vintage new year's.

i stole these from wwd. these are classic. andre leon talley and diana ross cut a rug on new year's eve, bringing in 1979, at studio 54. see the others over at wwd.

skillz' 08 wrap up.

at the end of every year i look forward to skillz' year wrap up. each year he keeps it oh so real and calls out all the headliners of the year. he didn't dissapoint. listen:

nothing but the best.

ahh, the new year. the reflection of everything from the past year and the possibilities of what's to come in the coming year. a time when you really consider that as you enter the new year, that anything is within reach and the best is yet to come.

i want to thank everyone who has encouraged sgb this year as we worked on the relaunch. as an entrepreneur, after the experiences with business developing this year, i could write a book. forreal. an encouraging, brutally honest chronicle of the life of a determined entrepreneaur as she travels from a wannabe to a superstar. in her own right. perhaps i will ...

sgb has some tricks up their sleeves. yessir. just when you thought you had us figured out, we come from left field. we're gonna leave it at that. no need to talk about it. you'll see soon for yourself.

happy, happy new year to all of you. may you dare to dream and deliver big(ger).

i've elected this as my theme song going forward. frank sinatra, nothing but the best:


watch!

jeffrey campbell: biker chic.

i've heard such hate towards this jeffrey campbell, friendly priced shoe but can i tell you how much i love it. i was THIS close to buying it. THIS close. but i restrained myself especially after realizing that the carlos santana shoes i just bought are along the same lines. not exactly but close enough to convince myself that i don't need these. right now ...

love it or hate it?

sweet dreams.

yet another online find that i swear mr. west would like. maybe i should start a new label: "stuff kanye would like."

private cloud rocking bed. nice.

y-mail.

ysl patent coin purse. kinda cute, huh? as long as you'll have change left over after spending $175 for it.

beauty 360.

a month or so ago, i read about beauty 360 and since i have a new found love affair with make up (thanks in part to ayesha, makeup artist/friend; and shamal from the georgetown mac store) I figured i'd write about it.

cvs has opened several upscale cosmetic boutiques next to its shops. called beauty 360, the boutiques will offer free facials and nail polish treatments. the first one is here in dc and there's another one coming to california and other areas very soon.

remember when we used to rock: guess jeans.

that triangle logo patch was very necessary in the 1980s. guess jeans were the coolest jeans to own. if you owned a pair, then you were cool too.

one memory i have is of this chick, she had a different name, i think it was blythe. anyway, blythe had a pair of guess jeans for every day of the week. i remember i thought she was the ish because she had ripped her guess patch off all her jeans. doing so left a dark triangle imprint behind where the patch once existed, just a resemblance of the guess patch. everyone still knew they were guess jeans. and for some reason and another i thought that was so genius.

i hail from philly. where do you rep; did you gotta have that question mark on your behind too?

throwback cinema: school daze.

yooo, can i tell you how much i love this movie, definitely in my top 10. i'm sitting up here , about to start dinner, and glued to the tv watching this. i can watch it over and over. i almost forgot phyllis hyman made an appearance in this. and who could forget eu "that big ole, big ole butt owww". and how about kadeem hardison in kfc talking about samuel jackson "don't do that yawl, jerri curl is ready for the world." lol loves it.

straight up, movies like this 1988 flick made us start thinking about and looking forward to college before we were ready to go. love it. and always catch something new every time i watch it.

tearria marie: back with a statement.

tearria marie came back hotter with her new promo pictures. i love the hair and the gold jacket and i'll take the earrings too! when she was dropped from her label, she mentioned that dej jam was too busy focusing on rihanna. we're not mad at her for stepping it up for the big comeback. not sure we'll be checking for her new album but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt. what you think?

love that girl.

yes, i know it's vintage music saturday but my mom just put me on to this raphael saadiq song that mine as well be old school. it sounds like something my parents would have listened to coming up. loves it.

love overboard.

gladys knight! check out the big bow in her hair.

sgb public service announcement.

tis the season, as the new year approaches, for some good winter cleaning. in a couple of weeks we're getting new floors. i'm so stoked for two reasons: 1. for the floors itself, of course and 2. because we'll have to move furniture, an excellent time to organize and get rid of all the ish we've convinced ourselves that we need. i'm so ready to let go!

do any of your closets look like this?

yes? then sweetie, it's time to let go. do yourself a favor and stop sifting through those items that your thighs won't let you slide in or those shirts that still have the tags on it even though you bought them 2 years ago. um, yes, i'm guilty of both scenarios.

