The Top 10 TV Fashion Icons

TV shows come and go, but a great sense of style sticks with us. Over the years, we've witnessed some seriously trendsetting starlets grace our screens. Season after season, we watched their personal style evolve as we developed our own. After all, who didn't covet Whitley Gilbert's wardrobe or aspire to be the trendsetting, busy-yet-successful woman that was the illustrious Claire Huxtable?
In celebration of Women's History Month, here are 10 of our fave fierce fictional characters - women who molded the outfits we rock today.

1. Hillary Banks: 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'She was the trendy older sister we all wanted. Maybe it's because we always wanted to raid her closet. Was she snobby? At times. A dimwit? Usually. Fashionable? Always. Regardless of her nonsensical remarks and shopaholic tendencies, we were fans of her body-conscious cocktail dresses, pastel-colored tailored suits and ladies-who-lunch hats.

2. Gina Waters-Payne: 'Martin'

When she wasn't lounging around in sweatshirts and jeans and putting up with Martin's brash sense of humor, Gina was decked out in chic power suits and other colored-coordinated looks. Her style was unfussy and accessible. A monochromatic mix of classic cardigans, tailored blazers and loose trousers. Minimalist chic at its best.
3. Lisa Turtle, 'Saved by the Bell'

You can't beat 'Saved by the Bell' for its "it's so bad, it's good" factor, and nobody wore it better than the show's resident princess Lisa Turtle. She rocked signature '80s frocks with a hint of sophistication. We're talking acid-wash denim jackets paired with printed floral dresses, oversize earrings and brightly colored hats. There wasn't a wild pattern, color or outfit that the show's resident style maven couldn't rock.
4. Claire Huxtable, 'The Cosby Show'

Known as the perfect TV mom and wife, Claire was smart, sexy and very, very stylish. Mrs. Huxtable always displayed an unmistakable elegance and grace unparalleled by any sitcom mom. Her professional style consisted of primary color power suits paired with Ferragamo pumps and ankle-length wool trenches. While spending quality time with the family, she would casually parade around the house in neutral-toned jumpsuits or cigarette pants and ballerina flats. This is one women who knew how to wear anything - she even made silk pajama pants look chic!
5. Whitley Gilbert, 'A Different World'

For six seasons, debutante Whitley Gilbert sashayed across the fictional Hillman College campus in an array of fur coats, Italian leather pumps, Chanel suits and Louis Vuitton bags that always hung from her desk chair in her dorm room. The messages the show delivered were always positive and, more often than not, punctuated with a chic look from their southern belle. Whitley's wardrobe consisted of classics that would be appropriate in any situation and, most importantly, were timeless.
6. Joan Clayton, 'Girlfriends'

Joan's chic ensembles, outfit-making accessories and lush mane made it easy to look past her neurotic personality. We never got enough of her floor-grazing bohemian dresses, chunky jewelry and sky-high stilettos. She wasn't shy about bold color or prints and rocked every silhouette imaginable, from retro high-waisted pants to flirty A-line dresses to sleek pencil skirts. Her style was always classy and on trend.

 

7. Denise Huxtable, 'The Cosby Show'

Played by the ever-lovely Lisa Bonet, Denise was a little quirky, kind of a hippie, kind of preppy but also kind of tomboyish. She wore things like palazzo pants with slippers paired with a man's tuxedo shirt and a tailored jacket over it all - combinations that were offbeat, but not flamboyantly eccentric. Denise evoked a blend of late '80s/early '90s fashion - one centered around a sort of global chic. No one could look like her then, and no one can look like her now. A sort of ineffable mix of elements that looked relaxed and offhand and hasn't quite been duplicated by anyone since.
8. Wilhelmina Slater, 'Ugly Betty'
One of the best favorite TV villains, Wilhelmina Slater is practically a hanger for couture. Her appearance was always immaculate, but sharp and tailored without being too classic. She favored mostly neutral colors, such as white, greys, golds and silver, and accessorized with luscious furs.

 

9. Sandra Clark, '227'
Sandra was the sassy, sexy, single sista who lived in the same building as the Jenkins family. She always wore glamorous peplum dresses and shoulder-padded blazers, but the best thing about her was that women across the country could relate. She showed that you didn't have to be a size two to be sexy.
10. Sheneneh Jenkins, 'Martin'
Some wonder how Martin's hoodrat neighbor made the cut, but you have to admit that Sheneneh Jenkins' wardrobe was one of the many reasons we all tuned in. She wasn't easy on the eye, but her gear was pure entertainment. Sheneneh was all about '90s around-the-way girl glam. She wore dookie braids, finger waves, oversized gold jewelry and a fanny pack. Her style is appreciated because she was completely comfortable in her own skin and could care less what anyone else thought

Who was your favorite TV fashion Icon? Tell us!

