The Devil Deserves To Be A Diplomat

Wintour accompanied by Vogue editor at large Andre Leon Talley

Recently a video has been circulating depicting members of the White House press corps mocking Vogue magazine editor in chief Anna Wintour. Wintour, whom some refer to as the high priestess of fashion, was heavily involved in President Obama’s reelection efforts. She raised the fourth most amount of money for the campaign and lent her face and prestige to countless events supporting the reelection of the President.  She even spearheaded “Runway to Win” an effort by twenty three designers including Tracy Reese, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Marc Jacobs, to support by designing patriotic themed attire to be sold to fund the campaign.

She has maintained her post at Vogue for longer than I have been alive and in that time period she has brought vision and revolution to the American fashion world. She is known for her pursuit of excellence and lack of tolerance for excuses. She is widely considered to be graceful, refined and competent.

Marc Jacob's contribution to Runway to Win

And yet when the question arose of Wintour being possibly appointed to an ambassadorship to either France or the United Kingdom (she already has a fantastic public image in her own right in both) the room erupted with laughter. In fact a reporter was so brazen as question whether Miss Wintour was a diplomatic human being asking pointedly whether our President had ever seen “The Devil Wears Prada”.



Tom Coughlin reprimanding a player

But before you have a laugh at Miss Wintour’s expense ask yourself if the question of a possible ambassadorship would be a comical if the subject were Tom Coughlin. A man who has become an intimidating figure in both the sports world and pop culture Coughlin has a reputation for seeking distinction and   excellence from his players. As a multiple super bowl winning coach for the New York Giants Coughlin has achieved greatness through his tenacity and foresight-much like Miss Wintour.  Yet despite the similar traits needed to complete their vastly different job only one has received public jabs about their career.

The reaction of the press corps to the rumor that Anna Wintour might be named an ambassador is a reflection of our country’s attitude towards the fashion industry as a whole and it is grossly offensive. There is no reason that men like Coughlin should be lauded as leaders and women like Anna should be painted as nothing more than overpaid mean girls.

It can be argued that both fashion and football are frivolous. But what cannot be argued is that to succeed in either billion dollar industry requires a skillset that includes leadership, vision, and even a certain level of diplomacy.  

Evelyn Lozada presents a harmless glance into "The Inner Circle"

When reality star Evelyn Lozada announced that she would be releasing a book there was an overwhelming negative response. When she went on to disclose that the book wouldn’t be a straightforward tell all but instead a novelized version of her experiences as one of the women behind the men of professional sports that sentiment seemed to triple. People just couldn’t seem to believe that Lozada was capable or worthy of entering the publishing industry. But with other reality stars hawking everything from lip gloss to low calorie tequila the idea of her writing a book didn’t really shocks me. Because whether you’re a friend or foe of Lozada’s  you’ve got to admit the Basketball Wives cast member knows how to reach her audience.

Band of Belibers...Where's the line between fan and fanatic ?

Comments from an angry Belieber

Okay I'm going to tell you something that you're possibly going to find a little hard to believe. Not everyone under the legal drinking age has Beiber fever. While it’s true that hundreds of thousands are impressed by the swagger of the teenage heartthrob some find him a little hard to stomach. To the average person this development would seem perfectly reasonable. But the average person is not a diehard belieber (a label Bieber’s fans have given themselves). Rolling stone subscriber Randy Clarke found this out when he as well as friends and family were subjected to personal attacks by instagram and Facebook users after posting his adjustments to the latest cover of the magazine which featured beiber now wearing sporting a mullet and sunglasses courtesy of Clarke’s black sharpie. Even amongst a his requests for peace the fans criticized him vehemently for no other reason than his dislike of the Canadian bred pop sensation.

Are fans in our superstar crazed culture too narrow minded and obsessive or is the prominent defense of their beloved idols all in good fun? You can decide by reading Tyler's recount of his experience here.

Onward and Upward....

I will now be posting book reviews at www.terrymcfly.com check out his site for all your fashion and entertainment needs!

What about the not so invisible children?

