{From Just 4 Aaliyah}

In my teenage years, you had two choices on who you could idolise. You could pick the blonde, brainless, faux-virginal pop princesses like Britney/Christina or you could choose the intelligent, sassy princess  of R&B, Aaliyah. I feel I made the right choice, because Christina has lost faith her talented raw voice and resorted to drunkenness and auto-tune, and Britney is now a shell of her former self striving to regain her former glory. But Aaliyah will be forever timeless.

This was Aaliyah’s debut single, and the fashion in this video is truly dated and cringe-worthy. Exposed boxers and crop top with oversized denim and leather topped off with a bandana is not exactly the style she is well known for now. A lot of female rappers dressed like men in the 90’s, so she went for this unflattering look to blend into the rap scene. I also blame R Kelly’s influence as well, as he did try to mould her into his ideal of a R&B songstress.

This video was in the soundtrack of her first major film Romeo Must Die, a personal favourite of mine. The video is overloaded on rhinestones and leather with a substantial Asian influence. I believe this was the zenith of Aaliyah’s music career, at this point she had established herself as a fantastic singer and dancer and was on her way to becoming a big movie star. The clothes are more like costumes than outfits, so unless you want to look like a bikers mistress I wouldn’t attempt to recreate these looks. But I do think her dip-dye hair is cute as hell. And does anyone else love the Room of Mirrors scenes a la Enter the Dragon?

It’s rare to see a music video where the singer has more clothing on than the backup dancers. You can see there’s a lot of acid washed denim, all white outfits, with a few Caribbean-styled clothes thrown in for measure. Not really my style but the scenery and underwater shots are breathtakingly picturesque. Sadly this was her last video, as the plane she left The Bahamas in crashed with no survivors.

It’s been many years since Aaliyah’s death, but I still feel her influence on my life. I’ve adopted her sleek style and penchant for leather, bought some of the cheap memorabilia that was released as soon as she was put in the ground (all the profits went to charity though), I’ve even had my hair cut in a similar style to hers recently. Every now and then I play her songs and feel sad because she was inches from achieving her dreams when her life was cruelly stolen from her.

The name Aaliyah means ‘The highest, most exalted one, the best.’ And that she most certainly was.

Supermodel Kate Moss, who pioneered the ‘heroin chic’ look, made her Vogue cover debut in March 1993 and 17 years later she’s still in demand. So why is this 36 year old still successful when so many have failed? Here’s her answer:

“People think your success is just a matter of having a pretty face. But it's easy to be chewed up and spat out. You've got to stay ahead of the game to be able to stay in it.”

And she’s absolutely right. Her Topshop clothing range has doubled her income, and almost every fashionable woman in England (and some in America) consider her to be their fashion muse. I don’t find her to be particularly inspiring when it comes to her style, but I admire her business savvy. It’s what makes her super and not just a model.

Samantha Harris is my fashion muse because she has shown that ethnicity and poverty mean nothing when you are truly beautiful inside and out. Her mother, Myrna Sussye, was part of the Stolen Generations (Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their parents and ‘re-educated’ so they could be assimilated into European culture as servants). She then had to raise four children in a housing estate, struggling to finance Samantha’s dream of becoming a beauty queen/model.

Samantha started attending beauty pageants when she was six years old, wearing op shop gowns and encountering rejection and subtle racism, as she was always finalist and never a winner. What did the winners look like? White with blonde hair and blue eyes, usually wearing a $500+ outfit. Her mother convinced her to keep going, instilling ideals about her inner beauty and at age 13, she was a finalist in Girlfriend Magazine, and was signed up to Chic Management not long after.

 

So why haven’t we heard of this girl until this year? Because she was being smart: going to school while looking after her body, and only doing modelling gigs on holidays and weekends. Samantha finally graduated high school, her portfolio with new pictures were sent to every big name in Australia- and she ended up walking in 18 shows (the majority she opened) during their fashion week. Now that she has conquered Oz with her good looks, the rest of the world should be sitting up and taking notice.