What Should Busty Ladies Look for in a Bra?

Taken From “The Lingerie Addict.com”

Today's guest post comes Jenette of the eponymous Jenette Bras, a lingerie boutique in Los Angeles that specializes in D-K cup bras. 
Jenette is a recognized bra expert (she's in this month's InStyle magazine!), and I love her irreverent, sassy, down-home style.  For my readers who've been e-mailing me about more articles for curvy ladies, this one's for you.  ;)
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You don’t take a Ferrari to a cheap mechanic, and you shouldn’t put your gorgeous rack in a cheap bra. Why not? Because those things are heavy, if you haven’t noticed, and they are not going to hold themselves up (if your endowment is the result of implants, then sorry, most of this article doesn’t apply to you).
To support, and simultaneously flatter, several pounds of soft, pliant, alluring, feminine flesh with nothing but lace, cotton, and a few inches of curved flat wire, represents a vast and ongoing engineering achievement. In fact, the brassiere is the most complex piece of clothing in your wardrobe. Along with shoes, bras require more skilled handwork than any other item of apparel.

That bra that seems expensive at $70 plus was far more costly to manufacture than the cute wrap dress at the same price. Just recently the South African textile giant Seardel announced the closing of their intimates department, citing the fact that the manufacture of bras was complex and labor intensive. According to CEO Stuart Queen, "The garments produced are generally of a very high minute rate with low selling prices, making it extremely difficult to recover the costs of labour inputs. Bras,” he added, “are close skin-fitting items that require significant investment in design, pre-production, technical resources, and quality processes.”
And about that inexpensive wrap dress? A good bra will help it fit perfectly, but even a costly dress won’t cover the gruesome effects of a cheap or ill-fitting bra. It’s called foundation wear for a reason.
So, now that I’ve talked you into buying quality, here’s a thought to cheer you up--based on price per wear, at two or three wearings a week, over the year or three that a good bra will last, your quality bra is probably the most cost effective piece of clothing you’ve got.
What to look for
Somewhere along the line, perhaps in the eighties, women became obsessed with seamlessness in brassieres. It sounds good. Sounds high tech, sounds comfortable, sounds attractive, right? Forget it, it’s the Empress’ New Clothes. If you’ve got serious bosom, seams are your best friend. Seams make it all possible. They are the struts in your wing, the flying buttress in your cathedral of pulchritude. Seams give reinforcement to the heavier bust. They shape and support.

It’s true that the old seamed cups made your breasts look like torpedos, but that was actually a fabric limitation and not the result of seaming. Advances in fabric technology have allowed near-perfect conformity to the natural shape, along with a range of attractive shaping options ranging from vintage-y modified torpedo to completely-natural-only-better. The range of options has never been so good.
In a well-made bra, the straps will not simply be tacked into the back (focusing all the stress at two points), but will merge into the band to distribute weight throughout the garment. The whole bra won’t feel stretchy. Elasticity will be controlled carefully throughout the bra, with rigidity for support and stretch for fit.

How and where to buy
Many women have been completely misled about their true bra size by unscrupulous manufacturers and retailers who simply don’t want the expense of making and stocking a full line of bras. They have promulgated the notion that the D-cup is the largest possible normal size, and Double-D is some kind of freak show. How far from reality is this? Since cup size is relative to band size, a D cup on a 30 band is a completely different volume than a D on a 40 band.
To precisely fit a full breasted clientele, a store needs to stock D, DD, E, F, FF, G, GG, H, HH, I, J, JJ, and K., with band sizes from 30 to 44. I myself used to run around –maybe I should say bounce around—in a 36DD. I wasn’t properly fitted in my 32G until I was 46 years old. It’s effin’ tragic is what it is.
Moreover, your size will vary in bras from different lines and your body will, for better or worse, change over time. All this makes a bra just about the last thing you want to buy online (the sole exception here is buying another of the exact same bra you are happily wearing now).

So you need to get sized by someone you can trust (and hopefully joke around with). Allow me to describe all the attributes of my own store in Los Angeles, Jenette Bras. If at all possible, you must be periodically fitted, by a knowledgeable fitter, at a traditional full service boutique with a full stock of larger cup sizes. Independent stores like this exist in many North American cities, but they do not run national TV ad campaigns, so you may need to do a little research. I do have customers in remote locations who make a point of visiting once or twice a year to stock up, so if it means a trip to a nearby city, do it.
To sum it up, if you’ve got the goods, yes, it will take a little more smarts, effort and cash than is asked of our more lightly-bosomed sisters. As it is written, from the woman to whom much has been given, much is required.

