CHRIS(TY) DIVINE

2011-10-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

BLACK. Part 2.

2011-09-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Lol, today was funny as I wore black lipstick for the first time to college and the reactions were hilariousss. Some stared, others said it looked good while others said it didnt.. Some didn't care...Some said I had unique swag.. Haha, apparently when I walked passed a group of boys they all stared with horrified looks on their faces.. One girl even shouted "Errr, that looks butters!" (butters means ugly) and I heard quite a lot more comments like that through out. I couldn't really see the fuss, it was only black lipstick, sheesh. But I go to a black dominated college, so most of them are from the 'hood', LOL (aren't we all?) Sooo, it was new to them!

BTW - my skirt is £1 from Liverpool St Market - YES, £1 !!!

BLACK.

2011-09-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

Black lipstick, ohh yeah! I'm gonna be very nice and give a link for you guys to buy it for under £2!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290547276724?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_770wt_754

Ordinary college day!

2011-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Just another ordinary day after college. I'm back for my second year and I am determined to leave with some A's! Uni is round the corner.. God+my books is all I need..

Just realised I haven't ever posted looks here ever.. Thats because this was intended to be just fashion, culture, black people, my work, etc. But I thought why not? I have a blog with my J.A.C.K girls called http://jackurswag.blogspot.com and thats where I usually post my pics with them.. But sometimes I take pics on my own so I thought I should start posting them here!

Bleaching

2011-09-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Vybz Kartel ah sell out! Mi cyan't stand the cake soap bleaching goat! Wid his ghost face, ugly, nyasty skin!

(Lol, excuse my extremely poor patois/patwa, I like to pretend I'm Jamaican sometimes)

Bleaching. Why do people do it? Why do black people do this to themselves? Why do they feel that if they are lighter, they are more attractive? It is societies image of beauty that has mislead the people of the world to believe that this is best. To change the colour of your skin by using dangerous chemicals, therefore increasing your chance of deadly diseases such as cancer. My perception of beauty has grown to be very different to the worlds own. Girls of today like to wear their hair in weaves and apply excessive make up on their faces. Now I'm not saying this is wrong, as I like to wear extensions and so on. But what annoys me is how unnatural and how fake girls end up looking. People like Nicki Minaj promote the idea of fake beauty; that you should recreate yourself into the worlds idea of 'perfect'. That by looking a certain way, you will be accepted by the world and hailed as 'beautiful'. (I say beautiful with quotation marks because that is not what I call real beauty.)

Everybody who knows me, know I like to waffle on about beauty and the world, the way the devil has deceived us, etc. But let me get back to the topic of bleaching.

Vybz Kartel is a SELL OUT. He has sold out on black people. How? By changing his skin colour. He has shown us that he is ashamed of his dark skin, and has proved that he is a very insecure man. It is obvious he felt that if he was lighter, he'd be seen as more attractive, get more girls and perhaps make it even bigger in the music industry. (I'm not making assumptions, its a blatant obvious truth). To dig deeper, it is clear that he was just not pleased with himself and had some self image problems. But then for the loaf to claim that "Vybz Kartel is an out-raaaaygeous person, so he does out-raaaaygeous things," (tell me, why the hell is he speaking in 3rd person?!) is just absolute BOLLOX to me. The guy chats the biggest crap I have ever heard.

Stop being ashamed of yourselves, my brothers and sisters! Love yourself and who you are. Don't be ashamed of your skin colour, thats how God made you, so deal with it. We all get insecure; I'm one of the most insecure people around. I used to think I had BDD or something, coz there was a point when it was getting really bad, and so I'd cry most times or just stay in bed all day because I was so unhappy with my looks. Now its lessened, but usually when its that time of the month, all these emotions start kicking in again. But don't let it get the best of you. Even though I was unhappy, I knew I would never go and bleach or do plastic surgery. That's just one of the biggest offences to God. You're basically telling him he didn't do a good enough job when it came to creating you. That is not the case, "you are fearfully and wonderfully made..."

