HOW: Score the Internship

Forget the hype boys and girls and bump what you heard about fashion internships in the big city. For anyone who's worked as a fashion intern in a city like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York, you know it's definitely not as glamorous and action-packed job as movies like The Devil Wears Prada and shows like Gossip Girl make it out to be. If you've never had an internship before, an internship is a chance for you to gain real-world professional experience while building your portfolio and gathering your strengths. Sorry, chances are you probably won't be rubbing elbows with the fashion elite or even get to speak two words to the editor-in-chief of a magazine. You'll be doing the menial tasks, sitting around in the office waiting for tasks to be handed to you, and perhaps watching from the sidelines. But that's your time to take notes and find out if you'd want to work a job like your internship in the future. Don't get hung up on what the romanticized intern image is. Use the people you work with to find ways to network, add projects to your portfolio, and make yourself stand out among the other interns. Sometimes in the world of fashion, it really is what you know that counts. Check out how to dress to land the job below.

Guerre de Style

If fashion really is everywhere, as Coco Chanel once said, then Karl-Edwin Guerre, creator of the men's fashion blog Swagger 360, can find it. His site's slogan, "Where Lifestyle and Attitude Connect", sums it up perfectly; fashion isn't just made up of what we wear or where we wear it, it's made of how we live and how we think. His reputation for maintaining a Wildean-crisp style has earned him attention from many fashion watchers especially his impecable impresario skills. It's especially pleasing to me to see so many images of men of color, for these are oft scarce in other blogs. It's wonderful to see a culture of stylish, ambitious, and refined men using their creativity and showcasing their style. Check out Swagger 360 here.

The Eyes of a Dandy

I love scouring the web looking for people who love fashion as passionately as I do and who have found ingenious ways of expressing their creativity. When I came upon DapperLou, the blog of notoriously stylish urban dandy Ludget Delcy, I knew I had found my style soul brother. His effortless classical American style and his eye for catching it is what attracts me most to his blog. He could certainly have composed a blog just on his own personal style but Ludget chooses to use his erudite taste to feature gentlemen both young and old who are mastering the art of dressing the man. I first noticed Ludget's style on LookBook.nu, my favorite haunt for fashion inspiration but I had no idea the man had such an impressive portfolio of street personalities. I also noticed his blogroll is quite short, especially when many fashion bloggers including myself tend to prefer to give their readers a great deal of places to find other great content. But then again, Ludget understands that too many cooks spoil the broth. Most of all Ludget gives me what I want: pure, unadulterated sharp-dressed people. See all about Ludget Delcy and his site here.

An Homage To Black Style

In light of Black History Month, I must stop and pay tribute to the numerous Black icons that have and still contribute so much to fashion and what Black American style really is. In a history that often calls for much more sadness than celebration, in spite of our oppression and in light of our achievements, we have managed to create a style that is distinctly ours. Whether it is the dashikis, afros, and kente cloth that hearken images of Black is Beautiful, or whether it is the smooth, crisp, and classic style of a 1940s Stacy Adams suit, or even the bold, expressive, and unrestrained hip-hop style, Black Americans have always found a way to make their voices heard and have created our own definition of luxury and elegance that is as rich and varied as the colors we are. Check out a slideshow featuring the icons that have shaped Black fashion.

Maverick Monday: Introducing Rashad Benton

Few men around are adept at the subtle art of style like this week's man-about-town Rashad Benton. A student at Florida A&M University, Rashad's creativity and his erudite eye for style have placed him in our spotlight. From first sight you'd never notice the taciturn and res Fem a very quiet person, low-key type. I keep to myself a lot. I honestly don’t enjoy being rved nature that lies under Benton's refined exterior.

Black Swan Style

This week, bring the beauty, the drama, and the style of the critically acclaimed motion picture Black Swan from the big screen to your wardrobe with these fashion sets from Polyvore.com. Learn how to successfully combine the elegance, purity, and effortless chic of white with the seductive, stylish, and timeless quality of black. It doesn't matter whether you heading out to a day at the office, going out for after-work drinks, getting ready for a date, or simply having a night out on the town make yourself the center of attention with these styles. And if you've got a keen eye for style yourself or if you're looking to design your own Black Swan look, head over to Polyvore.com, create a profile and create fashionable sets and share your style with the world!

Black Swan II by ♥ Adorable~T ♥ featuring valentino shoes

Black Swan by lagomera featuring a bodice gown

2. Black Swan Inspired by •• deeelushious •• TAG ME! featuring ballet shoes

Black Swan by julesmason2311 featuring a ballet shoes dress

The Top Apps for Fashion Enthusiasts

With the era of smartphones in effect, it's easier more than ever now to stay in touch with what's going on in the world of fashion as well as locate the most exclusive style finds with the simplest of ease. Apple's App Store provides an enormous amount of fashion apps to buy but great style is priceless and so are these are some of my favorite fashion apps for your iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad. No matter where you go or what you do, make sure you're armed with the right technology to keep you abreast of what's coming in and what's going out.