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10 Reasons Why Women Cheat. . . .

10 Reasons Why Women Cheat
From ivillage.com.


It’s no secret that women cheat too, but the reasons why the fairer sex may creep are vastly different from her male counterpart. In a recent infidelity study by Coffee and Company, a British marriage bureau, found that of the 3,000 participants, nearly 20 percent of women confessed to cheating.
Keep reading for a few reasons why …
They Seek Revenge

“Men are not emotional so they usually can’t feel the same pain unless it is done back to them,” says Bonnie Weil, Ph.D. of DoctorBonnie.com, author of Adultery: The Forgivable Sin. “Women feel cheating is a way to even the score.” That probably won’t help to heal the relationship. But once a man cheats, it’s a whole different ballgame, according to Alisa Bowman, author of Project: Happily Ever After: Saving Your Marriage When the Fairytale Falters: “It feels as if the rules a woman has been following are no longer relevant or valid.”

For the Thrill of It

“An affair is a stress-busting, thrill-seeking, self-medicating high,” says Weil. And, while a woman may cheat to see if she can get away with it, she often doesn’t really want to get caught, says Bowman: “She just wants the bird in her hand and the one in the bush — and she’s deluded into thinking that she really can have both.” But this reason is perhaps less common than others, says infidelity expert Ruth Houston, founder of InfidelityAdvice.com. “[A woman] will usually try to let her husband know that there is a problem first,” she explains. “If he fails to address them, ignores her, or takes her complaint lightly, she may then cheat because feels she has no other choice.”

For the Ego Boost

“When women cheat with other men, the other men usually compliment them and make them feel sexy in ways their current partner isn’t doing,” says Meyers. “Cheating often occurs in relationships where she isn’t feeling connected emotionally to her current partner.” So husbands beware if your wives feel unloved, underappreciated or even ignored. Houston says, “If a wife feels neglected or taken for granted by her husband, she becomes very vulnerable and can very easily succumb to having an affair, emotional or physical — with a man who makes her feel special, desired.” When the relationship is strained, with both partners “bruising one another’s egos left and right and criticism flying,” that can also open the door to double-timing, says Bowman.

To Find a Love Connection

Are you lovers or roommates? Over time, it can be tough to tell — and you long for the early stages of love. “That’s when you have this wonderful sense of being chosen,” says Bowman. “Long-term relationships are much different. Those lovely chemicals that had flooded your brain when you first met have now faded.” That downward slide isn’t inevitable, though, if you put the work in, says Weil. “Couples must rekindle the romance magic on a daily and weekly basis,” she says. “It is important to keep recreating the same chemicals as when they first fell in love, by using attachment skills, like the 30-second kiss and the 20-second hug, which raise the endorphin levels.” And here’s a surprise: A fight-free marriage isn’t always a stronger marriage. “Conflict creates passion. A polite marriage is higher in adultery than a marriage with arguments,” Weil says.

They Want to Get Caught

“Most women cheat as an escape hatch,” says Weil. And this is especially true of married mothers. “If the woman has children, she has a hard time leaving the husband without the feeling of guilt,” she says. But that subsides if she’s not the one who’s initiating the break-up. “The affair is a way to alleviate the feeling of stress and guilt, as the husband may leave her.” Houston calls it an “exit affair,” intended to terminate the marriage. “Men are much less tolerant than women when it comes to infidelity and are less likely to forgive a cheating wife,” she says. “A husband who has been cheated on is much more likely to end his marriage than to give his cheating wife a second chance.”

They’re Bored With Their Sex Life

Sex life? What sex life? Couples who’ve been together a long time often complain that their sex life has become staid or stale. (In iVillage’s 2010 married sex survey, 81 percent of wives said their sex lives had become predictable.) That may prompt some women to look elsewhere to satisfy their urges. “Sometimes women will cheat because they feel that there is no spontaneity in their relationship anymore,” says relationship expert Seth Meyers, Psy.D, Los Angeles Psychologist and author of Dr. Seth’s Love Prescription.. “Sexual boredom may be one manifestation of that.” A desire for more frequent or different types of sex may also lead to affairs among younger women. “Wives in their early 20s or younger may cheat for the same type of sexual reasons as men; they want more frequent sex, a different type of sex, or they are curious about what it would be like to have sex with a particular man or wonder what it would be like to have sex with someone other than their own husband.” Before stepping out, though, Bowman recommends trying to spice up your sex life with your partner. Try something new in the bedroom or get a little creative. “Really push your limits. A bikini wax and a strip tease worked wonders for my sex life.

