The Lessons in Michelle Obama's Hips

STOP IT!!!! I am deathly tired of everyone talking about this woman's hips in everything she wears. She knows they're there. She, and I, wake up every morning and look at them unadorned while deciding just how we feel about them that day. To all the flat butt women and skinny bone chasing men out there let her be.

Now I normally don't rant and rave about things like this but looking at her in this fabulous black hip hugging dress reminded me of trying on mermaid wedding dresses a couple of months ago. I just happen to be shaped like Mrs. Obama; small upper body, smallish waist, wide hips, and a high substantial backside. A figure that I thought would be banging in a mermaid dress. But alas, none of the dresses that could have fit my upper body made it past my 41 in. hips. It was a frustrating notion to realize that the designers and by extension the public thought I was supposed to be ashamed of and hide what my mama gave me.

Now I found the dream dress and it was fly as hell, but I wish the experience of trying on dresses wasn't so traumatic. Hips, thighs, booty and all those other womanly curves should be celebrated and displayed in anyway the owner desires without a chorus of haters. I hope Mrs. Obama keeps those fierce curves on display so that more women are comfortable accentuating them.

Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Creative Cocktail Attire

So everyone for the wedding wants to know what exactly creative cocktail attire is. My ideas for winter creative cocktail are perfect multi-hued, patterned items like these.

dress: anthropologie shrug bonzie on etsy.com, boots: nine west

Paired with some textured tights and you have creative cocktail!

dress: anthropologie.com , necklace and shrug: etsy.com

Ask LaMont: How to dress 'creative cocktail'

Monday, May 12, 2008

By LaMont Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Q: I recently was invited to a work-related evening affair. The invitation described attire as "creative cocktail" and I wasn't sure what that meant. How should I dress?

A: That's not a common dress code. Gone are the days of formal, informal, cocktail or even business casual. People are coming up with all sorts of new things like "creative cocktail."

Newfangled dress requirements don't have to be stressful to navigate. My guess for creative cocktail is something that fuses a less-structured side of evening with a funky sartorial twist. It's polished but not overly dressy, unexpected but not inappropriate, witty but not self-aggrandizingly over-the-top.

What might that look like? I recently helped attire a friend who attended an affair that requested creative cocktail attire. He showed up at the function in navy trousers, a blue-and-white striped shirt with an open collar and a navy-and-white polka dot silk hanky tucked in the breast pocket of his sleek khaki-colored blazer. He completed the look with black loafers and was the picture of debonair.

He also could have gone with khaki pants, a multicolored plaid jacket and a pastel shirt with a skinny bow tie and a Panama hat. Or a two-button business suit with a colored polo shirt and cowboy boots.

A woman dressing for creative cocktail might want to put on a fitted skirt with high heels, interesting hosiery, a bold blouse and numerous ropes of pearls. Or wide-legged solid slacks with a colorful scarf for a belt and a long-sleeve knit top with stacked bracelets. Or a little black dress with colored peep-toe pumps and a straw fedora in the same color family.