Style Maven: Russell Brand

Lately in America, for the past few years we have seen a surge in British talent making their way into the American entertainment market (i.e. Jessie J, Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora). Even America’s Next Top Model this past season was dedicated toward promoting this trend where the competition was not just individually competitive, but it was between a team of US models, and a team of UK models. This shift really speaks for the proliferation of globalization. In my fashion, 2008 is when we could see this trend really start to gain headway as MTV introduced us to this curiously androgynous Brit by the name of, Russell Brand, who hosted the Video Music Awards for the first time; I remember the night well. My friend had collected me from my dorm and we headed to a friend’s place for a dinner party where we all together had dropped jaws watching this unfamiliar zealous personality of a man who was seemingly bashing American culture going as far as lauding the, at the time, more than beloved Jonas Brothers, as well as, George Bush, referring to our President as that 'retarded cowboy feller' (his logic to his jokes can be explained in this article from reporter Miranda Sawyer of “The Observer” ). While some of our reactions to his jokes were at first astonished disbelief to the audacity of his comments on American entertainment, albeit on such a global platform, by the time I left my friends house that night I felt a spark of admiration for the ultra skinny pants sporting, grungy hair rocking, wildly sexual bloke, and I knew we weren’t done seeing more of him, hence the below recent interview…

EDITOR'S LETTER: July 2012

 

Mingling with the beautiful people at
New York Gay Pride 2012

If you will, let me invite you on a quick stroll down memory lane: When I was an intern the last summer before my graduation from undergrad, I met a fantastically kind-spirited and inviting Merchandising Buyer for the corporation I was working for. She was a refreshingly energetic woman who always had an interesting statement necklace for me to observe and admire. I first noticed her in my HR orientation classes, always sitting across from me but never in a position to interact, and yet, towards the end of my internship, lo and behold, the women with the interesting statement necklace was the Women’s Clothing Head Buyer as I came to find out on a run-in encounter. We exchanged information and during my last semester we kept in touch, and she even was very helpful on a project I had for my Salesmanship course. When I finally graduated and was looking for work, I contacted my new fashion insider to inquire about possible openings where I could gain buying experience, desperate to hear the slightest chance of gaining some sort of fashion industry experience (or for that matter any job considering the state of our economy in 2010). Even though I was disheartened to hear that there were no current or pending openings, one of the best recommendations I had gotten in a while came from our chilly morning meeting at Starbucks. She advised that I read a copy of the book, “Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham. That day, I headed to the library to get me a copy to find out what keys to getting a job this book could offer me. Instead of explaining, specifically, what moves I should make to get myself hired; it offered a thorough study of implications as to what makes each one of us strong and capable of success in our lives based on our past experiences and how we developed as children. It was a book geared towards helping one to identify what innate talents each of us have developed in our lives, talents that will point us in the right direction towards where we need to be using our strengths to become capable of achieving our own levels of success, happiness, and balance in our personal and professional lives. I could see why she would extend this book to me for it really helped me to understand what exactly I am good at, and helped me to understand how I can best use my personal combination of talents to excel in life.

The reason I bring this book up on IMF.blog, is because this month I am focusing on “Acceptance”. This book helped me to realize, most importantly, that I am innately great at certain aspects of life, and that I am innately bad at other aspects—and that is OK, because we all are. My favorite quote from the book is a twist on a popularly conceived notion said by the wit W.C. Fields: “If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Then quit. There is no point in making a fool of yourself.”  Buckingham does a great job of explaining why we people are the way we are and how we can accept the way that we were raised, and what skills we developed as children so we can focus on making our strengths as strong as they can be instead of focusing on masking our weaknesses. This is why I postulate in Sartorial Philosophies that, in my fashion, having strong style isn’t so much about knowing how to hide your flaws, but it’s more about making your strengths shine as bright as they can.

In my fashion, a real understanding of acceptance and tolerance makes for a calm and cool individual and can contribute largely to your style. Once you accept who you have grown to be, it’s that much faster that you can get on to making life an enjoyable adventure.  I say, get real with who you are, and once you learn how to utilize your talents most effectively, you can then use them to help you grow so you will be able to do whatever your heart desires in your trajectory of life. Decide, now, what are the things, actions, and behaviors you are willing to accept, and won’t accept in your life, and be smart about your judgments. Accept the ramifications of your decisions and what the future may hold when you make a certain decision. In my fashion, acceptance is what keeps us grounded, rational, and most intuitive about where one should go in life.