A Diva State of Mind

I own a pair and Net-A Porter has tweeted a few pictures over the past week.  Maybe it is a sign that indeed blue suede pumps are a diva must have!   These fabulous pumps can be worn during the spring, summer and fall and look great paired with multiple colors of apparel and accessories including coral (or orange), grey, gold (or yellow), black , ivory and brown (or tan). I rocked my Enzo peep toe slingbacks a couple weekends ago with an all black romper and pearls to the House of KAS One Year Anniversary Fashion Show. They are my new favorite shoe!

Check out some fabulous blue pumps and below:

More Steve Madden…

Meeting people you’d be interested in dating is a lot easier said than done (at least it is in my case).  And these days, we all need to step outside of the box, and our comfort zone, in order to meet new people.

District365 offers an innovative way to meet singles and enjoy various venues in the city (restaurants, winery, Potomac cruise) through the First Date Factory.

Here’s how it works:

• Singles click HERE to provide an email address
• Each day you’ll get an email with the profile of a single professional in the DC area and their date location
• Click through to the site to find out more about them and contact them if you’re interested.
• If you hit it off, go on the date sponsored by District365.  Yup, it’s already paid for.

The First Date Factory is completely free! We all know, the summer time is the perfect opportunity to get out, meet people and have a great time dating.  As someone who is being more open when it comes to dating, the First Date Factory is something I may just have to try.  I mean going out with someone new and exploring the city for free couldn’t be that bad, could it??

I first heard of Brian Atwood while watching an episode of “The Rachel Zoe Project.” His shoes are HAUTE!  (I’ve added his name to a list a designers I look forward to affording one day).  For this upcoming fall season, Brian Atwood created B by Brian Atwood, a lower priced collection featuring 35 to 45 styles ranging from $100 sandals to $650 boots.

Atwood describes the collection “as three kinds of aesthetics melted together: Upper East Side poshness, mixed with downtown cool, along with a Parisian sophistication.”

In anticipation of the new collection, Saks Fifth Ave will premiere a new style everyday this week online available for pre-order.   The entire B by Brian Atwood collection will be available online on August 15th.

Check out a few styles below:

Love it!!!

What do you think of the B by Brian Atwood collection?

Source: Fashionologie

If you’re a fan of “Basketball Wives,” by now you have noticed the ladies wearing POParazzi earrings. Designed by Amber eUnique, the POParazzi brand is made up of earrings, bracelets and rosary.  The brand has been worn by a number of celebrities including Nicki Minaj, Amber Rose, Kim Kardashian and Diddy Dirty Money.  POParazzi has also graced the runways at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.  According to eUnique,

The brand represents a movement of bold men and women who dare to step out of the typical façade into an unfamiliar, striking and chic new era of fashion.

The collection ranges between $25-$200, making the jewelry affordable for everyone!!  Check out some pieces below:

Click HERE to view the entire POParazzi collection.  Now which pair of earrings do I want to purchase?! ;)

For you fashionistas in the DC area who just can’t see themselves staying in the house this weekend under the current heat advisory, you may want to check out the Bethesda Row Sidewalk Sale.  19 stores will participate in the sale beginning Friday, July 22nd.

Click HERE to learn more about the event!!

With the sun setting in the background, the National Plaza located at the National Harbor served as the perfect location for the House of KAS one year anniversary fashion show on Saturday, July 16, 2011. 

Hosted by Radio Personality Sarah Fraser and VH1 Reality Star Wil “Onix” Lash, approximately  3,700 fashionistas, socialites and athletes were in attendance at the show including Jaime Foster Brown of Sister-2-Sister Magazine, NFL Players Fred Davis (Washington Redskins), Brandon Banks (Washington Redskins), 2011 Draft Pick Keith Payne (Philadelphia Eagles), Songstress and Harpist Rashida Jolley, Thomas Lytle, VIP of Def Jam Recordings, Green of Posh Couture and wife of NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green and many more.

The show began with a presentation from Critique’ Boutique. The looks ranged from swimsuits, both one piece & two pieces, to colorful dresses.  I am in love with the ruched navy dress. Fabulous!

Following Critique’ Boutique’s runway presentation, My Bougie Baby premiered its new collection.   My Bougie Baby features trendy must-haves for young fashionistas.  And guess who was modeling down the runway?  That’s right, fabulous little ones. And let me tell you, those girls took over the show!  A few of them had so much attitude walking down the runway; literally strutting and posing for the camera like they were professionals. They were too cute!!

The fashion show concluded with a fabulous presentation by Kenneth “KAS” Flanagan. His collection featured both men and women pieces.  The fashions were gorgeous! There are a number of pieces I defintely want to add to my wardrobe including the white jumpsuit, black/white shorts & tube top, and the long red gown.  The men’s collection featured both suits and separates (slacks and button down shirts). 

Below are pictures of my favorite looks from the runway:  

The fashion show was not only a celebration of the House of KAS, but it was also a fundraiser on behalf of Flanagan’s  late mother. Following the KAS Collection presentation, Flanagan presented a $1,000 check to the American Cancer Society.

The event was a huge success and it was great to see so many fabulous people come together to not only celebrate a local designer’s success but raise money for a great cause. Kenneth ”KAS” Flanagan is a very talented and humbled designer. You can expect to see a lot more from Flanagan locally and nationally.  Hopefully I’ll get to meet and/or work with him in the near future!

House of KAS, My Bougie Baby and Critique’ Boutique are located at the National Harbor.