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptiblebeauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." - 1 Peter 3:3-4

- Thats real beauty right there.

"We Are Not Enemies, But Friends"...

2011-08-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Obama's Victory speech (2:17-2:27)

American History X (0:39-0:50)

So one of my friends produced a song titled 'Keep Your Friends Closer' with no words apart from this quote at the end.

And I was intrigued by it and wondered where it was from. When I researched and found out it was from a speech by Abraham Lincoln, I was shocked! I found the quote to be very inspiring and I was moved. I was moved because it was so true. I am a very religious person, so my thoughts went straight to psalm 122. This is a psalm that has made me shed tears because what it speaks about. It gives me hope about where I am going in the future, but also leaves me in deep thoughts about the current state the world is in, and how divided we are. So, I wrote a poem inspired by my friends song and the speech.

Keep Your Friends Closer - poem (27.03.2011)

“We are not enemies, but friends.

We must not be enemies.

Though passion may have strained,

it must not break the bonds of our affection.” - Abraham Lincoln

We are all together in this.

You, me,

We are together, all one family.

It is the closeness that we share

that will keep us tightly compacted together.

One unit, one body, for all we have is each other.

Although it may not seem a lot

the truth is, it is greater than anything else in this world.

For we come from an even greater family in another realm.

So let us join hands, and hold on with our dear lives.

With all of our strength.

Because it is with the help of each other that we will survive

This mean, nasty, cruel world in which we live in.

The one that is under the evil doers spell.

The reason why so many of us are destined to hell.

But when we depart from each other

and fight like enemies

we cause ourselves to fall, like Adam and Eve in Genesis.

When we have world wars

and refuse to help our brothers and sisters

the distance between us becomes greater

And we never find peace

Because we have shunned peace away

and so we are left alone and astray

This is why we must not be enemies, but friends.

When we are friends, life becomes easier to bear

And no more will we have to cry tears.

Even when trouble comes our way

and though passion may have strained

If we are close, surely we can still maintain?

That everlasting love between us all

For we shall not let the bad things break the bonds of our affection

And instead, continue on with devotion and determination.

So march forth, oh yeah people

Into a world named Zion,

And carry on I tell you, carry on.

Into a world full of hope and promises which can never be broken

Because they were made by an unbreakable person.

Inspired by Abraham Lincoln's speech, and a song by Jean Luc.

On set

2011-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

So today I was on set for a magazine spread for Teen Book which ma homie (lol) Ibrahim is a fashion editor for. Lately I have been contributing such as researching trends for the mag + street style. Now I got the chance to try out my styling and I think it worked out okay! Ibs and I did the styling and the models were really cool. So was the photographers and make up/hair stylists. Cool vibe, cool shoot. *thumbs up*

P.S (Excuse the bags underneath my eyes, I cried myself to sleep last night after watching Titanic. It was that darn ending when the old aged Rose died in her sleep and dreamed of everybody in the room as she entered and met Jack at the top of the stairs and then they kissed. Whyyyy couldn't it happen in real life?!) Loooool.

Baby Doll

2011-08-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

My big mums bought me a peach baby doll dress today which I think is so pretty. Planning to wear it with heels or wedges.

My life in the past 3 days

2011-07-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday and Saturday I atended a short course called 'Fashion Sketchbook'. We had to look at artists Christo and Jean-Claude. They usually like to wrap objects and buildings and so we were asked to wrap objects. We then had to draw different parts of our objects using different mixed media. When that was over we used calico to design garments inspired by our drawings. This then developed into us designing our own mini collections.

I had so much fun and by the end when I had drawn my collection I decided this would become one of the first collections of Uncle Jam (my personal fashion label) in the coming future. As you already know Uncle Jam has four main collections. Two always stay the same which are 'The Boyfriend' and 'P-Funk' collection. The other two always change. One is always inspired by an influential person or thing while the other is always inspired by culture or an era in time, etc. I decided to call this collection I did at the course 'Skyline' which is inspired by the modern ages; skyscrapers, the city, tall buildings and futuristic-looking things.