I admire this girl because she’s not like most teenage models who quit school and don’t look after themselves (and then end up being undesirable models after puberty).  She’s made a smart career move, and if she plays her cards right she’ll be the next Naomi Campbell!

I don’t think I can describe why I like this girl better than Isaac Likes can-  Stuff.co.nz has already declared her ‘the next big thing’ and the Australians have already claimed her as one of their own (typical!). She was discovered when she was 13 (along with her older sister) and she’s been working ever since.

I’m impressed that a girl can fly around the world on a gruelling models schedule and still find time to study extramurally for her Bachelor of Science!

Aaradhna has three things I admire: Long flowing hair, a love of big earrings, and an amazingly talented voice. I was watching a DVD with the first 10 years of Dawn Raid on Sunday and it has all her old music videos on it. So even though she’s not a recent muse she has been in the past.

Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel’s father is Indian, her mother is Samoan and her big break came when she got to sing in front of Dawnraid’s Brotha D while he was at her grandma’s getting his hair braided. She’s almost a mix of Beyonce and Amerie musically- so no wonder she’s over in LA writing, recording, and rubbing shoulders with the A-list of hip-hop!

I would have picked her collaboration with Savage (where she plays the ‘ghetto princess’) or Adeaze (where she’s dressed as a Bollywood diva) as my first video but this is her favourite song and she seems herself in the video- Bright Indian inspired sari and streetwear, plenty of bangles, and of course the statement gold earrings. The love story between her and the Fruit & Vege owner is very sweet too.

Here she goes full Beyonce- with prerequisite stage outfit, performing her heart out with two backup dancers. Her voice is amazing as always but the choreography? Not her strong point.

Like most of our national singers, she jumped the ditch two years ago and started experimenting with dance music (which Aussies are great at). She’s perfect in the genre, and her Indian style jewellery has been replaced with the chunky, African tribal look which is more modern.

So of course we wish her luck in the city of angels chasing her Hollywood dreams- keep doing your thing girl!

As much as I admire Beyoncé as a singer, I would never buy anything from her Dereon fashion line.

 

 

 

Watching these videos upset me…she seems like such a bright and talented person. After I finish my Sartorial Portal post I’m going to do a Fashion Muse tribute post for her.

i danced all night
i sold my soul
i sang a song
killed everyone
i realized space
i abandoned love
i bought blood
i hid my tears

-Daul Kim

I’ve been having a bit of trouble thinking about fashion muses, so one day I decided not to worry about it and watch one of my favourite blaxploitation movies- Cleopatra Jones. Then it hit me- shouldn’t the woman who kick started the whole ‘strong black action female’ be my fashion muse?

Tamara Dobson plays Cleopatra Jones, an ass-kicking special agent dead-set on ridding the streets of heroin. When she burns a Turkish poppy field worth 30 million dollars, the white lesbian drug lord ‘Mommy’ decides to attack her lovers rehab centre and lure Cleopatra back to the USA.

For an action-style movie, the plot is simple and easy to follow, the characters are great (I love the big-shot dealer Doodlebug), the quips are superb and the outfits! Lets just say, Cleopatra Jones sure loves her fur! A film reviewer says this was supposed to symbolise her ‘animalistic’ side, so lets not get caught up on the ethics of a anti-drug woman wearing a pelt of a poor animal. Cleopatra Jones is also referred to as a ‘female James Bond’ as she never goes incognito, preferring outrageous outfits and flamboyance to draw out the enemies. And she sure is wearing the right clothes for it! She goes from boho to dressy to a flowing middle-eastern look to get the desired effect.

I took a lot out of this- I loved the fur coats (I’d do it in faux of course) the smart looking hats and headdresses, the casual silk outfits and her beautiful blouse shown above. I also admire this character because there aren’t any modern female role models that can be strong without being overly sexualised.

So for those interested, here's an awesome home made trailer, and you can catch the movie on Youtube. I’m still trying to get a hold of the sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold on DVD but I’m sure I can find it!

I was also very sad to find out Tamara Dobson died in 2006 from pneumonia and MS. RIP, and ride on sweet sister!