A Meeting of the Minds

 
 
 
 

I recently had dinner with some of my close friends...most if not all can be considered "pioneers" in the plus model industry. It was a beautiful summer evening and we all decided to meet at Melba's on 114th Street & 8th Avenue in Harlem. In attendance along with myself were Lisa Scott, a 20 year veteran of the industry...one of the few black women I know who actually made their living completely from modeling. Lisa Scott was the first plus model I had ever seen, she was 19 years old and I saw her in a fashion show at Parsons modeling belts. I was in awe of her then and I still am to this day. Mama is a true chameleon, she understands that the key to success & longevity in this industry is the ability to reinvent yourself over and over again. AND she's a sweetheart to boot!

Gwen DeVoe - "DIVA" - AKA "The Mogul" this sista has been a champion of the plus sized model for as long as I can remember and that has to be close to 15 years! She's the CEO of The Plus Academy, The school that started out as a school for plus models but I believe will eventually morph into a new millenium sort of "Finishing School" for young women....She's gonna kill me when she reads this...lol. She is also the CEO and Executive Producer for Dangerous Curves...The Tour..the plus sized fashion tour/sample sale and Full Figured & Fabulous, the highly anticipated plus model competition to be held next weekend on July 29th in Baltimore, Md. Yours truly will be in the mix as a "Celebrity Guest" (lol) Judge....I am SOOOOOO Amped up for this ya'll!!

And then there was my homegirl Angellika....one of the most beautiful and most popular & successful plus models on the planet!!!! I am so in awe of this sista's beauty that I find myself staring at her stupidly most of the time. She reminds me soooo much of my mama when she was a young girl....simply stunning! A lot of people don't know how funny Angellika is, she keeps me in stitches! She is the coolest person to hang out with...both classy & sassy at the same time. I hadn't seen her in a very long time (and that's not the norm for us) and I was very glad to see her.

And....Mia Amber Davis...ya'll know Mia as the "Ashley Stewart" girl and the plus sized chick named Rhonda from the cult classic movie "Road Trip" (Yeah....I'm tryn'ta big up ya girl!!). I met Mia when she came to a casting that Diva held a few years ago...the moment I saw her I was absolutely floored by her beauty...she was a nervous wreck (lol...remember Mia?) but you could see she had the "it" factor immediately and I knew she had what it took to have a successful career. I have been watching her build her career for awhile now and I am so proud of her success that I don't know what to do. She's going to go on to do GREAT things in the future ya'll...mark my words.

And..Madeline Figueroa...Maddy is the plus model turned writer who is now publishing (am I getting that right Maddy?) a new magazine for plus women called PLUS MODEL Magazine. Maddy has always had a face that cameras love and she did very well as a plus model and her experience in front of the camera gives her the ability to write her articles with a different sort of view point than the normal reader would have. (Does that make sense???? I feel like I'm rambling....) lol. Kudos to you Maddy on the new mag and much success to you in the coming years.

And my sister in songs of the seventies..Tonya Giddens. Tonya is a plus model/makeup artist/runway instructor/music connoisseur (did I leave anything out Boogie?) who also has the incredible job of documenting historic moments like these (and trust me when I tell you...this WAS a historical moment). Tonya shot the beautiful photos that accompany this post...Thanks Tonya!

In the few hours that we were together we shared a wonderful dinner. great conversation and we all got caught up on each other's lives, Lisa Scott is moving steadily towards her movie career as is Angellika. Gwen DeVoe is preparing for her Full Figured & Fabulous Competition and is poised to take the plus sized industry by storm. Maddy is busily preparing to launch the next edition of Plus Model Mag. And I am fresh off the wrapping of Season 2 of Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance..I have begun auditioning for some shows (Musical Theater is one of my big loves) and I am ever diligent in my pursuit to make the world sit up and take notice of The ORIGINAL Runway Diva!...By the time dinner ended I announced that I would love to get them all together, cook for them and pick their brains because I am working on tracing the history of the plus model in fashion.

