Solange Knowles For VOGUE'S Fashion's Night Out

I Saw It In A September Issue: The Fantabulous Solange Knowles' new advertisement for Fashion's Night Out as seen in the September issue of VOGUE Magazine. Those of you in NYC have one of the best FNO'S in the country. Check FNO to learn more about this upcoming event.

FATIMA SIAD FOR MARSHALL'S SS 2012 CAMPAIGN

While out and about this weekend my family and I hit the malls and the shopping centers in search for bargains to wear for the upcoming warmer weather. While at the check out counter at Marshall's my daughter told me to look up at the huge poster of Fatima Siad staring down at us. Yes, it was Fatima in an ad campaign for Marshall's and my cashier even knew who she was.

Last year it was Atong Arjok  who was featured in their Spring and Summer campaign now this year it's Fatima along with three other models wearing the latest in summer trends. I'm proud of Fatima because she proves once again that you don't have to finish first in order to shine and shine she has by walking in several designer fashion shows and snagging some of the top advertising campaigns. I started to pull out my phone to snap a photo, but instead I told my daughters that I'll go straight to Marshall's for the photos and of course they had them.

While shopping at some of my favorites stores, I also noticed Ataui Deng for Macy's, Jasmine Tookes for Sephora, Grace Bol for NARS, Fatima for Target, Ajak Deng for Macy's and also Tomiko Fraser Hines for TARGET.

Photos: Marshall's

Inspiration: Joyce Walker-Joseph and Barbara Summers

Actress/Model Joyce Walker-Joseph

Author/Model Barbara Summers

Anyone who was a teenager in 1976 should remember these advertisements of Joyce Walker-Joseph and
Barbara Summers from the late '70s. As a teenager I remember them quite vividly because these two ladies were some of my favorite models and anything which featured Joyce on the cover was in my possession and still is. I was digging through my archives until two in the morning having no idea how late it was looking for certain magazines and came across these two photos. I read all the time about women looking for inspiration in women who resembles them in the media, well I had these two women and a host of other's that I was elated to see featured in mainstream publications. It's different today because the imagery that their now selling is that of the unattainable...basically the look of someone else.

The Seventeen magazines featuring Joyce and Whitney Houston were some of their #1 Bestsellers.

I went out and bought that carved rose necklace and earrings that Barbara was wearing because I wanted to look like her. My friend and I copied the whole look from the makeup to the Afro.Today Joyce works as an theater actress and is an activist. Barbara Summers is a highly noted author and historian, especially of the fashion industry with several well known books in publication. Skin Deep:Inside the World of Black Fashion Models is a large coffee table-book that has it's place alongside my other fashion books and is deffinitely worth a read.