) but shows in Paris has been rumored to be leaving his post and has been reportedly  less involved in the daily design functions.

Whether there is truth the rumor or not…Fashiona loves his calling card.

Photo Credit: Dominique Maitre

Pretty…even prettier in size 39 or 7 1/2…Got that Fairy Godmother?

So Miss Fashiona is in  Hotlanta this week… partly for business and partly for personal reasons…always with an eye out for fashion.

Today was  beautifully sunny so she decided to walk around Buckhead…quite walkable in heels but she stashed her flip flops in her bag just in case.  Fashiona has been on her fashion game but has sadly been losing her battle with carbs lately.  Atlanta is a great Southern town…complete with constant refills of super sweet tea and seemingly unlimited bowls of pasta. Everyone has a personal trainer but what Fashiona really needs is  some discipline and a carb czar to remove the biscuits  from her hands.

Thankfully, she did burn some calories today walking around the mall and to and from a business lunch.   Most of the time she is not the best at window shopping but today she did well even with the constant promotions and giveaways and other lovely incentives to buy things she doesn’t need…according to Mr. Numbers.

Here is a few snapshots for you of some Atlanta finds outside Neiman Marcus…have a lovely weekend.