somewhere out there is another fashionista or inspiring fashionista who can rescue something you haven't done anything with in months. and with these iffy economic times, you can make a thrift store shopper's day, by finding something flyy for a steal.

i've been donating clothes forever; my mom introduced me to goodwill and purple heart as a youngin. it's as helpful for you as it will be for whomever walks away with it. so consider doing some pre-new year cleaning and find a thrift store or organization that you can donate too. it's tax deductible, you can get rid of not only clothes but household items, and some orgs will even pick the items up.

zsa.

zsa zsa opening her gifts yesterday.

on the 1st day of kwanzaa.

today's the first day of kwanzaa. do you celebrate? back in the day, my late uncle introduced the family to it and he used to host a party every year on the first day. it was cool and usually the only time during the year that we were sure to see the entire fam.
happy kwanzaa!

this christmas.

so christmas has come and gone. as always, the hype of the day lasts much longer than the actual day; you blink, you miss it. this christmas was great. started the day off with church, made my rounds, then gained at least 5 pounds at mom's dinner table, then worked it all off competing with the fam on wii. who knew that the egg nog would actually help turn me into a wii bowling champ.

hope you're christmas was just as lovely.

fancy footwear.

i put these hot, statement making supras under the tree for tye. can't wait to see them on him.

santa baby via eartha kitt.

rest peacefully, eartha kitt.

sleigh ride.

taking it back to '93, tlc. merry christmas, all!

twas the night before christmas.

whew. just back in from battling the last minute christmas eve craze. tye and i dropped zsa off at mimi's (grandmom) and ventured down to potomac today. we are so worn out that we decided to ditch a christmas party and stay in, finish wrapping gifts, and enjoy some adult refreshments.

anywho, i assume you all are winding down now too.

have a merry, merry christmas (please remember the reason for the season);

feliz navidad; happy kwanzaa; season's greetings ...

xoxo

diana.

why look for a parking space?

stay in and shop sgb.

sgb got gigs.

• buyers - apparel & accessories
• designers - apparel & accessories
• press/media associates
• stylists - clothing & make up
• street team
• interns
• assistant

perks: flexible freelance arrangement, set your own schedule, work remotely, supplement your income, get sgb discounts, & work with a flyy, growing company.

check out the gigs page and send a note to info@suigenerisboutique.com for more info.

last minute stocking stuffers.

ok, procrastinators. still need to wrap up your christmas list? at this point, i suggest you head over to your local bookstore and check out these 8 fashionista-friendly reads. never mind if they don't read. they'll look really cute on the coffee table:

hot.

i have a feeling i already told you this but i love this photo. miss angel, shot by kiam for sgb. probably my favorite shoot to date, we invaded chinatown and just freestyled. bumped into some firemen and they let us take over their truck for some hot shots, like this.

well everyone else is doing it.

the upteenth celeb to come out with a collection, mischa barton - you know, the chick from the O.C. - has a thing for accessories. first a handbag collection, ri2k, and now a headband line for stacey lapidus. wwd reports that prices range from $80-$200 and will be sold on stacey's website.

so uh yeh, can't say i'll be rushing out for headbands anytime soon but just in case you're interested.

tagged: my '08 wrap-up.

well nina (who stole it from delusions of grandeur,whoever that is) didn't tag me but i decided to tag myself. ope and ayesha and all my other readers who have blogs - tag, you're it, too.

my review of '08 ...
1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? tithe

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?i don't remember my '08 resolutions and yes i'll make more that i'll forget by this time next year

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? no

4. Did anyone close to you die? no

5. What countries did you visit?None...booo! (co-signed from nina)
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? the majority of 2008, the sgb site was being developed. in 09 i want sgb notoriety! the notorious s.g.b. - yehhh.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?nov. 4 - obama!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?relaunching sgb and not letting the process drive me entirely crazy

9. What was your biggest failure? starting then stopping my tithes. but i'm back yawl! i'm back!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?no

11. What was the best thing you bought? other than sgb's new look, guess it would have to be my car!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? our families for having our back and just being good peoples

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?if i told you i'd have to kill you.

