New Couple Alert!: Ne-Yo and Lil Kim?

Oops! My bad.
When this photo of the grinning R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo first hit my desktop, I mistook his “date” at the Glamorama event in Chicago for the felonious female rapper who’s had as much cosmetic work as Joan Rivers.
Or, so it seems.
After closer inspection, that was the iconic muppet Miss Piggy posing on the red carpet with the Atlanta-based hitmaker; throwing more gas on the fire of speculation about his tastes in women.
According to a breaking WWD.com report Tuesday night, Ne-Yo and P-Wiggy were VIP guests at an “anything goes” fashion event that featured a “men’s version of a wet underwear contest”.
Ne-Yo reportedly declare while onstat that he might have stripped down to his skivvies too, but: “They didn’t want me to make the other models look bad.”
Discuss…

Back-to-School Clothes: Beyonce Style

What sort of parents would permit their daughters to go to school dressed like this? Pop superstar Beyonce and her own mother Tina are banking on the notion that a bunch will.
They’ve just (disjointedly) announced an extension of their stagnant House of Dereon clothing line: it’s the Sasha Fierce juniors collection they plan to ship to stores in time for the back-to-school shopping period.
In statements released separately (Bey’s on tour, Tina’s not), they implied that the clothes are based loosely on the costumes that Thierry Mugler designed for Mrs. Jigga’s ongoing series of concerts to promote her third solo album.
Online, New York magazine reported the launch derisively; mocking potential Sasha Fierce customers as “misguided”. “It all sounds perfect,” nymag.com deadpanned, “except the merchandise list lacks two key elements: the metal glove and the money fan.”
Women’s Wear Daily took a more measured tone toward the launch of Sasha Fierce “sportswear, outerwear, handbags, footwear, eyewear, lingerie and jewelry”. Parents beware: “the line has so far been picked up by department stores including Macy’s and Dillard’s,” WWD reported.
The expectation is that all the young ladies who’ve bought into the Sasha Fierce alter ego Beyonce concocted will make cash registers ring to the tune of $50-$150 per item.
Looking at this garb _ this money grab _ just makes me grateful that, for the foreseeable future, my son will be taught in a single-gender classroom and his female schoolmates will wear mandatorily drab uniforms.

J-Lo's Fashion Label Fizzles Out!

Those ladies out there who still swear by the Jennifer Lopez designs in their wardrobes may want to start stocking up on the label.
According to WWD.com, J-Lo announced Tuesday that her Sweetface fashion label will no longer be sold in the U.S. once the current cycle’s done. A prepared statement, in words we can’t believe “Jenny On The Block” actually uttered, this was the explanation: “(W)e have decided to put the Sweetface line on hiatus while we prepare to reintroduce the brand in the near future with new messaging points and an entirely new fashion point of view,”.
Translated into simple English: “No one was buying it!
Lopez launched her fashion brand to much fanfare in 2001 (click for video). Yours truly, in fact, had a (second row) seat at the lavish Sweetface debut during New York Fashion Week. The label’s prospects seemed so bright back then that chunky crystals covered the black carpet of the Swarovski-sponsored show.
Since then, La Lopez has had to juggle her music career, her acting aspirations, motherhood and matrimony along with her design enterprise. The latter languished into oblivion, though J-Lo has reportedly licensed Sweetface out for sales overseas and her accessories deals with Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret (along with her fragrance contracts) remain intact.
J-Lo’s official web site makes no mention of the news. Ironically, the biggest update surrounding Lopez’ multi-faceted career may be the report that she’ll soon star in a romantic comedy about a woman who seeks to jump-start her life by having a test tube baby. It’s titled: “The Back-Up Plan”.
Would you agree that she needs one?
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'Apprentice' Kwame Ties The Knot in Atlanta

East Coast entrepreneurship and Southern showmanship were wed in Atlanta Tuesday at a ceremony hosted by a former star of NBC’s “The Apprentice”.

Kwame Jackson (left), who finished second to Bill Rancic in the original season o Donald Trump’s reality show, staged a flashy debut of his upscale new brand Krimson by Kwame at an ultra-modern Buckhead mansion that was rented for the occasion.
Every square foot of custom marble floor space was crammed: the “dandy” quotient ran so high among the invited men that the scene resembled auditions with “The Donald”; and the women were dressed their dainty best.
“I had faith in Atlanta that we’d draw a crowd like this,” Jackson gushed. “So far, it’s been one of my most supportive markets.
“Nights like this convince me that I can one day do what Ralph Lauren did: take one 4-inch wide silk tie design that no one but Bloomingdales would sell, and turn it into an international brand.”
Kwame’s fine neckties (a mostly conservative assortment of stripes, solids, checks and paisleys in muted tones) were selling briskly at the party ($70 each, 2 for $150), with partial proceeds benefitting breast cancer research and the 100 Black Men of Atlanta’s charities.
Currently, the ties are sold through Macy’s and Belk stores, as well as the krimsonbykwame web site.
Among the quickest to buy ties Tuesday night was Justin Gatlin, the Olympic sprinter who was stripped of his 100 meters world record (9.77 seconds) in 2006 following a USA Track investigation into steroids.

“I moved to Atlanta to train, rebuild my reputation and prove how hungry I am to race again,” said Gatlin (right, with rising R&B singer Jerika Richardson). “As an athlete, I spend most of my life in workout gear. But when it’s time to dress up, I want every piece to look right.”
Local menswear designer Cedric King (below, left), of the Dap-Rugget shop, said he admired the Krimson ties’ craftmanship, but noted something lacking.
“They’re too ‘clean’; they need that punch to make them stand out more.”

On this night, the men making the most effort to punch up their looks were the ones wearing jaunty bowties. One extra large (and imposing) gent went so far as to tie a standard Krimson necktie into a perfectly knotted bow. Another, with his blue-and-gold bowtie loosened quipped: “Years ago, bow ties like mine were the norm. You know what they say about style: every good look comes back again.”
For a full view of the Krimson by Kwame event: view the photo gallery at JimiFlixx.com