During my morning commute on Wednesday I was bombarded with tweets and facebook status updates imploring me to do my part and “Stop Kony”. Before my last class of the day I had been informed by several people that the man was a notorious warlord who had committed unspeakable acts. And by the time I made my way home no one on any of my social networks was discussing anything else. Those who were usually exclusively concerned with the hottest place to attend “thirsty Thursdays” were suddenly overnight philanthropists so moved by a thirty minute youtube video that they beseeched others to donate funds and take action. Setting aside the fact that half of the people tweeting and preaching about this cause, like myself, had never heard of Kony prior to Wednesday and therefore could not have done an adequate amount of research to justify supporting this cause the overwhelming cries of Americans to stop this purported injustice disturbed me for another reason.  Those more than willing to jump on the bandwagon of the “Stop Kony” efforts are often reluctant to get involved in the travesties occurring in their own communities. When a teenage boy was killed on a playground in Roselle, New Jersey the collective reaction of the adults in the community was lackluster. There was little outrage and even less call to action. And when another teenage boy was robbed and brutally murdered a little over a month later on Orange Ave. in Irvington there was more of the same. Because of the lack of emotionally manipulative commercials and viral videos the violence that takes place here at home is often shadowed by the tragedies of other nations. Everyone is quick to shake their heads at the misguided youth killing each other but no one is moved enough to act. We shouldn’t need a trending topic or a viral link to remind us of what's going on right here in the tri-county area. The echoing of gunshots on the streets of Irvington and Roselle should suffice. I'm not by any means trying to downplay the plight of the "invisible children". I'm simply pleading with anyone reading this to display the same passion they have for children they will more than likely never have the opportunity to meet for those in their community. Do something about gun violence. Contact your legislators and place some pressure on them to keep guns out of the hands of our youth. After all action comes in many forms not just a retweet and a $30 donation.

Y U MAD AT...Tiger Wood's Ex?

E! was met with an overwhelming amount of commenters crying foul at the actions of Tiger Woods former wife Elin Nordegren when they reported that in an extravagant display of wealth the former model demolished the 12 million dollar home she had recently purchased after deciding she didn’t like it anymore. People were understandably astonished by her wasteful actions.  But it was the anger towards them that concerned me. The unilateral cry of “how dare she?” that sprang out from commenters perplexed me because the majority of us waste things all the time.  A homeless person might be inclined to cry foul at seeing you tossing out a half bag of chips. And it personally makes my blood boil when people act like they are too cute to take home leftovers from a restaurant because if I paid for food best believe I’m eating it. The woman more than likely has serious issues and while trying resolve them with an Eat Pray Love type trip like the rest of the over privileged and under appreciated members of the first wives club would’ve made much more sense not to mention would’ve been much cheaper she chose to go in another direction...with a wrecking ball leading the way. I’m not defending her actions. But I am pointing out that that was her choice to make. Be mad at the system that gave her that choice.  Be mad that she is taxed far too little and publicized far too much. But don’t take time out of your day to judge how she gets through a break up. Abject poverty does not assign one automatic moral high ground and you have no more right to judge this woman than she has to judge you. Yes her actions were excessive and uncalled for. But can you honestly say you haven’t done anything excessive and uncalled for yourself? Uh huh I thought so. It’s not fair to hold people to a higher standard because from the outside their blessings seem to be greater than yours. The disparity of wealth in our nation is enough to make anyone angry (As fashionbombdaily pointed out luxury brand the Row sold out of backpacks whose price were equivalent to a recent college graduates starting salary!) but that is a fundamental flaw within the system not merely those who benefit from it. If you’re arguing that Nordegren’s behavior speaks to a flaw in her character it might be time to consider exactly what her character flaws have to do with you. And unless you’re a friend or a family member the answer to that is most likely very little. In which case it might be time to ask yourself Y U MAD?  

UPDATE:  Reps for Nordegren are saying that the mansion was torn down as a result of structural damage and she did allow Habitat for Humanity to take whatever was salvageable.

Armed and Intelligent....and appreciative

A year ago I got upset. And in typical Keyaira fashion I sat down at my laptop and wrote my feelings down. But this time I went off of the advice of my friends, family and co-workers and posted it online. The feedback and criticism from me doing so has been invaluable. The text messages, phone calls, comments and tweets have taught me so much in such a short time. I just wanted to thank everyone who takes time out to see the view from my little corner of the world and sincerely wish you all blessings in 2012.