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July 22, 2006 :    Who's stylin' now?

That is the question. It used to be pretty black and white, literally. When I was a young girl, it was the “it,” blond of the day who was “happenin‘” and the rest of us were supposed to follow suit.

What do we do now? The “it blond,” is a joke, the “happenin’’ rapper is a cartoon, and the “most beautiful woman,” has lips like truck tires we don’t want?

The “it blond, “ used to behave. She was “nice,” and she “cared,” and she never, ever, thought herself beautiful. She never even thought! She was not supposed to think, she existed to show us all how to dress.

After this came the “super star.” This person, such as Madonna, put us all in bra’s on the outside. Prince came along long before Tom Ford and told us to wear deep shades of velvet and do it with ruffled sleeves underneath, and not to forget our musketeer’s jacket! Quite cool. Even Michael Jackson showed us how to scrunch our socks when he videoed his very long and repetitive “Billy Jean,” while spinning on glowing tiles.

Now what! Kimora Sims? Paris? Sophia? Non! Who?

I want to help, and after having many days in the sun as “hip,” I have a few role models.

Let us be “Emily.” 26, with white/blue/black long hair and a smile to light up Texas. Let us have her complete disregard for her body being so tight that she looks like and ad for a muscle enhancer! Let us embrace womanhood with her attitude that says, “Of course I am a woman,” so what? Emily wears what she wants with what she wants.

She does this and can because she has a personality that does not quit!

Let us all be Emily in the area of fashion. It is VERY difficult because we have to start with ourselves, she has no “formula.” Emily is even eager for her wedding! No one does that, do they? After all, Emily did not check her man’s credit history or accomplishments before loving him. Oh my.

As people, let us be Cassandra. Let us go to get education we want, and let us forge towards that education from a place in our hearts whether or not it is “kewl.” Cassandra studied what she loved, and did not think about what other’s studied or where the “hip,” school was.. Cassandra went to school with her heart, her home and her love doing the choosing for her! Cassandra is so very uncool in caring about others, she is forever kewl! How can we emulate that if we do not feel it ourselves? There is no formula for Cassandra. Cassandra, for God’s sake, respects her elders!

She may know that we did not get here being stupid! Wayyyyyy uncool. We should all strive to be as cool as Cassandra inside, oh yes.

Art? Well, I’ve a role model for you there: Let us be Alexis. Let us all have the guts to leave our big ol’ University to go where we may do more parts and learn our craft much more intensely and become, in doing so, better craftsmen! Let us all do Alexis’s brand of singing, where she will only sing where her heart can open up!! If that means that we are not the next version of the “Spice Girls,” we must remember their fate! Last I looked, one of those poor girls was trying SO hard to be an “it girl,” that she married an athlete, (a star in Europe,) and holds on for dear life by dressing from the “it pile,” Emily, remember, has shown us that there IS no “it pile!” “It,” may be a combo of a dress from Target, a T-shirt that costs about 70 dollars and tights from God knows where! Trust me, though, Emily is an stylin’ girl.” We, we artists must take a lesson from “it,” artist Alexis who is happy to play in community theater if she can get the rolls one must practice and practice until one knows them by heart! After all, I learned the routine from “A Chorus line ,” SO many times, I can to it backwards! I did that and I am “hip?” Yes, I hear that! As for beauty, let us learn from Alexis that beauty comes in a LONG way after talent when one is an artist. Let us spend her amount of time on her hair, 5 min. at times. Style? Well, most of the time the girl has no time for that! She is an actor, a vocalist, that takes TIME! An actor, and Alexis is one, which I knew when I met her very young, is already beautiful as she is, but becomes ugly if the role calls for such a character. Actors are not about “stylin,” nor should they be, they can leave that to those like myself! We will dress them when they need to Glam it up to pick up the gold, otherwise, why bother? Do they bother so the paparazzi get a good shot? Shame on them! As I knew from teachers much older than myself, once a woman plays “Glam,” that is all she will ever play. Character dance was my choice, after all, I might want to dance a roll in my 80’s! I don’t want to have to lift my face to do it! The wonderful Ray Bolger, the dancer who gave us the immortal “Scarecrow,” in “The Wizard of Oz,” did not need to lift himself or shoot botox to give us the thrills only he was capable of.

Let us remember the young Alexis when I knew her who did not have the time to worry about what her hair looked like: the “stylin’” Alexis Too many actor’s, in my strong opinion work on their “look,” when their “look,” should be transparent, as much so as possible, so we may see through those like Alexis into her character.

I think she knows it takes practice. And actor is not “to the manor born,“ or she may be, the point is she is born, yes, and then she/he takes it from there.

I have question for these three woman. When my forum opens, let us hope they will reply and set examples for all younger people coming into the landscape of art. I will contact all three and ask them to contribute by answering questions I am asked from their young point of view. I will notify this forum when I do through my blog.

More on this later. Expect a forum open for others very soon and revisit these young women, have your son’s and daughter’s visit them as well in their statements.

@@ - I apologize her for those talented young people whom I did not use as examples. You know who you are. I shall, I am certain, write about you sooner rather than later. Until then, I send you my love.

@@If ANYONE can locate Ramonah, who went to Klahowya Highschool  in 1999 or 2000 and did the play: You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” please have her contact me, anytime. Please have her mail me through my site.