The Mannequins Around You

Are you a conscience shopper? How often do you walk into your favorite store and buy the exact same outfit as the mannequin? Or are you a picky shopper, you go the store to pick up that one item you've had your eye on all week. 

I'm an extremely picky shopper, I don't think I'm ever persuaded by the mannequins in the store. Honestly I don't think I ever payed much attention to merchandising until I became a merchandiser, now I analyze everything!

After work I decided to kill some time in Times Square and watch the snow fall until, I spotted the H&M sign! I haven't really enjoyed shopping at H&M much since moving to NYC, it's always over crowded with merchandise thrown all around. Just think of your local H&M but 10x worse. The Times Square H&M is a fairly new store and is also New York City's flagship store, so my expectations were pretty high. 

They had to have at least 50 mannequins or more placed throughout the entire store, maybe about 5 or 6 per section. I wasn't concerned about there outfits either. I payed very close attention to their style, as if they were alive and filled with swagg. I observed everything from the Rapunzel  black and white Cruella de Vil wigs to the razor sharp Asian bob mannequins outfitted in business attire. How about those grey and purple wig mannequins draped in soft denim and lavender. I was in total awe and my insides were filled with inspiration. I was inspired by the overall appearance of the store it was very inviting and also very empty. I'm sure this had a lot to do with the snow storm that had been taking place.  

Granting all of this, I work at American Apparel so I have an abnormal eye for creativity, check out this link to see exactly what I mean here.  

Below is a short video clip from my flagship experience.

Okay I know, my videography skills aren't that great, but hey cut me some slack this my first video. I created this video on iMovie. I'm unsure why it's so blurry but it didn't look this way on the program. Do you guys have any suggestions for other video programs? 

Musically Influenced

What does music do to you? Do you listen to a variety of genres? Or are you musically inclined to one specific artist and one specific genre? However you feel, the type of music you listen to has a lot to do with your character. Not to say you can judge a persons entire character by their playlist on their iPod but, I believe it has a lot to do with their current situation in life or mood. 

I always wonder what the person sitting next to me on the train is listening to because music is powerful and it plays a major role in my life. I am open to all genres but lately I've been listening to A LOT of Beyoncé, Beyonce, Beyoncé oh yeah and Beyoncé. I've never been a huge fan of Beyoncé until now and I definitely can respect this women's hustle. She produces amazing work and I was totally inspired by her visual album. 

When I'm not listening to Beyoncé I am playing Justin Bieber's new album "Journals", which is pretty decent. He has a few great artist featured as well such as R. Kelly, Future, and a few others. Bieber's style is a mixture of a throw back Justin Timberlake and teenage Usher. One of my favorite tracks from the album is "Hold Tight", don't judge me. 

I also enjoy listening to artist like Lana Del Rey whose low and raspy voice drills me in with her spicy slick lyrics. Artist like John Legend, Jhene Aiko, Elle Varner, MIA, J. Cole and Drake also help me to maintain my sanity during my over crowed commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan. 

What are some artist that have positive influences over your current moods?

Rap School

It's so crazy how the world works. I'm a firm believer that with trust and faith the universe will always lead us in the right direction….

Last night I got to experience something oh so cool, "Rap School".  From the name of the event you probably could guess it's description. Rap School, consisted of live music, awesome people, and great vibes in a somewhat chill and collective atmosphere. The energy in the room was totally awesome. 

Picture this, loud speakers, original instrumental beats, vocalist, rappers and musicians all in the same room. As the beat would play an artist, any artist would instantly rap their thoughts out loud feeding of one another rhythms. I was astonished by the talent and creativity in the room, I even imagined that I was in some kind of rap hip hop opera! 

I was able to exchange a few words with the owner of the house and the mastermind behind the movement. Sellers aka chief aka he goes by so many other names and a native Washingtonian like myself claims to have been hosting events like this for a very long time. Sellers isn't your traditional NYC musician, he's creative, innovative and the complete "jack of all trades". His creative thinking is what interests fashionistas like myself. 

He decided to give me a quick tour of his place while I bombarded him with questions. I'll try to be as descriptive as possible because I hardly took any photos. Inside the air was fabricated with herbal fragrances and vodka. The rooms were filled with characters holding plastic cups and spitting dope ryhmes. There was a pool table in the middle of the living room where most of the crowed hovered around. Planted on the walls were Sellers paintings. I remember his bedroom door vividly, he seemed really enthused about it. It was a collage of nick nacks, stickers and words screaming "Free Crack". I also got to scrimmage through a collection of his cassate tapes. 

Rap School was a complete success and I'm really looking forward to attending it again next Sunday!

New York City...(Life Post)

This New York lifestyle is a lot difficult than what I imagined. It's like every other week I'm falling in and out of depression. Although I am surround by selfdriven and intelligent women I somehow still manage to get caught up. My career has seen an improvement over the past few months but I'm still know where close to being the women I envision myself to be. I constantly tell myself that God has a plan and things will happen in life the way they are supposed to. But then I look at those around me doing the things that I want to do, living the lifestyle that I want to have, and I think to myself. I can do that, why am I not doing that? Why am I not afforded the exact same opportunities as them? I wonder, am I not good enough? What is it that I lack? What could I possibly be doing wrong? These are the type of thoughts that have been pacing back and forth in my mind lately. This place, this city that I've grown to love and hate at the very same time!

  

-Thoughts From The Subway.