They Feel Lonely

Remember when you couldn’t believe you’d found someone who also owned the same rare record, shared your affinity for foosball and with whom you could always trade entrées? “If a woman feels that she and her husband no longer have anything in common, she may find herself drawn into an emotional affair with someone who shares similar interests,” Houston says. “However, an emotional affair can quickly progress to the next level and become a sexual affair.” Many women cheat to fill a void. “Cheating alleviates the feelings of loneliness and emptiness. It is a bio-chemical craving for connection,” says Weil
They Want to Relive Their Past

“Sometimes going through one’s Little Black Book is an easy way to find a sex partner who will temporarily make them feel better,” says Meyers. But while ex-boyfriends may be familiar territory, they’re not necessarily repairmen. “This solution never, ever lasts,” she says. It’s often not really about that ex-boyfriend, but rather about who the woman was when she was with him. “Reverting to her youth makes her feel alive again,” says Weil. “It makes her feel younger, more carefree, sexier and more attractive.”
Because of a Near-Death Experience

“A near-death experience often causes women to rethink things,” says Meyers. “They look at their lives in greater depth, as they’ve been reminded of their own mortality.” It’s not only sudden accidents that qualify, but potentially deadly illnesses that progress over time, according to Bowman. “[Breast cancer, for example] can make women question every part of their lives; suddenly they are very aware of their own mortality,” she says. “To make matters worse, [they may feel] their spouses have let them down when they needed them most. Maybe he wasn’t supportive. Maybe he stopped initiating sex. Whatever it was, these women are wounded and they look outside of the marriage for an emotional Band-aid.” If they feel like their time is limited, they want to make the most of the time they have, she says, whether or not it’s with the man they married
For Attention or Adventure

“Women can feel taken for granted, working 30 hours at home — doing the cleaning, taking care of children … on top of their own full-time day job,” says Weil. “They need to feel valued and crave validation.” And they also seek a little excitement now and then. “A woman in a boring or mundane marriage is easy prey for the ‘bad boy’ type,” says Houston. ”If you look at the top reasons why women cheat, most of them are situations that could easily be remedied by a loving, caring, attentive, and cooperative husband. A happily married woman, who has a good relationship with her husband, will not cheat.”

Do you agree with these reasons?
Have you ever cheated?
Did you have a reason or did it just happen?
Let Us Know. . . and Nope, we don’t need your(or their) Name . . . .

SOURCE- http://www.ivillage.com/10-reasons-why-women-cheat/4-b-318946

Fake Ballers: 13 Ways to Spot 'Em

By Shirea L. Carroll
I recently went on a date with a fellow whom, for two months, had pulled every trick out of his hat until I finally agreed to meet him. Plans for a night in NYC filled with dinner and bowling seemed like a very promising first date. *Record scratch* However, it took a terrible turn when the same guy who picked me up in a 2010 Range Rover wearing Boss Black and smelling like Gucci asked me to foot the bill at the end of the night.

Whaaat? It wasn't like I didn't have it, but wasn't he was the one who had requested to take me out, not the other way around? What made matters worse was that the whole night, his braggadocio demeanor would have had anyone thinking he had more money than Bill Gates himself. So when I asked him why he felt it was okay for me to pick up the tab, his response - "I didn't think bowling would be $200" - was priceless.

It was his idea to go to the city, his idea to VIP bowl and his idea to drink like a fish, so I wasn't at all shocked by the price tag. I was shocked, however, that I had run into one of the most annoying type of guys - a fake baller.

Real ballers, a term usually reserved for a financially successful man, are known to be confident, swagglicious and, of course, financially secure. On the other hand, fake ballers are like a great knockoff Louis bag: The differences are subtle, but more times than not, they only have one, maybe two, of the three "baller" prerequisites and overcompensate for the lack of being financially secure with being flashy. The type of guy who always talks about the money he has, looks like a million bucks, but really doesn't have anything at all.

Fake ballers exist because, whether we like to admit it or not, many women have gold-digger tendencies. Fake ballers believe that being flashy and fly with their rent money in their pockets is the best method to reel a woman in. What's funny is that fake ballers (and, most times, true ballers) can't use money, or even the idea of it, to get a woman. Fake ballers, in particular, prey on women they deem materialistic and those easily impressed by their lame hoodrich stories of wealth.

Real women, on the other hand, aren't impressed by a man that has $10,000 of jewelry on his wrist but rides on the passenger side of his best friend's ride. When a woman has already had eyes open to the many things life has to offer, trying to be a flashy baller will always look cheap. Money, cars and clothes may impress the shallow, but makes a woman of substance bored. Fake ballers disregard women who put in work to do financially well for herself, and only want someone who is able to complement (not create) the lifestyle she has already began to build for herself.