Photos by Phelan Marc and Phil Kogan

In May, Corey Woods commented on the post I wrote about Kanye West’s new line of scarves.  Little did I know, Corey is a famous eyewear designer of YEROC, a brand of eyewear that has been worn by a number of celebrities including P.Diddy,  Ryan Leslie, Amber Rose and Angela Simmons (Yes I was hype to find out that a designer whose collection is worn by celebrities read my blog)!

Of course I wanted to learn more, so I checked out the site and LOVED the pieces featured online! Normally when I come across something I like related to fashion, I’ll check out a site and feature pictures of various pieces on the blog to share with all of you.  However, this time, I reached out to Corey directly via twitter to learn more about YEROC. Not only was I able to get copies of a few pictures, but I was able to speak to him directly about his brand.  Here’s what he had to say:

ADSOM: When was YEROC created and what was your motivation behind creating the brand of eyewear?

CW: The YEROC brand was born into eyewear on April 3, 2010. The DNA and motivation in the cells of YEROC stemmed from a vision of ultra developed art with a startlingly simplistic yet complex construction. Your eyes are direct sockets into your mind; so it is essential to guard them with eyewear just as sophisticated as you.

ADSOM: What are three words you’d use to describe YEROC?

CW: Iconic. Bionic. Ultrasonic.

ADSOM: Are there any trends we can expect to see this season in eyewear?

CW: I expect the over embellished and over encrusted eyewear trend to continue.

ADSOM: Which celebrity would you love to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?

I would love to have a photo of Anna Wintour on the cover of Vogue wearing a pair of YEROC.

Corey Woods recently launched his 3rd Collection of luxury eyewear on July 5, 2011 (post coming soon). To learn more about YEROC, visit http://www.iyeroc.com. You can also follow on Facebook and Twitter.

On Saturday, July 9th, the Black Weblog Awards held its first LIVE awards ceremony.  This year marked the first year for the BEST LIFESTYLE BLOG category. Thanks to all of you, A Diva State of Mind won the category!!!

Beats & Ballads blogger Tia attended the awards ceremony and tweeted me, saying “OMG you won.” I was in shock then and I still can’t believe it now. To me this is HUGE! The blog has come a long way in 2 years and I couldn’t have done it without the support of all of my friends and everyone who has taken the time to read the blog and vote during the nomination and voting period.

Again, thank you all for the support. This award not only recognizes my hard work but is definitely motivation for me to continue blogging and grow the Diva brand. I hope you’ll continue to join me on that journey.

Beyonce released the new video for my favorite song off her her most recent album 4. I absolutely LOVE.THIS.SONG!  Beyonce is known for creating “women anthems” and I think this track may be another one to add to her list. 

In this video, we find King B reflecting on a high school boyfriend who treated her badly at prom; she ultimately finds true happiness and we witness her getting married in a fabulous wedding dress from Baracci Beverly Hills.  Her reception dress is of course none other than Vera Wang.

Since she’s so in love, I was hoping we’d see her getting married to her real husband!

If you haven’t done so already, please do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy of the album 4.  As Beyonce stated during her Good Morning America performance, this time around she focused on creating good music and focus less on creating radio hits that we’re all so used to hearing. Not sure how much radio play she’ll get receive but the album is definitely good music.  And unlike past albums, this one focuses less on Sasha Fierce and we hear more of the true Beyonce. You can definitely tell she is happy and in love.

BTW - Anyone else hoping “Party” is the next video she releases with Kanye West & Andre 3000?  Now that’s a song that I can see being a summer jam! Nothing like a song to give us the feel of the 90s. That was an era of great music!

In honor of his late mother Glynda Flanagan, House of KAS designer Kenneth “KAS” Flanagan presents his one year anniversary fashion show benefiting the American Cancer Society on Saturday, July 16^th at the National Harbor.  Flanagan states:

When I was a kid, I would watch my mother style and create the most authentic looks. Since then, I wanted to be a designer. It was with her encouragement that I have become the man that I am today.  I could not have done any of this without her, and when she lost her battle to cancer it literally killed my drive and spirit, but after years I can always hear my mother speaking words of encouragement to me. This show is in honor of her strong spirit, her love for fashion and for being my biggest fan. KAS Collection, Inc. looks forward to putting on a great production to benefit the American Cancer Society for cancer research.

The House of KAS Anniversary is the encore show to last year’s boutique launch. Hosted by radio personality Sarah Fraser, Kenneth Flanagan will unveil his latest collection, which will also include pieces from his new full-figured line and showcase several partnership clothing lines catered to children, athletes and chic professionals. The one year anniversary show is expected to attract over 3,000 of the region’s top celebrities, fashion buyers, media, socialites, tastemakers and elected officials.

Date: Saturday, July 16, 2011

Time: Red Carpet & VIP Reception 5:30 – 7:00pm; show begins promptly at 7:15pm

Location: National Harbor (150 National Plaza National Harbor, MD 20745)

Purchase tickets at www.kasanniversary.com

You know I love a social event that is for a great cause! I encourage you all to attend to enjoy great fashion and support the American Cancer Society!!!

Fashion Designer Kenneth KAS Flanagan/KAS Collection Inc. and the House of KAS is a high-end couture fashion company which specializes in sophisticated evening wear, stylish men’s and women business suits, and high fashion urban apparel.  The House of KAS, founded by Kenneth “KAS” Flanagan is a 1,000 foot boutique located at the National Harbor, Maryland, a destination that is also home to the prestigious Gaylord National Resort. Kenneth “KAS” Flanagan has created custom styles for various A-list celebrities, including Alicia Keys, Trey Songz, Toni Braxton, Deborah Cox and more. Learn more at www.kascollectioninc.com.