We all exchanged numbers, hugs and kisses and said our goodbyes it was amazing to me to be in the company of such phenomenal women. Lisa Scott Thank you for setting this up...it was a wonderful idea. 

And the winner is....Tanisha Malone - Miss F.A.T. 2006

Alright Family!





I know...I know...

it's been a while since I have been on and able to blog....but I'm BACK NOW!!!!! I spent this weekend hosting my own screening party for season 2 of Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance. I had my party at a friend's home in the Bronx and we had a ball...she has a very spacious apartment and there were 3 huge flat screen tv's in every room....Plenty of food and drink and a champagne toast to top it off! I don't know about anyone else...BUT I HAD A BLAST!!!!!

Congratulations to the newest Miss F.A.T.....Miss Tanisha Malone!

I am very proud of Tanisha as well as the other 9 contestants...because I got to live with them...I got to really know them on a personal level. Each and every one of them have stories to tell of obstacles they have had to overcome....so believe me when I tell you that each and every one of them deserved to win that title.

The only thing that really disappointed me about the broadcast was that SO much of what we did was left out of the final edit....but then again...it's almost impossible to cram
4-5 weeks of footage in to a 2 hour show...

Hopefully, there will be a follow up show very soon with additional footage!

Tanisha is very poised, graceful and smart as a whip!...not to mention...I think she's just a beautiful chocolate drop..lol. I am sure that she will represent us well and I ask you to join me in congratulating her and wishing her nothing but success and happiness during her reign!


Brava Diva!

The Prodigal Son returns...(Well not really)...

My mom called me today and asked me to take a trip with her to Albany to visit my baby brother....my intial reaction was to just say no, but my curiosity got the best of me and I asked her why she was going. The last time we saw my brother was a few years ago when we commandeered my cousin's car and drove 4 hours to bail him out of jail....we bailed him out, he exited the prison, stayed with us about five minutes before he hopped on a bus and disappeared to God only knows where. Well, that was pretty much it for me....As much as I love my brother (and I DO love my brother), ya'll know in my mind that was the last trip I was EVER taking to friggin' Albany!!!

I have not always felt this way about my brother but after you get burned repeatedly....you learn not to go near the stove...feel me?



My brother and I have never really been close and sometimes that bothers me because I actually saved his life as an infant (you'd think THAT alone would make us closer..Not!)but I have always thought in my heart that he was destined for greatness....but he seems to have been perpetually er...sidetracked by life...ya know?

My brother reminds me a lot of myself in many ways, The Creator bestowed us with similar gifts when we arrived here...In many ways, I always thought my brother has always had more charisma and could be way more charming than I am...you simply can't NOT like him. He is a very intelligent man but unfortuntely he was lazy as well and just didn't apply himself to anything. He has a quick wit and could always find the humor in any situation, and it didn't hurt that he was an extremely handsome brother to boot. (my friend's would always ask me for an introduction and I would refuse...I would tell them..."alright now, you can sleep with him if you like...but you'd better not let him spend the night...you'll wake up and all of your shit will be gone!" For REAL....DON'T call me, cuz I warned ya! lol

Now, I firmly believe that each and every single person on this planet comes here bestowed with a gift...many of us get more than one "Gift" but EVERYBODY GETS ONE!! It is then up to YOU to find out what your "gift" is and use it to fulfill your purpose for being here. And the kicker is this....you don't get to "leave" here until you have fulfilled your purpose. I know that may sound crazy to a lot of you...but it makes perfect sense to me AND it explains a LOT of incidents in my brother's life....