On sunday I was so angry at the stupid transport we have in London because it caused me to be extremely late for church and so I decided to visit the famous St Pauls Cathedral. There is something about cathedrals and all of these big historical churches that move me. I strangely love cathedral music such as organs and the choirs that sing there. So I went and as always, I got teary-eyed and enjoyed the Echuarist service a lot. I also had Holy Communion and I just genuinely loved that church!

Inspirations : Parliament Funkadelic

2011-07-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

I have a huge ambition to create one of the biggest fashion empires the world will ever see and it will be called 'Uncle Jam (Prints)'

Uncle Jam is a fashion label which is heavily inspired by music and culture and also prints. But then you wonder, what the hell is Uncle Jam??

Well not long ago I had a huge obsession with a song called (Not Just) Knee Deep by one of the greatest funk groups of the 70s Parliament Funkadelic (also known as Parliament, Funkadelic, P-Funk Allstars, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, etc.) specifically from 01:40-02:14:

This song is from one of two of their greatest albums ever (the other being One Nation Under A Groove) which is called Uncle Jam Wants You.

I started to look at the way they dressed and realised how eccentric they were. Their dress sense was literally out of this world, but there was something about their 70s fashion I loved.

I started to design outfits based off of their own and from there I decided Uncle Jam would be the name of my label! I didn't want my clothes to look exactly like their outfits, but instead for elements to be taken from their style and incorporated into my own. They are my muse, my influence and my inspirations! I have four main collections under one house but the biggest focus is the 'P-Funk' collection.

Glastonbury 2011: Fave Street Style Looks

2011-06-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

Glastonbury 2011 was amazing! No, I did not go, I just watched it on tv. (lol)

But the festival season is not only about the amazing artists all coming together under one event, it is also about the people, the culture and the fashion. Looking at style.com's snaps of different people's looks at the event, I saw there was all sorts of different styles going on and picked my favorite 5!

Almost EVERYONE wore Hunter wellies and the heritage look was very frequent, as well as the 80s madonna/rock/leather look!

Alexa Chung

Peaches Geldof

Find the rest of the photos here: http://www.style.com/trendsshopping/stylenotes/062711_Glastonbury/

William Okpo

2011-06-28T13:37:00.002-07:00

Darlene and Izzy Okpo, founders and designers of William Okpo

I came across the founders of William Okpo during my daily browsing on Tumblr.

Darlene and Lizzy Okpo are two amazing sisters who together created the fashion line "William Okpo", which was named after their father. They are both Nigerian (like myself), and not to mention stunning!

But what seemed striking to me about them the most was their personal style. I have just started getting into the whole ethnic/Afrocentric/'embracing your culture' (whatever you want to call it) kinda look. They wear African jewellery, beautiful African prints, maxi skirts and wear their braids extremely long.

Darlene

Lizzy

Their label is one to look out for. Their f/w 2011 collection I felt were very delicate, and contained neutral colours and soft cuts.

Rest of the collection here: http://williamokpo.com/

More info here: http://stylelikeu.com/closets/lizzy-and-darlene-okpo/

And I am back

2011-06-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have decided I want to get back into blogging, but this will not be a blog that is mainly about myself. It will be about other designers, inspirations, people, etc.

So sit back and stay tuned.

Tumblr

2011-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

I am a very lazy person unfortunately and so literally cannot be ARSED to update this blog. I deleted all my old posts :-(

+ I need a new cam... Till then, check my tumblr : http://chrisdivine.tumblr.com

Rihanna Essence spread/bowl cut hair

2010-12-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

This is an old Essence magazine spread of Rihanna (last year I think?)

I love her mushroom/bowl hair cut here. I shaved my hair like hers,

so this will be my next hairstyle hopefully!

:-)