Fake ballers, even more so fake people, in general, must be avoided, and when you run across someone who would rather be someone they really aren't, run the other way. Ladies, in case you haven't mastered being able to spot them, here are 13 signs to help you out:

1. He asks how much something costs before he orders it:
If he tells you to get whatever you want - but when you order a simple drink, he asks the bartender how much it is before she pours - pay for your own drink and leave.

2. His excuse for not having something is always because he had it years ago:
If you heard him say, "I had the iPhone 4 in its beta stage back in the day, so I'm waiting for something new to come out," to explain why he doesn't have any type of cell phone now, be very suspicious.

3. His only vacation spots have been Miami or Vegas:
It's been five months now, and he's still talking about how he "just came back from Vegas for the fight." Chile...

4. He never puts you on to anything new:
If he says he has the best Italian resturant in mind and you end up at Olive Garden, or he's always impressed by your date choices, he's not balling.

5. He has a designer wallet with nothing in it:
If a driver's license and 40 singles are the only things to make his Gucci wallet look bulky, suggest he sell the wallet.

6. He only wants to hang out on "house dates.":
When you said you'll come over to watch a movie, he was all for it, but when you changed your mind and said you would rather make a trip to the theatre to catch a movie, he suddenly had a change of heart.

7. He drives the newest cars, but has no home:
He picks you up in a Beamer, Benz or Bentley, but lives in the same room he grew up in - with his mama and 56-inch flat screen.

8. He loves to make jokes about you paying when the bill comes:
No matter how much he swears he was joking when the bill came and he asked you, "You got this?" understand he's really hoping you say yes.

9. He wears a ton of jewelry, but doesn't have a 401K:
A real baller focuses on the future of their wealth and invests in things that have real returns - not $11,000 chains.

10. He's always concerned about your money:
If he's asking you if you get paid weekly or biweekly and "about how much," be concerned.

11.He's asked you to put something on your credit card, with the promise to give you the cash later:
Real ballers manage their money well enough to have credit lines and good credit.

12. He never wants to break a large bill:
He pulls out the same three $100 dollar bills that have been sitting in his wallet for a month, and asks you to pay for the movie, because "he doesn't have anything small." Fake.com.

13. He pronounces certain (read: "fancy") words incorrectly:
If the dude pronounces Merlot with the "t" (mer-loT) and says he's been to Turks and Cactus (Caicos), he's a fraud.


Well Ladies: Have you encountered a fake baller? Let me know YOUR Fake Baller Stories :-)

Why Do Smart Men Date Dumb Girls? - CNBC

By: John Carney
Senior Editor, CNBC.com


Recently my friend Jennifer Wright at TheGloss.com came across another study purporting to show that men prefer to date women who are less intelligent than they are. She asked me about why this might be, assuming it was true at all.

Then she wrote about it for The Gloss.

Here's my answer:

I think its more complex than that. Our economy is quickly becoming what people like to call a “knowledge economy,” in which the financial rewards for smart people who are really work oriented are tremendous. Smart women rationally respond to this by spending more time in school acquiring the tools they think they need in the knowledge economy, and once in the work force, working more and harder. The rewards for the dumb staying in school or working long hours are considerably smaller, so they rationally choose more leisure time. What’s more, with the economy geared in ways that limit their opportunities, attaching themselves to a smart mate is one of the few tactics for economic advancement. So dumb chicks have both greater opportunities and greater incentives to try harder to date smart men than smart women do.

Interestingly, the hedge funder who Jennifer asked gave a very similar answer:

Dating a less successful woman isn’t about wanting women to be dumb. It’s about wanting someone who prioritizes their life in a way that’s compatible with how you prioritize yours. I love my job, but I work all the f**king time. If I date an equally driven woman, we’re both working 18 hours days, when do we even have time to see each other? We don’t. I date a kindergarten teacher who works—f**k, I have no idea how many hours kindergarten teachers work. How many hours do you work? Really? Sh*t. Well, you’re a really driven person and you love work. But the theoretical Kindergarten teacher, she has a more flexible schedule, she’ll be able accommodate me, it’s going to be easier. Just on a literal level, it’s easier. Why don’t women do this too? Every alpha woman I know wants to be with a man who is as successful as her or more so. And coordinating that stuff is almost impossible. Why don’t they just date some beta male who works in a bookstore and will make dinner for them every night? Doesn’t every successful person—man or woman—see how that’s easier?

But the answers from the tech start-up guy, the photographer and another journalist were very different. So is this just a Wall Street trope? Or are me and the anonymous hedge fund guy onto something?