Yes She Did.

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Over the weekend, I saw that movie, 'The Devil Wears Prada'... AGAIN. And every time I see it, it brings to mind an experience I had back in college with my late best friend, Orenthal.

First, let me break down the movie's leading character:

Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly, a cold-blooded boss-lady/editor-in-chief of RUNWAY magazine - (a fictional version of VOGUE). She's blunt, non-apologetic, and rocks fierce fashion and attitude throughout the entire film. So as I’m watching I couldn’t help but to be transported back to the day when me and Orenthal encountered our very own real-life “Miranda” on the Gold Coast of Chicago.

It was the summer of 1993... a perfect sunny day... and we had just purchased some buttons and trims at Vogue Fabrics, which was located in Water Tower Place at the time. We were coming out of the north exit beside Fannie May(now Nuts on Clark) and as we were crossing the pedestrian lane towards the Hancock Building, this “socialite-looking” white lady comes waltzing out of the Hancock building’s revolving door exit. She was walking like she owned the place FOR REAL.

She had solid grey hair, but cut in that classic “Jackie-O” style and she was dressed in head-to-toe navy Chanel: the signature boxy suit, the huge sunglasses with the double-C logo on the side, along with matching opaque hosiery and 4” navy stilettos on her feet.

So anyway… she comes towards us and just as she’s passing on our left, Orenthal turns to her and says: “Alright, b**ch… you better work! Work the look! WORK IT!”

He ended all of this with a fierce snap of the fingers and a slight shake of the head, as if to say, "that's right diva..."

The lady stopped dead in her tracks.
Fresh off the bus from Mississippi at the time,
I'm like: "We 'bout to get killed."

“I beg your pardon young man… what did you just call me?” she said, a bit pissed.

Orenthal didn’t flinch. He put his hand up to his chest, gave a shake of his left shoulder, and with grace and charm, replied: “Yes mam... I called you bitch. I called you power.” - ending this with another precise snap.

The lady primped her hair with the palm of her hands, adjusted her shades over her nose, and replied: “Well, in that case… thank you...” and gave Orenthal a swift finger snap back in return and walked away as if nothing ever happened.

I looked at Orenthal and screamed, “Ooooh, no she didn’t!!!”
Orenthal looked at me and said, “Oh honey... yes she did.”

Okay???

Granny Grills

Hip-hop is everywhere.

A few years ago, 3-6-Mafia won an Oscar and the genre got taken to a whole new level. Mary J. Blige is now a household name, thanks to a boost from Oprah Winfrey, telling the whole world on a show that Blige’s #1 hit, “Family Affair” was her favorite jam. There was Oprah - front row, pumping her fist, singing every word.

But you know… funny how lyrics aren’t the only thing in people’s mouths these days.

I was at Macy’s back during the holidays, standing at the guest services counter and these two heavy-set white guys were being helped. They were both dressed in the latest high-end urban gear: sweaters with Sean John scribbled across, big, baggy jeans, and NBA caps cocked to the side, finished off with fresh camel-colored “Timbs”, short for Timberland boots.They were talking to the little old lady behind the counter about doing something with B96.

So, I thought to myself, Hmmm… maybe these are those funny guys from the radio!”

So I asked in a very “homey” kind of way: “Hey man, you guys from B96?”

And the guy closest to me replied “Naw’ll man… but we tryin’ to get up in ‘ner.”

He might have said something else to me, but by this time I was frozen still. I literally stood there for about 3 seconds trying to believe what I was seeing before my very eyes.

Dude was all “grilled out” – the top and bottom rows of his teeth covered in solid silver with diamonds and intricate engravings in each one. I took a startled step back and went into full gag mode:

“Oh! Okay… I see… you’re all grillllled out!” I said, in that universal “I’m hip to what’s going on” kind of way, motioning my hands in a circular motion around my mouth, bopping my head up and down. Sort of diggin’ it.

“It’s cold in the Chi... might as well rock dat’ ice.”

I almost fell out.

And then… just when I thought I’d had enough, the lady behind the counter replied, “Yeah man… he’s all grillllled out…” floating her hand in the air, as if to say, “Yeeaahhh… boyyy!!” like Flavor Flav or something like that.

Absolutely hilarious.

I thought to myself… Oh Lord… I can see it now… some little old lady walking into a jeweler somewhere in Chicago, plopping her dentures onto the counter and asking,”Hey there baby, how much to pimp these out?”

Right????

Right.

Until next time, that’s the cut!

A Wintour's Night of Fright

Why is it that Anna Wintour is the "Queen Bee of Fashion", but yet, she can't see that this hairstyle was not becoming to her??

I just want to run up to her and scream: "NO ANNA!! NO!!"

I think most people are afraid to tell her when she's made a mistake. They've probably all been fired. But I don't work for Anna Wintour.

That dress: fabulous. That hair: frightening.

"Your Inner Hoochie"

This story is from 2008, when I started doing a Friday feature called "The Friday Cut". Every Friday, I give readers something to cut up about in a unique column format. I have more of these columns, and I will be posting them - as well as new ones. You'll be cuttin' up!!

(Click on pic to read in larger format.)

"It's A Cup!" - Repost

Last night, I was rearranging my videos and came across this classic. "It's A Cup!" - everyone seemed to like it, but it didn't get a lot of attention in the public or become a YouTube sensation. That wasn't the intention, I was simply speaking about how "celebrity designers" don't play by the same rules as those of us "who went to school for this, etc." And this video shows how crazy it can be when you need to get "exposure". At the time, my whole thing was, at least put your name on something of the same level of quality as your brand. What does my soft drink got to do with your line of clothes? "Come on honey, let's head to the mall and get some Sean John to go with this Whopper?" But if that puts gas in Sean Combs's Bentley, then okay... I want a million dollar endorsement deal with a scissors company. Now, that's what I'm talking about.