Islandista we love- Sharmadean Reid

 

[caption id="attachment_1636" align="alignright" width="283" caption="Photo credit: Wah-magazine.com"][/caption]

 

Sharmadean Reid is one of the coolest girls around.

Says who?

Well, us for one and that should be enough for you. :)

  But if you insist... the New York Times' The Moment Blog said pretty much the exact same thing about the 25 year old islandista-descended Brit, who is the sportswear editor of Arena Homme Plus.

 Dazed and Confused loves her hot online magazine WAH (as in wahgwan or in her words 'we ain't hoes'. Good to know).

 The Independent listed her as one of the '15 People who will define the future of arts in Britain' (no pressure!)

 And Elle UK loves her nail bar, WAH Nails. So does style.com.Good enough?

 Ok, so why do they love her so much? Well, she's just effortlessly cool. Despite being the editor of a menswear magazine, she's still girly, which is why she opened the WAH nail bar, as she told Elle:

"I love menswear, I was brought up on Arena Homme Plus, but at the end of the day I’m a girl!"

Her style, as reflected in WAH the online mag and WAH the nail salon is a tongue in cheek mix of street style and high end style.

For instance, you can get a Balmain-inspired nail design or even the classic Chanel logo, as seen below.

 

[caption id="attachment_1637" align="aligncenter" width="242" caption="Photo credit: The Moment"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1638" align="aligncenter" width="283" caption="Photo credit: Elle.co.uk"][/caption]

The style influences and trends she champions are right on the cutting edge of what's hot - early 90s hip hop culture and style, vintage, body con, Shoreditch (it's a London thing) and hot sneakers - among other things!

Not to mention - did you check the line up of all the girl has going on right now? Magazine editor, nail salon owner, online magazine publisher ... oh and she's a stylist and a consultant for Nike, as well.

Really, who can top us islandistas for drive and hustle?

Bits and pieces - Leona's race ban, red carpet sightings and Rihanna to speak out

You know every now and then we have to do a pelau post when there's so much going on that we need to put it all in de pot! This is one of those - we have news from all over - on Ri-ri, Leona (Le-le?) and islandistas on the red carpet from Rio to London to L.A.

So to start with - islandistas have been all over people's red carpets over the last week - from the premieres of the Michael Jackson This Is It movie in London and Los Angeles, to Fashion Rocks in Brazil.

Check out a few of the looks below.

[caption id="attachment_1644" align="aligncenter" width="306" caption="Former Sugababe Keisha Buchanan was hot at the London premiere of This Is It in a jewel panelled LBD with a jewelled halter neckline."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="222" caption="Nia Long in textured black leggings and a black leather jacket at the LA premiere."][/caption]

For more looks and news on Rihanna's first public interview and Leona's racism run-in, read on.

Islandista on the rise: Speech Debelle

Because we love to read stories about islandistas doing well and even better yet, doing well against the odds... today we bring to you... Speech Debelle.

Who's she?

Well, just the under-underdog winner of one of the most prestigious awards in British music - the Mercury Prize.

Her story is the break-out, fairytale story of this year's prize, which went down last week.

With just 1500 copies of her album Speech Therapy sold thus far, the underground rapper burst into the mainstream when she won the Mercury, which is given for the best album in the United Kingdom.

Speech Debelle came up as Corynne Elliot (so much more West Indian sounding, isn't it?) in South London. Her back story is unfortunately, not that unusual among British Caribbean people. She was born to Jamaican parents. Her father left her mother when Corynne/Speech was 6 years old. He went on to be the village (or council?) ram, having eight more children with six women.

Islandista on the rise: VV Brown

Islandistas, have you heard of VV Brown?

If you haven't, you probably will soon.

The British-born soul rocker of Jamaican and Puerto Rican parentage has only been on everyone's Hot List for 09.

Seriously.

The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the LA Times, the Independent and BBC all placed her on their lists of ones to watch in 2009. 

Her musical style is a bit vintage, like that of other female stars of this new Brit invasion such as Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Adele.

[caption id="attachment_1114" align="aligncenter" width="327" caption="photo credit: Ben Yacobi"][/caption]

 However, unlike them, VV draws more on  more up-tempo, 50s and 60s era doo-wop and rock, as heard in her breakout hit Crying Blood which is easily the most cheerful sounding song about a heart-wrenching break up that we have ever heard.

If that is not enough for you, VV (real name Vanessa) is well set to take her place among the ranks of other islandista it girls such as Rihanna and Vashtie Kola, whose sense of style is so quirky, fierce and yet independently theirs, that fashionistas are falling over themselves. 

Shontelle and Rihanna link up in London

Fellow Bajan islandistas, former cadets and of course singers, Shontelle and Rihanna have apparently linked up in London and it is causing a minor tweet-storm (I think I just coined that phrase) in the twittersphere witha few loyal fans (and apparently a load of paparazzi) parked outside the hotel where they are both staying, desperate for a pic or autograph and tweeting updates.

As you would know from our post on Friday, Shontelle is in the UK on tour with Beyonce as part of her 'I Am' tour.

Apparently Rihanna has flown out to London town as well which explains the pics of her at JFK airport on Friday.

She and Shontelle have been tweeting back and forth since last night. A snippet of their exchanges:

• @RiRiFenty pssst. Where r u?about 23 hours ago from twidroid in reply to RiRiFenty


• @Shontelle_Layne LONDON baby :-)about 23 hours ago from mobileweb


• @RiRiFenty me 2. I was jus makin sure. Hope I see u! Gonna DM u now :pabout 22 hours ago from twidroid


• @RiRiFenty indeed! After party 2? ;)about 21 hours ago from twidroid in reply to RiRiFenty

@Shontelle_Layne i'll see what i can do! aha i'm kidding! of course! :-)about 21 hours ago from mobile web

• @Shontelle_Layne we'll make sure of it! tomorrows concert? :-Pabout 21 hours ago from mobile web
  
      

According to fan/twitterer Patsy Travers, Rihanna left the hotel about two hours ago to go do a soundcheck, fuelling rumours that she will be performing in the London show of Beyonce's I Am Tour tonight. We'll stay tuned for that.

In other Shontelle-related stuff, here's a clip that her lil sis recorded of her performing her break-out hit 'Roll' in Birmingham over the weekend.

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 De wining start out a li'l social - I guess cos of the heels but she put down some respectably islandistas wining towards the middle and end!

If only...

(photo credit: The Sartorialist)

*Sigh*... I adore this outfit. It's from the Sartorialist blog and was taken in London.

Everything about is so coolly individual - the bow tie, the brogue shoes, the stripey socks, the stripey dress that would ordinarily be rather ugly on its own but looks inspired paired with the other items.

Imagine if someone wore this fantastic outfit in the Caribbean. Individualism in fashion is not really celebrated. Being 'in style' is celebrated but having a unique personal style is often derided.

I must say one interesting exception to this is the dancehall culture in Jamaica where the stars be they dancers or performers are aggressively individualistic and flamboyant about their style.

And I happen to love that. When you see Elephant Man you might think he looks a damn fool with his two-toned hair and crazy outfits (I saw a vid of him performing in New York in a pirate's outfit - with an inflatable parrot on his shoulder and all!) but you know what - he isn't blending in. And he's an artist, a performer - he's supposed to stand out and look a little different and crazier than regular folk. He's not supposed to look like every other person that is at the fete, nor is he supposed to look like he's going to an office, he's supposed to capture your attention.



 

Doesn't that capture your attention?