TrendStop TrendTracker

This app is one of the best tools for finding out the newest in fashion trends as well as breaking news events from the fashion industry. An extension of their larger site Trendstop.com, get quick blurbs on the most important collection showings, fashion events, industry changes and trends from fashion professionals right on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad.

Elle 

This app is an extension of the magazine's features without having to pay for the full issue. Read your daily horoscope, get instant updates on fashion articles, and even read advice from Elle's in-house columnist E. Jean. Bookmark articles to your own personal My Elle profile for reading later and most of all enjoy the stylish interactive design. For any Elle lover, you definitely won't want to miss this app. 

Style.com

The glamour and fashion collections from the site come straight to your iPod complete with push notifications on all of the latest parties and sightings and full viewing capability of the newest collections. You can even view runway show videos right on your iPod and gather the top news from the Style File Blog. For men, you can also view the latest runway shows from around the globe and the slideshows of each look. A must have for any trendspotter.

GQ Style Picks 

Get the best fashion, entertaining, and grooming tips right on your iPhone with GQ's Style Picks app. You can also use the built in GPS in your iPod, iPhone, and iPad to to find an item and locate a store near you that carries that item. Also browse the top brands and view their picks right from the men at GQ. You can also input product requests through messages so you can find out where to find your favorite brands. For the style-conscious man this app should definitely be in your arsenal.

Who What Wear 

Get all of the insight and knowledge from the top fashion forecasters right on your iPod with Who What Wear. The famous website provides interactive stylings of the newest trends in an attractive, fashionable design that's perfect for any fashion professional, stylist, or enthusiast. And if you're a hairstylist or makeup artist you can also browse the hottest in beauty right from this app as well. If you're wanting to change your look then definitely head over to the App Store and download this free app. 

The Sartorialist

You've seen the website by Scott Schumann and you've read his column in GQ magazine. But now you can browse all of his international style spottings right through the app. If you're looking to see what everyone around the world is wearing you'll find no better app than the Sartorialist. Zoom in, zoom out, slide, and even save the photos to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad. The perfect extension from his blogsite, The Sartorialist gives real photos of real people with real style.

Target

Get the awesome style and convenience of Target right to you through their app. If you're looking for something specific or if you're just wanting to browse a category check out Target's full collection and even look up an item in their store tracker to find a store near you to buy it from. Also use your iPod Touch and iPhone camera to take a picture of an item's barcode to find that item within the store. Refine your search by price, color, style, and department. You'll find no app that's more geared to the modern shopper than this one.

LookBook.nu Guys Roundup 12.6.10

LookBook.nu Girls Roundup 12.6.10

The British Are Coming

Who said Americans have all the style? A group of fashionable creative individuals based in London whose ambitions are as impressive of the site they've come together to create, Yin & Yang. The characters the site is named after are just as interesting.Yin comes from Niran, a creative advertising student in London who is a self-proclaimed Japanophile and future music label entrepreneur and Yang is Ernest, also a creative advertising student who loves photography and is hoping to work in public relations. The site also is supported by group of equally cutting-edge artists or "The Family", as they call themselves comprising Leona, an aspiring singer and tv personality, Olive, a Brooklynite fashion designer, DJB, a London music and fashion enthusiast, Yemi, a basketball-playing poet and dancer going to school in Maryland, and Jazz a hip-hop loving web designer from London.

Bleu Magazine's Shoot Turns The Heat Down

Bleu Magazine's newest fashion spread featured an array of attractive fall and winter fashions worn by two even more attractive male models. However, the spread was horribly undermined by its title and description as well as the underwhelming backdrops of the shoot. Although Bleu Magazine hasn't necessarily always been at the forefront for its fashion photography, it does hold its own very well among other independent fashion magazines/  "It's Getting Cold" simply just didn't do it for me. I immediately became disinterested when I read the first sentence; "Don’t forget you coat!” Now haven’t we all heard that line numerous times for our mothers" Really? This sentence does absolutely nothing to detail the fashions or open the photographic story a spread should tell.

The shoot features many pieces from H&M, including jeans, blazers, and shirts as well as sweaters from G-Star. The shots aren't terribly stylish; the lighting levels don't change in any of the photos, even when the models are in different poses that might have required more play with values. The shots show too much sky, detracting from the seasonal aspect of the spread that would have looked better with a gray sky. The models pose well and effectively show the clothes but the settings they're placed in add no value to the form and focus too much on function. Check out the full spread on Bleu Magazine's site here.