When he was a few months old, he was crawling around on the floor and managed to put an extension cord (the part where the cords plug in) in his mouth and was nearly electrocuted. I just happened to be sitting down reading a book and out of the corner of my eye saw his little body flailing around on the floor with sparks shooting out of his mouth...without thinking I reached down and yanked the plug out of his mouth and in complete shock rushed him to my mother who took him to the ER. The doctors told her had I not been sitting there and did what I did...he most certainly would have died. This was the first of many incidents with my brother and my mom and I firmly believe that those electrical charges that shot through his little body....short circuited something in his brain....I swear to you my brother had the highest tolerance for pain I have ever seen......like:

The time he fell and cut his arm open in a hole filled with broken glass (My mother had to be removed from the ER)...while he sat there very calmly watching them sew up his arm....OR

The time he accidentally set him self on fire got some serious burns on half his body but quietly just put on his clothes and went about his day like nothing happened. (the only reason my mom found out was that she was playing around with him and walked in on him changing....and saw the burns for herself and rushed him to the hospital!) OR

The time he got hit by a doctor's car on 161st Street, was thrown up in the air on impact, landed on the windshield...head first, cracked it (the windshield) and got up and walked away like NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!

After each incident, I would tell my mom..."he's here for a reason mama, he hasn't found his purpose and he can take drugs for the next 20 years...but he ain't going no where until he fulfills his destiny" and I HONESTLY believe that ya'll...I really do.

In the meantime, he managed to get married and produce a son...people shouldn't have children when they are on drugs....who I wound up trying to raise after his mother died almost a year after she had him. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life and it showed me that motherhood is not to be taking lightly....every teenager who is thinking that they are ready for motherhood....should get a "trial run" like the one that I got....I guarantee they would take those rose colored glasses off quickly. No matter though, that child changed my life and he will be the apple of his auntie's eyes always! He then he went off a few years later and produced another son....

To make a long story short....the reason for my mother's journey this time is that it appears that my brother has found his way out of his drug induced "fog" after nearly 20 years as an addict....unfortunately, with sobriety comes reality and reality has hit him over the head REAL HARD...no education, no real job prospects (burned all his bridges a long time ago) and no way of supporting his family....that sort of reality is enough to drive you BACK into the fog.

So my baby brother...who I will fondly refer to as "Boogie" his childhood nickname....which I KNOW he hates! lol... has decided to return to active duty in the armed forces (my first thought was....are they really desperate for personnel that they would take this old ass negro????? hell, Boogie is 38 years old now!!!) but it seems that he has been in the Reserves the whole time and he can go back in. My mom wants to see him and with his father's advancing alzheimer's...he would like to see him too.

Now if I were to get this news about anyone else....it would make me EXTREMELY nervous....I mean...who in the hell enlists during WAR TIME!!!???? But for my brother....this might actually be the bravest thing he has ever done and words cannot describe how much I am praying for him to stay the course and fulfill his destiny....whatever that may be. I want to be proud of him and on some levels I am...but I find myself still holding my breath.....waiting...you know?

I recently sent him a DVD of Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance from last season and he told my mom that he's really proud of me.....I want to be proud of him too and for some reason....I feel like this go round....I will be.

I love you my brother....Be careful and know that we are all praying for your safe return.

Uggghhh!!! The Jerry Springer Show Today

Okay, I just HAD to get this out of my system....it is 11:05am on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 and my husband has the TV tuned into the Jerry Springer Show. Now, we all KNOW that Jerry Springer is PURE entertainment TV....I mean no one REALLY believes most of this stuff anyway....but why did they just roll out this full figured sister...she had to be at least a size 24-26, in a bra & panties seated in....get this:

A KIDDIE POOL FILLED WITH MASHED FUCKING POTATOES AND GRAVY EATING A BIG ASS PTERODACTYL SIZED TURKEY LEG???????

PEOPLE???? Why oh WHY do we continue to allow ourselves to be degraded like this?

I would love to hear ANYONE'S thoughts on this one!

Rip The Runway 2006- Designer Info

A lot of you all having been sending me e-mails and comments asking me for information on the designers for the plus sized segment of "Rip The Runway". Apologies for the delay in my response but I have been traveling for a minute. But wait no longer....here's the info:

Qristyl Designs - www.qristyldesigns.com

Monif C. - www.Monifc.com

Courtney Washington - www.Courtneywashingtonstore.com


Happy Shopping Ya'll!!!!