14. Where did most of your money go? bills, sgb, and good food

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?the new sgb and obama

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? would have to be one of the million songs by lil wayne, and never would have made it by marvin sapp.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? just as happy if not more

ii. thinner or fatter? slightly fatter. (co signed nina)

iii. richer or poorer? well since i watched my 401k tank (thanks bush), i guess i'm slightly poorer - somehow i feel richer. explain that one for me.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? started my sgb journal earlier
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? TALK about working out and not working out

20. Did you fall in love in 2008? more in love with tye tye (lol, play violins now) and with bad a$$ zsa zsa

21. How many one-night stands? 119

22. What was your favorite TV program? reality/unscripted tv of course - keyshia cole, project runway, and we got into big brother this year

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?hate is such a strong word

24. What was the best book you read? do magazines count?

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? i can say i appreciate grown-folks music now more than ever

26. What did you want and get? the opportunity to ditch the 9 to 5 life and run my business solely

27. What did you want and not get? a new tattoo

28. What were your favorite films of this year? the only movie i even went to see this year was lakeview terrace.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 31 and went to dinner and drinks at a fabulous Mexican restaurant
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? discovering that tree in front of my house grows $100 dollar bills

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?eclectic

32. What kept you sane?prayer

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?Rihanna (co-signed nina)

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Obama-rama! (co sign nina)

35. Whom did you miss?

36. Who was the best new person(s) you met? sgb fans and friends

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: reconfirmed - secret to good life - trust God, listen to that inner voice.
if you're debating whether you should or shouldn't buy that new top, those new shoes, or those new pants - buy it. chances are when you get home you'll convince yourself you really need it and be pissed that you didn't buy it.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "sorry i'm a champion" jay z

mwah!

knickerbockers for men: hood-hot?

ok, i hope my girl, ope, doesn't mind but she just did a hot post on knickerbockers for men, informing me that this was a new spring '09 trend for men. i commented with a big NEXT but then asked if an urban label could make these hood-hot? what you think? could sean john or someone do something with these? enough that you could see your man rocking them? i mean, i'm curious. men already rock capris. the muslim cats back home in philly rock above the ankle pants all the time.

so what about knickerbockers?

<-- junya watanbe

saint nick.

not that st. nick. nicholas kirkwood. i've posted on him before. his shoes are sick! still.

sui generis fashion + lifestyle inspirations of '08.

i would have loved to come from left field with my choices for both fashion and lifestyle inspirations of the year and chose arguable, shocking winners but my selects are so undeniable that it is what it is.

so the crown for sui generis fashion inspiration of '08 goes to:
rihanna! of course, right? rihanna has quickly positioned herself as a stylista. it seems she can do no wrong. she takes chances with her wardrobe and doesn't seem to mind to go left when everyone else is going right. the chick even made rocking a foot brace look cool. a true trendsetter and a refreshing style goddess. i want her closet!

**

the crown for sui generis lifestyle inspiration of '08 goes to another likely choice. who else but the obamas! i decided not to just choose barack himself because so much of who he is, is so evidently attributed to the beautiful family that knows him best. the obama movement, as i like to call it, inspired all of us tremendously this year. i hardly recall many other headliners this year because the whole year was politics for me. i feel like i was running for president - that's how passionate i was throughout it all and worn out by the time he was declared the winner. his win is our win and the image of this beautiful family just makes us all want to step our game up.

cindi lauper.

i heart ________.

cute idea, you think? christopher deane i heart bag. you fill in who or what you heart - i'm sure it could get quite interesting.

got an eye for jewelry?

become a sgb jewelry buyer.

set your own hours. work your own schedule.

send a note to info@suigenerisboutique.com for more opportunities and info.

christmas in hollis.

classic. 1987. run dmc. used to love these guys!

obama: the college years.

time mag has named obama man of the year. no surprise here. you must check out time.com now for the "obama college years" photos. they are priceless. i'm already imagining a nice vintage tee ...

per time: "In 1980, when Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he was approached by an aspiring photographer named Lisa Jack, who asked him if he would be willing to pose for some black and white photographs that she could use in her portfolio."

love it.

material girl.

took it way back with this 80s madonna flick. used to love me some madonna.

lv stamped & approved.

throwback lil kim from 1999, shot by david lachapelle. per rolling stones magazine, it took a couple of hours to airbrush more than 100 stencils of the LV logo on kim's tiny frame. the idea made sense, especially back then, since kim always name dropped expensive labels in her rhymes.

if only she knew.

so ever since tv one's series, unsung, featured phylis hyman i've been interested in her story. i took a look at her many photos and she was so outstandingly stunning, beautiful and stylish. if only she had thought so, too.