Ice Queen

Ice Princess by Fashion910 featuring a cross-body tote

Just because the temperatures are dropping doesn't mean that your wardrobe has to. Let yourself be transformed this season into a winter wonder with our ice-themed fashion sets designed by the members of Polyvore.com. Glittering white jewels, snow-colored halter dresses, and iridescent blanche heels all add a magical stylish touch to any December ensemble. So don't get left out in the cold this winter, get into these sets and get shopping. If you see an item you like, just click on the set and you can see where to find all the items. Check out more sets after the jump. Enjoy!

Cold As Ice by Minni featuring distressed skinny jeans

Ice dreams by Original Doll ♥ featuring an alice olivia dress

Ice cold vintage by Pensive Peacock featuring a gray dress

Everybody's Changing and I don't Know Why by Milano Cookies featuring sleeveless tops

Street Etiquette x Stacy Adams

Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs have teamed up with the illustrious and timeless footwear brand Stacy Adams to produce a video talking about what makes an accessory or garment a classic. Kissi and Gumbs are the founders of the men's fashion blog, Street Etiquette and are curators of classic men's fashion. Their blog has been featured extensively in GQ magazine, Vogue Paris' Blog of the Moment, Refinery 29's Best Men's Fashion Blogs, and in the London Times' 40 Bloggers Who Really Count. We covered them earlier in the fall when they premiered their exceptionally designed and produced film The Black Ivy, an homage to the historically Black colleges and universities of America and more importantly on the distinct sartorial style that emerged from their students. The oxymoronic title "Street Etiquette" is a clever and accurate summary of what Kissi and Gumbs blog is all about; it's an artistic melange of the thesis of classical style with antithetical elements of street fashion and creating a synthesis of innovative style that possesses the same refinement and staying power as the classics. Check out the video after the jump.

LookBook.nu Guys Roundup 11.22.10

LookBook.nu Girls Roundup 11.22.10

I'm Diggin' It

Daniel Simmons aka Diggy Simmons, the son of hip-hop dynasty legend and mogul Joseph Simmons known better as Rev. Run has certainly grown up from the young pre-teen we watched on MTV's Run's House. His incredibly precocious creativity and keen eye for avant-garde, cutting-edge style have placed him in the spotlight of numerous celebrities and creative professionals, one being budding tastemaker Marquis Phifer. Like all of the members of the Russell family, creative acuity and business sense appear to be inherited family genes and Diggy is no different. But what is surprising audience so much now is his apparent swift execution of lyrical style. Not only is Diggy making people think twice about his artistic abilities but they're seeing reflections of his father in his superb rap skills. Read more to check out a vignette of him freestyling to "Shook Ones" by Mobb Deep and just so your mouth doesn't get to dry from being wide open, it's best to take this one with water.

A Few Good Morehouse Men

Marquis Phifer and the illustrious men of Morehouse College in Atlanta are understanding the need to give back to the community and how to do it with style. The 143-year-old institution of higher learning has gained itself the reputation of being the number one college for producing the most intelligent, successful, eminent, and most of all stylish Black men in America. Alumni such as Martin Luther King Jr., Spike Lee, and the father of the "Morehouse Mystique" Benjamin E. Mays all have stepped up to the challenge of using their talents to better their communities and society at large. Phifer and other students went to Booker T. Washington Early College, Atlanta's school aimed at helping students succeed by providing high school classes that will earn students college credit.

How Do You Say Love In Portguese?

The people over at oficM certainly do and they say it oh-so-well. If you never stopped by the Brazilian fashion oasis in a vast desert blogosphere, then you'll find the excellently designed and managed site refreshing, interesting, and most importantly of all, stylish. Still rusty on your Portuguese? Don't worry, the page had a Google Translate button so you can read all of the posts in your native language. But after all, fashion speaks the language of beauty, which is known universally. It's sleek white minimalist design and its pithy posts make the glamorous images on its page come all the more alive.

Model Madness: Eryck Laframboise

Drake Makes GQ's Men of The Year

Drake, the supernova-by-night rapper that's been making his way into the ears of the fellas and the hearts of the ladies has become GQ magazine's Breakout of The Year in its annual Men of the Year issue. The man behind supremely styled songs like "Successful", "We Like Her", "Find Your Love", and "Fancy" has been producing chart-topping hits most which weren't even included on an actual EP. But fans who know the real Drake know him from his days on the after-school special Degrassi in which he played Jimmy, a basketball player who after being shot by a student, became wheelchair bound. But in the spring of 2009, audiences began to see a newer, more creative and edgy side of Graham after he was discovered by rapper Lil' Wayne. Since, his style and swagger has gained him much attention, making his appearance on this month's GQ his second cover in 2010. Fans hope to see more from the urban upstart with the release of his album So Far Ahead. Check out more pictures of Drake from the spread after the jump.